Laurels #6

spelling

her way through the maze

of life

she trips up

at the curve of the moon

Katherine E. Winnick

Brighton, United Kingdom

a shrouded path

through the woods

ravens follow

the crumbs left

by migrant kids

Randy Brooks

Taylorville, Illinois

musing in the night

about the afterlife

dawn broke

and the answer came

tapping at my window

Joy McCall

Norwich, England

nudge

snuggle

purr

the cat's affection

turns its back

Mark Teaford

Napa, California

sheltering

under a shop's canopy

a couple smile

at each other then leave

strangers again, after the rain

Suraja Menon Roychowdhury

Lexington, Massachusetts

drops of dew

roll off the blade of grass . . .

a life alone

on this promised land, too

gone in the blink of an eye

Chen-ou Liu

Ajax, Ontario

whispers

we trade in the silence

of a new moon . . .

this heft of yearnings

we cannot release

Billie Dee

Tacoma, Washington

a chrysanthemum

that gave all

of its summer

surrenders

to last night’s rain

Jenny Polstra

Waikato, Aotearoa (New Zealand)

if this dream

is to be my last

let it be of you—

the budding plum

wet with dew

Michael Dylan Welch

Sammamish, Washington

leftover snow

in the furrows

of the stubble field

dawn spilling

onto actuarial tables

Joshua St. Claire

York County, Pennsylvania

alone

in the rotunda

the words

reverberate

in morning light

Jon Hare

Falmouth, Massachusetts

hours in the kitchen

touching my hand, he says

learn to breathe . . .

hidden in the pea pod

a worm stirs

Nitu Yumnam

Ajman, United Arab Emirates

his eyes are lost

I touch his arm

and he returns to me

for a moment he is with me

we share a memory

Sherri J Moye-Dombrosky

Liberty, South Carolina

alone in the dark

scenting the silver light

only one night

the precious moonflower

shrivels to the morning sun

Rita R. Melissano

Rock Island, Illinois

the young chase beginnings

the old recognize circles

the river doesn’t end

when it reaches the sea

it learns another name

John Tehan

Cape Cod, Massachusetts

focussing

on the inbreath

the outbreath

treading delicately

on the heads of all beings

Gerry Jacobson

Canberra, Australia

Bar Harbor, water’s edge

                 barefoot, she stacks stones

noting balance, lean, cantilever

          as we watch

                 the incoming tide

Susan Weaver

Allentown, Pennsylvania

alone on shore

the artwork i build

of driftwood

and stone for the ocean

to take back

Kathabela Wilson

Pasadena, California

dawn at Benares

a weathered rowboat tugs

at its moorings . . .

this quest into the

bittersweetness of life

Rupa Anand

New Delhi, India

life like a bubble

evanescent youth slips by—

joy fades without trace

I grow old, counting my days

each breath a borrowed moment

R. Krishna Kumar

Pondicherry, India

now fourteen

hugs only a touch

muted wind chimes

and a steady downpour

fill the birdbath

Thomas Smith

Austin, Texas

Mount St. Helens

her looming majestic peak

all that remains

powdered ash in glass vials

sold in souvenir shops

John Budan

Newberg, Oregon

all the postcards

they will have to redo

now

a second mt. fuji rising

next to the first one

susan burch

Hagerstown, Maryland

gray hair

wrinkled skin

slowing down

knowing this will end

savoring each moment

Karen Lazarus

Brooklyn, New York

close friends

till we drifted apart

once again

I skip her birthday

still on my calendar

Peggy Hale Bilbro

Huntsville, Alabama

under and over

  over and under—

strands of sweet grass

woven in moments

of old Gullah stories

Mary Kendall

Chapel Hill, North Carolina

a quick search

for a piece of paper,

a used envelope,

before my thoughts fade

into a dark, deep cavern

Edward J. Rielly

Westbrook, Maine

circles

of people

in my life

Venn diagrams

linking, unlinking

Tony Steven Williams

Canberra, Australia

a kiss on the cheek

when I was six years old . . .

the last glimpse

of my dad leaving

his footprints in the dust

Marion Alice Poirier

Boston, Massachusetts

walking

the palliative path

how delicate

these scattered petals

move with the wind

Xenia Tran

Nairn, Scotland

in the vase

a bunch of pretty flowers

makes me sad . . .

