Welcome to the summer 2017 issue of brass bell: a haiku journal.
The theme is a single date . . . all the poems were written on/about May 23, 2017.
Enjoy! And please come back in September when brass bell returns from summer vacation.
Poems have been received from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Ecuador, England, Ghana, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Singapore, the U. K., and the United States
fog —
the train digs
its own tunnel
- Adjei Agyei-Baah
tight on money
the fridge's
funny sounds
- Adrian Bouter
after the rain . . .
the brightness
of pond lilies
- Agnes Eva Savich
steaming rice
for the altar
the dead are here
- ai li
never quite counting
but moving fingers
as if there were numbers
- Alan Bern
weather forecaster lied — no sun today!
- Alan Catlin
only the love songs
the wrong shade of blue
in Manchester city
- Alan Summers
cat and i
what do we have in common
besides silence?
- Amauri Solon Ribeiro
on the balcony
tonight the moon
so round
- Angela Giordano
twilight
the full throated tenor
of a bull frog
- Angelee Deodhar
spring cleaning
another trash bag heads
to Goodwill
- Anna Cates
birthday —
I feel my bones
heavier
- Antonio Magniameli
all day drizzle
an earthworm languishes
in the muck
- Barbara Kaufmann
nap time
the robo calls
keep coming
- Barbara Tate
head in the clouds . . .
without warning
rhododendrons
- Bill Waters
rush hour
outside the bus window
a still kite
- Billy Antonio
a struggle
to keep things in balance
when I am tipping
- C. Robin Janning
grass nicely trimmed
garden in full bloom
sneezing
- Carol Dilworth
grey mist
where grief
slips in
- Caroline Skanne
morning rain
beneath my bedroom window
a wet school child
- Celestine Nudanu
lost in a shuffle
of second-hand music books . . .
thrush answering thrush
- Chen-ou Liu
batgirl in training
her cape
a serious matter
- Christina Martin
spring daydream
my son's stuffed tiger
stares at the sun
- Christina Sng
evening chatter
my puppy listens
to the buzz of a fly
- Christine L. Villa
no fighting conch
on my last day of shelling
high tide
- Claire Vogel Camargo
close to midnight
my muse snoozing
in the next chair
- David J. Kelly
such variety
in the flavors
blueberries
- David Oates
weather vane
a horse leads us
toward home
- Debbie Strange
following the game
from the nosebleed seats
advancing years
- Devin Harrison
wedding anniversary —
the twenty-third day
of the fifth month
- Doris Pascolo
noonday sun
an aged bluejay asleep
on the birdbath
- Dottie Piet
breakfast with kids
no reason to cry
over spilled milk
- Elisa Allo
kindergarten class . . .
flowers and butterflies
in the children's drawings
- Eufemia Griffo
walking in the woods
pointing out interesting things
to an absent friend
- Frank Robinson
crunch
my neck
awakens me
- Gabrielle Vehar
in the lamp's oblique shadows the back of my hand is strange
- Glenn Ingersoll
aprons from three generations
whisper to me
when i cook
- Grace Celeste
having its moment
the orb
of an onion flower
- Hannah Mahoney
black morel . . .
how complicated it is
to survive
- Hifsa Ashraf
when i bend over
and kneel down to plant these days
i say my prayers
- Jack Goldman
café acoustics reaching me the pain in a stranger's voice
- Jane Williams
wilted peonies
the day she doesn't
make the team
- Jennifer Hambrick
today —
the mountain laurel
chooses to open
- Jill Lange
our friendship . . .
the crest and trough
of waves
- Jo Balistreri
just before midnight
pain ebbs . . . slowly moving
toward recovery
- Joan Leotta
at the DMV
praying for our number
to be called
- Joan McNerney
dawn rises
through the kitchen window
insomnia
- Joanna M. Weston
urban demolition
under a powdering of dust
the promise of flowers
- John Hawkhead
garbage truck
my dog hides
in the bathroom
- Julie Bloss Kelsey
mooncake
on the wet ground
carving my birthday wish
- Justice Joseph Prah
Taipei to Shanghai
about the length
of a haiku
- Kath Abela Wilson
rain thunder lightning
a symphony I can hear
when the lights go out
- Katya Sabaroff Taylor
we sort estate papers
the wind
picks up
- kjmunro
sorting
a lifetime collection
of beads & baubles
- Kris Moon
clatter of heels —
in my imagination
swaying hips
- Krzysztof Kokot
hiding behind a tree
I see a chipmunk crack
a nut
- Kumarendra Mallick
spotlight
the sun through
a leaking roof
- Kwaku Feni Adow
the best way to cure sleepwalking
she tells me
is to hang upside down
- Kyle Hemmings
storm clouds
getting closer
my court date
- Laughing waters
so quiet
at the kitchen table
alone this morning
- Linda Keeler
starlight —
all that i sing
starts now
- Lovette Carter
twilight
another day is ending
first star
- Lucia Cardillo
one white
cabbage butterfly
on a daisy
- Lucia Fontana
dinner time —
the bittersweet taste
of ripe apricots
- Maria Laura Valente
deadlines
writing haiku
at midnight
- Marianne Paul
out of her shell —
queen-of-the-night blooms
in the terrarium
- Marietta McGregor
twilight soccer
nudged above the goalie's net
the full moon
- Mark Miller
my first box
of watercolor paints . . .
trembling brush
- Marta Chocilowska
wind in the woods
the conversation
of tawny owls
- Martha Magenta
what a small world
all day and all night
in the same room
- Marty Blue Waters
a glow in the east
black thins to gray shadows
a cardinal calls
- Mike Flanagan
i know we are well
by the way your hair lays curled
against my pillow
- Mimi Foyle
all day I tell
everyone to admire
these roses
- Miriam Sagan
in the dark
hidden whispers of scent . . .
lilacs!
- Nancy Osborn
long summer day
i shut my eyes
and it is dark
- Neha R. Krishna
cold shadow
a sweaty shirt sticks
to my back
- Nina Kovacic (translation by Durda Vukelic Rozic)
that wondrous feeling —
touring the insides
of the Kotzschmar Organ
- Pat Davis
world turtle day . . .
at the garden place i find
a box turtle gift
- Pat Geyer
poppies
my all-time favorite —
tissue paper art
- Paula Culver
amid wild grasses
a lone asparagus
waves
- Peter Ladley
mashed potatoes
for lunch and dinner
my throbbing jaws
- Pris Campbell
busy spider
the tangled web
of my mind
- Rachel Sutcliffe
vanilla ice cream
drools into my hand
noon melts down
- Ron Scully
reading the paper
I share my rocking chair
with a tiny spider
- Rosa Clement
news of refugees
I separate basil seedlings
ripping the roots
- Ruth Yarrow
fogged in
rubbing my toes
on the cat's back
- Sandi Pray
remember it all
write it down
let it go
- Sara Robbins
midday heat the stiffness of a cotton saree
- Shloka Shankar
wrong number
nice to exchange
a friendly word
- Simon Hanson
woman in purple shirt
pointing out tulips —
children clinging to her legs
- Stephen Page
red-headed woodpecker
young man with a camera
makes me notice
- Sue Perlgut
children's giggles
under the stairs —
cat's cradle
- Theresa A. Cancro
meal planning
deciding which night
not to care
- Tia Nicole
pizza for breakfast
my inner child
giggles
- Tiffany Shaw-Diaz
for my mood
the clouds spaced out
just right
- Tom Clausen
more worms
than anticipated
cracked dry soil
- Tricia Knoll
mother's white
and purple irises —
a stranger's yard
- Valentina Ranaldi-Adams
spring rain
a flower opens for
a butterfly
- Vibeke Laier
as you fly west
i walk
into the rising sun
- Zee Zahava
rain —
drop after drop the lake
steadily overflowing the banks
- Zuzanna Truchlewska
Thursday, June 1, 2017
Monday, May 1, 2017
Colorful Haiku
Welcome to the May 2017 issue of brass bell: a haiku journal.
This month's theme is Colorful Haiku.
Poems have been received from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Ecuador, England, Ghana, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Nigeria, Poland, Singapore, Switzerland, Turkey, the U. K., Ukraine, and the United States
blue —
the sea saturated
with so much sky
- Adjei Agyei-Baah
pathway a red sea of tulips
- Adrian Bouter
a black book
on the wooden table
with dried flowers
- Adrian Bouter
how green the peas
of spring
and of renewal
- ai li
you call off your engagement
texting him
wearing yellow
- ai li
in this house of emptiness
every piece of furniture
brown
- ai li
photographing
a man photographing
a bright red sign
- Alan Bern
blasting through red lights
in a shiny black SUV
late for the wake
- Alan Bern
on the front windshield
eleven purple blossoms
on the back window three
- Alan Bern
fence painting
a wish to be the green
of dragons
- Alan Summers
spring skies
and a slide guitar
the purple tulips
- Alan Summers
red roofs
four cats in love
full moon
- Angela Giordano
young artist
tattooed body
purple hair
- Angela Giordano
out in the garden
orange pumpkins
crows on wires
- Angela Giordano
parrots and urchins screech over green mangoes
- Angelee Deodhar
red light
gray birds drape
the power lines
- Anna Cates
one green tomato
still clings to the vine
October drizzle
- Anna Cates
the black sky
a flight of bats —
figs fall
- Antonio Mangiameli
grey sky
his answer
neither yes nor no
- Aparna Pathak
train whistle
a blue jay
announces the cat
- Barbara Kaufmann
cup of oolong
a goldfinch appears
in the haze
- Barbara Kaufmann
blood-red moon
in the garden
a perfect pumpkin
- Barbara Tate
rain
a white cat claws at
the screen
- Barbara Tate
eulogy
a gray dove calls . . .
gets no answer
- Barbara Tate
my mug sky blue
and hers lime green
. . . this steaming berry tea
- Bill Waters
she pauses to twirl:
the little girl
in the raspberry dress
- Bill Waters
like five sisters:
a row of orange maples
tall and strong
- Bill Waters
in place of shrubs
I plant purple bell peppers
and red roses
- Brenda Roberts
sorting stones
all the purple ones
are mine!
- Brenda Roberts
rosemary
for remembrance
mom's plastic pink flamingo
- Brenda Roberts
prussian blue
falling across the canvas
like blueberries
- C. Robin Janning
heavy rainfall
my retriever
golden again
- Carol Dilworth
winter compost
a range of browns
harbinger of plenty
- Carol Dilworth
spring at last
a blue door opens
to sunlight
- Caroline Skanne
spring break
a spot of red
in the bug hotel
- Caroline Skanne
blue dusk
tracing the silhouette
of a song
- Caroline Skanne
bone-deep
where the yellow pill
won't reach
- Caroline Skanne
scarlet night
a bite of apple
in the nude
- Celestine Nudanu
lemon sky
a tinge of bitterness
in mother's soup
- Celestine Nudanu
neither here, nor there
a brown paper bag whipped
by the wind
- Chen-ou Liu
unpacking brown cardboard boxes
too many . . .
gradually fewer
- Cheryl Gallien
blushing bride
my red lipstick print
on her cheek
- Christina Sng
vibrant scarves
swirl around her body
tangerine tango
- Claire Vogel Camargo
uphill
an excuse to stop
red berries, yellow berries
- Danny Blackwell
spring sun
the reddening of
his bald spot
- Dave Read
sunset
a yellow rose
droops in the vase
- Dave Read
vermillion too many poppies to count
- David J. Kelly
forest fire the whole sky burnt sienna
- David J. Kelly
clear blue sky
a student busy
counting clouds
- Debbi Antebi
newly painted
on the park bench
a leaf turns blue
- Debbi Antebi
pink tulips
taking the long way
home
- Debbi Antebi
summer sunset
the orange glow stays
on my face
- Debbi Antebi
balanced on the elephant's trunk a tangerine moon
- Debbie Strange
lazy morning . . .
a ginger cat curls
into a sunbeam
- Debbie Strange
sepia postcards
from around the world
autumn leaves
- Debbie Strange
a row of red bindings
at the used book store
rocking chair
- Deborah P Kolodji
childhood's end
a quilt block made from
her lavender dress
- Deborah P Kolodji
her indentation
in the black leather couch
calico kitten
- Deborah P Kolodji
mindful of the
lightness of meditation
periwinkle blue
- Devin Harrison
illuminating trails
below the redwood canopy
pink sorrel
- Devin Harrison
spring reveals
her new fashion line
a million greens
- Dottie Piet
summer rumble
fists of gray clouds
lead the attack
- Dottie Piet
cherry trees
beautiful evening
in pink japan
- Ece Cehreli
after
the rainbow —
a pink moon
- Emmanuel Jessie Kalusian
black clouds
the sky whispers
its bad mood
- Eufemia Griffo
little maple tree
two inches high
even your three leaves are turning red
- Frank Robinson
in the heel of the black sock a neat circle of pink skin
- Glenn Ingersoll
graveyard —
wearing my black raincoat
once again
- Goran Gatalica
spring pops up
against the blue sky
plums in pink
- Hideo Suzuki
all at once
yellow flowers bloom . . .
summer break
- Hideo Suzuki
pearls of dew
on this purple flower . . .
september ends
- Hideo Suzuki
blue heron
the long line
at the drive-thru
- Jennifer Hambrick
black widow spider
blood droplets
tattooed on her neck
- Jennifer Hambrick
twining vines
shade mama's porch . . .
green beans
- Jill Lange
white sky
white pines —
the falling snow
- Jill Lange
a smoky-peach sunset
mother must be
painting
- Jo Balistreri
in a barrel
of fallen leaves
one pink cosmos
- Jo Balistreri
white clouds
strung across blue sky
ropes on which i hang my hopes
- Joan Leotta
wind and crickets
whistling through
my blue truck
- Joan McNerney
small red boots splatter big puddles
- Joan McNerney
pink blossom scattered
on her grave
north wind
- Joanna M. Weston
the sway of trees
in the wind
a yellow balloon
- Joanna M. Weston
cloud of pale yellow
arbutus blossom —
dragonflies
- Joanna M. Weston
honey bees
dipping into pollen
her crimson lipstick
- John Hawkhead
winter sunlight
my father's photograph
fades to black and white
- John Hawkhead
ebony jewelwing
were you once
plain?
