Welcome to the October 2017 issue of brass bell: a haiku journal
This month's theme is: body haiku
Poems have been received from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Croatia, Ecuador, England, Ghana, India, Ireland, Italy, Pakistan, Poland, Singapore, Sri Lanka, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States
bare brown —
the teeth
of the kola seller
- Adjei Agyei-Baah
grazed elbow —
he knows it's nothing
'cause I told him so
- Adrian Bouter
drawn into
the starry sky
of her thumbnail
- Adrian Bouter
wiggly tooth
magnolia petals
in the wind
- Agnes Eva Savich
heartbeat filling an empty room
- ai li
by his sick bed
my hands
as cold as his
- ai li
cardboard and hand
indistinguishable
old woman in the blue recycle bin
- Alan Bern
never quite counting
but moving fingers
as if there were numbers
- Alan Bern
a drop on my face —
not raining at all
our goodbye
- Amauri Solon Ribeiro
flying like a bird
my weightless body
hangs from the glider
- Amauri Solon Ribeiro
morning snow
she places her footprints
in mine
- Andy McLellan
shelter from the storm
my hands make
shadow puppets
- Andy McLellan
moonlight
reflected in the mirror —
my wrinkled face
- Angela Giordano
making plum jam
my hands turn
violet pink
- Angelee Deodhar
sommelier —
a drop of red wine
colors his white glove
- Angelee Deodhar
juicy pear
the taste of autumn
runs down to my elbow
- Angiola Inglese
silk babushkas
cover graying heads of
old world stories
- Ann Christine Tabaka
old farmhouse
a pale hand draws back
the lace curtain
- Anna Cates
country road . . .
the hand that curbs the kudzu
rules the world
- Anna Cates
extracted teeth —
my smile
in the trash
- Antonio Mangiameli
without warning
the tickle of a butterfly
on my shoulder
- Barbara Tate
December wedding
a sprig of mistletoe
in her hair
- Barbara Tate
hitchhiker:
this ladybug
on my hand
- Bill Waters
pointing —
the little girl follows
her finger
- Bill Waters
breaststrokes
a hot sun
on my back
- Caroline Skanne
rubbing mugwort
between fingertips
between worlds
- Caroline Skanne
hot pebbles
licking the salt
off your lips
- Caroline Skanne
the warm nuzzle
of my week-old baby . . .
rosy cheek
- Celestine Nudanu
on my tongue
the taste of wild strawberries
the look in her eyes
- Chen-ou Liu
feeling like
an alien incubator
long pregnancy
- Christina Sng
knitting
my fingers learn
on their own
- Christina Sng
our bodies
never quite forgetting
the art of bicycling
- Christina Sng
memorizing mother's face . . .
her eyelashes
the shape of her neck
- Christine McNamara
hard landings
at gymnastics practice
my bruised coccyx
- Claire Vogel Camargo
at 90, cooking
and caring for dad
her perfect eyebrows
- Claire Vogel Camargo
so many little tomatoes
you ripen
as I blink
- Dani Bates
the girl
selfying her face
cocks her leg anyway
- Danny Blackwell
late innings
the manager chews
his nails
- Dave Read
into stardust
the astronaut
trims his beard
- Dave Read
a breeze
ruffles her hair . . .
open casket
- Dave Read
harvest moon
my mother's face
in the mirror
- David He
on horseback . . .
butterflies circle the rose
in her hair
- David He
keeping my mouth shut
straining tea leaves
through clenched teeth
-David J. Kelly
baby sleeping
the heat of her breath
on my shoulder
- David Oates
after vacation
the feel of long pants
on legs
- David Oates
first light
a baker's fingertips
pressing the dough
- Debbi Antebi
morning dew
the galaxies between
our toes
- Debbie Strange
fiddleheads
the curled ears
of newborns
- Debbie Strange
snow mounds
the growing roundness
of her belly
- Debbie Strange
yoga positions
this climbing
out of dry skin
- Devin Harrison
to absorb
the pressure of her heart
hyacinth
- Devin Harrison
morning tai chi —
on his face
serenity
- Doris Pascolo
autumn breeze —
on bare shoulders
a yellow leaf
- Doris Pascolo
bowed in silence
four young heads
lost in cyberspace
- Dottie Piet
toothache . . .
