drinkable haiku

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

The theme for this month’s collection is “drinkable haiku.”

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



farmwork done
drinking palm wine amid
the bustle of late bees
    Adjei Agyei-Baah

collecting dewdrops
for grandmother’s tea
a chinese fable
    ai li

even toddlers
suck on cooled blueberry juice
now on lips and tongue
    Alan Bern

who knows
how many drinks
two moons
    Alan Peat

cherry brandy hangover the spring in my step
    Alan Summers

hot tea in a cold cup winter
    Alexis Rotella

juice stand —
the only nature spot
at the mall
    Ana Drobot

apple juice —
I look out the window
to search for the moon
    Angiola Inglese

soda pop
a toddler giggles
at the bubbles
    Barbara Kaufmann

he flirts
over coffee —
the empty sugar bowl
    Barbara Sabol

sun tea
the time it takes
to kiss you
    Barrie Levine

into an old tin cup
a pristine trickle
of pineland water
    Bill Waters

monsoon rains
a drop of honey
in the ginger tea
    Billy Antonio

mom’s grin as i
gulp her “Pepsi” —
yuck! black coffee
    Blue Waters

draining the dregs
of yesterday’s coffee
writer’s block
    Bryan Cook

rum bottle
nearing the end
his long story
    Bryan Rickert

this green cup filled with
cocoa and three hot spices
smoothing out the day
    C. Robin Janning

strawberry wine —
the girl I was
the woman I am
    Carole MacRury

rings from our beer glasses        nothing left to say
    Charles Trumbull

the end
of the old monk’s chanting
tea time for one
    Chen-ou Liu

granadilla
in iced fruit juice
rustling palm
    Christina Chin

emerging
from my oolong tea
old ghosts
    Christina Sng

chrysanthemum tea
slowly sipping
the sunlight
    Christine L. Villa

the bright side
a chocolate milk shake
after the dentist
    Claire Vogel Camargo

we harvest
a chunk of chaga for tea . . .
vacant bear den
    Debbie Strange

bourbon - sugar - bitters
grandpa says his old-fashioned
beats the heat
    Deborah Burke Henderson

mimosas
on the front porch swing
orange blossoms
    Deborah P Kolodji

rose water drink
getting younger
with every cup
    Elena Malec

chilly night
the moon’s tremor
in my tea
    Florin C. Ciobica

wedding anniversary
a smoothie blended
with honeysuckle
    Geoff Pope

end of Ramadan
adding more ice
to the red sharbat
    Hifsa Ashraf

parting ways
the last sweet taste
of plum wine
    Jackie Chou

pandemic to endemic
a champagne toast
to making it through
    Jay Friedenberg

growing up . . .
with dill pickles
and Coca-Cola
    Jill Lange

wine glass in hand
a familiar face at the bar
oops, that’s a mirror
    Jim Mazza

summer picnic
lips sticky
with cherry kool-aid
    Jo Balistreri

my dad’s drugstore
syrup in soda water —
so many flavors!
    Joan Leotta

a secret spilled
stirring the stock
sharing a spoon
    Joanna Ashwell

summer ritual
mango juice down my elbow
onto my t-shirt
    Joe Sebastian

in less worried times
a long-handled bamboo cup
water from the shrine
    Joel Savishinsky

the poet’s reading
more passionate after
his third espresso
    John J. Dunphy

by the light of the salt lamp —
drops of red wine
on grandmother’s tablecloth
    Julia Guzman

cinnamon protein shakes
my kids refuse to drink . . .
the breakfasts of mothers
    Julie Bloss Kelsey

mulled wine thinking it over
    Karen Harvey

lip to lip
our shared
frappuccino
    Kath Abela Wilson

one strong rum cocktail
one daughter, one Scrabble game
Mother’s Day love fest
    Katya Sabaroff Taylor

pomegranate juice
my preference
over wine
    kris moon

waterfront bar
choosing a cocktail
made with cucumbers
    Kristen Lindquist

watermelon sky
pink ice cubes rattling
in the bubbles
    Lakshmi Iyer

now i’m here
in my body again
ginger brandy
    Laurinda Lind

firewater
we toast
the Yosemite sunset
    Lorraine A Padden

the cake laced with brandy her louder than usual singalong voice
    Madhuri Pillai

the only time
dad had a mustache
root beer float
    Marcie Wessels

sippin’ southern comfort
childhood cure
for the croup
    Margaret Walker

drive-thru poetry
iced toasted vanilla oat
shaken espresso
    Marianne Paul

Aperol spritz
the way her hair
traps a sunbeam
    Marietta McGregor

red dust tang
sharing the drover’s
waterbag
    Marilyn Humbert

a county fair
my homemade cider
loses its fizz
    Marta Chocilowska

swirling the bitter
remnant of one last pint
remembering you
    Michael Flanagan

toothache
scent of cloves
and whiskey
    Michael Gallagher

drinking from the same stream
as the grizzly bear
I put on my brave face
    Michael G. Smith

traveling days . . .
I sip water
from a fresh coconut
    Milan Rajkumar

made by a neighbor
to celebrate our son’s birth
home-brewed ginger beer
    Mimi Foyle

hummingbirds —
my niece asks for
a drinking straw
    Mirela Brailean

bitter-sweet drink
sun-kissed kumquats
quench my thirst
    Neena Singh

daddy’s wink
a teaspoon of wine
in my Kool-Aid
    Pat Davis

recovering now —
a steaming mug
of mum’s beef-tea
    Paul Beech

first business venture lemonade TEN CENTS
    Pris Campbell

our morning tea
the nettles infused
with silence
    Richard L. Matta

along the creek
in one big gulp
my favorite mountain
    Robert Epstein

heading south tea getting sweeter
    Roberta Beach Jacobson

drink of water
from the garden hose
work half done
    Ron Scully

coffee shop
I pay for a heart
in my cappuccino
    Rosa Clement

lamp low
over melted cheese and wine
your language on my tongue
    Ruth Yarrow

the morning after
three bloody marys open
six heavy eyelids
    Stacey Murphy

(whiskey) things between us (sour)
    Susan Burch

sitting on my heels
in the Japanese inn
a cup of sake
    Theresa A. Cancro

fruit punch gatorade
only tastes good when i am
dehydrated bad
    Tina Wright

in training
I try another
non-alcoholic beer
    Tom Clausen

seems like yesterday
the kitten drinking milk
in my childhood garden
    Vibeke Laier

milky way
it stopped for a moment
in my glass of tea
    Wieslaw Karlinski

hot cocoa
with marshmallows —
the children wishing for snow
    Wilda Morris

farmer’s market tonic
ginger, cider, cayenne —
I drink from a spoon
    Yvonne Fisher

giggling with cousins
ginger ale poured into
the orange juice
    Zee Zahava