SEB5

SK5

JZ5

-Judy Smith

-John Armstrong

5 Jz5

I had a dream

an ocean aflame

the sun relentless

no sign of rain

no food to eat

no plants could grow

or cherished planet

stripped to the bone

-Francis Powell

Libra (dodging Midas amid gold fog)

in response to artwork by Jenn Zed

after Pippa Phillips

Pay attention to the extended hand that hosts a crater. Canyon is Minotaur’s home where frayed yarn has long since singed in obeisance to solar flares. Building caves in this moment will garner irreparable foibles. Your desire for floating galaxies will cause unmeditated merging with discs of residual light — practice haste with prudence. Often times ingenuous dreams morph into dry cacti by fatigue’s eventide. Balance energy on lotus scales; float without touching air of allure.

-Sheikha A.

Phil Hyde

Jz5

Hope in the Horizon

The light spills over the edge of the world,
not in triumph, but in defiance.
It reaches through the wreckage of yesterday,
daring me to move, daring me to believe.

I stand at the edge, breath unsteady,
hands still carrying the weight of what was.
The past clings like a second skin,
but the horizon burns, relentless, unyielding.

Hope is not gentle.
It does not whisper.
It roars in the silence,
pulling me forward,
even when I am afraid to go.


SEB 5

The Hollow and the Echo

There was a time when the wind spoke my name,
soft against my skin, wrapped in voices I knew.
Laughter tangled in my branches,
love carved into my roots.

Then came the silence,
a quiet that was not peace but absence,
a hollow carved not by time,
but by the weight of what left.

Still, the earth holds me,
whispers through veins of wood and longing.
My roots remember the warmth of hands
that once traced their way home.

Above me, bubbles rise,
fragile ghosts of yesterday’s breath,
weightless, yet holding everything
that ever mattered.

And so I remain,
not whole, not broken,
but something in between,
where love once stood,
where love still lingers.


SK 5

Roots and Wings of Love

She stands between two truths.
One that binds, one that frees.

The earth holds her,
weaves into her skin,
calls her back to where she began.
A quiet whisper of roots,
of belonging, of staying.

Yet in her hand, the weight of longing,
not heavy, but vast.
A heart, bold and trembling,
aching for the wind,
for the unknown, for the unreachable.

She does not know which to choose.
Perhaps she does not need to.
Perhaps love is both:
the courage to hold on,
and the strength to let go.

-Rituparna

Artworker Bios

Jenn Zed
Ms. Zed is an artist, writer, and musician who lives in Bath, England, with the ghost of her cat.
She studied art, art history, and design MA at Bath and Cambridge Universities.

Sara Elizabeth Bell

Says:

I’ve always loved drawing. It’s a form of meditation for me and has now become a way for me to find peace and sanity when my world gets too overwhelming, which, as a single mom with a neuro-divergent teen, happens quite often. When it does, I follow John Muir’s quote, “Off into the woods I go to loose my mind and find my soul.”
The results of those trips are  sketches of the forests around me and photos. I work from the photos to create my watercolors and intaglio prints. I hope you enjoy them and can find a place in your home to adopt one or more.

Spriha Kant

Spriha Kant is an English poetess, book reviewer, and digital artist. She has been published in some anthologies — “Hidden in Childhood” and “We Are The Waves,” to name a few. Her poems have also been published in the seventh issue of “Reflections,” the well-known literary magazine “Prosetrics.” She has been the Guest of honor in the award-winning show “Victoria in Verse” (Bloomsbury Radio, London). Her interviews can be read at feversofthemind.com & and brokenspine.co.uk. Her quotes are published as an epigraph and a blurb in Magkasintahan Volume VI & Swiped Right [both books published by Ukiyoto Publishing, Philippines], respectively. Her artwork can be seen in a webzine called “The Starbeck Orion” and on thewombwellrainbow.com.

