Ecclesiastical | Cole Henson

Image: Adrien Stachowiak
Ecclesiastical

There is a time to think and a time to do
and a time to observe the purple-orange sun
as it introduces itself to the gold-laced clouds of morning

There is a time to lose and a time to find
and a time to sputter away like a balloon struck by a pin
returning to its first flaccid form, only now stuck in a tree

There is a time for victory and a time for forfeit
and a time to wrap yourself in gray matter
as caustic water fills the buckets yoked upon your shoulders

There is a time for peace and a time for war
and a time to set fire to the playing-card kings
who spew bile between bites of pork and cake

There is a time to sing and a time to scream
and a time to conversate in whispers with her
cars and trains crying as they labor outside your window

There is a time to keep and a time to release
and a time to meld with the river rocks
as the frigidity nibbles at your toes

There is a time for all and a time for none
and a time for every time as we waltz and collide
through our kaleidoscope universe

Cole Henson (he/him) is a poet, playwright, and humorist currently residing in Denver, Colorado. He has received numerous accolades for his work, namely from his mother, fiancée, and dog. He can be found on Instagram @cyranowhere

An Abandoned Dance | Chandrama Deshmukh

Image: Jeremey Thomas

An Abandoned Dance

We have directions
Of a lost map
That leads nowhere
A miraged universe
An omnipresent pause.

Someone once told me
You are your own prison
And since then
I see birds everywhere
Sleep-walking
Chasing delusions 
Shrinking into coherence.

I tore my map 
wrote poems on it
And made paper-boats
That glow in moonlight

Now
My existence whirls
In an abandoned dance
And the ink-stained wings
Are drawing 
Their own astral map.

Chandrama Deshmukh is an author, poet, playwright, theatre artist, storyteller, screenplay writer and performance artist. She has four books of poems published. A Teaspoon Of Stars and Moonlit Monochrome in English and two books in her mother-tongue Marathi. Chandrama has done close to 100 poetry performances in Bangalore and continues to play her role in giving this art-form the appreciation it deserves. To Chandrama, poetry is the streak of silver lining amidst the chaos of life. The moon is her muse.