hedgerow #33

Posted on June 12, 2015 by Caroline Skanne

welcome to #33 of hedgerow, bringing you eleven different poets & artists. as always, a big thank you to readers & contributors alike!

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

with love & kindness.

an empty page
in the old typewriter —
new moon

gray shadows —
the soft landing
of a puma

midnight walk —
cherry blossoms shuffle
the silence

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 Kumquat Poetry, among others.

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.

When the Dam Won’t Break

Sometimes the dam won’t break
Sometimes the breath holding
  becomes so automatic, lungs
  won’t expand and the oxygen
  in your pores becomes painful

Sometimes the clock won’t tick
Sometimes the unrest stops
  your soul from unfolding
  the heart beats without pumping
  your blood, leaving fingers cold

Sometimes one listen isn’t enough
Sometimes the song mustn’t end
  the music has more love to give
  your ears opening to the sound
  makes you weep silently

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.

The story
settles down
for a ride
in the story.

Kim Peter Kovac lives in Alexandria, VA, USA, where he produces plays for young audiences and writes poetry, prose poetry, creative non-fiction, haiku, haibun, and microfiction.

Try to catch the wind.
Count the ripples in the sea.
Become a child again.

Joan McNerney’s poetry has been included in numerous literary magazines and anthologies such as Camel Saloon, Seven Circle Press, Dinner with the Muse, Blueline, Missing of the Birds, the Bright Hills Press, Kind of A Hurricane Press and Poppy Road Review. She has been nominated three times for Best of the Net. Poet and Geek recognized her work as their best poem of 2013. Four of her books have been published by fine small literary presses.

another morning another crack in the ceiling

daydreaming about a garden I can daydream in

solitary day alone with the house plants

from my afternoon bed eavesdropping on 3 crows

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

UNTITLED

In those dreams

You’re out beyond
The shoreline and you’ve
Been there for some time.
You’ve forgotten,
Standing on an outcrop,
That the tide’s been coming in
All the while.

You’ve been
Absorbed in watching some fish
Moving, just below the surface,
Turning in fluid movements with
Their tails swaying back and forth in
Water gravity with buoyance as
Undertow, undertow as buoyance.

Suddenly
You realize the sea has surrounded,
If not engulfed, you with nothing
Left in sight but the shore off in the
Distance and a few rough rocks
Jutting out of the tidal waters
Like a ragged line of stepping stones:
Running down one side
With an occasional anchor sticking
Out of the water, close to shore, with
Their unique rusted surfaces intact.

That’s right, an archipelago of random rocks
And then one anchor after another.
What does it mean?

Who is it?

James Mc Elroy, a native of Belfast, currently teaches at the University of California, Davis. His articles and reviews have appeared in The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times. Recent poetry publications include pieces in Vox Poetica, The Boston Poetry Magazine, and Literature Today.

purple sky
movements beneath moles holes
what the stray cat knows

after rains—
blue jay jive in the bird bath
cumulus clouds

August eve
long green sunlight
creeps along the grass

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

Meditation

This is time to pause—
and witness rainbows learn to fly.

Kevin Heaton is originally from Kansas and Oklahoma, and now lives and writes in South Carolina. His work has appeared in a number of publications including: Guernica, Rattle, Slice Magazine, Beloit Poetry Journal, The Adroit Journal, and Verse Daily. He is a Best of the Net, Best New Poets, and three-time Pushcart Prize nominee.

rain-rinsed moonlight —
one by one jasmines unfold
in my garden

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.

first star . . .
a swift’s gentle leaf-drop
into the chimney

out of the blue
one crow after another
hits the updraft

blushing sky . . .
a hummingbird waits
for the morning glory

nothing to say until the oriole sings

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

hedgerow #27

Posted on May 1, 2015 by Caroline Skanne

welcome to #27 of hedgerow, featuring ten artists & poets. please look out for the launch of poet / artist spotlight & poetry / art book reviews (see pages). thanks everyone for your lovely support. happy friday!

with love & kindness…

I’ve brought you nothing
but the sunshine in my hair
that’s more than enough

Jo Waterworth lives in Glastonbury, UK and is well known in the local poetry scene. She will be performing poetry at Priddy Folk Festival in July and Bristol Poetry Festival in September, 2015. Her pamphlet My Father Speaks in Poetry Too is published by Poetry Space, and she blogs at https://jowaterworthwriter.wordpress.com/ and https://jowaterworth23.wordpress.com/

spring reverie
pondering the language
of birds

Devin Harrison, a writer of regular poetry, recently became addicted to writing Tanka and Haiku/Senyru and has published in journals in the USA and abroad. He is an inveterate wanderer and has spent years in southeast Asia. He recently won the Akita International University President Award

David J Kelly is an ecologist, based in Dublin, Ireland, where he finds scientific and artistic inspiration in the natural world.

upstream paddle —
keeping pace
with the moon

how many untold histories written within this wind

squinting westward into the long and winding soul

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

free jazz
night winds
play the tree limbs

a jellyfish
moving closer
to the moon

the icy stream
breaks into fragments
of light

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.