- Julie Warther
gray moon
forgetting
our wedding date
- Justice Joseph Prah
white-lit runway
revealing snail's silver trail
thunderflashes
- Justice Joseph Prah
time into time
the blackness of the well
counting far away stars
- Justice Joseph Prah
little gray rabbits
the slippers she wore
on her last walk
- Kath Abela Wilson
lost piece of sky
my mother always
wore blue
- Kath Abela Wilson
we painted
our home with it
three shades of sunshine
- Kath Abela Wilson
full spring moon rising
red lantern in the black sky
no one is talking
- Katya Sabaroff Taylor
two writers are one
when they can't stop looking at
the white gardenia
- Katya Sabaroff Taylor
red geranium
green watering can
so sure of themselves
- Katya Sabaroff Taylor
a different white
envelope
on the snow
- kjmunro
yellow plastic pail
left at the beach
another memory
- kjmunro
harmattan
a tree shedding
its greenness
- Kwaku Feni Adow
excessive pink rouge
dotting pale flesh
nursing home visit
- Lance Robertson
yellow duckling
close to the ground
morning dew
- Laughing waters
lilac pansies
behind the door
sudden kisses
- Lucia Fontana
red oleander
the silence pierced
by croaking
- Lucia Fontana
new housing estate
the monotony
of red tiled roofs
- Madhuri Pillai
feverish —
orange slices
and an old book
- Maria Laura Valente
jazz records —
this night my lines
are so blue
- Maria Laura Valente
a white forepaw
gingerly
on fallen leaves
- Mark E. Brager
blue monday . . .
in a pot on the window
green sprouts
- Marta Chocilowska
white sky —
the empty space
for thoughts
- Martha Magenta
bluebird song —
hiding in the grass
an iris
- Martha Magenta
open daffodils —
a little girl twirls
her yellow dress
- Martha Magenta
hint of yellow
teasing tips
forsythia
- Marty Blue Waters
children now gone
no red wagon
to break the fog
- Mary Kendall
flashes of azure wings
two bluebirds wake
the grey morning
- Mary Kendall
Mardi Gras gold mask
cat and dogs don't
know me
- Michael G. Smith
damned river flotsam
one red soccer ball stands out
among the rubbish
- Mimi Foyle
among fallen vines
a pencil-thin yellow snake
arrests my footsteps
- Mimi Foyle
wife's first gray hair I point it out a few times
- Nicholas Klacsanzky
attic —
the ladybug loses
its red
- Nicholas Klacsanzky
into a black hole
a sleepy brown bear drags
its shadow
- Nina Kovacic (translation by Durda Vukelic Rozic)
heat wave
black dots fill
the flypaper
- Olivier Schopfer
just as the traffic light
turns from red to green
my cell phone rings
- Olivier Schopfer
first frost
I follow the white clouds
of my breath
- Olivier Schopfer
nightfall
the purple shamrock's petals
slowly closing
- Olivier Schopfer
64 colors
the time it takes to pick
the first crayon
- Pat Davis
today's lesson
the color of pasta
when it's done
- Pat Davis
in passing . . .
waxwings exchange
red berries
- Pat Geyer
overgrown path
filled with eastern red buds . . .
forest pansies
- Pat Geyer
moving stealthily
through neighborhood backyards —
a dog or red fox
- Pat Geyer
she bid me "come, see!" —
sun setting magenta gold
— eyes wider with dusk
- Peter Ladley
lichens in design
gray splotches on forest stone
stars aging in place
- Peter Ladley
my toni doll —
that same red dress
for sixty years
- Pris Campbell
heavy rain . . .
green overtaking brown
in my father's garden
- Pris Campbell
sleepless . . .
our cat stares back
at the black night
- Pris Campbell
crossroad —
I slip the gold
from my finger
- Pris Campbell
another year
again she wipes
her red eyes
- Rachel Sutcliffe
first autumn alone the yellowing pages of her diary
- Rachel Sutcliffe
white flakes
on red mittens
her first snow
- Rachel Sutcliffe
midday sun
packing oranges
for the picnic
- Rachel Sutcliffe
at day's end
the highest balloon —
yellow, blue, or red?
- Ron Scully
you cannot unscent
red filling the sunroom
so amaryllis
- Ron Scully
painter's palette
teal, cerulean, azure
no match to this sea
- Ron Scully
spring day
even my cat's eyes
are greener
- Rosa Clement
peace parade
white balloons invisible
in the clouds
- Rosa Clement
twilight
an egret stands alone
turning pink
- Sandi Pray
in the woods
the sound of
red berries
- Sandi Pray
crunch-crunch-crunch
a red-winged blackbird stops
and I do too
- Scott Wiggerman
drooping fruit
of prickly pears
maroon sunset
- Scott Wiggerman
yellow stripes
run the caterpillar's length
the road ahead
- Scott Wiggerman
first kiss . . .
my white dish
breaks
- Shedrach Ugwu
mother's emerald ring reflections in green light
- Simon Hanson
midnight silver
the desert pool
filled with stars
- Simon Hanson
garden path
highlights of the moon
on black satin
- Simon Hanson
under the bed
slouching indifferently
one lone purple sock
- Stacey Crawford Murphy
crystal clear raindrop
borrows yellow
from a daffodil
- Sue Norvell
purple bruise
remembering
the "youch!"
- Sue Norvell
turmeric moon
on every page of ma's cookbook
a smear of gold
- Sanjuktaa Asopa
crunch of red leaves . . .
the bickering continues
into the walk
- Sanjuktaa Asopa
chalked upon the sidewalk
the name "macbeth" —
a black ant marches across
- Stephen Page
high above the weeds
closer to the sun, white
yucca plant flowers
- Stephen Page
a psychic's shop
black door ajar —
tell me something I don't know
- Tara Kane
violet, lavender
and lilac dance together
on her skirt
- Theresa A. Cancro
monarchs
perched in firs
dreaming yellow
- Theresa A. Cancro
sliding into spring
a paprika sunset
stains the horizon
- Theresa A. Cancro
on the ground
her golden hair
shorn
- Tia Haynes
the rumpled
white linen
of my wedding night
-Tia Haynes
pink
the triangle
she wore
- Tia Haynes
crimson sunset
what you've said
what I've said
- Tiffany Shaw-Diaz
spicing things up
one side of the room
painted orange
- Tiffany Shaw-Diaz
one yellow sock
one blue
whatever — no one looks
- Tiffany Shaw-Diaz
yellow bingo lights
we count meteors
over the pier
- Tim Gardiner
a warming oven
black bananas
in the yellow bowl
- Tricia Knoll
three gold pins pulled
from the cotton doll
spring cherry blossoms
- Tricia Knoll
black ink on her thumb
the freelancer's
blotted safety net
- Tricia Knoll
gray skies
at the zoo —
blue frogs
- Valentina Ranaldi-Adams
buds on branches —
two blue jays
trading places
- Valentina Ranaldi-Adams
filling the heart day after day white butterflies
- Vibeke Laier
golden leaves rustling hedgehog dreams
- Vibeke Laier
cherry tree
a pink petal lands
on my nose
- Violet Akalu-Skanne
spring boot fair i buy a green polka dot dress
- Violet Akalu-Skanne
playing field
i pick a buttercup
for my teacher
- Violet Akalu-Skanne
my brother's smile reflected in a red balloon
- Violet Akalu-Skanne
i loved to trace them —
thick blue veins
on grandma's hands
- Zee Zahava
cardinals
visiting the tulips
red on red on red on red
- Zee Zahava
new blue sneakers
with lime-green laces . . .
more zip in my springtime walk
- Zee Zahava
first date —
over wildflower bouquet
her blue eyes
- Zuzanna Truchlewska
This month's theme is Colorful Haiku.
Poems have been received from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Ecuador, England, Ghana, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Nigeria, Poland, Singapore, Switzerland, Turkey, the U. K., Ukraine, and the United States
blue —
the sea saturated
with so much sky
- Adjei Agyei-Baah
pathway a red sea of tulips
- Adrian Bouter
a black book
on the wooden table
with dried flowers
- Adrian Bouter
how green the peas
of spring
and of renewal
- ai li
you call off your engagement
texting him
wearing yellow
- ai li
in this house of emptiness
every piece of furniture
brown
- ai li
photographing
a man photographing
a bright red sign
- Alan Bern
blasting through red lights
in a shiny black SUV
late for the wake
- Alan Bern
on the front windshield
eleven purple blossoms
on the back window three
- Alan Bern
fence painting
a wish to be the green
of dragons
- Alan Summers
spring skies
and a slide guitar
the purple tulips
- Alan Summers
red roofs
four cats in love
full moon
- Angela Giordano
young artist
tattooed body
purple hair
- Angela Giordano
out in the garden
orange pumpkins
crows on wires
- Angela Giordano
parrots and urchins screech over green mangoes
- Angelee Deodhar
red light
gray birds drape
the power lines
- Anna Cates
one green tomato
still clings to the vine
October drizzle
- Anna Cates
the black sky
a flight of bats —
figs fall
- Antonio Mangiameli
grey sky
his answer
neither yes nor no
- Aparna Pathak
train whistle
a blue jay
announces the cat
- Barbara Kaufmann
cup of oolong
a goldfinch appears
in the haze
- Barbara Kaufmann
blood-red moon
in the garden
a perfect pumpkin
- Barbara Tate
rain
a white cat claws at
the screen
- Barbara Tate
eulogy
a gray dove calls . . .
gets no answer
- Barbara Tate
my mug sky blue
and hers lime green
. . . this steaming berry tea
- Bill Waters
she pauses to twirl:
the little girl
in the raspberry dress
- Bill Waters
like five sisters:
a row of orange maples
tall and strong
- Bill Waters
in place of shrubs
I plant purple bell peppers
and red roses
- Brenda Roberts
sorting stones
all the purple ones
are mine!
- Brenda Roberts
rosemary
for remembrance
mom's plastic pink flamingo
- Brenda Roberts
prussian blue
falling across the canvas
like blueberries
- C. Robin Janning
heavy rainfall
my retriever
golden again
- Carol Dilworth
winter compost
a range of browns
harbinger of plenty
- Carol Dilworth
spring at last
a blue door opens
to sunlight
- Caroline Skanne
spring break
a spot of red
in the bug hotel
- Caroline Skanne
blue dusk
tracing the silhouette
of a song
- Caroline Skanne
bone-deep
where the yellow pill
won't reach
- Caroline Skanne
scarlet night
a bite of apple
in the nude
- Celestine Nudanu
lemon sky
a tinge of bitterness
in mother's soup
- Celestine Nudanu
neither here, nor there
a brown paper bag whipped
by the wind
- Chen-ou Liu
unpacking brown cardboard boxes
too many . . .
gradually fewer
- Cheryl Gallien
blushing bride
my red lipstick print
on her cheek
- Christina Sng
vibrant scarves
swirl around her body
tangerine tango
- Claire Vogel Camargo
uphill
an excuse to stop
red berries, yellow berries
- Danny Blackwell
spring sun
the reddening of
his bald spot
- Dave Read
sunset
a yellow rose
droops in the vase
- Dave Read
vermillion too many poppies to count
- David J. Kelly
forest fire the whole sky burnt sienna
- David J. Kelly
clear blue sky
a student busy
counting clouds
- Debbi Antebi
newly painted
on the park bench
a leaf turns blue
- Debbi Antebi
pink tulips
taking the long way
home
- Debbi Antebi
summer sunset
the orange glow stays
on my face
- Debbi Antebi
balanced on the elephant's trunk a tangerine moon
- Debbie Strange
lazy morning . . .
a ginger cat curls
into a sunbeam
- Debbie Strange
sepia postcards
from around the world
autumn leaves
- Debbie Strange
a row of red bindings
at the used book store
rocking chair
- Deborah P Kolodji
childhood's end
a quilt block made from
her lavender dress
- Deborah P Kolodji
her indentation
in the black leather couch
calico kitten
- Deborah P Kolodji
mindful of the
lightness of meditation
periwinkle blue
- Devin Harrison
illuminating trails
below the redwood canopy
pink sorrel
- Devin Harrison
spring reveals
her new fashion line
a million greens
- Dottie Piet
summer rumble
fists of gray clouds
lead the attack
- Dottie Piet
cherry trees
beautiful evening
in pink japan
- Ece Cehreli
after
the rainbow —
a pink moon
- Emmanuel Jessie Kalusian
black clouds
the sky whispers
its bad mood
- Eufemia Griffo
little maple tree
two inches high
even your three leaves are turning red
- Frank Robinson
in the heel of the black sock a neat circle of pink skin
- Glenn Ingersoll
graveyard —
wearing my black raincoat
once again
- Goran Gatalica
spring pops up
against the blue sky
plums in pink
- Hideo Suzuki
all at once
yellow flowers bloom . . .
summer break
- Hideo Suzuki
pearls of dew
on this purple flower . . .
september ends
- Hideo Suzuki
blue heron
the long line
at the drive-thru
- Jennifer Hambrick
black widow spider
blood droplets
tattooed on her neck
- Jennifer Hambrick
twining vines
shade mama's porch . . .
green beans
- Jill Lange
white sky
white pines —
the falling snow
- Jill Lange
a smoky-peach sunset
mother must be
painting
- Jo Balistreri
in a barrel
of fallen leaves
one pink cosmos
- Jo Balistreri
white clouds
strung across blue sky
ropes on which i hang my hopes
- Joan Leotta
wind and crickets
whistling through
my blue truck
- Joan McNerney
small red boots splatter big puddles
- Joan McNerney
pink blossom scattered
on her grave
north wind
- Joanna M. Weston
the sway of trees
in the wind
a yellow balloon
- Joanna M. Weston
cloud of pale yellow
arbutus blossom —
dragonflies
- Joanna M. Weston
honey bees
dipping into pollen
her crimson lipstick
- John Hawkhead
winter sunlight
my father's photograph
fades to black and white
- John Hawkhead
ebony jewelwing
were you once
plain?
