Sunday, January 1, 2017

happiness haiku

Welcome to the January 2017 issue of brass bell: a haiku journal.

This month we are sharing what makes us happy … a good way to start a new year!


Contributors are from: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Ecuador, England, Ghana, India, Ireland, Japan, Philippines, Poland, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Wales, the U.K., and the United States


mountain
on your rough edge
I made it to the top
    - Adjei Agyei-Baah

crashing tide
little crabs hurry back
to sea
    - Adjei Agyei-Baah

your voice
again
more than enough
    - Alan Bern

the rock garden where the statue of Buddha sat
    - Alan Catlin

bedtime stories
read to me by my parents
I read to my grandson
    - Angelee Deodhar

spring breeze
my dress makes a pirouette
on the washing line
    - Anna Maris

sunset
the hare and i
stop to watch
    - Anna Maris

first date
this early morning and you
also so blushed
    - Anna Mazurkiewicz

temple bell . . .
I recollect the name
of a long lost friend
    - Aparna Pathak

winter sky
catching a wish
on my tongue
    - Barbara Tate

reading in the sunshine . . .
a tangle of lavender
and one devoted bee
    - Bill Waters

asleep with the light on . . .
taking the book
from her hand
    - Bill Waters

after the rain
my shadow steps first
in the puddles
    - Billy Antonio

book-shaped cake
my child tells me she too
is a bookworm
    - Billy Antonio

swaying pines . . .
something inside me
clicks into place
    - Brad Bennett

thirty four years after
dad's gone — a new baby
with his eyes
    - Bre

rush of wind
no ground below
zipline
    - Caroline Gates-Lupton

full inbox
taking a break
super moon . . .
    - Caroline Skanne

thawing stream
the forgotten words
of a song . . .
    - Caroline Skanne

her bike
leans against mine . . .
summer stars
    - Chen-ou Liu

rolling in from the sea moon pearls
    - Christina Martin

last chocolate
at the back of the fridge
childlike exuberance
    - Christina Sng

first sight
of my newborn son
the expansion of my heart
    - Christina Sng

a young swashbuckler
challenges his reflection
with a balloon sword
    - David J. Kelly

wearing fairy wings
a little girl flutters
from step to step
    - David J. Kelly

tiny raindrops shine
in my daughter's dark hair —
starry sky
    - David Oates

harvest moon
the love note I find
in an old book
    - Debbi Antebi

eleven years later
our new dance
to the same song
    - Debbi Antebi

ginko walk how extraordinary this ordinary life
    - Debbie Strange

Betsy's deck —
waiting for the eagle
on Penobscot Bay
    - Frances Helmstadter

early january —
for a moment
i'm as young as the new year
    - Frank Robinson

one by one
the fireflies come to dance
among the rafters
    - Glenn Ingersoll

ending the year
on a bright note —
moonshine on ice
    - Helen Buckingham

twin umbrellas
talking to each other
joy of a rainy day
    - Hideo Suzuki

you are my sunshine
new again
with each babe
    - Jan Benson

exchanging rare objects snail mail
    - Jane Williams

dolphin pod so much more to see without my camera
    - Jane Williams

the cartoon clippings
she sends just for fun
spring birds
    - Jennifer Hambrick

morning bird how he calls me beautiful
    - Jennifer Hambrick

making angels
in the snow . . .
grandma and grandpa
    - Jo Balistreri

whoopee another poetry acceptance
    - Joan McNerney

a dozen red balloons
hang from the chandelier
his sixtieth
    - Joanna M. Weston

I go to bed smiling
each night a flower
in my hair
    - Kath Abela Wilson

reaching into a box
of mom's few last possessions
my poems about her
    - Kath Abela Wilson

just this one flower
makes the whole room beautiful
red gladiola
    - Katya Sabaroff Taylor

unpacking my suitcase your lunch this poem
    - kjmunro

at the library
on the lowest shelf
picture books
    - kjmunro

tumbling down the hill box of kids
    - Laughing waters

writing again
playing piano again
healthy again
    - Madeleine Cohen Oakley

dog park
in the morning sunshine
the bellbird's song
    - Madhuri Pillai

sun after storm
flowers on the meadow
straightening up
    - Marta Chocilowska

icy wind
the horse's warm breath
on my neck
    - Martha Magenta

looking for a laugh
i see a mirror and pose
hello hello
    - Marty Blue Waters

my great-grandson
always giggling
i never know why
    - Mary Louise Church

snowbound —
a brand new novel
page one
    - Mary Kendall

first snow —
a cheeky chickadee
breaks the peace
    - Mary Kendall

on the telephone
my grandson's excited shriek
when he hears it's me
    - Mimi Foyle

having a stroll — my daydreams and I
    - Nina Kovacic
      translated by Durda Vukelic Rozic

new passengers
in the subway train
a feather enters too
    - Olivier Schopfer

secret garden
no sound but
the gurgle of the fountain
    - Olivier Schopfer

my grown child declares
the best music is
in the oldies bin
    - Pat Davis

winter green
the first sprout
from my hyacinth bulb
    - Pat Davis

our initials
carved in a heart . . .
still smiling
    - Pat Geyer

slow mornings — you laugh
and brush my tangling hair
right into my eyes
    - Phoebe Shalloway

car window condensation
draw one smiley face
then a second so it's not lonely
    - Phoebe Shalloway

emptied closet . . .
mother's old red robe again
in my arms
    - Pris Campbell

checking the clock —
my friend's face appears
on skype
    - Pris Campbell

first warm day
folding the breeze
into the sheets
    - Rachel Sutcliffe

hopscotch
I play a game
with my inner child
    - Rachel Sutcliffe

small brown wren
weighs on trembling aspen
vocalissimus
    - Ron Scully

spring night
in my dream I am
awake and smiling
    - Rosa Clement

kaleidoscope
my son shows me
another beauty
    - Simon Hanson

strong wind gust —
cardinal atop a plum
lifts its crown and sings
    - Stephen Page

1 nuthatch    1 titmouse    9 goldfinches
6 perches at the feeder
chaos!
    - Sue Norvell

fall hike —
the crackle
of peanut brittle
    - Theresa A. Cancro

waking
the robin's spirit
within me
    - Tim Gardiner

happy birthday card
from the hardware store
farmer's nuts, bolts, and hoses
    - Tricia Knoll

midnight kiss
New Year's Eve
and every night
    - Valentina Ranaldi-Adams

patches of daffodils
around the city —
finally
    - Valentina Ranaldi-Adams

winter dawn
butterflies gliding
in a dream
    - Vibeke Laier

dancing with diana
gladys     stevie     smokey
motown sunrise
    - Zee Zahava

pen: thank you for still having ink
    - Zee Zahava