it begins

with a howl

blood moon

*Published by horror senryu journal on 10/26/20

 sometimes

the only thing

i know to be true

is that the sun has risen

somewhere

brightly in our sky

*Published by Cold Moon Journal on 10/23/20

 a deeper

ache in my bones

full COVID moon

*Published by Haiku in Action on 10/22/20

this piece of amethyst

i hold in my hand

what secrets

have you kept

during your long life

*Published by Cold Moon Journal on 10/18/20

 at night, watching the mist rise

as fate would have it

i looked out my window

at just the right time

to watch a thick mist rise up

from a darkened lake

now had this event stopped there

i would have been content

but nature

has never been withholding

of her beauty

the mist continued rising

above the treetops

and then turned left to brush

her white silk against

the roofs of impending homes

but where she went from there

i will never know

because nature

has never been withholding

of her mystery

*Published by Central Coast Poetry Shows on 10/12/20

 moonlight falls

upon a quiet city

sometimes

a bit of magic

is so ordinary

*

another month

of social distancing

i share

my aches and dreams

with the curbside rose

*Published the 2020 edition of Under the Basho (Tanka section)

awaiting

the cooler days of fall

i curl into

a book 

as thick as the moon

*

it’s late at night

and i might be

the only one awake

to watch the softness

of your breath

lay upon our home

*

first the lightning

then the thunder

when a dream

finds parts of my soul

i had yet to discover

*

that feeling 

when you first wake up

here but so far away

i want to hold on

to that moment

just a few seconds longer

*

after rising from sleep

waves of life

crash upon me

perhaps it’s a good thing

i have always loved

an untamed ocean

*Published in the autumn 2020 edition of The Bamboo Hut

I’m happy to announce that my third e-chapbook, tyranny of the familiar (Yavanika Press 2020), can now be purchased here. This collection of haiga was made in collaboration with the poet, Peter Jastermsky, and features 20 pieces of my art.

 when the rest of the world

is asleep

listen carefully

this is when

life speaks to us

through poems

*Published by Cold Moon Journal on 10/1/20

 early fall

i skip the dress

for a tie

*Published by Haiku in Action on 10/1/20 with the following note: “a celebration of gender fluidity”

 focus

your breath

upon my words

you are

safe within

this space

*

each time

I build walls

around myself

the spring air

somehow

knocks them down

*

I wrestle

with a desire

to disappear

not to start over

but

to never be found

*

in my life

a lot of lines

have blurred

like the ones

dividing dreams

and nightmares

*

it is late

and I am

so very cold

but I cannot look

away from

these stars

*Published in from my window (the cherita book 40)

*The last cherita was designated as a cherita lighthouse (editor’s choice)

 watching

the fly outside

my home

it has been

one long

lonely year

*Published by Cold Moon Journal on 9/28/20

moonbow

the strum

of his guitar

*Published in the September 2020 issue of Stardust Haiku

 where the wind blows

                                                                  an afterthought

*Published by Fresh Out: An Arts and Poetry Collective on 9/24/20

orchid

how calmly you leave

this earth 

*Published via the Poetry Pea podcast (Series 3, Episode 18: Loss)

the most beautiful painting in the world

happened to be just

outside my home

and not surprisingly

in the shape

of a large magnolia bud

*

no words needed

we may not speak

the same language

dearest rain

but somehow we seem
to always
understand one another

*

now pick up those pom-poms

the world doesn’t need

another critic

it desperately needs

another cheerleader

*

because i do

do you ever feel
overwhelmed
when the sky

turns bright pink
as the night
draws near

*

a poem for the bereaved

may these words
walk alongside you
like a close friend

and when the tears
fall from your cheek
may each letter

carry your grief

*Published in Fireflies’ Light: A Magazine of Short Poems #20

just what i needed

today

the sun shone brilliantly

without a filter of clouds

thank you, God

for this blessed relief

*

in your arms

the way rose oil
warms up on skin
is the only comparison
i have
for this sweet summer night

*

so ordinary and yet not

there are days when
my heart is so heavy
i can barely move
and the only comfort
i can find
is that everyone else
has these days too

*

in defense of sadness

the grass has turned brown
my friends

this is why we need
those dark days of rain

*

intermission (for movies and life)

listen to the birds
outside your window
and don’t forget to look up
to the stars

*Published in Fireflies’ Light: A Magazine of Short Poems #20

 further

into isolation

waning moon

*Published in The Asahi Shimbun (Asahi Haikuist Network) on 9/4/20

if you can

take comfort

in the change of seasons

even snow

will eventually

become tulips

*

thunder

I have missed you

more than you’ll ever know

the sun

can only say

so much

*

are you

as afraid

as me

when you

first dive

into sleep

*

a bit of magic

before dawn

here I am

watching

the Space Station

cross the sky

*

to the bird

near my window

I know

you are not singing

for me

but thank you

*

bruised

is how I would prefer

to remember

your hands

when striking

my flesh

*Published in a sense of place (the cherita book 39)

**The first two cherita were designated as a cherita lighthouse (editor’s choice)

supernova

with a sense of urgency

art and words

pour out from my soul

i pray

if this year is my last

may it be filled

with a lifetime’s worth

of color

*Published in the Poets Salon (coloradoboulevard.net) on 8/27/20

politics

I’d rather follow

a butterfly

*Published by Haikuniverse (www.haikuniverse.com) on 8/25/20

Daydreams

Why, after all these years,

is the sky still that same shade of blue

when the entire vastness, day and night,

could be an endless rainbow?

For good measure,

let’s throw in a dose of glitter, too.

Why couldn’t the moon have been a disco ball

that spins when hung,

casting a translucent dance of shape and color

all throughout the earth?

Insomnia would be such a delightful occasion,

in my humble point of view.

And why, oh why,

can I not hold the stars close to my breasts

and feel the warmth

of their enduring glow?

After all, we’re family

and long overdue for a hug.

*Published by Central Coast Poetry Shows on 8/20/20

fistful of sweets

today I am

a kid at heart

*Published via the Poetry Pea podcast (Series 3, Episode 16: Joy)

for you

dedicated to the Hubble Space Telescope

shot up into the cosmos, eased

into an orbit around Earth

you have silently watched

as comets wag their tails

of dust and light through solitary jaunts

and you have silently watched

as stars violently die, time after time

in a luminous burst of color

and you have silently watched

as the far ends of space

beam echoes of its creation into your brain

and it is through your eyes

i first learned

that the universe is more vast

meaningful and complex

than my existence will ever be

*Published by Dear Reader on 8/12/20

because you wanted to talk s

                                                                                        plit atoms

*Published in Sonic Boom Issue Eighteen