Submission Policy





Mel BrakE Press acquires first serial rights to all work published. Mel BrakE Press also reserves the right to electronically archive any content published.




All other rights revert to author upon publication.



Mel BrakE Press has a liberal submission policy, and will accept poetry manuscripts (not books) for its next publication cycle, the Spring of 2018.



We do not charge a reading fee. We DO NOT PAY TO PUBLISH YOUR WORK.



We only accept submissions via email for collection of poems. Please send no more than 3-5 pages of poetry as an email attachment using standard MS format. We do not accept epic manuscripts:10 pages or more will be rejected.



Please note in subject line: "Submission".

Manuscripts that do not follow our guidelines
will be subject to rejection. We do not publish books.



Direct submissions or questions to:

Melbrake@verizon.net



Thank you











Sunday, October 19, 2014

JASON CONSTANTINE FORD-POETRY



Jason Constantine Ford is from Perth in Australia. He works as an employee at a book shop. He has over fifteen years of experience in studying various styles of poetry. The major influences on his style of poetry are William Blake, Edgar Alan Poe and Gerard Manley Hopkins. Blake’s ability to address the social issues of his time through poetry and painting has had a lasting impact upon Jason’s early years. For correspondence, contact Jason at jasonconstantineford@gmail.com

JASON CONSTANTINE FORD

Dream Woman


I walk toward a sign which indicates
Directions to a palace and begin to see
A woman of beauty appearing at the gates
Without another person in her company.

She holds a bowl of diverse fruits in her hand
And takes a bite from an apple which is green
As she gazes at me with features grand,
A beauty greater than other faces I have seen.

She offers me a piece of fruit to eat
And I respond by extending my hand out
To only touch empty air in summer heat
In a state of mind already plagued with doubt.



Morning Hangover


Images are flashing back as sparks ignite
Delusions I suffered from the other night.

The girls I encountered at a party appear
To be here as they speak with words I endear.

They are talking about values I evoked
Within the span of sharing weed we smoked.

I leave my bed desiring to embrace
A girl until she is gone without a trace.

In that moment, all the others have left
As I devolve with emotions bereft.

The boundary separating fiction from fact
Appears obscured in a manner most exact.

I cannot even tell the difference between
Reals girls and those who have never been.
 



Flashback of Pain


Images of her return within my sleep
As a set of brittle memories entering deep
Into both conscious and unconscious thought
Until images are gone away to status nought.
One image returns with bitterness immense
From the day she cruelly chose to withdraw
Her love resulting in affliction of each sense
Of mine unto a state of me being sore.
Memory of how she pulled her hand away
Is a form of bitterness that decides to stay.

Although I attempt to remove this image,
Chambers of thought suffer from the damage
This image brings into my state of mind
As effects of bitter years which always grind.
Each year which is dissolved into the dust
Of sadness is sprinkled with the pain of knowing
How I am simply left with less than the crust
Of years of bitterness that are still blowing.
In my sleep, the wind blows against my back
With the full force of an emotional attack.




The Tower of Illusion


At imposing height so high above the ground,
Machines are impregnating each captive mind
With memories of falsity most profound
Resulting in descent unto a status blind.
Circuits that connect each mind to central command,
Prepare for stage where former names no longer stand.
The tower’s brain replaces facts with callous lies
Designed to destroy the reality it denies.
The brain controlling brittle minds decides to break
Memories of old and inject fabricated life
Into the chambers of thought which blindly partake
In ocean of virtual delusions that are rife.
The span of years from brittle minds have been replaced
With new identities as former names are effaced.



Inside the Tower of Illusion


Circuits from a machine are placed around my head
unto an infusion of passionate thoughts that spread
to a belief that I am treading in a world below.

As I search through the mist of memories weak,
I am immersed with feelings for a woman I seek
And enter the woods without knowledge of where to go.

I pass through bushes which are shaking in the breeze
And gain a glimpse of this woman among the trees
Until she starts running away from my view.

Without any sense of direction, I begin to chase
Her with desperation but I cannot see a trace
Of features captivating me unlike others I knew.

In this state of ignorance where my goal is hidden
Among other virtual images that are forbidden
To me, a tower of illusion holds me captive.

I am left seeking a woman who does not exist
As passions within me are ones which persist
Under the control of a machine that remains active.



