Welcome to the August 2021 issue of brass bell: a haiku journal.
The theme of this month’s collection is family & friends.
Contributing poets sent work from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, Ecuador, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States
father/son talk
daddy tells me
how he met mum
Adjei Agyei-Baah
grandpa’s will
all his clothes go
to the scarecrow
Adjei Agyei-Baah
mother posing
by her prize orchids
the photograph remains
ai li
giving blood
to save a life
we’re sisters now
ai li
under a stunted fir
same rock pile
sister and I once climbed
Alan Bern
every stranger
I’ve seen today
looks like a dead friend
Alan Bern
my brother and I
fight over
the gizzard
Alexis Rotella
lunch with an old friend
her facelift
between us
Alexis Rotella
red rose
in full bloom —
an old friend calls
Ana Drobot
video call
my son’s
first white hair
Angela Giordano
a spritz of Chanel
my mother enters
the room
Barbara Sabol
night light
my granddaughter discovers
her shadow
Barbara Sabol
run for the roses
my husband forgets
our anniversary
Barbara Tate
grandma’s thimbles
the know-how
in her clicking fingers
Barrie Levine
scooping snow
I throw the morning moon
to my grandson
Barrie Levine
clutching the letter —
her dad lifts her up
to the mail slot
Bill Waters
eight aunts, three uncles
mom’s family arrives . . .
I head to my tree house
Blue Waters
death anniversary
still dusting
father’s things
Bryan Rickert
summer rain
my children debate the rules
of a made up game
Bryan Rickert
grandma and child
putting on spectacles
summer solstice
C.R. Harper
dad’s papers . . .
reading what I can bear
sealing the rest
C. Robin Janning
moon lost to me . . .
camera feels heavy
aiming toward friends
C. Robin Janning
bedtime poems
older sister made me
who I am
Carole Johnston
mother-in-law’s wedding ring
on a gold chain arrives
in the mail
Carole Johnston
family Bible
my funny uncle’s birth day
a little blotted
Charles Trumbull
dry bonsai —
reminding Mother again
what a haiku is
Charles Trumbull
smoky twilight
grandpa slips in and out
of memory
Chen-ou Liu
fog over the cliff
what did my friend see
at his last moment
Chen-ou Liu
friends exchange
sticky rice dumplings
solar maximum festival
Christina Chin
a chat with cake
the perfect afternoon
with a friend
Christina Sng
hand in hand
our little girls walk
instant best friends
Christina Sng
each of us guesses
who visited my mother
lilies on her grave
Christine L. Villa
we each have
our own version of the story
family reunion
Christine L. Villa
family hike
my best burger eaten cold
on a cold mountain
Claire Vogel Camargo
three herons fly
into my mother’s canvas . . .
my brothers and I
Daniela Misso
distant parents —
so many mountains
from the window
Daniela Misso
tire swing
my sisters push me
into my comfort zone
Debbie Strange
colored balloons
releasing my sister’s spirit
skyward
Deborah Burke Henderson
fishing with dad
he puts the worm
on my hook
Deborah P Kolodji
one I love
thinks it’s her new blush . . .
her beauty
Donna Fleischer
Delta surges —
friends at a summer picnic
banter
Donna Fleischer
rose tea
sipping from
my old aunt’s cup
Eufemia Griffo
pirate movie
sharing with my dad
a bottle of rum
Florin C. Ciobica
meteor shower
remembering
my dad’s last wish
Florin C. Ciobica
the old harmonium
a discordant note
from grandma
Geethanjali Rajan
friends meet
the same old jokes
somehow funnier
Geethanjali Rajan
half-open window
the family photo gathers
more dust
Hifsa Ashraf
rare family dinner
all of us
in a new relationship
Hifsa Ashraf
four leaf clover
the word “money”
on mother’s tongue
Jackie Chou
lonely dorm
my sister’s visit
highlight of the day
Jackie Chou
frozen clothesline
my daughter’s jeans
stand up for themselves
Jay Friedenberg
waiting for an old friend
a lighthouse beacon
pierces the fog
Jay Friedenberg
chicken pox fever dream
scent of my father’s t-shirt
sweat and old spice
Jim Mazza
a fallen oak
obscures my father’s gravestone —
finally, the shade he craved
Jim Mazza
dad’s old pipes on my desk
I remember chasing
smoke rings
Joan Leotta
my cousin’s ice blue eyes
are even more startling
than this sunset
Joan McNerney
my nana
swirls the tea
reading my leaves
Joanna Ashwell
sharing a teapot
a friendship circle
the tinkle of china
Joanna Ashwell
twin sisters
a single Barbie
sharing their secrets
Joe Sebastian
friend in Covid ward
my fear
in his eyes
Joe Sebastian
sixth birthday
dad gives me
a sip of his beer
John J. Dunphy
my first game of pinball
dad babysits me at
his favorite bar
John J. Dunphy
meeting with friends . . .
