#37

Posted on July 10, 2015 by Caroline Skanne

welcome to #37 of hedgerow! if you haven’t already done so, please have a look at the new ‘poetry & art book reviews’ (https://hedgerowpoems.wordpress.com/poetry-art-book-reviews/). new titles will be added shortly! thank you for being here & happy friday!

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with love & kindness…

once again
my yard breathes
violets and clover …
the sea so close
I forget distant galaxies

silver ghosts
dandelion seeds
riding the night wind

long gone –
my old dog’s bark
waking me at dawn

Joy Reed MacVane lives on the New Hampshire seacoast and hides out in the summer on an island off the Maine coast.

Lotus opening

Alexis Rotella is a well known poet of Japanese forms in English who has been writing since the early 80’s. In the spring of this year, Red Moon Press published her latest book of haiku called BETWEEN WAVES. As a digital artist, Alexis is now working on editing the portraits of celebrities such as Obama, Robert Redford, Steven Tyler, Mick Jagger, the Beatles, and many others. A selection of her haiga appeared in April at danmurano.com thanks to poet and critic, Grace Cavalieri.

Illuminated by fireflies
the dark corners
of night

Joyce Joslin Lorenson lives in Rhode Island, U.S.A., grew up on a dairy farm and records the daily happenings in nature around her rural home.

Willow at the edge of the marsh
wiggles her toe-roots in the cold mud
as the sweet racket
of thousands of peeper frogs
washes through her branchy fingers
and the continuous trilling
gently coaxes the bark from the ends
of buds and their beginnings
with a chorus of
“at long last,
we have made it.
You are safe to grow again”.

Stacey Crawford Murphy savors life in Ithaca, NY.

Yellow Finches

They flock as commuters,
in erratic wavelike patterns—
territorial in construction,
the aggression short-lived.
Residents of open country,
tweets and warbles, ti-di-di-di.

Agile feet grip the catkin
for feeding, the conical
beaks turn bright orange
with the spring molt.

Lew Caccia serves as a professor at Walsh University, where he teaches courses in composition, rhetoric, professional writing, and literacy. He earned his Ph.D. at Kent State University. His recent poetry has appeared in The Storyteller, The Shepherd, The Write Place At the Write Time, and The Penwood Review. This summer, he will present at the Council of Writing Program Administrators Conference in Boise, Idaho. After the conference, he looks forward to a hike somewhere in the Rockies.

dreams of birding . . .
the variety of ringtones
in a waiting room

all the swifts in a robin’s song

emptying
the hour glass . . .
ocean breeze

Julie Warther (@JulieWarther) lives in Dover, Ohio and serves as Midwest Regional Coordinator for the Haiku Society of America. (www.hsa-haiku.org). Her haiku chapbook “What Was Here” is available through Folded Word Press. http://foldedword.bigcartel.com/product/what-was-here

first warm day
all that pent-up tension
melting

Matthew Moffett lives in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, with his wife and two kids. He thanks you for reading his poems!

ice cream counter
choosing the same flavour
the wasp and I

self check out
I wonder how much
I’m worth

Rachel Sutcliffe, from Yorkshire, UK, has suffered from a serious immune disorder for the past 14 years, throughout this time writing has been her therapy, it’s what keeps her from going insane!

my Beagle sleeps
on her side of the bed …
blossoms falling

Chen-ou Liu is currently the editor and translator of NeverEnding Story, http://neverendingstoryhaikutanka.blogspot.ca/, and the author of five books, including Following the Moon to the Maple Land (First Prize, 2011 Haiku Pix Chapbook Contest) and A Life in Transition and Translation ( Honorable Mention, 2014 Turtle Light Press Biennial Haiku Chapbook Competition)

speaking to her
for the last time
not knowing it was

Duncan Richardson is a writer of fiction, poetry and haiku. He teaches English as a Second Language part-time in Brisbane, Australia.

lonely night a child touches the moon with her fingertips

Vibeke Laier is a artist and dreamer who lives in Randers, Denmark. She began writing three years ago and likes the process of capturing moments of the day in small sentences and micro poems… it is a way to be open to the magic.

the cat on her lap
kneading its paws
she sucks her thumb

as I fold the page
she drifts off
to Narnia

David Serjeant lives in Derbyshire, UK. He is the current editor of Blithe Spirit, journal of the British Haiku Society. His interests include photography and pottering about (escaping everything) on his allotment. He publishes poetry and works in progress athttp://distantlightning.blogspot.co.uk/ He also writes about his experiences with multiple sclerosis at https://davesmagicalbrain.wordpress.com/

hedgerow #33

Posted on June 12, 2015 by Caroline Skanne

welcome to #33 of hedgerow, bringing you eleven different poets & artists. as always, a big thank you to readers & contributors alike!

