Dear Beloved Hour.

So many seconds come and go,
They all seem the same,
Nothing becomes everything,
In just a moment.
Sunshine Rain Smoke

Something somewhere is paralysed,
But the clock still tocks,
Not missing a tick,
Not knowing hell's broken lose.
Blood is not a cleaning agent,
Water Pain Thirst

People have forgotten that time never waits,
Not all consequences are ultimately ends,
What might in a moment be lost,
May never really leave,
It metamorphoses,
Not all pupa become beautiful butterflies,
Grief Revenge Devastation.

Forgive.
It is the only means to tame the clock,
To make it play your tune,
To make the chime of a life time,
Endure from moment to moment.
Slap Cheek Peace

Nowhere in history has forgiveness played a role,
Is the education that the population gaining,
Not a better tool to ingest
That war is not a moment to waste
That peace is not a pawn to forfeit
Today Lead Please

© Tasnim Jivaji

story south million writers award

the story south million writers award is on again!
if you haven't heard of it: the idea of the award is to find the best 10 short stories that appeared online in 2006 in e-zines. in ALL e-zines. nominations can be made by readers (1 story of any magazine) and by editors (3 stories of their magazine). the only restriction is that stories must be 1000 words or longer. the great thing about the award is that all is open - even the nominations. so you can go and read stories already.

here's the link to their page: storysouth.com/millionwriters
here are the reader nominations so far: reader nomination page
and here the editor nominations: editor nomination page

~~

BluePrintReview nominations
and here is the list of 3 stories that are nominated for BluePrintReview, and with it, 3 writers added to the million.
Story 1: “Scenic Highway #34” by J.A. Tyler
Story 2: “It Was Me” by Michael K. White
Story 3: “Silence” by Maria C. Pollack

special thanks to all contributors - it really was a pleasure to read through the archive of 2006 and to put the post for StorySouth together. and before anyone asks - no, you don't need an initial in your name to get nominated. this is some kind of coincidence i noticed only after posting.

~~

The Private Smile

She was smiling on the train. Smiling out the window. Sheer, beautiful, innocent smiling.
She was exhilarated by the view, exhilarated to be arriving, to look over the metalwork of tracks that were converging, at sandstone buildings, and old clock towers against new sky scrappers.
She was smiling at the doves on the powerlines, and the archways and rusted churches. The tiny scattered dots of people under the sunshine and shadows of trees.
No one noticed, they were wearily answering phones, scrambling for tickets, hurrying off seats.
That made her smile more.

Tracking

I'm dancing 'round your walls
shooting you dirty looks
through the cracks in the plaster
at your holy insecurities restrained

In that web of my head
who is the spider's enemy
tracking mud through the pristine halls
and tangling up memory's timeline?

We've come full round and you still
bear the burden of his frown upon
your head, it's coffee stain smirk
of disapproving disappointment permanent

Tracking you through fields outside of Tulsa
I meet a boy with the voice of my grandfather
"Nothing and no one will peel back
those exposed pieces of flesh, not now," he tells me

He says I'm clever as he straps me in
"Provide us with the answers," he whispers,
"for the snakes will be here momentarily."
and the faint and distant lights go out.

(copyright 2007 - Sheila Lynne)

Er-Leben

yoga classes are back again. starting with a calming and slow lesson. with more explanations, as there are some new ones in the group, as some had to leave as they moved to another place. and it was good, to hear the basics again. on the blackboard, two lines that can’t really be translated:

alles Leben ist Bewegung
alles (Er)Leben ist Stille

all life is motion
all experience is silence

and interesting link: life is Leben. and to experience life is to Erleben. plus Leben when written without capital L is the verb: to live. leben.

the energy of life. parallel to yoga, it also rose in the pots where i planted the sunflower seeds last week. now they are growing on the window sill, and shedding their seed-shells. i took a photo, and a close-up which turned out zen-like.