Blithe Spirit is the Journal of the British Haiku Society. Two of my tanka and one haiku were published in Volume 27, Number 23 (2017). I am most grateful to be part of this issue.
old shoes –
the challenge
of moving on
plum blossoms—
watching you
struggle for so long
I remember how brief
a season is
stopping to study
fritillaries, tulips
and jonquils –
the sudden way
you take my hand
(c) 2017, Mary Kendall
Blithe Spirit, Volume 27, Number 23 (2017)
The September issue of Brass Bell, curated by Zee Zehava, had a prompt/theme of “water.” I was fortunate to have three haiku selected for publication (two one liners and one traditional three line haiku). I hope you will visit the site for Brass Bell and enjoy all the excellent haiku written to this theme. The link is given below.
her waters broken the beginning of the beginning
what was hidden now emerges water lillies
near the cattails —
two white egrets
lost in reflection
Photograph by Max Pixel http://maxpixel.freegreatpicture.com
Note: These haiku were published in the September (2017) issue of Brass Bell, a haiku journal. The poet is Mary Kendall (c) 2017.
Link to the journal: http://brassbellhaiku.blogspot.com
Both haiku were published in the final edition of Wild Plum. I’m honored to be included.
Published in Wild Plum, a Haiku Journal
3:2 Fall & Winter 2017
Luna moth
this brief life
soon eclipsed
~Mary Kendall~
Published in Presence Issue 58, July 2017
Luna Moth, photographer unknown
faded numbers
tattooed on your arm
I slip back in silence
.
~Mary Kendall~
Published in Presence 58 July 2017
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Back story on this tanka. In 1972 I visited friends in Israel. As a tourist, I was eager to see the historical sites, one of which was Masada, site of a group suicide where a Jewish community was surrounded by Roman soldiers. The Jews chose suicide rather than be taken as captives. As I stood high up on the hilly site with other visitors, it was very, very quiet. It was after all a sacred place. An older man stood next to me, and I happened to glance at him also looking out at where the soldiers would have been waiting, hoping to starve out the isolated Jewish community. I noticed on his arm, faded numbers–numbers, of course, indicating he’d been captive in a Concentration Camp. The poignancy of him being there has stayed with me for over forty years. Never again, please Lord, shall we do such things to our fellow men.
Both pictures are from travel sites to and in Israel. Masada is located in the Judean desert, very close to the Dead Sea. Visiting these sites is like stepping back two thousand years. I am so grateful for having had this opportunity to visit.
A Poet in Time 