poetry from our friends: Dorothy McLaughlin, Michael Dylan Welch, Ann Christine Tabaka, Cathy Porter, Carl Mayfield, Joanna Weston, Stephanie Hiteshew, t. kilgore splake, and! Dennis Saleh!

assistant editor Tama: "poetry from dear friends..." 

                            

assistant editor Frosty,

"Tama, we have so many 

poets as friends!"

"True, Frosty," replies Tama, 

"Poetry has been 

and continues to be 

a blessing for us..."

Tama and Frosty, insisting:

"Hurry, Mister Editor! We need to share the sanctity of poetry within our posts!  This post!"

Yes, noble assistants! And, here we go!...

poet Dorothy McLaughlin   Somerset, New Jersey:

cloudy night                                      

empty window where
the moon belongs

       who noticed
       the newborn's
       first shadow?

                light and shadow
                softness
                for the day


   poet Michael Dylan Welch
   Sammamish, Washington:

vacant nude beach-
my skipping stone disappears
into the fog
           
           organ arpeggios-
           dust trembling                         rain in the sandbox-
           in the slanted cathedral light        a common sparrow
                                                     shakes its tail


poet Ann Christine Tabaka   Hockessin, Delaware:            

tattered seams                                                  

the soft comfort of
old worn blue jeans

                   at day break
                   soft whiskers tickle my noses
                   kitty kisses


    "Everyone needs their noses kitty kissed!"- Frosty


poet Cathy Porter   Omaha, Nebraska:

kitchen windows open
Tehano music
dances inside
                                       midnight darkness
                                       summer moon
                                       walks us home
      cheek to cheek
      behind the ride
      county fair

                        on the patio
                        two empty chairs blown over
                        Saturday sleep in


               poet Carl Mayfield   Rio Rancho, New Mexico:

     line in the sand-
         whip snake
     easing under the gate                     in my chest
                                                      that drum
                                                    risking everything


       poet Joanna Weston   Shawinigan lake, British Columbia:

                    connecting flight your hand in mine

poet Stephanie Hiteshew
                  Columbia, Maryland:

    Kiss

    one blue moon
    kiss-
    ing the wind.


               River

               one
               stale maple leaf
               fresh on the river.


poet t. kilgore splake
calmet, michigan:

   sun shining through clouds
   ghosts and angels
   looking down on earth
                                                   

poet  Dennis Saleh
Seaside, California:

Credo

I care
not, what
people
think.

I cry
only,
"Give me
ink."  





Noble assistant editors, shall we end our poetry post?

"So many lovely poets and poetry- we'll close for today, but we'll be back tomorrow!," states Tama

Maybe not tomorrow, Tama, but we'll be back soon!
Frosty, do you think it's time for extra special treats?

"Mister Editor, it's always time for poetry, poets, and!
                                                         extra special treats!"



see you in a moment


ayaz daryl nielsen


                                                    darylayaz@gmail.com

Dennis Saleh, t. kilgore splake, Lysa Collins, Diane Webster, Ndongolera Mwangupili, p. l. wick, Patricia Carragon, Bijay Kant Dubey, and! Peggy Dugan French!

assistant editor Frosty:  

'Tama, we haven't honored

the finest of our poets 

for over a month because

of our moving across town!"                               

"So true, Frosty," replies 

assistant editor Tama... 

"Mister Editor, today

we will create 
a new post!"

Noble assistants, we're settled

in our new home, and, yes, 

let's be busy with the poets 

we know and so appreciate!  And we will create a new post 
every week...
  

"Loverly!" mew Tama and Frosty

from bear creek haiku print issue #140 (to be mailed soon)

                                                  "Hopefully," states Frosty...

Dennis Saleh  Seaside, California:

                            An Encounter

                            A fellow to his shadow,

                            "What took you so long?"

                            I've been waiting all...

                            uh...something.

                            Give me a moment,

                            would you."

                            Shadow replies,

                            "That's fine.

                            Another time.

                            There's always

                            plenty of that."

Frosty, "from one of our best"

t. kilgore splake  Calumet, Michigan:

                 

   early morning breeze                     neighborhood houses

  small branches swaying                      all windows dark

     like restless heart                        little theaters quiet

           wow!  Lysa Collins   White Rock, British Columbia:

                                and the summer breeze

                                softly whispers                                  

                                 -  home

    

Diane Webster   Delta, Colorado:

                                                     FALLS EXHAUSTED

During the windstorm

grasses tickle

the stone with no mercy

until it rolls down

the hill into the road

and lies exhausted.

