soldered heart

I see you
in the majestic & the forlorn

a depressive state
bereft
of indifference, and of alienation

tales
of evenings
alone

a soldered heart
wanting to learn more

about peace
and love

a tangent scale to climb
when

hanging
upside down from
the clouds
in the starry sky


Photo by ausbitbank, Pixabay

Twitter #vss365 prompt words used: bereft, evening, solder, tangent. Follow me on Twitter here.


MasticadoresIndia/USA Publications

I am always honored to have my poetry in MasticadoresIndia and MasticadoresUSA. It is a blessing. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Terveen, and Barbara for always supporting my work; and, thank you to each of you for continuing to read, like, and comment on my poems on these two exceptional online magazines.

Here are my two newest pieces.

I would be honored if you would read them when you have a moment, thank you!


Book Reviews

Archery In The UK

A good friend of mine and publisher of #1 Amazon Bestseller Nature Speaks of Love and Sorrow, Ingrid Wilson, released a new book recently. Archery In The UK is a collaboration with Nick Reeves, and is a beautiful and passionate book.

Once I started reading Archery In The UK it was hard to put down. The book mixes poetic forms, inviting the reader on a journey of beautifully flowing language, touching hearts, and minds, and leaving me teary-eyed, joyful, and inspired. It is an amazing collaboration.

I highly recommend Archery in the UK, which you can purchase on Amazon here.

The Light in The Cave

The Light in The Cave, by Tricia Sankey is a wonderful Novela full of richly crafted details, and characters developed with depth, and an intensity that fills the reader with a desire to read more, and more. I enjoyed the way Tricia developed the characters and the plot line in a way that left me guessing as to the story behind the story until well into the later chapters, which is where we find that the characters we’ve come to know and love are not exactly who we thought they were. The Light in The Cave is an amazing work of science fiction. I highly recommend reading this wonderful book.


Jeff Flesch

#1 Amazon Bestselling Author of Nature Speaks of Love and Sorrow

Co-Author, #1 Amazon Bestseller, Wounds I Healed: The Poetry of Strong Women

Jan/Feb 2022 Author of the Month, Spillwords Press


#poetry, #anxiety, #archeryintheuk, #beauty, #calmness, #depression, #determination, #experimentsinfiction, #happiness, #heart, #ingridwilson, #joy, #life, #love, #masticadoresindia, #masticadoresusa, #nature, #nickreeves, #pain, #peace, #perserverance, #poem, #publications, #quietude, #reslience, #review, #sorrow

dancing skies

hearth, and home

the ocean
where I steady my heart

realizing
the salty breeze, and tacky sand
create

hope

in dancing skies

an intangible, yet soul-driven quest
to live

at the cliff’s edge

where anxiety is present
and, you

dwell

in calm
persistence, making
up

the very center of my existence


dancing skies was inspired by the poem By the Ocean by Daphny.


Photo by AndreyС, Pixabay



Jeff Flesch

Author, #1 Amazon New Release Nature Speaks of Love and Sorrow

Co-Author, #1 Amazon Bestseller, Wounds I Healed: The Poetry of Strong Women

Author of the Month, Jan/Feb 2022, Spillwords Press


#poetry, #30-poems-in-30-days, #anxiety, #bliss, #calm, #dancing-skies, #determination, #existence, #heart, #life, #love, #nature, #naturespeaks, #ocean, #poem, #quest, #salty-breeze, #soul, #tacky-sand

#NatureSpeaks: 30 #Poems in 30 Days – Day 23: Gift From The Sea, by Selma Martin

I am not jealous of the rocks
that dwell deep in the ocean bed
they have nothing to covet;
nothing to look forward to
(scoff)
but for sore backs from laying stiff
under kelp beds in seagrass–
as threshing sea-doormats
— and perhaps of sand in their eyes
but I suppose I’m predisposed to
how heavy its shoulders must be
when my avant-garde gauge
is the emptiness I suffer
after yet one more mate left my bed
I met a starfish at the shore the other day
when my shoulders were laden with pity
and boy, was I surprised with the story she shared!
she named a rock in the intertidal zone
that dreamed about being a rock in Mt. Everest
where he’d lay under a female Juniper tree
in the forested zone, no less,
to wait for Juniper to drop him her berry-cones

“Don’t ask,” the pink starfish exclaimed,
rolling her eyes before she continued,
“but he is lots of fun and such a loving rock;
everyone respects him– we hope to keep him
grounded and curious.
We cannot make him change, but we can make him
grow aware of his unrealistic expectations,”
she said, and then she left with the tide
shouting I-don’t-know-what at me and that she’d
write her rock a love poem
How curious, thought I of the soliloquy
that even rocks have dreams to profess
curious-er still about the rock’s recklessness
to plant ideas into the heads of sea stars
Is that what life’s like at the bottom of the sea?

