Published by Associate Editor on February 9, 2014. This item is listed in Issue 21, Issue 21 Poetry, Poetry

Curiosity

Narrated by Geoffrey A. Landis

by Geoffrey A. Landis

Curiosity by Geoffrey A. Landis

We are curious creatures,
born to wonder,
ever wanting to know what is over
the ridge, the horizon, across the ocean.
What lies
beyond the sky?
Behind the moon?
We yearn to fly.

We are curious creatures,
born to wander,
yearning to know
where the path wends,
where the forest ends,
What is beyond the curve of the world?
What lies beyond the river’s bends?

We are curious creatures,
born to be builders,
to build towers, and clockworks,
build spaceships and robots
to send us out faster
to let us see farther
to probe the dark,
to pierce the sky.

We are wandering creatures,
our sails unfurled.
What monsters lie past
the edge of the world?
“I want to see!” is always our cry.
We have no wings, but yet we still fly

AUTHOR BIO: Geoffrey A. Landis is a scientist and a science-fiction writer. He is the author of eighty published short stories and novelettes, and just under fifty poems. His novel Mars Crossing appeared from Tor Books, and a short story collection Impact Parameter (and other quantum realities) from Golden Gryphon. In 1990 his story “Ripples in the Dirac Sea” won the Nebula award for best short story; in 1992 his short story “A Walk in the Sun” won the Hugo award; and in 2003 his short story “Falling Onto Mars” won the Hugo. His novel Mars Crossing won the Locus Award for best first novel of 2000. His work has been translated into twenty-one languages.

Dr. Landis is a scientist with the N.A.S.A. John Glenn Research Center and has published 400 scientific papers in the fields of photovoltaics and astronautics, holds seven patents on photovoltaic device designs, has written dozens of articles about model rocket technology, and has worked on a number of space missions, including his current assignment on the Mars Exploration Rovers.

He is the recipient of the prestigious Robert A. Heinlein Award (the ceremony will be at the Balticon, May 2014).

Find more about Geoff here: http://www.geoffreylandis.com/

Published by Associate Editor on February 9, 2014. This item is listed in Issue 21, Issue 21 Poetry, Poetry

Blue Tulips

Narrated by Mary A. Turzillo

by Mary A. Turzillo

A knack for reading minds:
mostly of children
(“that baby’s tummy hurts”)
or animals
(“he wants you to scratch his ears”)
but one day she saw blue tulips
that had mouths
and a butterscotch sky with green clouds
and she knew
the other mind lived far far away
too far ever to visit.

So this mind lived with her
they became friends
talked about hunting parties
(the blue tulips had wheels and tasted like—
well, delicious, with a mirnish tang)
and how you could float straight up to the pring
if you just closed your elibs and let go
and there were colors so beautiful
quite beyond the red to indigo of earth.

She told the other mind
of the world she saw with her senses
and that mind marveled that creatures,
could live in gas,
could talk with bursts of sound,
could make copies of themselves,
made patterns of sound called music.

Everyone knew she was strange
they thought maybe epilepsy
or maybe a touch of schizo-something
but she was harmless
and since she had no children of her own
and a monotonous job
they let her be

and she stopped talking
about her telepathic knack
because the things she saw
were not what folks at the factory
wanted to hear about.

And one day the other mind
said, please, help me, please, I’m yugling,
and it won’t stop and it hurts

they both knew about hurt
but she couldn’t help
and her friend hurt even more
and called out again, again, again.

So she stayed home from work,
and wept with shared agony
and the horror of seeing her friend going
going going going going away

the next day, the hurt stopped
it all stopped
the blue tulips
the wonderful butterscotch sky

and her knack went away
she went back to the assembly line job
and wished she could hear dogs and children
but inside, she knew,
she was dead.

AUTHOR BIO: After a career as a professor of English at Kent State University, Dr. Mary A. Turzillo is now a full-time writer. In 2000, her story “Mars Is No Place for Children” won SFWA’s Nebula award for best novelette. Her novel An Old-Fashioned Martian Girl was serialized in Analog in July-Nov 2004. These two works have been selected as recreational reading on the International Space Station.

Mary’s Pushcart-nominated collection of poetry, “Your Cat & Other Space Aliens,” appeared from VanZeno Press in 2007. Her collaborative book of poetry/art, Dragon Soup, written with Marge Simon, appears from VanZeno in 2008.

Mary’s collection Lovers & Killers, in addition to winning the Elgin Award, was also on the Stoker ballot and contains “The Hidden,” second place winner in the Dwarf Stars award for 2012, plus two Rhysling nominees: “Tohuko Tsunami” and “Galatea.”

