Tuesday, December 28, 2021

dandelion seeds
float away in a muggy air
the friends i lost
when i decided
to honor my truth

*Published by Cold Moon Journal on 12/28/21

Monday, December 27, 2021

i find myself
standing before the sun
stitch me
heal me
in the places i cannot reach

*Published by Cold Moon Journal on 12/27/21 

Wednesday, December 22, 2021

 i am the night
and yet
your blue eyes

*Published in The Haiku Foundation’s Haiku Dialogue on 12/22/21

Friday, December 10, 2021

 where the moon crumbles into fog

*Published by horror senryu journal on 12/10/21

Friday, December 3, 2021

 id

y’know i wanna rip
this pair of red tights to the top
of my sex
scream topless at a waxing moon
too pure for my filth

*Published in the November 2021 issue of Versification

Sunday, November 28, 2021

beyond our ache the birth of stars

*Published by Cold Moon Journal on 11/27/21

Friday, November 26, 2021

before the altar a charred root unfurls

*Published by horror senryu journal on 11/26/21

Wednesday, November 24, 2021

 this solitude a dew-covered marigold

*Published by Cold Moon Journal on 11/24/21

Sunday, November 21, 2021

merlot and oh what a ride to hell

*

vines of ice climbing the walls of dreams

*

an anvil falls to the ocean’s floor. Such is regret

*

faith of a mustard seed fistfight

*

of plums and dragons. Gimme it all

*Published in Ant Ant Ant Ant Ant 2021

Thursday, November 4, 2021

 peace until theraintheraintheraintherain

*

blank canvas but you chose the knife

*

between stars. rivers. the years disintegrate.

*

side eyeing the past present tense

*

moon. silver. your makeshift gods.

*Published in Ant Ant Ant Ant Ant 2021

Monday, November 1, 2021

upon my eyelashes
the remnants
of forgotten stars

*Published in the November 2021 issue of brass bell: a haiku journal

Saturday, October 30, 2021

moon
over mountain
over sea

*Published by Cold Moon Journal on 10/30/21 

Friday, October 29, 2021

 a bluebird trills beneath my dreams

*Published by Cold Moon Journal on 10/29/21

peppermint oil
the autumn twilight
upon my skin

*Published in the October 2021 issue of Stardust Haiku

Thursday, October 28, 2021

 removed
from the bustle of cars
a field of goldenrods

*Published in The Haiku Foundation’s Haiku Dialogue on 10/27/21

Tuesday, October 26, 2021

 and then your body became an ocean

*Published by Cold Moon Journal on 10/25/21

Friday, October 22, 2021

 i am the lion stalking dusk

*Published by Cold Moon Journal on 10/22/21
 to be the daffodil capturing dawn

*Published by Haiku in Action on 10/22/21

Thursday, October 21, 2021

 this body. slab of granite. breaks.

*

here i am. rising sun. atomic bomb.

*

time slows the black of winter rain

*

just yr average nuclear family reaction

*

why days pummel me into dust i want to know

*Published in Ant Ant Ant Ant Ant 2021

Wednesday, October 20, 2021

between the sun
and my sweat
wild orchids

*Published in The Haiku Foundation’s Haiku Dialogue on 10/20/21

 the wind but i am also a leaf

*Published by Cold Moon Journal on 10/19/21

Monday, October 18, 2021

 radiation in my blood your blood

*

atlas
but have you
carried shame

*

it was only a pinch. throat punch. apocalypse.

*

every soul untethered but thanks for shopping

*

a bullet cuts the night alone with these thoughts

*Published in Ant Ant Ant Ant Ant 2021
**every soul was reprinted in Haiku 2022 (Modern Haiku Press)

Friday, October 1, 2021

37 years
how long it took
to love myself

*

1st kiss
how quickly the universe
expands

*Published in the October 2021 issue of brass bell: a haiku journal

Wednesday, September 29, 2021

 echoes of night the remains of a sycamore

*Published in The Haiku Foundation’s Haiku Dialogue on 9/29/21

Tuesday, September 28, 2021

 war ends, war begins
all i want
is a quiet summer dawn

*Published in Suspect Device Zine (Turning Japanese #6)

Saturday, September 25, 2021

 because i crave the nectar of Andromeda

*Published by Cold Moon Journal on 9/25/21

Friday, September 24, 2021

 after the moonrise how i bloom

*Published by Cold Moon Journal on 9/24/21
 free show
my white shirt
on a rainy day

*Published by Haiku in Action on 9/24/21

Tuesday, September 21, 2021

 we are more than a distant clap of thunder

*Published by Cold Moon Journal on 9/20/21

Sunday, August 8, 2021

 the feast (part one)

the monster climbs on top of you
and you let it
place the pillow over your head

it’s a game
the monster coos

but in your mind you know
there is no game

*

dilate

at times
the only comfort
i had
was the shadow
in my bed

*Published in Issue no. 22 of Anti-Heroin Chic
 the feast (part two)

the monster
has a skin suit and tie

the monster
pays its bills on time

but the monster
only desires

your pre-
pubescent flesh

*

resignation

i told the shadow
come closer

what else could i
call home?

