#42

Posted on August 14, 2015 by Caroline Skanne

welcome to #42 of hedgerow. this week features the watercolour series by august’s resident artist Debbie Strange, along with work by five different poets. thanks everyone for being here.

with love & kindness…

brook song
the forsythia’s
first yellow buds

at the muddy end
of a walking stick
wild oats

Anna Cates resides in Wilmington, Ohio with her two cats, Freddie and Christine, writes. She holds an M.F.A. in Creative Writing, and several other advanced degrees related to English studies, and teaches English online for several universities. She is a regular contributor to short form poetry publications, and her first full length collection of haiku and other poems, “The Meaning of Life,” from Cyberwit.net, is now available on Amazon.

poem published in Acorn, Number 34, Spring 2015

Winnie the Pooh country
we cross paths with
a woolly bear

David J Kelly lives and works in Dublin, Ireland, where he finds scientific and artistic inspiration in the natural world.

poem published in Atlas Poetica, Number 20, February 2015

no more than four, the girl half-skips,
half-dances down the store aisle

her tiny feet spring up and down
in perfect time to the fairylike tune

she sings, the words grow softer,
soft, now a whisper as I pass by

Mary Kendall can often be found in her Chapel Hill, North Carolina garden, tending plants, feeding birds, watching dragonflies and playing with the dog. She meditates and writes there as well.

poem published in GUSTS, Number 21, Spring/Summer 2015

faded maps
all the adventures
we shared

steaming tea
the warmth
of friendship

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!

Honourable Mention, Haiku Canada Betty Drevniok Award, 2015

mother shucks peas
with grandmother’s hands…
winter sunlight

light blows across the bay a cormorant

Joanna M. Weston. Married; has two cats, multiple spiders, a herd of deer, and two derelict hen-houses. Her middle-reader, ‘Those Blue Shoes’, published by Clarity House Press; and poetry, ‘A Summer Father’, published by Frontenac House of Calgary. Her eBooks found at her blog: http://www.1960willowtree.wordpress.com/

poem published in A Hundred Gourds, Issue 4:2, March 2015

The Watercolour Series by Debbie Strange —

I am drawn to the serenity of watercolours. These original photographs were digitally manipulated in order to create painterly effects…

read more about the artist behind the art here —https://hedgerowpoems.wordpress.com/poet-artist-in-conversation/

#41

Posted on August 7, 2015 by Caroline Skanne

welcome to the latest issue of hedgerow. thrilled to announce august’s resident artist Debbie Strange! you can read more about her at ‘poet / artist in conversation’ (https://hedgerowpoems.wordpress.com/poet-artist-in-conversation/). further, a new spotlight poet has been added (https://hedgerowpoems.wordpress.com/poet-artist-spotlight/). make sure you pass by, some glorious pieces on show here. enjoy the art, poetry & summer! thanks to one & all.

with love & kindness.

the curve
of a whale’s fin
sunset

years after
we buried the cat …
goldenrod

kite festival
on the beach –
butterflies

(poem previously published in Bright Stars, Volume 1, January 2014)

climb inside
the fairy tree where children
learn to speak
elven languages run
widdershins round a brick walled
garden wander farther

Carole Johnston spends summer days driving around Bluegrass backroads with a notebook, a camera and her dog. Her chapbook, Journeys: Getting Lost, can be ordered from Finishing Line Press.

(poem previously published in Inner Art Journal, February 2014)

thunder clouds
the stagnant voice
in between

Pravat Kumar Padhy, a poet and scientist from India, has published Japanese short form of poems in English in many international journals, e-zines and anthologies. His haiga featured in A Hundred Gourds, Haigaonline, World Haiku Association and TanshiArt. His archived Japanese form of short poetry can be found at http://pkpadhy.blogspot.com

(poem previously published in LYNX, Issue 28:3, October 2013)

walking with the moon
I attempt to speak
screech owl

end of summer rain sinks the leaf boat

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

(poem previously published in Cattails, September 2014)

writing haiku …
my wine glass fills
with sunlight

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)

(poem previously published in All The Shells, TSA Members’ Anthology, 2014)

