Featured Poet – Hifsa Ashraf
late-night train
the mother’s lullaby
for everyone
cocooned
in family rituals
her free will
nostalgia
the walnut door bangs
back and forth
forced marriage …
her wedding dress wrapped
in the old newspaper
tiger lily
life after
#metoo
Hifsa Ashraf is an award-winning poet, author, editor, and social activist from Rawalpindi, Pakistan. She is a pioneer in her country for writing modern Japanese-style micropoetry in English and Urdu. Her work has been widely published in international journals, newspapers, magazines, blogs, anthologies and books. The author of six micropoetry books, Hifsa has won The Touchstone Award for Individual Poems 2021 from The Haiku Foundation. She received special mention for her book, Her Fading Henna Tattoo, in the Touchstone Distinguished Books Awards 2020 and in the Haiku Society of America Merit Book Awards 2021.
the light of the candle
flickers behind the window
last day of Advent
– Françoise Maurice
deepening colors
of the lost cat poster …
autumn rain
– Keiko Izawa
orchard shadows …
the silence deer
leave behind
– Angela Terry
moonlight cupped
in a clavicle’s curve
afterglow
– Agnes Eva Savich
licking flames —
the last of the ice melts
in my whisky
– Rob Scott
desert rain
dad hugs me
with both arms
– Elan Chogan
october forest …
all the colours
of silence
– Lori Kiefer
closing the door to winter
all night
diner
– Gary Hotham
bellflower
a silent blue
September sky
– Susan Yavaniski
sudden truce —
the slow drip
of hanging wash
– Mariangela Canzi
first autumn wind
forgetting my hat
on the bench
– Keiko Izawa
fledgling
her world from the top
of a swing
– Lorraine A Padden
paper (cranes across the sky) planes
– John Zheng
after rain
inhaling the sweet
of sweet peas
– Tony Williams
windstorm
the percussive variation
of each vent
– Scott Wiggerman
the sharp edge
of this winter moon
lovers’ quarrel
– Chen-ou Liu
unripe berries …
the bitterness
of betrayal
– Lori Kiefer
autumn leaves
when to hold on
when to let go
– Seth Friedman
windfall apples —
all the promises
I didn’t keep
– Mark Miller
living life
under your shadow —
bark mushrooms
– Mona Bedi
like prudence —
inside when the sun is up
and the sky is blue
– Kerry J Heckman
salt
but I heard sought
our changing needs
– Kristen Lindquist
self-healing
burning to the end
a sandal incense
– Hifsa Ashraf
migrant geese
in the mirror lake
my new self
– Benjamin Bläsi
night rain
only the cello
knows her pain
– Gavin Austin
blood moon
a disc of gelatin floats
on her bone broth
– Richard L. Matta
my child
strangles a firefly …
deepening dusk
– David He
thunderhead
Adirondack chairs
form a circle
– Scott Mason
late-summer storm
pieces of me
slide down a window
– Antoinette Cheung
blood moon —
watching the sky
for cracks
– Sally Quon
war the wounded languages too
– Corine Timmer
worldly affairs
removing the dust
from my clothes
– Deborah Karl-Brandt
perseid showers
the debris we leave
when we leave
– John Hawkhead
foreign field …
his daughter will never
know her father
– Kevin Valentine
peace the many words for blue in Russian
– Adrian Bouter
squeezing her girl’s feet
in brand new stilettos
she feels a woman
– Cristina Povero
black-eyed susans
a bee circles
its harem
– William Cullen Jr.
loving me
for me
mosquitoes
– Mike White
how you bristle
at my affection —
walrus whiskers
– Bonnie J Scherer
filing fingernails ~
the argument
becomes pointless
– Rhoda Tripp
river willow
what to do with our hands
in grief
– Antoinette Cheung
this solitude —
even scavengers leave
something behind
– Bryan Rickert
lunch on the riverbank
the water hasn’t flowed
to its end
– Gary Hotham
i believe you
when you say forever
waxing moon
– Julie Schwerin
the languid flow of a river and then the stones
– Vandana Parashar
the tings and ticks
of a car cooling down
home from therapy
– petro c. k.