https://www.facebook.com/hedgerowpoems
https://www.facebook.com/wildflowerpoetrypress

with love & kindness.

an empty page
in the old typewriter —
new moon

gray shadows —
the soft landing
of a puma

midnight walk —
cherry blossoms shuffle
the silence

Theresa A. Cancro (Wilmington, Delaware, USA) enjoys observing nature, writing poems and short fiction, especially the challenge of haiku and related short-form poetry. Her work has been published internationally in print and online journals, including Presence, Chrysanthemum, Shamrock, Hailstones, A Hundred Gourds, A Handful of Stones, Cattails, and Kumquat Poetry, among others.

Debbie Strange (Canada) is a published tanka and haiku poet and an avid photographer. She enjoys creating haiga and tanshi (small poem) art. You are invited to see more of her work on Twitter @Debbie_Strange.

When the Dam Won’t Break

Sometimes the dam won’t break
Sometimes the breath holding
  becomes so automatic, lungs
  won’t expand and the oxygen
  in your pores becomes painful

Sometimes the clock won’t tick
Sometimes the unrest stops
  your soul from unfolding
  the heart beats without pumping
  your blood, leaving fingers cold

Sometimes one listen isn’t enough
Sometimes the song mustn’t end
  the music has more love to give
  your ears opening to the sound
  makes you weep silently

Sarah Thursday calls Long Beach, California, her home, where she advocates for local poets and poetry events. She runs a Long Beach-focused poetry website called CadenceCollective.net, co-hosts a monthly reading with one of her poetry heroes, G. Murray Thomas, and just started Sadie Girl Press as a way to help publish local and emerging poets. Her first full-length poetry collection, All the Tiny Anchors, is available now. Find and follow her on SarahThursday.com, Facebook, or Twitter.

The story
settles down
for a ride
in the story.

Kim Peter Kovac lives in Alexandria, VA, USA, where he produces plays for young audiences and writes poetry, prose poetry, creative non-fiction, haiku, haibun, and microfiction.

Try to catch the wind.
Count the ripples in the sea.
Become a child again.

Joan McNerney’s poetry has been included in numerous literary magazines and anthologies such as Camel Saloon, Seven Circle Press, Dinner with the Muse, Blueline, Missing of the Birds, the Bright Hills Press, Kind of A Hurricane Press and Poppy Road Review. She has been nominated three times for Best of the Net. Poet and Geek recognized her work as their best poem of 2013. Four of her books have been published by fine small literary presses.

another morning another crack in the ceiling

daydreaming about a garden I can daydream in

solitary day alone with the house plants

from my afternoon bed eavesdropping on 3 crows

Zee Zahava lives in Ithaca, New York (USA) and is the editor of the online haiku journal “brass bell.”

UNTITLED

In those dreams

You’re out beyond
The shoreline and you’ve
Been there for some time.
You’ve forgotten,
Standing on an outcrop,
That the tide’s been coming in
All the while.

You’ve been
Absorbed in watching some fish
Moving, just below the surface,
Turning in fluid movements with
Their tails swaying back and forth in
Water gravity with buoyance as
Undertow, undertow as buoyance.

Suddenly
You realize the sea has surrounded,
If not engulfed, you with nothing
Left in sight but the shore off in the
Distance and a few rough rocks
Jutting out of the tidal waters
Like a ragged line of stepping stones:
Running down one side
With an occasional anchor sticking
Out of the water, close to shore, with
Their unique rusted surfaces intact.

That’s right, an archipelago of random rocks
And then one anchor after another.
What does it mean?

Who is it?

James Mc Elroy, a native of Belfast, currently teaches at the University of California, Davis. His articles and reviews have appeared in The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times. Recent poetry publications include pieces in Vox Poetica, The Boston Poetry Magazine, and Literature Today.

purple sky
movements beneath moles holes
what the stray cat knows

after rains—
blue jay jive in the bird bath
cumulus clouds

August eve
long green sunlight
creeps along the grass

Anna Cates resides in Wilmington, Ohio with her two cats, Freddie and Christine, and teaches English and education online for several universities.

Meditation

This is time to pause—
and witness rainbows learn to fly.

