frost encases

each blade of grass

this belief

of not being enough

for you or myself

*Published in Issue #19 of Moonbathing

**Winner of the Editor’s Choice Award

sun after snow

may I never forget

your grace

*Published in the December 2018 issue of Stardust Haiku

splitting atoms

this magenta

behind words

*Selected for The Haiku Foundation’s Per Diem on 12/14/18

dry mouth

on this night

with no moon

is this how

our vows turn into

broken promises?

*Published in the stories (the cherita book 20)

find me

in the space

between breaths

between this world

and the one

you cannot see

*

after the divorce

naked became

mother's normal

so desperate for attention

she demanded it

from her children

*

to one, I am meek

to another, aggressive

my hands

are cut and tired

from holding your mirror

*

how twilight

blankets trees

ashamed

I cover

my aging body

*Published in Atlas Poetica 32

falling petals

slowly I embrace

my aging body 

*Sakura Award recipient in the 2018 Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festial Haiku Invitational

fireworks

in the distance

serenity

*Published in the September 2018 issue of Stardust Haiku

no more grey

I finally call it

rape

life after trauma

even the tulips

cry obscenities 

*Published in #FemkuMag Issue Four

sunflower bed

dreaming

about stardust

*Published in A Sense of Place: Meadow/Field - Sight on The Haiku Foundation’s website

remembering

our first kiss

mountain's breath

*Published in A Sense of Place: Mountain - Touch on The Haiku Foundation's website

bare branches

what the cancer

left behind

supernova

mother leaves

her body

*Published in Wales Haiku Journal, summer 2018

red velvet

a little mountain mist

on my tongue

*Published in A Sense of Place: Mountain - Taste on The Haiku Foundation’s website

mountainside joyride

just me

and the scent of ahh

*Published in A Sense of Place: Mountain - Smell on The Haiku Foundation’s website

evening prayer

one by one

stars appear

*Published in the August 2018 issue of Stardust Haiku

thunder rattles

each window pane

you ask

when I learned

to fight back

*Published in Stacking Stones: An Anthology of Short Tanka Sequences. The above is my contribution to a sequence titled "Becoming" in collaboration with Christina Sng, Jessica Malone Latham, Josie Hibbing, Mary Hohlman, and Susan Burch. 

mountaintop

all I hear

is your breath

*Published in A Sense of Place: Mountain - Hearing on The Haiku Foundation's website

fatherly advice

he tells me to read

Story of O

missing mom

I become

his wife

*Published in #FemkuMag Issue Three

frilly things

you always liked

the pink one

but I ask you

to take me

as I am

*

four years later

her ashes sit

in my closet

now covered

with the same dust

as her bones

*Published in not a memory, exactly (the cherita book 15)

I am happy to announce that I am a semifinalist in the March Art of Haiku contest sponsored by ITO EN North America. You can view my poem, along with the other semifinalists, here. Additionally, my poem was published in the Japanese newspaper, the Shukan NY Seikatsu, on 8/25/18.

wildfire

I take my truth

to the masses

*Published by Haikuniverse (www.haikuniverse.com) on 8/4/18

After my haibun, Far from Home, was published in Scryptic earlier this year, I received an interview request to discuss it along with life, art, and inspiration. Many thanks to Bekah and Shannon Steimel for this opportunity! You can read my interview here.

buried alive

another I’m sorry

for nothing

*Published in #FemkuMag Issue Two

I knew

it was the way

you said her name

the way flowers

discover sun

in spring

*Published in on a quiet street (the cherita book 14)

**Designated as a cherita lighthouse (editor’s choice)

Secrets I Used to Keep

Maybe it was the moonlight. Or the weed. But I knew it was my duty to tell her how beautiful she looked.

wildflowers

along the highway

a burst of life

*Published in Contemporary Haibun Online, vol 14 no 2

sunset chai

our voices

lower

*Selected haiku, NHK World Haiku Masters: June, 2018

Far from Home

It's a long drive to the art museum. An hour, minus rush hour, to be exact. So, I pass the time repeating some mantras that, according to all of these popular self-help books I read, will greatly benefit my mental health:

I am beautiful.

I am worthy.

I am safe.

Honestly, I am still waiting to see if they work, but in the meantime, I guess they can't hurt. 

self-love

I tell myself

what they don't

*Published in Issue 2.1 of Scryptic Magazine 

ripped daffodils

every time I couldn’t

say no

rising sun

I look in the mirror

and say I love you

*Published in #FemkuMag Issue One

Letting Go

My 2017 year-in-review bears an uncanny resemblance to my recently updated sock collection: all of the old and worn-out ones have been replaced with new and more comfortable ones, and I could not be happier with that decision.

New Year's Eve

some goodbyes

take a lifetime

*Published in Le Lumachine no. 28

in the end

mother stopped cleaning

her home and self

perhaps the flies

kept her company

when I couldn’t

*

imagine

a forest

that circles

back in

on itself

and us

*Published in now i listen (the cherita book 13)

crystal shop

for two hours

I sparkle

*Published in Akitsu Quarterly Summer 2018

One, Two...

My first time, I didn't know what to expect. A chorus of angels singing hallelujah, perhaps. Or maybe even a high-five from Jesus. Instead, I stared at the ceiling, counting cracks.

early spring

some flowers bloom

before others

*

Parallel Lines

In my entire adult life, I've never been single. Heck, I've never even lived alone. At the age of 18, I switched hands from one older man to another - perhaps a gentleman's agreement to take care of "the wild one." Maybe it's the cold rain. Or the colder grip of aging. But I wonder how many pieces of my identity I've lost over the years, scattered between drops of still-falling rain.

sunrise

I shift my gaze

to the west

*Published in Haibun Today, vol 12 no 2

Blackout

Two, tonight.

white pills

the snow falls

in me

*

Cut & Paste

Every once in a while, I forget I'm steering the ship that is my body.

into nothingness

the clouds

the clouds

*

Nocturne

Yet again, the arms of insomnia hold me awake.

darkness

but only if

you listen

*Published by The Other Bunny on 5/28/18

who's bold enough

to believe

in love or war?

