hedgerow #10

Posted on November 28, 2014 by Caroline Skanne

welcome to #10 of hedgerow, featuring 16 different poets and artists. thanks to contributors and readers alike, and also for spreading the word. every effort is appreciated! please keep sending in your submissions, with love & kindness…

Roary Williams

all those seeds
we planted at night
stars upon stars

crescent moon
in an icy sky
Buddha’s half smile

Roary Williams, Albuquerque New Mexico, USA, is a simple poet who loves nature and the seasons (@CoyoteSings)

Veronika Zora Novak

Teika

Veronika Zora Novak is simply a daydreamer.

Scott Kovach

I walk in my suit
down snow-fallen sidewalks

If I were a boy again
I would clobber me with a snowball

Scott Kovach provides poetical and facetious commentary from the Middle West on Twitter as @scottkovach.

Jon Wynne

The science
Of why we hear sound in a shell
Does nothing
To explain the voices we hear

Dad and lad holding hands
Big proud strong safe,
Small clutching a comic.
Big grins big boots
Stomping down the windy hill
Together.
Forever.

Old Man’s Beard
Silvering the hedgerows
Snare the sunbeams
In your gentle decay

Jon Wynne lives in Hampshire and has been writing on & off for many years. People and places are the real poetry. ‘I just try to describe what I see and feel.’

Rachel Sutcliffe

all this time
in grandma’s press-
his first red rose

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 keeps her from going insane!

Mary Harwell Sayler

Rehearsals

We practice aging – the bruise
that takes too long to heal,
the once-cracked ankle radiating
pain to indicate rain coming,
a memory lost among many,
many.

Mary Harwell Sayler, an almost native of Florida, writes books in all genres for Christian and educational publishers. In 2012, Hiraeth Press published her first full-length book of poetry, Living in the Nature Poem, with an e-book version released in 2014. Also, in 2014, Kelsay Books published her Bible-based poems, Outside Eden, and book of nature poems for children, Beach Songs & Wood Chimes.

Joann Grisetti

Joann Grisetti lived up in Sasebo Japan and eighteen other places. She lives inFlorida with her husband and two sons. Her poetry, photos and stories have appeared in a number of print and online journals. She is still waiting to grow up. Her latest book ‘Round Trip’ is available at Amazon.

John Byrne

Ireland
where moonbeams
and lover’s kisses
are often stored
In the hedgerows

John [Jack] Byrne lives in Co. Wicklo Ireland, and has been writing poems and taking pictures for quite a number of years having had some published success along the way with the right words and images.

Barbara Kaufmann

The River

the river Silence
beckons,
i dive in
listening
to ancient psalms
sing their poetry
tapping deeper
touching the pain
swimming through
to the still, silent pool,
i reach for a whisper
a single metaphor,
murmured underwater
an echo…. maybe joy
gasping,
and coming up
for air
then seeing
the sun rise
hearing the sky shout,

i breathe,
find a voice,
and sing.

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

Kat Lehmann

holding hands:
the moonlit woman
and the girl
with a sun in her heart —
I show myself the world

Kat Lehmann lives in the United States by the river where she writes, under a clear view of the Moon. Her first book of poetry – Moon Full of Moons – will be published in January 2015. She writes on twitter as @SongsOfKat.

Jameson Bayles

a trembling dove-
fresh seeds rest
in my open palms

Jameson Bayles, a Kansas City, Missouri resident, has been published in various literary magazines and journals whose most recent work can be viewed in the poetry anthology entitled “The Artistic Muses”, published by True Colors Press.”

Jennifer Thompson

snow flurries
never knowing
what to hold back
and what
to unleash

Jennifer Thompson, West Virginia, USA

Bauke Kamstra

The river
holds no print

yet remembers
the touch
of your foot

as does the sea

one day
a raindrop
will remember
you.

Every voice
dedicated
to truth
& beauty

transforms the world.

Bauke Kamstra has mostly been a visual artist. He now paints with a different medium: words. Residing in Nova Scotia, he can be found writing poetry among tree, listening to the silence, & finding reasons to laugh. His work has been published in Poetry Nook, Vine Leaves Literary Journal, and Shot Glass Journal. His book We All Reach the Earth by Falling http://www.amazon.com/We-All-Reach-EarthFalling/dp/0992509750/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1412602040&sr=1-1&keywords=we+all+reach+the+earth+by+falling was released on October 6th, 2014. You will find him on twitter as: @wyrde

Dominic Moriarty

Voyages

Dominic Moriarty is a Fine Arts photographer based in Ireland … a love and awareness of nature is a central theme in his work. A broader selection of his art is available to view and purchase as giclée prints @ http://www.dominicmoriartyphotography.com

previously published —

* the poem ‘a trembling dove’ by Jameson Bayles was previously published in “The Cataman Years”, Jameson Bayles, Mistop Publications.

hedgerow #9

Posted on November 21, 2014 by Caroline Skanne

welcome to #9 of hedgerow, bringing you work from 16 different poets & artists. on popular demand a print issue has been scheduled for early 2015. selection for this issue will end on 12th december. as always, grateful to contributors, readers & anyone spreading the word! with love & kindness…

Paula Dawn Lietz

Walks Far

Elders are drumming
the history of the present.
Embrace this knowledge
that walks far upon the wind
and resonates deep in your chest.
You know the stories told through
the ages of right and wrong
of mother earth father sky.
Tis not simple nor complex
listen…to the trees, the birds
the rivers too,
before all falls silent, listen.

Paula Dawn Lietz ( Pd Lietz ) is an accomplished multi-genre artist, photographer and poet. http://www.pdlietzphotography.com

Rachel Sutcliffe

first frost
a new greyness
to the sheepdog’s coat

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 keeps her from going insane!

Jane Dougherty

In dark winter’s depths
red throat pulses fierce defiance
singing to the sun.

