Featured Poet – Roberta Beary
church lilies—
all the synonyms
for suicide
non binary below blue ocean eyes
funeral home
here too
she straightens his tie
just after midnight
he corrects
her auld lang syne
old cistern
the deep echo
of herstory
Roberta Beary, longtime haibun editor of the journal Modern Haiku, is a frequent haiku contest judge and anthology editor. Author of two award winning collections, The Unworn Necklace (Snapshot Press, 2007) and Deflection (Accents Publishing 2015), a third collection, Carousel, winner of the 2019 Snapshot Press Book Award, is forthcoming. They make their home in County Mayo, Ireland.
the way the world
fades in and out
wind chimes
– Angela Terry
snow geese
the sky flutters
northward
– Pat Davis
Northern Lights
the darkness
when they’re gone
– Marcus Larsson
promenade
the horizon resettling
on a wave
– Joanna Ashwell
not quite
one or the other
buds of summer
– Annie Bachini
hints of gray
in the sage leaves
my chemo hair
– Deborah P Kolodji
deepening drought …
an Ifa priest fingers
the oracle tray
– Taofeek Ayeyemi
phases of the moon
a track of white crescents
on her inner arm
– John Hawkhead
ebb tide
adding an ellipsis
to my melancholy
– Hifsa Ashraf
botanic gardens
the many varieties
of shade
– Tony Williams
pink moon
whispering to
my feminine side
– Meik Blöttenberger
by the ocean
a shell of my former self
– Ádám T. Bogár
childhood veggies—
wondering now
if I’m big and strong
– Michael Dylan Welch
admiring herself
a little girl combs
the mirror
– Vincenzo Adamo
years of being who we are
my shirt letting the rain
soak in
– Gary Hotham
each wave
swallows itself
empty shells
– Brad Bennett
night breeze
more people in the garden
than were invited
– Marcus Larsson
wrapped inside
a box inside a box
his dog tags
– Vicki Miko
two funerals
the shadow of clouds
on cut grass
– Carmela Marino
bog cotton
i find the room
to move a little
– Thomas Powell
that first bite
of the spade
earth day
– Peter Newton
face to face
two wooden spoons
in the rack
– Annie Bachini
religious retreat
a leaf blower
testing my faith
– Bryan Rickert
the pause
of an ellipsis
pond lilies
– Brad Bennett
only so much
we can control
forsythia
– Kristen Lindquist
new agoraphobia
vying with
old FOMO
– Nathanael Tico
so small, yet large
in the horse’s eyes
a child with an apple
– Rp Verlaine
stretch goals
the baby draws
across her belly
– Richard Mavis
PYO strawberries
Fourth of July
traffic jam
– Laurie D. Morrissey
old pond
the child he still is
stares back at him
– Joe Sebastian
nocturnal—
the cat and I
on the prowl
– Cynthia Anderson
his fatigue shirt hanging
from the doorframe
lengthening shadows
– Vicki Miko
grey day—
two reject staples
form a swastika
– Sandra Simpson
lunar eclipse
everything he kept
hidden
– Maria Concetta Conti
dark poem
counting syllables
the raven and I
– Hifsa Ashraf
the wishing well
not providing a return
on past offerings
– Rp Verlaine
the beggar’s coat
washed for the thousandth time
raining again
– Mike Gallagher
Miles’ trumpet whines
from ‘Round About Midnight—
yellow pollen
– Lenard D. Moore
storefront reflection
the homeless woman
fussing with her hair
– Tea Lady
relieving himself
just outside the pub
scrub jay
– Bryan Rickert
mortal kombat
sisters fight
for the remote
– Srinidhi Senthil
ignoring
my pettish neighbor …
but his dog!
– D. V. Rozic
scars from scrapes i don’t recall indian summer
– Jim Kacian
salvias
flowering again
our friendship
– Owen Bullock
we go our
separate ways
rainbow
– Guliz Mutlu
ringing in my ears
mother’s shotgun
wedding
– Veronika Zora Novak
glacial silt—
all those pretty
little lies
– Angela Terry
the sound of rain
on the broken temple bell …
what I couldn’t say
– Sonam Chhoki
outgrowing
your silence
stars
– Gary Hotham
the gossip
at her bridal tea
sparrows
– Deborah P Kolodji
making love
in the wildflowers
swallowtails
– Jeff Hoagland
breaking sun
a forsythia hedge
ignites into yellow
– Jay Friedenberg
monday traffic
the cotoneaster
full of bees
– Tony Williams
the link
between each daisy
butterfly contrails
– Diana Webb
dew-strung web
the morning breaks
into prisms
– Debbie Strange
Mother’s Day
in the country of my birth
no mother knew it existed
– Maya Daneva
dad’s stories
we believe them
differently now
– Laurie D. Morrissey
house sparrows chattering everywhere your absence
– Ramesh Anand
the mother
I never knew …
new moon
– Neena Singh
the dash
between the dates
obituary
– Tom Bierovic
first actual day
of kids’ middle school
begins virtually
– Douglas J. Lanzo
remarriage
the family recipe
with substitutions
– Alexander B. Joy
Gettysburg summer …
drops of ice cream
dot the battlefield
– James Everhart
third trimester
still rolling snow
for the head
– Mike White
rain and wind
the killdeer still
on her nest
– Janice Doppler
old love letters
the ink stays
so permanent
– Paul Goggins
lonely winter
i write your name
on the frosted glass
– Mona Bedi
heat moon
june bugs fling themselves
at the screen window
– Kristen Lindquist
sleepless night
my address book full
of cross-outs
– Chen-ou Liu
friday evening …
the florist plucks a rose
for herself
– Kanchan Chatterjee
mass migration
less and less milkweeds
for the Monarchs
– Meik Blöttenberger
first shot
oh, the places we’ll go
– Nathanael Tico
already familiar
with social distancing
the royal cortege
– Caroline Giles Banks
fiftieth birthday
one step after another
on this rocky trail
– Chen-ou Liu
old pond
dreaming of Bashō
jumping in
– Tom Bierovic
a congress of ravens—
suits at the table
streamlining
– Lorraine Carey
moment of silence
the stinging rain drips
off the soldier’s visor
– Vicki Miko
abdominal mass
sick to my stomach
with the sudden news
– Tea Lady
the nun
in black and white
as if life were
– Pat Davis
piercing cold
the Buddha’s
stony stare
– Veronika Zora Novak
war data at raw with reality
– Cherie Hunter Day
a sniper adjusts his gun scope a baby’s cry
– Vicki Miko
Haiga – Cherie Hunter Day
