Autumn Moon Haiku Journal
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Autumn Moon Haiku Journal volume 3:2, Spring/Summer 2020

6/14/2020

 
Welcome to the spring/summer 2020 issue of Autumn Moon Haiku Journal. This issue and our world are dominated by the coronavirus pandemic which has led directly to many deaths. Yet this journal and the mode of presenting haiku poets’ responses to this situation is a means of overcoming the so-called lockdown, despite the quarantine’s required masks and social distancing rules. The significance of haiku to resolve or lighten this condition is in its opening of a deep feeling of the poet with a heightened moment with other people and with nature and the universe as a whole, including the central spring season word in Japan, sakura (cherry blossoms). In many cultures the spring equinox is also recognized and celebrated. Haiku poetry also highlights a heightened emotion of various kinds by a given observation within that emotion. The focuses of this issue’s haiku more or less resemble haiku conceived under less troubling times and, in fact, might help overcome some of the current time’s troubling conditions. The haiku in this issue do this by focusing on myriad moments of experience that they may have under more untroubled times: cherry blossoms, the spring equinox, the moon, the sun, clouds, rainbows, wildflowers, farm animals, forests, rain, lightening, ocean, wild vegetables, moss on a stone, stars, sunshine, wild birds, pet birds, newborn bird chicks, sunshine, frogs, empty train stations, footprints, grass, insect sounds, friends and family, and whatever comes to a poet’s mind in a focused or entranced mind, or both. The so-called haiku moment has a magical elevating quality. Here is a good description of it by the New Zealand short story writer Katherine Mansfield (1888-1923) from one of her stories: “Wind moving through the grass so that the grass quivers. This moves me with an emotion I don’t even understand.” Even in uncertain times the haiku moment can awaken you in a positive way and remove the overpowering struggle with, for example, the pandemic, at least for a moment. Comparing the haiku in earlier issues of this journal, this issue shows a less deep connection of the kind referred to by Mansfield. Nonetheless, it is wonderful what the poets came up with despite the pandemic. All in all, an impressive group of world haiku rising above the troubling time. 
 
Bruce Ross, June 2020
 
a lark –
crosses the river
the echo of its song

una allodola -
attraversa il fiume
l’eco del canto

all equal
the cherry blossoms
along the journey

tutti uguali
i fiori di ciliegio
lungo il viaggio
                  Vincenzo Adamo, Italy
 
                                                                                                                               the surprise
                                                                                                                               passing another key worker
                                                                                                                               in morning light

                                                                                                                               chaffinch call
                                                                                                                               a brief burst
                                                                                                                               of sunshine
                                                                                                                                               Joanna Ashwell, UK
 
August night
the depth
of a bullfrog’s song
                          Susan Auld, USA
 
                                                                                                                                 spring equinox -
                                                                                                                                weaverbirds carrying grasses
                                                                                                                                 to the tree

                                                                                                                                  ọ̀gìnìtì -
                                                                                                                                  àwọn ẹyẹ ẹ̀gà ń gbé koríko
                                                                                                                                  lọ sórí igi

                                                                                                                                 first rain . . .
                                                                                                                                 the village kids hold out
                                                                                                                                  their palms

                                                                                                                                  òjò àkọ́kọ́ . . .
                                                                                                                                  àwọn ọmọ oko tẹ́wọ́
                                                                                                                                  síwájú

                                                                                                                                  hot noon . . .
                                                                                                                                  the shadow of a waterbird
                                                                                                                                  shades a baby crab

                                                                                                                                  ọ̀sán pọ́n ganrí . . .
                                                                                                                                  òjìjí ẹyẹ ọ̀sìn ràgàbo
                                                                                                                                  ọmọ akàn
                                                                                                                                                 Taofeek Ayeyemi, Nigeria
 
lockdown
the silence releases
a blue heron

lockdown
de stilte laat
een blauwe reiger vrij
                       Michael Baeyens, Belgium
 
                                                                                                                                  moon shadows
                                                                                                                                  through lace curtains
                                                                                                                                  her perfume flasks

                                                                                                                                  street festival
                                                                                                                                  a little girl tap dancing
                                                                                                                                  her dolly
                                                                                                                                                  Maxianne Berger, Canada
 
sweltering noon
the swing sways
empty
               Bisshie, Switzerland
 
                                                                                                                                full nest -
                                                                                                                                all the loved ones
                                                                                                                                in my heart

                                                                                                                                  cuib plin
                                                                                                                                  toţi cei dragi
                                                                                                                                  în inima mea

                                                                                                                                  dandelion tea -
                                                                                                                                  the more bitter taste
                                                                                                                                  of this spring