Jane Dougherty is Irish and lives in Bordeaux where she writes novels, short fiction, and lots of poems, some of which have been published in magazines and journals.

Ken Sawitri (words) & Jimat Achmadi (painting)

Ken Sawitri was born in Blora, Central Java, Indonesia, and completed
her degree in psychology at the University of Indonesia, she was the
Psychology & Education editor of ‘Ayahbunda’ magazine (1995-1998).

Jimat Achmadi was born in Yogyakarta (1959), in collaboration with Ken Sawitri, two of their haiga have been awarded as the Editor’s Choice in “Cattails” May 2014 Edition and September 2014 Edition http://maedisensetheunsense.blogspot.com/.

Zee Zahava

blue morning
a hole in the basket
where a cloud slips through

lonely day
then I found you
and a blue iris

growing out of a crack
in a Bronx sidewalk
the first dandelion
mother says
“it’s like living in the country now”

Zee Zahava lives in Ithaca, N.Y. She writes most of her poems in a small notebook while taking her early morning walks. She is the editor of brass bell, an online haiku journal:http://brassbellhaiku.blogspot.com/

Helen Buckingham

beetroot pee
my sister dials
111

Helen Buckingham has been writing ku for the past couple of decades in Bristol, and has recently moved to Wells, the smallest cathedral city in England, deep in the heart of Somerset.

Jo Waterworth

WHAT ARE WE LEARNING TODAY?

It’s a good year for apples
and riots.

We sit in the garden,
discussing the family life of swallows.

Art, good coffee. A dragonfly.
Why can’t everyone have this?

‘They should bring back hanging,’
my neighbour says.

Watch. Listen. Sunshine and birdsong.
Looters. Arsonists.

Whose voices are heard? Whose are not?
The rosehips are hanging orange.

My inspiration, I say, is ancient tribal cultures.

Jo Waterworth lives in Glastonbury and has had a pamphlet of short poetry published by Poetry Space of Bristol.

Caroline Skanne

life
is learning
to let go
of everything
but love

Caroline Skanne, rochester, uk, obsessed with anything wild & free, she is the founder of hedgerow: a journal of small poems.

Marianne Paul

upon frail wings and faith
the monarch sets out
for places she has never been
locks course
pulled by some internal compass
maybe instinct
heartbeat, wing beat–
places so distant
they might as well
be imaginary

life stages–
the baby in her womb
shifts position

Marianne Paul is a Canadian novelist and poet. You can learn more about her work by visiting http://www.mariannepaul.com or following her on twitter @mariannpaul.

Laura Williams

feathering the nest
in just the right color
robin’s egg blue

in need
of all these things …
I consider
the lilies
of the field

Laura Williams has been writing haiku and tanka since 2012. She lives in California, USA.http://www.foralovelything.blogspot.com

gennepher

gennepher, North Wales (UK), writes poetry on Twitter as @gennepher

Devin Harrison

animism
behind it all
the woodlands

Devin Harrison, Vancouver Island, Canada, a writer of regular poetry, recently became addicted to writing Tanka and Haiku/Senyru, which gives him more time for field study and less time for introspection. He recently won the Akita International University President Award.

Loretta Diane Walker

GRATITUDE FOR A POET

For the skin of words
in which you house
fragments of yourself.
For the distance your dreams
traveled to pitch a tent on the page.
For your poems that took off their boots
to walk barefoot through consciousness.
I carve your name in a stone of gratitude.

Loretta Diane Walker, Odessa, Texas, USA is a two time Pushcart nominee. She has published two books of poetry.

North Gregory

North Gregory, Canada, https://www.flickr.com/photos/northgregory/

hedgerow #8

Posted on November 14, 2014 by Caroline Skanne

welcome to #8 and two months of hedgerow! let’s celebrate with the news that there is a print issue in the pipeline. also, have a peek at our newly launched sister site wildflower poetry press http://wildflowerpoetrypress.wordpress.com thanks for all your support in making our small poems grow! with love & kindness…

Sandi Pray

Sandi Pray is a wild child who roams between mountain and marsh in North Carolina and Florida, http://ravencliffs.blogspot.com.

Rena Lindgren

at dawn I wash my face in sunlight

Rena Lindgren, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA enjoys singing, reading and writing poetry.

Angelee Deodhar

night train
trailing white exhaust
across the moon

Angelee Deodhar is an eye surgeon by profession. She is also a haiku poet, translator and artist from India. Her haiku/haiga has been published internationally in various books, journals and on the internet.

David Ishaya Osu

full moon
i remember all tales
of mama
heaven was in
our village

David Ishaya Osu is a Nigerian poet and a street photography enthusiast. He believes in hedonism, and says his role is ‘Air’. He is just obsessed with living.

Zee Zahava

Still Arm-In-Arm

linking elbows in a town that is not ours
I ask Is this okay?
you pull my arm closer to your body

Where can I get a really good cookie?
you ask
your lips brushing against my ear

4 strangers (older than we are)
squeeze by on a narrow strip of sidewalk

we are anonymous here

I suggest the bakery we’ve been to before
But if that doesn’t work out
I tell you
I know another place

we like to return to the familiar
but also (or so we tell ourselves)
we are open to the unexpected

we arrive
still arm-in-arm
at the bakery we know

they have exactly the kind of cookie you are craving

But next time we’re here
you say
We could try the other bakery

Zee Zahava lives in Ithaca, N.Y. She writes most of her poems in a small notebook while taking her early morning walks. She is the editor of brass bell, an online haiku journal: http://brassbellhaiku.blogspot.com/

Robyn Cairns

she lay on the warm pier looking skyward and dreamt

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

Mary Hohlman

Mary Hohlman, USA, is a mother, writer, student, and athlete. She enjoys writing Japanese and short verse poetry. She finds daily inspiration outdoors at her home in Northern California and spending time with her 4 year old daughter. http://www.poetrypretty.wordpress.com http://www.maryhohlman.com/

Sarah Thursday

Fixing a Hole

How do you fill
                       a chasm?
With stone or wood
               or earth?
An artist doesn’t fill
                       a chasm
but instead creates
          an amphitheater
and floods the space
    with song
Steep gouged walls
become a torso
     its beating heart
          begins to sing

Sarah Thursday is a music obsessed, poetry advocate and documents her antics on http://www.SarahThursday.com

Tim Gardiner

the caterpillar
hangs by a single thread
hostage to the wind –
I face the loneliness
of another winter

Tim Gardiner is a professional ecologist who has written scientific papers, natural history books and poetry which has been published in literary journals such as Blithe Spirit and Frogpond.