"Mister Editor, when we have completed this post, let's go find

a breeze through grasses that will tickle us!"

             You betcha, Frosty... now, back to our poets!

Ndongolera C Mwangupili   Mzuzu, Malawi:

              You

              Like light

              throwing its rays,

              you shine.                                 

              Like wind,

              you blow away

              worries.

              Like seed,

              you blossom

              new living.

p l wick   Empire, Colorado:

            walking through

            sycamore leaf-carpet

            often  I hesitate to listen

            for your rustling paw-stride.

            and though

            now there is only silence -

            you are always at my side

Patricia Carragon   Brooklyn, New York:

CATKU  (three extra cheers for Ms Carragon!

                from Tama and Frosty)

by the window

        a snowflake meltdown

        amuses the cat

                 like cat's eyes

                 doors to inner space

                 open and shut

                               (for Alison Ross)

                               progressive claws

                               send political machines

                               to the shredder

               Bijay Kant Dubey   West Bengal   India:

                            Man and Woman

                            Two characters

                            Man and woman,

                            How to paint them

                            Whispering in the dark

                            Behind the curtain of the scene?

and, from our dear friend Peggy Dugan French   Cardiff, California:

    each turn                             spots of fur 

    intoxicating                           still cover spaces

jasmine blooming                        where you used to sleep

                                             now

                                             only a memory exists

Frosty, Tama and I "we miss her too, Peggy..."

well, noble assistants, we have completed this post, the first

of many more!  Shall we go seek the wind-blown grass that tickles, and then have some treats?

                  (many happy mews from all of us)

see you in a moment

ayaz daryl nielsen

                                                     darylayaz@gmail.com 

poetry: Lysa Collins! Karen O'Leary! Vivian Bolland Schroeder! Diane Webster! Judy Katz-Levine! Joanna M. Weston! Judith Partin-Nielsen! and, Patricia Carragon!

and the summer breeze

softly whispers

 - home                   

      Lysa Collins

      White Rock, British Columbia

                             whispers...

                             willows wafting

                             in the wind

                                   Karen O'Leary

                                   West Fargo, North Dakota

    Red Hat Mamas Day

    Sizzling red lace lingerie

    My wild side appeased

          Vivian Bolland Schroeder

              Humble, Texas

                                    

                                           HERON STILL

The blue heron stands as still

as the rock in the pond

while rain patters the surface

like hundreds of fish rippling

in applause when the heron

hunches into flight away.

      Diane Webster

         Delta, Colorado

                      Spring Text Flower

                      Night sweeps down a soulful eye

                      there came a teaching from the wind

                      my fingers tremble as grass

                            Judy Katz-Levine

                            Norwood, Massachusetts

connecting flight your hand in mine          

Joanna M. Weston

Shawinigan Lake, British Columbia

                           things unfold

                           as they do

                           and even in that

                           there is                     

                           a special beauty

                           Judith Partin-Nielsen

                                      Longmont, Colorado

from across the street

I watch you

turn out your nightlight

no ill intent

just longing

                          we hit our stride

                          when we wear

                          the others shoes

              Cathy Porter  Omaha, Nebraska

subway in motion

        wheels sing lullabies

                passengers fall asleep

         sunrise

         hearing the birds

         not the train

         Patricia Carragon  Brooklyn, New York

Frosty: "Tama, we've chose all

women poets for this issue..."                              

Tama:  "Frosty, isn't it great!?!"

Frosty, replying, "You know, Tama, it does make me feel really good... mister editor,

what do you think?"

Noble assistant editors, we've all earned some 

extra special treats tonight!...