*Published in Issue no. 22 of Anti-Heroin Chic

Thursday, August 5, 2021

retina

come closer
i heard while sitting in my room

i just wanted to see you
the moon shyly said

~ (0) ~

my body is not beautiful
i admitted
it is covered in scars and dents

so is mine! and yet you humans
she laughed
worship every inch of my skin

*Published by Sledgehammer Literary Journal on 8/4/21

Wednesday, July 28, 2021

 petrichor...
we gather the remnants
of our hope

*Published in the July 2021 issue of Stardust Haiku

Monday, July 19, 2021

in his arms i become the rain

*Published by Cold Moon Journal on 7/17/21 

Friday, July 16, 2021

 temptress...
a dusting of starlight
falls across my chest

*Published by Cold Moon Journal on 7/16/21

Thursday, July 15, 2021

 because we have nothing left the sun

*Published by Cold Moon Journal on 7/15/21

Tuesday, July 13, 2021

 watching the night fall from grace

*Published by Cold Moon Journal on 7/13/21

Sunday, July 11, 2021

 behind this silence a twilight in flames

*Published by Cold Moon Journal on 7/11/21

Wednesday, July 7, 2021

after the match
strike your
toothless grin

*Published by horror senryu journal on 7/7/21

Thursday, July 1, 2021

 my hand gently
caresses her face
(i knew i wasn’t straight)

*

recurring nightmare
the wolf licks his lips
beside my bed

*

teenage rebellion
i crush the cig with my
steel-toe combat boots

*Published in the July 2021 issue of brass bell: a haiku journal

Sunday, June 27, 2021

moonlight
a rose unfolds
within the silence

*Published in the June 2021 issue of Stardust Haiku 
 ghost moon
i just want you
to see me

*Published by Cold Moon Journal on 6/25/21

Wednesday, June 23, 2021

a warbler sings
to an audience of dust
in dreams
i am always stuck
in the wrong universe

*Published by Fresh Out: An Arts and Poetry Collective on 6/23/21
moon after moon the ache of being

*Published in Cold Moon Journal on 6/23/21

Tuesday, June 22, 2021

stomach punch
and yet
i was born

*Published in Suspect Device Zine (Turning Japanese #5)
**Nominated for The Haiku Foundation’s Touchstone Individual Poem Award by the editor

Monday, June 21, 2021

dusty attic
the scent of
a grimoire

*Published by horror senryu journal on 6/21/21

Saturday, June 19, 2021

from pink to violet
to the darkest indigo
this sunset
has touched my soul
in places i had forgotten

*

between the lands
of awake and sleep
a melody
rises from each tulip
waiting for your touch

*Published in the spring 2021 edition of The Bamboo Hut
 a quiet pond
reflects a pool of stars
this must be
what it feels like
to reach the gates of Heaven

*

the rain is gentle
and the wind is soft
today i vow
to bottle up and save
this moment of ahh

*

my thumb caresses
this piece of moonstone
i wonder
whose hands loved you
long before mine

*Published in the spring 2021 edition of The Bamboo Hut

Monday, June 14, 2021

 lost

when i don’t see
the lyricism in the steady
march of ants
and when i don’t feel
the expansiveness
of a night without a moon
then i know
i have lost myself
in the fray of this
modern world

*

a quick prayer

to breathe in
this rain-soaked night
before i rest
in the arms of grace

*Published in Fireflies’ Light: A Magazine of Short Poems #23
 beneath the covers

a bird trills
then a rumble of thunder
responds

this is
my favorite type
of morning

*

from above

like a streak of lightning
pummeling its way
through sodden clouds
your voice
transcends the darkness
of my boiled thoughts

*

come here

a poem
is a safe space
in which to open
up your heart

*Published in Fireflies’ Light: A Magazine of Short Poems #23
 awake

perhaps i will sleep
another day
another day when
the moon isn’t
so full and luminous
and the blackbird isn’t
so sweet and beautiful