Tobi Cogswell

Look up—
Not to the oceans of clouds,
or the moss dripping fragrant
with the turn of season.
Not to a place inside
that furrows your brow,
one side of your lip folded
across your teeth. Not to
photos, memories,
dreams of ancients
once smiling, now dead.
Not to the sound of coffee,
or smell of melodies
golden and gorgeous,
and beckoning.
Not to the clock ticking,
or the sound of the
far-off train, so distant
it could be mistaken for thunder.
Not to the dirty pennies
jingling in the jar.
Look at me.
I am…

Tobi Cogswell lives in Torrance, CA. She is the co-editor and co-publisher of San Pedro River Review (www.sprreview.com). Her seventh chapbook, “The Coincidence of Castles”, is forthcoming from Glass Lyre Press. You can reach Tobi at editor@sprreview.com.

Jamie Wimberly

I heard your murmurs,
You, drunken streets of Dublin,
I heard and awoke.

Jamie Wimberly has been writing haiku for many years with some success, including publication and awards. Recently, Jamie has been publishing haiku everyday on Twitter (@haiku_america).

Carole Johnston

where do the homeless
go when it rains?
broken winged butterfly

Carole Johnston lives in Lexington, Kentucky USA where she drives around Bluegrass backroads with a notebook and camera in the front seat, capturing the haiku moment. Journeys:Getting Lost, Carole’s first chapbook of haiku and tanka, is now available for presale from Finishing Line Press. The books will be delivered in January. https://finishinglinepress.com/product_info.php?products_id=2211

S.M. Abeles

when the wind
blows the whole sky
blue
the cool way
you look at me

S.M. Abeles is just a simple poet.

Helen Buckingham

Royal Swans
circle the moat…
how little they know

Helen Buckingham has been writing ku for the past couple of decades in Bristol, and has recently moved to Wells, the smallest cathedral city in England, deep in the heart of Somerset.

Matsukaze

when they called me
“creole n*****!”
ran into grandma’s arms
she brushed tears aside
giving me a sweet dough lemon tart
*
nothing really needs to be said
to my right, the vivid blue of hydrangea this autumn

Matsukaze, has been writing tanka for the last 10 years. He is featured in Atlas Poetica, and the Tanka Kajin Club Magazine. He is the founder of the Chocolate Cosmos Tanka Study Group @CCosmosTankaSC on twitter.

Michael Tolleson

Lament

Michael Tolleson, Seattle, Washington, is an Autistic Savant Artist, who has no formal art training, but instead relies on the use of the huge amount of stored information that his Asperger’s mind has observed and retained. During his career of only 3 years of painting, he has painted more than 600 paintings, and each painting is usually completed in less than one hour of painting time regardless of size. He states that he feels trance-like during the actual act of painting, and is reluctant to take credit for the finished work as he feels the autism is actually the artist. http://www.MichaelTollesonArtist.com

hedgerow #7

Posted on November 7, 2014 by Caroline Skanne

welcome to #7 of hedgerow, bringing you 19 different poets & artists! please keep sending in your work and thanks also for spreading the word, every effort is appreciated. grateful to contributors and readers alike. with love & kindness…

Marianne Paul

beneath Toronto
there is an ancient river
the current as slow as the flow
of glass
there is something beautiful
about the hidden
the forgotten
in the form of rivers
beneath our surfaces

Marianne Paul is a Canadian novelist and poet. You can learn more about her work by visiting http://www.mariannepaul.com or following her on twitter @mariannpaul.

Jennifer Arbini

Child of the Earth

I was a child of the Earth:
Dirty hands, dirty feet.
I loved the sound
of cicadas in summer;
Rattle snake grass
Rattling against the hem of my skirt
And billowing dust.

I was a child of the Earth:
Curious eyes, curious heart,
I relished the adventure of exploring the land;
Cool streams
Covered by an evergreen canopy
And dappled light.

I was a child of the Earth.
Devoted mind, devoted spirit,
I played in this backyard everyday;
Long ago memories
Lingering in my daily thoughts
And writing my story.

Jennifer Arbini is a Californian woman whose greatest passion is to travel and experience the world.

Jo Waterworth

It’s OK

I can remember lying on the earth
gazing at the blazing-with-wonder night sky
knowing I would not fall off.

Shining right back.

Let me hold your hand.

Jo Waterworth lives in Glastonbury and has had a pamphlet of short poetry published by Poetry Space of Bristol.

Neelam Dadhwal

Blue

The sky dripped away or
held back, with no remorse,
I ever watched
the crescent blue,
striking sometimes
my heart
of green valley, of meadows,
of limbs of forms,
and I decided
to look at you,
and hold it for ever,
the blue of you.

The ever blue.

Neelam Dadhwal, Chandigarh, India

Paula Dawn Lietz

Paula Dawn Lietz ( Pd Lietz ) is an accomplished multi-genre artist, photographer and poet. http://www.pdlietzphotography.com

Clifton Redmond

Square Peg

He was different.
He could see sounds,
feel colours.

When people tried
to get close
he threw tantrums,

pressed his hands
against his ears,
his cocoon.

The doctors diagnosed
him with fancy words,
dosed him with drugs;

branded him unstable,
and filed him away
in a locked cabinet.