See http://www.duelingmodems.com/~turzillo/ and http://maryturzillo.livejournal.com/ for more information

Published by Associate Editor on February 9, 2014. This item is listed in Issue 21, Issue 21 Poetry, Poetry

Whales Discover Fireworks

Narrated by Mary A. Turzillo

by Mary A. Turzillo

Whales Discover Fireworks by Mary A. Turzillo

An 11-year-old female bottlenose whale, not yet sexually mature, spent up to three days in the Thames estuary, in a flawed attempt to head west and rejoin the Atlantic.
—Times Online January 25, 2006

Junk-food-crazed raccoons moved in first,
via our chimneys,
then a few bears, uninvited to brunch,
skulking away with a bag of cheese fries,
merely annoyed at shouting or gunshots.

The mountain lions wore out their welcome
snacking on puggles, cats, and the occasional hiker.
Speak nothing of peregrines, roadkill-fed in skyscraper aeries
Or Canada geese,
squawking for white bread, refusing to migrate, crapping the boat dock.
Squirrels stealing birdseed , begging to be petted.
Deer munching our shrubs, addicted to corn and salt,
undeterred by pie tins rattling in the wind, or fox piss.

They’ve all heard our hamsters are treated well,
good grub, and if you get bored, just wander off:
remember those flocks of feral parakeets?

And now the whales. They heard Seaworld has an HMO.
So baby orca Luna adopts Nootka fishermen,
gambols with their boats, but tantrums
when Fisheries wants him back with his boring pod.

Are we deaf? They want in.
So let’s finish what began when the first wolf
made his peace with fire,
bequeathing his children forever the hearth and the leash.

That bottlenose whale swimming up the Thames
amid New Years’ pyrotechnics
had a message for London:
Take me in. Tow me to your emergency ward and heal me.
I want an aquarium and a good education.
Will do tricks for haddock.

Freedom’s just a word
and the words slave and master, in whale, are one.

See http://www.duelingmodems.com/~turzillo/ and http://maryturzillo.livejournal.com/ for more information

Published by Associate Editor on February 9, 2014. This item is listed in Issue 21, Issue 21 Poetry, Poetry

Attic Dust

Narrated by Sandi Leibowitz

by Sandi Leibowitz

Attic Dust by Sandi Leibowitz

AUTHOR BIO: Sandi Leibowitz is a native New Yorker who has been the Sands Point hag, a ghostwriter for a monsignor, a classical musician and a school librarian. Her speculative fiction and poetry appear in places like Strange Horizons, Mythic Delirium, Apex, and Luna Station Quarterly.

Published by Associate Editor on February 9, 2014. This item is listed in Issue 21, Issue 21 Poetry, Poetry

When the Dark Shadow Falls

The best way to enjoy listening to this poem is to listen to the original Spanish version first

Cuando entre la Sombra Oscura

When the Dark Shadow Falls

Narrated by Steven Wittenberg Gordon, MD

by Gustavo Adolfo Becquer, translated by Steven Wittenberg Gordon, MD

When the Dark Shadow Falls by Gustavo Adolfo Becquer

Cuando entre la Sombra Oscura	When the Dark Shadow Falls

Cuando entre la sombra oscura	When the dark shadow falls
perdida una voz murmura	a lost voice murmurs
turbando su triste calma,	disturbing your sad calm
si en el fondo de mi alma	if in the core of my being
la oigo dulce resonar,	I hear the sweetness resonate,

Dime: ¿es que el viento en sus giros	Tell me: is it that the swirling wind
se queja, o que tus suspiros	complains, or that your sighs
me hablan de amor al pasar?	speak to me of love that’s gone?

Cuando el sol en mi ventana	When the sun in my window
rojo brilla a la mañana	shines red in the morning
y mi amor tu sombra evoca,	and my love evokes your shadow,
si en mi boca de otra boca	if in my mouth of another mouth
sentir creo la impresión,	I believe I feel the impression,

Dime: ¿es que ciego deliro,	Tell me: is it that I am delirious and blind
o que un beso en un suspiro	or that a kiss in a sigh
me envía tu corazón?	sends to me your heart?

Y en el luminoso día	And in the luminous day
y en la alta noche sombría,	and in the height of the shadowy night,
si en todo cuanto rodea	if in all whatever it surrounds
al alma que te desea	to the core of your desires
te creo sentir y ver,	I believe you to feel and see,

Dime: ¿es que toco y respiro	Tell me: is what I touch and breathe
soñando, o que en un suspiro	in a dream, or that in a sigh
me das tu aliento a beber?	you give me your breath to drink?

Gustavo Adolfo Becquer	Steven Wittenberg Gordon, MD
Author	Translator

Translator’s Notes:

Spanish is a beautiful, romantic language that I have always admired. It is naturally poetic. So, when I decided to become a poet, I decided to include translations of Spanish poems into English as part of my body of work. I found a number of Spanish language poems in the public domain by Spanish poet Gustavo Aldolfo Bécquer and translated them into English. One of these, “Cuando entre la Sombra Oscura / When the Dark Shadow Falls,” appears here.

