Welcome to the Spring/Summer issue of Volume 7 of Autumn Moon Haiku Journal, now in its 7th year. Many haiku in this issue bring happy feelings, which we all need. A sad announcement: Bruce Ross has stepped down as editor due to illness. This journal has been a labor of love for him, with only the satisfaction of publishing wonderful nature haiku as his reward. I have helped Bruce with editing his and others’ work for the past 30 years or so, and will try to carry forward his vision of supporting poets who are still writing in the spirit of Bashō, Issa or Shiki, for example. I also have enlisted a haiku friend as advisor, Kristen Lindquist, whose poems have appeared in our journal and in many other publications. I would like in each issue to highlight a poem by Bruce that has been well-liked by other poets or even award-winning. For this issue, I will feature a spring haiku by Bruce Ross: abandoned house – the lilacs just as bright this spring Also, please check the updated guidelines for submission under that heading. We will keep the yearly “Haiku Moment Award” for best of Volume 7, which will be announced in the summer. Astrid Andreescu Maine, USA thought-by-thought following the footprints twilight moon spring afternoon a sparrow hops upon its own shadow Ishan Anagh, India nesting hollow high in the palm the barn owl’s face Cynthia Anderson, USA wild violets the deer trail deeper into spring Jenny Ward Angyal, USA March winds a crocus hides in winter-dried grass Emma Alexander Arthur, Norway sugar maple dancing in a nor’easter I join you John Arthur, USA mending fences the wild violets’ scent of forgiveness Marilyn Ashbaugh, USA daydreaming a way into sky cotton burrs spring equinox a widening sky of moon Joanna Ashwell, UK flocking galahs the pink and grey of twilight clouds Gavin Austin, Australia the fallen oak offers a resting place trillium breeze Jo Balistreri, USA outgrowing our first apartment weeds after winter Rowan Beckett, USA aging ivy still climbing bucket list Millicent Bee, USA the subtle curl of a cormorant’s wing tip – gathering dusk la courbe subtile des rémiges d’un cormoran – le soir se pose Maxianne Berger, Canada night stroll a lamp post outshining the full moon Shiva Bhusal, USA/Nepal on the clock listening to the snow melt Shawn Blair, USA barn swallows dip and dive for damselflies – summer evening Nancy Brady, USA homestead gate blackberry brambles hold on to the fence Randy Brooks, USA mating season thousands of melodies from birds’ throats Paarungszeit tausende Melodien aus Vogelkehlen Pitt Büerken, Germany the finch recites her entire language close to the nest Alanna C. Burke, USA night of rain the darkness pooling in our eyes Sam Calhoun, USA sunflowers lean towards the sky this urge for peace i girasoli s’innalzano verso il sole questo bisogno di pace gorse buds on her grave – new start boccioli di ginestra sulla sua tomba – nuovo inizio Mariangela Canzi, Italy waiting for rain a teacup under the stars lyrids John Paul Caponigro, USA morning on the river – nibbling the sunrise a few storks dimineaţa pe fluviu – ciugulind răsăritul câteva berze barbed wire border – a dragonfly leaves it behind graniţă din sârmă ghimpată – o libelulă o lasă în urmă Daniela Lăcrămioara Capotă, Romania tidal pool just a bit of moon rubbed away Matthew Caretti, USA/American Samoa cherry petal breeze more refugees adrift Archie G. Carlos, USA blackberry trellis in the hands of my daughter pea vines fixing soil Seán Carlson, Ireland black birds shoot sideways against a white sky the coming rain Louise Carson, Canada long after sunrise, the persisting fragrance of night jasmine Ram Chandran, India solar eclipse in my cat’s eyes two moons thinning 天狗吞日 在我家猫的眼里 两个月亮渐渐瘦去 caught a spring fish full of eggs the mother lets it go 捉到一条春鱼 充满了鱼籽 母亲放了它 Chen Jie, China/Canada a leaky faucet in the shower sorrow of spring シャワーの蛇口の水漏れ春愁ひ tr. Anikó Papp flying off with old grass a nesting bird 古草と飛び立ちにけり巣立鳥 tr. Nagata Mitunori Christina Chin, Malaysia a tadpole hatches the old pond ripples anew Carissa Coane, USA flowers by the path – the dandelions reminding me of mother’s tea flori lângă potecă păpădiile amintindu-mi de ceaiul mamei Mihaela Cojocaru, Romania calf’s first steps dotting the pasture yellow cowslips Sue Colpitts, Canada April breeze the robin’s grasp on a bobbing branch Mary Ann Conley, USA no home to go back to spring stars nessuna casa dove tornare stelle primaverili dreaming alone all that’s left of cherry blossoms sognando da sola tutto ciò che