Clifton Redmond is an Irish poet; a member of the Carlow Writers Co-operative, his poems have been published in various literary magazines and journals.

Anne Curran

just loving
I hold him close
afraid
the storm in me
might push him away

Anne Curran lives in Hamilton, New Zealand close to her
parents where she writes, dreams and works to help elderly
stay in their homes.

Melanie Barbato

Roman Room

Mnemonists
Tie thoughts to tangible things
With the chair, the table
The framed painting on the bedroom wall
They recall
Random words
Or the order
Of shuffled cards
I do this, too, but for reassurance
I touch in my room
The wood and the glass
Substitutes for what
Has been wrested from my hands
When I ask who am I?
They say
You give us shelter –
We remember the names

Melanie Barbato is currently completing her doctoral studies in Indology and Religious Studies at LMU Munich/ Germany.

Carole Johnston

among tombstones
an old man in a chair
red cap and jacket
playing music for the dead
leaves blowing in the wind

Maureen Sudlow

It’s just an old cardboard box from my mother’s attic. My sister wants to throw it out with ‘all the other rubbish’, but I am afraid of losing more of my mother than I can bear. When I open it, there is a smell of dust and old peppermints, and I think I feel the pressure of my mother’s warm hand on mine.

memories are
the treasures that I hold
these photographs

Maureen Sudlow is a member of The New Zealand Society of Authors (Northland), and the New Zealand Poetry Society, and writes mainly poetry and text for children’s picture books.

Billy Antonio

summer vacation
my daughter’s crayons
scattered on the floor

late afternoon
an old woman carries
the sun
on a winnowing basket
on her way home

Billy Antonio is a public school teacher in the Philippines where he writes fiction and poetry to remind himself of moments he thinks are worth remembering.

Roary Williams

crystal
on a string
in the window
first thing the sun
has said all day

Roary Williams, Albuquerque New Mexico, USA, is a simple poet who loves nature and the seasons (@CoyoteSings)

Stevie Strang

november sunrise
silently inches its way
across the yard
unfolding the morning
one ray at a time

Stevie Strang is a writer, photographer/Artist and late night poet in Southern California. More of her work can be viewed at http://justperfectstudio.blogspot.com/

S.Eta Grubešić

Grain of sand.
In my shoe I wear the
whole universe.

S.Eta Grubešić, Croatia, ex-journalist, writer short story , poems and photographer. Her works have been published in various books and literary e-portals.

Vibeke Laier

touch of
moonlight in the
evening prayer

gentle waves
a line of stars
painted in the sand

Vibeke Laier lives in Randers, Denmark, she has been writing and studying poetry since 2012, but her interest in the art of haiku stretches back to when she was a schoolgirl.

Tim Gardiner

onshore wind sea horses dance

Tim Gardiner, Manningtree, England is a professional ecologist who has written scientific papers, natural history books and poetry which has been published in literary journals such as Blithe Spirit and Frogpond.

Julie Warther

above the spillway —
root steps
in the riverbank

Julie Warther writes haiku from her home in Dover, Ohio where she lives with her husband and three children.

Laura Williams

all that remains … frost on the blackberry brambles

Laura Williams has been writing haiku and tanka since 2012. She lives in California, USA. http://www.foralovelything.blogspot.com

Caroline Skanne

Caroline Skanne, rochester, uk, obsessed with anything wild & free, she is the founder of hedgerow: a journal of small poems.

hedgerow #6

Posted on October 31, 2014 by Caroline Skanne

welcome to #6 of hedgerow, featuring work from 14 different poets & artists. please keep sending in your work and thanks also for spreading the word, every effort is appreciated! grateful to contributors and readers alike. with love & kindness…

Pat Geyer

tonight the veil is thin once again we dream together

Pat Geyer lives in East Brunswick, NJ, USA. An amateur photographer and poet, her home is surrounded by many parks and lakes and she walks every day to find her inspiration in Nature. She has been published in several books and journals.

North Gregory

North Gregory, Canada

Archana Kapoor Nagpal

end of rain …
in my broken pot of water
the two full moons

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.

Seonaid Francis

Night, South Uist

Peat smoke drifts
on the cold still air.
Moonlight silvers the silent water.
We are adrift in darkness,
unmoored in the ocean.

We sail alone
abandoned, but for our history.
Far lights to the west
of other boats.

Seonaid Francis lives in the Western Isles of Scotland, runs a publishing company and is slowly, oh so slowly, learning Gaelic.

Robyn Cairns

a pair of black swans slice the sky

Robyn Cairns is a Melbourne based poet.

Phillip Larrea

Chess Game

A chess match.
Since you’re white,
You move first.

Knights, castle,
Queen lost. King
Checkmated.

No deaths here.
Just pieces
Of me gone.

Phillip Larrea is the author of We the People (Cold River Press) and Our Patch (Writing Knights Press), and hails from Northern California.

Laura McKee

the sweet postcard

propped up
amongst all the mess
all this time
wishing you were here

Laura McKee lives in Bexleyheath, Kent, UK, so she is practically Kate Bush, and likes to twerk in the kitchen.

Veronika Zora Novak

I am the open road
I am the midnight wind
I am the dew laden grass
I am the river flow
I am the forest lush
I am the warmth of fire
I am the coolness of rock
I am the glow of the moon
I am the light of dawn
I am the love song

homeward bound…for a moment

Veronika Zora Novak is simply a daydreamer.

Scott Reid

Scott Reid (Twitter: @apwpoet) lives in Northern California, enjoys photography and nature, and curates the Albany Poetry Workshop

Helen Buckingham

constellations
of pink hydrangeas
temper the dusk

Helen Buckingham has been writing ku for the past couple of decades in Bristol, and has recently moved to Wells, the smallest cathedral city in England, deep in the heart of Somerset.