- Julie Warther
gray moon
forgetting
our wedding date
- Justice Joseph Prah
white-lit runway
revealing snail's silver trail
thunderflashes
- Justice Joseph Prah
time into time
the blackness of the well
counting far away stars
- Justice Joseph Prah
little gray rabbits
the slippers she wore
on her last walk
- Kath Abela Wilson
lost piece of sky
my mother always
wore blue
- Kath Abela Wilson
we painted
our home with it
three shades of sunshine
- Kath Abela Wilson
full spring moon rising
red lantern in the black sky
no one is talking
- Katya Sabaroff Taylor
two writers are one
when they can't stop looking at
the white gardenia
- Katya Sabaroff Taylor
red geranium
green watering can
so sure of themselves
- Katya Sabaroff Taylor
a different white
envelope
on the snow
- kjmunro
yellow plastic pail
left at the beach
another memory
- kjmunro
harmattan
a tree shedding
its greenness
- Kwaku Feni Adow
excessive pink rouge
dotting pale flesh
nursing home visit
- Lance Robertson
yellow duckling
close to the ground
morning dew
- Laughing waters
lilac pansies
behind the door
sudden kisses
- Lucia Fontana
red oleander
the silence pierced
by croaking
- Lucia Fontana
new housing estate
the monotony
of red tiled roofs
- Madhuri Pillai
feverish —
orange slices
and an old book
- Maria Laura Valente
jazz records —
this night my lines
are so blue
- Maria Laura Valente
a white forepaw
gingerly
on fallen leaves
- Mark E. Brager
blue monday . . .
in a pot on the window
green sprouts
- Marta Chocilowska
white sky —
the empty space
for thoughts
- Martha Magenta
bluebird song —
hiding in the grass
an iris
- Martha Magenta
open daffodils —
a little girl twirls
her yellow dress
- Martha Magenta
hint of yellow
teasing tips
forsythia
- Marty Blue Waters
children now gone
no red wagon
to break the fog
- Mary Kendall
flashes of azure wings
two bluebirds wake
the grey morning
- Mary Kendall
Mardi Gras gold mask
cat and dogs don't
know me
- Michael G. Smith
damned river flotsam
one red soccer ball stands out
among the rubbish
- Mimi Foyle
among fallen vines
a pencil-thin yellow snake
arrests my footsteps
- Mimi Foyle
wife's first gray hair I point it out a few times
- Nicholas Klacsanzky
attic —
the ladybug loses
its red
- Nicholas Klacsanzky
into a black hole
a sleepy brown bear drags
its shadow
- Nina Kovacic (translation by Durda Vukelic Rozic)
heat wave
black dots fill
the flypaper
- Olivier Schopfer
just as the traffic light
turns from red to green
my cell phone rings
- Olivier Schopfer
first frost
I follow the white clouds
of my breath
- Olivier Schopfer
nightfall
the purple shamrock's petals
slowly closing
- Olivier Schopfer
64 colors
the time it takes to pick
the first crayon
- Pat Davis
today's lesson
the color of pasta
when it's done
- Pat Davis
in passing . . .
waxwings exchange
red berries
- Pat Geyer
overgrown path
filled with eastern red buds . . .
forest pansies
- Pat Geyer
moving stealthily
through neighborhood backyards —
a dog or red fox
- Pat Geyer
she bid me "come, see!" —
sun setting magenta gold
— eyes wider with dusk
- Peter Ladley
lichens in design
gray splotches on forest stone
stars aging in place
- Peter Ladley
my toni doll —
that same red dress
for sixty years
- Pris Campbell
heavy rain . . .
green overtaking brown
in my father's garden
- Pris Campbell
sleepless . . .
our cat stares back
at the black night
- Pris Campbell
crossroad —
I slip the gold
from my finger
- Pris Campbell
another year
again she wipes
her red eyes
- Rachel Sutcliffe
first autumn alone the yellowing pages of her diary
- Rachel Sutcliffe
white flakes
on red mittens
her first snow
- Rachel Sutcliffe
midday sun
packing oranges
for the picnic
- Rachel Sutcliffe
at day's end
the highest balloon —
yellow, blue, or red?
- Ron Scully
you cannot unscent
red filling the sunroom
so amaryllis
- Ron Scully
painter's palette
teal, cerulean, azure
no match to this sea
- Ron Scully
spring day
even my cat's eyes
are greener
- Rosa Clement
peace parade
white balloons invisible
in the clouds
- Rosa Clement
twilight
an egret stands alone
turning pink
- Sandi Pray
in the woods
the sound of
red berries
- Sandi Pray
crunch-crunch-crunch
a red-winged blackbird stops
and I do too
- Scott Wiggerman
drooping fruit
of prickly pears
maroon sunset
- Scott Wiggerman
yellow stripes
run the caterpillar's length
the road ahead
- Scott Wiggerman
first kiss . . .
my white dish
breaks
- Shedrach Ugwu
mother's emerald ring reflections in green light
- Simon Hanson
midnight silver
the desert pool
filled with stars
- Simon Hanson
garden path
highlights of the moon
on black satin
- Simon Hanson
under the bed
slouching indifferently
one lone purple sock
- Stacey Crawford Murphy
crystal clear raindrop
borrows yellow
from a daffodil
- Sue Norvell
purple bruise
remembering
the "youch!"
- Sue Norvell
turmeric moon
on every page of ma's cookbook
a smear of gold
- Sanjuktaa Asopa
crunch of red leaves . . .
the bickering continues
into the walk
- Sanjuktaa Asopa
chalked upon the sidewalk
the name "macbeth" —
a black ant marches across
- Stephen Page
high above the weeds
closer to the sun, white
yucca plant flowers
- Stephen Page
a psychic's shop
black door ajar —
tell me something I don't know
- Tara Kane
violet, lavender
and lilac dance together
on her skirt
- Theresa A. Cancro
monarchs
perched in firs
dreaming yellow
- Theresa A. Cancro
sliding into spring
a paprika sunset
stains the horizon
- Theresa A. Cancro
on the ground
her golden hair
shorn
- Tia Haynes
the rumpled
white linen
of my wedding night
-Tia Haynes
pink
the triangle
she wore
- Tia Haynes
crimson sunset
what you've said
what I've said
- Tiffany Shaw-Diaz
spicing things up
one side of the room
painted orange
- Tiffany Shaw-Diaz
one yellow sock
one blue
whatever — no one looks
- Tiffany Shaw-Diaz
yellow bingo lights
we count meteors
over the pier
- Tim Gardiner
a warming oven
black bananas
in the yellow bowl
- Tricia Knoll
three gold pins pulled
from the cotton doll
spring cherry blossoms
- Tricia Knoll
black ink on her thumb
the freelancer's
blotted safety net
- Tricia Knoll
gray skies
at the zoo —
blue frogs
- Valentina Ranaldi-Adams
buds on branches —
two blue jays
trading places
- Valentina Ranaldi-Adams
filling the heart day after day white butterflies
- Vibeke Laier
golden leaves rustling hedgehog dreams
- Vibeke Laier
cherry tree
a pink petal lands
on my nose
- Violet Akalu-Skanne
spring boot fair i buy a green polka dot dress
- Violet Akalu-Skanne
playing field
i pick a buttercup
for my teacher
- Violet Akalu-Skanne
my brother's smile reflected in a red balloon
- Violet Akalu-Skanne
i loved to trace them —
thick blue veins
on grandma's hands
- Zee Zahava
cardinals
visiting the tulips
red on red on red on red
- Zee Zahava
new blue sneakers
with lime-green laces . . .
more zip in my springtime walk
- Zee Zahava
first date —
over wildflower bouquet
her blue eyes
- Zuzanna Truchlewska
Saturday, April 1, 2017
Edible Haiku
Welcome to the April 2017 issue of brass bell: a haiku journal.
This month's theme is Edible Haiku.
Poems have been received from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Ecuador, England, Ghana, India, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Singapore, Turkey, the U. K., Ukraine, the United States, and Vietnam
my first bite
in the mango season
this greenfly who won't go away
- Adjei Agyei-Baah
winter date:
baked potatoes meet
spicy chicken
- Adrian Bouter
sticky rice
the toddler's endless
questions
- Agnes Eva Savich
relaxing at lunch
a pigeon eyes my salmon —
nothing is safe anywhere
- Alan Bern
candlemas
little fingers pulling
the wishbone
- Alan Summers
paradox in Rio
under the scorching sun
boiling black beans: feijoada
- Amauri Solon
chimarrao and churrasco
my gaucho uncle
still in my habits
- Amauri Solon
star cookies —
he asks for
mooncakes
- Angelee Deodhar
sodden field
beyond March muck
hot cocoa
- Anna Cates
a taste
of black bean brownies
rainy Saturday
- Anna Cates
family feast . . .
taste of raw mango
in every dish
- Archana Kapoor Nagpal
pregnancy cravings . . .
next to my bed
a box of chocolates
- Archana Kapoor Nagpal
licking water from my palm
the homeless
kitten
- Barbara Tate
fall harvest
hiding in plain sight
the pumpkin pies
- Barbara Tate
shoveling walkways —
the crew boss
brings hot coffee
- Bill Waters
winter solstice
blackberries on sale
at the market
- Brad Bennett
snowed in
another spoonful of sugar
in my tea
- Carol Dilworth
vegan
no more honey
on buttered toast
- Caroline Gates-Lupton
pancake by pancake accepting imperfection
- Caroline Skanne
eating grapes
straight from the vine
the robin and i
- Caroline Skanne
curling smoke
I burn his casserole
after the honeymoon
- Celestine Nudanu
bread and butter pudding
hot on my tongue
his kisses
- Celestine Nudanu
rose petals
furling and unfurling
in my tea
- Christina Sng
mulberries
the tartness
of her criticism
- Christina Sng
crêpes suzette
he rarely gives
flowers
- Claire Vogel Camargo
summer camp
spitting watermelon seeds
on movie night
- Claire Vogel Camargo
novice baker
she makes mud pies
by the driveway
- Claire Vogel Camargo
the gravy boat
comes around . . .
no need to ask
- Dan Schwerin
oatmeal
the help
of milk and honey
- Dan Schwerin
dunking the biscuit too long — where we went wrong
- Danny Blackwell
after generosity
tears of joy
wasabi
- David J. Kelly
maple syrup
the buffet breakfast
runneth over
- David J. Kelly
wild strawberry
the sweet reward
of finding it
- David J. Kelly
visiting my parents
a bag of sprouting potatoes
in the guest shower
- David Oates
new friend
watches closely as I try
habanero sauce
- David Oates
what readers can't see
the chocolate stains
on my poems
- Debbi Antebi
waxwings again not enough berries for jam
- Debbie Strange
squash blossom . . .
creases form between
her brows
- Debbie Strange
the fragrance
of a ripened peach
perfectly split
- Dottie Piet
eating kebab
the smell of smoke
surrounding the garden
- Ece Cehreli
a happy day
I eat baklava
with sherbet
- Ece Cehreli
rendez-vous:
a swallow's nest
above the dish of sushi
- Elisa Allo
relaxing Saturday —
children order
soba noodles
- Elisa Allo
subway car
the lingering smell
of a ham sandwich
- Elizabeth Alford
when it comes to love
there can never be too much
ripe avocado
- Elizabeth Alford
crumbs
ants in a row
on the windowsill
- Eufemia Griffo
after divorce
ice cream melts
drop by drop
- Eufemia Griffo
in my Easter bunny suit
a tiny child
offers me a carrot
- Frank Robinson
the melon cubes
stick together
morning of the surgery
- Glenn Ingersoll
camping
always beside our fire
glimmering fish
- Goran Gatalica
summer evening
my daughter adds
lime juice to the stir fry
- Hannah Mahoney
teaching my daughter
mom's recipe
the slow pour of molasses
- Hannah Mahoney
mental health day
slathering marmalade
on warm toast
- Hannah Mahoney
that pear i tasted
in Paris when i was young
lingers on my tongue
- Jack Goldman
raspberries
grandbabe's
first opinion
- Jan Benson
impromptu picnic
at japanese gardens
herbal tea and zen
- Jan Benson
traveling without him passion fruit stains her white dress
- Jane Williams
steaming bowl of pho the delicate aromas of a daydream
- Jane Williams
cold moon
my mother's slow and
constant stirring
- Jennifer Hambrick
fresh-mown bluegrass
slices of cucumber
on granny's chipped china plate
- Jennifer Hambrick
apples, apples, apples
so many kinds —
one of each please in my pie
- Joan Leotta
we feast on guava y queso
sipping spicy teas —
you whisper sweet nothings
- Joan McNerney
barbeque
each mosquito
takes a bite
- Joanna M. Weston
a cold front
moving in
hot curry
- Joanna M. Weston
fruit softening
under the old apple tree
wasps threading shadows
- John Hawkhead
dandelion stew
on the dinner table
everyone's wish
- Justice Joseph Prah
whipped cream
he puts out his tongue
really far
- Kath Abela Wilson
red chili pepper
I even sprinkle it
on toast
- Kath Abela Wilson
midnight
the taste of parsnip chips
in bed
- Kath Abela Wilson
new to kitchen . . .
