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.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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

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.

 

 

 

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.”