Afternoon of July 8, 2025

 

in a steamy affair

with a silky voice

chatGPT

~Rupa Anand

sitting

crunched, bunched

and hunched

jazz club night

~Rupa Anand

there are

no more

marshmallows

~Noah Berlatsky

 

world heritage sites

on the brink of flood

or heat

~Tejendra Sherchan

war photographer

so many ways

to frame death

~M. R. Pelletier

live stream

watching now

from somewhere else

~M. R. Pelletier

lenticular clouds

smooth on the tongue

so waxy

~Richard Magahiz

the day

the universe opened 

wide for us 

  down a cardboard tube    

  sixty four balloons

 

~Richard Magahiz

alcohol

texts

from NGC1568

~Richard Magahiz

via total immersion

fluency in

whalesong

~Richard Magahiz

 

warm breeze

the gentle contortions

of the line-drying laundry


~Joseph P. Wechselberger

dementia ...

the softness of her voice

singing with the music box


~Joseph P. Wechselberger



 

open windows drifting-in sounds of muggy night lullabies

~Joseph P. Wechselberger

a testimony to my existence summer sky


~Mona Bedi

her first puzzle the lion grows a pair of horns

~Mona Bedi

barbed wire the duality of a rose

~Mona Bedi

leafless oak we finally decide to adopt

 

~Mona Bedi

morning brew

each of us

with our own problems

~Mona Bedi

closing the day

on a littered fleece

flies

~Gareth Nurden

early spring

in her camera lens

mushrooms

~Gareth Nurden

riverbed canoe

rain pouring

all the way through

~Gareth Nurden

rain tapping

on the tin roof

my front porch

~Jennifer Gurney

dipped in chocolate

how i prefer

to eat my words

~Anne Fox

empty McMansions

another neighborhood

without a ghost

~Anne Fox

mating season

he wears his colorful shirt

to the dance

~Anne Fox

returning to work

fast food employee

decides she can

no longer afford

to be sick

~John J. Dunphy

 

 

 Open for submissions: Horror Senryu Journal

https://horrorkujournal.blogspot.com/ 

 

 

Open for subs July 10-25: Failed Haiku

https://failedhaiku.com/submissions-guidelines/

Morning of July 4, 2025

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

Sigil #1

~Kelly Sauvage Moyer

ray of hope

the humble seeds

of healing

~words: Kelly Sauvage Moyer &

image: Kendall Priest

 

 

July Fourth cookout

tossing history

into the trash bin


~Barrie Levine

barely speaking

to one another

we the people

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

crowded playground my mood swings

~Barrie Levine

slipping between parentheses all the names of the moon

~John Pappas

linking my head crown to the vortex of universe

~Tejendra Sherchan

falling harder and tighter sewer grill

~Vishal Prabhu

taking the scenic route her search for love

~Jahnavi Gogoi

clambake party

her secret ingredient

too much wine

~Jahnavi Gogoi

vineyard tour . . .

too much information

not enough wine

~Barrie Levine

broken compass

navigating the course

of our country

~Jennifer Gurney

last year’s fireworks-

still under the table

a refugee counts stars

~Laila Brahmbhatt

fried and frayed

the spangled banner

outside Super Pollo

~David Cox

pilgrim’s progress

the AI begins

to pray

~John Pappas

the only thing

my cell phone lacks

a swiss army knife

~Madeleine Kavanagh

earthquake

not all of us

will survive

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

Independence Day

she watches the fireworks

reflecting on her iPhone

~Joshua St. Claire

arguing

until I am blue in the face

day moon

~Joshua St. Claire

I waited too long

and now it’s awkward

stratocumulus sky


~Joshua St. Claire

morning sun

I count line segments

in the sky

~Tuyet Van Do

July Fourth

they pay me a dollar more

per hour

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

American experiment

will we all end up

tired and poor

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

Picasso's pink period

rhubarb jelly drips

off my toast

~Maya Daneva

bricked-over window

in this ancient castle

rumors of a princess

~Maya Daneva

 

 

Morning of June 30, 2025

 

       Sonic Boom: https://sonicboomjournal.wixsite.com/sonicboom/submission-guidelines

ACCOMPLISHMENT

In battling the cyclops

Blinding that one eye allows you

To appreciate his exacting sense of smell.

~Ken Poyner

snakes ever dreading I become a mongoose

~Tejendra Sherchan

exotic matter we discuss tropical vacations

~Colleen M. Farrelly

ghosted he doesn't even pick up his things

~Colleen M. Farrelly

stardust every edge of me mirrors in darkness

~Joanna Ashwell

haunted basement a sock ghosts the washing machine

~Colleen M. Farrelly

The Art of Haiku: Open for submissions July 1-31

https://artofhaiku.org/official-rules-english-2025/

English-Speaking Union of Japan: Submissions closing July 25

https://www.esuj.gr.jp/event/5_index_detail.php

APPLICABLE GUILT



I painted obscenities on a nearby concrete wall.

When I was later arrested, it was not for the

Obscenities, but for painting without a license.

~Ken Poyner

Cut It Out, Robert

 

I really think that’s disgusting.

Why don’t

you get out of there

and start

singing along to Steely Dan.

 

The major dudes

turn over the garbage cans

and skitter off into

the prudent bourgeoisie.

 

With all their committees.

~Noah Berlatsky

tramp stamp

ICE leaves a bruise

on her back

~Colleen M. Farrelly

Modern Haiku: Submissions closing July 15

http://modernhaiku.org/submissions.html

my favorite place to be

in the whole wide world

outside

~Jennifer Gurney

steppingstones creek crossing

I trod on

a trilobite

~John J. Dunphy

CONFINEMENT



This is the movie in which I am the villain.

