You are My Brother, My Sister by Carolyn S. Mahnke

Monstera Productions

You are My Brother, My Sister

You are my sister. My prayer is that you

will always share the self we are, alone and together.

My brother, you are my umbrella. When circumstance

rains bitterly, I am the self-worth pillow that

validates the meaning of our existence.

I blossom in the pollen of your trust and bear fruit

because you are with me in this mystery of life.

It is perfectly okay to hate or love a floating vision.

Brother, sister, parent, child of mine,

why argue over land? Or power? Or religion?

We enter or leave each precious hour, hand over

hand and naked. We possess neither earth nor

the air, as we share the blessing of creation.

We are sisters and brothers, walking,

aware that life is brief and love’s a blessing.

We are both prayers of and for the rest of

humanity, each with the other. AMEN

First published in SECOND STORY VIEW, by Carolyn S. Mahnke, June 2025

© Carolyn S. Mahnke

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Carolyn S. Mahnke

Carolyn Mahnke is a registered nurse and retired Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist, living in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She loves gardening, mothering, “grandmothering”, quilting, walking, swimming, and writing. She has written and published four poetry books: Howl at the Moon and Tell Outrageous Truth, Howl from the Center of Being,  Howling from Senior Moments, and Second Story View. She enters her 80th decade with energy and enthusiasm, nourished and encouraged by friends and family, especially by Nadia Colburn’s online writing community.

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BRIEF ETERNITY by Susan P. Blevins

 

ph.galtri

BRIEF ETERNITY

One day, long ago, on the shores of the Indian Ocean,

I entered the mystical garden where all is one,

losing all limitation of body,

all sensation of body,

all body

 

I was the swaying palm tree along the beach,

fronds waving in the sky that was also me,

birds flying into my crown and settling.

 

For a brief eternity

I glimpsed bliss,

bliss of belonging,

bliss of union with all,

bliss of freedom from boundaries

 

For just a moment I stepped

into this place that is no place, into

this time which is the crucible of all time

and dissolved into divine ecstasy

  

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Susan P. Blevins 

Susan P. Blevins was born in England and subsequently spent all but the first twenty years of her life in Italy and the USA. She had a weekly column in an international newspaper while living in Rome, and now publishes her writing in various literary publications worldwide.

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I had a Dream by Edilson A. Ferreira

Quang Nguyen Vinh

I Had a Dream 

I dreamed that there were no borders or barriers

and everyone was coming and going all over. 

There were no countries with complicated names,

nor other languages difficult to pronounce.

There were no Latin or Jewish quarters, 

consulates, embassies, or customs. 

We were dealing with John, Joseph, and Peter, 

having forgotten the old records 

at those big notary books of names like 

Tudors, Stuarts, Windsors, 

Whites, Browns, and Smiths. 

Priests, pastors, rabbis and teachers, 

together they worshiped the same God, 

the same saints and prophets, 

praising the history we lived

and sowing hope in the hereafter. 

Restaurants, schools, and hospitals, 

all of them were open to anyone, 

even the parties, weddings, and baptisms 

and all other pleasures of the day-to-day. 

 

First published in Creative Talents Unleashed, June 16, 2018.

© Edilson A. Ferreira

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Edilson A. Ferreira

Edilson A. Ferreira, 81, is a Brazilian poet who writes in English rather than Portuguese. He has published two poetry books, Lonely Sailor and Joie de Vivre, and 300 works in various international literary journals. Has also been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. He began writing at the age of 67 after retiring from a bank.

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