A Defeat

Shadows shift back and forth
a man’s face disappears into his wife’s
and appears to her again in her friend’s.

A yellow leaf of conscience trembles
on the edge of a resolution.

A rain of clouds washes away
a long dream scribbled
on the sprawling sands of
a melting clock.

A flock of gulls explode
into a terrible absence.

An old jasmine fragrance tries again
to widen the spaces between
the ageless rock and the aging boat.

 
Sreekanth Kopuri, PhD, is a Telugu-speaking Indian English poet from Machilipatnam, India. He is globally published and a recipient of J.K. International Award for his poetry in 2015 from India. He has recited his poetry and presented research papers in Oxford, Banja Luka, Caen, Gdanski, Dusseldorf and Wilkes Universities. He has two anthologies, The Shadows (2001) and The Void which are forthcoming from Partridge Publishing in Winter 2018. His poems have been published or accepted in Ann Arbor Review, Scryptic Magazine, Five 2 One, Ariel Chart, Vayavya, Forty Eight Review, Poetcrit Indian Periodical, Deccan Chronicle and elsewhere. He is presently an Assistant professor of English in Sri Vasavi Institute of Engineering & Technology, Machilipatnam, dividing his time between writing and teaching.

Luis Lázaro Tijerina was born in Salina, Kansas. Mr. Tijerina has a Master of Art degree in history, concentration being military history and diplomacy. He is a published author of military theory, short stories, essays and poetry. Mr. Tijerina resides in Vermont.