haiku happiness

Welcome to the April 2022 issue of brass bell: a haiku journal.

This month’s collection focuses on Things That Make Us Happy … small things, major things, long ago memories, and current moments.

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


Wishing you a sense of peace and happiness as you read the following haiku . . . .



lakeside
breaking bread
with fishes
    Adjei Agyei-Baah

i have breath this morning
    ai li

at the cafe table
a woman and a small girl
mouth I LOVE YOU
    Alan Bern

a mayfly
i breathe in the sky
for my moment
    Alan Peat

adjusting the reading lamp buried in the snow forests of Narnia
    Alan Summers

aunt’s lipstick print
on my cheek
I wear it to school
    Alexis Rotella

under a tree
with birdsong
and a good book
    Angela Giordano

clear sky beyond the roses the moon
    Angiola Inglese

warm sun . . . i circle the old pear tree
    Ann Carter

simple life
the vase is content
without flowers
    Barbara Sabol

sabbath candles
my mother’s hands
gathering gold
    Barrie Levine

as soon as the pond ice melts . . . peepers
    Blue Waters

beach day
visiting the four corners
of my towel
    Brad Bennett

beachcombing
the sudden glint
of ruby sea glass
    Bryan D. Cook

birthday cake
the slice I eat
when everyone’s gone
    Bryan Rickert

after breakfast
pairing this rock and that plant
time passes quickly
    C. Robin Janning

party game —
popping
bubble wrap
    Carol Judkins

crayons
waxy smell of a new
box of colors
    Carole Johnston

alone time —
music replaces
the day’s noise
    Carole MacRury

pounding heart
I land at the airport
of her city
    Chen Xiaoou

summer breeze
my daughter dances to the rhythm
of rainbow bubbles
    Chen-ou Liu

spring hammock
baby and I play
peekaboo
    Christina Chin

great sky dreams on birds’ wings
    Christina Martin

duvet
feeling safe
again
    Christina Sng

the space
between you and me . . .
warmth of a dog
    Christine L. Villa

whistling winds
our howls of laughter
telling jokes
    Claire Vogel Camargo

outdoor cinema —
for a moment the flash
of a shooting star
    Dan Iulian

sand furrows
new guitar strings imprint
my fingertips
    Debbie Strange

slicing the apple
at its equator . . .
stargazing
    Deborah Burke Henderson

campfire
after the hayride
marshmallows
    Deborah P Kolodji

sharing a straw
in a bottle of Boom Boom Lemon
dream of Kyoto
    Donna Fleischer

ocean cliff —
fastened to the fence
lovers’ locks
    Elena Calvo

night fishing
listening to the music
of the Milky Way
    Florin C. Ciobica

deep in the forest
surrounded by stillness
only a heartbeat
    Frank Muller

catching the sun
the brilliant green
of a jewel bug
    Geethanjali Rajan

89th birthday
my mom’s smile
when I walk in
    Geoff Pope

twilight stroll . . .
exchanging smiles
the Ramadan moon and I
    Hifsa Ashraf

morning cocoa
the sweet taste of
melting marshmallows
    Jackie Chou

distant thunder —
bee balm trembling
in the breeze
    Janice Doppler

final ascent
a sunrise reward
from the mountain’s top
    Jay Friedenberg

time in a hammock watching the garden grow
    Jill Lange

unknown phone number
probably a scam call —
no, a long-lost friend
    Jim Mazza

my husband walks by
pausing to give
my shoulder a light caress
    Joan Leotta

easing myself
inside a groove
of snow-drift stars
    Joanna Ashwell

high desert fossils
asleep in ancient sea beds
I walk with oysters
    Joel Savishinsky

sticky coins
I get change at
a child’s lemonade stand
    John J. Dunphy

lunch on the patio
a cicada sings
the entire time
    Jorge Alberto Giallorenzi

the slow movement
of clouds . . .
poppy fields
    Julia Guzman

almost to South Dakota —
the excitement
of a blue barn
    Julie Bloss Kelsey

one night
on the Gulf of Aqaba
the softest kiss
    Karla Linn Merrifield

how jacarandas know
it’s jolly well time
to paint the world purple
    Kath Abela Wilson

dune’s grassy hillocks
a few sea oats and my hands
scribbling at sunset
    Katya Sabaroff Taylor

short day        long nap
this old woman and
her old cat
    kris moon

meteor shower
the night air thick
with wishes
    Kristen Lindquist

high summer
all the raw mangoes
under our beds
    Lakshmi Iyer

deep boom the ice lets go of the lake
    Laurinda Lind

watermelon seeds
my son’s invention
of orbital patterns
    Lorraine A Padden

the path to the country house . . . roses
    Lucia Cardillo

after the heat
the relief . . .
petrichor
    Madhuri Pillai

temporary lodging
sleeping with a pillow
from home    
    Marcie Wessels

half asleep my feet buried in the sand
    Margaret Walker

sunshower
the kitchen window
open to freesias
    Marietta McGregor

spring snow
baking bread
for the smell of it
    Marilyn Ashbaugh

at midnight
the grandkids tell me
each star’s name
    Marilyn Humbert

back home
all the roadside puddles
explored
    Marta Chocilowska

a bit unkempt
this cottage garden
my inner life
    Mary Kendall

lemon blossom
in my tea cup . . .
our first breakfast outdoors
    Maya Daneva

the instructor asks
why are you here . . . I answer
tai chi makes me happy
    Michael Flanagan

blazing sun
my father’s shadow
for shelter
    Michael Gallagher

a walk in the woods
we toast her
first published poem
    Michael G. Smith

homecoming —
gulmohar flowers greet me
at the village gate
    Milan Rajkumar

laughing together
catching up on adventures
best friend on the phone
    Mimi Foyle

my open notebook
the gentle breeze
brings a few petals
    Mirela Brailean

I’d steal it
if I could — this view
of plum blossoms
    Miriam Sagan

sharing breakfast
with a squirrel
rock doves coo
    Neena Singh

shell collection
re-arranging
summers
    Pat Davis

the estuary below
glints in the sun —
I read Basho
    Paul Beech

running commentary —
sitting on my broad shoulders
my granddaughter
    Paul Callus

sunrise
the second sunflower
in bloom next door
    Pris Campbell

monarchs
chasing monarchs chasing
kids playing tag
    Richard Matta

morning hike
becoming part of
the desert
    Roberta Beach Jacobson

sunny day
a wasp tastes
everyone’s beer
    Rosa Clement

sunrise through mist
my nose pulls lemon sweetness
from the yellow iris
    Ruth Yarrow

lemon sorbet
summer at the tip
of my tongue
    Sherry Grant

sharing
my good news
trumpet daffodil
    Susan Burch

dad plants flowers
i pat down the earth
tucking them in
    Teresa Bakota Yatsko

bedroom oasis . . .
playing finger cymbals
by candlelight
    Theresa A. Cancro

watching a swamp muskrat
sharpen her teeth on a stick
before eating
    Tina Wright

fedoras cool again taking selfies
    Tom Bierovic

my playlist . . .
every one of the thousand
songs on shuffle
    Tom Clausen

rough seas
you anchor
me
    Valentina Ranaldi-Adams

between
heaven and earth
the smell of sunflowers
    Vibeke Laier

cousin reunion
I unearth
new old family secrets
    Wilda Morris

safely home
a cup of tea . . .
this is my life now
    Yvonne Fisher

jumping waves
laughing so hard
i swallow the ocean
    Zee Zahava