Monday, August 1, 2022

water haiku

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


The theme of this month’s collection is “water.”

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


koi —
the pond’s smile
in one bubble
    Adjei Agyei-Baah   

a leak
my roof
crying
    ai li

hose on
discovering water’s pressure
tiny grandson
    Alan Bern

raining
and raining
a swan’s folded neck
    Alan Peat

live cam
four different views
of the rain
    Alan Peat

the ghost lines
of offshore turbines
flickering moon
    Alan Summers

dust devils running from the rain
    Alexis Rotella

puddle —
the reflected moon
vibrates in the wind
    Angela Giordano

cut roses
in a glass beaker
broken stems
    Angiola Inglese

swimming in the great lake sturgeon moon
    Barbara Sabol

summer camp
bound by no boundaries
the old fishing hole
    Barbara Tate Sayre

foot fountain —
leaving the sand
at the public beach
    Barrie Levine

swim team
all through school
my wet hair
    Barrie Levine  

pulling our blanket
out of the way . . .
afternoon tide
    Barrie Levine

in the standing water
two children
standing
    Bill Waters

endlessly
the fountain
shooting skyward
    Bill Waters

picking up a pebble the river after
    Billy Antonio

more rain
after the rain
bamboo forest
    Billy Antonio

wanting to spit
like Kansas cowboys —
practicing my aim intently
    Blue Waters

eighteenth hole
a puddle of snowmelt
in the plastic sled
    Brad Bennett

watering the garden
except the monarchs
and painted ladies
    Bryan D. Cook

sudden rain
pill bugs from out
of nowhere
    Bryan Rickert

muting the trumpet flowers morning rain
    Bryan Rickert

dialing down
my blood pressure . . .
hot springs
    Carol Judkins

lavender rain
my purple umbrella
dripping
    Carole Johnston

in and out
of the sprinkler’s spray
hummingbird
    Carole MacRury

departing geese —
a bit of the lake
still on their wings
    Carole MacRury

sweltering heat
the weight of wasps
on duckweed
    Caroline Skanne

monks’ ferry rope
frozen
in the river ice
    Charles Trumbull

prolonged drought
throwing stones in the pond
without a splash
    Chen Xiaoou

moonlight lapping
against the Pacific shore
the home left behind
    Chen-ou Liu

snorkeling
among the seagrass
a scallop shoots up
    Christina Chin    

after a run        my cat licks my arm
    Christina Sng

liberation
her first test
of an outdoor shower
    Christine Wenk-Harrison

imagining
living where once there was
the Permian Sea
    Claire Vogel Camargo

dog days
the only fountain
in the park
    C.R. Harper

calving glacier
i decide when
to let go
    Debbie Strange

the Buddha
contemplates life —
reflection pool
    Deborah Burke Henderson

drips of sweat
on her cleavage
ice cubes swirl
    Donna Fleischer

fish bowl
in the cat’s iris
a guppy
    Elena Malec

wishing well
my coin
turns green
    Florin C. Ciobica

waterfall icicles hang like frozen fangs
    Frank Muller

glassy lake —
water skiing to the end
of summer
    Geoff Pope

where two rivers meet
we renew our vows . . .
tugboat horn
    Geoff Pope

next door’s lies
coiled in the grass
hosepipe ban
    Helen Buckingham

monsoon rain
simmering down
the stew of dals
    Hifsa Ashraf

watering my plants
I sometimes forget their names
they don’t seem to mind
    Jack Goldman

seaside picnic . . .
length of an eyeblink
porpoise fin
    Janice Doppler

long afternoon the slow drift of pond scum
    Jay Friedenberg

sipping water
before my blood test
whirlpool in my stomach
    Jenna Le

back strokin’
at the neighborhood pool
the new person i become
    Jill Lange

today this t-shirt
words of a favorite teacher
“go as a river”
    Jill Lange

first college exam
sweating the outcome
of the freshman swim test
    Jim Mazza

dad says “swim!” —
my arms move but
toes remain on stones
    Joan Leotta

kitchen sink
the pop of bubbles
all around us
    Joanna Ashwell    

summer showers
more gulls land on the
cricket field
    Joe Sebastian

testing     testing     a new baby’s bath water
    Joel Savishinsky

drought water-rationing
I fill my birdbath
with Evian
    John J. Dunphy

floating out to sea our frisbee
    John J. Dunphy

used-book store
owner empties
a bucket of rain
    John J. Dunphy

rain on the wind chimes
even the snails
listening
    John Pappas

another autumn
old rowboat
filling up with rain
    John Pappas

birthday —
mom’s vase
with very little water
    Jorge Alberto Giallorenzi

upslope fog
the Atlantic swallows
Backbone Mountain
    Joshua St. Claire

beach day —
the children’s laughter
louder than the waves
    Julia Guzman

mom wrote
her name on water
lily of the Nile
    Kath Abela Wilson

family picnic
dad rowed the boat
at Wolf’s Pond Park
    Kath Abela Wilson

another hot day
twelve guernsey cows
wade in the river
    Kathleen Kramer

today, needing to be empty
i went to the lake and wept
until i was
    Kathleen Kramer

