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

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/

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 #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.

update — friday launch spectacular!

Posted on September 24, 2014 by Caroline Skanne

this coming FRIDAY will see the LAUNCH of the first issue of hedgerow, featuring work from 14 different poets. you will find free verse, micropoetry, tanka, haiku, haiga & more. excited about a most SPECTACULAR line up…