no scent of tea
via zoom
Jorge Alberto Giallorenzi
old village —
the solitary grave
of an unknown aunt
Julia Guzman
lessons from mom
how to dance
with my eyes
Kath Abela Wilson
nana’s toes
it was my job
to rub them
Kath Abela Wilson
grandmother’s portrait
we have the same pointed chin
and lots of chutzpah
Katya Sabaroff Taylor
she sets the table
plans the menu, plays waitress
daughter’s 8th birthday
Katya Sabaroff Taylor
the crimson
my daughter paints her lips
the same as my mom once did
kris moon
late autumn . . .
friends gather
just because
kris moon
art show
my sister in a red dress
among the hollyhocks
Kristen Lindquist
a friend’s birthday
the glamor of blue jays
in fresh snow
Kristen Lindquist
children’s corner
grandparents enact
freedom struggle
Lakshmi Iyer
family album
except for grandparents
all in colours
Lakshmi Iyer
gloves my father stole
at the post office
turned out to be his
Laurinda Lind
my cousin and I
born the same year
don’t leave without me
Laurinda Lind
pansies in pudding the taste of my aunt’s love
Lisbeth Ho
sibling’s call
my advice again
on deaf ears
Madhuri Pillai
online meeting
first cousins
once removed
Margaret Walker
she bit me
I pulled her hair . . .
seventy years of stories
Margaret Walker
old obituary
finding out my aunt
wrote poetry too
Marianne Paul
spy novels —
inheriting mom’s closetful
of trench coats
Marianne Paul
police raid —
gramps running numbers
from the kitchen
Marianne Paul
family reunion
four generations
of farmer tans
Marilyn Ashbaugh
sister tents
rubbing mosquito bites
with beach sand
Marilyn Ashbaugh
sunday mass
mother tames our hair
with spit
Marilyn Fleming
herding cattle
in search of pasture
my drover family
Marilyn Humbert
my maternal line
captured behind glass
parasols and lace
Marilyn Humbert
following tracks
in the shade of a high mountain
my friend’s resting place
Marta Chocilowska
seedy watermelon
grandma wants to know
my boyfriend
Maya Daneva
six months old
my husband carrying our world
on his shoulders
Maya Daneva
in the root cellar
beside Aunt Mame’s peaches
pressed flowers in a bible
Mike Flanagan
my distant sister
whom I would love to embrace
won’t answer her phone
Mimi Foyle
the sound of her voice
from another continent
rekindles friendship
Mimi Foyle
dad’s birthday —
at the head of the table
the empty chair
Mirela Brailean
turn-off
to my daughter’s — left at
immense sky
Miriam Sagan
a friend I never see yet think of — empty mailbox
Miriam Sagan
the way grandma
thinned dough until it
covered the tabletop
Nancy Shires
a friend leaves books
I leave books
together we read apart
Nancy Shires
hide and seek —
grandpa’s eyes search
his younger self
Neena Singh
class reunion
where has she gone
the fastest runner
Neena Singh
open windows
nana whispers
to her plants
Pat Davis
a letter from nana
the challenge
of her cursive
Pat Davis
new baby
my four-year-old reminds me
he’s an uncle now
Paul Beech
my funny friend . . .
our main course sizzling
she sends me smoke signals
Paul Beech
heat wave
my father churns ice cream
in the shade
Pris Campbell
red rover
we lock arms with friends
for the capture
Pris Campbell
ankle-deep in sand
my son rotates the sunrise
in his kaleidoscope
Roman Lyakhovetsky
distant thunder
my buddy’s wife creates drama
from a misplaced sock
Roman Lyakhovetsky
seniors’ party
my father introduces
his inner child
Rosa Clement
another beer
my friend now speaks
eloquently
Rosa Clement
granddaddy napping
my foxtail grass turns his snore
to a snort
Ruth Yarrow
board game nights
all the survival skills
dad teaches
Sherry Grant
summer chirping —
still no word
from my sister
Susan Burch
prom pictures —
the smiles
between parents
Susan Burch
a big
bundle of boys
family camping
Ted Sherman
chittering sparrows . . .
comparing toe rings with cousins
by the pool
Theresa A. Cancro
sticky fingers . . .
an aunt’s cherished recipe
for Turkish delight
Theresa A. Cancro
after covid
two beers in a garden with friends
feels like mardi gras
Tina Wright
we take turns
blowing out the candles
Grandpa’s birthday
Tom Bierovic
my daughter growing
closer and closer
to the mirror
Tom Clausen
relatives set to visit
so many cobwebs
to remove
Tom Clausen
my sister picking
a tiny midsummer rose
fairy lanterns
Vibeke Laier
in the street
a long lost friend
summer rain
Vibeke Laier
square enso
my son’s first
calligraphy lesson
Vladislav Hristov
family album
I compare father’s wrinkles
with mine
Wieslaw Karlinski
scent of hay
granddaughter’s first meeting
with a grasshopper
Wieslaw Karlinski
the stranger
who said he was my father
was
Wilda Morris
looking for ancestors
my sister finds her name
old gravestone
Wilda Morris
grandma’s false teeth
on her bedside table . . .
I pretend not to notice
Zee Zahava
Sunday, August 1, 2021
family & friends
