Rain

Welcome to brass bell: a haiku journal.

The theme for this premier issue is rain.

You will find work here by 43 contributors. Some have been writing haiku for decades, others have just discovered (and embraced) this form. Contributors live in Bulgaria, Canada, Israel, Italy, Japan, Poland, Romania, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

An invitation will be sent via e-mail and Facebook, around the fourth week of each month, announcing the theme for the next issue. If you want to receive these notices send me a FB friend request or an e-mail note <zee@twcny.rr.com>

I hope you will enjoy what you find here.

zee

soft desert rain

the droppings of leaf-hopper insects

from the tamarisk tree

    - Alan Summers

break in the storm

my love

without a raincoat

   - Amos White

the composure of rain

to hold its shape 

when falling

   - Amy E. Bartell

a window facing the park

from morning to dusk

in the same rain

   - Anna Mazurkiewicz

after the thaw

first rain

snowdrops

   - Antonia Matthew

warm spring rain

melting a crust of ice —

earth arches her back

    - Blue Waters

transfixed by silver

chilled morning rain whispers

don’t forget the mud

   - C. Robin Janning

our brand new glass front porch —

we can't wait to watch

a big thunderstorm

   - Cady Fontana

wading through puddles

mother and son 

giggle under umbrella

    - Caroline Skanne

cumulus clouds —

rain is falling

somewhere else

   - Carolyn Coit Dancy

winter drizzle

I walk around the lake

where our star appeared

    - Chen-ou Liu

rain-swollen river

my footsteps quicken

to match its pace

   - deanna tiefenthal

listening deeply

to the poetry of clouds

i become the rain

   - Debbie Strange

persistent mist
hangs in the air —
no puddles for me

   - Erica Hostetler

snowflakes dance ballet —

raindrops are more down to earth

though they make a splash

    - Jack Goldman

all day rain

we argue over music

for the funeral

    - John McManus

after the rain

the frog's world

expanding

   - Julie Bloss Kelsey

April fools

in Paris

our soaked sandals

   - Kath Abela Wilson

broken jazz record —

the pulse of rain 

between the sirens

   - Kathy Uyen Nguyen

watching as the buds

swell on the great tree . . .

rainy day's end

   - kris moon

silver raindrops
clinging to pine needles
before the fall

    - Lance Robertson

water above

water below

swimming I Ching

    - Laura LaRosa

sunrise on the beach —

in your raincoat pockets

rain from yesterday

   - Lavana Kray

while he brushes

the strokes for "spring rain"

the monk's eyebrows rise

   - Margaret Chula

my driveway dotted

with neighbor's cherry petals:

generous spring storm

   - Margaret Fisher Squires

wintered over

worn orchid arcs against the glass

mewling for spring rain

   - Mary Carter Ginn

rained in . . .
taking the next picture
of a faded rose

   - Maya Lyubenova

two-day rain

the small dryness in the tent

shrinking

   - Michael Ketchek

twilight nostalgia

rain, perfume of history

lonely orphan frog

   - Nicola Morris

walking in night rain

a heart dreams like a river

flowing in footfalls

   - Peter Ladley

too far to reach

the stars reflected 

in the rain barrel

    - Phoebe Lakin

pigeons cluster on

wrought iron bridges, and in

Detroit: April rain

   - Phoebe Shalloway

falling on the just

and the unjust —

rain does not judge 

   - Reba Dolch  

the moment
I saw you, butterfly . . .
morning drizzle

   - Rita Odeh

rain hesitates —

a sunbeam shrinks

from its own weight

   - Ross Haarstad

rain today

our snow islands

slipping away

   - Sally Kamerling

relentless rain

spring could drown

before it arrives

   - Sharon K. Yntema

spattering rain on metal roof
precipitation
syncopation

   - Sue Norvell

downpour —
a duck waddles away
from the pond
    - Tom Clausen

the expectation of rain

strangers in their hats

are of one mind

    - Weiwei Luo

 the rain

brings the lilac fragrance

over the hill

   - Wendy Smith

the rain

my tears

all in place

    - Yvonne Fisher

pouring tea

into my favorite cup —

rain fills a river

   - Zee Zahava

These haiku have previously appeared elsewhere: 

Deanna Tiefenthal - "rain-swollen river" - Haiku Society of America's 2011 Member Anthology

John McManus - "all day rain" - Presence 45

Margaret Chula - "while he brushes" - The Smell of Rust, Katsura Press, 2003

Michael Ketchek - "two-day rain" - Modern Haiku Vol. XXXI  No. 3  2000