(a chorus of happy meows) 

(including mine)

see you in a moment

ayaz daryl nielsen

                 darylayaz@gmail.com (and/or) darylayaz@me.com 

  

our friends, their fine poetry: James B. Peters, Toma Rosen, Carl Mayfield, Patricia Carragon, Peggy Dugan French, Joanna Weston, Ndongolera C. Mwangupili, Rex Sexton, and! Judith Partin-Nielsen

A stream                              old dog stares
runs through the valley,             long and questionly
Bits of comfort                       into the
Are found                                stove's beckoning flames
In kind words
                                         a quiet moof of melancholy
  James B. Peters
  Cottontown, Tennessee                                      Toma Rosen
                                                          Mt Baldy Zen Center, California

poets were selected by noble assistant editors Frosty and Tama:

  line in the sand-                         somewhere nearby
     whip snake                                  a rooster
easing under the gate                     gives it another try

                            Carl Mayfield
                                     Rio Rancho, New Mexico


Tama:  "mister editor, we                                

never include a picture
of you in our posts"
Frosty:  "how 'bout it?"
here you are, noble assistants...


         Judith, suggesting
         "that picture looks very familiar..."



mosquito lovefest
scratching my way
through summer

                        behind Brooklyn Bridge
                        walls of gray mist hide skyline
                        delusional rain

                                                  like cat's eyes
                                                  doors to inner peace
                                                  open and shut

Patricia Carragon  Brooklyn, New York
                                              Tama:  "gotta love Brooklyn"

                       haiga by Tama, Frosty, Judith


spots of fur                                          

still cover spaces
where you used to sleep
now
only a memory exist

Peggy Dugan French
     Cardiff, California


Savannah, we're missing you...




connecting flight your hand in mine

Joanna Weston  Shawnigan lake, British Columbia, Canada

                                            

You

Like light

throwing its rays,

you shine.

Like wind,

you blow away

worries.

Like seed,

you blossom

new living.

Ndongolera C. Mwangupili

       Mzuzu, Malawi

                                              

                                              

                                              haiga by Judith Partin-Nielsen
                                                      Longmont, Colorado

art by Rex Sexton... 

of you, Rex.

                      Der Blaue Reiter (Blue Rider)

                      Blues, oh so blue

                      bluesman, Blues Brothers

                      Blessed Virgin blue -

                      blue wave, blue

                      dolphin riding - blue -

                      blue, Stevie Ray blue

                      guitar and blow that sax

                      jazz man bluesman,

                      blue, blue bluer than

                      that cold blue night

                      blue moon, blue Miles

                      blowing that blue Bitches

                      Brew, Kind of Blue, blue

                      rain, Blue Note - blue trumpet

                      blowing blue, blue

                      and so gone, gone and

                      blue blown blues away

                                               poet Judith Partin-Nielsen




see you in a moment


ayaz daryl nielsen


                     darylayaz@gmail.com (and/or) darylayaz@me.com

"poetry, just for fun"- Frosty and Tama

                        

          us, together-

          as if their

          work is done

          our dogs, asleep,

          side-by-side

further

                                     

unkempt words, joining

unfolding, becoming

wayward byways

of resilience, of

heightened awareness

pursued to
further

resplendent byways

   beckoning 

      from just beyond

         an everyday thought

  

                Waking

                Waking, your arms stretch beyond the pillows

                legs flex as toes point toward the foot of our bed 

                yawning, your breasts rise, thighs quiver... lying 

                quietly beside you, it’s as if I, too, am soaring 

                within your unflinching forgiveness and grace.

Within these hollow cities                                  

the pallor of shallow nights 

when sleep isn’t enough 

The loneliness of those 

born to sing, empty acolytes 

brave enough to hear a 

whispered presence and 

wear invisible robes of gold, 

who have had time for mistakes 

and move on to a grateful 

sense of sweetness, the 

sweet embrace of the genuine 

Because we are, after all, always 

somehow someone that is needed.

                    The ballad of our hearts

                    endowing and inhabiting

                    touching and melting

                    two who have met

                    taking the world in hand

                    forgetting nothing

                    forgiving everything

                    embellishing salt-sweetness

                    while turning love into ink.

                                this earth we live on

                                betoaded and cawified   

                                naked heart and toes

assistant editor Tama, insisting 'this post was extra-special fun..."

"yes!" says assistant editor Frosty, "what say you, mister editor?"

noble assistant editors, heartfelt thanks, and, it's time for treats!

(hoorays from everyone, including Judith)

see you in a moment

ayaz daryl nielsen

          darylayaz@gmail.com (and/or) darylayz@me.com

(above poems/haiga have further homes, including Modern Haiku, SHEMOM, Verse Wrights, Wild Plum, and, Writers and Lovers Cafe)