I added salt instead of sugar
in tea
- Kumarendra Mallick
driving home
the hot pizza box
on the passenger seat
- Lance Robertson
the possibilities in a bag of flour
- Lance Robertson
buttery fingers
sharing a large popcorn
at the movies
- Lance Robertson
tossed noodle
sticks to the wall
spider web
- Laughing waters
3 o'clock
start thinking about dinner —
50 years
- Linda Keeler
burnt toast
the day begins
badly
- Linda Keeler
season's end . . .
the last peach in the bowl
politely turned down
- Madhuri Pillai
cherries the ones I left hanging
- Margaret Jones
handmade piadina —
the flour on your cheek
the day we met
- Maria Laura Valente
sunday lunch —
just the three of us
and countless meatballs
- Maria Laura Valente
jasmine in bloom —
first cookies I bake
for my daughter
- Maria Laura Valente
birthday cake
she eats the word
happy
- Marianne Paul
crabapple worms
she says her jelly jam
has lots of protein
- Marianne Paul
vegan diet
my cat staring
at the freezer
- Marta Chocilowska
stray dog
a beggar splits his sandwich
in half
- Marta Chocilowska
supermoon
a ripe squash hangs
from the trellis
- Martha Magenta
cinnamon buns —
the first time I saw
my neighbour
- Martha Magenta
blackberry moon
filling jam jars
to the brim
- Martha Magenta
another night shift
solitary focus
morning donuts
- Marty Blue Waters
chocolate almond milk
being silly together —
my daughter's laughter
- Mary Hohlman
sunflower seeds
my canary and I
enjoy spring morning
- Mary Hohlman
tasting a word
as I say it aloud —
gnocchi
- Mary Kendall
the soft velvet
of apricots
against our lips
- Mary Kendall
pierogi day —
pinching loose ends
of dough & memories
- Mary Kendall
red lentils soaking
I do the laundry
water the garden
- Michael G. Smith
making apple pies
a poet taught me about
sharing a kitchen
- Mimi Foyle
my fingers scramble
chocolate in my pocket
turns the day around
- Mimi Foyle
the '60s
Barefoot Tom makes co-op salads
from yard weeds
- Nancy Osborn
arriving late for dinner flowers expired in the vase
- pamela a. babusci
cream in my coffee
swirling like
the Milky Way
- pamela a. babusci
nana's kitchen
even the cat
eats spaghetti
- Pat Davis
nana's herbs
she lets me pick
the sweet basil
- Pat Davis
wine at the bottom of the cup —
swallowing
candlelight
- Phoebe Lakin
for the teacher
a red apple
or six dandelions
- Phyllis Lee
for a bigger tip
she adds whipped cream
and pecans
- Phyllis Lee
in the porch box
chocolate chip cookies
for the birds
- Phyllis Lee
seafront cafe
extra salt
on the table
- Rachel Sutcliffe
snowmelt
two carrots left
on the lawn
- Rachel Sutcliffe
midnight diner
he-man breakfast dish
turned into ash tray
- Ron Scully
soft drink
a waiter says it's okay
to eat the flower
- Rosa Clement
fortune cookie
she looks for wisdom after
cracking it
- Rosa Clement
tangerine season
I turn my skirt
into a basket
- Rosa Clement
autumn fog
bursting through it
cherry tomato
- Ruth Yarrow
blackberries
in a bowl of water — sky
fractured into dots
- Ruth Yarrow
nursing home:
loud clinking
of rice pudding spoons
- Ruth Yarrow
please take me out
for a home cooked meal
someplace else
- Sara Robbins
quick browning
of the apple's flesh
moon and clouds
- Scott Wiggerman
ah! fresh basil the grasshopper and i
- Simon Hanson
coconut blossom sugar
such sweet words
from her lips
- Simon Hanson
on a park bench
empty black walnut shell —
my breath in front of me
- Stephen Page
limburger cheese
on the hot radiator
dad's school prank
- Sue Norvell
the first tomatoes
finally
summer begins
- Sue Norvell
proud mama
my toddler knows more foods at 1
than i did at 20
- Summer Killian
simmering soup . . .
they do not exchange
a single word
- Sunjuktaa Asopa
breakfast table
the light from
a peeled orange
- Sunjuktaa Asopa
steaming rice
on a banana leaf
so fragrant this noonday peace
- Sunjuktaa Asopa
garden party —
her laughter mixes
with the guacamole
- Theresa A. Cancro
morning moon —
folding an omelet
onto the plate
- Theresa A. Cancro
spring sunset —
one green olive left
in the jar
- Theresa A. Cancro
Sunday crime
I overestimate the nutmeg
for our breakfast muffins
- Tiffany Shaw-Diaz
a little moment
of rebellion
gelato in February
- Tiffany Shaw-Diaz
more groceries
than my trunk can hold
rainy Friday
-Tiffany Shaw-Diaz
married dinner out —
bringing reading
material
- Valentina Ranaldi-Adams
jasmine tea my eyes open for butterflies
- Vibeke Laier
restaurant temper tantrum —
the cook put paprika
on my poached eggs
- Zee Zahava
daydreaming
now the tea is cold . . .
that's okay
- Zee Zahava
contemptuous of phonies
my father rejects
haagan-dazs ice cream
- Zee Zahava
green tea leaf
on the bottom of a cup
a chinese dragon
- Zuzanna Truchlewska
morning coffee
instead of sugar
your smile
- Zuzanna Truchlewska
This month's theme is Edible Haiku.
Poems have been received from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Ecuador, England, Ghana, India, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Singapore, Turkey, the U. K., Ukraine, the United States, and Vietnam
my first bite
in the mango season
this greenfly who won't go away
- Adjei Agyei-Baah
winter date:
baked potatoes meet
spicy chicken
- Adrian Bouter
sticky rice
the toddler's endless
questions
- Agnes Eva Savich
relaxing at lunch
a pigeon eyes my salmon —
nothing is safe anywhere
- Alan Bern
candlemas
little fingers pulling
the wishbone
- Alan Summers
paradox in Rio
under the scorching sun
boiling black beans: feijoada
- Amauri Solon
chimarrao and churrasco
my gaucho uncle
still in my habits
- Amauri Solon
star cookies —
he asks for
mooncakes
- Angelee Deodhar
sodden field
beyond March muck
hot cocoa
- Anna Cates
a taste
of black bean brownies
rainy Saturday
- Anna Cates
family feast . . .
taste of raw mango
in every dish
- Archana Kapoor Nagpal
pregnancy cravings . . .
next to my bed
a box of chocolates
- Archana Kapoor Nagpal
licking water from my palm
the homeless
kitten
- Barbara Tate
fall harvest
hiding in plain sight
the pumpkin pies
- Barbara Tate
shoveling walkways —
the crew boss
brings hot coffee
- Bill Waters
winter solstice
blackberries on sale
at the market
- Brad Bennett
snowed in
another spoonful of sugar
in my tea
- Carol Dilworth
vegan
no more honey
on buttered toast
- Caroline Gates-Lupton
pancake by pancake accepting imperfection
- Caroline Skanne
eating grapes
straight from the vine
the robin and i
- Caroline Skanne
curling smoke
I burn his casserole
after the honeymoon
- Celestine Nudanu
bread and butter pudding
hot on my tongue
his kisses
- Celestine Nudanu
rose petals
furling and unfurling
in my tea
- Christina Sng
mulberries
the tartness
of her criticism
- Christina Sng
crêpes suzette
he rarely gives
flowers
- Claire Vogel Camargo
summer camp
spitting watermelon seeds
on movie night
- Claire Vogel Camargo
novice baker
she makes mud pies
by the driveway
- Claire Vogel Camargo
the gravy boat
comes around . . .
no need to ask
- Dan Schwerin
oatmeal
the help
of milk and honey
- Dan Schwerin
dunking the biscuit too long — where we went wrong
- Danny Blackwell
after generosity
tears of joy
wasabi
- David J. Kelly
maple syrup
the buffet breakfast
runneth over
- David J. Kelly
wild strawberry
the sweet reward
of finding it
- David J. Kelly
visiting my parents
a bag of sprouting potatoes
in the guest shower
- David Oates
new friend
watches closely as I try
habanero sauce
- David Oates
what readers can't see
the chocolate stains
on my poems
- Debbi Antebi
waxwings again not enough berries for jam
- Debbie Strange
squash blossom . . .
creases form between
her brows
- Debbie Strange
the fragrance
of a ripened peach
perfectly split
- Dottie Piet
eating kebab
the smell of smoke
surrounding the garden
- Ece Cehreli
a happy day
I eat baklava
with sherbet
- Ece Cehreli
rendez-vous:
a swallow's nest
above the dish of sushi
- Elisa Allo
relaxing Saturday —
children order
soba noodles
- Elisa Allo
subway car
the lingering smell
of a ham sandwich
- Elizabeth Alford
when it comes to love
there can never be too much
ripe avocado
- Elizabeth Alford
crumbs
ants in a row
on the windowsill
- Eufemia Griffo
after divorce
ice cream melts
drop by drop
- Eufemia Griffo
in my Easter bunny suit
a tiny child
offers me a carrot
- Frank Robinson
the melon cubes
stick together
morning of the surgery
- Glenn Ingersoll
camping
always beside our fire
glimmering fish
- Goran Gatalica
summer evening
my daughter adds
lime juice to the stir fry
- Hannah Mahoney
teaching my daughter
mom's recipe
the slow pour of molasses
- Hannah Mahoney
mental health day
slathering marmalade
on warm toast
- Hannah Mahoney
that pear i tasted
in Paris when i was young
lingers on my tongue
- Jack Goldman
raspberries
grandbabe's
first opinion
- Jan Benson
impromptu picnic
at japanese gardens
herbal tea and zen
- Jan Benson
traveling without him passion fruit stains her white dress
- Jane Williams
steaming bowl of pho the delicate aromas of a daydream
- Jane Williams
cold moon
my mother's slow and
constant stirring
- Jennifer Hambrick
fresh-mown bluegrass
slices of cucumber
on granny's chipped china plate
- Jennifer Hambrick
apples, apples, apples
so many kinds —
one of each please in my pie
- Joan Leotta
we feast on guava y queso
sipping spicy teas —
you whisper sweet nothings
- Joan McNerney
barbeque
each mosquito
takes a bite
- Joanna M. Weston
a cold front
moving in
hot curry
- Joanna M. Weston
fruit softening
under the old apple tree
wasps threading shadows
- John Hawkhead
dandelion stew
on the dinner table
everyone's wish
- Justice Joseph Prah
whipped cream
he puts out his tongue
really far
- Kath Abela Wilson
red chili pepper
I even sprinkle it
on toast
- Kath Abela Wilson
midnight
the taste of parsnip chips
in bed
- Kath Abela Wilson
new to kitchen . . .
I added salt instead of sugar
in tea
- Kumarendra Mallick
driving home
the hot pizza box
on the passenger seat
- Lance Robertson
the possibilities in a bag of flour
- Lance Robertson
buttery fingers
sharing a large popcorn
at the movies
- Lance Robertson
tossed noodle
sticks to the wall
spider web
- Laughing waters
3 o'clock
start thinking about dinner —
50 years
- Linda Keeler
burnt toast
the day begins
badly
- Linda Keeler
season's end . . .
the last peach in the bowl
politely turned down
- Madhuri Pillai
cherries the ones I left hanging
- Margaret Jones
handmade piadina —
the flour on your cheek
the day we met
- Maria Laura Valente
sunday lunch —
just the three of us
and countless meatballs
- Maria Laura Valente
jasmine in bloom —
first cookies I bake
for my daughter
- Maria Laura Valente
birthday cake
she eats the word
happy
- Marianne Paul
crabapple worms
she says her jelly jam
has lots of protein
- Marianne Paul
vegan diet
my cat staring
at the freezer
- Marta Chocilowska
stray dog
a beggar splits his sandwich
in half
- Marta Chocilowska
supermoon
a ripe squash hangs
from the trellis
- Martha Magenta
cinnamon buns —
the first time I saw
my neighbour
- Martha Magenta
blackberry moon
filling jam jars
to the brim
- Martha Magenta
another night shift
solitary focus
morning donuts
- Marty Blue Waters
chocolate almond milk
being silly together —
my daughter's laughter
- Mary Hohlman
sunflower seeds
my canary and I
enjoy spring morning
- Mary Hohlman
tasting a word
as I say it aloud —
gnocchi
- Mary Kendall
the soft velvet
of apricots
against our lips
- Mary Kendall
pierogi day —
pinching loose ends
of dough & memories
- Mary Kendall
red lentils soaking
I do the laundry
water the garden
- Michael G. Smith
making apple pies
a poet taught me about
sharing a kitchen
- Mimi Foyle
my fingers scramble
chocolate in my pocket
turns the day around
- Mimi Foyle
the '60s
Barefoot Tom makes co-op salads
from yard weeds
- Nancy Osborn
arriving late for dinner flowers expired in the vase
- pamela a. babusci
cream in my coffee
swirling like
the Milky Way
- pamela a. babusci
nana's kitchen
even the cat
eats spaghetti
- Pat Davis
nana's herbs
she lets me pick
the sweet basil
- Pat Davis
wine at the bottom of the cup —
swallowing
candlelight
- Phoebe Lakin
for the teacher
a red apple
or six dandelions
- Phyllis Lee
for a bigger tip
she adds whipped cream
and pecans
- Phyllis Lee
in the porch box
chocolate chip cookies
for the birds
- Phyllis Lee
seafront cafe
extra salt
on the table
- Rachel Sutcliffe
snowmelt
two carrots left
on the lawn
- Rachel Sutcliffe
midnight diner
he-man breakfast dish
turned into ash tray
- Ron Scully
soft drink
a waiter says it's okay
to eat the flower
- Rosa Clement
fortune cookie
she looks for wisdom after
cracking it
- Rosa Clement
tangerine season
I turn my skirt
into a basket
- Rosa Clement
autumn fog
bursting through it
cherry tomato
- Ruth Yarrow
blackberries
in a bowl of water — sky
fractured into dots
- Ruth Yarrow
nursing home:
loud clinking
of rice pudding spoons
- Ruth Yarrow
please take me out
for a home cooked meal
someplace else
- Sara Robbins
quick browning
of the apple's flesh
moon and clouds
- Scott Wiggerman
ah! fresh basil the grasshopper and i
- Simon Hanson
coconut blossom sugar
such sweet words
from her lips
- Simon Hanson
on a park bench
empty black walnut shell —
my breath in front of me
- Stephen Page
limburger cheese
on the hot radiator
dad's school prank
- Sue Norvell
the first tomatoes
finally
summer begins
- Sue Norvell
proud mama
my toddler knows more foods at 1
than i did at 20
- Summer Killian
simmering soup . . .