even with the best of care

their days, like mine, are numbered

Keitha Keyes

Sydney, Australia

footprints

on the dirt road

fading away

your brief presence

in my life

Jackie Chou

Pico Rivera, California

a little shimmy

our big dog scratches his back

rolling in the grass

for this one moment

I feel at home in this world

Robert Miner

Houston, Texas

across the street

from assisted living

a barking dog

normal and familiar

when nothing else is

Adelaide B. Shaw

Tarrytown, New York

as I on my hands

so the white camellia

on its petals—

those random brown blemishes

announcing advancing age

Andrew Lansdown

Perth, Australia

everything

slips from my memory

except our story

that is rewritten

day by day

Laurance Sumners

Lufkin, Texas

kings and queens

and all the pawns

tumbling into the same box

and the board's folded away

and the game's over

Howard Colyer

Hastings, England

on this last new year

the grey partridge dreams of

pears

ripening in midsummer

savoring lost sweetness

Joy Hallinan

Atlanta, Georgia

spring blossoms

briefly bloom

in the alpine meadow

where the glacier

used to be

Michael Ketchek

Rochester, New York

a thin branch

bobs with the landing

of the first robin

the friend I welcome back

as if no time has passed

Cynthia Bale

Edmonton, Alberta

watching the birds

gather fresh moss

from every rooftop

I wonder too

about beginning afresh

Joanna Ashwell

Barnard Castle, United Kingdom

cherry petals

drifting down the river

one by one

the current carries away

what we hoped would last

Weidong Tian

Sydney, Australia

your death

as spring buds open—

how fitting

that tulips and daffodils

should decorate your coffin

Elaine Riddell

Hamilton, New Zealand

weeping cherry

she returns in dreams

in spring petals—

the times between

grow long and lone

Mary Oishi

Albuquerque, New Mexico

hidden by trees

hanging over the lake

i watch the day slip away

waiting for fireflies

to show themselves

Terri Thorfinnson

West Sacramento, California

summer night

the heat of the day

leaves

I watch the walkers stroll

along the neighborhood

Roy W. Kindelberger

Burlington, Washington

stark summer

whispers its goodbye

cooler nights

and muted moods . . .

the earth and I relieved

Margi Abraham

Sydney, Australia

old limb

on the ground

its last set of leaves

still fluttering

in the breeze

Tim Cremin

Andover, Massachusetts

quaking yellow aspens

miles and miles

of high-country excitement . . .

the first hard rain

takes the leaves

Lyle Smith

West Sacramento, California

The crickets' songs

start in August,

end in October.

This year the leaves

are yellower than usual.

Karen Sites

Boulder, Colorado

trees bleeding color —

I feed on hints of crimson

and scarlet, trying

to gorge myself on brilliance

before winter’s grey and slush

Tracy Marks

Arlington, Massachusetts

last rays of sunlight

bleeding through red leaves

thrush song

so quickly after dawn

our darkness falls

Anna Cates

Wilmington, Ohio

soon

to become spring dust

a last winter gale

sends crinkled leaves

into a whirlwind chase

Tim Dwyer

Bangor, Northern Ireland / Brooklyn, New York

parched leaves rustle

naked branches lace

melancholy winter sky

dawn waltzes in

on dazzling feet

Jack Douthitt

Fox Point, Wisconsin

landing

in my palm

first snowflake

like all things

I hold on too tightly

Margaret Tau

New Bern, North Carolina

snowfall compressed

into sheets of ice

melting

layer by layer . . .

our undoing

Bonnie J. Scherer

Palmer, Alaska

the creek turns

into gunmetal blue

it’s not easy to think

that this too

shall pass

Christine Villa

North Highlands, California

i thought you’d live

as long as your haiku

the ignorance in me

some stars only shine

as long as smiles last

Lakshman Bulusu

Princeton, New Jersey

night after night

I resurrect in my dreams

beloved friends

no longer in the day world—

waves break on the beach

Amelia Fielden

Wollongong, Australia

our mothers

fireflies in the night

glowing green

saved in glass jars

as if . . . we could keep them

Carole Herzog Johnston

Lexington, Kentucky

phone call

a weak connection

with my cousin

I never wanted to be

the last man standing

Ruth Holzer

Potomac Falls, Virginia

windblown

a clump of soft

gray fur—

all that’s left

of a jackrabbit

Cynthia Anderson

Yucca Valley, California

three feathers

left from the dead sparrow

transfigured

in one moonless night . . .

the river’s endless flow

Jenny Ward Angyal

Gibsonville, North Carolina

he wanted

no service

no announcement

nothing

his Irish goodbye

Dan Schwerin

Sun Prairie, Wisconsin