body haiku

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

The theme this month is body haiku

Contributing poets are from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, Ecuador, Ghana, India, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States


lazy afternoon
grandpa lets us play
with his Adam’s apple
    Adjei Agyei-Baah

eye contact
he was saying
we are kindred
    ai li

thinking about seeds in my dry hand the last ones blow off
    Alan Bern

half moon pose —
everyone laughs
at the wobbling leg
    Alan Peat

cloud-entangled bedclothes a secret of arms and legs night shining
    Alan Summers

shoulder to shoulder
strangers enter the subway
unmasked
    Alexis Rotella

beating hearts our first night together
    Ana Drobot

pumpkin cream
sweet loneliness
on my tongue
    Angela Giordano

bee sting —
on my aching hand
fresh ginger
    Angiola Inglese

the ditch after a summer rain red mud oozing between my toes
    Ann Carter

ringing doorbell
mother pinches my cheeks
before a first date
    Barbara Kaufmann

pile of bathing suits —
tossing her body
to the fitting room floor
    Barrie Levine

flip-flops in October —
the sparkle of
her toenails
    Bill Waters

euphonium
my lips on the mouthpiece
breath becomes music
    Blue Waters

lamplight yellows my midnight skin
    Brad Bennett

pebble beach
my toes clutching
infinity’s edge
    Bryan Rickert

these feet
slow to remember the dance . . .
hesitate
    C. Robin Janning

rising
bread dough —
my belly fat
    Carol Judkins

death poem . . .
all my scars
come with me
    Carole MacRury

dusklight
looking for the pen
behind my ear
    Caroline Skanne

turning up her nose
at the dog
turning up his leg
    Charles Trumbull

end of summer
the scent of ocean
still in her hair
    Chen-ou Liu

children
imitate tattoo
henna on their toes
    Christina Chin

49th birthday
barely enough hair
for a ponytail
    Christina Sng

a little fairy
with pink glitter on her face
first doorbell ring
    Claire Vogel Camargo

autumn sky
filling my eyes
with clouds
    Daniela Misso

cheek to cheek        Valentine’s Day tango
    Deborah Burke Henderson

fanning out
our fingers
nail salon
    Deborah P Kolodji

flea market
I constantly scratch
my beard
    Florin C. Ciobica

doctor’s visit
grandma’s frail fingers
tighten on my wrist
    Geethanjali Rajan

first baking —
on the kitchen window
her moonlit handprints
    Hifsa Ashraf

first date
he notices the dirt
under my nails
    Jackie Chou

river bend
the smooth curve of stone
against my palm
    Jay Friedenberg

awakening to warmth
little cat is curled
against my back
    Jill Lange

pulling in my belly
hurts my back —
better round than achy
    Jim Mazza

my nose rejects
your perfume
forgive me as I change seats
    Joan Leotta

odd how my
fingernails
curl under
    Joan McNerney

if only
my shadow’s finger
could link with another
    Joanna Ashwell

barefoot in the creek —
minnows scatter
under the rocks
    Joe Sebastian

VA hospital
two veterans arm-wrestle
with prosthetic limbs
    John J. Dunphy

her bent back —
grandmother blows out
her birthday candles
    Jorge Giallorenzi

how I learned
to wiggle my nose
our pet rabbit
    Kath Abela Wilson

purple-red —
the bruise on my hand
confirms my years
    Kathleen Kramer

my old lap cat
now leans against my bare feet
rubbing her own ears
    Katya Sabaroff Taylor

autumn deepens
i see the world
in a friend’s eyes
    kris moon

saltwater farm
the wind in my hair
when I was a horse
    Kristen Lindquist

systole & diastole . . .
heart beats in pace
with the clock’s tick
    Lakshmi Iyer

my thefts, age three
Mounds bar in one hand
Baby Ruth in the other
    Laurinda Lind

bone scan
a long smile detected
in the office light
    Lovette Carter

autumn photo . . .
with my fingers I caress
his memory
    Lucia Cardillo

lying again the twitch in his eye
    Madhuri Pillai

eyelids droop
near the end
of the chapter
    Margaret Walker

small act of kindness
a doctor stoops
to pull socks on my feet
    Marianne Paul

eightieth birthday
my aunt dyes her hair
with cold black tea
    Marietta McGregor

head over heels sakura
    Marilyn Ashbaugh

haiku dream —
fingers tapping
the bed sheet
    Marilyn Fleming

the curve
in his spine weeding
sickle moon
    Marilyn Humbert

lonely vacation
a new supply of back scratchers
from the gift shop
    Marta Chocilowska

long to-do list
first I stretch
my shoulders
    Maya Daneva

your cold feet on a winter’s night I miss the most
    Michael Flanagan

vaccine shot
sore arm
the leaves pile up
    Michael G. Smith

a miracle
to walk freely on both legs
unencumbered
    Mimi Foyle

the steady beat of my heart
up to the top —
mountain view
    Mirela Brailean

around my neck
papa’s old muffler
winter warmth
    Neena Singh

wrinkle free
her ninety-year-old
smile
    Pat Davis

my apprentice days
in a tough trade —
skinned knuckles
    Paul Beech

broken shoulder
the embarrassment
of bathroom visits
    Pris Campbell

flowery dress
a butterfly lands
on my right arm
    Rosa Clement

turning
my deaf ear to the pillow
sudden robin song
    Ruth Yarrow

snoring —
the waves rise
on dad’s belly
    Sherry Grant

vision loss
another traffic camera
I thought was a bird
    Susan Burch

gnarled fingers tracing gold kintsugi
    Theresa A. Cancro

upon my eyelashes
the remnants
of forgotten stars
    Tiffany Shaw-Diaz

my friend in her eighties
cursing her thumbs
adjusting her bike helmet
    Tina Wright

ice cream jingle
untangling her feet
from a jump rope
    Tom Bierovic

my tongue
explores the space
missing tooth
    Tom Clausen

wellness exam
the doctor says
I lack a funny bone
    Valentina Ranaldi-Adams

mother’s herbarium
touching the first violet with
my fingertips
    Vibeke Laier

gloves
hide her scarred hands —
first snow
    Vladislav Hristov

hot sand
from hand to hand
summer passes
    Wieslaw Karlinski

itchy nose
he sneezes
himself awake
    Wilda Morris

your hands
so much like my grandmother’s hands . . .
i fell in love with you
    Zee Zahava