they do not exchange
a single word
- Sunjuktaa Asopa
breakfast table
the light from
a peeled orange
- Sunjuktaa Asopa
steaming rice
on a banana leaf
so fragrant this noonday peace
- Sunjuktaa Asopa
garden party —
her laughter mixes
with the guacamole
- Theresa A. Cancro
morning moon —
folding an omelet
onto the plate
- Theresa A. Cancro
spring sunset —
one green olive left
in the jar
- Theresa A. Cancro
Sunday crime
I overestimate the nutmeg
for our breakfast muffins
- Tiffany Shaw-Diaz
a little moment
of rebellion
gelato in February
- Tiffany Shaw-Diaz
more groceries
than my trunk can hold
rainy Friday
-Tiffany Shaw-Diaz
married dinner out —
bringing reading
material
- Valentina Ranaldi-Adams
jasmine tea my eyes open for butterflies
- Vibeke Laier
restaurant temper tantrum —
the cook put paprika
on my poached eggs
- Zee Zahava
daydreaming
now the tea is cold . . .
that's okay
- Zee Zahava
contemptuous of phonies
my father rejects
haagan-dazs ice cream
- Zee Zahava
green tea leaf
on the bottom of a cup
a chinese dragon
- Zuzanna Truchlewska
morning coffee
instead of sugar
your smile
- Zuzanna Truchlewska
Wednesday, March 1, 2017
Haiku by and About Women
Welcome to the March 2017 issue of brass bell. This is the second annual issue dedicated to poetry by women. In celebration of International Women's Day (March 8), and National Women's History Month in the U. S., we write in honor of women and girls everywhere.
You will notice the way some themes and references appear in more than one haiku, like threads connecting women to one another.
Poems have been received from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Ecuador, England, Ghana, India, Italy, Poland, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Sweden, the U. K. and the United States
catching up
with a girlfriend
summer clouds
- Agnes Eva Savich
spring cleaning —
the doll grandma gave me
still says "Mama"
- Angelee Deodhar
Mother's Day
she calls me by her
sister's name
- Angelee Deodhar
how sad it is
she is almost gone
and we are still unfinished
- Ann Wexler
late season snow all my yesterdays
- Anna Cates
feeling awkward
in my too-short skirt
summer's end
- Anna Maris
old diary
the rose
still red
- Aparna Pathak
guarding women's right to choose
in honor of my daughter
in your memory, mom
- Barbara Mink
centipede
her collection of mismatched
shoes
- Barbara Tate
preoccupation
counting the stars
which one is mine
- Barbara Tate
spring meadow
my daughter's hair
curls at the waist
- Caroline Skanne
wood walk
when no one listens
she sings
- Caroline Skanne
free education
mother and I learn
the alphabet
- Celestine Nudanu
in our house
the bits of family
that come unglued
- Christina Martin
sunshine —
just as her funeral bell
strikes two
- Christina Martin
distant stars
days I need to be
alone
- Christina Sng
crinkling leaves
the deepening lines
in my skin
- Christina Sng
cherry pink sunset
my dog and I
childless
- Christine L. Villa
talking with mom
about my first period
white pleated skirt
- Claire Vogel Camargo
first bra strap snap
by our male gymnastics coach
sixth grade
- Claire Vogel Camargo
long winter
the sudden white
in my hair
- Debbi Antebi
fading memories
my reflection sways
in the ripples
- Debbi Antebi
planting a Three Sisters garden every year we remember you
- Debbie Strange
the hum of bees . . .
I know every word
by heart
- Debbie Strange
runaway truck lane
all those things
I can't control
- Deborah P Kolodji
one tiny word
honey
on a warm biscuit
- Fran Helmstadter
morning frost
the farmer murmurs
to her goats
- Hannah Mahoney
Friday acupuncture
she needles a spot
called Palace of Weariness
- Hannah Mahoney
no room at the inn for a pregnant refugee
- Helen Buckingham
quantum shift
venus positions herself
over jupiter
- Jan Benson
home late —
the kiss you wanted,
the one you got
- Jan Benson
waxing moon
the quarters
in her vacuum bag
- Jennifer Hambrick
mountain fog
great-grandmother
weaves a corn shuck chair
- Jennifer Hambrick
center of the labyrinth —
my spirit guide
whispers her name
- Jill Lange
your words —
the exaggerated lies
of moonlight
- Joann Grisetti
on the train all my life the journey
- Joanna M. Weston
memories
in my backpack
sand and shells
- Joanna M. Weston
green ferns emerging
from decaying forest floor —
potential in me
- Julie Schnepel
last days
I sing her
the lullabies
- Kath Abela Wilson
the open journal
remembering being sixteen
same handwriting
- Katya Sabaroff Taylor
over coffee
she cleans her glasses
on the baby blanket
- kjmunro
girl in a blue shawl
my friend
before I even knew your name
- Laura Gates-Lupton
my daughter . . .
year by year
our roles reverse
- Madhuri Pillai
the steely grain
in her voice
the hurt she hides
- Madhuri Pillai
factory bell
taking a piece of the moon
home with her
- Malintha Perera
falling leaf —
grandma's pendulum clock
has stopped
- Maria Laura Valente
crescent moon —
my mother's smile shines
on my sister's face
- Maria Laura Valente
white chrysanthemum
who will remember me
when I'm gone
- Marta Chocilowska
melting ice
her first letter after
fifty years
- Martha Magenta
tumbleweed
the wind restyles
my hair
- Martha Magenta
i was a bluebird
in another life
following the river's path
- Marty Blue Waters
scent of mock orange —
all the years spent
doubting myself
- Mary Kendall
when i can't decide
between monkey bars and swings
tree branches beckon
- Mimi Foyle
in my best dreams i
play the piano and weave
a bridge of serpents
- Mimi Foyle
mountain peak
gazing into the distance
i postpone my descent
- Nina Kovacic (translation by Durda Vukelic Rozic)
her name tag says
hello, my name is
woman
- Pat Davis
after yesterday
trying to think well
of an old friend
- Phyllis Lee
carrying on
as if I were
not broken
- Phyllis Lee
trash day —
discarding the last
of those dratted heels
- Pris Campbell
women's day —
the younger ones carry
the torch now
- Pris Campbell
hometown park
the old seesaw wobbles
with the weight of my worry
- Rachel Sutcliffe
another year
still this scar
reminds me
- Rachel Sutcliffe
suburban road
the sound of my high heels
silences the crickets
- Rosa Clement
laundry day
the flowers of my dress
with jasmine scent
- Rosa Clement
over her apple
the toddler peers
at the munching squirrel
- Ruth Yarrow
from a flowered sofa
after an eighty hour week
her dark eyes
- Ruth Yarrow
so hard to stay still
these first warm days of spring
my sap is rising
- Sue Crowley
quarrel over —
tying knots
in a rag rug
- Theresa A. Cancro
world hijab day
blue head scarf
in the elegant wind
- Tricia Knoll
jagged craters
on the moon
my aging face
- Valentina Ranaldi-Adams
night kisses
sharing a secret
with mother
- Vibeke Laier
early morning rain
the turtle remains in its shell
so do i
- Zee Zahava
an unbusy moment eavesdropping on my own thoughts
- Zee Zahava
wave after wave
your shadow
appears and disappears
- Zuzanna Truchlewska
You will notice the way some themes and references appear in more than one haiku, like threads connecting women to one another.
Poems have been received from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Ecuador, England, Ghana, India, Italy, Poland, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Sweden, the U. K. and the United States
catching up
with a girlfriend
summer clouds
- Agnes Eva Savich
spring cleaning —
the doll grandma gave me
still says "Mama"
- Angelee Deodhar
Mother's Day
she calls me by her
sister's name
- Angelee Deodhar
how sad it is
she is almost gone
and we are still unfinished
- Ann Wexler
late season snow all my yesterdays
- Anna Cates
feeling awkward
in my too-short skirt
summer's end
- Anna Maris
old diary
the rose
still red
- Aparna Pathak
guarding women's right to choose
in honor of my daughter
in your memory, mom
- Barbara Mink
centipede
her collection of mismatched
shoes
- Barbara Tate
preoccupation
counting the stars
which one is mine
- Barbara Tate
spring meadow
my daughter's hair
curls at the waist
- Caroline Skanne
wood walk
when no one listens
she sings
- Caroline Skanne
free education
mother and I learn
the alphabet
- Celestine Nudanu
in our house
the bits of family
that come unglued
- Christina Martin
sunshine —
just as her funeral bell
strikes two
- Christina Martin
distant stars
days I need to be
alone
- Christina Sng
crinkling leaves
the deepening lines
in my skin
- Christina Sng
cherry pink sunset
my dog and I
childless
- Christine L. Villa
talking with mom
about my first period
white pleated skirt
- Claire Vogel Camargo
first bra strap snap
by our male gymnastics coach
sixth grade
- Claire Vogel Camargo
long winter
the sudden white
in my hair
- Debbi Antebi
fading memories
my reflection sways
in the ripples
- Debbi Antebi
planting a Three Sisters garden every year we remember you
- Debbie Strange
the hum of bees . . .
I know every word
by heart
- Debbie Strange
runaway truck lane
all those things
I can't control
- Deborah P Kolodji
one tiny word
honey
on a warm biscuit
- Fran Helmstadter
morning frost
the farmer murmurs
to her goats
- Hannah Mahoney
Friday acupuncture
she needles a spot
called Palace of Weariness
- Hannah Mahoney
no room at the inn for a pregnant refugee
- Helen Buckingham
quantum shift
venus positions herself
over jupiter
- Jan Benson
home late —
the kiss you wanted,
the one you got
- Jan Benson
waxing moon
the quarters
in her vacuum bag
- Jennifer Hambrick
mountain fog
great-grandmother
weaves a corn shuck chair
- Jennifer Hambrick
center of the labyrinth —
my spirit guide
whispers her name
- Jill Lange
your words —
the exaggerated lies
of moonlight
- Joann Grisetti
on the train all my life the journey
- Joanna M. Weston
memories
in my backpack
sand and shells
- Joanna M. Weston
green ferns emerging
from decaying forest floor —
potential in me
- Julie Schnepel
last days
I sing her
the lullabies
- Kath Abela Wilson
the open journal
remembering being sixteen
same handwriting
- Katya Sabaroff Taylor
over coffee
she cleans her glasses
on the baby blanket
- kjmunro
girl in a blue shawl
my friend
before I even knew your name
- Laura Gates-Lupton
my daughter . . .
year by year
our roles reverse
- Madhuri Pillai
the steely grain
in her voice
the hurt she hides
- Madhuri Pillai
factory bell
taking a piece of the moon
home with her
- Malintha Perera
falling leaf —
grandma's pendulum clock
has stopped
- Maria Laura Valente
crescent moon —
my mother's smile shines
on my sister's face
- Maria Laura Valente
white chrysanthemum
who will remember me
when I'm gone
- Marta Chocilowska
melting ice
her first letter after
fifty years
- Martha Magenta
tumbleweed
the wind restyles
my hair
- Martha Magenta
i was a bluebird
in another life
following the river's path
- Marty Blue Waters
scent of mock orange —
all the years spent
doubting myself
- Mary Kendall
when i can't decide
between monkey bars and swings
tree branches beckon
- Mimi Foyle
in my best dreams i
play the piano and weave
a bridge of serpents
- Mimi Foyle
mountain peak
gazing into the distance
i postpone my descent
- Nina Kovacic (translation by Durda Vukelic Rozic)
her name tag says
hello, my name is
woman
- Pat Davis
after yesterday
trying to think well
of an old friend
- Phyllis Lee
carrying on
as if I were
not broken
- Phyllis Lee
trash day —
discarding the last
of those dratted heels
- Pris Campbell
women's day —
the younger ones carry
the torch now
- Pris Campbell
hometown park
the old seesaw wobbles
with the weight of my worry
- Rachel Sutcliffe
another year
still this scar
reminds me
- Rachel Sutcliffe
suburban road
the sound of my high heels
silences the crickets
- Rosa Clement
laundry day
the flowers of my dress
with jasmine scent
- Rosa Clement
over her apple
the toddler peers
at the munching squirrel
- Ruth Yarrow
from a flowered sofa
after an eighty hour week
her dark eyes
- Ruth Yarrow
so hard to stay still
these first warm days of spring
my sap is rising
- Sue Crowley
quarrel over —
tying knots
in a rag rug
- Theresa A. Cancro
world hijab day
blue head scarf
in the elegant wind
- Tricia Knoll
jagged craters
on the moon
my aging face
- Valentina Ranaldi-Adams
night kisses
sharing a secret
with mother
- Vibeke Laier
early morning rain
the turtle remains in its shell
so do i
- Zee Zahava
an unbusy moment eavesdropping on my own thoughts
- Zee Zahava
wave after wave
your shadow
appears and disappears
- Zuzanna Truchlewska
Wednesday, February 1, 2017
haiku written on January 18, 2017
Welcome to the February 2017 issue of brass bell: a haiku journal.