the first leaves fall
from the maple
- Elisa Allo
bare feet
the damp kiss of a snail
in the grass
- Elisa Allo
freckles
a child writes the first words
on his mother's face
- EufemiaGriffo
as if she were pregnant
with it . . .
her body wraps around the cello
- Frank Robinson
zombie chic
kids compare
missing teeth
- Helen Buckingham
first monsoon —
an earthworm wobbles
under my feet
- Hifsa Ashraf
name day feast
a thumb-press of oregano
in papa's palm
- Jan Benson
mountain fog
my hand on his
hand on my breast
- Jennifer Hambrick
celebrating
the day of the dead . . .
dad's stomach rumbles
- Jo Balistreri
the sun
in her eyes —
his funeral
- Joanna M. Weston
rain trickles
down my neck —
muddy path
- Joanna M. Weston
scratching her back
between pillars of sunlight
the slow fall of dust
- John Hawkhead
sighs after long illness
in her stiff palm
a five leaf clover
- Justice Joseph Prah
another friend's chemo —
more of my hair
comes out
- kjmunro
dust on my fingers
tracing your name
carved in stone
- kjmunro
exposed
the skin where my ring
used to be
- kjmunro
chin in hand
and elbows on the table
my listening pose
- Kath Abela Wilson
lavender and sage
she uses her head
to carry flowers
- Kath Abela Wilson
bare foot, hard pebble
a yin/yang moment
before I shout ouch
- Katya Sabaroff Taylor
dream sequence . . .
I clap to the song
she didn't sing
- Kumarendra Mallick
walk-the-talk . . .
miles of silence
hand-in-hand
- Kumarendra Mallick
harmattan
the pain of laughter
in cracked lips
- Kwaku Feni Adow
fingerprint
on the hand-waxed car
maple leaves shiver
- Laughing waters
September rain —
for twelve years
I have not seen his face
- Lucia Cardillo
end of September —
my mouth holds the sweet taste
of ripe persimmons
- Lucia Cardillo
spring river
flooded by peace
my right brain
- Lucia Fontana
always a ballerina my daughter on tippy toes
- Madhuri Pillai
temple bell
a raindrop hanging
from Buddha's nose
- Malintha Perera
seagull wings—
the shape of summer
in her eyebrows
- Maria Laura Valente
shattered bone
overnight I've become
elderly
- Marianne Paul
arm in a cast
the itch that remains
un-scratched
- Marianne Paul
hand resting
on a holster —
the curve of her hip
- Marilyn Fleming
the weight
of the muddy river
jerry-can on her head
- Marilyn Fleming
summer dusk —
palms to the earth
praying for rain
- Mark E. Brager
lightning flash the next contraction
- Mark E. Brager
gibbous moon her stretch marks glistening
- Mark E. Brager
produce market
in the arms of the young lovers
orange pumpkins
- Mark Miller
gentle breeze
removing the wig
from my head
- Marta Chocilowska
city zoo trip
a mother's hair clutched
in a tiny hand
- Martha Magenta
snipping
baby's toenails . . .
cherry blossoms
- Martha Magenta
bloodroot . . .
my ankle veins
begin to surface
- Martha Magenta
pulling my wagon
such a busy four-year-old —
strong arms and legs
- Marty Blue Waters
baby raccoon
my fingers stroke his belly
he thinks I'm his mom
- Marty Blue Waters
mostly right-handed . . .
my iMac challenges me
to be left-moused
- Marty Blue Waters
new knees —
I learn to walk again
no longer afraid
- Mary Kendall
arm in arm
we dare the street traffic
snowy day
- Mary Kendall
in hospice
skin so thin
breath so slow
- Mary Kendall
woke by the noise
of old bones complaining
oh! they're mine
- Michael Flanagan
my hands
I remember their strength . . .