                                                                                                                                 ceai de păpădie -
                                                                                                                                 gustul mai amar
                                                                                                                                 al acestei primăveri
                                                                                                                                                 Mirela Brăilean, Romania
 
trees blooming -
at the window the city disappears
little by little

copaci care înfloresc -
la fereastră oraşul dispare
puţin câte puţin
                   Daniela Lăcrămioara Capotă, Romania
 
                                                                                                                                   mockingbird
                                                                                                                                   the vicissitudes
                                                                                                                                   of summer rain

                                                                                                                                   passion fruit
                                                                                                                                   smell of the sea
                                                                                                                                   in the rain
                                                                                                                                                Matthew Caretti, USA
 
savoring
the quietness I feel -
forest bathing
                Vernon Chain, USA
 
                                                                                                                                 naïve painting -
                                                                                                                                 the colors of the woods
                                                                                                                                come from the rainbow

                                                                                                                                pictură naivă -
                                                                                                                                culorile pădurii
                                                                                                                                vin din curcubeu
                                                                                                                                                   Vasile Cojocaru, Romania
 
driftwood
a cormorant floats
through the mist

a ridge of sand
the length of our house
ants ants ants

a wall
of wild roses
starlit night
                  Susan Constable, Canada
 
                                                                                                                                   alighting on a branch
                                                                                                                                   what does the cuckoo know
                                                                                                                                   of today?
                                                                                                                                                 Risё Daniels, USA
 
spring horizon
a newborn foal
finds its balance

summer haze
the greenish-purple
color of figs
             Carmela Dolce, USA
 
                                                                               dandelion in breeze
                                                                               an orphan girl reaching out to
                                                                               her new mom and dad

                                                                              прецъфтяло глухарче
                                                                              сираче протяга ръчички
                                                                              към новите мама и татко

                                                                              setting sun
                                                                              in dad’s coin collection
                                                                              summer solstice

                                                                              заник
                                                                              в колекцията от монети на татко
                                                                              лятно слънцестоене
                                                                                                    Radostina Dragostinova, Bulgaria
 
before
I had a name
wildflowers

finding my way
past midnight . . .
spring stars
               Rebecca Drouilhet, USA
 
                                                                                                                                  supermarket
                                                                                                                                  shopper removes her mask
                                                                                                                                  to sniff a melon

                                                                                                                                 sacrament of penance
                                                                                                                                 penitent whispers her sins
                                                                                                                                 through a mask
                                                                                                                                                      John J. Dunphy, USA
 
cherry blossoms -
tightly embracing
our shadows

flori de cireş -
strâns îmbrăţişate
umbrele noastre
                Carmen Duvalma, Romania
 
                                                                                the moon is still
                                                                         the shade
                                                                         is hushed

                                                                            maluhia ka mahina
                                                                        kahi malu
                                                                         e malu ai
                                                                                                     David Eyre, USA (Hawai’i)
 
                                                                         the ebb and flow
                                                                         of prairie grasses -
                                                                         flight of a goldfinch

                                                just enough light remaining vee of geese
                                                                                                                    Seren Fargo, USA
 
                                                              life in a puddle chasing a cloud
                                                                                                                    Jeff Ferrara, USA
 
                                                                                                                             a tipsy man
                                                                                                                             lifts his hat and bows -
                                                                                                                             cherry blossoms

                                                                                                                             raven fledglings -
                                                                                                                             the many ways black birds
                                                                                                                             look at me
                                                                                                                                           Lorin Ford, Australia
 
silence inside me
only the spring raindrops
keep falling

cisza we mnie
słychać tylko krople
wiosennego deszczu
                 Małgorzata Formanowska, Poland
 
                                                                             Coronavirus.
                                                                             Quarantine. Tell it to
                                                                              the nightingale

                                                                              Coronavirus.
                                                                              Cuarentena. Digànselo
                                                                              al ruiseñor.

                                                                              Cigüiriyines
                                                                              que pìan desde el alba.
                                                                              La primavera.