You must be either the hero or the temptress.

How typical of me to write a script

In which you must be only

One or the other.

~Ken Poyner

Spiderweb catches

A glimpse of the sun

Diary closes

~Sarah Mahina Calvello

break-up song

you know the one

hum-along blues

~Joanna Ashwell

throwing you

back to the sea

matters to this one

~Jennifer Gurney

ENDEAVOR

A sack of chemicals

And a vibration.  The cat

Worries unfaithfully.  I watch

As the morning’s dishes

Plot their escape.  No room

For religion.  Window or door?

~Ken Poyner

 

Cattails Journal: Open July 1-31

http://www.cattailsjournal.com

 

Afternoon of June 28, 2025

 

the demon

chasing me

stumbles

I pause to let it

catch up

~John J. Dunphy

pyroclastic 

     flow

         the slow

  hardening

 of

  attitudes

~John Hawkhead

woodlouse memoir

damp

has a beginning

~C.X. Turner

one sock gone

mid-spin

conspiracy of lint

~C.X. Turner

writer's block

fluttering white butterfly

in the summer dusk

~Tejendra Sherchan

music blares

in a moving bus

dancing beanies

~Tejendra Sherchan

in my head

bird song

stops

~Noah Berlatsky

part sculptor

part sculptee...

love

~Jennifer Gurney

tree

poem

lovely

be it

apple

or orange

~dan smith

Paducah's easy,

try spelling syzygy

when you've got a broken toe

~Patrick Sweeney

going on a bit about electrons...

when their faces bent to phones

like Sartre on mescaline

~Patrick Sweeney

a victim of quantum systems

her work shoes

polished white

~Patrick Sweeney

worms in a dark puddle

all those drowned

and drowning hearts

~Patrick Sweeney

Human psychology

Human psychology...

The slanting rays through black clouds.

~Partha Sarkar

ophthalmologist's waiting room

receptionist helps a patient

find her husband

~John J. Dunphy

directing me

to Terminator 2

AI movie bot

~Douglas J. Lanzo

organic protest

vegetables tossed

from farmer’s market

~Douglas J. Lanzo

leading by accident

the most popular

body shop in town

~Douglas J. Lanzo

in the name

of a dead elderly man

allowance payments

~Tejendra Sherchan

 

she says I was born with it

~C.X. Turner

sharing elements of a star me

~Tejendra Sherchan

not what I say who I am

~John Hawkhead

societal healing too many decades to count

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

 

 

he gives pop quizzes to perfect strangers

~Patrick Sweeney

 

 

Afternoon of June 25, 2025

  

 

dogerwauling on a dogamaran outside the dogacombs

~Nicholas De Marino

She

moths

toward

the glow

where

it didn't

land.

~Nicholas De Marino

The squeaky ghost gets the exorcism.

~Nicholas De Marino

creaky old house

not the same ghost

I grew up with

~Randy Brooks

power washer

the addiction of

before and after

~Randy Brooks

to leave

or not

permanent twilight

~Tiffany Elise

lava like i know

how to chill

~Tiffany Elise

ssstatic the ego so easily shreds 

~Tiffany Elise

climate change

are cobras really moving

up the mountains?

~Tejendra Sherchan

Jung Avocado, Tesla Toast

What even is telepathy? I mean, just text me!

~Isaac Offski

stacking

exotic building blocks

in the microcosm

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

lonely hearts club please bring another lonely heart for a membership discount

~Martina Matijević

“You're not invited to my party!" - cancel culture before cancel culture

~Martina Matijević

How much patience would Buddha still have after a conversation with world leaders?

~Martina Matijević

my husband’s not just a pretty face

whose truth yours or mine

~Linda L Ludwig

even her hellos sound like a reproach

~dan smith

Propaganda 2025

too many

Leni Reifenstahls

not enough

Lilli Marlenes

~dan smith

When

every street corner

looks like a Brecht/Weill opera

and your brainwashed children

inform on you

maybe then you will know

what you threw away

~dan smith

This Place

He inna better place

What place? There is no other place

Well, better'n this place

~Isaac Offski

Please Do Not Call The Cops On Our Lawn

 

The long grass waves because

we have not cut the long grass.

 

The neighbors are irritated but the bees

are bobbing like idle balloons

 

amidst the weeds. Grow where you will,

grass, over the sidewalk and the dog poop

 

and the neighbors’ angry stares. We are

bad neighbors but the grass

 

hides rabbits and many faults

in its mute and shaggy dance.

~Noah Berlatsky

jellyfish

the door slams

fallen souffle

~Sherri J Moye-Dombrosky

Never feed a stray cat, they said

we fed a stray cat…or two

they adopted us

now

we feed twenty-two cats

~Sherri J Moye-Dombrosky

Plates of moo shu

Celebration for one

Pouring jasmine tea

~Sarah Mahina Calvello

Placing cookies

Under pillows

To dream of love

~Sarah Mahina Calvello

Good deeds

And some egg rolls

Along the way

~Sarah Mahina Calvello

first contact…

an alien bug

on my tomato

~Sharon Ferrante

it’s ok to be ghosted

I have all his LPs

~Sharon Ferrante

with a rotten peach I bribe the fly on the wall

~Sharon Ferrante

the lies sound familiar this murder mystery

~Sharon Ferrante

telling the cactus you’ll have water in about two weeks

~Sharon Ferrante

foreign policy sticking to our guns

~dan smith

I have no cursor, I am cursed

~dan smith