The Glass Series by Debbie Strange —

I am always entranced by the magic of light. In this series of photographs, I tried to capture the play of light through glass in a minimalistic manner…

read more about the artist behind the art here — https://hedgerowpoems.wordpress.com/poet-artist-in-conversation/

#40

Posted on July 31, 2015 by Caroline Skanne

welcome to #40 of hedgerow. thrilled to announce that from next week onwards we will have a ‘resident artist’ (art / visual pieces) where you will be able to gain a glimpse into the artist behind the art over the course of a month. further we have added two new reviews to the ‘poetry / art book reviews’ (https://hedgerowpoems.wordpress.com/poetry-art-book-reviews/). there will also be a brand new poet / artist in the spotlight next week. so, stay tuned! thanks for being here everyone, it is a beautiful thing!

with love & kindness.

long way home
from night shift
I drag my shadow

alone at twilight …
a blue butterfly
here and gone

my summer night
rounding
into a crescent moon

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)

Debbie Strange (Canada) is a short form poet and an avid photographer. She enjoys creating haiga and tanshi (small poem) art. You are invited to visit her on Twitter @Debbie_Strange, and an archive of published work may be found at debbiemstrange.blogspot.ca

open window
a loose leaf flutters
under my pen

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

observations come in layers…
the unraveling of a river, I pick at
the thread it releases when it’s ready
a tangled string for the careful
embroidery of thoughts
words arrive with the
frolic of a bounding kitten
scurrying I pick it up and hold it close:
wet words with an unsteady beat

Kat Lehmann lives in Connecticut, USA, by the river where she writes. She is a scientist and a poet who enjoys the unity of these perspectives of nature. Her work has been published in both poetry and science journals. Her first book of poetry, Moon Full of Moons, was published in February 2015 by Peaceful Daily. Visit her on twitter (@SongsOfKat).

fireworks
a child notices
the stars

hibiscus rain . . .
a hummingbird driven off
by a hummingbird

neighborhood walk
past each housetop
the gibbous moon

rushwater
over gleaming icicles
afternoon sun

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. Poems and fiction have been featured in Modern Haiku, Haiku 2015 (Modern Haiku Press), A New Resonance 8 (Red Moon Press), The Inquisitive Eater, The Bitchin’ Kitsch. Follow on Twitter @MikeAndrelczyk.

no longer a puppy —
the clay between
his paws

distant thunder —
a firefly brushes the edge
of my hand

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 Plum Tree Tavern, among others.

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

for years
I’ve thought of memory
as a pond
images float to surface
submerge again at random
now how deep the pond

Carole Johnston spends summer days driving around Bluegrass backroads with a notebook, a camera and her dog. Her chapbook, Journeys: Getting Lost, can be ordered from Finishing Line Press.

#39

Posted on July 24, 2015 by Caroline Skanne

welcome to another summer issue of hedgerow! simply sit back & enjoy. thank you all for being here.

https://www.facebook.com/hedgerowpoems

with love & kindness.

I remember the air
from the summer we met:
heavy and thick
with a new sweetness
I desired to touch

Steve Wilkinson, Co.Durham, England. Editor of the Bamboo Hut and currently exploring the avenue of TanshiArt. http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/1515183017/

skipping stones
reminiscing—four skips, five
we find a memory
that she forgets
I get to tell her about us

moon glow
just enough to see
the page
does it reflect yesterday’s
or tomorrow’s sun?

Patrick Doerksen is a student of social work and lives with his wife in Victoria, Canada, where flowers bloom as early as January and it is very difficult to be unhappy. He writes poetry as a way of experiencing life more fully.

the moon
paints willow leaves
on my walls
with her sumi’e wind brush
dancing through my dreams

Carole Johnston spends summer days driving around Bluegrass backroads with a notebook, a camera and her dog. Her chapbook, Journeys: Getting Lost, can be ordered from Finishing Line Press.

summer dawn
crawling over the hill
dandelions

cricket song
I turn to speak in
Dad’s good ear

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

Sparrow perches on open window
a foil to the pain of bone
lying on bone
Sunshine ripening tomatoes

