#102

Posted on January 20, 2017 by Caroline Skanne

welcome to #102 of hedgerow. as always, grateful to readers & contributors alike!

this week features work by Larry Kimmel, Debbie Strange, Deborah P Kolodji, Dietmar Tauchner, Joy McCall, Rachel Sutcliffe, Zee Zahava, Christina Sng, Chen-ou Liu, Julie Warther, Elmedin Kadric, Anna Cates, Maria Laura Valente, Michael Rehling & Ron C. Moss.

to enjoy this issue click on the link below…

hedgerow-102

with love & kindness,

Caroline Skanne,
founding editor

if you wish to purchase the print edition of hedgerow #100, you can do so here —

https://wildflowerpoetrypress.wordpress.com/

#101

Posted on January 13, 2017 by Caroline Skanne

welcome to #101 of hedgerow. it’s good to be back! following the success of the print edition of hedgerow #100, it has been decided that hedgerow will be available as a print edition 4 times a year, beginning with spring. thanks to everyone who purchased ‘hedgerow #100’. if you haven’t yet, simply click on the link below —

https://wildflowerpoetrypress.wordpress.com/2016/12/18/new-title-hedgerow-100/

this week features work by Dietmar Tauchner, Chase Gagnon, David Serjeant, Robert Epstein, Joy McCall, Marta Chocilowska, Michael Rehling, Larry Kimmel, David He Zhuanglang, Louise Hopewell, Tony Burfield, Lynn Edge, Maeve O’Sullivan & Ben Moeller-Gaa.

enjoy #101 by clicking on the pdf link below, thank you!

hedgerow-101-edited-by-caroline-skanne

with love & kindness,

Caroline Skanne,
founding editor

#99

Posted on December 9, 2016 by Caroline Skanne

welcome to #99 of hedgerow.

this week features work by Chad Lee Robinson, Robert Epstein, Christina Martin, Mary Kendall & R.D. Kendall, Mary Jo Balistreri, Alan Summers, Mike Rehling, Chen-ou Liu, Jan Benson, Ken Slaughter, Louise Hopewell, Pat Davis, Julie Warther, Zee Zahava, Fred Andrle, Mike Gallagher, Billy Antonio & Elizabeth McMunn-Tetangco.

please note that submissions to hedgerow are now closed. there will be an announcement on our fb page once we open for submissions in the new year.

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

please also note that bios are no longer included in the journal. if you have a new book out or other important news you wish to share, do ask & we might make an exception.

to enjoy this week’s bumper issue, click on the link below!

hedgerow-99-edited-by-caroline-skanne

with love & kindness

caroline skanne,
founding editor

#86

Posted on July 15, 2016 by Caroline Skanne

welcome to the last issue of hedgerow before the summer break. as always, grateful to contributors & readers alike. happy summer everyone!

please note —

submissions are now closed. you will be notified once submissions reopen, on our facebook page below. something special prepared for the first issue back… stay tuned!

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

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

with love & kindness,

caroline skanne
founding editor

sandbox castles
toddlers choose
not to wage war

boxed up
the weight
of my childhood

peeling apples
not a word about
their sweetness

Elmedin Kadric was born in Novi Pazar, Serbia, but writes out of Helsingborg, Sweden. A student of both longer and shorter forms of poetry, and an avid observer of everything else.

a nodule
appears on the trunk
of a healthy tree …
the touch of her hand
up and down his back

saying nothing
we walk hand in hand …
silence stolen
by the crunch of footsteps
on a frost-covered trail

Susan Constable lives on the west coast of Canada, where she’s been writing haiku and tanka for the past ten years. She was the tanka editor from 2012-2016 for the online journal, A Hundred Gourds.

no longer sure
of who I am
shifting sands

insomnia
looking into the darkness
of time

Rachel Sutcliffe, from Yorkshire, UK, has suffered from a serious immune disorder for the past 15 years, throughout this time writing has been her therapy, it’s what keeps her from going insane!