Mary Kendall has been enjoying a four month stay in London where this photo was taken (St. James Park). You can find her poetry on her blog, A Poet in Time (http://apoetintime.com).

Four

It defies logic so
Beautifully, this love.

Fall my love and I will
Rake the leaves.

Let it cut deeper
love, until it flows
inside the blood.

There is no
nothing as I
sleep inside
your soul.

Charles Bane, Jr. is the American author of The Chapbook ( Curbside Splendor ) , Love Poems ( Aldrich Press) , and Three Seasons: Writing Donald Hall ( Collection of Houghton Library, Harvard University ). He created and contributes to The Meaning Of Poetry series for The Gutenberg Project, and is a current nominee as Poet Laureate of Florida.
http://charlesbanejr.com

this winter night
nostalgia takes a knife
to my heart …
long and slow
these surgical cuts

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, 2014Turtle Light Press Biennial Haiku Chapbook Competition).

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.

hedgerow #25

Posted on April 17, 2015 by Caroline Skanne

welcome to #25 of hedgerow, featuring ten different poets & artists. in this issue we celebrate the international haiku poetry day. thanks for stopping by everyone! enjoy.

with love & kindness.

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

old mare
on her back
the sun

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

spring rain
so many greens
on my palette

April picnic
every sandwich
slightly damp

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 keeps her from going insane!

leaving for London
the dawn chorus
sees me off

Thirteen Bends Road
as usual we argue
the number

war exhibition
the crawling toddler
has lost a shoe

David Serjeant lives with his young family in Derbyshire, UK. He is the current editor of Blithe Spirit, the journal of the British Haiku Society. Among other things, he enjoys art-house and foreign cinema and growing vegetables.

morning meditation…
separating the worm
from a weed’s roots

muddy puddles —
opening a new box
of watercolors

stepping into whitespace rain

the tears
collecting in his eyes
turn to sobs …
until now, I have never
let myself cry like this

Anne Curran who lives with her cat Ollie and extended family
in Hamilton, New Zealand has been writing Japanese verse forms for publication for about four years. She is a great fan of many other short verse poets.

Tea washes down these many dry hours
I haven’t spoken to a soul all day
Tonight I shall dry my throat again
Talking, talking, talking to the moon

Lightwater lives and writes on the shores of the North Sea in England. His blog can be found at hagakimoon.blogspot.co.uk.

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).

as far as my dreams can see … lily of the valley

Lolly Williams, from California, is a little magpie who collects scraps of words, phrases, images and other shiny things for her short form poetry and mixed media art. Her work can be found in various print and online publications.

hedgerow #24

Posted on April 10, 2015 by Caroline Skanne

welcome to #24 of hedgerow! a warm thank you to contributors & readers alike. if you have a look around the site, you will notice a few new additions, including book reviews & poet spotlight. exciting times.

with love & kindness.

the robin dips
below the fence
sunset

from
her
balcony
the
starlit
city

giving in
for now
low tide

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

early morning
before the alarm
the cat

A pharmacist by profession, a haiku poet by nature, Nancy Brady reads and writes, living on the coast of Lake Erie in Huron, Ohio. She has two books of poetry: Ohayo Haiku and Three Breaths.

ice ages and motel mini fridges
tumbling over the
endless mountains

first warm day . . .
leaf-shaped holes
in the ice

midway
tying the jacket
around my waist

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

plum breeze
i breathe petals
into your kiss

Grant Savage is an Ottawa, Ontario, Canada amateur poet and photographer. After the recent, long cold winter in Eastern Canada, he is increasingly being recognized as the fair weather animal he has long considered himself to be. A poetry writing, and perpetually hungry groundhog. Sleepy greetings from Ottawa!

on the shelf
Selected Poems by Chen-ou Liu
a nagging voice
at the back of my mind
says, is that all there is?

held by her words
You’re a useless poet …
I walk out,
slamming the door
behind my old self

she tells me,
I just found
a studio apartment
the eyes I love most
focus somewhere else

for a week
no one but the wind
comes to call …
the flames of self-doubt
envelop my body

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, 2014Turtle Light Press Biennial Haiku Chapbook Competition).

