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SENRYU ON A PUN
pt. 2
She worked the blood drive
hoping to find a good man
but none were her type
Belly Peterson
they met at a haiku workshop
their romance
brief
Bob Brill
Strip poker—
I take off.
Alexis Rotella
closet renovation —
removing all her clothes
she nails the carpenter
Carol Raisfeld
wine taster:
he talks about the vintage
of the waitress
Dana-Maria Onica
among
the many perks
free coffee
Barry George
The nun
picks her nose —
old habit.
Alexis Rotella
the string beans I planted,
never sprouted
sow be it!
Ted Heavens
Credits:
Egg Lady cover design by Donna Beaver, Egg Lady Photograph 1918, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
"strip poker" and "The nun" from OUCH: Senryu That Bite, Modern English Tanka Press, copyright © 2007 by Alexis Rotella; by permission of the author.
Home Sweet Home
Setting the table,
clearing the table
this is my Life.
Alexis Rotella
again outside my mailbox
deer poop . . .
inside my mailbox
other shit
Anita Virgil
first time at her place
bookshelves filled with
old TV Guides
Mykel Board
watching TV with mom
I avert my glance during
the bedroom scenes
Gautam Nadkarni
the niece
I cradle in my arms
wants down
Christopher Patchel
progress report –
my son is no good
at lying
Bob Lucky
after the row with his daughter,
he goes to his room
and plays Wagner, full blast.
Liam Wilkinson
after the family photo
mom removes
her dentures
Gautam Nadkarni
my nephew's fastball—
I hand back his glove
and keep the sting
Barry George
The wedding over,
he listens to her snore
and lights another pipe.
Arizona Zipper
in the dream
my dog has a whistle
only i can hear
John Stevenson
The cat scratches
so
do
I
Mykel Board
making sure
nothing grows
the rock gardener
David Gershator
Credits:
"Setting the table" from OUCH: Senryu That Bite, Modern English Tanka Press, copyright © 2007 by Alexis Rotella; by permission of the author.
"first time at her place" from Voices and Echoes, HSA Members' Anthology, edited by Carlos Colon, copyright © by Mykel Board; by permission of the author.
"my nephew's fastball—" from bottle rockets #11, copyright© 2004 by Barry George; by permission of the author.
"The wedding over," from A Pale Leaf, © 1981 Arizona Zipper; by permission of the author.
"in the dream" from Frogpond, copyright © 2004 by John Stevenson; by permission of the author.
"making sure" from Frogpond, copyright © 1994 by David Gershator; by permission of the author.
Community
crowded subway
on an old woman's wrist
tattooed numbers
Matthew Cariello
commuter train —
that girl again
reading another romance
Michael Dylan Welch
reading eyes
she opens her fan
when they meet mine
Francis Masat
smiling back I find
that the blond is smiling
at someone else
Gautam Nadkarni
first day of school —
alone at the bus stop
his long pants itch
Carol Raisfeld
first visit —
the dentist admires the tooth
on her stuffed rabbit
Carol Raisfeld
mother's day
a nurse unties
the restraints
Roberta Beary
after surgery
the surgeon steps into
his carpenter jeans
Ed Markowski
firecrackers,
the old soldier's fingers
tighten on his crutch
Jerry Kilbride
"he's friendly,"
assures the owner
of the wet dog
Christopher Patchel
express checkout
the fat woman counts
the thin man's items
Michael Dylan Welch
checkout line
my dad
could talk to anyone
John Stevenson
Location, Location, Location
no money
no location
Jian Zheng
studio audition
her stomach growls louder
than her feeble voice
kala ramesh
the fat nun
outsings
the choir
Anita Virgil
six nuns
stop biting their clams to stare
at the seventh, dancing
Anita Virgil
first origami class
the instructor
looks like a crane
Pamela A. Babusci
Guys at the class reunion —
their bellies
precede them.
Alexis Rotella
frat house —
the smell of a dumpster
brings it all back
Barry George
"see you soon"...
your eyes
say otherwise
M. Franklyn Teaford
swallowing the key
after locking the door
the mime leaves
Francis Masat
Credits:
"commuter train —" from Voices and Echoes, HSA Members' Anthology, edited by Carlos Colón, copyright © by Michael Dylan Welch; by permission of the author.
"mother's day" from The Unworn Necklace, Snapshot Press, copyright © 2007 by Roberta Beary; by permission of the author.
"firecrackers" from Modern Haiku vol.XX, No.3, copyright © 1989 by Jerry Kilbride; by permission of the author.
"express checkout" from Fig Newtons — Senryu to Go, Press Here, copyright © 1993 by Michael Dylan Welch; by permission of the author.
"the fat nun" and "six nuns" and from A Second Flake, Montclair, copyright © 1974 by Anita Virgil; by permission of the author.
"Guys at the class reunion" from Looking for a Prince, White Peony Press, copyright © 1991 by Alexis Rotella; by permission of the author.
"swallowing the key" from bottle rockets vol.6 no.2, copyright © 2005 by Fran Masat; by permission of the author.
This issue of SENRYU is dedicated to friend and colleague
William J. Higgginson
1938-2008
"—Say it, no ideas but in things—
nothing but the blank faces of the houses
and cylindrical trees
bent, forked by preconception and accident—
split, furrowed, creased, mottled, stained—
secret-into the body of the light!
From above, higher than the spires, higher
even than the office towers, from oozy fields
abandoned to grey beds of dead grass,
black sumac, withered weed-stalks,
mud and thickets cluttered with dead leaves—
the river comes pouring in above the city
and crashes from the edge of the gorge
in a recoil of spray and rainbow mists—"
William Carlos Williams
From Paterson I: The Delineaments of the Giants.
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