This month's collection features poems that were written on a single date: Wednesday, January 18, 2017.
Contributors are from: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Ecuador, England, Ghana, India, Ireland, Japan, Nigeria, Poland, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the U.K., and the United States
setting up for the day
the roadside beggar
lines his calabash with coins
- Adjei Agyei-Baah
winter blues
the unlit street lamp
waits for night
- Agnes Eva Savich
late night haiku . . .
waking up the smartphone
and myself
- Ajaya Mahala
rain drop
dripped then
drops on
- Alan Bern
those who stop —
ducks taking colour
from the river
- Alan Summers
orange dawn wakes me
ebb tide
mine and the river's
- Amauri Solon Ribeiro
missing
the warmth of his voice
this cold cold house
- Angelee Deodhar
late night drive
between the good songs
silent starlight
- Anna Cates
sleet
the impossibility
of lilacs
- Anna Maris
another chance
to know the ordinary
winter meadow
- Anne Elise Burgevin
kid's garden —
the little snowman
eats the carrot
- Aparna Pathak
six o'clock news
my husband yells at
the tv
- Barbara Tate
winter night . . .
the hiss of the fire
the sigh of the cat
- Bill Waters
winter garden
puddles cuddling up
to flagstones
- Brad Bennett
the more I read
the more confused I become
can't shut my eyes
- C. Robin Janning
winter sun
i share my oatcakes
with a robin
- Caroline Skanne
the calligraphy
of bare maple branches
tangled thoughts of home
- Chen-ou Liu
watching over us
my son's stuffed animals
assigned as sentinels
- Christina Sng
spreading towels
on the rug and sofa
muddy paws
- Claire Vogel Camargo
street corner
an aspen shaking
in the rain
- Dan Schwerin
middle of the night
colouring a nightmare
the yelp of foxes
- David J. Kelly
paper cut
the sting of the words
in her letter
- Debbi Antebi
CT scan
will i emerge
a butterfly
- Debbie Strange
rain gutters full . . .
the hummingbird feeder
empty
- Deborah P Kolodji
heavy cloud cover
the classical station
plays vivaldi
- Dottie Piet
haiku dry spell . . .
my old water bottle
empties itself
- Elizabeth Alford
morning echo
a rooster calculates
the reach of its crow
- Emmanuel Jessie Kalusian
my cork board
three-deep in grandchildren's art
we plan the day
- Ferris Gilli
reading the paper
checking the obituaries
not me not yet
- Frank Robinson
the soft voice in the other room, man to cat
- Glenn Ingersoll
another broken old vase
seeking out
my glasses
- Goran Gatalica
january heat
opening windows
to a post-truth spring
- Helen Buckingham
procrastination
i pretend to be sick . . .
mailbox in the snow
- Hideo Suzuki
sweeping winter
from the corners
early crocus
- Jan Benson
sharing cake all the time in the world before the mammogram
- Jane Williams
business trip
in the light of the half-moon
my husband's slippers
- Jennifer Hambrick
ah, poetry journal
package FedEx left in rain —
waterproof
- Jill Lange
his wheelchair
at the window . . .
sun worship
- Jo Balistreri
my green thumb too itchy
made me spill dirt
all over the floor
- Joan McNerney
waves and the tide over and over again
- Joanna M. Weston
subway rush hour
train carriages packed
with armpits
- John Hawkhead
beach shoreline
waves washing
my fallen shadow
- Justice Joseph Prah
cold snap
before sun
turtles
- Kath Abela Wilson
calendar tells me
that I'm really getting old
but not on this day
- Katya Sabaroff Taylor
warming up by the fire
we plan our visit
to Iceland
- kjmunro
drifting clouds —
any anchor for my
wavering mind
- Kumarendra Mallick
my footsteps
landing in your footprint
single snowflake
- Laughing waters
light from a dim sky
the sun fit through the branches
as if it lived there
- Laurinda Lind
after his death
his partner weeps alone —
alone at 97
- Louise Vignaux
after work
detour to the chemist
her offer of coffee and a chinwag
- Madhuri Pillai
matching scarfs
the child
and her bald barbie
- Malintha Perera
a healing circle
we shed old stories
forgiveness
- Mara Alper
food enough and teeth
back home
I forgive my dentist
- Margaret Jones
feeling guilty
pruning the houseplants
anyway
- Marianne Paul
frosted window —
placing the poinsettia
near the fireplace
- Marta Chocilowska
daffodil leaves
a sharp bend
in the road
- Martha Magenta
tripping over the same rug —
hammer and nails
pounding it to the floor
- Marty Blue Waters
mangosteen rubies
scatter on the kitchen floor
like winter rainbows
- Mimi Foyle
no fear . . .
blue jays nab peanuts
despite the cat
- Nancy Brady
elephant with wings
imaginations soar high
while feeding baby
- Neha R. Krishna
snowy day
the sweetness of summer
in my mum's marmalade
- Nina Kovacic
translated by Durda Vukelic Rozic
clever morning
one more verbal blow
from my Shakespearean Insults calendar
- Olivier Schopfer
met someone new
and liked her much more
than I expected to
- Phoebe Shalloway
prankster
the neighbor's garden Buddha
on our porch swing
- Phyllis Lee
each time
I look at the clock —
two a.m.
- Pris Campbell
my cold hands
warming them up
in your pocket
- Rachel Sutcliffe
before dawn
coming to my senses
fear fades to white
- Rob Sullivan
breakfast
the scent of lilies stronger
than coffee
- Rosa Clement
dark water
between the last chunks of ice
deep reflections
- Ruth Yarrow
shuffled playlist
my least favorite song
plays first
- Shloka Shankar
pool rescue
a struggling bee
lifted to a sunflower
- Simon Hanson
winter fog —
a boat horn blows
from every direction
- Stephen Page
my vulnerable students
laugh at my jokes —
the last class I will teach
-Sue Crowley
flock of turkeys
scratching through the snow
to the leaves below
- Susan Lang
winter doldrums
slipping past the screen door
the cat's cold nose
- Theresa A. Cancro
the arterial road
clogged up again . . .
high blood pressure
- Tim Gardiner
the icicle dagger
falls from the eaves
wild freedom
- Tricia Knoll
winter moon
folding myself
into silence
- Vibeke Laier
a thought—
the world is a magical place
it opens its arms to me
- Yvonne Fisher
lunch with my sister's photograph
not as much fun
as a real visit
- Zee Zahava
snowstorm
lifting up
a flock of rooks
- Zuzanna Truchlewska
This month's collection features poems that were written on a single date: Wednesday, January 18, 2017.
Contributors are from: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Ecuador, England, Ghana, India, Ireland, Japan, Nigeria, Poland, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the U.K., and the United States
setting up for the day
the roadside beggar
lines his calabash with coins
- Adjei Agyei-Baah
winter blues
the unlit street lamp
waits for night
- Agnes Eva Savich
late night haiku . . .
waking up the smartphone
and myself
- Ajaya Mahala
rain drop
dripped then
drops on
- Alan Bern
those who stop —
ducks taking colour
from the river
- Alan Summers
orange dawn wakes me
ebb tide
mine and the river's
- Amauri Solon Ribeiro
missing
the warmth of his voice
this cold cold house
- Angelee Deodhar
late night drive
between the good songs
silent starlight
- Anna Cates
sleet
the impossibility
of lilacs
- Anna Maris
another chance
to know the ordinary
winter meadow
- Anne Elise Burgevin
kid's garden —
the little snowman
eats the carrot
- Aparna Pathak
six o'clock news
my husband yells at
the tv
- Barbara Tate
winter night . . .
the hiss of the fire
the sigh of the cat
- Bill Waters
winter garden
puddles cuddling up
to flagstones
- Brad Bennett
the more I read
the more confused I become
can't shut my eyes
- C. Robin Janning
winter sun
i share my oatcakes
with a robin
- Caroline Skanne
the calligraphy
of bare maple branches
tangled thoughts of home
- Chen-ou Liu
watching over us
my son's stuffed animals
assigned as sentinels
- Christina Sng
spreading towels
on the rug and sofa
muddy paws
- Claire Vogel Camargo
street corner
an aspen shaking
in the rain
- Dan Schwerin
middle of the night
colouring a nightmare
the yelp of foxes
- David J. Kelly
paper cut
the sting of the words
in her letter
- Debbi Antebi
CT scan
will i emerge
a butterfly
- Debbie Strange
rain gutters full . . .
the hummingbird feeder
empty
- Deborah P Kolodji
heavy cloud cover
the classical station
plays vivaldi
- Dottie Piet
haiku dry spell . . .
my old water bottle
empties itself
- Elizabeth Alford
morning echo
a rooster calculates
the reach of its crow
- Emmanuel Jessie Kalusian
my cork board
three-deep in grandchildren's art
we plan the day
- Ferris Gilli
reading the paper
checking the obituaries
not me not yet
- Frank Robinson
the soft voice in the other room, man to cat
- Glenn Ingersoll
another broken old vase
seeking out
my glasses
- Goran Gatalica
january heat
opening windows
to a post-truth spring
- Helen Buckingham
procrastination
i pretend to be sick . . .
mailbox in the snow
- Hideo Suzuki
sweeping winter
from the corners
early crocus
- Jan Benson
sharing cake all the time in the world before the mammogram
- Jane Williams
business trip
in the light of the half-moon
my husband's slippers
- Jennifer Hambrick
ah, poetry journal
package FedEx left in rain —
waterproof
- Jill Lange
his wheelchair
at the window . . .
sun worship
- Jo Balistreri
my green thumb too itchy
made me spill dirt
all over the floor
- Joan McNerney
waves and the tide over and over again
- Joanna M. Weston
subway rush hour
train carriages packed
with armpits
- John Hawkhead
beach shoreline
waves washing
my fallen shadow
- Justice Joseph Prah
cold snap
before sun
turtles
- Kath Abela Wilson
calendar tells me
that I'm really getting old
but not on this day
- Katya Sabaroff Taylor
warming up by the fire
we plan our visit
to Iceland
- kjmunro
drifting clouds —
any anchor for my
wavering mind
- Kumarendra Mallick
my footsteps
landing in your footprint
single snowflake
- Laughing waters
light from a dim sky
the sun fit through the branches
as if it lived there
- Laurinda Lind
after his death
his partner weeps alone —
alone at 97
- Louise Vignaux
after work
detour to the chemist
her offer of coffee and a chinwag
- Madhuri Pillai
matching scarfs
the child
and her bald barbie
- Malintha Perera
a healing circle
we shed old stories
forgiveness
- Mara Alper
food enough and teeth
back home
I forgive my dentist
- Margaret Jones
feeling guilty
pruning the houseplants
anyway
- Marianne Paul
frosted window —
placing the poinsettia
near the fireplace
- Marta Chocilowska
daffodil leaves
a sharp bend
in the road
- Martha Magenta
tripping over the same rug —
hammer and nails
pounding it to the floor
- Marty Blue Waters
mangosteen rubies
scatter on the kitchen floor
like winter rainbows
- Mimi Foyle
no fear . . .
blue jays nab peanuts
despite the cat
- Nancy Brady
elephant with wings
imaginations soar high
while feeding baby
- Neha R. Krishna
snowy day
the sweetness of summer
in my mum's marmalade
- Nina Kovacic
translated by Durda Vukelic Rozic
clever morning
one more verbal blow
from my Shakespearean Insults calendar
- Olivier Schopfer
met someone new
and liked her much more
than I expected to
- Phoebe Shalloway
prankster
the neighbor's garden Buddha
on our porch swing
- Phyllis Lee
each time
I look at the clock —
two a.m.
- Pris Campbell
my cold hands
warming them up
in your pocket
- Rachel Sutcliffe
before dawn
coming to my senses
fear fades to white
- Rob Sullivan
breakfast
the scent of lilies stronger
than coffee
- Rosa Clement
dark water
between the last chunks of ice
deep reflections
- Ruth Yarrow
shuffled playlist
my least favorite song
plays first
- Shloka Shankar
pool rescue
a struggling bee
lifted to a sunflower
- Simon Hanson
winter fog —
a boat horn blows
from every direction
- Stephen Page
my vulnerable students
laugh at my jokes —
the last class I will teach
-Sue Crowley
flock of turkeys
scratching through the snow
to the leaves below
- Susan Lang
winter doldrums
slipping past the screen door
the cat's cold nose
- Theresa A. Cancro
the arterial road
clogged up again . . .
high blood pressure
- Tim Gardiner
the icicle dagger
falls from the eaves
wild freedom
- Tricia Knoll
winter moon
folding myself
into silence
- Vibeke Laier
a thought—
the world is a magical place
it opens its arms to me
- Yvonne Fisher
lunch with my sister's photograph
not as much fun
as a real visit
- Zee Zahava
snowstorm
lifting up
a flock of rooks
- Zuzanna Truchlewska
Sunday, January 1, 2017
happiness haiku
Welcome to the January 2017 issue of brass bell: a haiku journal.
This month we are sharing what makes us happy … a good way to start a new year!
Contributors are from: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Ecuador, England, Ghana, India, Ireland, Japan, Philippines, Poland, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Wales, the U.K., and the United States
mountain
on your rough edge
I made it to the top
- Adjei Agyei-Baah
crashing tide
little crabs hurry back
to sea
- Adjei Agyei-Baah
your voice
again
more than enough
- Alan Bern
the rock garden where the statue of Buddha sat
- Alan Catlin
bedtime stories
read to me by my parents
I read to my grandson
- Angelee Deodhar
spring breeze
my dress makes a pirouette
on the washing line
- Anna Maris
sunset
the hare and i
stop to watch
- Anna Maris
first date
this early morning and you
also so blushed
- Anna Mazurkiewicz
temple bell . . .
