Bumblebee Gold 

The gold medal goes
To flower’d pollinator:
Humble bumblebee

* Traditional haiku are untitled

Cattails, Haunts and Swales

Call it slew, marsh or swale
Reed mace or cattail
The bogs and the bulrushes call

Haints of mojo, hoodoo
Wraiths and spirits call you
Their mystery and magic enthrall

‘Cross the bayou, moans, low
Loons speak out a rondeau 
Sing to us their plaintive tattoo

As the eve’ yields to dusk
Curtain’s rung down for us
‘Til next eve, ghostly scenes come anew

Artworks: “Marauder, Trickster, Thief” (watercolor on paper), “Dressed in Layers” (mixed media on paper), “Vanishing Point” (watercolor on paper) by Melinda Hicks

About the Poet and Artist:
Melinda Hicks (Artist) has a camera, a collection of “collage stuff” and a vision for art.  Mix these elements with water + color, and something magical happens: visions flow off the tips of her brushes onto paper, and art is created. Melinda’s paintings are based upon photos she takes on walks, from the car and while traveling, as well as painting plein air; she works mainly in watercolor, with collage pieces to add depth. Melinda lives in Fairhope, AL with her dedicated “art critic” husband Donald and her trusty art buddy, Lady Bug, their cat. 

Mike Turner (Writer) is a songwriter and poet living on the U.S. Gulf Coast. Named Male Gospel Entertainer of the Year by the North America Country Music Associations International (2017), his original songs have received radio and streaming play in the U.S., UK, Europe, Australia and on the US Armed Forces Radio Network. Mike has had over 350 poems published in more than 70 journals and anthologies; his poem, “Sense of Peace,” won the Alabama Writers’ Cooperative’s 2023 Roger Williams Peace Prize. His book, Visions and Memories, is available from Amazon.

The post Collab by Mike Turner & Melinda Hicks first appeared on Prachya Review.

Irises


There is an explosion of green life in the light.
This life extrapolates all its emerald green.
This life can be close to heaven on the right.
Love is a holy thing played in this world, a scene.

Then, all the colors of the rainbow can be seen
With different eyes detecting different shades.
Blue flowers are placed in a potpourri of green.
In the flowerbed, these irises are like spades.
 
They need reassurance, as Pantone would recommend 
This space of mysteries that no longer exists.
With pale neutral yellow tongs, they're in great demand.
With neutral yellow thoughts, they please the Queen of White.

Alongside darker colors, all these things can sustain
The balance of thoughts and need a background to pray.
The warm cadmium yellow can accidentally drain
The evil spirits; these flowers keep them away.

Van Gogh used such a small amount of indigo.
This color conveys mainly truthfulness and trust, 
While the emerald green looks like a piccolo.
Through this emerald, life can become a thrust.

Using the bright red against the rich blue background,
Van Gogh sent messages through his unique color,
The ochre's holy struggles ~ his ear without the sound;
A pure, thinking world was starting to discolor.

*These poems are inspired by paintings by Vincent Van Gogh

About the Poet:

Her works have been published by The Sybaritic Press, Silver Birch Press, Lothlorien Poetry Journal, Dashboard Horus, Al-Khemia Poetica: A Women’s Arts and Writing Journal, Dissident Voice, Ellerslie Books, Journal of the Akita International Haiku Network, The Queer Gaze, PentaCat Press, Coin-Operated Press, Mayari Literature, Synchronized Chaos, Prolific Press, Oddville Press, Tuck Magazine, Southern Arizona Press, Republic Magazine, Phoenix Z Publishing, All Your Poems Magazine, and others published the poems of Marieta Maglas in anthologies like Near Kin: A Collection of Words and Art Inspired by Octavia Estelle Butler, Nancy Drew Anthology: Writing and Art Featuring Everybody’s Favorite Female Sleuth, and The Cardinal Anthology Vol. 3.

The post Poems by Marieta Maglas first appeared on Prachya Review.

Painting “Water lilies” of Claude Monet
Museum of Modern Art, NYC

About the Poet:
Joan McNerney has been the recipient of three scholarships. She has recited her work at the National Arts Club, New York City, State University of New York, Oneonta, McNay Art Institute, San Antonio, and the University of Houston, Texas. Published worldwide in over thirty-five countries, her work has appeared in numerous literary publications. Four Best of the Net nominations have been awarded to her. The Muse in Miniature, Love Poems for Michael, and At Work are available on Amazon.com. A new release entitled Light & Shadow explores the recent historic COVID pandemic.

The post Water lilies by Joan McNerney first appeared on Prachya Review.

The post Artwork by Cynthia Yatchman first appeared on Prachya Review.

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