Sarah Thursday

Unnamed

Write about important things
things that move me
things that crush me

Write about hurricanes
and avalanches
the earthquakes of my soul

It’s the grit beneath
my fingernails
it’s the cartilage in
my vertebrae

I am driven to expose it
to pull it out
hold it up
to the light

I am only the messenger
of all the beauty
underneath the common face
beauty in the unheard voice

I hear it
I draw the letters
to form the words
to give it name

Sarah Thursday is a music obsessed, poetry advocate and documents her antics on SarahThursday.com

Laura Williams

autumn shelter …
a scarecrow’s coat pocket fills
with wren song

Laura Williams has been writing haiku and tanka since 2012. She lives in California, USA. http://www.foralovelything.blogspot.com

Chase Gagnon

if suffering
had a color…
it would be periwinkle
because purple sounds
far too real

only the light
of dwindling candles…
a wooden crucifix
clenched
in cold hands

goosebumps…
your breath, a memory
on my skin

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.

Caroline Skanne

Caroline Skanne, rochester, uk, obsessed with anything wild & free, she is the founder of hedgerow: a journal of small poems.

hedgerow #5

Posted on October 24, 2014 by Caroline Skanne

thrilled to bring you #5 of hedgerow, featuring work from 14 different poets & artists. please keep sending in your work and thanks also for spreading the word, every effort is appreciated! thanks to contributors and readers alike. with love & kindness…

S.M. Abeles

whatever gets you
to the end of the line
my muse
wears a flower dress,
ties a sunbeam through her hair

S.M. Abeles is just a simple poet.

Peter Wilkin

‘Brontë Waterfall’

Peter Wilkin is a writer, poet & iphoneographer who lives in West Yorkshire, England.

Robyn Cairns

end of pier
lovers entwine
an egret moon

Robyn Cairns, Melbourne Australia, enjoys writing haiku, tanka and micropoetry for pleasure and publishes her work on twitter @robbiepoet. She has a passion for nature and photography

Dave Read

awash
in silver light –
all the moon
poems I
never meant to write

Dave Read is a Canadian poet whose work has appeared in many journals. His micropoetry can be found on Twitter, @AsSlimAsImBeing.

Sandi Pray

Sandi Pray is a wild child who roams between mountain and marsh in North Carolina and Florida, http://ravencliffs.blogspot.com.

Chase Gagnon

In a makeshift boat
I paddle through her enchanting iris
trying to reach the black island
of her soul…
but the sirens that sing
of her fear of love
pull me to the depths
of crystal green lust.

For Angel

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.

Veronika Zora Novak

winter garden . . .
his warm touch revives
a frozen orchid

Veronika Zora Novak is simply a daydreamer.

Debbie Strange

Debbie Strange is a published tanka and haiku poet, as well as an avid photographer. Her current passion is for creating haiga and tanshi (small poem) art.

Jo Waterworth

IN BED
She promises to make him a coat.
He promises to beat her carpets.
She kisses his little toe.
He kisses her breakfast bar.
She murmurs into his armpit.
He murmurs into her cellar.
She agrees to heaven on earth.
He agrees to a garage conversion.

Jo Waterworth lives in Glastonbury and has had a pamphlet of short poetry published by Poetry Space of Bristol.

Zee Zahava

dear one
come closer
my flame is going out

the two of us
breathing into the silence —
when did the clock stop?

I pour the tea
you butter the toast —
our waitress thinks we are sisters

Christine L. Villa

Aside from being a children’s book author and a poet, Christine L. Villa is also the editor of Frameless Sky – a video journal showcasing poets, artists, and musicians in collaborative projects http://framelesssky.weebly.com.

Roary Williams

what he never said
to the girl who fell in love
with the man
who loved her almost
as much as he did

Roary Williams, Albuquerque New Mexico, USA, is a simple poet who loves nature and the seasons (@CoyoteSings)

Ed Bremson

the eloquence
of heart
of image
of love —
no limits

Ed Bremson is an award-winning haiku poet, and founder of Mijikai Press, book publisher. He has been writing and publishing poetry for fifty years. Ed lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, in the USA.

Kanchan Chatterjee

Kaimur range on my left–
‘Delhi – 1092 Kms’
the milestone says. . .
I step on the gas &
leap
towards the sun
&
you’re only
a breath away. . .

Kanchan Chatterjee lives in Jamshedpur, India, he loves to write short poems/haiku and sharing a hearty meal with his family.

hedgerow #4

Posted on October 17, 2014 by Caroline Skanne

welcome to #4 of hedgerow, featuring work from eleven different poets & artists. this issue is dedicated to the memory of poet Ronald Fischman who sadly passed away only days after his poem ‘magical realism’ was published in the first issue of hedgerow. as always, your comments, likes & shares are welcomed, as are your submissions to forthcoming issues. many thanks to contributors and readers alike. with love & kindness…

Helen Buckingham

heaven
passes
in the shape of a swan

white butterflies
scatter light
over dimming rooftops

Helen Buckingham has been writing ku for the past couple of decades in Bristol, and has recently moved to Wells, the smallest cathedral city in England, deep in the heart of Somerset.

Dominic Moriarty

Dominic Moriarty is a Fine Arts photographer based in Ireland … a love and awareness of nature is a central theme in his work. A broader selection of his art is available to view and purchase as giclée prints @ http://www.dominicmoriartyphotography.com

Tony Haynes

“Feather”

F eather lives on the street
I t fell off the wing of a bird
G ets dusty but still it can float
H ard habit
T o break – have you heard…
H ow feather
O nce flocked with high rollers
M ade merry with
E lbows you rub
L ike a fortunate traffic controller
E nrolled in a mile high club
S urely you’ve seen it, this feather
S oftly adrift in the wind
N eeding to pull it together
E xcept it just can’t once again
S o it floats on with only one purpose
S urvival and yes it survives…
…But in the process of simply surviving
It floats on and touches our lives

Tony Haynes is a Lyricist, Songwriter, Poet, Author & One Who Waxes Philosophically.

