April Fool!
Or, as the Klingons would say, “Fool me once – shame on you. Fool me twice – Hegh wIje’meH!
We migrate from mad March hares to April noddies as easily as falling off a log. Wait, have you ever tried to fall off a log? It’s like when you’re walking down the street and you suddenly go over on one ankle. Painful, but can you actually choreograph that?
Last weekend Britain did its six-monthly footle with the clocks, as a result of which everyone’s body is an hour out of whack. I wonder if that has an effect on poetry. I wonder if a haijin’s stillness and concentration goes awry. I wonder if Big Ben loses its Zen.
Enough silliness? No! Some of the submissions to this Showcase are silly. All the more reason to publish them. See if you can guess which they are, but keep the answers to yourself. This Showcase is short but sweet, and still bedevilled by WordPress’s new, insane formatting system.
One serious note. I continue to seek new names and new poetry. I boldly go where no editor…
Marie Marshall
editor
the zen space
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J.T. Styles
HEEL
:
the heel of his hand
no fine golden necklace hers
only bended knee
:
UNIVERSE
thoughts dive deep drown fast
sparks of light against black nightlook too long they die
:
STRANGER
breathtaking beauty
turned heads right around now cries
I am still in here
:
DANGER
warm breeze of first kiss
cold winds stealing tomorrows
goodbye the last storm
:
CIRCLE
truth hungry lies full
may the circle be unspoken
wolves will never flock
:
REMAINS
every harsh word
merciless knives dice the soul
some fathers should die
:
WAS
if you make me hate
you it will be too late to
make me want to stay
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Jacob Blumner
:
a rabbit
motionless
disappears
:
Barren trees
She hopes
There will be birds soon
:
the gusting wind
reawakens
my wanderlust
:
cold ash
in the fire pit
passion’s remains
:
distant train whistle
my heart aches
to leave
:
Sap
boiling on the stove
sweetens my day
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Dottie Piet
:
a huge mouthful
of toothy words
thesaurus rex
:
strong gusty winds
the ripe apples pick
themselves
:
cool breeze
warm sand
sunburn
:
loose grenade
my five-year-old
wields a garden hose
:
shake the bottle
your genie may be
asleep
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Philmore Place
:
first steps –
sister holding the hand
of her little brother
:
demolished chapel –
boys look at God
through gap in the fence
:
suspension bridge –
swings left and right
lonely traveler
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Enobong Enobong
:
New normal –
the kids play
virtually
:
Lullaby…
mother stops
mosquitoes continue.
:
a mob
versus a witch.
open street tribunals…
:
Withered.
how long does it take
for winter to end?
:
I bumped
into an old college friend.
expectations…
:
Witchcraft.
CCTVs on my walls…
geckoes
__________
Maya Daneva
:
singing for me
the breeze touching the neighbor’s
wind chimes
:
breast feeding
her skin
remembers
:
summer flash flood
the abandoned
snail houses
:
a box of masks
what to do with all those
unopened tulips
:
Lockdown
over the closed tulips
spring stars
:
first spring sun
the tulip picker’s shirt
unbuttoned
__________
Valentina Mitova
:
The Sea and the Moon
Are the doctors of the Love pain
They only look at you and know…
You need to see them…
__________
Gabriel Rosenstock
:
is iad na seanamhráin
is fearr . . .
amhrán an bhambú
the old songs
are the best . . .
song of the bamboo
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There is a new issue of Contemporary Haibun Online out now. Please do visit, and if you communicate with them, let them know you heard about it here.
You may also like the way The Cherita rolls. Let them know where you heard about them too!
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The next Showcase at the zen space will be Summer 2021 which will be released, subject to karma, on 1st July 2021.
Please note that the copyright of all written work and images used in this Showcase and elsewhere in the zen space is held by the creating author/artist, even when not explicitly stated, and may not be used elsewhere without permission.
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