Poem of the Week: ‘Rubble’ by Maria Zalessky

3rd Place
‘Oasis’ by Krystal Volney

Life feels like an oasis: a distant dream;
torments of the veil linger in the subconscious,
the blur of mirages from poisonous barren deserts.
Love is the remedy to be liberated from societal rule,
with global inequalities searching for substance .

Paradise to be free from agony
releasing the brakes to reach the gates
like the sunshine over the plateau of high grades
day by day infernos blaze;
I plant my farm with carnivorous ants like grape vineyards

where bleeding hearts pump and thirst in the atmosphere
to be away from parasitic leeches sucking the land dry;
refugee camps deserted and searched
as snowmen drift along the mountains floating by,
in the bleak midwinter for the wings of an owl in the icy silent sky.

To catch glimpses of Aurora Borealis and blood red moons-
after cold sacrifices, the hypnotic images fade as reality tunes
reveal their true malicious intent.
It feels like destiny to die as animals or fall into a time continuum.
Towering skyscrapers rise above the city stores
as giant sequoias and towering oaks canopy the forest floor.

Life’s oasis blooms belladonna petals through the vines,
elusive yet so divine and very subtle.
O harmonious chatter of songbirds’ laughter
with lanterns as dancing fireflies are free.
Scarlet tapestry outlines the body’s solid majesty-
a stagnant soul searches for higher elect entities:
my hollow emptiness – emotionless and filled with apathy.
It’s an Oasis to escape and bathe in heavenly energy
far from the thicket of turmoil closer to infinity.

BIO: Krystal Volney is a West Indian poetess who was born on the island of Trinidad.