Kevin Heaton is originally from Kansas and Oklahoma, and now lives and writes in South Carolina. His work has appeared in a number of publications including: Guernica, Rattle, Slice Magazine, Beloit Poetry Journal, The Adroit Journal, and Verse Daily. He is a Best of the Net, Best New Poets, and three-time Pushcart Prize nominee.

rain-rinsed moonlight —
one by one jasmines unfold
in my garden

Archana Kapoor Nagpal is an internationally published author of four books and three anthologies. Presently, she resides in Bangalore, India. You can visit her Amazon Author Profile to know more about her books and literary contributions.

first star . . .
a swift’s gentle leaf-drop
into the chimney

out of the blue
one crow after another
hits the updraft

blushing sky . . .
a hummingbird waits
for the morning glory

nothing to say until the oriole sings

hedgerow #32

Posted on June 5, 2015 by Caroline Skanne

welcome to #32 of hedgerow, featuring eleven poets & artists. a massive thank you to readers & contributors alike. you all bring joy!

https://www.facebook.com/hedgerowpoems
https://www.facebook.com/wildflowerpoetrypress

with love & kindness…

moss spores . . .
my daughter picks a bouquet
for the fairy queen

my father calls
from across town —
a rainbow

watching boys skip stones . . .
she tosses maple seeds
into the air

sweeping forbidden!
a child with a banner
under cherry blossoms

a frog on the moon –
the stork deletes
the news

my broken biffacals-
I fall in love
at first sight

Lavana Kray is from Iasi – Romania. She is passionate about writing and photography. The nature and the events of her life are topics of inspiration. Her work has been published in: Haiku Canada Review, Asahi Shimbun, The Mainichi, World Haiku Association, Daily Haiga, Heron’s Nest, Frogpond, Eucalypt, Acorn, Ardea, Ginyu, Presence, Traversées and others. She was chosen for Haiku Euro Top 100-edition 2014.This is her blog: http://photohaikuforyou.blogspot.ro

yesterday – sunshine, friends, art, lunch, river
today – low cloud obscures all
pathetic fallacy

Jo Waterworth lives in Glastonbury, UK, where she has been writing poetry for many years. She blogs at jowaterworthwriter.Wordpress.com and has had a pamphlet of short poetry published by Poetry Space of Bristol.

Tom Slagle loves wilderness, wild rivers, good coffee, literature, travel, play, and kindness. A native of Colorado, he now lives and loves in the desert southwest, USA.

a long night
finally the colours
seep into the valley

low tide
sunlight ripples
over rippled sand

Simon Hanson lives in rural South Australia relishing the open spaces and distant horizons. He spent a number of years in the philosophy department of Flinders University which he thoroughly enjoyed though he did have a difficult time persuading others that Beauty is an objective feature of the universe and not just in the eye of the beholder.

zoo torpor
a flight of swallows
sweeps over the big cats

park scents
the dog-minder’s leads
criss-crossing

upside down
she waits
for gymnastics

David Serjeant lives in Derbyshire, UK. He is the current editor of Blithe Spirit, journal of the British Haiku Society. His interests include photography and pottering about (escaping everything) on his allotment. He publishes poetry and works in progress at http://distantlightning.blogspot.co.uk/ He also writes about his experiences with multiple sclerosis at https://davesmagicalbrain.wordpress.com/

nightjar
shadow of birdsong
evaporated dreams

the prerecorded blue
sounds of the morning
crow

Mike Andrelczyk is currently living in Strasburg, PA. Also lived in Los Angeles, Ca. and Lewes, De. He likes writing haiku about the ocean, potatoes, moons, plants – mostly little things except the ocean which is huge, and the moon which looks little but isn’t. Follow on Twitter @MikeAndrelczyk.

Caroline Skanne, Rochester, UK, is obsessed with anything wild and free. She is the founder of hedgerow: a journal of small poems. Her book ‘a hundred poems by caroline skanne’ is available from amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/hundred-small-poems-caroline-skanne/dp/1506022944

still pond–
holding my smile
in cupped hands

red river–
living in
a changing body

heavy rain–
blue sky
under our umbrellas

Robyn Cairns is a Melbourne based poet who shares her poetry and photography on twitter @robbiepoet.

You swallow my soul
Lost rivers run quietly
Through the mouth of you

This is a wild song
Out of control and crazy
Still, you dance closer

Sarah Frances Moran is editor of Yellow Chair Review. She has work published in Boston Poetry Magazine, Blackheart Magazine, Crab Fat Magazine, The Bitchin Kitsch, Elephant Journal and more. She resides in Waco, Texas with her partner and two chihuahuas.