Today I met a rearing Adélie penguin pair
hit with a dire dearth of rocks to steal–
they have their eyes on the stones
at the bottom of the oceanic crust
but by golly, those are unwieldy
and immerse too deep to even try
“We’re the pebble poachers in these lands,”
the female told me, “with brave dreams of getting
our hands on those stones.”
“Stones that just lay on sea beds–
doing nothing,” offered the male.
Then, just as they came, they ran
off to write each other love poems.
I nodded, supposing I understood their plight.
Is it thievery when this couple
could put those rocks to good use–
and grant the rocks a purpose to be?
All for the sake of their offspring?

As I trudged home, my shoulders felt lighter
I didn’t know I didn’t know– but now I know!
Thinking hard about being jinxed by getting
the feted short end of the stick in life
which amounts to not having someone
to cohabit my bed with at night
Is my qualm due to quixotic expectations?
Do I need more lessons from the sea?
Perchance now I’m more ready to give it one more try
I’ll start today by writing to myself a love poem.


Photo by Rimvydas Ardickas on Pexels.com


Gift From The Sea was inspired by the poem Ocean’s Rocks. You can read more of Selma’s poetry at Selma.


I am sharing one more collaborative response poem tomorrow morning, and then will post one of my poetic responses each day the rest of next week, which will make 30 days in a row of poetry for the Nature Speaks of Love and Sorrow: 30 Poems in 30 Days Collaboration.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all of the amazing poets that participated in this collaboration, and to all of you for being here, reading, liking, and commenting on the posts. It’s been so much fun!

Stay tuned to this blog for a Nature Speaks of Love and Sorrow: 30 Poems in 30 Days Collaboration wrap-up post, and for details about my next initiative, by month’s end. Thank you.



Jeff Flesch

Author, #1 Amazon New Release Nature Speaks of Love and Sorrow

Co-Author, #1 Amazon Bestseller, Wounds I Healed: The Poetry of Strong Women

Author of the Month, Jan/Feb 2022, Spillwords Press


#poetry, #30-poems-in-30-days, #burden, #determination, #dreams, #expectations, #human-connection, #juniper, #life, #love, #nature, #naturespeaks, #poem, #purpose, #resilience, #rocks

#NatureSpeaks: 30 #Poems in 30 Days – Day 7: Fireflies, by Punam

The gift of love that you gave
burgeoned in my heart
its roots anchoring my unsteady life
calming all my inner turmoil

the pain of your sudden abandonment
left me bereft and alone. Yet, I stand tall
butterflies flit by, ignoring me
yet I know in the spring
when I am done with mourning
clothed in new leaves
self-love will resurrect me
with the ashes of pain swept away
I will then attract fireflies.


Image (From The Week)


Fireflies was inspired by the poem Butterfly Love. You can read more of Punam’s poetry at paeansunpluggedblog.wordpress.com.


Submissions are still open for the Nature Speaks of Love and Sorrow: 30 Poems in 30 Days Collaboration. The submission details are located here.



Jeff Flesch

Author, #1 Amazon New Release Nature Speaks of Love and Sorrow

Co-Author, #1 Amazon Bestseller, Wounds I Healed: The Poetry of Strong Women

Author of the Month, Jan/Feb 2022, Spillwords Press


#poetry, #30-poems-in-30-days, #alone, #determination, #fireflies, #gift, #heart, #love, #mourning, #nature, #naturespeaks, #pain, #peace, #poem, #resilience, #resurrect, #roots, #self-love, #stand, #transformation, #turmoil

Gumdrops and Glitter, Published at MasticadoresUSA

I am pleased to announce that my poem, Gumdrops and Glitter, is now available at MasticadoresUSA. Thank you to Gabriela Marie Milton, and the team at MasticadoresUSA for their continued support and for publishing this piece.

Gumdrops and Glitter

the sea rises over my heart
while I lean into love

like a fairytale, made up of gumdrops
and glitter, which never stops

enticing
the senses

even with a skewed perspective…

I would be honored if you would go here, and read the rest of my poem. Thank you!


Photo by Agnali, Pixabay


Submissions are open for the Nature Speaks of Love and Sorrow: 30 Poems in 30 Days Collaboration, and will remain open until September 23. The submission details are located here.

#poetry, #determination, #fairytale, #growth, #healing, #heart, #joy, #life, #love, #nature, #pain, #perspective, #poem, #reality, #resilience, #senses

honey trimmed

I learned to drink you in
when young, and bold

to me, you always told

the distinction between
the stream residing, inside

and the one that trickles

within
the mist and dew-ladened
petals

trimmed

with honey, and the scent of jasmine
herein

it runs back and forth
filling my life with equal parts
your love

and
the love that dwells within my hope-filled heart


I am thrilled to announce that on Monday, August 1 at 6 am PT the title and cover of my debut poetry book will be revealed! A big thank you to Ingrid Wilson, of Experiments in Fiction, and to all of you for supporting me each day, every day. My love and blessings to you all.


Photo by ArtTower, Pixabay


#poetry, #cover-reveal, #debut-poetry-book, #determination, #flowers, #heart, #hope, #life, #love, #nature, #poem, #resilience