If I can remember well, Chairman Mao said many years ago, there are two kinds of contradictions in the world -- Contradiction between the people and contradiction amongst the people.
Sometimes if a murderer is at your front door, you need to stop arguments inside the house and deal with the murderer at the front door first.
CHRYSANTHEMUM / FIVE WILLOWS LITERARY REVIEW is an Online literary review of the Chrysanthemum Literary Society for selected works that fit the spirit of Mr. Five Willows. Send your work via email to koonwoon@gmail.com both in the body of the email and as an attached Word file. Response time is immediate to 2 weeks. Thank you. All donations are tax-deductible.
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Monday, October 21, 2019
Haiku --- Lenora Good
Like thin chocolate
the Rio Grande pours past me
I thirst.
Dragonflies
tango above the water
tiny
scarlet flames.
Thor's hammer bounces
across the clouds—
puppy
shakes in fear.
Why is it easier
to accept my death
than yours?
Thursday, October 17, 2019
Three Haiku ----- James Roderick Burns
How dear
the small, lit window!
How distant!
*
Mossy cobbles
flatten and shine under
the wash of tyres
*
Stillness –
the night-bird’s cry flits
from wall to wall
Saturday, October 12, 2019
Julie A. Dickson --- three new poems
The Brand for Real Change
The brand I wear is for freedom
with elephants roaming wild
of dolphins and whales breeching,
living in family pods at sea.
I can’t abide a captive life for them,
behind logos of SeaWorld or zoos,
circus tents with hook-handed handlers
dishing out abuse among rings of fire.
The brand I wear is for fairness for all
gender identities and persons of color,
to live without fear, to gain and maintain rights,
to move forward instead of losing ground.
I can’t abide the fork-tongues of leaders,
daily barrage of violence and hatred;
people yelling across widening chasms
disregarding beckoning hands of friendship.
The brand I wear is a barren beach,
clean sand with pink shells and pebbles,
free from decaying fish and sharks,
dead sea turtles that ingested debris.
I can’t abide the sight of trash,
plastic washing up on the shore,
sea water a floating raft of death,
collateral damage of human waste.
The brand I wear is for real change
for enough people to care and listen,
to stop environmental destruction,
abandon cruelty, protect the earth.
I can’t abide the human apathy,
silence condoning their behavior
to appear deaf and blind to the chaos;
isn’t it time to wake up and change?
Julie A. Dickson
Exeter, NH
Gray
Gray skin sags over a large frame,
skin and bones you might say
I’m not allowed to graze, forage
as nature intends – I wait.
They throw dried grass, sticks.
I amble over to the pile slowly
as my feet are sore and cracked,
pavement hard; it’s been so long
since I felt dirt and grass beneath.
Where are the trees for my itchy hide,
branches to pull on, pungent leaves?
I crave to wander; my eyes close.
I see my herd, ears flapping, rumbles
through the ground, joyous voices,
but when I look again, I am alone -
lonely and penned in, no herd here
just the loud voices of my captors.
Julie A. Dickson
Exeter, NH
Song
of Mother Earth
A
wonderland of nature
sings
a song of mother earth
plants
and animals grow
celebrating
every birth
Listen
to the river
flowing
out to sea
rustle
in the tree tops
birds
call out to me
Hear
the cattle lowing
and
dogs up on a hill
footsteps
in the forest
beneath
the walk until
whispers
from the cloudy sky
cool
breeze blows my hair
scan
the distant mountain range
across
lakes and valleys there
Like
ancestors from our past
worship
moon and father sky
cherish
earth our mother
don’t
let her beauty pass you by
Sit
upon the granite rock
contemplate
the far off plains
sing
a song of mother earth
in
this land where nature reigns
Julie
A. Dickson
Exeter,
NH
Friday, October 11, 2019
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A Mathematical Abecedarian Poem A problem is to calculate the Beta function at alpha = 1/2, where it is Continuous, has a transcendental...