Steve Wilkinson

Taking my pen
I scribble out the pain
in heavy strokes
When will this metamorphosis
finally take place?

Feelings
flowing in ink
from the well
of my heart.
The sentence ends
but my love continues.

Homeless and hungry
read the beggars sign.
autumn drizzle
collects
in his plastic cup.

Steve Wilkinson, Co.Durham, England. Editor of the Bamboo Hut and currently exploring the avenue of TanshiArt.

Cornelius Bent

The Lesson

on that day in September
i learned a lesson
as i sat 449 miles away
from the ground we now call Zero

this lesson was taught to me
by the blacks and the whites
the muslims and the the jews
the republicans and the democrats
the atheists and the believers
the immigrants and the natives
the disabled and the able bodied

they helped each other
down endless stairwells
a commune of the assaulted
the walls conspiring
to asphyxiate
each one

they consoled each other
in shattered corporate vestibules
jet-fuel-fire pouring down
like hate from the sky

they held each other
in ash covered streets
skins now one color
equalized by impact
each searing eye
reflecting the same calamity

they ran toward each other
brigades and companies
sirens wailing like the souls
who pushed themselves
into the grip of gravity

the ones who could still move
moved
past the imaginary borders of flags
beyond the superficial doctrines of gods
behind the flawed perceptions of races
despite unproductive political allegiances

wholly
in the actions
of those people
on that day

lies the hope
for the evolution
of our species

there must be no ‘them’
in this family
of human animals

there must only
ever be
an us

Cornelius Bent, from South Bronx New York

Carole Johnston

world falls apart
poems rise up as prayers
on children’s lips
soft grey feathers of doves
aloft on winds of peace

Carole Johnston lives in Lexington, Kentucky USA where she drives around Bluegrass backroads with a notebook and camera in the front seat, capturing the haiku moment.

Jennifer Arbini

Jennifer Arbini is a Californian woman whose greatest passion is to travel and experience the world.

Clifton Redmond

Looking for Hope

My young son says
his dog is running the field
behind our house,
his long greyhound stride,
his reddish coat cutting evening air.
I told him his dog was gone,

told him about death, about heaven.
But he still sees his Rúa running
sloped back into twilight.
Says he understands,
but I see him look for hope,
when no one else is watching.

Clifton Redmond is an Irish poet; a member of the Carlow Writers Co-operative, his poems have been published in various literary magazines and journals.

Ronald Fischman

Pajarito

fluttering, your silky feathers
brown as the richest bark
in any tree you call home

lifted by a breath, a kiss
of sun and climate, tremulant
mist of a thousand violins

your chocolate irises flit, focus
reflect a wildflower, wild meadow
petals shimmer in your lake

they call breathing “feathered”
far too late. What of feathers
breathing summer’s first love?

Ronald Fischman wrote fiction, biography, and poetry in Philadelphia, PA. Sadly he passed away on the night of September 30, 2014. ‘Pajarito’ was the second of his poems selected for publication in hedgerow.

Caroline Skanne

Caroline Skanne, rochester, uk, obsessed with anything wild & free, she is the founder of hedgerow: a journal of small poems.

Sergio A. Ortiz

he turned slowly
down the footpath of dust
the cantor sang
then there was silence
a stripping of life forever

Sergio A. Ortiz is the founding editor of Undertow Tanka Review. He lives in San Juan Puerto Rico. He is a four-time nominee for the 2010-2011 Sundress Best of the Web Anthology, and a two-time 2010 Pushcart nominee.

hedgerow #3

Posted on October 10, 2014 by Caroline Skanne

welcome to the third issue of hedgerow! a big thanks to our 17 marvellous poets & artists. comments, likes & shares are welcomed, as are your submissions to forthcoming issues. thanks for stopping by! with love & kindness, enjoy…

Mike Keville

I trade my pencil
for a computer
wtih splel chcek

left in no doubt her eyes roll skyward

poems
on a dark day
some sunlight

Mike Keville from London AKA Mikeymike.

Steve Wilkinson

Steve Wilkinson, Co.Durham,England. Editor of The Bamboo Hut. Lover of poetry,art and photography. http://thebamboohut.weebly.com

Kanchan Chatterjee

some guitar riffs
a soft laugh
and
a creaking
door. . .

sometimes you’ve got
only that
much

and

a late
August noon. . .

Kanchan Chatterjee lives in Jamshedpur, India, he loves to write short poems/haiku and sharing a hearty meal with his family.

Sandi Pray

Sandi Pray is a wild child who roams between mountain and marsh in North Carolina and Florida, http://ravencliffs.blogspot.com.

S.Eta Grubešić

Upset.
The rhythm of my heart –
out of tune jazz orchestra.

S.Eta Grubešić, Croatia, ex-journalist, writer of short stories, poems and
photographer. Her works have been published in various books and literary e-portals.

Paula Dawn Lietz

I Dreamt I Swam in an Ocean of Winter

I dreamt I swam in an ocean of winter
and flew amidst the slippery slopes
of the finest petals.
I dreamt of moonlight gauze that swathed
my heart, rigid tenacity of the dressing
validating each beat, lub dup lub dup.
Dolphins frolicked alongside
white horses in the froth of grassy meadows.
You and I had no meaning we were simply~
there, together as one, naked and raw.
Minnows and gulls tried to play
but trust elusive between the waves.
As one cell called humanity we shook our heads
the dream was not theirs to direct.

I dreamt I swam in an ocean of winter.

Paula Dawn Lietz ( Pd Lietz ) is an accomplished multi-genre artist, photographer and poet. http://www.pdlietzphotography.com

Chase Gagnon

in my florescent office
I wonder…
how small are the fairies
in the bonsai forest
on my desk?

When I return to the earth
I’ll let the fairies play hide and seek
with my bones
in hopes that they’ll hollow
my phalanges into little flutes
so music can flow
from the tips of my fingers
that crafted countless poems.

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.