                                                                             Cigüiriyines*
                                                                             they chirp since dawn -
                                                                             Spring.
                                                                                                                   *diminutive name for cigua, national bird of the Dominican Republic
                                                                                         Rafael García Bidó, Dominican Republic
 
summer lightning -
our cat leaps
from the bookshelf

ljetna munja  -
naša mačka skače
s police za knjige  
               Goran Gatalica, Croatia
 
                                                                           cherry blossoms now
                                                                           on my bedroom
                                                                           calendar

                                                                           hana akari
                                                                           shinshitsu no kabe
                                                                           carendaru

                                                                           花明かり
                                                                           寝室 の 壁
                                                                           カレンダー
 
                                                                          はなあかり
                                                                         しんしつ の かべ
                                                                          カレンダー

                                                                          young mourning dove
                                                                          selects her breakfast
                                                                          mud flats

                                                                         wakai mohato
                                                                         kanojo no chōshoku o erabu
                                                                         higata
 
                                                                         若い 喪鳩  
                                                                         彼女 の 朝食 を 撰ぶ
                                                                        干潟

                                                                         わかい もはと
                                                                         かのじょ  の ちょそく を えらぶ
                                                                         ひがた
                                                                                                              Judith Hishikawa, USA
 
                                  summer dusk frogsong overtakes birdsong
 
                                                                                                                                 dark-eyed juncos
                                                                                                                                 roil up roadside dust
                                                                                                                                 a glowing dawn
                                                                                                                                                     Gary Hittmeyer, USA
 
cottage ceiling -
sunlight carries
the stream’s ripples
                  Frank Hooven, USA
 
                                                                                                                                   vernal equinox -
                                                                                                                                   a cascade of sparkles
                                                                                                                                   fall from the big dipper

                                                                                                                                   starless nights -
                                                                                                                                   time of Covid-19
                                                                                                                                   self-isolation

                                                                                                                                   afternoon nap
                                                                                                                                   sunshine colours
                                                                                                                                   her cheeks
                                                                                                                                            Marilyn Humbert, Australia
 
deserted train station
no one to hear the grass
growing between rails

gară pustie
cine să audă iarba
crescând printre şine
                  Mona Iordan, Romania
 
                                                                                                                                 Spring blossom
                                                                                                                                 it’s come and gone
                                                                                                                                 without a sound
                                                                                                                                                        Erica Ison, UK
 
In isolation -
only the flowering cherry
knocks on my window

În izolare -
doar cireşul înflorit
îmi bate în geam

Coronavirus -
but the cherry blossoms
are just as beautiful

Coronavirus -
dar florile de cireş
la fel de frumoase

Forgotten easel -
through the open window
the song of blackbird

Şevalet uitat -
prin fereastra deschisă
cântecul mierlei
                 Letiţia Lucia Iubu, Romania
 
                                                                                                                                   on the road
                                                                                                                                   to Genbaku Dome
                                                                                                                                   cherry blossoms
                                                                                                                                                      Rick Jackofsky, USA
 
                                                                            Early dawn -
                                                                            into my dream breaks
                                                                            a cawing crow

                                                                  明易や烏の声に夢破れ
                                              Akeyasuya karasu no koe ni yume yabure

                                                                            Midday nap -
                                                                            awaken safely back
                                                                            on this planet

                                                    昼寝覚め無事に戻りてこの星に
                                            hirunezame bujini modorite konohoshi ni
                                                                                              Satoru Kanematsu, Japan
 
darker
after every puddle -
child’s footprints
                   Skylar Kay, Canada
 
                                                                                                                               deserted playground
                                                                                                                               one swing
                                                                                                                               still swinging
                                                                                                                                                  kjmunro, Canada
 
counting days
in lavender growth
this time alone

another day
of not knowing
clouds
                Deborah P Kolodji, USA
 
                                                                                                                                    sunlit stained glass -
                                                                                                                                    a pheasant crosses
                                                                                                                                    the rusty railways

                                                                                                                                    vitraž na suncu -                                
                                                                                                                                    fazan prelazi preko                             
                                                                                                                                    hrđavih tračnica     
                                                                                                                                                 Nina Kovačić, Croatia
 
head of tide
a kingfisher patrols upriver
and back

summer rain
strange cries of a peacock
from the old pine
            Kristen Lindquist, USA
 
                                                                                                                                                                                                          shelter in place -
                                                                                                                                 a faraway look on the face
                                                                                                                                 of a street boy

                                                                                                                                                                                                         在家避難
                                                                                                                                 一名街頭小孩臉上
                                                                                                                                遠望的神情
                                                                                                                                                 Chen-ou Liu, Canada
 
seeking
mother’s hidden light
star magnolia
                Martha Magenta, UK
 
                                                                                                                            early spring
                                                                                                                            new lavender
                                                                                                                            among old
                                                                                                                                         Margaret Mahony, Australia
 
ocean
a taste of salt
in the rain

vid havet
smaken av salt
i regnet

dawn
a chick still
in its egg

gryning
en kyckling stilla
i sitt ägg
            Anna Maris, Sweden
 
                                                                                                                                with the stream’s song
                                                                                                                                a new unfurling
                                                                                                                                of fiddleheads

