Most Read Poets 2021

Most read poets 2021 based on readership 

Two Poems by Byron Beynon

https://northofoxford.wordpress.com/2021/03/13/two-poems-by-byron-beynon-2/

Cantata by Jeffrey Cyphers Wright

https://northofoxford.wordpress.com/2021/08/14/cantata-by-jeffrey-cyphers-wright/

Howard Beach: Queens, NY by Doug Holder

https://northofoxford.wordpress.com/2021/01/12/howard-beach-queens-ny-by-doug-holder/

Leave Meeting by Bruce E. Whitacre

https://northofoxford.wordpress.com/2021/01/12/leave-meeting-by-bruce-e-whitacre/

A Familiar Street, Unknown by Brian Rihlmann

https://northofoxford.wordpress.com/2021/05/13/a-familiar-street-unknown-by-brian-rihlmann/

When my dad created god by Jane-Rebecca Cannarella

https://northofoxford.wordpress.com/2021/09/11/when-my-dad-created-god-by-jane-rebecca-cannarella/

Two Poems by John Dorroh

https://northofoxford.wordpress.com/2021/07/14/two-poems-by-john-dorroh/

Wild by Paul Ilechko

https://northofoxford.wordpress.com/2021/04/11/wild-by-paul-ilechko/

Two Poems by Catherine Zickgraf

https://northofoxford.wordpress.com/2021/05/13/two-poems-by-catherine-zickgraf/

Two Poems by Mark Tulin

https://northofoxford.wordpress.com/2021/03/13/two-poems-by-mark-tulin/

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Two Poems by Byron Beynon

A Bar at the Folies-Bergère

after the painting by Edouard Manet

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Her mind is elsewhere,

inhabiting a stillness within

as the drawn hours of servitude

gradually emerge on her face.

The empty noise of human life

fades as she gazes away

from the cabaret’s forged promise.

The expensive alcohol

about to escape

from the music of bottles,

a geometry of untouched

fruit by her left hand

as a customer waits

for his evening to begin.

Art’s flowers accompanied

by the atmosphere of a room’s address,

mirror’d figures caught

within an unbroken reflection.

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Cherry Tree

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The pink blossom I see

outside my window

has entered my head,

the bark of the tree

has touched my skin.

Outwards,

the roots are hereditary,

they are growing

with me.

Each tree sings,

each blossom screams

in a world where history

is madness.

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 Byron Beynon lives in Wales.  His work has appeared in several publications including North of Oxford, The London Magazine, Cyphers (Dublin), San Pedro River Review, The Blue Nib and the human rights anthology In Protest (University of London and Keats House Poets). A former co-editor of Roundyhouse Poetry Magazine.  Collections include Cuffs (Rack Press) and The Echoing Coastline (Agenda Editions).

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Two Poems by Byron Beynon

Crossing the River

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The river maps its way

towards the expectant sea,

new channels drawn

by the growth of light

as free birds wander and feed.

Anonymous fishermen knock

at the tide’s rising door,

accompanied by those travel-stained clouds

erased and drawn again

within memory.

Nomadic seasons pausing

to reflect the view of liberated water,

a natural movement

learning the dialect of each

fresh pattern and sharpened line.

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Coral

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A Medusa of red coral

sculptured and hardened

from the dance of seaweed,

part of the undercurrent’s salty legend.

The presence of fading rhythms,

a white requiem washed ashore

blanched by rods of sunlight.

This patient craft by tiny creatures –

antlers of staghorn, a maze of brain,

the polished black, the deep Angel Skin –

in a reverie of sea.

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Byron Beynon lives in Swansea, Wales. Collections include The Echoing Coastline (Agenda Editions) and Cuffs (Rack Press). His selected poems appeared in 2018 (Bilingual: English/Romanian – published by Bibliotecha Universalis/Collectiile/ Revistei “Orizont Literar Contemporan”, translations by Dr Monica Manolachi, University of Bucharest)

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