rimane dei fiori di ciliegio Concetta Conti, Italy before sunrise the orange breast of the robin Corey Cook, USA the echo of a barred owl bamboo Bill Cooper, USA moonbow over the sand dunes . . . a child’s gaze Sara Cosgrove, USA lingering drought dust hangs over our conversation stopping to smell the apple blossom white butterfly Sue Courtney, New Zealand one half world . . . the cat stares into the mirror David Cox, China summer fullness . . . in search of the perfect blackberry Tina Crenshaw, USA strawberry moon my childhood pictures missing presang buwan mga nawawalang larawan ng aking pagkabata this long journey to healing . . . cactus blossoms mahabang paglalakbay patungo sa paghilom . . . bulaklak ng cactus Alvin B. Cruz, Philippines morning sparrow answering with a whistle I scare it away moineau du matin lui répondant en sifflant je le fais fuir Marcellin Dallaire-Beaumont, Belgium cleansing breaths the inhale and exhale of ocean air Carmela Dolce, USA all-day fog the great blue heron folds its neck Janice Doppler, USA leaving too soon we bury the sparrow under the oak C. Jean Downer, Canada children giggle full of cherry blossom the scarecrow’s hat детски кикот пълна с вишнев цвят шапката на плашилото Radostina Dragostinova, Bulgaria vernal equinox the dog cocks his head toward the first peepers M F Drummy, USA sunset spring garden stripped of its colors Jane Druzhinina, USA ruined house – from the cracked wall the first bud casă-n ruină din peretele crăpat primul mugure Carmen Duvalma, Romania not yet, daffodils! tricked by apricity we’re both unprepared Anna Eklund-Cheong, France spring dawn the chance to make different mistakes Keith Evetts, UK sultry day all the cattle under one tree Bill Fay, USA it helps to hold the dune a little shell Jeffrey Ferrara, USA affective disorder the scent of tarragon in cut grass Thomas Festa, USA La Niña rains – a beetle rides a gum leaf downriver tip-toeing toward a water lily a water spider Lorin Ford, Australia breath in and breath out lilac blossoms wdech i wydech kwitną lilaki Małgorzata Formanowska, Poland inhaling the force of a wave scent of the wild watching ripples come and go I become a pool Jenny Fraser, New Zealand a sky streaked with pink . . . fading footprints at the end of the dock Seth Friedman, Canada Sacramento valley emerald green hue of summer rice fields Diane Funston, USA patio morning somewhere a towhee urges drink your tea Bob Gaebler, USA golden childhood the licorice fragrance of helichrysum infanzia dorata l’elicriso profumato di liquirizia Barbara Anna Gaiardoni, Italy evening light – birds and insects sing at the same time luz del ocaso – pàjaros e insectos cantan a la vez Santo Domingo – the yellow oaks this brilliance Santo Domingo – los robles amarillos en su fulgor Rafael Garcìa Bidò, Dominican Republic deep in the wadi a Bedouin shepherd lambing John S Green, Jordan the glow of a distant star . . . her last departure il bagliore di una stella lontana . . . la sua ultima partenza Eufemia Griffo, Italy staircase in the woods the kid crawls towards the sky Waldtreppe der Kleine krabbelt dem Himmel entgegen Alexander Groth, Germany even in bloody trenches stars still shining Charles Harmon, USA a southern song at our full feeder – yellow-winged blackbird Richard D. Hartwell, USA pet cemetery a broken dreamcatcher spills the wind John Hawkhead, UK quiet lake . . . I fix my eyes on the moon 湖水静悄悄… 我的双眼 盯着月亮 a dog barks against the wind cold moonlight 狗狗 逆风叫 月光寒 David He, China shades of pink on every gnarled branch blossoming light Deborah Burke Henderson, USA riverside trail flooded with bluebells crescent day moon an osprey hangs in the air Ruth Holzer, USA sea wind a flock the shape of the dunes Frank Hooven, USA three wallabies sip moonshine from a puddle summer shower Marilyn Humbert, Australia a peony bent under the weight of a leaden sky Erica Ison, UK wading in moonlight her child counts the stars summer breeze spring drizzles i gently thank my aged mother Lakshmi Iyer, India spring rain – under the ramen shop eaves two stray cats 春雨や麺屋軒下の猫二匹 harusameya menya nokishitano nekonihiki Keiko Izawa, Japan summer rain clinging to the screen door a tiny tree frog Rick Jackofsky, USA spring morning waking up to a birdsong on the plum tree Govind Joshi, India filigree of fronds . . . rāga Basant rhapsody sending off the spring तालपत्रों की तारकशी . . . राग बसंत रैप्सोडी से वसंत को विदाई *Basant or Vasant means spring in the Sanskrit language. Rāga Basant is a very old rāga dating back