Afternoon of March 20, 2025

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

lined with pear blossoms

unpaved

the path

to peace

~words & image Kelly Sauvage Moyer

hibernation talking to a brick wall


~Katherine E Winnick

masters of illusion are unable to find themselves

~Mykyta Ryzhykh

pressed in an old book a touch

~Vijay Prasad

night sky celestial city

~Tejendra Sherchan

nobody

~Mykyta Ryzhykh

out of data my life begins again


~Katherine E Winnick

a vee of geese

cross the borders

tariff-free

~Morag Elizabeth Humble

setting sun

reflects into a glass house

the lightbulb

~Tejendra Sherchan

your voice wakes me

from across the divide

life and afterlife

~Jennifer Gurney

bamboo flute

crushed in a highway

all holes intact

~Tejendra Sherchan

poem about love not read

 poem about love not written


~Mykyta Ryzhykh

pitter pattern

wet paint

the geometry

of curious kitten feet

~Heidi McIver/Kelly Sauvage Moyer

cruising attitude

blossom season

any excuse to don

his leather pants

for Robert P. Moyer

~Heidi McIver/Kelly Sauvage Moyer

miles to go before i weep

deep space

i wonder if i’ll know

when i’ve reached the void

~Heidi McIver/Kelly Sauvage Moyer

 

Morning of March 19, 2025

 

 

 

haiku about fish

heads I win

tails you lose

~Jennifer Gurney

starry & sky

bedbound

her dreams now available

in syndication

~Heidi McIver/Kelly Sauvage Moyer

as above, so to go

passed through

the drive-up window

something akin to enlightenment

~Heidi McIver/Kelly Sauvage Moyer

a rich man’s hammer

first hundred days

the shards

of social service

~Heidi McIver/Kelly Sauvage Moyer

running miles

inside my head —

insomnia

~Debarati Sen

the earth turns

the wind blows

and you are here

~Jennifer Gurney

naughty leap-year antics bubbles in the bisque

~Roberta Beach Jacobson

clock tower

a broken kite hangs

from the finial

~Debarati Sen

Purpose

 

not a good artist

or poet

not a good

 

man, but

propping

up the dog

snoring good

 

enough

~Noah Berlatsky

dusting

the bagua mirror

in spring...

the deflection

of my own reflection

~Jackie Chou

blood moon

the phlebotomist

finds a good vein

~Jackie Chou

rotting a slow erosion of something

~Vijay Prasad

Sick in bed with the humidifier on

I could draw a lopsided heart

with my little finger

on the steamed up window pane

but instead flash myself

a peace sign in the closet’s mirror—

the least I can do.

~Miriam Sagan

Keep silence, Sound pollution

Keep silence, Sound pollution.

It is world hearing day.

~Partha Sarkar

Sore bones

Unfolding like

An accordion

~Sarah Mahina Calvello

They Said

don't send poetry

with flash

and don't send flash

with poetry

I thought my stuff

fit perfectly

~dan smith

 

Morning of March 17, 2025

 

The Embrace

~Jean-Paul Moyer

AI prompts

unlearning how to

think for myself

~Kevin Browne

airport layover

no flights to

an ascetic future

~Kevin Browne

do you see what I see

is the first

question

~Patrick Sweeney

Picasso’s horse

a blast of Chicago wind

through my ribs

~Randy Brooks

food pantry shelves

most of us past

our expiration dates

~Randy Brooks

the promise of spring

I gather myself

into a bouquet

~Anne Fox

 

file this —

what if everyone said

they did nothing all week

~dan smith

conversation the rain brings up worms

~Kevin Browne

the dead always want to tag along

~Patrick Sweeney

PTSD 1

 

slapping

a

child

then

telling

him

not

to

cry.

~Matt Borczon

PTSD 2

 

the

dead

deer

in

the

road

has

the

face

of

my

daughter.

~Matt Borczon

PTSD 3

 

three

days

after

that

nightmare

there

is

still

blood

under

her

nails.

~Matt Borczon

PTSD 4

 

still

washing

blood

out

of

her

hair

ten

years

later.

 
~Matt Borczon

no typo-

unlawful orders

Musk be disobeyed

~dan smith

spinning the globe

convinced i will find

something better

~Stephanie Zepherelli

your ratty sneakers

hanging out in the garage

as if you're still here

~Jennifer Gurney

I procrastinate

with the desire for nothing

clock ticking

~Francoise Maurice

choosing colors

more carefully now

last canvas


~Stephanie Zepherelli

Morning of March 14, 2025

 

 

The hours I spend

reading your poems, zen masters,

burn with sacred fire.

~Morley Cacoethes

sending regrets

The Thinker

having second thoughts

~Barrie Levine

bird flies up halving the sky

~Tejendra Sherchan

x-ray films all the bones outlasting me

~Barrie Levine

mistook the poem for periodontal machine

~Noah Berlatsky

day moon somewhere i become someone

~Vijay Prasad

fate lines rechecking my apotelesm

~Arvinder Kaur

twilight in the battlefield wind’s dirge

~Arvinder Kaur

now empty the condemned convict's cell

~John J. Dunphy

toy shovels

foretell the sand

children at play


~Elliot Diamond

high-wind warning

the earthworm's parachute

full of finch feathers

~Kelly Sauvage Moyer

Farm Fresh

Locking eyes

with the void,

I become nothing;

though, today,

I am a tuber,

ripped as I was

from solid ground,

that you can,

if you wish,

imagine happy.

~Kelly Sauvage Moyer

vernal equinox

I take my coffee with

half and half

~John J. Dunphy

being alone…

plaintive drip drip of the

dehumidifier

~David Cox

Gurgles of melting

snow and dead leaves from the church

where we shadows lurk.


~Morley Cacoethes

how slow

the blooming of a peace lily

bedroom argument

~Arvinder Kaur

evolutionary theory

chronic illness

i embrace

my adaptations

~Kelly Sauvage Moyer

 

 

 

 

Heterodox Haiku: Open for theme of roots

Reading thru March. Send up to 10 photo haiku/haiga or tanka art exploring theme of roots (figuratively, literally, loosely or closely). Ideally rectangular (not square) art, as we will be full paging these in 5x8 sizing. Appreciated if you have photos available separate from words, as will be eventually titling selections all w/same font and style for consistency! Email: thesmokingshow@yahoo.com.