suicide note
the waste basket half-full
with drafts
– Frank Higgins
talking
to my dead dad
summer twilight
– Maria Concetta Conti
culling my books
all the ways
i tried to be
– Nancy Orr
anxiety attack
I snapdragon
out of it
– Tomislav Sjekloća
Ray-Bans
the swoosh of sunlit water
over an oar stroke
– Tim Murphy
elver migration —
solo paddler’s j stroke
in the river
– Michelle V. Alkerton
he fingers air
as if there were frets
a storied-life …
– brett brady
the kalimba the pebbles make of the river
– Agnes Eva Savich
a drink
from my cupped hands
rippling stars
– Chen-ou Liu
the nude
slips into a charcoal robe
winter night
– Shawn Blair
Half Moon
black-and-white
our son
– Caroline Giles Banks
first paperwhites
arranged to frame it …
full winter moon
– Lorin Ford
rummaging through
a shopping cart of empties
winter moonlight
– Kristen Lindquist
shoveled to the curb
white as snow
does not apply
– Wilda Morris
prison wall
a freedom quote
in black and white
– R. Suresh babu
Ivy League
to be or not to be
an alum’s kid
– Caroline Giles Banks
Appomattox —
still searching
for our exit
– Mark Forrester
no letup
in the culture wars
Memorial Day
– Christopher Patchel
Sunday bells
calling us to mass
destruction
– Patricia Hawkhead
Washday magic —
last week’s lost sock
reappears
– M. R. Pelletier
making strudel
grandma rolls the dough
in her native tongue
– Joseph P. Wechselberger
estate sale
none of the ghosts
know us
– Randy Brooks
DMV whistler —
a serpentine glaze
of mop water
– Mike White
swamp boardwalk
a big pile
of water snake
– Brad Bennett
autumn mist
a pond heron disappears
in its call
– Neena Singh
sunset
the barn owl stretches
into flight
– Pat Davis
meadow’s edge
the there, there, there
of white-tailed deer
– Brad Bennett
”No Wake” sign …
gently, the heron
shifts her weight
– Archie Carlos
a crack
in the tarmac
the industry of ants
– Erica Ison
rusted lock
the stillness within
his old tool shed
– Jamie Wimberly
tracing the length
of my life line …
redwood forest
– Helen Ogden
first frost
framing the neighbour’s
for sale sign
– Michael Buckingham Gray
sunlight through lace
the white cat spreads
across our bed
– Sarah Paris
Moon in Capricorn …
at the end of my hand
my hand
– Carmela Marino
shooting star —
I wish upon
a 747
– Edward Cody Huddleston
roller coaster
not knowing when enough
is enough
– Ravi Kiran
sidewalk café on the menu this fleeting light
– Ella Aboutboul
where we caught
grasshoppers for bait
new playground
– Richard Tice
hummingbird zings
flower to flower
her quips
– Laurie Wilcox-Meyer
her cultured pearls
the years strung
end to end
– Gavin Austin
zucchini seeds
her problem
with memory
– David Kāwika Eyre
chinese forget-me-not
how blue
the unmarked grave
– Laurie Wilcox-Meyer
wildflower loop
my mother asks
if she’s near the end
– Shawn Blair
a rhinestone
missing from Mom’s brooch …
hospice garden
– Theresa A. Cancro
old growth forest
my age
goes unnoticed
– Millicent Bee
Alzheimer’s
slowly the river
runs dry
– Stephenie Story
only his dog picture aging labradorian gray
– Susan Burch
audiobook
night after night
chapter 1
– Jan Stretch
rear-view mirror
the glory days
I never had
– Valentina Ranaldi-Adams
lazy day
every cloud
looks like a cloud
– Millicent Bee
cicadas
a heat advisory
on the radio
– William Cullen Jr.