sometimes all I need
is a rippling summer pond
and one white egret
    Katya Sabaroff Taylor

the pond where the moon sleeps all day
    kris moon kondo

all my tears
let them make
a pond
    kris moon kondo

either sky or ocean the first blue puzzle piece
    Kristen Lindquiet

rusted water fountain . . .
the pigeons keep pecking
inside the nozzle
    Lakshmi Iyer

mosquito hatcheries
the puddles
that never dry
    Laurinda Lind

occasional drizzle
ink landing
in the right place
    Lorraine A Padden

park walk
the dog brings in the puddle
drip by drip
    Madhuri Pillai

the damp spots
on father’s forehead and shirt
holy water
    Marcie Wessels

dry forecast
stonecrop
in the withered lake
    Marcie Wessels

ocean’s timelessness
sand castle’s impermanence
my footprints between
    Margaret Fisher Squires

another puddle
mud pies
on the menu
    Margaret Walker

the wake
of a pelican’s landing
his wide grin
    Marilyn Humbert        

long rain
the great grey slugs
crawl out
    Marta Chocilowska

washed up
without a song
moon shell
    Mary Kendall

icy rain —
somehow this ache
just won’t leave
    Mary Kendall

half-dried swamp
the spatterdock still
in full bloom
    Maya Daneva

again
but with stronger words
receding wave
    Maya Daneva

I stop shaking this snow globe       all becomes clear
    Michael Flanagan

wandering the beach
driftwood
suddenly scarce
    Michael Flanagan

city lake
camp kids practicing
whitewater kayak rolls
    Michael G. Smith       

tear-soaked
at the kitchen table
family history
    Mike Gallagher

temple bell
the bowl of water ripples
for a moment
    Milan Rajkumar

dew drop prisms flash
from spider’s web
sun-saturated
    Mimi Foyle

raindrops dangling from a papaya stem . . . . liquid moonstones
    Mimi Foyle

so much water
in the acequia
am I dreaming
    Miriam Sagan

walking in the rain
this half-rainbow
between us
    Neena Singh

a water lily
rises above itself . . .
meditation
    Neena Singh

incoming tide
the slow roll
of a new plan
    Pat Davis

wriggling
out of the mist
the heron and a fish
    Pat Davis

gulls squawk
the river flows on
beneath the castle ruins
    Paul Beech

the rock pool crab
meets me eye-to-eye
I back off
    Paul Beech

falling rain a pluviophile pulls on his boots
    Paul Callus

health gone
a different rolling sea
beneath my feet
    Pris Campbell

turning five
my neighbor’s goldfish
hit of the party
    Pris Campbell

lake fishing
snagging a kite
caught in a tree
    Richard Matta

summer heat
two wrens bathing
in a dog’s bowl
    Richard Matta

bathroom window —
a mockingbird’s song
joins me in the shower
    Robert Epstein

dewdrops on the tulips my aching heart
    Robert Epstein

walking the reservoir that woodpecker’s knock-knock-knock
    Robert Epstein

steaming
her wallpaper off
gran’s tea kettle
    Roberta Beach Jacobson

hauling water
making up verses
of shared songs
    Roberta Beach Jacobson

staycation ring around the bathtub
    Roberta Beach Jacobson

waterwheel
off the hotel lobby
check in / check out
    Ron Scully

deserted beach
waves take back
a few ghost crabs
    Rosa Clement

dreaming of a woman
trapped under water —
my leg in a cast
    Seretta Martin

first love jumping through sprinklers
    Susan Burch

summer improv shampoo bottle squirt guns
    Susan Burch

on mother’s death bed
a sponge bath
never had such intimacy
    Teresa Bakota Yatsko

drizzle . . .
so many
verbs to conjugate
    Theresa A. Cancro

an endless ocean
such are
the dreams of mine
    Tiffany Shaw-Diaz

new day
she goes around spritzing
each plant
    Tom Clausen

the way gravity
takes water over stones
creek song
    Tom Clausen

morning chores a puddle within a puddle
    Vandana Parashar

flotation tank
do I need to have
all the answers
    Vandana Parashar

hospital window
the rain meant for me
falls on the tree
    Vandana Parashar

full moon
a forest lake
with frozen stars
    Vibeke Laier

a pebble from the sea
with a trace of
lipstick
    Wieslaw Karlinski

summer breeze plastic bags blowing into the pond
    Wilda Morris

folksongs     the ‘60s     here come my tears again
    Zee Zahava

shallow pond
frog closes his eyes and
disappears
    Zee Zahava