Sunday, October 1, 2017

Body Haiku

Welcome to the October 2017 issue of brass bell: a haiku journal

This month's theme is: body haiku


Poems have been received from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Croatia, Ecuador, England, Ghana, India, Ireland, Italy, Pakistan, Poland, Singapore, Sri Lanka, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States


bare brown —
the teeth
of the kola seller
    - Adjei Agyei-Baah

grazed elbow —
he knows it's nothing
'cause I told him so
    - Adrian Bouter

drawn into
the starry sky
of her thumbnail
    - Adrian Bouter

wiggly tooth
magnolia petals
in the wind
    - Agnes Eva Savich

heartbeat filling an empty room
    - ai li

by his sick bed
my hands
as cold as his
    - ai li

cardboard and hand
indistinguishable
old woman in the blue recycle bin
    - Alan Bern

never quite counting
but moving fingers
as if there were numbers
    - Alan Bern

a drop on my face —
not raining at all
our goodbye
    - Amauri Solon Ribeiro

flying like a bird
my weightless body
hangs from the glider
    - Amauri Solon Ribeiro

morning snow
she places her footprints
in mine
    - Andy McLellan

shelter from the storm
my hands make
shadow puppets
    - Andy McLellan

moonlight
reflected in the mirror —
my wrinkled face
    - Angela Giordano

making plum jam
my hands turn
violet pink
    - Angelee Deodhar

sommelier —
a drop of red wine
colors his white glove
    - Angelee Deodhar

juicy pear
the taste of autumn
runs down to my elbow
    - Angiola Inglese

silk babushkas
cover graying heads of
old world stories
    - Ann Christine Tabaka

old farmhouse
a pale hand draws back
the lace curtain
    - Anna Cates

country road . . .
the hand that curbs the kudzu
rules the world
    - Anna Cates

extracted teeth —
my smile
in the trash
    - Antonio Mangiameli

without warning
the tickle of a butterfly
on my shoulder
    - Barbara Tate

December wedding
a sprig of mistletoe
in her hair
    - Barbara Tate

hitchhiker:
this ladybug
on my hand
    - Bill Waters

pointing —
the little girl follows
her finger
    - Bill Waters

breaststrokes
a hot sun
on my back
    - Caroline Skanne

rubbing mugwort
between fingertips
between worlds
    - Caroline Skanne

hot pebbles
licking the salt
off your lips
    - Caroline Skanne

the warm nuzzle
of my week-old baby . . .
rosy cheek
    - Celestine Nudanu

on my tongue
the taste of wild strawberries
the look in her eyes
    - Chen-ou Liu

feeling like
an alien incubator
long pregnancy
    - Christina Sng

knitting
my fingers learn
on their own
    - Christina Sng

our bodies
never quite forgetting
the art of bicycling
    - Christina Sng

memorizing mother's face . . .
her eyelashes
the shape of her neck
    - Christine McNamara

hard landings
at gymnastics practice
my bruised coccyx
    - Claire Vogel Camargo

at 90, cooking
and caring for dad
her perfect eyebrows
    - Claire Vogel Camargo

so many little tomatoes
you ripen
as I blink
    - Dani Bates

the girl
selfying her face
cocks her leg anyway
    - Danny Blackwell

late innings
the manager chews
his nails
    - Dave Read 

into stardust
the astronaut
trims his beard
    - Dave Read

a breeze
ruffles her hair . . .
open casket
    - Dave Read

harvest moon
my mother's face
in the mirror
    - David He

on horseback . . .
butterflies circle the rose
in her hair
    - David He

keeping my mouth shut
straining tea leaves
through clenched teeth
    -David J. Kelly

