Nothing by Lynn White

Eva Bronzini

Nothing

In those streets

of men and boys,

in that country 

for men and boys,

she feels like a person with no face,

her face space covered,

her identity occupied

by a swirling mist of confusion

like nothingness being born.

Sometimes 

she wishes for a blank space

that she could fill herself

with a Magritte apple

or even a woman

even herself

un-blanked

and visible.

Now, in those streets

of men and boys,

in that country 

for men and boys,

she feels like a person with no voice,

Magritte’s apple is choking her,

muting her

so even in her home she whispers

her songs and curses.

Only in her head does she shout

that something will come of nothing,

that something must come of nothing.

(First published in New Verse News, August 28 2024)

© Lynn White

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Lynn White

Lynn White lives in North Wales. Her work is influenced by issues of social justice, as well as events, places, and people she has known or imagined. She has been nominated for Pushcarts, Best of the Net, and a Rhysling Award. https://lynnwhitepoetry.blogspot.com  and https://www.facebook.com/Lynn-White-Poetry-1603675983213077/

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Leap of Faith by Lynn White

 

Israel Delgadillo Figueroa

Leap of Faith

We make it look easy,

dancers always do. 

Even out here

on the heath

performance is all.

The rest is hidden

behind the scenes

usually in the sweaty studio.

It took a leap of faith to carry on

working alone month after month

with no prospect of performance,

of audience,

of applause

of income.

But we’re out now

out in the sun 

jumping for joy

leaping with faith

ready to go again.

First published in Visual Verse, August 2020

© Lynn White

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Lynn White

Lynn White lives in North Wales. Her work is influenced by issues of social justice, as well as events, places, and people she has known or imagined. She has been nominated for Pushcarts, Best of the Net, and a Rhysling Award. https://lynnwhitepoetry.blogspot.com  and https://www.facebook.com/Lynn-White-Poetry-1603675983213077/

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A Season For Living by Lynn White

 

Jean-Daniel Francoeur

A Season For Living

I’d always loved flowers.

You helped me

surround myself with them

to bring me joy.

I would like to lie in my garden

in the mist of the soft sweet-smelling mist

of them 

forever.

But everything has it’s time,

its time to live,

and its time to die

and only the flowers 

will bloom eternally

each in its season.

This is my season for living

and it’s now that I need them.

When I’m dead I won’t see them on my grave,

won’t know that you’ve brought them for me

won’t know if you haven’t,

or care.

The flowers you carry 

in that season should be for you,

for all of you that I left behind

and all of you still to come.

Don’t let them die

for me.

Nobody wants dead flowers,

least of all, dead people.

(First published in OPA, April 2024)

© Lynn White

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Lynn White

Lynn White lives in North Wales. Her work is influenced by issues of social justice, as well as events, places, and people she has known or imagined. She has been nominated for Pushcarts, Best of the Net, and a Rhysling Award. https://lynnwhitepoetry.blogspot.com  and https://www.facebook.com/Lynn-White-Poetry-1603675983213077/

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Graveyard by Lynn White

Pixabay

Graveyard

I sit here quiet and gravely thoughtful.

It feels so peaceful on the surface

but I know gravity is on the pull,

drawing the dead down below

trying to keep them for itself

in the graveyard.

I don’t think graves want gravity

I think they want to rise up, 

taste the joy of lives already lived

which live on still in memories,

and be grave no longer

refusing burial

rejecting gravity

remaining alive

in the glimpses, 

of lives passed, 

brushing with immortality

as they wait.

Wait 

for the worms 

to devour them 

and bring life back

to the graveyard

of memories 

and dreams.

(First published in Poets Online, Cemetery Issue, March 2025)

© Lynn White

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Lynn White

Lynn White lives in North Wales. Her work is influenced by issues of social justice, as well as events, places, and people she has known or imagined. She has been nominated for Pushcarts, Best of the Net, and a Rhysling Award. https://lynnwhitepoetry.blogspot.com  and https://www.facebook.com/Lynn-White-Poetry-1603675983213077/

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I’ll Climb Alone by Lynn White

 

Charles Parker

I’ll Climb Alone

 

I’m strong enough now

to climb alone.

I won’t allow

the creepers

and crawlers

and climbers

to hold me back,

to inch into me

like ivy covering a wall.

I’ll climb alone.

Go straight up

the bleached white staircase 

shining through

the undergrowth

showing me the way

up and over.

Quickly now

before it encroaches,

before it overwhelms me.

Up and over.

I know I can do it.

I’m strong enough now.

 

(First published in With Painted Words, July 2018)

© Lynn White

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Lynn White

Lynn White lives in North Wales. Her work is influenced by issues of social justice, as well as events, places, and people she has known or imagined. She has been nominated for Pushcarts, Best of the Net, and a Rhysling Award. https://lynnwhitepoetry.blogspot.com  and https://www.facebook.com/Lynn-White-Poetry-1603675983213077/

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How To Float by Lynn White

 

Nathan Salt

How To Float

 

They told me a stone would never float.

I didn’t believe them

so I threw it carefully on to the water.

It stayed there

on the surface,

a miracle!

So I threw another carefully to land on top

and then another

and another.

Now a stack of stones was floating 

on the water.

 

They told me a stone would never hang in the air.

I didn’t believe them

so I threw it carefully upwards.

It stayed there

in the air,

a miracle! 

So I threw another to land underneath

and then another

and another.

Now a stack of stones was hanging

in the air

casting its shadow on the water.

 

Believe in the miracles you can make.

Don’t believe what they tell you.

Cast a long shadow.

  

(First published in Scrittura, Summer 2019)

© Lynn White

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Lynn White

Lynn White lives in North Wales. Her work is influenced by issues of social justice, as well as events, places, and people she has known or imagined. She has been nominated for Pushcarts, Best of the Net, and a Rhysling Award. https://lynnwhitepoetry.blogspot.com  and https://www.facebook.com/Lynn-White-Poetry-1603675983213077/

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Only Believe by Lynn White

Eyup Belen

Only Believe

If I could only believe 

I would 

lie in sweet flower-scented water

and dream ever sweeter dreams

undisturbed.

If I could only believe 

I would lie there 

still

at peace 

and wake 

at peace

still.

Whether fish or fowl,

dove or eagle

fly above me

it wouldn’t matter

if I could only believe

that peace lies within.

If I could only believe.

 

(First published in Ekphrastic Review, Bush Writing Challenge, July 2021)

© Lynn White

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Lynn White

Lynn White lives in North Wales. Her work is influenced by issues of social justice, as well as events, places, and people she has known or imagined. She has been nominated for Pushcarts, Best of the Net, and a Rhysling Award. https://lynnwhitepoetry.blogspot.com  and https://www.facebook.com/Lynn-White-Poetry-1603675983213077/

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