Featured Poet – Laurie D. Morrissey
all the stars
I can swallow —
night swimming
berry-picking…
leaving some for the birds
that left some for me
not holding on
too tightly —
cherry blossoms
false pregnancy
two hands
around the mug
winter light
the permanence
of longing
Laurie D. Morrissey lives in New Hampshire, where she writes poetry, essays, and nonfiction articles and serves as the poetry editor of Appalachia Journal. She begins every day immersed in haiku, next to either the wood stove or the lakeshore, depending on the season. Her published collections are a dream of owls, the slant of april snow, and all the stars i can swallow, published by Red Moon Press.
the wind
spins a plastic bottle
sunset on the lake
– Bruce Kennedy
summer rain —
leaping up to meet it
the old pond
– Sandra Simpson
dark and light
the wishes in her jar
of origami stars
– Kathabela Wilson
raindrops
in the willow oak
thumbnail moons
– Kathryn Liebowitz
last breath
a cloud closes in
on itself
– John Hawkhead
smoky quartz
what her eyes try
to hide
– Valentina Ranaldi-Adams
crescent moon
one button
undone
– Tom Bierovic
night jasmine
he claims my scent
without consent
– Vandana Parashar
distant coyotes
my back to the moon
to undress
– Kristen Lindquist
slide guitar blues
the way the bottleneck
kisses my lips
– John Hawkhead
green pastels
I draw myself
into spring
– Kelly Sargent
first crocuses
Monopoly
back in its box
– Scott Mason
fluttering
with the cherry blossom
a white butterfly
– Erica Ison
vernal equinox
a white camellia
in the snow
– Sondra J. Byrnes
spring moon
pink frosting
on the berries
– Joanna Ashwell
my small flashlight
signals Orion
….. .-.. .-.. – – –
– Lee Hudspeth
the tip
of a leveret’s tongue …
school recess
– Debbie Strange
summer fun
running the length
of a crinkle crankle wall
– Tony Williams
carnival ride
the thrill of being
”this tall”
– Millicent Bee
spring song
the first warble
of the ice cream van
– Mark Valentine
evening primrose
an uneasy spirit
invites itself in
– Rowan Beckett Minor
early autumn
the pear’s bruise
softens first
– C.X. Turner
acting like
nothing happened
perennials
– Sharon Martin
twilight’s
purple and pewter
her bruises
– Marilyn Humbert
tornado warning
the roar
of the trees
– Ruth Holzer
swollen cherry buds —
the last
physical therapy
– Keiko Izawa
Taos pueblo
the chime of dancers’ bells
as clouds darken
– Frank Higgins
Good Friday —
the weight of the cross
around my neck
– Carmela Marino
nest of woven wool
fallen with autumn winds …
time we downsized
– Rodney Williams
Polaris
the burden
of always being right
– Julie Schwerin
midnight tea
the moon
in every sip
– Soumya Mukherjee
wind chimes
I enjoy shooting
the breeze
– Barbara Anna Gaiardoni
butterfly
on a the rocking chair
Father’s Day
– Julie Ann Lebitania
a balmy breeze
on my clothesline
mating dragonflies
– Wonja Brucker
meditating
by the old pond
a fart lifts my spirits
– Randy Brooks
street performance
the faded indigo of
a busker’s tenugui
– Keiko Izawa
summer night …
easing the top off
a pale ale
– Thomas Landgraf
ghost peppers
the wisdom to
know better
– Petra Schmidt
wharf-side pub
the square rigger plies
a dusty whisky bottle
– Matt Beck
winding road home
the curve
of a stray’s cry
– Chen-ou Liu
day’s end
trusting the votives
to their work
– Dan Schwerin
sea of tranquility
the moonlight
lapping at our feet
– Rick Jackofsky
grace note
a ladybug lands
on my arm
– Cynthia Anderson
churchyard dusk —
cypresses whispering
to headless angels
– kei andersen
bus stop
a butterfly
departs on time
– Jennifer Sutherland
wildflowers
sowing the seeds
of dissent
– C. K. Crawford
no senator’s son
a gravestone absorbs
the flag’s shadow
– Mike White
jagged pine snag
hosts a squirrel’s nest
sanctuary city
– Barbara Feehrer
plastic wrap
on a sunlit road
for a moment – ice
– Jo McInerney
No Kings protest
then
the Liberty Bell
– Christopher Patchel
love tokens
he puts a banana skin
under the roses
– Patricia Hawkhead
clock ticking —
the click-click-clicking
of her long vermillion nails
– kei andersen
wayward in the sheets
her panties and his boxers
tumble dry
– Maxianne Berger
our campfire confessions
carried away
by smoke
– Lee Hudspeth
burying my nose
in the valleys
of your lily
– Jon Petruschke
mushroom risotto
that R&B sizzle
of the chanterelles
– AJ Johnson
how it rolls
off his tongue
throuple
– Roberta Beary
day moon —
sharing a secret
with myself
– Max Breedlove
watermelon juice
running down her slice
of cleavage
– Jon Petruschke
spring fever …
honeybee drones
dying for sex
– Ann Sullivan
the space
between stars
our awkward silence
– Gavin Austin
the joy
of reading between the lines
pregnancy test
– Timothy Daly
misting all day
our meeting of the minds
still unmet
– Laurie D. Morrissey
Hersheypark
young lovers share
their first Kiss
– Monty Milne
couples therapy
we agree to make time
for making time
– thomas david
Godot
hasn’t shown up …
my 65th birthday
– Bruce Kennedy
distant whistle
the time it takes to know
it’s the train I’m on
– Kathabela Wilson
I’m here and I’m there …
