Saturday, May 1, 2021

edible haiku

Welcome to the May 2021 issue of brass bell: a haiku journal.

The theme of this month’s collection is edible haiku. Enjoy the feast!

Poems arrived from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Ecuador, Ghana, India, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Singapore, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States 



mango season
sharing pleasure
with flies
    Adjei Agyei-Baah

bing cherries
one kissed
my lips
    ai li

fruit cake
your recipe
died with you
    ai li

picking up crumbs
seeing you doing the same
all those years past
    Alan Bern

warm bread —
you hold me
on the back deck
    Alan Bern

low slung river
thoughts of home
and lemon trout
    Alan Summers

pot luck dinner
another box
of chocolates
    Alexis Rotella

granddaughter’s joy
cotton candy
all over her face
    Amauri Solon

pomegranate —
my first lesson about
the red planet
    Ana Drobot

mom’s black cherry cupcakes
bitter-sweet taste
never forgotten
    Angela Giordano

toasted almonds
my granddaughter is greedy —
tender kisses
    Angela Giordano

landlocked Indiana
can’t find a decent kipper
anywhere
    Antonia Matthew

spring opening
my favorite farm stand
packed with arugula
    Barbara Kaufmann

slowing down
this year I plant
a little less basil
    Barbara Kaufmann

driftwood
the sizzle of marshmallows
at midnight
    Barbara Tate

wabi? sabi?
I scratch my head
and eat some wasabi
    Bill Waters

summer woods . . .
beneath the leaf mold
mushrooms
    Bill Waters

broken chocolate squares
shape-shift into sunflowers
on my yellow plate
    Blue Waters

last drops . . .
the end of a row
of rainbow chard
    Brad Bennett

winter dawn
spreading blackberry jam
to the crusts
    Brad Bennett

beans
straight from the can
this solitude
    Bryan Rickert

deli order
a little Yiddish
goes a long way
    Bryan Rickert

peanut butter
after all these years
adding jelly
    C. Robin Janning

rice . . .
how the earth grows
dinner
    C. Robin Janning

grating carrots
even my scraped knuckles
are zen
    Carole Johnston

we drive twenty miles
winding down the river for
Shaker lemon pie
    Carole Johnston

ice cream
rum raisin and ginger
that day in New Hope
    Carole Johnston

morning light
slipping a lychee fruit
out of its skin
    Caroline Skanne

tenth year of exile
the mixed smell of dark coffee
and Chinese fried dough
    Chen-ou Liu

quarantine breakfast
my kids practice sword fighting
with baguettes
    Chen-ou Liu

fruit salad
in bechamel sauce
the taste of raw celery
    Christina Chin

travel gifts
the caramel aroma
of strawberry mochi
    Christina Chin

fragrance of mother
dill potatoes
herring
    Christina Martin

splash of orange
headlight nasturtium
party salad
    Christina Martin

eyes closed
on my hot cross bun
proper butter
    Christina Martin

childhood cereal
reading the box
like a newspaper
    Christina Sng

love or hate
there is no in-between
durians
    Christina Sng

nonverbal fight
the hard chopping
of carrots
    Christine L. Villa

day moon
cilantro-lime marinade
on everything
    Claire Vogel Camargo

quiet evening
chestnuts grumble
in the pan
    Daniela Misso

garden solitude
only the hidden eyes
of seed potatoes
    Debbie Strange

our neighbor
feeds it while we’re gone . . .
sourdough starter
    Debbie Strange

autumn flames
we gather rose hips
for our muesli
    Debbie Strange

root cellar
the darkness lit
by jelly jars
    Debbie Strange

street corn
tourists’ wrists
drip with butter
    Deborah Burke Henderson

dining en plein air
yellow jackets hover . . .
syrup on my elbow
    Deborah Burke Henderson