 
 












ARIF AHMAD- POETRY

ARIF AHMAD


FUNDAMENTALLY ONE

For all of our blood spilling differences,
How so different are we really?
The anatomy taught in medical schools,
Is it different for Muslims, Christians and Jews?
Don’t we all have the same workings, the same physiology?
The same disease processes, the same pathology?
Or does the appendix lay different for a Shia from a Sunni?
Or the neurons in the brain transmit differently?
Does cancer affect an Indian and spare a Pakistani?
Or Russians have two and Americans just one kidney?
Does aspirin work differently for a Palestinian and an Israeli?
That blood on the ground still some wet,
Is theirs red and them’s mulberry?
For sure the heart is where the difference has to be.
Well not really,
For I doctor the heart, and that is something I have yet to see.
So if all shades of skin are the same within,
Why such hate and to this extreme?
To me it does seem akin,
To darn our own self and damn our own being.
For we can hurt, we can kill, to our want, to our will,
And keep playing havoc,
On this tiny planet, this pale blue dot.
When all is, said and done,
We remain “Fundamentally One”









KARA L. TERRELL-POETRY

KARA L. TERRELL
(No Bio provided)



Mother May I?

Mother may I,
Hold you tight?
May I brush your hair?
And kiss your hands?

Mother may I,
apologize?
May I under-wrongs?
And make it fair?

Mother, my mother,
From the first opening of my eyes
To the first time I shut them tight
You were the apple of my eye

Mother - Mother
Know that at night
I go back to that place
and stay there until sunrise

Mother of mine,
Don’t shut your eyes
Don’t let go
Don’t leave
Don’t say goodnight

Mother,
Mother,
Hear my cry?
Hear me wail,
and fight back life?
See me wilt,
watch me break.

Mother dearest,
Hero, Angel,
Comforter, Caretaker
Mine, of mine,
Please. Please.
May I have more time
I’m not ready to say goodbye


SUSHANT SUPRIYE-POETRY


Born on 28.03.1968 . Had his school education from St. Francis
school, Amritsar( Punjab) and graduation from D.A.V. College, Amritsar .Topped in G.N.D. University  Amritsar, in Pre-University, B.A. ( English) Honours, and M.A.( English ) . Also topped in University of Delhi in M.A. ( Linguistics ) . Was lecturer in English for a few years in D.A.V. College, Jalandhar .
Sushant's short-stories and poems have been published in several literary magazines and national newspapers in English. He has to his credit a poetry-anthology titled " In Gandhi's Country " .
His short story collection in English titled " The Fifth Direction" is in press. Sushant is also an acclaimed writer and poet in Hindi . Has to his credit two short-story collections in Hindi titled ' Hatyare ' ( 2010)and ' He Ram ' ( 2012 ) , and one poetry-collection in Hindi titled ' Ek Boond Yah Bhi " ( 2014 ) . Sushant presently works as a senior officer in a Government organisation. He lives with his wife Dr. Leena and two children Vinaayak and Aanya in Delhi ( India ).

SUSHANT SUPRIYE


Hindi Poems of Sushant Supriye ( For publication)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
( Translated by the poet सुशांत सुà¤ÂªÃ ¥Ã ¤°Ã ¤¿Ã ¤¯ from Hindi )
1. Thus Spoke the Father
--------------------------------------
When I will no longer be there
I will still be there--
thus spoke the father

I will be alive in the
writings of my eldest son

I will peep out of the
paintings of my youngest daughter

I will breathe in the
self-respect of my second son

I will survive in the
steely resolve of my third son

Just as my father lives in me
and my children will live in their children
so will I be saved
in all of you
o my children--
said our father to us.
( Kaha Pitaji ne )

2. Yesterday Night in my Dreams
--------------------------------------------------
Yesterday night
in my dreams

Gandhari refused to
blindfold herself

Eklavya refused to
offer his thumb to Dronacharya

Sita refused to
go through ordeal by fire

Draupadi did not allow others
to put her at stake in gambling

Puru refused to give
his youth to Yayati

Several mistakes of
history and mythology
were corrected
yesterday night
in my dreams .
(Kal raat sapne me )

3. Someone Else
--------------------------
I wake up
one morning
and find out
I have turned
a stranger to myself
from every angle

My eyes seem
so unknown to me

My smile seems
someone else's

My hair has turned
unrecognizable

On my palms are etched
someone else's fate-lines

Psychologists say
It happens sometimes

That we go on living
someone else's life

That someone else
goes on living within us.

( koi aur )

TENDAI MWANAKA- POETRY


 VOICES FROM EXILE, a collection of poetry on
Zimbabwe’s political situation and exile in South Africa was published
by Lapwing publications, Northern Ireland in 2010. KEYS IN THE RIVER: Notes from a
Modern Chimurenga, a novel of interlinked stories that deals with life in
modern day Zimbabwe’s soul was published by Savant books and publications, USA
2012. A book of creative non-fiction pieces, ZIMBABWE: THE BLAME GAME,
was published by Langaa RPCIG( Cameroon 2013) I
was nominated for the Pushcart twice, 2008, 2010, commended for the Dalro prize
2008, work has been translated into French and Spanish. I was nominated and
attended The Caine African writing workshop, 2012. From January- April 2014, I was a Mentor for 3 budding writers in CACE Africa Writivism. Published over  250
pieces of short stories, essays, memoirs,
poems and photographic/visual art in over 150 magazines, journals, and
anthologies in the following countries,  the USA , UK , Canada ,
South Africa, Zimbabwe, India , Mexico, Kenya, Cameroon, Italy ,
Ghana, Uganda, France , Zambia, Nigeria, Spain , Romania, Cyprus,
Australia and New Zealand. 