heron pose how flexible the bending river

Elizabeth Alford is a magna cum laude graduate of California State University, East Bay (B.A. English, 2014). She currently lives in Hayward, California, is an amateur photographer, and spends most of her time writing Japanese short forms. Follow her poetry adventures @ http://www.facebook.com/ElizabethAlfordPoetry

Subhashini is a poet, artist and gardener. Her poetry book, “From the Anklets of a Homemaker” was published in 2013. She posts her art on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook as @neelavanam which means the “blue sky.” http://bluesky-gardenart.tumblr.com

My new jade Buddha
Small enough for my pocket
Big enough for luck

Stacey Crawford Murphy likes having short thoughts, especially when they turn into poems. She enjoys life in Ithaca NY with family and most of her other favorite people.

a bit rusty squeak of his grandkids swinging

community yardsale
the clutter
we’ve kept inside

freezing moon
a caged dog’s howl
lets out all i’ve repressed

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

my tongue tastes
the saltiness of you
this need I have
for water
when you are gone

Lynda Monahan is a Canadian poet living in the Nesbit Forest of north central Saskatchewan. She is the author of three poetry collections. Her latest book, Verge, was published in spring of 2015.

Taste of Summer

fever point
the taste of summer
twilight

ghost peppers hanging
in crowded clusters

food trucks
at the farmers’ market
so many recipes using kale

community garden –
the tomato worm eats
more than his share

the toddler’s first radish –
puckering up

expanding horizons –
she brings home
a vegan

Angela Terry (Washington) and Julie Warther (Ohio) met at a Haiku North America Conference five years ago where they attended a workshop on writing rengay, a six verse collaborative poem. They’ve been writing together via email ever since. Both are regional coordinators for the Haiku Society of America (hsa-haiku.org)

summer dinner
after the last guest
feet on table

Aparna Pathak is freelance writer from Gurugram, India.

shifting shadows
of oak leaves in the wind
– the bog turtle’s eyes

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.

summer rain
finally I am all
cried out

white lilies
the empty pet bed
in the corner

desert rain
our footprints
washed away

Christina Sng writes haiku to immerse in nature amid life in the city. She finds joy in gardening, birdsong, and sakura tea. Find her at christinasng.com.

For nearly thirty years Rick Daddario of 19 Planets has lived on a rock in the middle of the Pacific Pond—Kailua, Oahu Hawaii USA. As a visual artist he plays with words in Haiku and Related Forms.

http://rickdaddario.com
http://19planets.wordpress.com/
http://www.blurb.com/books/3879621-this-is-not-that-they-are-just-connected

#84

Posted on July 1, 2016 by Caroline Skanne

welcome to #84 of hedgerow. this week features haiga & photographs by Chase Gagnon. grateful to contributors & readers alike, thank you all for being here… enjoy!

please note —

submissions are now closed, as hedgerow is taking a summer break after #86 (15th July). you will be notified once submissions reopen, on our facebook page below.

http://www.facebook.com/hedgerowpoems/

http://www.facebook.com/wildflowerpoetrypress/

with love & kindness,

caroline skanne
founding editor

tuning the fiddle
to the guitar
on an iphone

rising
with the delta kite
my inner child’s laughter

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). Learn more about Ben at www.benmoellergaa.com.

wet leaves –
memory of “Wildwood Flower”
on Dad’s harmonica

A classical musician and public radio broadcaster, producer, and blogger, Jennifer Hambrick lives in Columbus, Ohio, USA. Visit her on Facebook, or on Twitter at @JenHambrick.

Dawn

Blind since birth,
the old man says
he’s seen thirty
thousand sunrises.

They were described to him
far better than folklore
by peals of birdsong
through his open window.