Silver Brick Road
for Aly

If optimism is floral, you
are flourishing blooms
exploding pollen that instead
of making eyes water and itch,
eyes are forced to sparkle
and mouths from their corners
turn upward. Flowers with glitter
pollen residue rubbing on your
cheeks and your shirt and
your shoes. He said you really are
as you seem, all forceful
optimism endless like fields
of red poppies across silver brick
roads. You sing a song to calm
the giants from their castle clouds,
they lay at your feet to hear
your lullaby. Love, love, love—
girl, you are as you seem.

hedgerow #31

Posted on May 29, 2015 by Caroline Skanne

welcome to #31 of hedgerow! if you haven’t already passed by our new ‘poet / artist spotlight’, have have a peek here — (https://hedgerowpoems.wordpress.com/poet-artist-spotlight/ ). as always, a warm thank you to readers & contributors alike.

with love & kindness.

https://www.facebook.com/hedgerowpoems

https://www.facebook.com/wildflowerpoetrypress

ambulance siren –
an albatross dragging the sun
out of waves

empty home –
mom’s lipstick on a teacup
so vivid

after divorce –
the dog carries your slipper
to its nook

Lavana Kray is from Iasi – Romania. She is passionate about writing and photography. Nature and the events of her life are topics of inspiration. Her work has been published in: Haiku Canada Review, Asahi Shimbun, The Mainichi, World Haiku Association, Daily Haiga, Heron’s Nest, Frogpond, Eucalypt, Acorn, Ardea, Ginyu, Presence, Traversées and others. She has been chosen for Haiku Euro Top 100-edition 2014. This is her blog: http://photohaikuforyou.blogspot.ro

last time
i saw grandpa
just before he died
when I was fourteen
he didn’t know me
but his hand in my hand
knew our kite flying days

Robyn Cairns is a Melbourne based poet who shares her poetry and photography on twitter @robbiepoet.

Tom Slagle loves wilderness, wild rivers, good coffee, literature, travel, play, and kindness. A native of Colorado, he now lives and loves in the desert southwest, USA.

hemming curtains by hand
suddenly my mother…
school summer dresses
sun breaks through the day’s cloud
now I can hang the washing out

Bear Moon
I’m all out of honey
but please come for tea anyway

Walking Moon
in your brand new sneakers
I can hardly keep up with you

Worn-Out Moon
now is the time
to sink into a lavender bubble bath

Roller Skating Moon
who would have thought you could be
so graceful on wheels?

Purple Moon
I almost mistook you
for a field of irises

Ice Cream Moon
not everyone can handle 3 scoops
but you can

Garden Moon
thank you for reminding me —
nobody owns the flowers

Shakespearean Moon
surely it is better to be
than not to be

Laughing Moon
I love the way
your belly rises and falls

Matchmaker Moon
what a brilliant introduction —
bee, meet flower

Midnight Moon
when you can’t sleep
do you count stars?

Brave Moon
you stood up for me
I’ll do the same for you

Fashionista Moon
on you
the hot pink feather boa is divine

Mango Moon
impossible
to get enough of you

Thrifty Moon
shopping with you isn’t as much fun
as I thought it would be

Tango Moon
claiming the horizon
as your own private ballroom

No-Poem Moon
all I can do is love you
there are no words

Zee Zahava lives in Ithaca, New York (USA) and is the editor of the online haiku journal “brass bell.”

enchanted garden…
the languages of flowers,
butterflies and birds
are all that remain
when moonlight ceases

Ed Bremson speaks lovingly of the moon in his forthcoming chapbook, Like a Summer Night, https://finishinglinepress.com/product_info.php?products_id=2375

Tony Johnson lives in Moreno Valley, CA where he writes by the light of the moon, seeking his creativity from a dark past and emerging with poems about love, relationships, and childhood. On the side, he is a amateur photographer.

moon lake
paper boat
rendezvous

Vibeke Laier lives in Randers, Denmark. A few minutes of mindful attention helps her to engage with the world. She likes the process of capturing moments of the day in small sentences and micro poems… it is as a way to be open to the magic.

forgotten frost
the mother
I’ll never be

splashing through spring
my goddaughter
in her new pink boots

scan results
the shadow of a fly
in the spider’s web

the universe! in each snowflake

Matthew Moffett lives in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, with his wife and two kids. He thanks you for reading his poems!