surfside tacos
the roar
of motorcycles
    Deborah P Kolodji

crystal dish
on a torn lace tablecloth
pickled crab apples
    Deborah P Kolodji

al fresco —
fly on the menu
be careful
    Donna Fleischer

false promises —
the pizza dough
is not rising
    Elisa Allo

birthday cake . . .
the chocolate scent
hangs over the roses
    Elisa Allo

thanksgiving day
my father lets me carve
the turkey
    Florin C. Ciobica

before the trip
finishing the berries
in expired yogurt
    Glenn Ingersoll

the old granola bar
won’t be going
on this trip
    Glenn Ingersoll

gallery salad bar —
he draws the line
at nasturtiums
    Helen Buckingham

cod and chips
reduced to chips
a post-lockdown gull frenzy
    Helen Buckingham

breaking a fast
the aroma of desi roti
from window to window
    Hifsa Ashraf

morning sunlight
on a banana leaf
mango chutney
    Hifsa Ashraf

kneading flour
in each fold
her fading fingerprints
    Hifsa Ashraf

birds and butterflies
search fields for fruit and berries
spring rain soaks the farm
    Isabelle Loverro

ice cream shop offerings
my decision processes
still frozen
    Jay Friedenberg

in the hotel room
after our wedding . . .
chocolate covered strawberries!
    Jay Friedenberg

this almond —
the weight of
a honey bee
    Jill Lange

home alone eating less . . .
backyard birds
eating more
    Jill Lange

grateful for the bakery
always taking my orders
for hamantashen
    Jill Lange

flash of red among
green-black olives
lonely pimento
    Jim Mazza

all that remains
are the toothpicks —
pintxo memories
    Jim Mazza

salt-crusted sea bass
set aflame with raki
table-side floorshow
    Jim Mazza

retired guys chewing
on politics and donuts
neighborhood diner
    Jo Balistreri

first tomato slice of summer
a welcome bullseye
on my open-face sandwich
    Joan Leotta

community food bank
each banana comes with
free fruit flies
    John J. Dunphy

fundamentalist church potluck
pastor removes
the deviled eggs
    John J. Dunphy

thunk of blackberries
in my metal pail —
the promise of pie
    Julie Bloss Kelsey

yet another attempt
at baked eggplant —
I dredge up a smile
    Julie Bloss Kelsey

open-air market
a faint whiff of cantaloupe
through my face mask
    Julie Bloss Kelsey

shared dessert
on the rose leaf a drop
of raspberry coulis
    Karen Hoy

printing each menu
on edible paper
appetizers
    Kath Abela Wilson

edible haiku
I write with icing
on the cupcakes
    Kath Abela Wilson

one omelet steaming
garlic and basil fragrance
lures the dinner guests
    Katya Sabaroff Taylor

almost too cute to cook . . .
potato with eyelashes
& a toothy smile
    kris moon

ripe plums
picked under a half moon
I saved you some
    Kristen Lindquist

morning heat
more blueberries in my bowl
than cereal
    Kristen Lindquist

fogged in
craving pea soup
for lunch
    Kristen Lindquist

first birthday . . .
cherry blossom pink
icing on her cake
    Lakshmi Iyer

not confessing
at the checkout
grapes i ate while shopping
    Laurinda Lind

calico bass
the taste of the lake
i grew up on
    Laurinda Lind

exhausted by flavor
by the time i reach
the pit of the peach
    Laurinda Lind

steaming artichokes
the layers
of that marriage
    Laurinda Lind

ripe cherries . . .
dad only eats
the bruised ones
    Lucia Cardillo

the first white grape
from the garden . . .
a bee chases me
    Lucia Cardillo

after gym
detour to the supermarket . . .
sweet tooth
    Madhuri Pillai

more liqueur
than chocolate . . .
my secret stash
    Madhuri Pillai

growing up poor
potatoes and more
potatoes
    Marianne Paul

sizzling frying pan
mother’s love of burnt
burgers
    Marianne Paul

rest stop sandwich
swallows picking bugs
off hot fenders
    Marietta McGregor

Santa Monica Pier
hot dogs with a side
of razzle dazzle
    Marietta McGregor

the flavor
of a wild lawn
dandelion greens
    Marilyn Ashbaugh

tugging my sleeve
as if to remind me
wild raspberries
    Marilyn Ashbaugh

bowl of kumquats
the bitter and
the sweet
    Marilyn Ashbaugh

late summer
the last plump tomato
picked from the vine
    Marilyn Humbert

birthday cake
candles dripping wax . . .
minutes pass into days
    Marilyn Humbert