Ben Banyard lives in Portishead, UK. His debut pamphlet, Communing, was published by Indigo Dreams in February 2016. Ben edits Clear Poetry, a web journal dedicated to promoting accessible work by newcomers and old hands alike – https://clearpoetry.wordpress.com. Blog: https://benbanyard.wordpress.com

finding
that space within…
deep rock pool

seaweed
spills a hand
over rock
green threads on
dry reds

Christina Martin has always enjoyed writing and is inspired by nature and the beautiful surroundings of Pembrokeshire in West Wales where she lives with her husband.

Chase Gagnon is an amateur photographer and poet living in Detroit, Michigan who enjoys long walks on the streets taking pictures of people and urban scenery.

the scent
of burning sage
the sound
of low slow blues
– logs on the fire

I decide
to plant my grave
before I die
buttercups, cow parsley
forget-me-nots

walking around
in the long grass
at end of day
the circle
completes itself

sitting quietly
in the meadow
watching
small field mice
gathering seeds

After decades of living in the States and Canada, Joy McCall now lives in her birthplace of Norwich, England, growing older but not much wiser.

notes of
a meadow’s song
down the page
cabbage whites

Julie Warther (@JulieWarther) lives in Ohio and serves as Midwest Regional Coordinator for the Haiku Society of America. (http://www.hsa-haiku.org)

what keeps me here
in this place I don’t belong?
rolling green hills
endless wild flower sky
solitude of country roads

four a.m.
owl at the window rattles
me awake
is this a warning or
a call to adventure?

Carole Johnston lives in her imagination most of the time, but sometimes, she lives in Lexington,Kentucky. She writes short poems every day and has published two books of poetry: “Journeys-Getting Lost” and “Manic Dawn.”

night train
a whistle sounds
from the toy box

prairie sky
the wide view
of childhood

Dave Read is a Canadian poet. His work can be found on his blog, davereadpoetry.blogspot.ca.

#82

Posted on June 17, 2016 by Caroline Skanne

welcome to #82 of hedgerow. thrilled to announce the launch of the latest wildflower poetry press title — ‘between here and home a lifetime’ by Mike Keville. for further information, the link below will take you to wildflower poetry press.

this week features artwork by resident artist Debbie Strange. as always, grateful to contributors & readers alike.

with love & kindness,

caroline skanne
founding editor

https://wildflowerpoetrypress.wordpress.com/current-titles/

SONY DSC

ocean stars
the sound
of no shore

Paul Chambers is a haiku author from Newport, South Wales. His work can be viewed at www.paulchambershaiku.com

In the Hills.jpg

passing clouds
the silence of shadows
between us

another year gone
your mug
on the shelf

Midnight Sun.jpg

200 miles . . .
this plum blossom
on my windshield

Julie Warther (@JulieWarther) lives in Dover, Ohio and serves as Midwest Regional Coordinator for the Haiku Society of America. (www.hsa-haiku.org)

chrysanthemums —
flower girl tells me
the price has jumped

Emmanuel Jessie Kalusian is a young haijin from Nigeria. He began writing haiku in 2012. He is the co-founder of Africa Haiku Network.

gardenias…
my hands filling
with yours

Elizabeth Alford is a magna cum laude graduate of California State University, East Bay (B.A. English, 2014). She lives in Hayward, California and co-hosts the reading group Poetry Express, based in Berkeley. http://www.facebook.com/ElizabethAlfordPoetry

lightning streaks
our paradise
cracked open

Alegria Imperial, writes all forms of Japanese short poetry, as well as, mainstream poetry. She lives in Vancouver, BC, Canada, where she immigrated from Manila, Philippines, ten years ago.

the sweater.jpg

declining
the wedding invitation–
chipped conch shell

in the midst of darkness a resurrection fern

buttercups
the gentle grip of
childhood hands

between friends the swoop of a swallow

cold rain
a robin
robes its wings

eye of dawn please don’t airbrush

bad mood
a thunderstorm nears
the rapeseed field

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.

