touching your photo
the need
to mouth the words
Published by
Valorie Broadhurst Woerdehoff
Valorie Broadhurst Woerdehoff, originally from Northern California, has spent the last 39 years in America’s Heartland. Her poems, both long and short forms, have been widely published in magazines, juried journals, and anthologies in the U.S. and abroad. She has taught courses and workshops on writing, and judged writing contests at the local, national, and international level, including having served as a judge for the Haiku Society of America’s (HSA) Gerald M. Brady Memorial Award. A collection of linked verse she co-authored was shortlisted for the 2019 Haiku Foundation Touchstone Book Award and received First in the Marianne Blugar Book Awards from Haiku Canada in 2020. View all posts by Valorie Broadhurst Woerdehoff
Wonderful. So Kinesthetic.
Very poignant…!
Anitha.
Beautiful and thoughtful ku.
old album–
the colourful life
in black and white
Pravat Kumar Padhy
Publication Credits: Frogpond, Autumn Issue 36:3, 2013
Daily Haiku: Charlotte Digregorio’s Writer's Blog
crossword puzzle
I rearrange words
in her nick name
Publication Credits: Failed Haiku, Vol.1 Issue 4 April 2016
The Living Senryu Anthology, 2017
The first line is so gentle and then it takes a turn with “the need”, which is so important here. The poet could have simply said, “ I mouth the words”, but this inability to speak provides a real sense of helplessness in the face of grief. Also, the reader wonders what exactly the words are, creating tension.
Or perhaps this not about death at all but illicit love and the narrator is not permitted to express the words “I love you” aloud.
The reader can imagine a narrative.
marion