*

where truth resides

in the pause
between your voice
and mine

*Published in Fireflies’ Light: A Magazine of Short Poems #23

Sunday, June 13, 2021

 fine-toothed comb the crescent moon in my bones

*Published by Cold Moon Journal on 6/13/21

Wednesday, June 9, 2021

what could have been the sound of rain

*Published in Paradigm Shift: The Travels of Rain on The Haiku Foundation’s website

 before sunrise shaking off a phantom moon

*Published by Cold Moon Journal on 6/8/21

Friday, June 4, 2021

echoes in a vacant house regret

*Published by horror senryu journal on 6/4/21

Thursday, June 3, 2021

in your snow the Lydian moon rises

*Published by Cold Moon Journal on 6/2/21
through these doors
the wind
remains

*Published in Door to Door: Doorway on The Haiku Foundation’s website

Tuesday, June 1, 2021

 a robin then a wren
oh how i love
this sticky dawn

*Published in the June 2021 issue of brass bell: a haiku journal

Wednesday, May 26, 2021

 scent of rose
this fading
spring light

*Published in the May 2021 issue of Stardust Haiku

Sunday, May 23, 2021

 the first lamp
flickers into being

her fingers trace
the rose waiting
for a lover

(Tim Gardiner & Tiffany Shaw-Diaz)

*

despite the hour
the loneliness
of her belief

a church bell rings
within sunset haze

(Tim Gardiner & Tiffany Shaw-Diaz)

*These tan renga were inspired by The flower seller by Sir Alfred Munnings and published in issue 12.1 of Twelve Rivers (a journal of the Suffolk Poetry Society)

Wednesday, May 19, 2021

 doormat
my descent
into nothingness

*Published in Door to Door: Doormat on The Haiku Foundation’s website
to be
in a
river of
to be

*Published by Cold Moon Journal on 5/19/21
**Nominated for The Haiku Foundation’s Touchstone Individual Poem Award by the editor
 nameless hunger
the night
shifts blue to black

*Published by horror senryu journal on 5/19/21

Sunday, May 16, 2021

of course
the mountain
wasn’t always

*Published by Cold Moon Journal on 5/15/21
**Selected for commentary in re:Virals 302 on The Haiku Foundation’s website
***Nominated for The Haiku Foundation’s Touchstone Individual Poem Award by the editor

Wednesday, May 12, 2021

 turn of the knob a new life

*Published in Door to Door: Doorknob on The Haiku Foundation’s website

Saturday, May 1, 2021

wild youth
i used to pull my
food from the earth

*

bowl of soup
when i just
need a hug

*

no regrets
i eat the whole
pint of ice cream

*Published in the May 2021 issue of brass bell: a haiku journal 

Thursday, April 29, 2021

was
without
wanting

*Published by Heliosparrow on 4/29/21

Sunday, April 25, 2021

 spiced tea
a little twilight
birdsong

*Published in the April 2021 issue of Stardust Haiku

Monday, April 19, 2021

 how long must i wait
for the night to become
a kindred spirit

hold out your hand
and feel the warmth around
each hidden rose

*Published by Cold Moon Journal on 4/19/21

Friday, April 16, 2021

 this year
a feast
of worms

*Published by horror senryu journal on 4/16/21

Thursday, April 15, 2021

 solitude
how i water
my garden

*Published by Haikuniverse (www.haikuniverse.com) on 4/15/21

Tuesday, April 13, 2021

 in the long
dark hallway of memory
is there light

in dreams
we occasionally slide into
the body of another

*Published by Cold Moon Journal on 4/13/21

Monday, April 12, 2021

 lyrics to “beautiful (if u want it to be)”

this must be how
the fox feels
when her coat tingles with
the magic of star
becoming eternal

as the laws of geometry
unspool & reveal
harmonics unknown
to simple blood
& the moon

is vibrant enough
to transform rain falling
gently
upon decaying leaves
into soft jewels

*Performed by my friend paul, a musical side project of Tiffany Shaw-Diaz, on ep 03
 ROYGBIV

the voice of the sun ascending     red
with a dash of orange     in my bones
a cardinal sings     for the sky now yellow
drumming into my bed     a song bursts
through my walls     the way green
shapes a budding orchid     turning
its head to greet     a day full of promise
and yet i have known blue     breathed it in
then released     the indigo found
within uncharted depths     but at night
i still make room in my heart     for the whisper
of a violet horizon     begging me home

*Published in issue 1 of horse egg literary

Monday, March 29, 2021

 a slow cut
across my breast
killer moon

*Published by horror senryu journal on 3/29/21

Saturday, March 27, 2021

 oh yes

it has been months
since it has been warm enough
to warrant the opening
of my apartment’s windows, and i
cannot get enough of this fragrance
the grass mixed with the trees
mixed with the swirls of my neighbor’s
nighttime cigar, and oh yes
this is what it means to live
to experience the aroma
of all that is alive