campfire coals
the smoky aroma
of caught trout
    Mark Miller

fish & chips
peeking with one eye
a seagull
    Marta Chocilowska

all is lost
you think and suddenly
a fudge cake
    Marta Chocilowska

Nepalese dal bhat —
lentils, rice, greens —
travel banned, I miss my friends
    Michael G. Smith

blending my
morning smoothie
and the news
    Michael G. Smith

barefooted children
spitting watermelon seeds
midsummer picnic
    Mimi Foyle

cooking
with my mother
please, can I lick the spoon?
    Olivier Schopfer

fruit cake
feeling like
a kid again
    Olivier Schopfer

crabapple jelly
one wild tree
one small batch
    Pat Davis

making popcorn
our conversation
lightens
    Pat Davis

tug-of-war
drumsticks
outnumbered by kids
    Pat Davis

a taste from
my blue-collar days —
sugared almonds
    Paul Beech

bonding time
fried green tomatoes
late at night
    Pris Campbell

caramel soufflé
he confesses his love
before it falls
    Pris Campbell

leaving tomorrow
we walk the tide line slurping
two-finger poi
    Pris Campbell

a thousand noodles
stir in the steaming bowl
the same folds
    Ron Scully

late innings
the smell of steamed hotdogs
and beer breath cheers
    Ron Scully

colorful cakes
a butterfly and I
window shopping
    Rosa Clement

cat procession
the girl goes in front
holding the sardines
    Rosa Clement

poet’s dry spell —
on the withered plant
the ripest tomato
    Ruth Yarrow

mountain windowsill
through the honey jar
sunset
    Ruth Yarrow

bunched up
in anxiety
bananas
    Sherry Grant

in thin slices
taste of the sea
— oyster omelette
    Sherry Grant

served up in sweet squares
childhood memories
— pineapple cakes
    Sherry Grant

summer camp lunchtime
spelling words out of
half-eaten pretzels
    Stacey Murphy

behind the pickles
lonely, mad, and forgotten
sour cream turns bitter
    Stacey Murphy

chili cook-off —
she spills the beans on my
secret ingredient
    Susan Burch

in the pancake batter a shapeless haiku
    Susan Burch

my name spelled wrong retirement cake
    Susan Burch

hot dog eating contest
I get sick
of competing with you
    Susan Burch

giant drops of rain
fried mushrooms
on toast
    Ted Sherman

winter morning
the gentle tap tap tap
of boiling eggs
    Ted Sherman

new friend
leaving the last
chocolate truffle
    Theresa A. Cancro

smooth jazz . . .
a slice of cantaloupe
off the knife
    Theresa A. Cancro

chilly morning
piercing the skin
of my cream of wheat
    Theresa A. Cancro

wild youth
i used to pull my
food from the earth
    Tiffany Shaw-Diaz

bowl of soup
when i just
need a hug
    Tiffany Shaw-Diaz

no regrets
i eat the whole
pint of ice cream
    Tiffany Shaw-Diaz

harvest moon
drips of persimmon
on her chin
    Tom Bierovic

all the kernels
that failed to pop
first dates
    Tom Bierovic

midday
for good measure
a spoonful of honey
    Tom Clausen

poached eggs
eye to eye with the waitress
“i like them runny”
    Tom Clausen

between meals
it comes down to
a few triscuits
    Tom Clausen

The Vampire Cookbook
recipes for blood sausage
without garlic
    Valentina Ranaldi-Adams

alphabet soup
“S” is for the curve
of a heron’s neck
    Valentina Ranaldi-Adams

dappled sunshine
zucchini blossoms
in the omelet
    Valentina Ranaldi-Adams

first wild strawberry
the memories i share
with my sister
    Vibeke Laier

a table for one
the sparrow picking up
my bread crumbs
    Vibeka Laier

mother piles sugar
on her mashed potatoes
Red Hat Society
    Wilda Morris

sloppy joe meat
in the waffle batter —
successful experiment
    Wilda Morris

the taste of
sweet summer raspberries
my mother singing opera
    Yvonne Fisher

pandemic Passover
no seder this year
matzo and butter
    Yvonne Fisher

big bowl of pasta
(in the dream)
tired of my low-carb diet
    Zee Zahava

animal cracker
biting off the tiger’s head
releases my roar
    Zee Zahava