a touch of malice
builds in a March wind …
our enthusiasm
for cherry blossoms
begins to wane

Queen of Hearts

On our way home from dinner at our favorite Indian restaurant, Blue and I find three playing cards face-down on the sidewalk near our house. Blue turns them over, one by one, as we try to guess what’s on the other side. They are the seven of clubs, three of spades, and queen of hearts. We didn’t guess a single one right, though we both wanted to say queen of hearts but were embarrassed to be that corny. I’m superstitious and don’t want to bring the cards into the house. I hold them by their corners and carry them to the nearby mailbox, leaving them face-down on the rounded top for someone else to discover. By the next day they are gone. But later that week, coming out of a different restaurant, we see another card, the jack of clubs, face-up on the street. We step over it.

hurrying past
the fortune-teller’s window
i stumble

Zee Zahava live in Ithaca, New York and is the editor of brass bell, an online haiku journal:
http://brassbellhaiku.blogspot.com

hedgerow #23

Posted on April 3, 2015 by Caroline Skanne

welcome to #23 of hedgerow, featuring 13 different poets & artists. this first issue of April celebrates spring flowers! enjoy.

with love & kindness…

https://www.facebook.com/wildflowerpoetrypress

https://www.facebook.com/hedgerowpoems

pale and watery
in my bones
I need red flowers tonight

even here
atop the ferris wheel
honeysuckle

3 red flowers
in a teapot vase
keeping me company
when you are away

the untuned piano
flowers dying in the vase
even the mail is late —
when will you be home?

lilacs
thank you
for filling my empty spaces

first slow rain of summer
dear iris
there you are
reveling in your
luscious self
making the most of all
your moments

beside the monastery
a plastic chicken
guards baby tulips

Zee Zahava looks for flowers each morning as she walks around her neighborhood in Ithaca, New York

front step. . .
this snail delivering
a plum blossom

cherry blossom moon
my home becomes
a palace

graduation day
after the hands land
wondering what to do

Lauren Krauze writes short stories, short poems and long emails. She currently teaches and lives in New York, NY.

Repairs of the Week

That week you didn’t call
I was quite busy
plastering myself together
Shoring up the beams
Repairing the glass of an ego
That didn’t withstand the storm.
I swept up the gravel from
A rock hard heart
that remained unflinching
until now.
How unfair to the structure
To shake its foundation so.
How unfair to upend me so.
How unfair…

10 tips on writing a poem

1. Mention things by genus (which crows do you hear screaming like fog horns; which tuber in your garden is making your nose smile?).
2. Describe something as something else (the sun stings like battery acid).
3. It is helpful to mention vast expanses of hilly land with some wind slapping your hair around. Or conversely, the grittiness of your street, the dirt under your nails.
4. Bring in a few details like sights and/or tastes, but remember to describe them as something else (your hair tastes like fury).
5. Stop… Hold time in your palm. Look at it with the precision of a second-hand. Notice your smallness in the world. Or contemplate the vastness of the Milky Way.
6. What do you feel (remember… feel it as something else [your hands, like autumn kisses])? Notice and recount the details.
7. Reveal something so secret it makes others uncomfortable, and so big your priest is repenting from association.
8. Rhyme sparingly and with care. Same with alliteration.
9. Juxtaposition works well at the end.
10. Place your heart on your sleeve and send it off, then wait and wait and wait. Repeat…

Jeri Thompson resides in Long Beach, CA where she spends much quality time with herself and her Trikke (Scarlett Birdie) riding along the beach bike/Trikke path. Nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2014, she is soon to appear in Pearl Magazine. Also find her in Silver, Green and Summer Anthologies from Silver Birch Press, and online at Cadence Collective, Bukowski on Wry, Cactifur and Carnival Literature Magazine (Vol. 4). CSULB grad, studied with professors G. Locklin, E. Fried, R. Lee and R. Zapeda. LBC resident since 1993.

the potato seeds begin to sprout space station

The Force

(After Dylan Thomas)

This tiny, nondescript, lavender flower,
growing in a crack in the sidewalk–

a divine explosion of cells–

has a power greater
than that of two spiral galaxies colliding
in space–

and you
share in that power.

George Young is a retired physician living in Boulder, Colorado, USA. He has published four books of poetry and has recently become engrossed in writing short, eight-lined poems.

her bookmark
divides The Art of Love —
living apart

moving day …
in her throwaway pile
my first chapbook

snow angel —
the touch of her lips
cold in my memory

Joann Grisetti writes poetry and short stories. She lives in Florida with her husband and two sons. Joann loves travel and reading.

delicate
in her spring dress
of purple…
oh my, myrtle I say
where is this frock in winter?

