The simple things of life bring me smiles,
like the bird house made of wood from an old red barn.
It sits atop a garden post
holding safe its second hatch—bluebird family--
     flashes of sapphire,
     zipping in and out, feeding their young.

The fledglings will soon find their own way into the big sky.
As did our daughters.

In spring, I sometimes walk the meadow,
see sunshine in daisy faces--
their centers innocent, happy,
their white petals holding the secret
that pre-teen girls
pursue by that fanciful plucking--
     “He loves me, 
     he loves me not.”

I need no daisy petals to tell me what love is.
We know each other long and well--
know the simple things that make each other happy.
     He builds me bird houses,
     hands me daisies from the meadow.

I, too, know what warms his heart, 
brings us near--
     simple things--
     a plate of barbeque, 
     a frosty mug of beer.

Each morning
I sit
stone still
on a pillow
and recite
the Sutra on
Loving Kindness,
then breathe.
 
Afternoons
I sit
stick stiff
on my cushion
and intone
the Heart
of Understanding
and breathe.
 
At night
I lie
worm curled
hiding from fears
and demons
and retreat
to my old mantra:
Hail Mary,
full of grace...
then sleep.


Mark J. Mitchell has worked in hospital kitchens, fast food, retail wine and spirits, conventions, tourism, and warehouses.
He has also been a working poet for almost 50 years. An award-winning poet, he is the author of five full-length poetry collections, and six chapbooks. His latest collection is Something To Be from Pski’s Porch Publishing. He is very fond of baseball, Louis Aragon, Miles Davis, Kafka, Dante, and his wife, activist and documentarian Joan Juster. He lives in San Francisco, where he once made his marginal living pointing out pretty things. Now, he is seeking work once again.
he can be found reading his poetry here: https://www.youtube.com/@markj.mitchell4351.
 
A meager online presence can be found at https://www.facebook.com/MarkJMitchellwriter/.
A primitive web site now exists: https://www.mark-j-mitchell.square.site/.
He sometimes tweets @Mark J Mitchell_Writer.

We were timeless
timeless as the moon.
Full
of ourselves
full 
of our opportunities
shining
like polished silver
in the dark.
We forgot about the tides
the cycles
the ebb and flow.
Forgot
we would be worn away
to a crescent.
We only remembered
the renewal
our chance
to do it all again.


Lynn White lives in north Wales. Her work is influenced by issues of social justice and events, places and people she has known or imagined. She is especially interested in exploring the boundaries of dream, fantasy and reality. She was shortlisted in the Theatre Cloud 'War Poetry for Today' competition and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net and a Rhysling Award. Find Lynn at: https://lynnwhitepoetry.blogspot.com and https://www.facebook.com/Lynn-White-Poetry-1603675983213077/.

i was drinking tea with Dali
in an underworld cafe,
arguing down his table
on General Franco's hand-
when The Persistence Of Memory
that melts my pocket watch
made time less rigid-
so i fell with names and numbers
into old obsidian dreams-
where your long legs pointed
from six to twelve,
then nine to three
when you bent them-
for me to play and pleasure
each exotic segment
of your velvet tangerine.
Dali left the table
to meet Picasso in Paris,
while my benzedrine mind replaced-
the soft and spent infinity of your face.


Strider Marcus Jones – is a poet, law graduate and former civil servant from Salford, England with proud Celtic roots in Ireland and Wales. He is the editor and publisher of Lothlorien Poetry Journal https://lothlorienpoetryjournal.blogspot.com/. A member of The Poetry Society, his five published books of poetry  https://stridermarcusjonespoetry.wordpress.com/ reveal a maverick, moving between cities, playing his saxophone in smoky rooms. 
 
His poetry has been published in numerous publications including: The Huffington Post USA; The Stray Branch Literary Magazine; Crack The Spine Literary Magazine; and Dissident Voice.