Jo Waterworth has lived in Glastonbury UK for thirty years. Sometimes she takes her poetry seriously enough to send it out and get published. Other times she’s busy with art or singing. She is a part-time mature student at Bath Spa University and blogs at https://jowaterworthwriter.wordpress.com/

butterfly wings
sweep the sky —
no dust remains

Kevin Trammel recently published his book Gathered Rain, a season-traversing dance of poetry, prose and artwork, written over years of reflective delight in the fields of Indiana, the forests of the Pacific Northwest, the oak graced foothills of the Sierra. Now living in Georgetown, California, he enjoys riveting conversation with his cats, the passing foxes, the wind in the tulip tree and the pines, and does his best to take down their words as creative prose meditations or as haiku.

blue lagoon
parrot fish graze
on pink coral

blue spirals into violet
mother of pearl

Simon Hanson lives in rural South Australia where he loves to walk the back roads at an ambling pace down to the nearby limestone coast. He no longer collects shells, leaving them instead on the beach where they belong, but does sometimes bring home an idea for a haiku or two.

sewing

the pineapple bedspread
the marshmallow dessert
the blue jay’s squawk
the evergreens sway
the cat who sat by the stove
the women tying stitches in knots
the rug embroidered with orange red threads
the women who girdle their thoughts

Irene Koronas is the poetry editor for Wilderness House Literary Review. She has three full length books, Portraits Drawn from Many, Ibbetson Street Press; Pentakomo Cyprus, Cervena Barva Press; and Turtle Grass; Muddy River Books. She has numerous chapbooks and poetry in many anthologies. She reviews poetry books for the small press community.

#38

Posted on July 17, 2015 by Caroline Skanne

welcome to the latest issue of hedgerow! thanks everyone for being here, it’s a beautiful thing…

with love & kindness.

https://www.facebook.com/hedgerowpoems

wire in the wind
the micro-adjustments
of finches
balancing, my feet too discern
the whisper of cross-breezes

heather blossoms
could my words be
as unpretentious

day’s end talk
dishwater sinking into
hydrangea roots

Caroline Skanne, Rochester Uk, escapes reality with her rescued staff puppy tigerlily at the nearby frog pond island. more @ https://www.facebook.com/caroline.skanne.9

library returns
the holiday guidebooks
not quite ready

night shifter’s house
a cat this side
of the curtain

after her funeral
sparrows replace sparrows
on her bird table

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/

family reunion
catching up
with old stories

market plaza
the sheen of pigeons
in sunshine

my father’s walk
increasingly apparent
in mine

soaking in shade four hundred years old

playing hopscotch
with a cherry pit . . .
the crow’s strut

immigration
strips my name, Chen-ou Liu,
of its meaning,
reduces it to a sound
strange to Canadian ears

reading Sisyphus …
from college teacher
to ESL student
my tumble down
life’s slippery slope
(note: ESL stands for English as a Second Language)

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)

No Harbour

The Scottish throb of a seagull’s cry,
the urgence of the surf,
the brownish warmth of Brückner,
the sunset shock of sky,
the sound of rain on the tiled roof,
the homely scrape of wicker–
these are stalled-out memories that I
cannot wharf
in your harbour.

Kilby Austin lives near Durham, UK, with her husband and little daughter. She has written poetry for as long as she can remember.

summer moon how tenderly waves touch paper boats

Vibeke Laier is an 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.

Weeding

I rip weeds from the soil
Like breaking old habits.

Some come up easily,
Satisfying, if temporary-
I know I’ll have to watch
For resurging growth;
Old patterns don’t die quickly.

Some have deep, thick roots
Resisting a pull, they need
Thorough excavation
My aching knuckles caked in mud
Twisting, tugging
The root’s gnarly voice
Laughing at my naivete
That some force
That has preceded
Me by lifetimes
Would pull free, finally,
Just like that
On one simple, sunny day.

But I do my best,
Cut it off as deep as I can reach
Toss it away
And let it be

Let it be good enough for this garden
Let it be good enough for this day of this life

Just let it be better.

