Friday, August 1, 2014

Colorful Haiku


Welcome to the August issue of brass bell: a haiku journal. This month's theme: Color.

You will find work here by 82 contributors, from Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, England, India, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Poland, Romania, Scotland, Singapore, Switzerland, and The United States

desert verbena
I walk knee-deep
in the purple sea
- Ajaya Mahala

clear skies
these bluebells camouflage
my blues
- Akila Gopalakrishnan

as I walk by
the sunflowers
turn their yellow heads away
- Alain Rodari

thirteen ways
to wear a pencil skirt . . .
the blackbird's outline
-Alan Summers

black cat sky
i write as if
my life depends on it
- An Mayou

windless day —
a blue poppy stamp
on junk mail
- Angelee Deodhar

winter twilight
black cat in the corner
is going away
- Anna Mazurkiewicz

green spider on my windshield
hold tight
I'm slowing down
- Antonia Matthew

starry night —
white jasmine floats
on the holy river
- Archana Kapoor Nagpal

potter's hand —
the imprint of a memory
on a blue jug
- Arvinder Kaur

here and now
where I need to be . . .
saffron sunset
- Asni Amin

rolling blackout
suddenly
these stars!
- ayaz daryl nielsen

all these birds scattered among
the grand blue spruce
chirp chirp chirp
- Barbara Brazill

gray morning
only clouds
in the bird bath
- Barbara Kaufmann

cups of light
these bright red tulips
by the roadside
- Bill Waters

pink 
draws me into the garden
no gloom here
- C. Robin Janning

surprised to see
black and white memories
in color
- Cady Fontana

rush hour —
red leaves overtake
my strides
- Carl Seguiban

when I am gone
indigo morning glories . . .
who will love them?
- Carole Johnston

where sky
meets ocean . . .
blue lace agate
- Caroline Skanne

a red dragonfly
on the Kindle
time-traveler
- Carolyn Coit Dancy

after downpour —
a white butterfly on
red traffic light
- Cezar-Florin Ciobica

an old woman
with her dog dyed bright pink
summer heat
- Chen-ou Liu

after black and white –
on the rice paper
a cherry tree branch in bloom
- Daniela Lacramioara Capota

black cloud
below it
houses grow old
- Diana Petkova  

at dock's end
a yellow ladder
steps in sky
- Debbie Strange

floating purple —
my daydreams follow
the water hyacinth
- Deborah P Kolodji

bearded iris field —
the sky gathers
purple clouds
- Elena Malec 

green hues mix with red
arctic viewers reel
with internal motion
- Gale Owen

dog days . . .
my son paints
red suns
- Gergana Yaninska

orange sky
a black crow merges
with the breeze
- G.R. LeBlanc

fireside mending
the wrong side of the kimono
shimmering orange
- Helen Buckingham

a lemon 
under the blue sky —
remains of yesterday
- Hideo Suzuki

summer rain
washing away
blue hydrangeas
- Isabella Loverro

the end of winter
skeletons of trees
again in white
- Janina Kolodziejczyk

turquoise sari . . .
gathering the ocean
into her folds
- Jayashree Maniyil

bright yellow dandelion
just fluff in a breeze
forgetting him now
- Joan Corr

chartreuse sky
precursor of new 
heartache
- Joann Grisetti

blood test
a white butterfly fills
the waiting room
- johannes s. h. bjerg

light through
the empty gin bottle
his green face
- John McDonald

pawn shop
my grandmother hands over  
her best silver
- John McManus

grey cat . . .
a softer 
mood
- Julian O'Dea

delicate mauve ...
this corn stubble field
scratching the sky
- Julie Bloss Kelsey

no choice 
but to wear purple
jacaranda
-Kath Abella Wilson

orange and pink . . .
mother thought they should never
be worn together
- kris moon 

blue birds soaring high
against a cerulean sky
invisible flight
- Lance Robertson

red icicles
sparkling along the boardwalk —
stiletto heels
- Lavana Kray

green of her eyes —
the hands of the clock
move back in the mirror
- Lech Szeglowski

shards of the rainbow
hidden inside red poppies —
drops of morning dew
- Liliana Negoi

black, white, and tan
everywhere I look
the geese own the park
- Linda Keeler

I look to him tenderly . . .
his hair is not pure white
oh, the eyes are still blue
- Luciana Vladimir

first spring rain —
my old garden absorbs
the greenness
- Magda Banaszkiewicz

yellow and black and
yellow – goldfinch hunts seeds in
breeze-tossed sunflowers
- Margaret Fisher Squires

deeper blue
one raindrop falls
into another
- Maria Kowal-Tomczak

cloudless sky —
a thread of forget-me-not
in the yellow bowl
- Maria Tirenescu

green shoots
in winter
the heart aches
- Mark E. Brager

lightning strike
in the darkness
your white face
- Maureen Sudlow

purple clematis —
my aphasic father
afraid of the wind
- Miriam Sagan

red orchid cactus
feeds the dreamworld
of the gentle pansy
- Nancy Wells

art class —
on the drawing board
less and less green
- Oana Gheorghe

these hues
of beige . . .
hay moon
- Pat Geyer

you couldn’t spot me
wrapped in the blue striped towel:
I was the ocean
- Patricia Longoria

no more yellow shirts —
today my hands have turned old
- Peggy Miller

white 
soothing the yearning —
petals everywhere
- Petruta Ionescu

peach-colored sunset —
visible in all the puddles
but only from a distance
- Phoebe Lakin

my dreams
embracing thick black clouds
her departed love
- Purushothamarao Ravela

summer heat
the coolness
of a white rose
- Rachel Sutcliffe

late spring –
in the kid’s crayon box
the green has run out
- Radka Mindova
English translation by Maya Lyubenova

autumn dawn —
mother serves white rice
on an almond leaf
- Ramesh Anand

late love —
suddenly
greenery
- Robert Kania

what the red apple
did
to the white room
- Robert Poulin

mountains of mist
as if we are one
little grey bird 
- Sandi Pray

the day of your funeral
confused sky
I bring pale blue delphiniums
- Sara Robbins

blue butterfly a poem flutters in my nib
- Shloka Shankar

the swallows —
alongside white eggs
naked chicks
- Silvestru Miclaus

let me loose
on this morning—
a pink peony
- Sondra J. Byrnes

how lonely it is
sudden yellow of forsythia
on her birthday
- Tina Wright

first date
her dress
red
- Vessislava Savova

still blooming
by the grave . . .
a pink rose
- Vibeke Laier

dizzy moon —
the stars embroider the realm
in silver
- Victoria Fatu Nalatiu

black and white striped dress
yellow scarf, pink purse
ready to party
- Yvonne Fisher

unexpected rainstorm
holding a red balloon
over my head
- Zee Zahava



Previously published:

Carolyn Coit Dancy — a red dragonfly — Haiku Canada Review Vol. 7:1 (February 2014)

Deborah P Kolodji — floating purple — Yuki Teikei Haiku Society Membership Anthology (2007)

Helen Buckingham — fireside mending — Chrysanthemum 7 (2010)

Lech Szeglowski — green of her eyes — DailyHaiga 9 (October 2011)

Radka Mindova — late spring — World Haiku Review (March 2013)

Robert Kania — late love — A Hundred Gourds 2:4 (September 2013)

Robert Poulin — what the red apple — Mainichi Daily News Haiku in English (May 1, 2014)