Extraordinary Sunshine Weaver

I was so delighted to be invited to collaborate on an ekphrastic poem with Nolcha Fox, Yongbo Ma, Helen Pletts, and Belinda Subraman. We used Belinda’s adorable acrylic painting, “baby monster”, which is my featured image for this post. Thank you, Kelly Sauvage Moyer, for publishing our collaboration on Circle of Salt.

https://circleofsaltmag.blogspot.com/2026/04/tiny-monster-by-yongbo-ma-helen-pletts.html

tiny monster


I have the sudden relevance of an extinct wild flower
un-pressed, when all her petals are re-levelling.
I had been hiding amongst the walls of caves
and now I exist again between the bright horizon
of everything that blooms. And in this season of re-emerging
I am the gentle beast curling in the pollen, like a dazzled bee

(Helen)



I float in warmth and breeze and sun.
No compass needs to guide me.
The bees abuzz above my face think
I am blossom, pollen-filled,
drunk with natural honey.

(Nolcha)


Cradled by the rocking fears 
of Zeus. My fins, outstretched fingers, 
tease owls. Their eyes set the sun. 
I bask in Nyx’s light & Hypnos’ songs.
And descend into the indigo myth 
until a new dawn.

(Barbara)

How many rebirths must it take
to attain such freshness
a petal, rippling in the green cloud.
Ancient fears fall away like scales, one by one,
even ancient wisdom loses its way.
You float, no longer needing purpose, listening
as all things burst into bloom.
Our flesh, too,
grows white and light, ready to be reborn.

(yongbo)

I sail on green shadow lake
Blossoms and branches sway.
Petals land on my shoulders,
are breeze-kissed to water,
a floating reminder
that I am here
before I’ve gone.

(Belinda)


小怪兽

我忽然与一株绝迹野花有了关联
未曾被压制，当它所有花瓣重新舒展。
我曾藏身于岩壁洞穴之间
而今再度存在于
万物盛放的明亮天际之间
在这重现的时节
我是蜷伏在花粉里的温顺异兽
像一只目眩神迷的蜜蜂

（海伦）

我漂浮在暖意、微风与阳光里
无需罗盘指引方向
嗡嗡掠过我脸庞的蜜蜂们
都以为我是盛放的花
满身花粉，沉醉于天然蜜露

（诺尔查）

在宙斯摇荡的恐惧中安睡
我的鳍，舒展的手指
逗弄着猫头鹰。它们的眼睛点亮太阳
我沉浸在倪克斯的柔光
与许普诺斯的歌声里
沉入靛蓝色的神话深处
直至新的黎明降临

（芭芭拉）

需要多少次重生，才能有如此的清新
如一片花瓣，在绿云中荡漾
那些古老的恐惧如鳞片一一褪去
甚至那些古老的智慧也失去了方向
你漂浮着，不再需要目的，你在倾听
万物如花怒放。我们的肉身
也一同变得洁白而轻盈，准备再次重生

（永波）

我泛舟于绿影之湖
花枝轻摇
花瓣落上肩头
又被微风吻入水中
这飘零的提醒证明
在我离去之前
我曾在此

（贝琳达）

Our Bios

Belinda Subraman’s art and poetry have appeared in many publications both online and in print. She is editor and publisher of GAS:  Poetry, Art and Music, an online zine and video show as well as a group on Facebook. She also does video interviews of poets and artists for GAS and Beatlife ezines. There are 247 videos pertaining to the arts and activism on her YouTube channel. https://www.youtube.com/@BelindaSubraman

~

Ma Yongbo is a Ph.D., representative of Chinese avant-garde poetry, and a leading scholar in Anglo-American poetry. He has published over 80 original works and translations since 1986, including 6 poetry collections. He focuses on translating and teaching Anglo-American poetry and prose, including the works of Dickinson, Whitman, Stevens, Pound, Williams, and Ashbery. He recently published a complete translation of Moby Dick, which sold over half a mission copies. He teaches at Nanjing University of Science and Technology.

The Collected Poems of Ma Yongbo (4 volumes, Eastern Publishing Centre, 2024) includes 1178 poems and celebrates 40 years of writing poetry.

~

Helen Pletts 海伦·普莱茨 is the English co-translator of Chinese poet Ma Yongbo 马永波, her official translator. She is a committee member of CB1 Poetry, the established monthly poetry reading event in central Cambridge UK, which has organised poetry readings for many years. CB1 features up-and-coming writers and well-known poetry names.

Her work has been translated into Chinese, Bangla, Greek, Vietnamese, Serbian, Korean, Arabic, Italian, Albanian, and Romanian.

Website:  https://www.helenpletts.com/

~

Barbara Harris Leonhard is the author of Three-Penny Memories: A Poetic Memoir (2022) and The Lost Book of Zeroth (2025). She is co-author of Too Much Fun to Be Legal (2024) and Broken Rengay: Unruly Poetry (2025). She’s a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominee. Trending Poets named her Poet of the Year in 2023 and 2024. Her poetry has been translated into Italian, Albanian, and Chinese. She is the Editor for MasticadoresUSA and FEED THE HOLY. Her blog: Extraordinary Sunshine Weaver.

~

Nolcha Fox’s poems have been curated in print and online journals. A best-selling author, her poetry books are available on Amazon and Dancing Girl Press. Nominated for Best of the Net and Pushcart Prize multiple times. Editor of Chewers by Masticadores and LatinosUSA.

Website:  https://writingaddiction2.wordpress.com/