Pat Geyer lives in East Brunswick, NJ, USA. Her home is surrounded by the parks and lakes where she finds her inspiration in Nature. Published in several journals, she is an amateur photographer and poet.

they look like snowflakes…
pear tree blossoms falling
past my window

Ed Bremson is retired, but he hopes he never retires from being a poet, just as he hopes he never fails to enjoy the pleasures of Spring.

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

each story
sparks to the surface
in spurts
most of the time
I’m just living

Kat Lehmann (@SongsOfKat) lives in Connecticut, USA by the river where she writes. Her first book of free verse poetry, Moon Full of Moons (Peaceful Daily, 2015), was published in February 2015 http://peacefuldaily.com/page/books.

hedgerow #22

Posted on March 27, 2015 by Caroline Skanne

welcome to hedgerow #22, featuring eleven different poets and artists. the next issue will be dedicated to spring flowers. send in your your work in time! and, if you haven’t done so already, please have peek at the links below.

with love & kindness…

https://www.facebook.com/wildflowerpoetrypress

https://www.facebook.com/hedgerowpoems

Cardinal and I
eat sour cherries off the backyard tree
at dusk.
“you’re molting”, I say.
and he tells me how he can change
become even brighter
while staying completely true
to his very
nature.

Stacey Crawford Murphy is happiest when her thoughts are clear, short and haiku shaped, but living in Ithaca, NY helps too.

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.
https://finishinglinepress.com/product_info.php?products_id=2211

winter’s end
hearing the stream
sing again

back from the vets
opening the car boot
to silence

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 keeps her from going insane!

“Fresh ink?”
“Yeah, the souvenir of my trip,” the youth said,
  with a shy smile.
“Very nice, truly cool.” I meant it
   (although tattoos are not my thing).
Yet both of us have been ritually marked
  –whether obvious or not,
  by experiences in
the land of the Maori.

A pharmacist by profession, a haiku poet by nature, Nancy Brady reads and writes, living on the coast of Lake Erie in Huron, Ohio.

mid-fight
our dog
sighs

in the steam
on the window
a freshly-drawn sun
drips

Lauren Krauze writes short stories, short poems and long emails. She currently teaches and lives in New York, NY. Discover more of Lauren’s writing at http://www.laurenkrauze.com.

insomnia —
trying to read
grandmother’s bible
in a foreign tongue

Julie Bloss Kelsey’s favorite thing about spring is the emergence of frogs, especially the spring peepers that frequent her back yard. @MamaJoules on Twitter

The Color of Night

Behind the closed doors of my childhood
I have lived my life.
In my room, a separate
Compartment of safety and solitude
From a stormy combination of chemicals,
A bubbling brew called “father.”
Struggling against the rip
Drowning in his tides of darkness,
I fought to stay afloat
Learning comfort comes from solitude.

I walk away too easily, tossing people in my wake,
“It is less trouble to be alone” I repeat.
I fill my days with events and errands,
My nights with marijuana and TV shows I’ve already seen
Attempting to fill an empty space, a birthing place,
A universe filled with my father’s indifference.
I crave what I have no roadmap for
And I search without knowing north.
Am I lost if I don’t know my terrain?

Loneliness is just a frame of mind
A filter to look through
A decision made unconsciously
A badge, a lost battle.
It doesn’t need to define my daylight,
Because it colors my night.

Exsanguination

When he said, “You shine so bright. I am lucky to know you.”
I believed him.
When he said, “You make me want to be a better man,”
I believed that, too.

Then he continued to date
Other women. He liked to talk about them… and
How much better, smarter, prettier, sexier I was,
(Soon I will be the chosen one, I thought).

While I have never received a fist in the face like her,
I am still my mother’s daughter.
I can take a squared off punch in the gut like a heavyweight,
Expecting it to be the last. It never is.

Then, the tipping point…
That place where I stand upright again, finally.
There is no rush of blood to my head.
Only the anemic dizziness of a woman
All bled out.

a sea of blue uniforms
under the New York sun
a black man
holding up a placard
that reads I can’t breathe

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, 2014Turtle Light Press Biennial Haiku Chapbook Competition).

Enlightenment

is not a state, it’s a winged thing.

Swimming in our ocean, gasping for breath,
battered by waves,

we do occasionally

look up,
see the blue sky, feel the sun on our faces,

glimpse it for a moment–
serene, flying.

George Young is a retired physician living in Boulder, Colorado, USA. He has published four books of poetry and has recently become engrossed in writing short, eight-lined poems.

turtle path she found her way home

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

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

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

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.