You Made Me.jpg

the art in this issue was brought to you by Debbie Strange —

https://hedgerowpoems.wordpress.com/poet-artist-in-conversation/

http://www.debbiemstrange.blogspot.ca/

publication credits —

the poems by Debbie Strange have previously appeared here —

in the hills & midnight sun – cattails, May 2016

the sweater – Undertow Tanka Review, Issue 7, 2015

you made me – The Bamboo Hut, Volume 2, Issue 1, 2014

#81

Posted on June 10, 2016 by Caroline Skanne

welcome to #81 of hedgerow! this week features collages by J.I. Kleinberg. as always, grateful to contributors & readers alike. enjoy…

with love & kindness,

caroline skanne
founding editor

the candle and i
neither of us
in a hurry

the silence of the chair
before she arrives
to claim it

Zee Zahava lives in Ithaca, New York

under the cedar tree
he reads Rumi to his love
while overhead
a lone goose flies
crying for his mate

tall grasses
moving slow
in the wind
he says a benediction
under the ancient oak

she climbs
thirsty and tired
and finds again
the spring
rising from the rock

After decades of living in the States and Canada, Joy McCall now lives in her birthplace of Norwich, England, growing older but not much wiser.

J.I. Kleinberg - NOW is NOW.jpg

deep breath
my poem
my own

Margaret Jones resides in Wisconsin, USA. She enjoys walking in the woods, binoculars in one hand and haiku notebook in the other.

face to face …
the inquisitive hover
of a bumblebee

Julie Bloss Kelsey lives in Germantown, Maryland with her husband and three children. She enjoys writing short form poetry, crafting, and drinking decaf iced lattes. Visit her on Twitter (@MamaJoules).

J.I. Kleinberg - struck by sap.jpg

we’d hide and seek
he’d stop and call “Gramma?”
… memories of little boy smiles
on the lips
of summer days

Nancy Cross Dunham lives in Madison, Wisconsin, with her husband, Michael. Retired from the University of Wisconsin, she now writes poetry to try to figure out what she’s learned about herself, the world and the other people in it.

Sartor

It’s hard to be sophisticated when depressed,
cufflinks, like top buttons, are a major challenge,
shoe-laces resist residual logic, only on
cruises are partings as wavy as mine,
eye contact is the least of worries when there’s
the heavy shab of my shoulders to take in,
the tumbleweed beard, trousers that might be pajamas,
yesterday’s shirt today, little bursts of aesthetic mayhem
heralding divestment from the self.

A former British diplomat, Daniel Roy Connelly has worked around the globe. He has acted in and directed theatre in America, the UK, Italy and China, where his 2009 production of David Henry Hwang’s M Butterfly was forced to close by the Chinese secret police. He is a professor of creative writing, English and theatre at John Cabot University and The American University of Rome.

BLUE NOTE

the blue note
lingers
shaping the darkness
of another night
without you

the cold wind
sings
she’s gone
she’s gone
she’s gone *

piled high
in this valley
of sorrow
broken promises
empty dreams

* ‘she’s gone’ is a blues song by Hound Dog Taylor

Paul Smith is a poet from Worcester in the UK. Alongside poetry Paul enjoys Japanese style ink painting, building cigar box guitars and playing old time blues.

J.I. Kleinberg - within the eagle.jpg

the collages in this issue was brought to you by J.I. Kleinberg —

Bellingham, Washington, freelance writer, artist and poet J.I. Kleinberg works and plays with words. Her found-word collages, from a growing series of over 1,100, explore the accidental syntax of unintentional phrases. She doesn’t own a television and spends a lot of time tearing paper.

