forgetfulness

 

 

forgetfulness—

soft feathers drift out

of a poultry truck

 

~ ~

 

Published in Frogpond vol. 43:3 fall 2020

 

Frogpond is the journal of the Haiku Society of America

Catching up!

Today I realized I’d forgotten to post a number of poems published this year (2020), so here they are. I hope you enjoy reading them.

Ribbons 16:2 (spring 2020)

.

icebergs drift and melt
and furious fires rage
will this earth dissolve
into rivulets
of decisions poorly made?

~

Frameless Sky, Issue 12, 2020

soft ripe plums
sitting on the sideboard ~
wouldn’t it lovely
to know you’re
so desired

Presence 66

.

tiny fledglings
with wings outstretched
take that first leap—
how old were we
when doubt began

                             ~

wind spilling
from copper rain bells
unbroken drought

.

                        ~

impossible
to count them
fireflies

Bitter wind

 

I am delighted to have one tanka and two haiku in the latest issue of Presence:

 

Presence, Issue 67, July 2020

 

 

bitter wind
the maple’s heart
still frozen

 

~

 

once so innocent
we had to make up sins
. . . first confession

 

 

~

 

I tried to bury
those memories
for so long…
the raw scent
of freshly plowed earth

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sea glass (a tanka)

The second of two tanka appearing Eucalypt: A Tanka Journal, 

Issue 28, 2020

 

 

sea glass in cerulean,
aqua and seafoam green
wash up in the morning tide,
mysteries I gently place
in this pail of dreams

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Little frog faces (tanka/kyoka)

 

One of two tanka appearing Eucalypt: A Tanka Journal, Issue 28, 2020

 

in the attic I find
your small Wellies                            
with little frog faces—
oh, those happy puddles
when you were only three

 

 

Note: We lived near Hampstead Heath in NW London for a full academic year, 1989-90, with our (then) three year old son, Adam. Oh, how he loved rain puddles and stomping in them in his little green Wellies. Getting exercise each day was never a problem with a child who loved the outdoors no matter what the weather. This poem is for him.

 

 

These pandemic nights (a tanka)

 

 

Moonbathing 22, Spring 2020

 


a faint train whistle
passing by at 3 a.m.
. . . the only normal thing
in these pandemic nights
that makes any sense