Debbie Strange

Debbie Strange is a published tanka and haiku poet, as well as an avid photographer. Her current passion is for creating haiga and tanshi (small poem) art.

Devin Harrison

wind chimes—
conduit for the rapture
of air

Devin Harrison recently won the Akita International University President Award.

Bill Waters

child’s bike
leaning against
a No Parking sign

traitor moon —
lovers are lost
without your light!

Bill Waters (U.S.A.) enthusiastically posts his haiku and more at twitter.com/bill312 and BillWatersHaiku.WordPress.com

Stevie Strang

Stevie Strang is a writer, photographer/Artist and late night poet in Southern California. More of her work can be viewed a thttp://justperfectstudio.blogspot.com/

Robert Johnston

thirteen
_______
now she’s five
five
or six
she tells
me
she wants to reach
six
feet
so she can marry
an
N
B
A
player
and I say
that’s like
finding
a bell
then buying a push-
bike
for
it
but hell
this is the girl who tosses
me
green
slime
across the table
in the mall
and we have
to
fish
it out
of the left-over
sour cream
thir-
teen
moon beams

Robert Johnston, author of ‘Finding Me and You – an exploration of consciousness’ (Smashwords, 2014), lives in Dunedin, New Zealand.

Barbara Kaufmann

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

Shloka Shankar

solitaire –
you promise me
the moon

go green
I recycle my rejected
manuscripts

railway tracks…
the path that doesn’t lead
me to you

Shloka Shankar is a freelance writer residing in India. She loves experimenting with poetry and has found her niche in Japanese verse forms and found/erasure visual art. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Shloka-Shankar-a-rasikas-musings/745965042120215?ref=bookmarks

Angelo B. Ancheta

sipping nectar
in the hedgerow
a fallen kite

pulling the night
a blanket of starlight
between breaths

Angelo B. Ancheta lives in Rizal province in the Philippines. He
writes haiku and short poems to unlock his mind, and flash fiction to
keep his sanity.

North Gregory

‘River Reflection’ (Black River, Ontario, Canada)

North Gregory, Canada

previously published work —

Paula Dawn Letz ‘I Dreamt I Swam in an Ocean of Winter’ appeared in *Visions, Voices, and Verses Anthology for the New Britain Museum of American Art*
by Exiles Press 2012.

hedgerow #2

Posted on October 3, 2014 by Caroline Skanne

excited to bring you the second issue of hedgerow, featuring 13 different poets and artists. a warm thank you to all contributors & readers! comments, likes & shares are welcomed, as are your submissions for upcoming issues. with love & kindness, enjoy…

Joanne Rose

and then
he heard the moon say
there’s a beautiful earth
in the sky tonight

Joanne Rose lives in the USA and loves to scribble poems and pictures in the sand. http://forallmywalking.blogspot.com

Vibeke Laier

moonlight
the way the body
changes to silk

creasing
the origami paper
unfolding wish

evening stillness
how deep the space
between words

filling the heart
day after day
white butterflies

Vibeke Laier lives in Randers, Denmark, she has been writing and studying poetry since 2012, but her interest in the art of haiku stretches back to when she was a schoolgirl.

Roary Williams

letting go
I breathe with the crickets
until stars appear

down from the roof
and across the fence
the moon and the
neighbor’s cat
headed home

out on a limb
chest puffed out
singing to anyone
who would listen
the chickadee and I

even before
I was born
my heart pulsing
to the rhythm
of rain

two swallows
detach from the train
then veer off the tracks

Roary Williams, Albuquerque New Mexico, USA, is a simple poet who loves nature and the seasons (@CoyoteSings)

Sandi Pray

Sandi Pray is a wild child who roams between mountain and marsh in North Carolina and Florida, http://ravencliffs.blogspot.com.

Christine L. Villa

eternally lost
in a garden maze
I search for you
in places I need you
most

will I ever be loved
the same way as before
the willow hedges
of where we’ve been
still longs for you

entrenched
in my lonely heart
memories
like dandelions
full of wishes

before the day ends
counting morning glories
I have to accept
my life the way it is
without you

Laura Williams

our small act
between the sheets …
ecstatic motion
what does it mean to become
one with the universe?

autumn migration
crossing the afterlife
on butterfly wings

moon viewing …
the luna moth and I
simpatico

a short break
from stacking the woodpile
before the first storm
the sharp wind
cuts right through us

Laura Williams has been writing haiku and tanka since 2012. She lives in California, USA. http://www.foralovelything.blogspot.com

Alexis Rotella

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).

Zee Zahava

I could hold a pencil for a year
and not find
the poem of you

the way a mountain moves —
that’s what I mean
by slow kissing

dear moon
I forgot to look at you last night
did you see me?

Zee Zahava lives in Ithaca, N.Y. she writes most of her poems in a small notebook while taking her early morning walks, she is the editor of brass bell, an online haiku journal: http://brassbellhaiku.blogspot.com/

Safiyyah Patel

Moment

eloquent silence
descended upon the garden
after a furious downpour…
skies opened up
to reveal a sapphire expanse
captured by a pixelled shot…
it reminded her of the moment
when nature washed her
to the bone…
dark clouds stripped
into muddy rivulets…

Safiyyah Patel lives in England, UK, and is passionate about writing and counselling.

Traci Siler

Nesting
in the soft fold
of my breasts
the sweet scent
of spring

Traci Siler is a wife, mother, poet and West Nile survivor from Carrollton, Texas whose work has appeared in numerous poetry journals and in her recently released book, Beneath A Morphine Moon, available on amazon.com and her paintings can be viewed on her art page on Facebook.

Sergio A. Ortiz

I want to die
rolling in the arms
of a cello player
naked to the waist
rolling in my sweet baby’s arms

how can I forget
those tremulous hours
where we bathed
in each other’s arms
water on water

Sergio A. Ortiz is the founding editor of Undertow Tanka Review, he lives in San Juan Puerto Rico and is a four-time nominee for the 2010-2011 Sundress Best of the Web Anthology, and a two-time 2010 Pushcart nominee.