beachfront
the ebb and flow
of two worlds

frog pool
so many eyes
admire the moon

silent night
crossing the lake
a falling star

hedgerow #29

Posted on May 15, 2015 by Caroline Skanne

welcome to #29 of hedgerow, featuring nine poets & artists. as mentioned last week, a new section of the journal called ‘poet / artist spotlight’ is about to be launched, followed by a ‘poetry / art book review’ page. it was scheduled for this week but has been moved forward to coincide with the celebration of the 30th issue of the journal! any updates will be posted at the link below. thanks everyone for your continued support in helping hedgerow grow into a thing of beauty!

with love & kindness…

https://www.facebook.com/hedgerowpoems

https://www.facebook.com/wildflowerpoetrypress

overcast-
she paints the sun
with sidewalk chalk

Gabriel Patterson lives in Las Vegas, Nevada (USA) with his family. He escapes the city’s fast pace by writing haiku.

swing… drive…
pick-axe into bare hillside
swing… drive… swing…
to dig a hole to put a tree
drive… swing… drive–

the air is nice
thoughts float light

Mark Kaplon’s short poems have recently appeared in Lilliput Review, the Aurorean, Right Hand Pointing, Frogpond, Ribbons and elsewhere. His chapbook Song of Rainswept Sand is available on Amazon and from Finishing Line Press. He lives in Hawaii, USA.

morning stillness
the warmth of tea
on my tongue

from the budding oak
a bird call
then an answer

the cat on my lap
cleans his shoulder
then my book cover

Ben Moeller-Gaa is the author of two haiku chapbooks, the Pushcart nominated Wasp Shadows (Folded Word Press 2014) and Blowing on a Hot Soup Spoon (poor metaphor design 2014). His work has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies. Learn more about Ben at http://www.benmoellergaa.com.

slow afternoon
refilling the salt shaker
then the pepper one

palomino field
ripples in the wind,
shivers, shudders, foams,
moves like waves.
golden, flaxen, froth
on sea of grass;
ever-moving yet
forever at rest

Freya Pickard is a cancer survivor, trying to re-discover her creativity after bowel cancer, surgery and chemotherapy. She is the author of Dragonscale Leggings and is currently writing poetry in order to try and get her creative flow to return. Freya blogs at either http://purehaiku.wordpress.com or http://dragonscaleclippings.wordpress.com depending on how she is feeling…

unblinking
one fixed star outstares
the stargazer

Lisa Cherrett lives in north Wiltshire, England, and works as an editor in book publishing. She writes haiku and cinquains to force herself to pay proper attention to her surroundings. She blogs at ‘The poised moon’, lisannie44.wordpress.com.

lightning flash
just for a moment
the crow

sure as day
dawn slips into
the rooster’s yard

Simon Hanson lives in a small country town in rural South Australia. Being a bird lover he is alarmed by the cat recently smuggled into the house by the rest of the family who have agreed at his request to plant two trees for every bird it might catch. Much to his surprise he has grown attached to the cat but has decided to up the ransom to three trees.

Burlington, Vermont — June, 2013

out of the rain and into a tea shop
we lunge for the last available table
drop our wet things onto an empty chair
shake ourselves off

the menu is brought by a young man with an old face
he brings a small brass bell, too

we are instructed to ring the bell
after we’ve considered all the tea choices
which are mind-numbingly numerous

we are still dripping rain all over ourselves
not in the best of moods
the day got off to a rocky start
we don’t sleep well in hotels

I’m not wearing the right shoes
your eyes are burning from allergies

but here is the menu
a dense tome devoted to all things Tea
and also, the little bell
it is all so dear and pretentious and exactly what it should be

you order something chilled and milky and sweet
I order lavender tea

we ask the waiter to leave the bell right there
in the middle of the table
in case we just want to ring it again for no reason at all

we stay a long time

you order a second cup of chilled tea
I ask for something different
something that doesn’t taste like drinking a bubble bath

we watch as the candle
(not really a candle —
more like a blob of wax in a small glass dish
with a wick that seems like an afterthought)
burns out

after a while
you look out the window and say
it has stopped raining

later
looking back on everything
I think this was the best hour of our trip to Vermont

Zee Zahava lives in Ithaca, New York (USA) and is the editor of the online haiku journal “brass bell.”

hedgerow #28

Posted on May 8, 2015 by Caroline Skanne

welcome to #28 of hedgerow. thanks for stopping by! during the next week we’ll be launching a new section of the journal ‘poet / artist spotlight’ featuring work by four poets. it will be an ongoing feature, along with the ‘poetry / art book review’ page. thrilled! further updates will be posted at the link below. perhaps also have a peek at our sister site wildflower poetry press.