#80

Posted on June 3, 2016 by Caroline Skanne

welcome to #80 of hedgerow. as always, grateful to contributors & readers alike! thanks for making this a beautiful place. enjoy…

with love & kindness,

caroline skanne
founding editor

sunlight sifts through summer maples a trail of emerald beetles

stones sizzle
in the sun
a rattlesnake sheds its skin

Mary Jo Balistreri has been writing haiku and haibun for two years. She finds it makes her more aware of what’s right under her nose, and sometimes it is astonishing to think she might have missed it had it not been for haiku. It helps slow things down and brings her to a peaceful place. It is becoming a way of living. Her website is maryjobalistreripoet.com

sudden storm1

summer’s end
the strawberry jar
overgrown with grass

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.

the silence of wind
before the rain
after the rain

3 months since i walked this path
nothing has changed
except me

last night
impossible to sleep
the moon in my bedroom

Zee Zahava lives in Ithaca, New York

breeze Nika_McKinniss.jpg

corpse pose
my restless world
fades away

poems by Nika is the pen name of Jim Force. He has published two chapbooks: frogs singing (1993) and snail my friend (2015). Nika lives in Victoria, BC, Canada where he writes with The Heron’s Quill. He is a member of Haiku Arbutus as well as Haiku Canada.

photo by Jim McKinnis is a retired mathematician and software engineer. He has an eclectic interest in image making. His current and past photographic projects include the horses of the Badlands in South Dakota, the homeless of Los Angeles, cemeteries in Italy and the Mask Festival in Venice. Jim lives in Orcutt, California, USA. http://www.jimmckinnissphotography.com

sparring
to become
a butterfly

Elmedin Kadric was born in Novi Pazar, Serbia, but writes out of Helsingborg, Sweden. A student of both longer and shorter forms of poetry, and an avid observer of everything else.

autumn breeze
for a moment
we forget our anger

weathered crow
finding light
after the war

Christina Sng writes haiku to immerse herself in nature while living in the city. She finds joy in gardening, birdsong, and sakura tea. Find her at christinasng.com.

late night storm.jpeg

Pris Campbell, of West Palm Beach, FL, U.S. , writes both short forms and free verse. A former Clinical Psychologist and avid sailer, she was sidelined by ME/CFS in 1990 and now leads a far quieter life.

painted clouds . . .
the pause before
answering “fine”

Julie Warther (@JulieWarther) serves as Midwest Regional Coordinator for the Haiku Society of America. (www.hsa-haiku.org)

his shop empty
still the barber’s pole
turning, turning

Jackson D. Smith is a homemaker and writer from Chicago, Illinois, USA. He is a grateful transplant recipient who started writing to cope while waiting for a new heart to become available.

Rosemary's rocks_AQ.jpeg

Marietta Jane McGregor is a Canberra-based botanist and journalist who has pursued varied careers in research and science communication at Australian universities and the CSIRO. Having spent much of her life trying to explain things, Marietta now tries to let them explain themselves, through haiku. A Tasmanian friend who studied botany with Marietta, Rosemary Roth, took the original photograph on a bush walk. Rosemary also lives in Canberra. Now retired, she spends many happy hours exploring the nearby hills and engaging with the natural world.

#79

Posted on May 27, 2016 by Caroline Skanne

welcome to #79 of hedgerow. this week features artwork by Debbie Strange. as always grateful to contributors & readers alike, thank you all for being here.

with love & kindness,

caroline skanne
founding editor

noonday heat
boys building dams
in the stream

climbing up
to my old treehouse
the milky way

Stephen Toft is a poet and homelessness worker who lives in Lancaster, UK with his girlfriend and their children. In 2008 red moon press published his collection, the kissing bridge.

The Bickering.jpg

my mind’s extremes . . .
hailstones ping
through the pine

open window
the promise
of purple clover

crossroads —
a spider web spans
both signs

Julie Warther (@JulieWarther) serves as Midwest Regional Coordinator for the Haiku Society of America. (http://www.hsa-haiku.org)

this amulet.jpg

unfaithful
all the lies she
tells herself

her double vision-
what is &
what could’ve been

Debbi Antebi (@debbisland) exhales oxygen while writing poems. She lives in Istanbul, Turkey, with her husband and books.

Dark-eyed Junco.jpg

positive

statistically
there are poets
probably many
writing this poem
in other universes

chances are
one of them
will get it right

beyond Mars, a comet sings
how did the nightjar
learn its song?

