hedgerow #128 (the summer issue) is finally out! Thanks to contributors & readers alike. I look forward to reading your work for the upcoming autumn issue (submissions accepted on a rolling basis).
The summer issue can be purchased here, or from Amazon.
kindly,
Caroline Skanne
ed.
New work is added to the under 16s spot on a rolling basis—read it here!
ps Don’t forget to send in your submissions for the summer issue of hedgerow (#128).
all best,
Caroline Skanne
(Editor)
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
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
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
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.
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
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).
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.
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
.
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.
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
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!
market plaza
the sheen of pigeons
in sunshine
.
my father’s walk
increasingly apparent
in mine
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.
soaking in shade four hundred years old
.
playing hopscotch
with a cherry pit . . .
the crow’s strut
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
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
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.
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.
hedgerow: a journal of small poems 