Translation proved to be an interesting exercise. I began by translating the words as literally as possible. Most of the time, the literal translation did not work either for meaning or as poetry. Next, I rearranged the word order to resemble English. For example, in Spanish, an adjective usually follows the word that it modifies–the exact opposite of English. Many times, this did the trick. After that, I had to get down in the weeds to tease out how certain words with multiple plausible meanings should be translated. I found the process easier as I went along.

I placed my highest priority on creating poetry first–hence my almost complete disregard for a literal translation. I ran into trouble right away with the title. Literally translated, it means, “When enters the shadow dark.” I quickly changed this to, “When the dark shadow enters.” However, idiomatically in English, we say, “When the dark shadow falls.”

I also placed a high priority on conveying the precise, intended meaning of the poet. This was the most difficult aspect in some ways, as it was tempting to insert my own bias for word choice into the translation. It was most tempting to take a stab at preserving Bécquer’s beautiful rhyme scheme in this poem–aabbc in the quintets, and ddc in the tercets. However, I quickly abandoned the notion. Duplicating the rhyme scheme almost inevitably would have meant choosing words for the sake of their sound and not their meaning. I am proud to say, I remained loyal to Bécquer.

Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer (1836 – 1870) is considered one of the first modern Spanish poets. Originally from Sevilla, he moved to Madrid in 1854 in pursuit of a literary career. Sadly, Bécquer received acclaim only after his death from tuberculosis at the age of 34. [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/58011/Gustavo-Adolfo-Becquer]

Steven Wittenberg Gordon, MD, the editor of Songs of Eretz Poetry E-zine, learned Spanish by paying attention in high school Spanish class. Originally from upstate New York, he moved to Kansas in 2007 in pursuit of a literary career. He still practices medicine on a part-time basis and has diagnosed and treated numerous cases of tuberculosis. Visit him at www.eretzsongs.blogspot.com.

(editor note: With sincere apologies to Steven Wittenberg Gordon, MD, the original version of the this poem published here, with its translation, was in error, and was missing the translator notes and biography. We make every effort to provide a quality magazine and all errors were Silver Blade’s and not the translator’s.)

Published by Associate Editor on February 9, 2014. This item is listed in Issue 21, Issue 21 Poetry, Poetry

The Last Ride

by John Grey

Winds have changed direction.

His old horse bears him home,
one sore but uncomplaining step
ahead of encroaching shadows.

He tosses his broken sword into the lake
though no hand reaches up
to grasp it.

Autumn leaves have shed their color.
Moon begins to rise.
Breast-plate never felt so heavy.

Here is a man who once slayed dragons.
But it’s his heart that’s burned down to a flicker now.

If only the fates would allow
one last walk to Dromedere pond at sunset,
hand in hand with Elena.

But distance plots against him.
His battered armor freezes.
Each patch of ground could be his winter grave.

Death and darkness
ply their trade
beneath the twinkle of unfeeling stars.

He’s at the mercy of the one black knight
whose blade strikes from within.

AUTHOR BIO: John Grey is an Australian born poet. Recently published in The Lyric, Vallum and the science fiction anthology, â€œThe Kennedy Curseâ€ with work upcoming in Bryant Literary Magazine, Natural Bridge, Southern California Review and 2 Bridges Review.

Published by Associate Editor on February 9, 2014. This item is listed in Introductions, Issue 21, Poetry

Introduction to Issue 21 Poetry

by John C. Mannone

I get excited in presenting a slate of poets to you every issue, which I try to make better (if that’s possible). I also like to try new things. In this issue, the celebrated poets, Geoffrey A. Landis and Mary A. Turzillo, husband and wife, are our Featured Poets. I think you will find it interesting, humorous, and enlightening to see how two speculative poets and writers develop their craft, under the same roof. Enjoy the interview and a sampling of their poetic styles with “Curiosity” and “Night at the Manatee Motel” by Geoffrey, and “Blue Tulips” and “Whales Discover Fireworks” by Mary.

Marge Simon treats us to a creative poem, “Catana,” which segues nicely into a love poem by Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer. Steven Gordon translates this passionate poem from Spanish to English. (This is another new feature I hope to see more of in future issues—poems-in-translation.) “Attic Dust” by Sandi Leibowitz is emotionally charged is an experimental poem (with respect to structure). John Grey’s “The Last Ride” brings a bit of fantasy to the table, but it is much more than that.

Thank you for reading and listening to these poems (most of them have an audio file for your extended enjoyment.)

John C. Mannone
Poetry Editor