Writer Bios

Debbie Ross,

Debbie is a poet, author, artist, photographer, and baker. She lives 400m from the sea, in the far north Scottish Highlands, and can be mostly be found in the kitchen, at the beach, or at her writing table.

Matt Guntrip,

Matt Guntrip is a guitarist, song writer and indie musician from the UK. He has published four albums & five singles via CD Baby, available on most channels. He was a nominated solo artist on the New Music Generator Show, Cambridge 105FM.

Through creative writing he explores themes of nature, time, love, loss, rejection, injustice and hope, with a view to learning, improving and thus to writing better songs.

Matt’s writing has been published in The Belfast Review, The Broken Spine,  Fevers of The Mind, Folkheart Press Blog, GAS Poetry (YouTube), The Starbeck Orion (Substack) & The Wombwell Rainbow website.

Donna Faulkner,

Donna  Faulkner lives in a cottage in Rangiora, New Zealand with her husband , two sons and Emily, the black Labrador.  She’s been published in 300 Days of Sun, Havik, Windward Review, Havik, Fieldstone Review,  New Myths, Bacopa Literary Review and others. Her debut poetry book ‘In Silver Majesty’ was published by erbacce press(UK) 2024. 

Instagram @lady_lilith_poet/ Twitter @nee_miller. https://linktr.ee/donnafaulkner

Alan McGinn,

Anish Gupta,

Dr. Anish K. Gupta is an Indian urologist and an impassioned poet who writes mainly in English but also dabbles in Hindi and Urdu. His work seamlessly intertwines the exactitude of medical science with the subtleties of human emotion. Grounded in the complementary realms of medicine and art, his path reflects a profound quest for understanding, healing, and the expression of love and life. In the operating room or on the page, Dr. Gupta delves into the intricacies of both body and soul, approaching each with care, curiosity, and compassion. His poetry captures the subtle epiphanies of daily life, the fragility of the human condition, and the deep connections between love and existence. He goes by the #uropoet on X where his handle is @optionurol.

Phil Hyde,

GP Hyde was born on the Wirral and now lives in Grimsby. He studied art at Goldsmith’s and at the Royal Academy Schools. His fiction has been extensively published by Pure Slush. His poetry has been published by Black Bough Press, Hedgehog Press, Written Off, the Dark Poets and voidspacezine

Rituparna,

Rituparna Ghosh is an alumna of the National University of Singapore, an AI engineer, and the founder of Whizzstep. With a passion for poetry, she enjoys crafting verses, particularly in the genres of free verse and reflective poetry. A lover of nature, Rituparna finds peace in her walks by the beach, where the tranquility of the ocean inspires both her creativity and personal reflection. Coding is her profession, and she thrives on solving complex problems through technology. She also has a deep love for traveling, reading, learning new languages, and horse riding, connecting with the outdoors in a unique and fulfilling way.

Francis H Powell,

Judy Smith ,

Judy Smith lives in East Yorkshire. Retired from a career in health and education, she is an emerging poet. She has had poems published in several anthologies, including Spelt, 14, Black Bough, Artemis, High Wolds, Dreich, York Literary Review, The Starbeck Orion. She has a passion for wildlife gardening and community tree planting.

Sheikha A,

Sheikha A. is from Pakistan and United Arab Emirates. Her poems appear in a variety of literary venues both print and online, and some of them have been translated into 8 languages so far. More about her can be found at sheikha82.wordpress.com

John Armstrong,

John Armstrong is a poet whose work blends metaphysical inquiry with vivid, elemental imagery. Drawing from a deep reverence for nature, memory, and the cosmic, Armstrong’s poetry explores dualistic and trinitarian themes of love, transformation, and the spiritual texture of existence.Armstrong sees poetry not merely as a literary form but as a living, animistic force—language shaped by the earth itself. His work is a personal quest, a surrender to the unknown, finding beauty in ambiguity and meaning in the mist between words and life.

Spare time: He grows Cosmos flowers and wills them on way past the first frosts.

Saraswati Nagpal,