to the 8th century. It denotes the changing of seasons, and is the only rāga to use all 12 notes of the scale. Monica Kakkar, India/USA Evening Venus – having sunk in the grass all butterflies 太白やてふてふ草にみな沈み taihaku ya chou chou kusa ni mina shizumi Letting it go – a swallowtail’s emerged in the insect cage 放ちやる籠で羽化せし揚羽蝶 hanachi yaru kago de uka seshi agehachou Satoru Kanematsu, Japan soaked by a summer shower for no reason Emil Karla, France adding a new name to the calendar pregnancy test Deborah Karl-Brandt, Germany along the pond with each step frog jump wzdłuż stawu z każdym krokiem żabi skok Wiesław Karliński, Poland despite this world of deceit plum blossoms Arvinder Kaur, India watermelon harvest the weight of a thought sinks into the soil Nicholas Klacsanzky, USA lifting fog the loon’s laugh also rises Kim Klugh, USA the longest day granny retelling again last night’s dream najduži dan baka mi prepričava njen noćašnji san desert rose – she learns the ancestors’ dead language pustinjska ruža – ona uči izumirli jezik predaka Nina Kovačić, Croatia today . . . a fawn in the yard tasting trumpet vines Jill Lange, USA lily mound . . . this urge to dig and replant spring showers the koi pond spattered in silver Barrie Levine, USA bridge of stars a bobcat saunters past the trail cam Sunday drive smoke from the sugar shack mingles with mist Kristen Lindquist, USA forest bathing this silence in the sound of redwoods 森林浴 紅木之聲 的寂靜 snowdrop trail I hold my sick wife’s hand tight and tighter 雪花蓮小徑 我握著生病妻子的手 越來越緊 Chen-ou Liu, Canada balcony porch the spider from the attic comes down to say hello veranda il ragno del piano di sopra scende a salutarmi Oscar Luparia, Italy spring rain – son and grandson airing the summer house Malcolm MacClancy, Ireland Turtles sunning On flat limerock Blackfly season A. D. MacDonald, Canada starry night a desire has aged with me cielo stellato con me è invecchiato un desiderio spring snow grandma hugs me in a dream neve primaverile mi abraccia in sogno la nonna Carmela Marino, Italy kingfisher just enough stream for a song Matthew Markworth, USA river rainbow a roseate spoonbill sketches a chord Richard L. Matta, USA May rain on a deserted beach winter lingers pluie de mai sur la plage déserte l’hiver s’attarde Françoise Maurice, France wildfire summer a periodical cicada’s glowing eyes Marietta McGregor, Australia misting rain . . . the promontory drifts out of sight deep afternoon a yellow robin’s cry in the shadows Jo McInerney, Australia House for sale In the ownerless garden, weeds . . . jonquils La casa en venta En el jardín sin dueño, yuyos . . . junquillos Lía Miersch, Argentina Sunset . . . I begin to settle into myself Joanna C. Migdal, USA summer afternoon the clay crumbles between my fingers pomeriggio estivo l’argilla si sbriciola tra le mie dita day moon a white butterfly on the shore luna diurna una farfalla bianca sulla battigia Daniela Misso, Italy onset of spring weeding a row of peas soft shrieks inizio di primavera sarchiando un filare di piselli grida sommesse red sand on my windowsill . . . rest after a long journey sabbia rossa sul davanzale . . .riposo dopo un lungo viaggio Luciana Moretto, Italy zigzag flight of the spangled fritillary . . . all my uncertainties I still wish for invisible wings blue damselfly Wilda Morris, USA a swamphen running across lily pads spring breeze the cloudy sky streaked with pink – first cicadas Leanne Mumford, Australia high desert silence broken by whispered wingbeats raven heading home Tim Murphy, USA walking from stream to river two songs spring morning below the birdfeeder sunflowers David Oates, USA dawn behind venetial blinds birdsong zora za žaluzijami ptičja pesem cul-de-sac garbage cans covered in cherry petals slepa ulica smetnjaki prekriti s češnjevim cvetjem Polona Oblak, Slovenia summer’s eve . . . silk from a ballooning spider catches the light the slow meander of a pollen-dusted queen river willow Ben Oliver, England, UK forsythia bursting into spring goldfinches Debbie Olson, USA Holy Monday drive: the Wicklow Mountains festooned with flowering gorse Maeve O’Sullivan, Ireland driftwood . . . a beachcomber combing dusk Roland Packer, Canada late blossoms – we gave each other our youth Scott Packer, Canada spring morning the flock of herons with a piece of sky Pravat Kumar Padhy, India Breaking camp before dawn – startled mourning doves M.R. Pelletier, USA fluid light a moon that answers to every name petro c.k., USA worker bees we plant some more blue flowers Gregory