baby sleeping
the heat of her breath
on my shoulder
    - David Oates

after vacation
the feel of long pants
on legs
    - David Oates

first light
a baker's fingertips
pressing the dough
    - Debbi Antebi

morning dew
the galaxies between
our toes
    - Debbie Strange

fiddleheads
the curled ears
of newborns
    - Debbie Strange

snow mounds
the growing roundness
of her belly
    - Debbie Strange

yoga positions
this climbing
out of dry skin
    - Devin Harrison

to absorb
the pressure of her heart
hyacinth
    - Devin Harrison

morning tai chi —
on his face
serenity
    - Doris Pascolo

autumn breeze —
on bare shoulders
a yellow leaf
    - Doris Pascolo

bowed in silence
four young heads
lost in cyberspace
    - Dottie Piet

toothache . . .
the first leaves fall
from the maple
    - Elisa Allo

bare feet
the damp kiss of a snail
in the grass
    - Elisa Allo

freckles
a child writes the first words
on his mother's face
    - EufemiaGriffo

as if she were pregnant
with it . . .
her body wraps around the cello
    - Frank Robinson

zombie chic
kids compare
missing teeth
    - Helen Buckingham

first monsoon —
an earthworm wobbles
under my feet
    - Hifsa Ashraf

name day feast
a thumb-press of oregano
in papa's palm
    - Jan Benson

mountain fog
my hand on his
hand on my breast
    - Jennifer Hambrick

celebrating
the day of the dead . . .
dad's stomach rumbles
    - Jo Balistreri

the sun
in her eyes —
his funeral
    - Joanna M. Weston

rain trickles
down my neck —
muddy path
    - Joanna M. Weston

scratching her back
between pillars of sunlight
the slow fall of dust
    - John Hawkhead

sighs after long illness
in her stiff palm
a five leaf clover
    - Justice Joseph Prah

another friend's chemo —
more of my hair
comes out
    - kjmunro

dust on my fingers
tracing your name
carved in stone
    - kjmunro

exposed
the skin where my ring
used to be
    - kjmunro

chin in hand
and elbows on the table
my listening pose
    - Kath Abela Wilson

lavender and sage
she uses her head
to carry flowers
    - Kath Abela Wilson

bare foot, hard pebble
a yin/yang moment
before I shout ouch
    - Katya Sabaroff Taylor

dream sequence . . .
I clap to the song
she didn't sing
    - Kumarendra Mallick

walk-the-talk . . .
miles of silence
hand-in-hand
    - Kumarendra Mallick

harmattan
the pain of laughter
in cracked lips
    - Kwaku Feni Adow

fingerprint
on the hand-waxed car
maple leaves shiver
    - Laughing waters

September rain —
for twelve years
I have not seen his face
    - Lucia Cardillo

end of September —
my mouth holds the sweet taste
of ripe persimmons
    - Lucia Cardillo

spring river
flooded by peace
my right brain
    - Lucia Fontana

always a ballerina my daughter on tippy toes
    - Madhuri Pillai

temple bell
a raindrop hanging
from Buddha's nose
    - Malintha Perera

seagull wings—
the shape of summer
in her eyebrows
    - Maria Laura Valente

shattered bone
overnight I've become
elderly
    - Marianne Paul

arm in a cast
the itch that remains
un-scratched
    - Marianne Paul

hand resting
on a holster —
the curve of her hip
    - Marilyn Fleming

the weight
of the muddy river
jerry-can on her head
    - Marilyn Fleming

summer dusk —
palms to the earth
praying for rain
    - Mark E. Brager

lightning flash the next contraction
    - Mark E. Brager

gibbous moon her stretch marks glistening
    - Mark E. Brager

produce market
in the arms of the young lovers
orange pumpkins
    - Mark Miller

gentle breeze
removing the wig
from my head
    - Marta Chocilowska

city zoo trip
a mother's hair clutched
in a tiny hand
    - Martha Magenta

snipping
baby's toenails . . .
cherry blossoms
    - Martha Magenta

bloodroot . . .
my ankle veins
begin to surface
    - Martha Magenta

pulling my wagon
such a busy four-year-old —
strong arms and legs
    - Marty Blue Waters

baby raccoon
my fingers stroke his belly
he thinks I'm his mom
    - Marty Blue Waters

mostly right-handed . . .
my iMac challenges me
to be left-moused
    - Marty Blue Waters

new knees —
I learn to walk again
no longer afraid
    - Mary Kendall

arm in arm
we dare the street traffic
snowy day
    - Mary Kendall

in hospice
skin so thin
breath so slow
    - Mary Kendall

woke by the noise
of old bones complaining
oh!      they're mine
    - Michael Flanagan