Simon Williams has six published collections. He latest pamphlet, Spotting Capybaras in the Work of Mac Chagall http://www.indigodreams.co.uk/simon-williams/4592093628, launched in April and his next full collection, Inti, will be out later this year. Simon was elected The Bard of Exeter in 2013 and founded the large-format magazine, The Broadsheet. He makes a living as a journalist.

Sun Catcher.jpg

windswept trees
the empty spaces
inside my heart

spring reduced
to hothouse flowers
… knee surgery

low-lying stratus —
suppressing
the urge to cry

there’s a
tap-tap-tap of rain
on the water bowl
and the slow night train
goes rumbling by

I keep
everything simple
around me
because in my heart
the river runs full

After decades of living in the States and Canada, Joy McCall now lives in her birthplace of Norwich, England, growing older but not much wiser.

Gulls nesting.jpg

the art in this issue was brought to you by Debbie Strange, you can read more about her here — https://hedgerowpoems.wordpress.com/poet-artist-in-conversation/

publication credits —

the bickering – Eucalypt 19, 2015

this amulet – Bright Stars 7 Tanka Anthology, 2014

dark-eyed junco – Frameless Sky 3, 2015

sun catcher – Kokako 23, 2015

gulls nesting – Undertow Tanka Review 7, Honourable Mention, First Annual Tanka Competition, 2015

#77

Posted on May 13, 2016 by Caroline Skanne

welcome to #77 of hedgerow. this week features artwork by Anna & Chris Maris. as always, grateful to contributors & readers alike, thanks for making this a beautiful place.

with love & kindness,

caroline skanne
founding editor

graveyard chill her warm tears

the passing years
how water ripples
over stones

Starting Up the Trellis

seed catalog
finding a name
for the baby

sweet pea
just starting up the trellis

first mowing
he takes down
the killer mushrooms

morning headline
birdsong overpowered
by hyacinths

dogwood blooms
tidal wave of missing you

tiny cracking sound
in the forsythia
a nest of blue eggs

Phyllis Lee and Julie Warther, both of Ohio, met through a mutual poet friend years ago and have been writing together ever since. In their collaborative poems, it is sometimes difficult to tell who is who.

barn cat scuffle
beside the open door
a pail of pea pods

Anna Cates is an award-winning short form poet and writer who lives in Ohio with her two cats and teaches English and education online.

evening music
don’t know why
the old dog grins

after the rains
blood red
roses

Perry L. Powell lives in College Park, Georgia, USA, and works as a systems analyst. He writes various forms of poetry out of love and loss in the evening.

feather1 (1).jpg

windmill (1).jpg

naked branches (1).jpg

Anna and Chris Maris have been married for 23 years. Chris is a British director of photography who also enjoys stills photography and Anna is an award-winning haiku poet. This is their first haiga collaboration, a result of a ginko in Svarte, on the south coast of Sweden, which they embarked on together earlier this spring.

hanami
the brief comfort
of being in your arms

red ixoras
grandma sipping brandy
drifting in the stars

Christina Sng is a poet, writer, and artist. Visit her online at christinasng.com.

dark dreams
have haunted the night
sunrise
and a frog croaks
and all is well

wild thyme
and oregano
for the spell
I stop praying
enchanted by the scent

while I slept
a woman cried
and a bluesman
played guitar
‘all through the night’

Joy McCall lives in Norwich, England, growing older but not much wiser. Most of her books are available on Amazon.

Endless Sky
for Joy McCall

a tiny fish
struggling against the tide
of night
come let me wipe
your tears away

hold on
to something
anything
the birds will sing
again at dawn

endless sky —
tell me
what else
could
true love be

Paul Smith is a poet from Worcester in the UK. Alongside poetry Paul enjoys Japanese style ink painting, building cigar box guitars and playing old time blues.

hedgerow: a journal of small poems

Tag Archives: small poems

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