TENDAI MWANAKA


THE LATEST

Aftermaths of
garbage tossed about, sewage rotting.

Dirty water, empty stomachs,
empty lives, empty beings.

This garden is
a history of
thousands of them.
Political loose canons
living in the exclusive suburbs.

But in the dusty, populated
Budiriro's streets

Crammed thoughts like bombs are
waiting to explode- 
 

THIS ART OF SUPPRESSION

Now the windows and doors
 are closed
  in the tea-pot shaped country.
    But the battle still rages on.
     And the frames are shadowed
        by a shell that speaks of death.

        A sort of lofty remembrance
       in my mind
      paints tiny flitting layers of
    experience diluting limitation.
   Pushing my awareness
into some sort of epiphany.

     But can I see, can I smell
   with my eye, with my nose
 the blood in those battlefields
seemingly so clean of blood?

So finely crafted
this art of suppression
is a work of art!

No outside ear can hear
 the thundering guns
  flashing knives.
   Sounds of henchmen
     championing a killing!

Could I sense their obvious pain
  their valleys of tears, their cries
    their grief-strung hearts
      their endless miseries
        the path of self destruction
          they are now set on?

FATED

This people remains downtrodden
in their hungers, the emptiness-
of their lives.
In their victim's posture!

They scrounge for food in the streets.
Their children are in the streets.
Their women have chosen
a moonlight career.

There is no retirement for this people
like a dappled spider
in the specks of its own webs.
There is no rest for this people.

calling for you
 
 
"everyday that we live
we throw pebbles into the pool
and the pebbles create ripples
someday the ripples would meet."
 
you say you are leaving me today.
we are sixteen, young and immature. coz in our hearts we know we have to let go. in my heart i know, i can’t let you go. in your heart you know, we never meant to be. in our hearts we know, we have to marry others
 
this is our safety net
that someday
i would come for you
 
can i glimpse the map that’s sending you away. can i feel the
price you are paying now. can’t delay you, to help me escape. our hearts touches the pure silence between us. could only think of you, on and off over the years. she left me after thirty years. i knew it was time to call for you
 
goggled your name on the net, the rest is history. left Phoenix Arizona for Toowoomba Australia. mailed out my love to the address of your heart. Rod Stewart says the first cut is the deepest and i believe its true, that we belong together
 
this is my heart's call
that today
that’s calling for you

at all times respect your heart's potential by following your path through your heart. step strongly into your eternal sunset. for a push can bring us out of our calling in a lifetime contrived by time. but the mountain is calling us to its peak again and our calling becomes another calling. another calling, and another calling...

TO AGONY OF DEATH

Constantly being aware
Of the consequences of
Our beings, the souls
Of my people.

And creatures
Of that old cold hunt
Lost and concealed
Lessons lost too.

The first thirst of
Desperation
Is a moat of agony?
That disturbs the mind
It is a thirst
At the edges of the sea

And all time chimes
To this call
Impaled on a thorn of
Chance or something
To experience for itself.

LOVE

He wanted to believe you.
Love is this way-
Isn’t it, impossible?




PAUL BURGESS-POETRY

PAUL BURGESS
(No Bio provided)



“To Anxiety”

 I
Although I’ve spent a lot of time with you,
And you would often hold me, stand by me,
Remain with me in best and worst of times—
To starve equanimity while feeding fear
With nourishment required by peace’s roots—
Your frequent recent absences bring no tears
To eyes no longer clouded by your breath’s
Impenetrable, nauseating fog.

 II
I never could escape when trying to flee.
To struggle only tightened boa-like
Embraces slowly piercing heart with bones.
Exhausted and resigned to dying in your grip,
I ceased to claw, to scratch, to push away—
No more diversion, dreaming, fear, or hope.
Observing, only watching, touching you,
I saw your face more clearly than before.

 III
The wave of panic darkening your eyes
Expressed your fear; you knew what I had grasped.
Though coiled around your nearly vanquished prey,
Without my help, your strength began to wane.
You’d only grown so strong because I’d fed you;
I was entangled because I’d pulled the knots.
You let me go because I let you go.
On future visits, bring your food or starve.