night haiku — from sunset to sunrise

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

The theme this month is night.

Contributing poets are from Argentina, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Ecuador, Ghana, India, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, Malta, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the United States, Wales.


campfire
the crescendo
of cricket songs
    Adjei Agyei-Baah

the night is also in my mirror
    ai li

passing the boarding house
where Dad spent one night
before his final days
    Alan Bern

so, little spider
we sleep in the same room
another night
    Alan Peat

not yet dawn
voices of neighbors
praising their dogs
    Alexis Rotella

chasing memories the night passes quickly
    Angela Giordano

broken thread
pearl necklace —
rainy night
    Angiola Inglese

s t r o b o s c o p e
neighborhood cats parade
past the motion sensor light
    Barbara Sabol

moongate
conspicuous in absence
a nightingale’s song
    Barbara Sayre

the damaged plate
from an old quarrel
kintsugi moon
    Barrie Levine

construction site —
even in the dark
the fragrance of lumber
    Bill Waters

falling star
the weight of words
left unsaid
    Billy Antonio

shades of
black blue purple gray
climb my bedroom walls all night
    Blue Waters

full moon . . .
the phone rings five times
and stops
    Brad Bennett

Milky Way
campfire and cocoa
the yip of coyotes
    Bryan D. Cook

lonely night
turning on the porch light
for the bugs
    Bryan Rickert

moving to a new home
driving at night
was a comfort
    C. Robin Janning

red eye flight
in my cocktail
a cherry
    Carol Judkins

I may have been
a lone dung beetle gazing
at the stars
    Carole Johnston

night vigil —
worried when he snores
worried when he doesn’t
    Carole MacRury

muggy night:
the same two tones
from the wind chime
    Charles Trumbull

a paper dove
on the barbed wire fence
gathering dark
    Chen-ou Liu

dusk
red beans simmer
on the charcoal
    Christina Chin

our cat
on sentry duty
night guard
    Christina Sng

guilty!
the feral hog caught
on the night vision camera
    Christine Wenk-Harrison

late night movie
passing the point
of falling asleep
    Claire Vogel Camargo

night train
on the steamed window
two drawn eyes
    Dan Iulian

under a watchful moon the possibility of fairies
    Debbie Strange

flashlight stroll —
always walking in
center beam
    Deborah Burke Henderson

a street light
illuminating
snow flakes
    Donna Fleischer

night book fair
so many styles
of mythmaking
    Elena Malec

cold night
mom puts on dad’s
favorite coat
    Florin C. Ciobica

broth for dinner . . .
measuring out ladles
of silence
    Geethanjali Rajan

full moon
time for my pressure cooker
to let off steam
    Helen Buckingham

night-blooming cereus
I too hold on
to the dark
    Jackie Chou

Perseid showers
buzz … slap … scratch … buzz … slap …
gazing anyway
    Janice Doppler

he gave up his cat
to wed her — now the stars
reproach her like cats’ eyes
    Jenna Le

raccoon
at water bowl
fingers the moon
    Jill Lange

past midnight
searching on my hands and knees
unfinished jigsaw puzzle
    Jim Mazza

date night —
a snack of skinny popcorn
while watching The Crown
    Jo Balistreri

nightfall
I scurry to light
all the lamps
    Joan Leotta

raindrops
scribbling away
until dawn
    Joanna Ashwell

out of the tunnel
into a stadium’s lights
night frames my city
    Joel Savishinsky

front porch
the full moon enters
a cobweb
    John J. Dunphy

no moon
I write about it
anyway
    John Pappas

basketball at night
the first jump
no one speaks
    Jorge Alberto Giallorenzi

wood stove
the oak returns
to the night
    Joshua St. Claire

starry night in the Andes —
a vicuna
crosses the road
    Julia Guzman

her great-grandchildren
wrapped in a crocheted afghan
a long night unfolds
    Julie Bloss Kelsey

like mother like daughter
sleep walking
step count
    Kath Abela Wilson

nighttime meditation
am i asleep
or awake
    Kathleen Kramer

too hot to sleep
I watch the moon pull
a long scarf of stars
    Katya Sabaroff Taylor

longest night
the lotus blossom pendant
cold on my throat
    Kristen Lindquist

starry night
the only solace
after chemo
    Lakshmi Iyer

sleeptalking
dementia cured
until she wakes again
    Laurinda Lind

knitting
our night together
baby monitor
    Lorraine A Padden

flickering lamps
late night devotees
on the temple doorstep
    Madhuri Pillai

long night —
every noise
a reindeer hoof
    Marcie Wessels

today’s to-do’s untouched tonight
    Margaret Walker

white peony tea
snow so fine the night
has flowered
    Marianne Paul

night saguaros in the skyline
    Marilyn Ashbaugh

curlew’s cry
cracks the black glass
of night
    Marilyn Humbert

sick mom
a night-night lullaby
to her
    Marta Chocilowska

fallen leaves
the night wind
whistles the blues
    Mary Kendall

four or five
moons in the puddle
a trout is jumping
    Maya Daneva

night breeze      pausing on my walk      catching your perfume
    Michael Flanagan

finding balance
in chaotic Kathmandu
familiar constellations
    Michael G. Smith

frosty night
the loosened grip of moss
falling from the roof
    Mike Gallagher

alone in the night kitchen     do you think of me
    Mimi Foyle

night shift
moving from one pillow
to another
    Mirela Brailean

embroidering
on a cold night
such a sharp needle
    Miriam Sagan

evening walk . . .
the heavy fog wraps its tentacles
around us
    Nancy Brady

wild jasmine . . .
a fragrant night
till long after
    Neena Singh

new telescope
the Big Dipper
overflowing
    Pat Davis

a rough sleeper —
coughing she studies
Orion
    Paul Beech

shingles —
it is not the fire alarm
that disturbs my sleep
    Paul Callus

branches laden
with moonglow
ripening pears
    Paula Sears

backyard campfire
we share wild stories
from our youth
    Pris Campbell

cool night
choosing the cup
without a handle
    Richard Matta

catching
& releasing
this firefly night
    Robert Epstein

sky dance of unnamed stars
    Roberta Beach Jacobson

nightwatchman
searches the corners
nothing moves
    Ron Scully

mother-of-pearl
in the sunset’s underlayer —
pawnshop lights go on
    Ruth Yarrow

did I take my meds or not pillbox moon
    Susan Burch

the loud tent zipper
I step out quietly
to search the midnight sky
    Teresa Bakota Yatsko

bedtime story . . .
her teddy bear
approves
    Theresa A. Cancro

boundless
the stars within
a rose
    Tiffany Shaw-Diaz

after the movie
this fall’s first bus ride past dark
feels like space travel
    Tina Wright

winter night licking the spoon clean
    Tom Clausen

barbecue night
I flip
the story around
    Vandana Parashar

the silence
of a winter night
butterfly dreams
    Vibeke Laier

another full moon
granddaughter bakes her first
rice cakes    
    Wieslaw Karlinski

never burned Aunt Carol’s stay-in-the-oven-all-night cookies
    Wilda Morris

nighttime
broken window
nowhere to hide
    Yvonne Fisher

computer dream
i call out in my sleep . . .
“delete delete delete”
    Zee Zahava