Welcome to the June issue of brass bell: a haiku journal . . . this month, devoted to flowers.
You will find work here by 54 contributors, from Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, India, Israel, Japan, Poland, Romania, Singapore, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States.
I hope you will enjoy this bouquet.
zee
the last rose
an old gardener looks
away
- Anna Mazurkiewicz
fall anemones
my nighttime worry
about mortality
- Anne Burgevin
green mayapple leaves
tenderly hide the round fruit
under a shelter
- Anne Wexler
among pink spirea
golden torch
— bold dandelion
- Antonia Matthew
summer twilight —
a waft of jasmine
from her fan
- Asni Amin
rose flowered tea cups
summer twilight —
a waft of jasmine
from her fan
- Asni Amin
rose flowered tea cups
offering up
steeped chamomile blooms
- Barbara Most
magnolia
holding water for bee
and butterfly
- C. Robin Janning
daffodils in the woods
someone lived here
once
- Cady Fontana
my street clotted
with apple blossoms
pale scent of stars
- Carole Johnston
summer rain …
i bathe in the scent
of wildflowers
- Caroline Skanne
long-stemmed roses
now she tells me
she's allergic
- Carolyn Coit Dancy
mother's diary —
between two blank pages
a pressed snowdrop
- Cezar-Florin Ciobica
rose petals
in the ditch
gathering my thoughts
- Chen-ou Liu
in your Dixie cup
mother's day morning glory
turns toward the sun
- Chris Bankert-Wray
lights and shadows
in wild orchids –
preparing sumi e brushes
- Daniela Lacramioara Capota
fewer tulips than yesterday —
motionless rabbit
eyes me through the fence
- deanna tiefenthal
wisteria . . .
we step in puddles
of confetti
- Debbie Strange
an arroyo filled
with Matilija poppies . . .
your guitar
- Deborah P Kolodji
oh my peonies
dressed in your fragrant tutus
your dance much too brief
- Edna Brown
on the waterfront
a cluster of activity
white yarrow
- G. R. LeBlanc
lilacs in bloom
some violet, some white —
who decides?
- Gabrielle Vehar
late summer flowers . . .
the joy
of a good sneeze
- Helen Buckingham
morning mist
forsythia petals
under a robin's wing
- Isabel Loverro
probably another 5 billion times pear blossoms
- johannes s. h. bjerg
cut flowers . . .
arranging the bouquet
to hide what's missing
Julie Bloss Kelsey
sweeping up after
your birthday
cherry blossoms
- Kath Abela Wilson
light lessens itself
tulip trees drop their blossoms
soften the path home
- Kim Tedrow
in her purple hat
on the way to the bus stop
a pause for clematis
- kris moon
unknown flower . . .
just picking
our silence
- Lech Szeglowski
rhododendron buds
open: firework explosion —
very slow motion
- Margaret Fisher Squires
blue sky –
only a poppy thread
in bloom
- Maria Tirenescu
evening primrose —
caressed by moths at sundown —
unfurl their skirts in moon glow
- Mary Carter Ginn
first yellow crocus . . .
i release
my winter heart
- Pamela A. Babusci
early June begin
looking for elderberry
umbels in grass
- Patricia Coleman
I remember scilla
bloomed a carpet of blue twinkles —
I miss them
- Peggy Miller
thunder and crickets —
from beyond the window screen
the scent of lilacs
- Phoebe Lakin
amidst drowsy rain
just in time for the heat waves
crabapple blossoms
- Phoebe Shalloway
dusky moon —
wilted flowers
on the footpath
- Pravat Kumar Padhy
cemetery visit
the forget-me-nots
in full bloom
- Rachel Sutcliffe
neighboring balconies —
our flowers don’t speak
to each other either
- Radka Mindova
(translated by Maya Lyubenova)
checkpoint at dawn —
the field of sunflowers
facing darkness
- Rita Odeh
ruins of a castle
wild flowers
in the ballroom
- Robert Kania
snowflakes
on the window pane . . .
poinsettias
- Shloka Shankar
butterfly
a sunflower droops
under it's weight
- Shrikaanth Krishnamurthy
longer days
the dogwood blooms —
i release my grip
- Sondra J. Byrnes
raucous blue jay! your
rough landing — our last magnolia
blossom shatters
rough landing — our last magnolia
blossom shatters
- Sue Norvell
peony — your petticoats
flash in the moonlight —
tarantella dancer
- Susan Lesser
rhododendron buds
unexpected pink surprise
like candy lipstick
- Susan Lytle
yellow roses in
bloom — a scraggly bush grandma
planted way back when
- Tina Wright
pending her return
a bunch of carnations
on the table
- Vessislava Savova
finding rose petals
in an old book . . .
wings of memory
- Vibeke Laier
mother's garden
flowering still
after her passing
- Wendy Smith
angel's trumpets
ecstatic hymn
in my father's garden
- Yvette Rubio
honeysuckle decadence
sweet like candy
almost, almost too much
- Yvonne Fisher
breezy morning
as I pass them
pansies shake with laughter
Zee Zahava
previously published:
Helen Buckingham — late summer flowers — The Heron's Nest 11.3
Radka Mindova — neighboring balconies — World Haiku Review April 2014
Pamela A. Babusci — first yellow crocus — Basho Haiku Festival Anthology Japan 1997
Rita Odeh — checkpoint at dawn — from her collection of haiku Buds of Dreams
Robert Kania — ruins of a castle — 42nd Caribbean Kigo Kukai May 2013