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Sentimental Poetry                                           edited by Anthony Watkins

Mate

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For a moment the ticking time stopped

of course, we lived, but yesterday

became tomorrow reflected in today.

 

The plaintive ooh . . . oooh dove cried for hours

a background, repetitive, reliable soft sound

nothing wrong with omitting a day.

 

Sweltering sun shadows green and black

nothing special, just ooh . . . oooh. Oh that dove

crying for a mate, lost yesterday, not even there tomorrow.

 

I killed a mosquito; will he be missed?

Will another mosquito cry for him, ashamed wearing sunglasses?

Mosquito-tears, what do they look like?

 

His mother now, no more his wife. A fleeting kiss in public

not allowed. “Aw Mom no! What will they think?”

A sigh in the sun. It's time to allow the clock to tick.

 

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UNIQUE

 

Warm winds whisper some strange silence

though soft and caressing.

Slow and stealthy steps

pass the sudden stare of a rose,

of many buttercups.

 

Then——

 

hue after hue grows clear

from backgrounds source, where

leaf and blossom drip liquid crystals.

I must have entered paradise.

Great mountain peaks announce

the sight of day's most festive hour.

They glow from joy of sparkling light

that later shines below.

 

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Marjon van Bruggen has been writing poetry since she was seventeen, but started seriously writing when she got pensioned. She is seventy-six now, married twice, has two children and five grandchildren.

 Since 2015, her work has been included in I Am Not A Silent Poet, The NY Literary Magazine (Anthology August 2016) and Pride in Poetry. 

Marjon studied in Amsterdam University Andragogic (this is not a faculty anymore) and followed writer's and poetry courses on-line with the IOWA State University, Greek and Roman Mythology with the Pennsylvanian University. At the moment also Advanced Editing Classes with Michael Collins (NY State University).

Family From Oregon to Texas

 

Living under the Oregon moon

And reaching for those I love

Falling short time and again

Of feeling their welcome hug

 

Having never seen the babes

Their little arms that hold

Life that passes within a blink

Mayhap I’ll never know

 

How I wish to travel there

Under the Texas moon

And see my angels playing all

Their loving family tunes

 

I may not ever see or hear

Their happy laughter ring

But God does know their little hearts

He’ll tell them for whom I sing.

 

 

Julie Nedele lives and writes in Cottage Grove, Oregon.

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Sentimental Attachment

 

water sloshing on every side in a white

metal container

the loudness, the sharpness, the whirring

the clicks and clanking led its way to the

sing of the machinery making a low steady

sound while it crooned a melody causing me

to shut my eyes as i waited for the buzzer

to sound off

 

feeling the powerful vibration of his feet

i dare not open my eyes, i dare not move

his smell so ordinary i wanted to bathe in it

bottle it, taste and enjoy it completely

 

i knew straight away that it was the 

scent of an older man

he  defined the smell of clean,

the way we wish our laundry to be 

 

imagining him as the noise whistled

ah, those sweet smelling memories

for an instant, he was there

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Diane Timpone

Why a Sentimental Poetry page, you might ask?

 

If you notice, we have several different sections for various genre/types of poetry. As modern free verse has grown, the space for formal and rhyming poetry has nearly disappeared, though a bit of a revival in the last decade has created a few outlets focused strictly or very nearly strictly in this category. We at BTS believe all poetry is best exposed in a mixed environment. A Haiku enthusiast may come to us to read Kevin's monthly contribution to that field, and stumble onto S Ye's Translations, or Vera's Formal page. Yet, we try to give space to each group in a way that doesn't offend the sensibilities of a person who detests one form or another. In our cafeteria, we try to offer enough on each page to be worth the trip.

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Recently, I realized we were under serving poetry from continents other than North America and Europe, so we added an International page, and now, for similar reasons, we are adding this new page for poetry that reflects a style that while sometimes dismissed in the lean experimental direction that free verse has taken. If you love a sentimental poem, or if you love to write sentimental poems, this page may be for you! As always, if you have any suggestions or comments, or if you want to send a poem or two, please drop us an email at betterthanstarbucks2@gmail.com, or check out out forums and share your thoughts there! - Anthony Watkins

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