                                                                                                                                clouded moon
                                                                                                                                the river fades back
                                                                                                                                to black
                                                                                                                                           Marietta McGregor, Australia
 
on the stone
tender moss is growing
no longer lonely

Crece el musguito . . .
Ya no siente la piedra
tantas ausencias
                Lía Miersch, Argentina
 
                                                                                                                                 spring again
                                                                                                                                 in my old heart
                                                                                                                                 a new love

                                                                                                                                 primăvară iar
                                                                                                                                 în inima mea bătrână
                                                                                                                                 o nouă iubire

                                                                                                                                 among blossoming trees
                                                                                                                                 a dry one
                                                                                                                                 with a chirping nest

                                                                                                                                 printre copacii înfloriţi
                                                                                                                                 unul uscat
                                                                                                                                 cu un cuib ciripind
                                                                                                                                                 Victoria Milescu, Romania
 
soft summer grass
naming our own
constellations
                Ben Moeller-Gaa, USA
 
                                                                                                                                campfire -
                                                                                                                                the gaps among the stars
                                                                                                                                filled with smoke

                                                                                                                                foc de tabără -
                                                                                                                                golurile dintre stele
                                                                                                                                umplute cu fum
                                                                                                                                               Vasile Moldovan, Romania
 
every night of Lent
my sister’s voice
through the dark

my mother smiles
talking about her first crush
super pink moon
                 Beverly Acuff Momoi, USA
 
                                                                                                                                  old aspen
                                                                                                                                  new shoots rise
                                                                                                                                  from forgotten roots
                                                                                                                                               Mike Montreuil, Canada
 
new moon
thinner than hair . . .
I miss my father

la luna nuova
più fina di un capello . . .
mi manca mio padre

hanging the canary-bird
in parlor window
shut-in     he and me

appendo fuori
il canarino in gabbia
reclusi      io e lui
                Luciana Moretto, Italy
 
                                                                                                                                March rain
                                                                                                                                arranging maple twigs
                                                                                                                                in the bud vase
                                                                                                                                                  Laurie D. Morrissey, USA
 
depression lifting . . .
from the top of the pinyon
warbler song
                 Marie Louise Munro, USA
 
                                                                                                                                 sudden downpour
                                                                                                                                 the caged parakeets sing
                                                                                                                                 louder

                                                                                                                                 call to prayer
                                                                                                                                 night cicadas
                                                                                                                                 in the garden
                                                                                                                                             Tim Murphy (Spain/Ireland)
 
venus
in the west
tea picker

batıda
tan yildizi
cayci kiz
 
leap year
some children
born old
 
artik yil
bazi çocuklar
yasli dogar
 
sunflower
says the child
picking it
 
bir cocuk
aycicegi der
koparirlar
             Guliz Mutlu, Turkey
 
                                                                                                                                  nearly spring
                                                                                                                                  hobo and moon
                                                                                                                                  travel ‘til dawn
 
                                                                                                                                  soft rain
                                                                                                                                  one by one
                                                                                                                                  petals fall
                                                                                                                                                Nika, Canada
 
 
gathering seashells -
her tiny footprints
in mine
              Wendy Notarnicola, USA
 
                                                                                                                               Easter Sunday
                                                                                                                               a remote spring
                                                                                                                               in the forest
 
                                                                                                                               putting
                                                                                                                               down my earbuds
                                                                                                                               . . . a blackbird singing
                                                                                                                                                         Victor Ortiz, USA
 
cloudy Friday -
the magpie carefully places
a twig in its nest
              Maeve O’Sullivan, Ireland
 
                                                                                         chalk figures
                                                                                         six feet apart
                                                                                         spring
 
                                                      water lilies closing in the clouds
                                                                                                    Roland Packer, Canada
 
 
 
                                                                                                                                cloud gazing
                                                                                                                                dancing bumblebees
                                                                                                                                lull me to sleep
                                                                                                                                                Scott Packer, Canada
 
a clear morning
from a night of mist
hedgerow’s wildflowers
 
bore clir
o niwl y nos
blodau gwyllt y clawdd
 
dandelions
opening to the day
a night’s hidden path
 
dant y llew
yn agor gyda’r dydd
llwybr cudd y nos
                Thomas Powell, Wales
 
                                                                                                                                 after a hot day
                                                                                                                                 the summer moon
                                                                                                                                 cools the air
 
                                                                                                                                 summer moon
                                                                                                                                 the new neighbours
                                                                                                                                 raise their voices
                                                                                                                                             Patricia Prime, New Zealand
 
summer’s end
leaving sandcastles
for the moon
               Carol Raisfeld, USA
 
                                                                                                                              Rajasthani dancer
                                                                                                                              the silver sound
                                                                                                                              of her jangling anklets
                                                                                                                                                Ivan Randall, Australia
 
spring
bursts of Hardenbergia
along the roadside
               Carol Reynolds, Australia