playing hide-and-seek
in the quantum field
– Mark Meyer
spring cleaning
my obit edits itself
in my head
– Carolyn Hall
cold plunge
what it would take
to be an oyster
– Mary McCormack
courtroom Etch a Sketch
red lines crossed
every which way
– Caroline Giles Banks
nightly news
a pile of bones
from the branzino
– Scott Mason
the pronouns police
everyone an equal
suspect
– Mike Fainzilber
graduation —
pulling out
Of Mice and Men
– Martina Matijević
paper moon …
so much of life
is make-believe
– Angela Terry
pending divorce …
a night-heron hunches
on the neighbor’s roof
– Kristen Lindquist
cleaning house
the things she kept
bottled up
– Ian Willey
the heart emoji
never meant so much
his new stent
– John S Green
beach cottage —
the eldest unpacks
our flaws
– Roberta Beary
all rise …
the last moments
of our marriage
– Barrie Levine
muffled thunder
the crawl tracks
of a loggerhead
– Bill Cooper
continuous caws
of a flying crow —
scattered clouds
– Albert Schlaht
after the deer crossing sign
fresh shadows crossing
the road
– Gary Hotham
empty canyon
a yellow-rumped
warbler warbler warbler
– Kathryn P. Haydon
milkweed pod
sinking in the river
cricket songs
– Mark Forrester
urban woods
migrating geese briefly
drown the sirens
– M. R. Pelletier
crows’ conversation
on the fly
so like yours and mine
– Betsy Hearne
letting me know
it’s hot
dragonfly
– Al Williams
morning rush
a city crow
taking its time
– Meera Rehm
in our silence
two bluejays
bicker
– Bob Stewart
hospital visit
the mirror reflecting
my Grateful Dead t-shirt
– Mykel Board
harvest moon
the cornfield gives us
an earful
– susan burch
driving school —
he teaches me all the useful
swear words
– Denisa Hanšutová
rabbit ears
waggling the reception
in that long gone living room
– Robert Witmer
sewing studio —
Bubbie’s yarn leaves her grandson
in stiches
– Monty Milne
booster shot —
she plunges right in
to knowing me
– Sandra Simpson
sick bed
the scent of the out of doors
on my visitor’s coat
– David Watts
honeysuckle
in humid air —
surgery countdown
– Dana J. Graef
beyond the hospice window
a fire tree
in full bloom
– Alvin B. Cruz
blood test
a pause in our small talk
for the scratch
– Ben Oliver
funeral service
the forgotten names
of familiar faces
– Ravi Kiran
closing the shades
against the night sky —
sympathy card
– Joan D. Stamm
windblown daisies
the stone only says
Mother
– Nancy Orr
death poem
breathing through
the revisions
– Peter Jastermsky
spring light —
on the chair
a black dress
– Maria Concetta Conti
Good Friday
the way
water pools
– Jenny Fraser
hoarfrost
the cold shoulder
of a long highway
– Brad Bennett
white fish bones
black ants have taken
the rest home
– Randy Brooks
morning snow
the various forms
of silence
– Olivier Schopfer
spring soak woodland
a swamp gum leans into
extinction
– Louise Hopewell
desaparecido
no grave to plant
his peace lily
– Archie G. Carlos
border clash
songbirds bring in
a new morning
– Kala Ramesh
prison tattoo
he asked me
how i knew
– Jackie Chou
news of war
his first tomato
pecked by birds
– Lorraine Haig
no sooner than
the wildfire’s quench —
Resurrection Day
– Stephanie Newbern
mudlarking
for the river’s treasure
I scatter the stars
– Jared Frank
work calls
while walking the dog —
shadow of a leash
– Michael Lamb
lightning …
grandpa’s last ember stains
dad’s forehead
– Richa Sharma
broken latch —
the wind lets itself
back in
– Thomas L. Vaultonburg
spring cleaning
the pieces of
a mannequin
– Chris Meadows
four poster bed
another dream goes
for the extra point
– Scott Mason
new moon
the astral photographer
takes advantage
– Stephenie Story
body shop —
grease stains cover
the pin-up poster
– Adrian Bouter
bright city lights
the moon
an afterthought
– Christa Pandey
filling
my summer imagination
snowdrops
– Roberta Beach Jacobson
assisted living
she hangs all the seasons
in one closet
– Barrie Levine
the darkness
under grandmother’s apron
crawlspace
– Eric Sundquist
snakeskin
my new life
as an old woman
– Susan Yavaniski
river of heaven …
grandma’s story
goes on and on
– Neena Singh
memory ward
a robot companion
sings a lullaby
– Marianne Paul
traffic jam —
a child asks if birds
follow roads too
– Nicoletta Ignatti
third trimester …
a clock set
to lunar time
– Julie Schwerin
cloud shadows
how to fold
a paper crane
– MJ Mello
due date
on a library loan —
sinking sun
– Paul Millan
middle school …
the subjects
not on a report card
– Pat Davis
trail mix
i shake a chipmunk
from my backpack
– Brad Bennett
beach date
they agree it went
swimmingly
– Monty Milne
viola tricolor
bumbling the weight
of summer
– Bonnie J Scherer
summer vacation
our maid joins
the Tiktok dance
– Ibrahim Nureni
thick fog
everyone
a suspect
– Sarah E. Metzler
late spring
the faint shadow
of tulips
– Jamie Wimberly
twilight murmuration
dad sings
the war song
– Hifsa Ashraf
big birthday
I take to leaving
the landing light on
– David Gale
thawing ice
I help dad
with the crossword
– Neha Singh Soni
no one home
the river invites
itself in
– Adrian Bouter
Krzysztof Macha, Haiga