*Published by Central Coast Poetry Shows on 3/27/21

Tuesday, March 23, 2021

 faraway étude
the dusk within
a blue sea

*Published in the March 2021 issue of Stardust Haiku

Sunday, March 21, 2021

 field of stars
when i read the poems
of Mary Oliver

*Published by Cold Moon Journal on 3/21/21

Wednesday, March 17, 2021

 honestly

in the end
i can assure you
i will not fret over
my lack of kale consumption
or the dollar amount resting
in my sundry bank accounts

instead i will ask myself
if i loved
if i lived true
to the pullings of my soul
and if i dedicated my life
to pursuits worthy of my time

*Published in Fireflies’ Light: A Magazine of Short Poems #22

Monday, March 15, 2021

 we need you

from plankton to galaxies
and everything in between
you are
and always will be
a necessary component
in this vast circle of life

*

and so i listen

to the wind and rain
the mountains and leaves
for the whispers of my creator
to once again fill
my ever-ready heart

*Published in Fireflies’ Light: A Magazine of Short Poems #22

Sunday, March 14, 2021

 his scent a moonlit maple

*Published by Cold Moon Journal on 3/14/21

Saturday, March 13, 2021

gratitude

while watching
flakes of snow fall
i am thankful

to be here
to witness
this beautiful life

*

oh this makes me smile

during winter
i like to imagine
spring flowers

waiting patiently
but eagerly
to see us again

*Published in Fireflies’ Light: A Magazine of Short Poems #22

Friday, March 12, 2021

warfare

no one asked me
to be perfect

not even God

and yet here i am
demanding of myself

what no one ever wanted

*

over darkness

if you woke up today
held your head high
then you
my dear friend
have claimed victory

*Published in Fireflies’ Light: A Magazine of Short Poems #22
 until death do us part a sprig of hemlock

*Published by horror senryu journal on 3/12/21

Thursday, March 11, 2021

 whole again among the lake and trees

*Published by Cold Moon Journal on 3/11/21

Tuesday, March 9, 2021

 why have a name when you can be known as

the sound of a rainbow forming
after a warm spring rain
or the feel of a magenta twilight
resting upon a dewy rose

*Published by Skyway Journal on 3/9/21
 eternal

speak to me
in the language of rain

sweetly, gently

in the language
of a time without end

*

darker roads

so often
i am the night

covering the earth
with an ache

even i
have yet to name

*

reversal

i want to be
the snow that falls
upon your breath

to know you
as i once did
before dusk

ruled day

*Published in Fireflies’ Light: A Magazine of Short Poems #22

Monday, March 8, 2021

 Frida Kahlo
a flame rises
within the night

*Published by Cold Moon Journal on 3/8/21

Sunday, March 7, 2021

 babbling brook
this too
is peace

*Published by Cold Moon Journal on 3/7/21

Saturday, March 6, 2021

 wasting

five reduced-fat
crackers for lunch
and you salivate over
the withered meat
i have become

*Published and performed in the March 2021 issue of Versification

Friday, March 5, 2021

 motherless
i pull the moon in
a little closer

*Published in the March 2021 issue of brass bell: a haiku journal

Thursday, March 4, 2021

 modern love
he swings with
a girl on video

*

February 14th
i crank up
My Bloody Valentine

*

empty wine bottle
you like it when
i’m easy

*Published in Suspect Device Zine (Turning Japanese #4)
**Nominated for The Haiku Foundation’s Touchstone Individual Poem Award by the editor

Thursday, February 25, 2021

 evening commute
a rainbow sunset
guides me home

*Published by Haiku in Action on 2/25/21

Tuesday, February 23, 2021

 not every color
has a name...
midnight jazz

*Published in the February 2021 issue of Stardust Haiku
**Selected for the 2021 Red Moon Anthology
***Winner of The Haiku Foundation’s Touchstone Individual Poem Award 2021