                                                                                                                                summer concert
                                                                                                                                the silence after
                                                                                                                                the last note
                                                                                                                                                 Edward J. Rielly, USA
 
Easter celebration
together
from a distance
              Bona M. Santos, USA
 
                                                                                                                                eucalyptus forests
                                                                                                                                 the hushed whispers
                                                                                                                                 of the children
                                                                                                                                                  Minal Sarosh, India
 
campsite
whispering between
fire and river
                  Agnes Eva Savich, USA
 
                                                                                                                                shutdown
                                                                                                                                the sunny side of the street
                                                                                                                                deserted
 
                                                                                                                                tout est fermé
                                                                                                                                le côté ensoleillé de la rue
                                                                                                                               désert
                                                                                                                                             Olivier Schopfer, Switzerland
 
                                                                             Bending deep
                                                                             the Pope praying alone
                                                                             at Piazza San Pietro
 
                                                深々と祈る法王サンピエトロ広場
                                            Fukabuka to inoru hōou sanpietoro hiroba
 
                                                                           Self-restraint of going out
                                                                           a first butterfly came
                                                                           to the doorway
 
                                                              外出の自粛の戸口初蝶来
                                         Gaishutu no jishuku no toguchi hatsuchō ku
                                                                                                                Kyoko Shimizu, Japan
 
                                                                                                                                  dawn meditation
                                                                                                                                  the valley surrenders
                                                                                                                                  its mist
                                                                                                                                                       Debbie Strange, Canada
 
Canicular summer -
a hoarse skylark
searches for water
 
Vară toridă -
ciocârlia răguşită
caută apă
                 Constantin Stroe, Romania
 
                                                                                                                                   wind chimes . . .
                                                                                                                                   one sparrow after another
                                                                                                                                    in the bird bath
                                                                                                                                                       Angela Terry, USA
 
Breeze at dawn -
a flowering branch
hides the nest
 
Adiere-n zori
o creangă înflorită
ascunde cuibul
 
closing the book -
my mother is watching
the rainbow
 
închizând cartea -
mama priveşte
curcubeul
                  Maria Tirenescu, Romania
 
                                                                              bamboo grove
                                                                              the dance between light
                                                                              and shadow
 
                                                                       magnolia blossom
                                                   a mockingbird weaves moonlight
                                                                                into song
 
                                                                             the flicker
                                                                             of fireflies
                                                                             falling star
                                                                                             Kevin Valentine, USA
 
                                                                                                                                 morning prayer
                                                                                                                                 a slow breeze brings in the scent
                                                                                                                                of distant rain
                                                                                                                                                  Rashmi VeSa, India
 
vernal equinox -
buying from the market
a green scarf
 
echinocţiu vernal -
îmi cumpăr de la târg
o eşarfă verde
              Steliana Cristina Voicu, Romania
 
                                                                                                                              lockdown
                                                                                                                              families pond fishing
                                                                                                                              six feet apart
 
                                                                                                                             in lockdown
                                                                                                                             layers of pine pollen
                                                                                                                             yellow the porch
                                                                                                                                           Marilyn Appl Walker, USA
 
social distancing
what a moon
has always meant
 
the squirrel’s leap
                   to a tender branch
first day of spring
                   Julie Warther, USA
 
                                                                                                                                  a blind kitten
                                                                                                                                  in the baker’s hand -
                                                                                                                                  first spring morning
                                                                                                                                              Michael Dylan Welch, USA
 
April sunshine
mother buried underground
liked sunbathing
 
kwietniowe słońce
mama pogrzebana w ziemi
lubiła się opalać
 
this is where
I come to be
rye fields in June
 
oto miejsce
gdzie się staję
żytnie pola w czerwcu
                  Ernest Wit, Poland
 
                                                                                                                            spring sunshine
                                                                                                                            a girl with green eyes
                                                                                                                            smiles back
 
                                                                                                                           a ripe plum
                                                                                                                           in a child’s fingers
                                                                                                                           sunset

                                                                                                                           lockdown
                                                                                                                           the honeysuckle climbs
                                                                                                                           the garden wall
                                                                                                                                             Robert Witmer, Japan
 
your fingers find mine
rising blush
of sunset
             Valorie Woerdehoff, USA

    Editor:
    Bruce Ross


    Assistant Editor: Astrid Andreescu

    ​Art: Murray David Ross


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