S.M. Abeles

S.M. Abeles is just a simple poet.

hedgerow #1

Posted on September 26, 2014 by Caroline Skanne

thrilled to bring you work from 14 different poets in the very first issue of hedgerow! the journal will be published every friday. comments, shares & likes are warmly welcomed, as are your submissions for upcoming issues. thank you for stopping by! with love & kindness. please enjoy…

Carole Johnston

in my dreams
I find Merlin wandering
among the hedgerows
I should have been born
inside a druid oak

once I was
a tree silvered
by the moon

you might find her
sleeping inside the yew hedge
the wild woman with
her rosary berries
she’s the keeper in the green

Carole Johnston lives in Lexington, Kentucky USA where she drives around Bluegrass backroads with a notebook and camera in the front seat, capturing the haiku moment.

Robin White

my tomboyishness
before
i
discovered
pink

Robin White – artisan, gardener, beekeper at Wild Graces in Deerfield New Hampshire, founder and co-editor of Akitsu Quarterly.

Ronald Fischman

magical realism

drifting through breaking dawn a silken feathered
paintbrush dances its magic across ages
restoring color to rainbows, snow to mountaintops

parched soil opens a million mouths, in each a seed
the feathered wand spreads cool droplets
wildflowers of generations sing of their childhood

mountain lakes long since baked dry with sorrow
drink from clouds pregnant with seeded
raindrops. Weary farmers, I among them, splash, play

sadness dissolves into brilliant scales of species
long thought extinct. My own eyes glisten
in the rainbow, then dissolve into your own.

Ronald Fischman writes fiction, biography, and poetry in Philadelphia, PA. You can learn more about him at http://www.ronaldfischman.com.

Paula Dawn Lietz

Yellow Flowers of Innocence

Exhausted I laid on wild grass,
prairie and I common in our cycles.
Both burnt in this century, this society
this era of humanity.
This mess.
Only in the meadow dotted
with yellow did I allow myself to breathe.
To forgive myself of decisions
which society placed upon
my charred shoulders,
decisions not mine to bear.
When one does not belong
in this clusterfuck
it’s hard to call any place home.

Subconsciously I cradled
yellow flowers of innocence
as the drones flew overhead.

Paula Dawn Lietz ( Pd Lietz ) is an accomplished multi-genre artist, photographer and poet. http://www.pdlietzphotography.com

Pat Geyer

blind man
smells a rose…
he stops

remaining heat
surrounds a field of green…
orange circles day

autumn wind…
blue flag still waves
around the pond

queen anne’s lace…
white doilies in summer
border the meadow

i walk through fields on
paths lined with wildflowers…
oxeye sees the way

Pat Geyer lives in East Brunswick, NJ, USA. She is a published poet and amateur photographer.

An Mayou

i collect flowers
along the way

An Mayou lives in Boulder Colorado USA, she trained in visual arts and has been writing poetry for three years.

Ed Bremson

Blossoming

Give a boy a stream
and watch him find himself
among the water, earth and sky,
as his childhood drifts slowly by.
He needs no help or guidance.
It happens naturally
as it has since time began, or
perhaps
since time
stood still.

Ed Bremson is an award-winning haiku poet who lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, in the USA.

Bill Waters

almost winter
a flock of starlings
hedge-hopping

Bill Waters (U.S.A.) enthusiastically posts his haiku and more at twitter.com/bill312 and billwatershaiku.wordpress.com.

Alan Summers

wet prints
the sun takes the dog
elsewhere

Milky Way Train
I bring my inner child
down to earth

the hunched heron
these blue shadows
out of slow sunshine

falling clouds
the snow gathering
bits of moon

dandelions
gingerly pushing out…
micro civilisations

Alan Summers lives in Bradford on Avon, England, and is a Japan Times award-winning writer and a Pushcart Prize nominated poet, find more at: http://area17.blogspot.com

Pamela A. Babusci

deep autumn…
walking barefoot
on my mother’s grave

Pamela A. Babusci is an internationally award-winning haiku/tanka & haiga artist.
She lives in Rochester, NY, USA.

David Agnew

‘We Need To Talk About The Rain’

Not the soft gentle rain
which drifts in from the sea
carrying with it both
scent and taste of the ocean,

not the wind driven rain,
horizontal in your face,
pushing you forward
in one direction only

not the downpours of rain
which bounce from the ground,
soak you from the bottom up
and from the top down,

not the thunder filled rain
which is best watched
from behind glass
as lightning streaks across the sky,

not the low cloud sort of rain
which obscures your vision
in directions making you
uncertain of where you are,

but the rain we walked through
that September evening holding hands
when we promised that next year
we would do this again.

Born in Northern Ireland David Agnew considers his poetry to be a continuation of the Irish tradition of story telling, his latest book ‘There are no such things as seagulls’ was published by Valley Press in 2012

Kathy Bowman

the first fluff of cottonwood falls
at twilight: suddenly
the little black mare trots through stars and galaxies.

Kathy Bowman, Joseph, Oregon, lead volunteer on Haiku Highway poetry adventure trail in Deschutes National Forest.

Veronika Zora Novak

wood smoke…
with each stride, closer
to stillness

Veronika Zora Novak resides in Toronto, Canada, her haiku, tanka and photo haiga have been published in various journals and books, during her downtime Veronika enjoys film, photography, karaoke, nature, and simply daydreaming.

Mike McGuire

Frail floral beauty –
so ragged at the edges
it’s almost human

Mike McGuire is from Limerick City, Ireland but has spent half his life in Australia, he posts poetry regularly on his blog http://michaelmcguire.com.au/ and enjoys Tweeting micropoetry when time allows – @MikeMcGuire_

previously published work —

Pamela A. Babusci, the haiku ‘deep autumn’ previously published in: Winter Lotus 9 fall/winter 2009.