Friday, February 19, 2021

 on your tongue the birth of a hex

*Published by horror senryu journal on 2/19/21

Monday, February 15, 2021

 darkest blue
the cold comfort
of my own thoughts

*Published by Cold Moon Journal on 2/15/21

Saturday, February 13, 2021

 crimson...
the dust between our lives

*Published by Cold Moon Journal on 2/13/21

Thursday, February 11, 2021

 a forgotten galaxy the river without a name

*Published by Cold Moon Journal on 2/11/21

Friday, February 5, 2021

 fuchsia twilight
sometimes i
forget to breathe

*Published in the February 2021 issue of brass bell: a haiku journal

Wednesday, February 3, 2021

 revenge
my lips trace
a sharpened blade

*Published by horror senryu journal on 2/3/21

Tuesday, February 2, 2021

 in the past
i have known peace
but this night
is full of storms
without relief

*

a small
tendril of moonlight
what if
i held my pain
like a treasured lover

*

i know
the darkness will return
but
for this moment
i have found peace

*Published in the winter 2021 edition of The Bamboo Hut

Sunday, January 31, 2021

twinkling frost
but i call it
magic

*Published by Cold Moon Journal on 1/31/21
 nocturne...
the blue
within blue

*Published by Fresh Out: An Arts and Poetry Collective on 1/31/21

Saturday, January 30, 2021

 along the pond’s surface moonlight dreams

*Published by Cold Moon Journal on 1/30/21

Thursday, January 28, 2021

 not everything
has an answer
deepening snow

*Published in the January 2021 issue of Stardust Haiku

Monday, January 25, 2021

 lyrics to “delia (testing the waters)”

testing
the waters
testing
the waves

dragging me deep
under the water

testing
the water
the ocean
the movement

*Performed by my friend paul, a side project of Tiffany Shaw-Diaz, on ep 01

Sunday, January 24, 2021

each star the sound of rain in my bones

*Published by Cold Moon Journal on 1/24/21 

Wednesday, January 20, 2021

 lyrics to “throes”

this lie
oh yes the one you told me
between the sheets
and i knew it wasn’t you
but the demon inside

*Performed by my friend paul, a side project of Tiffany Shaw-Diaz, on ep 01

Monday, January 18, 2021

 insomnia
within my chest
spiders writhe

*Published by horror senryu journal on 1/18/21

Saturday, January 16, 2021

 Reprieve

Nothing quite compares to the night sky of my dreams. Constellations, planets, and stars are so large I can see even the most minuscule of detail. And let’s not forget about the colors of these celestial objects. Vibrant, and in every shade of the rainbow, I could gaze at them for hours, and sometimes, I do.

eyes closed
a little joy within
this ache

*Published in Issue 7 of the QuillS

Friday, January 15, 2021

 transfiguration

lit by the soft glow     of maple
candles adorn     this large tub
filled with rainbows     ricocheting
from quartz in every color     she
walks in     sits down beside me     smiling
a mother i didn’t know i had     wordlessly
washes my hair     hums a lullaby
in a dialect     before time became time
is of no importance here     i am allowed
to rest in the womb of this water     all night
if desired     she drops oil from cinnamon
clove and nutmeg     into my palm     and i
become the falling     Christmas Eve snow

*Published in Issue 1.35 of FEED

Thursday, January 14, 2021

 quarantine
the spider now
a friend

*Published by Haiku in Action on 1/14/21

Wednesday, January 13, 2021

 dust gathers
for once i am
fine with that

*Published in the January 2021 issue of brass bell: a haiku journal

Sunday, January 10, 2021

For the next seven days, the Tanka Society of America will feature my cherita on their Twitter page as a part of their 7 poems in 7 days project. Please check them out at @oftanka!

 still
a protest
your art and words

*Published by Haikuniverse (www.haikuniverse.com) on 1/10/21

Saturday, January 9, 2021

 the wind in my hair a dusting of moonrise

*Published by Cold Moon Journal on 1/9/21

Wednesday, January 6, 2021

 on the wings of a moth a poem

*Published by Cold Moon Journal on 1/6/21

Tuesday, January 5, 2021

the sound of paper drifting in the wind

 i wouldn’t say
i’m afraid

but i will say
i’m concerned

for what will
remain of me

when my life
comes to a close

will my art and words
enhance the senses

of another soul
seeking fullness

or will the catalogue
of my existence

fade into a drone
heard by no one

not even
the worms

*Published by Central Coast Poetry Shows on 1/5/21

Sunday, January 3, 2021

If you are on Twitter, make sure to follow the Tanka Society of America. They will be posting my tanka for the next seven days as a part of their 7 poems in 7 days project!

Friday, January 1, 2021

 sleater-kinney kind of heartbreak

it’s like when
you stroke your
thumb ever so
gently across rose
petals & no
words can describe
that sensation maybe
velvet comes close
but it’s still
insufficient & here
i am two
decades later trying
to describe what
she felt like
when she kissed
me quite unexpectedly
& i spent
the next day
trying to untangle
my stomach
branded myself
a sinner
not roses
between my lips
i felt shame

*Published in issue six of Stone of Madness Press