I tell your lies

to the falling rain

*By Gabriel Bates and Tiffany Shaw-Diaz, respectively, and published in Vines #2

improving

my inner dialogue

icicles melt

under the touch

of high sun

*Published in Issue #123 of Hedgerow: a journal of small poems

long shadows

over ripened wheat

the way

you twisted my truth

when I was a child

snow returns

after days of warmth

I drift away

into a dream

that was never mine

*Published in Volume 1, A of Ephemerae

kiss of autumn

one tree

starts to blush

*Selected haiku, Seasons of Haiku Interpretive Trail at The Holden Arboretum

cherry petals...

between gusts of wind

forgiveness

*Selected haiku, NHK World Haiku Masters: May, 2018

sabbath

everyone else was attentive

during song and sermon

but I was too busy

drawing fantastical creatures

on donation slips

*Published in autumn deepens (the cherita book 12)

how quickly

night falls

talk of war

*Published in the April 2018 issue of Stardust Haiku

evening yoga

too much down

in my dog

*Published in Issue #60 of Presence

the moon dips

below the horizon

my mother

fades into a world

I cannot see

*2nd place in the Tanka Time 2018 contest sponsored by Mandy's Pages
**Featured on My Haiku Pond on 4/23/18

support group

in every face

a mirror

*Published in Chrysanthemum 23 along with a German translation

date night

the over-cooked ravioli

still makes him smile

*Published in the first issue of Nourish Poetry

lonely

the road

most travelled

zazen

letting go

of the dream

Bodhi Tree

my breath

takes root

chamomile

a hint of sun

lights the earth

reborn

before I finish

this haiku

*Published in the Spring 2018 Showcase of The Zen Space

#moderation

Sometimes, I have a salad for dinner. Other times, I eat a brownie the size of my head with frosting as deep as my foot.

daylight saving 

I turn my scale back

fifteen pounds

*

Dance, Monkey

"I haven't seen a selfie from you in a while. Are you okay?"

I look at the message for a minute before sending a short but pleasant response, reassuring Random Male that in the past few months since my last selfie, I have not indeed become a leper who has misplaced my eyeballs and developed a cleft palate. 

social media

the sweet sound

of nails on chalkboard

*

The Olive Branch

I struggle with telling people I am a Christian. And, quite frankly, because I am very liberal, many people assume I am not.

crown of thorns

the sting

of labels

Even though I am not interested in converting anyone, I do hope that, at some point, each person will seek out a source higher than themselves for comfort, love, and strength - whether it is the universe, nature or maybe God. 

shadow of death

can you feel

my hand in yours?

But, how do I convey this to someone who has been kicked out of a church for coming out? Or someone who has been beaten to the tune of the Fifth Commandment? 

I don't know. 

So, I just love. 

water to wine

the first sip

belongs to you

*Published in the 2018 issue of Under the Basho (Haibun section)

magnolia bloom

he leans in

for a kiss

*Published by The Mainichi on 4/6/18
**Selected for Haiku in English: Best of 2018 (The Mainichi)

Upside Down

What if the monster in your dream is just you?

same coin

the shadow

and the self

*Published in Issue 15 of Gnarled Oak

record skip

my use

of past tense

*Published in Sonic Boom Issue Eleven
**Nominated for The Haiku Foundation’s Touchstone Individual Poem Award by the editor

no radio 

I listen to

the earth move

*Published in Incense Dreams 2.1

crocus buds...

in each blessing

newfound peace

*Published in the March 2018 issue of Stardust Haiku

warm saffron

his gaze lingers

on my dress

sunset

the thinning veil

of our worlds

*Published in Akitsu Quarterly Spring 2018

stargazing

a moment alone

with my ancestors

the anniversary

of mother's passing

heavy rain

*Published in Wild Voices: an anthology of short poetry & art by women (Volume 2)
**stargazing was a 2019 Dwarf Stars Award Nominee
***stargazing was selected for The Haiku Foundation’s Per Diem on 1/20/20

shades drawn

setting boundaries 

with the News Feed

*Published in Haiku Windows: Window Shade, Window Blind on The Haiku Foundation’s website

June 23rd

I couldn't enter her room without full protective gear. While preparing myself, I told a passing nurse, "She's dying. I just want to hold her hand."

skin to skin

the way you soothed me

as a child

*Published in the February 2018 edition of Seedpods

**2nd place in the UHTS Samurai Haibun Contest 2017
***Selected for the 2018 Red Moon Anthology

fresh vanilla

your arms

around mine

*Published in the February 2018 issue of Stardust Haiku

Slippage

, and it was very surreal, like a dream within a dream

how gently

rain falls

down

the edge

of reason

*

Empty Pockets

I remember the first time my grandmother said she loved me. It was right before she asked if I could buy her some cat food.

wind-swept leaves

what's gone

is gone

*

Ordinary Illusions

before the crash, seconds really do become miles

past

present

future

it's wherever you drop

the needle

*Published by The Other Bunny on 2/19/18

apartment life

the gift of earplugs

on Valentine's

*Published by Haikuniverse (www.haikuniverse.com) on 2/14/18

sub-zero

our exhale

louder than words

*Published in the January 2018 issue of Stardust Haiku

yin and yang

after Chopin

Nine Inch Nails

*Published by Haikuniverse (www.haikuniverse.com) on 1/14/18