with love & kindness…

https://www.facebook.com/hedgerowpoems

https://www.facebook.com/wildflowerpoetrypress

twilight
the slow pull of
an accordion

rolled-up pants —
bark boats race
beneath the bridge

seeing
what will be . . .
first blossom

Patricia Hartman is a retired professor of English. She enjoys watching birds and reading poetry in Cleveland, Ohio and was delighted to have this little Chickadee visit her deck.

day long weeding
the last dandelion
under my bench

in the compost
tea bags
brewing again

David Serjeant lives in Derbyshire, UK. He is the current editor of Blithe Spirit, journal of the British Haiku Society. His interests include photography and pottering about (escaping everything) on his allotment. He publishes poetry and works in progress at http://distantlightning.blogspot.co.uk/ He also writes about his experiences with multiple sclerosis at https://davesmagicalbrain.wordpress.com/

The Way Memory Slips In and Out

after she rinses out the teapot
she can’t remember what to do with it

standing in the cold pink light of early morning
her robe hanging off her shoulders
her bare feet numb on the linoleum
cradling the clean teapot in her chilly hands

patience patience

her brain shifts slightly
left, right

oh yes

and she proceeds to make herself
a pot of tea

Zee Zahava lives in Ithaca, New York (USA) and is the editor of the online haiku journal “brass bell.”

first spring
the east wind carries
the smell of home
(for new immigrants)

tenth year in exile…
tinge of green on the maple
in my front yard

so many dreams…
a life spent skipping stones
across the moon

cool side of the pillow…
I wonder why
I still dream of you

bonfire guitar…
we let our bodies be marionettes
strung to the shimmering stars

Chase Gagnon is a student from Detroit, who loves staying up all night drinking coffee and writing poetry. His poems have appeared in a number of journals and anthologies over the past two years.

David J Kelly is an ecologist, based in Dublin, Ireland, where he finds scientific and artistic inspiration in the natural world.

Words wander out
by breath to the edge of the sky
where, with time enough
alone, they range over and yonder and,
fledgelings no longer,
migrate finally back to fall,
effortless, into place

hedgerow #27

Posted on May 1, 2015 by Caroline Skanne

welcome to #27 of hedgerow, featuring ten artists & poets. please look out for the launch of poet / artist spotlight & poetry / art book reviews (see pages). thanks everyone for your lovely support. happy friday!

with love & kindness…

I’ve brought you nothing
but the sunshine in my hair
that’s more than enough

Jo Waterworth lives in Glastonbury, UK and is well known in the local poetry scene. She will be performing poetry at Priddy Folk Festival in July and Bristol Poetry Festival in September, 2015. Her pamphlet My Father Speaks in Poetry Too is published by Poetry Space, and she blogs at https://jowaterworthwriter.wordpress.com/ and https://jowaterworth23.wordpress.com/

spring reverie
pondering the language
of birds

Devin Harrison, a writer of regular poetry, recently became addicted to writing Tanka and Haiku/Senyru and has published in journals in the USA and abroad. He is an inveterate wanderer and has spent years in southeast Asia. He recently won the Akita International University President Award

David J Kelly is an ecologist, based in Dublin, Ireland, where he finds scientific and artistic inspiration in the natural world.

upstream paddle —
keeping pace
with the moon

how many untold histories written within this wind

squinting westward into the long and winding soul

Matthew Moffett lives in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, with his wife and two kids. He thanks you for reading his poems!

free jazz
night winds
play the tree limbs

a jellyfish
moving closer
to the moon

the icy stream
breaks into fragments
of light

Mary Kendall has been enjoying a four month stay in London where this photo was taken (St. James Park). You can find her poetry on her blog, A Poet in Time (http://apoetintime.com).

Four

It defies logic so
Beautifully, this love.

Fall my love and I will
Rake the leaves.

Let it cut deeper
love, until it flows
inside the blood.

There is no
nothing as I
sleep inside
your soul.

Charles Bane, Jr. is the American author of The Chapbook ( Curbside Splendor ) , Love Poems ( Aldrich Press) , and Three Seasons: Writing Donald Hall ( Collection of Houghton Library, Harvard University ). He created and contributes to The Meaning Of Poetry series for The Gutenberg Project, and is a current nominee as Poet Laureate of Florida.
http://charlesbanejr.com

this winter night
nostalgia takes a knife
to my heart …
long and slow
these surgical cuts

Chen-ou Liu is currently the editor and translator of NeverEnding Story, http://neverendingstoryhaikutanka.blogspot.ca/, and the author of five books, including Following the Moon to the Maple Land (First Prize, 2011 Haiku Pix Chapbook Contest) and A Life in Transition and Translation ( Honorable Mention, 2014Turtle Light Press Biennial Haiku Chapbook Competition).