Stacey Crawford Murphy savors life in Ithaca, NY.

pushing rocks up small slope
sweat trickles between my breasts

sunstroke
the tan lines beneath
your blue dress

still hung over from last night’s sunset

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

cajun night
the heat of her
french kiss

edging the starlight the mountain’s silhouette

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

#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!

https://www.facebook.com/hedgerowpoems

Tweets by hedgerowpoems

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

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

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

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/

#36

Posted on July 3, 2015 by Caroline Skanne

welcome to the latest issue of hedgerow! thrilled to announce that the ‘art & poetry book reviews’ page (https://hedgerowpoems.wordpress.com/poetry-art-book-reviews/) is up. the first instalment features two books & more to come! also happy to announce that the winner of the book draw is Clifford Blizard who will receive a signed copy of a hundred small poems by caroline skanne shortly! a big thanks to those of you who registered your interest! please find a link below where the book can be purchased. grateful to everyone, for simply turning up & happy friday to you!

with love & kindness,

Caroline Skanne

founder / editor

first summer
fawn belly deep
in brook water

as we wave goodbye
a heron overhead
disappears into the distance

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.

Jane Williams is an Australian poet based in Tasmania. Her most recent book is Days Like These – New and Selected Poems. http://www.janewilliams.wordpress.com

twilight mist
a female pheasant
sprints passed a gateway

a heron’s call
on this moonlit night
the river I long for

Thomas Powell is a potter who lives in County Down, Northern Ireland. Journals in which his haiku have appeared include A Hundred Gourds, Blithe Spirit, Chrysanthemum, Presence, Shamrock Haiku and The Heron’s Nest. He is a winner in The Snapshot Press eChapbook Awards and The Snapshot Press Book Awards. Thomas is also a contributor to A New Resonance 9, published by Red Moon Press.

How It Feels to See Her
For Melissa M. Schaefer

Her essence wraps itself
around my broken rib cage,
ties itself around my heart,
swings down vertebrae.

She’s such a soft giggle
to my organs, a tease
for my soul. She feels
like sister, like home.

Raquel Reyes-Lopez lives in Montebello, California USA. She is a Gemini madly in love with life and a moon child. If you squint hard enough you can find her sleeping in the moon’s craters. Follow her at contactraquel.wordpress.com

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.

roadside rest
daisies among
the cat tails

yoga class
unexpected twist—
pretzel pose

Nancy Brady lives in Huron, Ohio on the shores of Lake Erie from which she takes inspiration. She is the author of two books of haiku: Ohayo Haiku andThree Breaths.

watershadows
a secret
under a stone

the floating cow
sniffs at a floating mushroom
as the clouds float by

jellyfish swimming
through a pale blue sky
the sound of rustling paper*

*a found haiku in the “Fu-go” episode of the Radiolab podcast

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.

shelter in the hut—
a swinging cobweb
touches my wet hand

bass notes
in the rocky river
birdsong

Myron Lysenko has published six books of poetry, the latest devoted to haiku. He lives in Victoria, Australia and runs a monthly poetry venue in Woodend.

Estuary

The water and the sky are like eternity —
A roll of wrist in water
And in light,
Casting a net of birds in flight
I know to be
The motion of forever.

I catch with all my frailty
At the gesture —

Catch at the curvature
Of strength in its acclivity of wings
Through tremulous resurgences and blurred diminishings —

Until an hour when, through the length of light,
You cast a net of birds in flight
And gather me.

Isabel Chenot lives in the US. She has been previously published in Anima poetry journal and on the Atavic poetry website.

counting the fireflies
circling our bed
summer romance

waterfalls
of summer rain
mother’s old red boots

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

Three cabbage whites, two dragonflies,
One thrush
Distinguishing silences.

Moorchicks sprint along the
Lily pads
Playing at flight with stumpy wings.

A baby toad, my thumbnail size,
His thumb
A perfect pinpoint miracle.

With the unhurried grace of a
Gardener,
Hope holds my elbow, smiles.

I dig and hear, near me, her
Silent breath –
She who first buried spring bulbs.