only pain remains
- Michael Flanagan
on all fours
nose to nose
with my dog
- Michael G. Smith
my knobbled fingers
strain to untangle the knot
i've made of my life
- Mimi Foyle
crunchy autumn trails
ankle-deep in curly leaves
i kick their colors
- Mimi Foyle
throwing out the book —
the author obsessed
with her fat
- Miriam Sagan
old as I am
I still fondly regard
my feet
- Miriam Sagan
asphalt afternoon
the traffic cop takes off his hat
wipes his bald head
- Nancy Shires
morning air
on my arms —
just being alive
- Nancy Shires
butterfly garden
a painted lady alights
on my friend's nose
- Nancy Shires
hidden stream —
the kundalini rises through
each of my chakras
- Nicholas Klacsanzky
sticky lips
her tiny fingers remove
a cherry pit
- Nina Kovacic
your new hairstyle
no one notices
but me
- Olivier Schopfer
cold morning
clouds
out of my mouth
- Olivier Schopfer
overcast day
dirt under
my fingernails
- Olivier Schopfer
a train whistle deep
into the night —
your back towards me
- pamela a. babusci
after the mammogram going braless
- pamela a. babusci
deep autumn . . .
walking barefoot
on my mother's grave
- pamela a. babusci
mom on her phone
the tug, tug, tug
on her leg
- Pat Davis
dyad moon tonight our lips touch in a full kiss
- Pat Geyer
both asleep . . .
holding hands
we dream
- Pat Geyer
an artery blocked —
opens —
blood courses again
- Peter Ladley
so serious
carving Grandpa's nose
in the pumpkin
- Phyllis Lee
kitty
against my belly . . .
midnight moon
- Pris Campbell
discarded ring
my finger has no room
for memories
- Pris Campbell
a head higher
than my ninth grade classmates —
sunflower season
- Pris Campbell
returning home
more tremors
in mother's hands
- Rachel Sutcliffe
autumn brambles
the school children's
inky fingers
- Rachel Sutcliffe
the sting
as the needle breaks skin
waiting for it
- Rachel Sutcliffe
self diagnosis
my blood runs backwards
nobody knows
- Ron Scully
muscle memory
but bones hold a grudge
my tackled right knee
- Ron Scully
windy day
the beggar combs her hair
with her fingers
- Rosa Clement
toeing circles in the sand —
what to say
what not to . . .
- Sanjuktaa Asopa
candlelit wall
my hand
a heron
- Sanjuktaa Asopa
paper cut
the taste of metal
on my tongue
- Scott Wiggerman
shadow of a bird
on my shoulder —
I worry about shit
- Scott Wiggerman
catching my breath
the valley
from the mountain top
- Simon Hanson
dozing on the lawn —
a dandelion seed
tickling my nostril
- Stephen Page
the flap of a bat wing —
a praying mantis
drops in my lap
- Stephen Page
trying to sit still
while a yellow jacket
circles my bare feet
- Stephen Page
Chinese buffet —
in my stomach
the dragon
- Theresa A. Cancro
hula hoop —
the twirl
of her braids
- Theresa A. Cancro
surprises
in old age
green eyes turned blue
- Tia Haynes
red-handed —
on the wall
her finger painting
- Tia Haynes
drawing circles
with my nose . . .
yogic indecision
- Tia Haynes
quiet storm
I close my eyes
to listen
- Tiffany Shaw-Diaz
giant puff ball
only slightly bigger
my head
- Tom Clausen
lying in bed . . .
reviewing the variety
of my most recent symptoms
- Tom Clausen
my involuntary eye closure . . .
the Netflix series
she loves
- Tom Clausen
in my hand
i hold this heart rock . . .
my heart is in my hand
- Yvonne Fisher
cracked sidewalk keeping me on my toes
- Zee Zahava
daisies
under our bare feet the earth
sun-warmed
- Zuzanna Truchlewska