Chase Gagnon is a student from Detroit, who loves staying up all night drinking coffee and writing poetry. His poems have appeared in a number of journals and anthologies over the past two years.

hedgerow #24

Posted on April 10, 2015 by Caroline Skanne

welcome to #24 of hedgerow! a warm thank you to contributors & readers alike. if you have a look around the site, you will notice a few new additions, including book reviews & poet spotlight. exciting times.

with love & kindness.

the robin dips
below the fence
sunset

from
her
balcony
the
starlit
city

giving in
for now
low tide

Dave Read is a Canadian poet whose work has appeared in many journals, including hedgerow. You can find his micropoetry on Twitter, @AsSlimAsImBeing.

early morning
before the alarm
the cat

A pharmacist by profession, a haiku poet by nature, Nancy Brady reads and writes, living on the coast of Lake Erie in Huron, Ohio. She has two books of poetry: Ohayo Haiku and Three Breaths.

ice ages and motel mini fridges
tumbling over the
endless mountains

first warm day . . .
leaf-shaped holes
in the ice

midway
tying the jacket
around my waist

Barbara Kaufmann can be found (or lost) wandering in the woods, beaches and gardens of New York, her camera and notebook in hand, hunting for poems.http://wabisabipoet.wordpress.com/

plum breeze
i breathe petals
into your kiss

Grant Savage is an Ottawa, Ontario, Canada amateur poet and photographer. After the recent, long cold winter in Eastern Canada, he is increasingly being recognized as the fair weather animal he has long considered himself to be. A poetry writing, and perpetually hungry groundhog. Sleepy greetings from Ottawa!

on the shelf
Selected Poems by Chen-ou Liu
a nagging voice
at the back of my mind
says, is that all there is?

held by her words
You’re a useless poet …
I walk out,
slamming the door
behind my old self

she tells me,
I just found
a studio apartment
the eyes I love most
focus somewhere else

for a week
no one but the wind
comes to call …
the flames of self-doubt
envelop my body

Chen-ou Liu is currently the editor and translator of NeverEnding Story, http://neverendingstoryhaikutanka.blogspot.ca/, and the author of five books, including Following the Moon to the Maple Land (First Prize, 2011 Haiku Pix Chapbook Contest) and A Life in Transition and Translation (Honorable Mention, 2014Turtle Light Press Biennial Haiku Chapbook Competition).

a touch of malice
builds in a March wind …
our enthusiasm
for cherry blossoms
begins to wane

Lolly Williams, from California, is a little magpie who collects scraps of words, phrases, images and other shiny things for her short form poetry and mixed media art. Her work can be found in various print and online publications.

Alexis Rotella (Arnold, Maryland, USA) served as Haiku Society of America President in 1984, her famous poem Purple appears in Creative Writing: An Intro to Poetry and Fiction St. Martin’s Press, Teaching with Heart (Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 2014).

Queen of Hearts

On our way home from dinner at our favorite Indian restaurant, Blue and I find three playing cards face-down on the sidewalk near our house. Blue turns them over, one by one, as we try to guess what’s on the other side. They are the seven of clubs, three of spades, and queen of hearts. We didn’t guess a single one right, though we both wanted to say queen of hearts but were embarrassed to be that corny. I’m superstitious and don’t want to bring the cards into the house. I hold them by their corners and carry them to the nearby mailbox, leaving them face-down on the rounded top for someone else to discover. By the next day they are gone. But later that week, coming out of a different restaurant, we see another card, the jack of clubs, face-up on the street. We step over it.

hurrying past
the fortune-teller’s window
i stumble

Zee Zahava live in Ithaca, New York and is the editor of brass bell, an online haiku journal:
http://brassbellhaiku.blogspot.com

hedgerow #23

Posted on April 3, 2015 by Caroline Skanne

welcome to #23 of hedgerow, featuring 13 different poets & artists. this first issue of April celebrates spring flowers! enjoy.

with love & kindness…

https://www.facebook.com/wildflowerpoetrypress

https://www.facebook.com/hedgerowpoems

pale and watery
in my bones
I need red flowers tonight

even here
atop the ferris wheel
honeysuckle

3 red flowers
in a teapot vase
keeping me company
when you are away

the untuned piano
flowers dying in the vase
even the mail is late —
when will you be home?

lilacs
thank you
for filling my empty spaces

first slow rain of summer
dear iris
there you are
reveling in your
luscious self
making the most of all
your moments

beside the monastery
a plastic chicken
guards baby tulips

Zee Zahava looks for flowers each morning as she walks around her neighborhood in Ithaca, New York

front step. . .
this snail delivering
a plum blossom

cherry blossom moon
my home becomes
a palace

graduation day
after the hands land
wondering what to do

Lauren Krauze writes short stories, short poems and long emails. She currently teaches and lives in New York, NY.