I recollect the name
of a long lost friend
- Aparna Pathak
winter sky
catching a wish
on my tongue
- Barbara Tate
reading in the sunshine . . .
a tangle of lavender
and one devoted bee
- Bill Waters
asleep with the light on . . .
taking the book
from her hand
- Bill Waters
after the rain
my shadow steps first
in the puddles
- Billy Antonio
book-shaped cake
my child tells me she too
is a bookworm
- Billy Antonio
swaying pines . . .
something inside me
clicks into place
- Brad Bennett
thirty four years after
dad's gone — a new baby
with his eyes
- Bre
rush of wind
no ground below
zipline
- Caroline Gates-Lupton
full inbox
taking a break
super moon . . .
- Caroline Skanne
thawing stream
the forgotten words
of a song . . .
- Caroline Skanne
her bike
leans against mine . . .
summer stars
- Chen-ou Liu
rolling in from the sea moon pearls
- Christina Martin
last chocolate
at the back of the fridge
childlike exuberance
- Christina Sng
first sight
of my newborn son
the expansion of my heart
- Christina Sng
a young swashbuckler
challenges his reflection
with a balloon sword
- David J. Kelly
wearing fairy wings
a little girl flutters
from step to step
- David J. Kelly
tiny raindrops shine
in my daughter's dark hair —
starry sky
- David Oates
harvest moon
the love note I find
in an old book
- Debbi Antebi
eleven years later
our new dance
to the same song
- Debbi Antebi
ginko walk how extraordinary this ordinary life
- Debbie Strange
Betsy's deck —
waiting for the eagle
on Penobscot Bay
- Frances Helmstadter
early january —
for a moment
i'm as young as the new year
- Frank Robinson
one by one
the fireflies come to dance
among the rafters
- Glenn Ingersoll
ending the year
on a bright note —
moonshine on ice
- Helen Buckingham
twin umbrellas
talking to each other
joy of a rainy day
- Hideo Suzuki
you are my sunshine
new again
with each babe
- Jan Benson
exchanging rare objects snail mail
- Jane Williams
dolphin pod so much more to see without my camera
- Jane Williams
the cartoon clippings
she sends just for fun
spring birds
- Jennifer Hambrick
morning bird how he calls me beautiful
- Jennifer Hambrick
making angels
in the snow . . .
grandma and grandpa
- Jo Balistreri
whoopee another poetry acceptance
- Joan McNerney
a dozen red balloons
hang from the chandelier
his sixtieth
- Joanna M. Weston
I go to bed smiling
each night a flower
in my hair
- Kath Abela Wilson
reaching into a box
of mom's few last possessions
my poems about her
- Kath Abela Wilson
just this one flower
makes the whole room beautiful
red gladiola
- Katya Sabaroff Taylor
unpacking my suitcase your lunch this poem
- kjmunro
at the library
on the lowest shelf
picture books
- kjmunro
tumbling down the hill box of kids
- Laughing waters
writing again
playing piano again
healthy again
- Madeleine Cohen Oakley
dog park
in the morning sunshine
the bellbird's song
- Madhuri Pillai
sun after storm
flowers on the meadow
straightening up
- Marta Chocilowska
icy wind
the horse's warm breath
on my neck
- Martha Magenta
looking for a laugh
i see a mirror and pose
hello hello
- Marty Blue Waters
my great-grandson
always giggling
i never know why
- Mary Louise Church
snowbound —
a brand new novel
page one
- Mary Kendall
first snow —
a cheeky chickadee
breaks the peace
- Mary Kendall
on the telephone
my grandson's excited shriek
when he hears it's me
- Mimi Foyle
having a stroll — my daydreams and I
- Nina Kovacic
translated by Durda Vukelic Rozic
new passengers
in the subway train
a feather enters too
- Olivier Schopfer
secret garden
no sound but
the gurgle of the fountain
- Olivier Schopfer
my grown child declares
the best music is
in the oldies bin
- Pat Davis
winter green
the first sprout
from my hyacinth bulb
- Pat Davis
our initials
carved in a heart . . .
still smiling
- Pat Geyer
slow mornings — you laugh
and brush my tangling hair
right into my eyes
- Phoebe Shalloway
car window condensation
draw one smiley face
then a second so it's not lonely
- Phoebe Shalloway
emptied closet . . .
mother's old red robe again
in my arms
- Pris Campbell
checking the clock —
my friend's face appears
on skype
- Pris Campbell
first warm day
folding the breeze
into the sheets
- Rachel Sutcliffe
hopscotch
I play a game
with my inner child
- Rachel Sutcliffe
small brown wren
weighs on trembling aspen
vocalissimus
- Ron Scully
spring night
in my dream I am
awake and smiling
- Rosa Clement
kaleidoscope
my son shows me
another beauty
- Simon Hanson
strong wind gust —
cardinal atop a plum
lifts its crown and sings
- Stephen Page
1 nuthatch 1 titmouse 9 goldfinches
6 perches at the feeder
chaos!
- Sue Norvell
fall hike —
the crackle
of peanut brittle
- Theresa A. Cancro
waking
the robin's spirit
within me
- Tim Gardiner
happy birthday card
from the hardware store
farmer's nuts, bolts, and hoses
- Tricia Knoll
midnight kiss
New Year's Eve
and every night
- Valentina Ranaldi-Adams
patches of daffodils
around the city —
finally
- Valentina Ranaldi-Adams
winter dawn
butterflies gliding
in a dream
- Vibeke Laier
dancing with diana
gladys stevie smokey
motown sunrise
- Zee Zahava
pen: thank you for still having ink
- Zee Zahava
This month we are sharing what makes us happy … a good way to start a new year!
Contributors are from: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Ecuador, England, Ghana, India, Ireland, Japan, Philippines, Poland, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Wales, the U.K., and the United States
mountain
on your rough edge
I made it to the top
- Adjei Agyei-Baah
crashing tide
little crabs hurry back
to sea
- Adjei Agyei-Baah
your voice
again
more than enough
- Alan Bern
the rock garden where the statue of Buddha sat
- Alan Catlin
bedtime stories
read to me by my parents
I read to my grandson
- Angelee Deodhar
spring breeze
my dress makes a pirouette
on the washing line
- Anna Maris
sunset
the hare and i
stop to watch
- Anna Maris
first date
this early morning and you
also so blushed
- Anna Mazurkiewicz
temple bell . . .
I recollect the name
of a long lost friend
- Aparna Pathak
winter sky
catching a wish
on my tongue
- Barbara Tate
reading in the sunshine . . .
a tangle of lavender
and one devoted bee
- Bill Waters
asleep with the light on . . .
taking the book
from her hand
- Bill Waters
after the rain
my shadow steps first
in the puddles
- Billy Antonio
book-shaped cake
my child tells me she too
is a bookworm
- Billy Antonio
swaying pines . . .
something inside me
clicks into place
- Brad Bennett
thirty four years after
dad's gone — a new baby
with his eyes
- Bre
rush of wind
no ground below
zipline
- Caroline Gates-Lupton
full inbox
taking a break
super moon . . .
- Caroline Skanne
thawing stream
the forgotten words
of a song . . .
- Caroline Skanne
her bike
leans against mine . . .
summer stars
- Chen-ou Liu
rolling in from the sea moon pearls
- Christina Martin
last chocolate
at the back of the fridge
childlike exuberance
- Christina Sng
first sight
of my newborn son
the expansion of my heart
- Christina Sng
a young swashbuckler
challenges his reflection
with a balloon sword
- David J. Kelly
wearing fairy wings
a little girl flutters
from step to step
- David J. Kelly
tiny raindrops shine
in my daughter's dark hair —
starry sky
- David Oates
harvest moon
the love note I find
in an old book
- Debbi Antebi
eleven years later
our new dance
to the same song
- Debbi Antebi
ginko walk how extraordinary this ordinary life
- Debbie Strange
Betsy's deck —
waiting for the eagle
on Penobscot Bay
- Frances Helmstadter
early january —
for a moment
i'm as young as the new year
- Frank Robinson
one by one
the fireflies come to dance
among the rafters
- Glenn Ingersoll
ending the year
on a bright note —
moonshine on ice
- Helen Buckingham
twin umbrellas
talking to each other
joy of a rainy day
- Hideo Suzuki
you are my sunshine
new again
with each babe
- Jan Benson
exchanging rare objects snail mail
- Jane Williams
dolphin pod so much more to see without my camera
- Jane Williams
the cartoon clippings
she sends just for fun
spring birds
- Jennifer Hambrick
morning bird how he calls me beautiful
- Jennifer Hambrick
making angels
in the snow . . .
grandma and grandpa
- Jo Balistreri
whoopee another poetry acceptance
- Joan McNerney
a dozen red balloons
hang from the chandelier
his sixtieth
- Joanna M. Weston
I go to bed smiling
each night a flower
in my hair
- Kath Abela Wilson
reaching into a box
of mom's few last possessions
my poems about her
- Kath Abela Wilson
just this one flower
makes the whole room beautiful
red gladiola
- Katya Sabaroff Taylor
unpacking my suitcase your lunch this poem
- kjmunro
at the library
on the lowest shelf
picture books
- kjmunro
tumbling down the hill box of kids
- Laughing waters
writing again
playing piano again
healthy again
- Madeleine Cohen Oakley
dog park
in the morning sunshine
the bellbird's song
- Madhuri Pillai
sun after storm
flowers on the meadow
straightening up
- Marta Chocilowska
icy wind
the horse's warm breath
on my neck
- Martha Magenta
looking for a laugh
i see a mirror and pose
hello hello
- Marty Blue Waters
my great-grandson
always giggling
i never know why
- Mary Louise Church
snowbound —
a brand new novel
page one
- Mary Kendall
first snow —
a cheeky chickadee
breaks the peace
- Mary Kendall
on the telephone
my grandson's excited shriek
when he hears it's me
- Mimi Foyle
having a stroll — my daydreams and I
- Nina Kovacic
translated by Durda Vukelic Rozic
new passengers
in the subway train
a feather enters too
- Olivier Schopfer
secret garden
no sound but
the gurgle of the fountain
- Olivier Schopfer
my grown child declares
the best music is
in the oldies bin
- Pat Davis
winter green
the first sprout
from my hyacinth bulb
- Pat Davis
our initials
carved in a heart . . .
still smiling
- Pat Geyer
slow mornings — you laugh
and brush my tangling hair
right into my eyes
- Phoebe Shalloway
car window condensation
draw one smiley face
then a second so it's not lonely
- Phoebe Shalloway
emptied closet . . .
mother's old red robe again
in my arms
- Pris Campbell
checking the clock —
my friend's face appears
on skype
- Pris Campbell
first warm day
folding the breeze
into the sheets
- Rachel Sutcliffe
hopscotch
I play a game
with my inner child
- Rachel Sutcliffe
small brown wren
weighs on trembling aspen
vocalissimus
- Ron Scully
spring night
in my dream I am
awake and smiling
- Rosa Clement
kaleidoscope
my son shows me
another beauty
- Simon Hanson
strong wind gust —
cardinal atop a plum
lifts its crown and sings
- Stephen Page
1 nuthatch 1 titmouse 9 goldfinches
6 perches at the feeder
chaos!
- Sue Norvell
fall hike —
the crackle
of peanut brittle
- Theresa A. Cancro
waking
the robin's spirit
within me
- Tim Gardiner
happy birthday card
from the hardware store
farmer's nuts, bolts, and hoses
- Tricia Knoll
midnight kiss
New Year's Eve
and every night
- Valentina Ranaldi-Adams
patches of daffodils
around the city —
finally
- Valentina Ranaldi-Adams
winter dawn
butterflies gliding
in a dream
- Vibeke Laier
dancing with diana
gladys stevie smokey
motown sunrise
- Zee Zahava
pen: thank you for still having ink
- Zee Zahava
Thursday, December 1, 2016
HomePlace: a collection of small poems
Welcome to the December 2016 issue of brass bell: a haiku journal.
This month showcases small poems on the theme HomePlace.