Piko, Australia age-old hedgerows and now and then the yellowhammer’s song feeding the first with lungwort pollen carder bee queen Thomas Powell, N. Ireland cedar bough a wish turns sky ward Vishal Prabhu, India hurricane watch the aging boomer flies a kite Tony Pupello, USA dog days praying for the skies to open cloud burst . . . in this land we fear rain Audrey Quinn, Ireland/Mexico first green the groundhog and I share the field Bryan Rickert, USA spring afternoon the last bark of my dog Edward J. Rielly, USA one by one dandelions bounce . . . wake of a bee Aron Rothstein, USA arid soil where nothing will grow hollyhocks! dorre bodem waar niets wil groeien stokrozen! evening walk somewhere in the distance a cuckoo calls avondwandeling ergens in de verte roept een koekoek Marjolein Rotsteeg, The Netherlands planting spring peas his spirits rise from underground Janet Ruth, USA day moon out of the blue sky blooming jacaranda Bona M. Santos, USA starless night reading bedtime stories to dad again তারাহীন রাত ঘুমপাড়ানি গল্প শোনাই বাবাকে আবার Jharna Sanyal, India summer solstice dusk spreading the blackberry jam to the edges Kelly Sargent, USA trying to give advice to my daughter wild rose bushes Agnes Eva Savich, USA summer sunset the kernel inside the apricot stone crépuscule estival l’amande a l’intérieur du noyau de l’abricot Olivier Schopfer, Switzerland dandelion seed . . . a cloud’s pace through June Julie Schwerin, USA lift of the leaf relieved of the starling left soundless Ron Scully, USA blue mimosa – his memoir in the wind Manoj Sharma, Nepal deep river . . . I shelter the unsaid Richa Sharma, India Growing bigger a peony bud like an orb after a rainfall 牡丹の宝珠膨らむ雨上り bōtan no hōju hukuramu ame agari An old cherry tree blooming over the roof so many years passed 老桜屋根にかぶさる月日かな oi zakura yane ni kabusaru tsukihi kana Kyoko Shimizu, Japan glass flowers the crystal vase awaits spring कांच के फूल क्रिस्टल फूलदान बसंत की प्रतीक्षा में Neena Singh, India sunflower husks on the garden Buddha dhyana mudra George Skane, USA sunrise to sunset on the monk’s face the same smile Srini, India the blue ridge shifts in and out of reality rain squalls Joshua St. Claire, USA mother’s wanderings the smooth grooves of raindrops on the clay cliffs Sandra St-Laurent, Canada summer breeze rose petals fall gently upon her rocker Stephenie Story, USA flute song a hermit thrush reveals itself Debbie Strange, Canada spring wind the foster care door opens Neha Talreja, India wild roses . . . those hidden thorns of memory Angela Terry, USA premature spring a pink-lipped tulip retracts just out of reach summer’s first mulberries flicker in moonlight Shelly Reed Thieman, USA armchair nap . . . the cat on a windowsill in sunlight Richard Tice, USA opening the door – a bunch of poppies and a smile deschizând uşa – un mănunchi de maci şi un zâmbet Maria Tirenescu, Romania first light – this time my scan says the thinkable hare in the grass – he catches my gaze where the wind changes Xenia Tran, Scotland, UK in the park filled with sunlight acorn cup flash flood . . . waiting for the stars to fall too C. X. Turner, UK summer stars a family of elf owls in the birdbath Kevin Valentine, USA cherry blossom the hidden shape of a birdsong kersenbloesem de verborgen vorm van een vogelliedje Joanne van Helvoort, The Netherlands watching butterflies his call to ask me what i’m doing Marilyn Appl Walker, USA first sighting a baby lizard catches my eye Christine Wenk-Harrison, USA bee silence total solar eclipse somewhere in my memory sound of a mountain stream Kelley J. White, USA midsummer neither a tadpole nor a frog Tony Williams, Scotland, UK childhood garden when the rhubarb was sweet ogród dzieciństwa kiedy rabarbar był słodki Ernest Wit, Poland summer ends a smooth pebble in a child’s hand spring new leaves push free the New Year’s kite Robert Witmer, Japan solar eclipse opening the window to hear silence Valorie Broadhurst Woerdehoff, USA ephemerals another message of condolence Susan Yavaniski, USA mango seed mother’s share after everyone Nitu Yumnam, India breath of spring the scarecrow’s cap in the air wiosenny poryw czapka stracha na wróble leci w górę Eugeniusz Zacharski, Poland scent of dawn – the lime tree has just bloomed parfum de l’aube – le citronnier vient de fleurir Elena Zouain, France |
Editorial Staff:
Founder (emeritus): Bruce Ross Editors: Astrid Andreescu Kristen Lindquist Art: Murray D. Ross Archives
November 2024
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