Rosie Johnston’s three poetry pamphlets have been published by Lapwing Publications in Belfast, Northern Ireland where Rosie was born. She lives in London where she also writes fiction and journalism and is poet in residence for the Cambridgeshire Wildlife Trust.

After midnight
only the owls
hear Jupiter’s bawdy joke
and Venus’ twinkly laugh

After midnight
the lonely ghost in the hall
beckons: “just one dance”

After midnight
is quieter and paler
than when it was young

Stacey Crawford Murphy savors life in Ithaca, NY.

#35

Posted on June 26, 2015 by Caroline Skanne

welcome to the latest issue of hedgerow. thanks for being here! thrilled to announce that the ‘poetry / art book reviews’ feature of the journal will be launched this coming friday. if you have had work published in hedgerow & you have a book out to shout about, do get in touch. to celebrate i’ll be giving away a signed copy of my book ‘a hundred small poems…’ register your interest by sending a message to —
hedgerowsubmissions@gmail.com & i shall pick one winner at random. thanks everyone i think this will be fun.

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

with love & kindness,

Caroline Skanne

low tide
wandering away
from the world’s sharp edges

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

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.

WHAT IS THE MEANING OF LIFE?

the answer is thirty-two

where do geese go when they die
there is no way to translate that

what moves backwards in a swamp
how little flecks of gold glitter in the mines

when will this alliance be forged
with song and dance of tambourines

who are you dressed in red Thursdays
I have this desire to change the world

how many times will you ask me
why did you have to ask me that

and in distant darkness shone the city lights

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

her smooth hands
collecting pine cones
in a bag

the wind
changes direction
my lonely heart

Jade Pisani, Australia, began to write haiku in 2010. She is a regular ginko participant.

daydream about the children I never had

walking into the morning fog to clear my head

my aging hands more beautiful right now

late afternoon curled into a nap beside you

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

Making Waves

Each new page becomes a paddling pool
you hesitate to dip your toe into.
You stare into its glassed reflection,
shimmering world, fragile,
peaceful, unattainable.
You hesitate, the pen jitters;

the crippling fear of tiny ripples
turning somehow into rapids.
Still you long to close your eyes and jump;
letting go of everything; forgetting the page,
the pool; your head submerged
where every word and every splash becomes miracle.

Clifton Redmond is an Irish poet, a member of The Carlow Writers Co-Operative. He has had poems published in various Journals and Magazines.

evening light
the invisible lace
of swallows

daybreak
a veil of light
over the stars

Simon Hanson lives in a small country town in South Australia where he spends quite a lot of time walking the back roads between paddocks. Some of the cows have become acquainted with his Blue Heeler dog who seems to forget on occasions that it is not her job to round them up no matter how much fun it might be.

Different

I wake up shedding the skin
of a tender lover, pushing it
from behind my teeth, forcing
myself to chew, and swallow.
I let it all slide down my throat
with no regrets.

As I’m brushing my teeth
I’m mentally punching at
my brain letting it know
I will not regurgitate, will
not slip back into weakness.

Today I’m wearing amethyst
armor underneath my little
black dress and ignoring
all of your phone calls.

a river of fire
swept along the street;
some time later,
drops of black rain fell …
I see the hell in his eyes

in Hiroshima
I wake up to the cry
of cicadas …
under the grass
what’s left of angered souls

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)

all our pictures
now I know
I’m made of water

summer sunset
still losing you
bit by bit

left on the trail
I must write
your death poem

Perry L. Powell lives in College Park, Georgia, USA. He works as a systems analyst and writes poetry out of love in the evening. His short poems have been published in Hedgerow,A Hundred Gourds, Frogpond, Modern Haiku, Presence, Prune Juice, Ribbons, small stones, and The Heron’s Nest.

overcast sky…
I look for shapes
in the river’s depths

with the squirrel’s leap the feel of new leaves

when he stands up
to end the conversation
it pains me —
always the garden sparrow
wanting to chat till sundown

Anne Curran has been writing short verse forms for about
four years now. She lives in Hamilton New Zealand, a pretty
provincial town in the North Island. She reads and writes poetry as time and inspiration allows. She is inspired by people, memory, landscape, and language.