my hands
I remember their strength . . .
only pain remains
    - Michael Flanagan

on all fours
nose to nose
with my dog
    - Michael G. Smith

my knobbled fingers
strain to untangle the knot
i've made of my life
    - Mimi Foyle

crunchy autumn trails
ankle-deep in curly leaves
i kick their colors
    - Mimi Foyle

throwing out the book —
the author obsessed
with her fat
    - Miriam Sagan

old as I am
I still fondly regard
my feet
    - Miriam Sagan

asphalt afternoon
the traffic cop takes off his hat
wipes his bald head
    - Nancy Shires

morning air
on my arms —
just being alive
    - Nancy Shires

butterfly garden
a painted lady alights
on my friend's nose
    - Nancy Shires

hidden stream —
the kundalini rises through
each of my chakras
    - Nicholas Klacsanzky

sticky lips
her tiny fingers remove
a cherry pit
    - Nina Kovacic

your new hairstyle
no one notices
but me
    - Olivier Schopfer

cold morning
clouds
out of my mouth
    - Olivier Schopfer

overcast day
dirt under
my fingernails
    - Olivier Schopfer

a train whistle deep
into the night —
your back towards me
    - pamela a. babusci

after the mammogram going braless
    - pamela a. babusci

deep autumn . . .
walking barefoot
on my mother's grave
    - pamela a. babusci

mom on her phone
the tug, tug, tug
on her leg
    - Pat Davis

dyad moon tonight our lips touch in a full kiss
    - Pat Geyer

both asleep . . .
holding hands
we dream   
    - Pat Geyer

an artery blocked —
opens —
blood courses again
    - Peter Ladley

so serious
carving Grandpa's nose
in the pumpkin
    - Phyllis Lee

kitty
against my belly . . .
midnight moon
    - Pris Campbell

discarded ring
my finger has no room
for memories
    - Pris Campbell

a head higher
than my ninth grade classmates —
sunflower season
    - Pris Campbell

returning home
more tremors
in mother's hands
    - Rachel Sutcliffe

autumn brambles
the school children's
inky fingers
    - Rachel Sutcliffe

the sting
as the needle breaks skin
waiting for it
    - Rachel Sutcliffe

self diagnosis
my blood runs backwards
nobody knows
    - Ron Scully

muscle memory
but bones hold a grudge
my tackled right knee
    - Ron Scully

windy day
the beggar combs her hair
with her fingers
    - Rosa Clement

toeing circles in the sand —
what to say
what not to . . .
    - Sanjuktaa Asopa

candlelit wall
my hand
a heron
     - Sanjuktaa Asopa

paper cut
the taste of metal
on my tongue
    - Scott Wiggerman

shadow of a bird
on my shoulder —
I worry about shit
    - Scott Wiggerman

catching my breath
the valley
from the mountain top
    - Simon Hanson

dozing on the lawn —
a dandelion seed
tickling my nostril
    - Stephen Page

the flap of a bat wing —
a praying mantis
drops in my lap
    - Stephen Page

trying to sit still
while a yellow jacket
circles my bare feet
    - Stephen Page

Chinese buffet —
in my stomach
the dragon
    - Theresa A. Cancro

hula hoop —
the twirl
of her braids
    - Theresa A. Cancro

surprises
in old age
green eyes turned blue
    - Tia Haynes

red-handed —
on the wall
her finger painting
    - Tia Haynes

drawing circles
with my nose . . .
yogic indecision
    - Tia Haynes

quiet storm
I close my eyes
to listen
    - Tiffany Shaw-Diaz

giant puff ball
only slightly bigger
my head
    - Tom Clausen

lying in bed . . .
reviewing the variety
of my most recent symptoms
    - Tom Clausen

my involuntary eye closure . . .
the Netflix series
she loves
    - Tom Clausen

in my hand
i hold this heart rock . . .
my heart is in my hand
    - Yvonne Fisher

cracked sidewalk keeping me on my toes
    - Zee Zahava

daisies
under our bare feet the earth
sun-warmed
    - Zuzanna Truchlewska