Contributors are from: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Ecuador, England, Ghana, India, Ireland, Japan, Poland, Singapore, Switzerland, Turkey, Wales, the U.K., and the United States
amakom, ghana
oil waste from biscuit factory
lights our lanterns at night
- Adjei Agyei-Baah
berkeley
wide park and dodgeball playground
all i thought i'd need
- Alan Bern
rio de janeiro
though born near the beach i dream
of horses and prairies
- Amauri Solon
new brunswick, new jersey
i am 10
the young men go off to korea
- Annie Wexler
new delhi, india
my hair styles change
from first crush to last
- Aparna Pathak
barrie, ontario
doing the dishes with my mother
explaining the poetry of simon & garfunkel
- Barbara Cartwright
akron, ohio
curfew broken
grounded again
- Barbara Tate
cranesville, west virginia
how my father smiled there
like no other place
- C. Robin Janning
cayutaville, new york
convertibles zoom by
too many to be a coincidence
- Caroline Gates-Lupton
stockholm
sucking the sweetness
out of a white lilac
- Caroline Skanne
syracuse, new york
a baby bird falls out of its nest
mom revives her with 2 drops of whiskey
- Chris McNamara
great neck, long island
watching out for the bully
who waits on the corner
- Christina Martin
amber mansions, singapore
where i first fell in love
with cats
- Christina Sng
yorktown heights, new york
front lawns manicured and tidy
i plant corn
- Christine Sanchirico
manila, philippines
crying over a broken necklace
made of santan flowers
- Christine L. Villa
midland, texas
stroking the soft bellies
of horny toads
- Claire Vogel Camargo
broken hill, new south wales
a malleefowl crossing
by the "beware of malleefowl" sign
- David J Kelly
rural georgia
on one grave
little toy trucks
- David Oates
saskatchewan . . .
we photograph antelope
in the gloaming
- Debbie Strange
niagara haze
maid of the mist looks
like a toy boat
- Dottie Piet
hayward fault line
clinging to my mother
since the quake of '89
- Elizabeth Alford
brooklyn
tension at the dining room table
my father carves the turkey
- Frances Helmstadter
in providence
angell street crosses benefit
and peace and plenty are parallel
- Frank Robinson
buffalo, new york
i played the violin
everyone else played football
- Gabrielle Vehar
sebastopol, california
sticky to the elbows
juice of windfall apples
- Glenn Ingersoll
virovitica, croatia
my father throws the scythe
into the barn
- Goran Gatalica
scranton, pennsylvania
hiding sandwiches
behind the radiator
- Grace Celeste
bosporus, turkey
waiting for a ferry
along with peddlers and gulls
- Guliz Mutlu
briar hill
looking over my toes in bed
i see canada across the river
- H. Fraser
mattapoisett
the stars
after my mother died
- Hannah Mahoney
south london department store
gels in distressed school uniforms
take tea
- Helen Buckingham
lima, ohio
drinking tang each morning
our prefab crackerbox home
- Jan Benson
columbus, ohio
on the front porch
shooting craps with dad
- Jennifer Hambrick
duluth, minnesota
grandma rocks me
and sings songs of ireland
- Jo Balistreri
prospect park, brooklyn
i put pretty grass
on my sandwich
- Joan McNerney
north downs, kent
i turn the chicken run
into a rock garden
- Joanna M. Weston
staten island
after 17 years we move up the hill
to fancy schmancy
- Katha Abela Wilson
san francisco days
while mom waters her roses
i read nancy drew
- Katya Sabaroff Taylor
newark, new york
i was almost chosen to be the
rose queen
- Kim Falstick
vancouver summer
collecting caterpillars
releasing butterflies
- kjmunro
ypsilanti, michigan
my best friend pammy and i give up chocolate milk
to chat during nap time
- kris moon
india
under grandma's quilt
for evening story time
- Kumarendra Mallick
kiev in winter
yellow chrysanthemums
bloom in the snowy streets
- Laughing waters
a halifax night
revving our engines
at the stop light
- Lance Robertson
bareville, pennsylvania
waiting for the mailman to arrive
we call him the candy man
- Linda Keeler
queens, new york
my beautiful blue parakeet
binky
- Madeleine Cohen Oakley
jamshedpur, india
screening "woodstock" in the club
i smuggle my friends inside
- Madhuri Pillai
oswego, new york
giggling girls in red plaid skirts
late for confession, as usual
- Margaret Dennis
ottawa lake, wisconsin
too cold to swim
i dive in to drown out mom's i told you so
- Margaret Jones
brockville, ontario
the ghost playing organ music
at midnight
- Marianne Paul
warsaw cemetery
a bag of sweet chestnuts
in my pocket
- Marta Chocilowska
black mountains, wales
amid the dense rain
one red cagoule
- Martha Magenta
greensburg, kansas
astonished to discover
tonight's chicken dinner was today's bloody chore
- Marty Blue Waters
west newbury, vermont
the tyler farm
the huge white bull
- Mary Louise Church
bozeman, montana
we stay indoors at night
bears own the streets
- Michael G. Smith
city of angels
i sniff out the fresh-baked bread
half a block away
- Mimi Foyle
manlius hitchhiker
my thumb a great friend
as i try to escape myself
- MJ Richmond
highland park, illinois
morning bugle song
we live near the army base
- Nancy Osborn
the bronx
hot fudge sundaes at krum's
my reward for good report cards
- Nina Miller
geneva, switzerland
the christmas tree i wanted
to keep forever
- Olivier Schopfer
east boston
street corner whistles
for the girl behind me
- Pat Davis
union, new jersey
wet laundry freezes on the clothes line
baccalà for lunch
- Pat Geyer
ithaca, new york
david bowie cancels his concert
i go into mourning
- Paula Culver
chicago breakfast
the orange pellet changes
oleo to butter
- Phyllis Lee
pageland, south carolina
wiping lipstick off ronald's picture
before mother sees
- Pris Campbell
west hempstead, long island
smoking in the ravine with friends
accidentally burning down the driving range
- Rainbow Crow
merrick, long island
ovaltine
it's good — and it's good for you
- Rob Sullivan
wolfeboro, new hampshire
the patter of my own little feet
down the dock
- Robin White
manaus, brazil
i insist on planting rosebushes
that will never bloom
- Rosa Clement
fargo
seven tornadoes
me, safe in her womb
- Ross Haarstad
poughkeepsie, new york
sunday morning bagels, nova, danish
the new york times
- Sara Robbins
semaphore, south australia
joined by forty seagulls
for fish and chips
- Simon Hanson
choconut center
my mom in witch costume
scaring trick-or-treaters home
- Stacey Murphy
the farm in pennsylvania
on my belly inspecting clover
aha – four leaves!
- Sue Norvell
highland park, new jersey
the 1950s
canned spinach
- Sue Perlgut
jackson, mississippi
magnolias as big
as your face
- Susan Annah Currie
denton, texas
mama gazes out at the sun-baked horizon
she misses canada
- Susan Lesser
silver lake, ohio
the crooked tree in the yard
grandma told us to encourage it
- Susanna Drbal
silver spring, maryland
for halloween i am a ballerina
four times
- Theresa A. Cancro
great yarmouth . . .
a case of mistaken identity
in the house of wax
- Tim Gardiner
near bear swamp
my wife and i young walk graveyards
one now her own
- Tina Wright
ithaca hotel
and the trolley
that stopped there
- Tom Clausen
randers, denmark
empty farm
gathering stones at sunset
- Vibeke Laier
flushing, queens
mostly i stay inside
dreaming of other places
- Yvonne Fisher
bronx, new york
first dance recital
i am the plumpest carrot on stage
- Zee Zahava
This month showcases small poems on the theme HomePlace.
Contributors are from: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Ecuador, England, Ghana, India, Ireland, Japan, Poland, Singapore, Switzerland, Turkey, Wales, the U.K., and the United States
amakom, ghana
oil waste from biscuit factory
lights our lanterns at night
- Adjei Agyei-Baah
berkeley
wide park and dodgeball playground
all i thought i'd need
- Alan Bern
rio de janeiro
though born near the beach i dream
of horses and prairies
- Amauri Solon
new brunswick, new jersey
i am 10
the young men go off to korea
- Annie Wexler
new delhi, india
my hair styles change
from first crush to last
- Aparna Pathak
barrie, ontario
doing the dishes with my mother
explaining the poetry of simon & garfunkel
- Barbara Cartwright
akron, ohio
curfew broken
grounded again
- Barbara Tate
cranesville, west virginia
how my father smiled there
like no other place
- C. Robin Janning
cayutaville, new york
convertibles zoom by
too many to be a coincidence
- Caroline Gates-Lupton
stockholm
sucking the sweetness
out of a white lilac
- Caroline Skanne
syracuse, new york
a baby bird falls out of its nest
mom revives her with 2 drops of whiskey
- Chris McNamara
great neck, long island
watching out for the bully
who waits on the corner
- Christina Martin
amber mansions, singapore
where i first fell in love
with cats
- Christina Sng
yorktown heights, new york
front lawns manicured and tidy
i plant corn
- Christine Sanchirico
manila, philippines
crying over a broken necklace
made of santan flowers
- Christine L. Villa
midland, texas
stroking the soft bellies
of horny toads
- Claire Vogel Camargo
broken hill, new south wales
a malleefowl crossing
by the "beware of malleefowl" sign
- David J Kelly
rural georgia
on one grave
little toy trucks
- David Oates
saskatchewan . . .
we photograph antelope
in the gloaming
- Debbie Strange
niagara haze
maid of the mist looks
like a toy boat
- Dottie Piet
hayward fault line
clinging to my mother
since the quake of '89
- Elizabeth Alford
brooklyn
tension at the dining room table
my father carves the turkey
- Frances Helmstadter
in providence
angell street crosses benefit
and peace and plenty are parallel
- Frank Robinson
buffalo, new york
i played the violin
everyone else played football
- Gabrielle Vehar
sebastopol, california
sticky to the elbows
juice of windfall apples
- Glenn Ingersoll
virovitica, croatia
my father throws the scythe
into the barn
- Goran Gatalica
scranton, pennsylvania
hiding sandwiches
behind the radiator
- Grace Celeste
bosporus, turkey
waiting for a ferry
along with peddlers and gulls
- Guliz Mutlu
briar hill
looking over my toes in bed
i see canada across the river
- H. Fraser
mattapoisett
the stars
after my mother died
- Hannah Mahoney
south london department store
gels in distressed school uniforms
take tea
- Helen Buckingham
lima, ohio
drinking tang each morning
our prefab crackerbox home
- Jan Benson
columbus, ohio
on the front porch
shooting craps with dad
- Jennifer Hambrick
duluth, minnesota
grandma rocks me
and sings songs of ireland
- Jo Balistreri
prospect park, brooklyn
i put pretty grass
on my sandwich
- Joan McNerney
north downs, kent
i turn the chicken run
into a rock garden
- Joanna M. Weston
staten island
after 17 years we move up the hill
to fancy schmancy
- Katha Abela Wilson
san francisco days
while mom waters her roses
i read nancy drew
- Katya Sabaroff Taylor
newark, new york
i was almost chosen to be the
rose queen
- Kim Falstick
vancouver summer
collecting caterpillars
releasing butterflies
- kjmunro
ypsilanti, michigan
my best friend pammy and i give up chocolate milk
to chat during nap time
- kris moon
india
under grandma's quilt
for evening story time
- Kumarendra Mallick
kiev in winter
yellow chrysanthemums
bloom in the snowy streets
- Laughing waters
a halifax night
revving our engines
at the stop light
- Lance Robertson
bareville, pennsylvania
waiting for the mailman to arrive
we call him the candy man
- Linda Keeler
queens, new york
my beautiful blue parakeet
binky
- Madeleine Cohen Oakley
jamshedpur, india
screening "woodstock" in the club
i smuggle my friends inside
- Madhuri Pillai
oswego, new york
giggling girls in red plaid skirts
late for confession, as usual
- Margaret Dennis
ottawa lake, wisconsin
too cold to swim
i dive in to drown out mom's i told you so
- Margaret Jones
brockville, ontario
the ghost playing organ music
at midnight
- Marianne Paul
warsaw cemetery
a bag of sweet chestnuts
in my pocket
- Marta Chocilowska
black mountains, wales
amid the dense rain
one red cagoule
- Martha Magenta
greensburg, kansas
astonished to discover
tonight's chicken dinner was today's bloody chore
- Marty Blue Waters
west newbury, vermont
the tyler farm
the huge white bull
- Mary Louise Church
bozeman, montana
we stay indoors at night
bears own the streets
- Michael G. Smith
city of angels
i sniff out the fresh-baked bread
half a block away
- Mimi Foyle
manlius hitchhiker
my thumb a great friend
as i try to escape myself
- MJ Richmond
highland park, illinois
morning bugle song
we live near the army base
- Nancy Osborn
the bronx
hot fudge sundaes at krum's
my reward for good report cards
- Nina Miller
geneva, switzerland
the christmas tree i wanted
to keep forever
- Olivier Schopfer
east boston
street corner whistles
for the girl behind me
- Pat Davis
union, new jersey
wet laundry freezes on the clothes line
baccalà for lunch
- Pat Geyer
ithaca, new york
david bowie cancels his concert
i go into mourning
- Paula Culver
chicago breakfast
the orange pellet changes
oleo to butter
- Phyllis Lee
pageland, south carolina
wiping lipstick off ronald's picture
before mother sees
- Pris Campbell
west hempstead, long island
smoking in the ravine with friends
accidentally burning down the driving range
- Rainbow Crow
merrick, long island
ovaltine
it's good — and it's good for you
- Rob Sullivan
wolfeboro, new hampshire
the patter of my own little feet
down the dock
- Robin White
manaus, brazil
i insist on planting rosebushes
that will never bloom
- Rosa Clement
fargo
seven tornadoes
me, safe in her womb
- Ross Haarstad
poughkeepsie, new york
sunday morning bagels, nova, danish
the new york times
- Sara Robbins
semaphore, south australia
joined by forty seagulls
for fish and chips
- Simon Hanson
choconut center
my mom in witch costume
scaring trick-or-treaters home
- Stacey Murphy
the farm in pennsylvania
on my belly inspecting clover
aha – four leaves!
- Sue Norvell
highland park, new jersey
the 1950s
canned spinach
- Sue Perlgut
jackson, mississippi
magnolias as big
as your face
- Susan Annah Currie
denton, texas
mama gazes out at the sun-baked horizon
she misses canada
- Susan Lesser
silver lake, ohio
the crooked tree in the yard
grandma told us to encourage it
- Susanna Drbal
silver spring, maryland
for halloween i am a ballerina
four times
- Theresa A. Cancro
great yarmouth . . .
a case of mistaken identity
in the house of wax
- Tim Gardiner
near bear swamp
my wife and i young walk graveyards
one now her own
- Tina Wright
ithaca hotel
and the trolley
that stopped there
- Tom Clausen
randers, denmark
empty farm
gathering stones at sunset
- Vibeke Laier
flushing, queens
mostly i stay inside
dreaming of other places
- Yvonne Fisher
bronx, new york
first dance recital
i am the plumpest carrot on stage
- Zee Zahava
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