Repairs of the Week

That week you didn’t call
I was quite busy
plastering myself together
Shoring up the beams
Repairing the glass of an ego
That didn’t withstand the storm.
I swept up the gravel from
A rock hard heart
that remained unflinching
until now.
How unfair to the structure
To shake its foundation so.
How unfair to upend me so.
How unfair…

10 tips on writing a poem

1. Mention things by genus (which crows do you hear screaming like fog horns; which tuber in your garden is making your nose smile?).
2. Describe something as something else (the sun stings like battery acid).
3. It is helpful to mention vast expanses of hilly land with some wind slapping your hair around. Or conversely, the grittiness of your street, the dirt under your nails.
4. Bring in a few details like sights and/or tastes, but remember to describe them as something else (your hair tastes like fury).
5. Stop… Hold time in your palm. Look at it with the precision of a second-hand. Notice your smallness in the world. Or contemplate the vastness of the Milky Way.
6. What do you feel (remember… feel it as something else [your hands, like autumn kisses])? Notice and recount the details.
7. Reveal something so secret it makes others uncomfortable, and so big your priest is repenting from association.
8. Rhyme sparingly and with care. Same with alliteration.
9. Juxtaposition works well at the end.
10. Place your heart on your sleeve and send it off, then wait and wait and wait. Repeat…

Jeri Thompson resides in Long Beach, CA where she spends much quality time with herself and her Trikke (Scarlett Birdie) riding along the beach bike/Trikke path. Nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2014, she is soon to appear in Pearl Magazine. Also find her in Silver, Green and Summer Anthologies from Silver Birch Press, and online at Cadence Collective, Bukowski on Wry, Cactifur and Carnival Literature Magazine (Vol. 4). CSULB grad, studied with professors G. Locklin, E. Fried, R. Lee and R. Zapeda. LBC resident since 1993.

the potato seeds begin to sprout space station

The Force

(After Dylan Thomas)

This tiny, nondescript, lavender flower,
growing in a crack in the sidewalk–

a divine explosion of cells–

has a power greater
than that of two spiral galaxies colliding
in space–

and you
share in that power.

George Young is a retired physician living in Boulder, Colorado, USA. He has published four books of poetry and has recently become engrossed in writing short, eight-lined poems.

her bookmark
divides The Art of Love —
living apart

moving day …
in her throwaway pile
my first chapbook

snow angel —
the touch of her lips
cold in my memory

Chen-ou Liu is currently the editor and translator of NeverEnding Story, http://neverendingstoryhaikutanka.blogspot.ca/, and the author of five books, including Following the Moon to the Maple Land (First Prize, 2011 Haiku Pix Chapbook Contest) and A Life in Transition and Translation ( Honorable Mention, 2014Turtle Light Press Biennial Haiku Chapbook Competition).

Joann Grisetti writes poetry and short stories. She lives in Florida with her husband and two sons. Joann loves travel and reading.

delicate
in her spring dress
of purple…
oh my, myrtle I say
where is this frock in winter?

Pat Geyer lives in East Brunswick, NJ, USA. Her home is surrounded by the parks and lakes where she finds her inspiration in Nature. Published in several journals, she is an amateur photographer and poet.

they look like snowflakes…
pear tree blossoms falling
past my window

Ed Bremson is retired, but he hopes he never retires from being a poet, just as he hopes he never fails to enjoy the pleasures of Spring.

Barbara Kaufmann can be found (or lost) wandering in the woods, beaches and gardens of New York, her camera and notebook in hand, hunting for poems.http://wabisabipoet.wordpress.com/

each story
sparks to the surface
in spurts
most of the time
I’m just living

Kat Lehmann (@SongsOfKat) lives in Connecticut, USA by the river where she writes. Her first book of free verse poetry, Moon Full of Moons (Peaceful Daily, 2015), was published in February 2015 http://peacefuldaily.com/page/books.