working hard
on a lazy river
fisherman
– Roberta Beach Jacobson
meandering down
the Victorian adorned hill
summer fog
– Nathanael Tico
berries
on the cement
furikake season
– Jerome Berglund
scissoring the sound of a poem
– Jan Stretch
first love making
a she cat yowls
into dawn
– Meera Rehm
beer bubbles —
his addiction to her
paraphernalia
– Richa Sharma
dive bar
the hits and misses
of bycatch
– Christine Wenk-Harrison
rain all day he comes in me
– Rowan Beckett
marriage counseling
the long drive home
through shadows
– Bryan Rickert
freshwater pearls
trying on
another perspective
– Julie Schwerin
clearing skies
we share stories about life
before we met
– Kevin Valentine
plum blossom
kissing your cheek
as you pass
– C.X. Turner
autumn leaves
she says
i’ve changed
– Rich Schilling
new hair colour
I choose the shade of
autumn
– Nitu Yumnam
stained glass
a tiger swallowtail
spreads its wings
– Sharon Martina
first anchoring …
a 4th grader
adjusts his Harry Potter glasses
– Jharna Sanyal
outdoor dining
a chipmunk’s cheeks
stuffed with nuts
– Petra Schmidt
fall collection —
taupe, umber and mauve
raked in piles
– Scott Mason
the crack
in my teacup
cold moon
– Alvin B. Cruz
the welcome
wearing off …
war refugees
– Roberta Beary
the depression
of a letter carrier
first snow
– Mircea Moldovan
he begs
in minus two …
some mother’s son
– Audrey Quinn
day moon
an abandoned
saucer sled
– Theresa A. Cancro
Dies Irae
dawn dimmed
by wildfire smoke
– Joshua St. Claire
overcast morning
a hint of grey
in the robin’s eyes
– Rupa Anand
moonless night
I have not been kissed
for a long time
– Marie Derley
day moon
no one leaves
this small town
– Rowan Beckett
hadal zone
his depression
deepens
– Helen Ogden
googling
autumn kigo
election results
– Joshua St. Claire
pay day
eyeing the loan shark’s
new teeth
– Steve Black
hurricane season
our drinks come
with paper umbrellas
– Gordon Brown
these potatoes
taste alien
PFAS invasion
– Laurie Wilcox-Meyer
endless hours
of shadowboxing
housefly
– Margaret Tau
foreclosure the last nest egg gourd
– Debbie Strange
taking possession
the weight
of the family album
– Laurie D. Morrissey
night sky conjunction
the brother
I never had
– Lee Hudspeth
picked ripe
off the vine
family gossip
– Rich Schilling
pulling my hair out empty nest
– Marilyn Ashbaugh
Perseids’ visit …
his grandson flashes
the peace sign
– Archie Carlos
almost …
cyclist
through the red light
– Annie Bachini
rearview mirror —
mother’s red rosary
clicks me awake
– Roberta Beary
hospice drive …
the last red light
turns green
– Edward Cody Huddleston
no road sign
at the intersection
johnny-jump-ups
– Carolyn Hall
unexpected guest
at the spaghetti feed
a whiff of cow
– petro c. k.
anxiety —
a fly walks on
the shop’s croissant
– Seth Friedman
shotgun wedding
the baby’s breath
all ready
– Lorraine A Padden
oldies party
half of the guest list
resting in peace
– Arvinder Kaur
shadowing
a cigar-smoking man
just for the smell of it
– Nathanael Tico
tree-ripened mangoes
in the produce aisle —
staycation
– Cynthia Anderson
chlorine
swimming in my nostrils
before I reach the pool
– Mary McCormack
undecided voter
a seagull
eyes the bait bucket
– Lee Hudspeth
also unfriendly
the unfriendly neighbor’s
new dog
– Carolyn Hall
puddling
around a new well
the workers
– Marilyn Ashbaugh
Alzheimer’s art group
watercolor faces
emerge indistinct
– Shelli Jankowski-Smith
eulogy
not the moments
that really count
– Christine Eales
dementia the unpersistence of memory
– Susan Burch
hand-raking
the rock garden —
her last days
– Jamie Wimberly
heavy with fruit
an old apple tree
— these arthritic limbs
– Edward Dewar
one thought
leads to another
Christmas baubles
– Annie Bachini
seashore walk –
the tug and pull
of memories
– Mona Bedi
autumn drizzle
the faces that look like
faces I used to know
– Seth Friedman
snowflakes
in her cupped hands
war memory
– Hifsa Ashraf
on the glass tower
reflection of a jet —
September morning
– Ruth Holzer
tone tags
the subtleties of
a stranger’s smile
– Susan Yavaniski
world news
sparing the wasp
that stung me
– Polona Oblak
ethnic conflict —
near the village temple
a cicada’s cry
– Milan Rajkumar
spotted lanternfly —
not so sure
I can kill you
– Ruth Holzer
the absence
of leaves and birdsong
frost fire morning
– Joanna Ashwell
Haiga – Emma Alexander Arthur
