The background image for our newest issue is a spring photo by Matthew Bellemare. What better way to begin this new issue than with a field of crocuses? These delicate
spring equinox
a crack splits
the frozen river
river rush
trees green
into birdsong
the rite of spring
piccolos rush
the conductor
new regime…
daffodils gauge the weight
of each snowflake
negotiations
another day
of snow
left up all winter
signs from fall’s election
warped
newsindigestiblebytes
dinner date
all his attention
on the menu
wet leaves
clinging to my shoes…
new resolutions
Whispering Wind
On my early morning walks, I often search for the red-tailed hawk perched in the topmost branch of a cottonwood. From this vantage point, she
a hawk soars
over this snowbright mountain
—first dream of the year
subtle shifts
of a swallow-tailed kite
twilight jazz
Gita chanting
birds become
the ellipsis
(Originally received an Akita International Haiku Award, September 2014, Honourable Mention)
awakenings
the ping of first sap
in the bucket
seventh heaven
a lotus breaks
the surface
the call to prayers —
in the din of Diwali
a ghee lamp glistens
zen garden
cat prints
through the raked sand
dreamworker
the dog at the door
of childhood
grave frost
in my cupped hands
a robin’s weight
church bells reaching for belief
the vows I’ve made—
moving the hose
from tree to tree
grieving a fire
I embroider trees
my needle a wand
raising old growth
if only on cloth