American Abyss

American Abyss
Cynthia Dewi Oka

I followed here the heart
I built for you. Here it is, blue

as the preening peacock’s crest, bruise
renewed again and again. Blue as

children made vapor, families ground
to grist raining on the accordion

chest of the sea. I followed here my own
forgetting of the fireflies that blink
like prayers in belligerent grasses; my
dreams of mattering, as in appearing–

a noun in your syntax. that stone
you strike for water. Is this not

the dream? To take more than
bodies have to give, then eat without

discord? I want you to know I have
always understood my place. That

the only feeling more beautiful than
your fear is your want. Look,

how your flowers light the world.

Cynthia Dewi Oka is the author of four poetry collections.
She lives in Los Angeles.

On the Same Hill

On the Same Hill

We Pursue
The same dream,
Complying with the laws,
Purple and yellow
On the same hill.

I remember
How I got here,
Just as others do;
Some are here by the wind;
Desperate waves,
Baffling the concerned.

We avoid
making more tears;
Find the right solution,
To put everything
In order and
Embracing all.

©Byung A. Fallgren

This poem first appeared in Talking River Review
Issue 48, Spring 2020.






Spring Birds’ Song


Spring Birds' Song

Within the pink world,
the sweet smell and cozy;
he leans to her, yawns, and closes his eyes.
She nudges; don't be so lazy, dear,
hawk's eyes are a magnet to us.
Ah, he murmurs, have faith in the blossoms,
while their magic lasts; like the lone house,
stands unscathed in the ruins of the twister.
I'll keep an eye open for you;
flowers and magic are whims of wind;
my love is the root of an oak tree.

This poem first appeared in The Avocet, A Journal of Nature Poetry,
Spring issue, 2025.
Thank you, Vivian and Charles for taking this poem.
--Byung A. Fallgren

The Things I Love

The Things I Love
Scottie McKenzie Frasier

A butterfly dancing in the sunlight,
A Bird singing to his mate,
The Whispering Pines,
The restless sea,
The gigantic mountains,
A stately tree,
The rain upon the roof,
The sun at early dawn,
A boy with a rod and hook,
The babble of a shady brook,
A woman with a smiling babe,
A man whose eyes are kind and wise,
Youth that is eager and unafraid--
When all is said, I do love best,
And where there's kindness, peace, and rest.

Scottie Frasier, born on September 7, 1884,
in Alabama, was a poet, editor, and lecturer.
She authored several poetry collections. She died
on November 21, 1964.