childhood room —
familiar tree shadows
on the wall

longest day
blueberries
still green

hedgerow #34

Posted on June 19, 2015 by Caroline Skanne

thrilled to bring you #34 of hedgerow, an issue that will hopefully make you smile! some exciting news to share with you this coming week, stay tuned. thanks everyone, for being here…

with love & kindness!

so much happiness but no tail to wag

practicing how not to be too honest

hibiscus tea in a sunflower mug mixing it all up

bad handwriting I must want to keep secrets from myself

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

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.

riding the
Midnight Butterfly Express
wearing my
glassy glitter wings I
wonder why everyone
reaches out to touch me

drummer in the
Midnight Butterfly Blues Band
heart beats neon
while a blind poet
misses the light show

got a letter
from Midnight Butterfly
tattered and worn
hand painted haiku moon
stained by indigo blood

jetting in my
Midnight Butterfly car
radio maniac
blaring cosmic questions
I meet myself on the road

lost again
at Midnight Butterfly
Coffee Shop
scribbling runes in my notebook
with skyblueluminous ink

Circus of the Soul
starring Midnight Butterfly
run away with me
to the light show of your mind
join the poetry bizarre

in line at Starbucks
Midnight Butterfly taps
me on the shoulder
a poem pops in my mind
steams off in a coffee cloud

some say
Midnight Butterfly is just
a metaphor
muse in an old photograph
your smokey absinth dreams

wish I could paint
chiaroscuro lightning like
Midnight Butterfly
Joan Jet & Black Hearts
silver studs leather jackets

that carousel
my childhood in hyper-drive
a gold ring quest
chasing Midnight Butterfly
on glossy white horses
into the blue distant sea

Carole Johnston lives and writes in Lexington, Kentucky, USA, although she is from “nowhere zen.”

moored in a cove
the stars above
the stars

Meik Blöttenberger was born in Baltimore to German immigrant parents. He is currently living in Hanover, Pennsylvania and in a decade will be retiring to the high desert of Arizona. His other passions are photography and traveling.

birding . . .
he shushes
the cicadas

outdoor diner
joined by a party
of sparrows

brush marks
in wet paint
the cat’s tail

falling barn—
unhurried
the drooping roof

starlings
in the chicken house
thieving feed

Ed Higgins’ tanka, haiku, and haibun have been published in various print and online journals. He and his wife live on a small farm in Yamhill, OR. where they raise a menagerie of animals including a pair of Bourbon Red turkeys (King Strut and Nefra-Turkey) and an alpaca named Machu-Picchu.

AT THE BUS STOP

guy next to me
is making earthquake noises,
cracking open the earth,
toppling buildings
with a jerk of his tongue
across the roof of his gums

I hold on thankfully
to poles that do not totter,
stand on a sidewalk
that doesn’t crack,
below a sky that does not fall

so how come he knows
what kind of day I’ve had?

John Grey is an Australian poet, US resident. Recently published in New Plains Review, Big Muddy and Sanskrit with work upcoming in South Carolina Review, Gargoyle, Owen Wister Review and Louisiana Literature.

transformers
covered in morning glories
electric blues

rice cakes
that even geese won’t eat
your lies

Scott Wiggerman is the author of three books of poetry, Leaf and Beak: Sonnets, Presence, and Vegetables and Other Relationships; and the editor of several volumes, includingWingbeats: Exercises & Practice in Poetry, Lifting the Sky: Southwestern Haiku & Haiga, and the new Wingbeats II. Recent poems have appeared in Decades Review, Frogpond, Pinyon Review,Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review, and the anthologies This Assignment Is So Gay and Forgetting Home: Poems about Alzheimer’s. He is chief editor for Dos Gatos Press, now of Albuquerque, New Mexico.

WHEN LOVE IS NOT ENOUGH

would it help
to get naked
but for a welder’s
helmet

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

the road that goes to Philadelphia
a modern haiku

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

nightjar
shadow of birdsong
evaporated dreams

the prerecorded blue
sounds of the morning
crow

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.

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.