banner

Simply Haiku: A Quarterly Journal of Japanese Short Form Poetry
button Contents button Archives button About Simply Haiku button Submissions button Search button
Winter 2009, vol 7 no 4
 

SENRYU
Edited by Alan Pizzarelli
 

illustration, by Andy Virgil, City Scapes

 

so miserable
without her, it's almost
like she's here  

Carol Raisfeld  

 

love yarns —
grandfather tells us jokes
of grandma’s shyness

Gautam Nadkarni

 

grandpa's road trip
highlighted on his map —
all the rest stops

Claudia Wilson

 

spinning yarns
my grandmother's
sewing circle

Dick Whyte

 

96th birthday...
he says it's wonderful
no peer pressure

Carol Raisfeld

 

exams passed —
gramps congratulates me
for the fourth time

Gautam Nadkarni

 

Eat everything
on your plate

I tell my elderly mother

Alexis Rotella

 

in his mother’s house
he walks into the cobweb
she underlooked

Dee Evetts

 

getting old
another coincidence goes
without saying
 
Liam Wilkinson

 

the morning mail so good
            cold eggs
            cold toast

Anita Virgil

 

late to school again
the drama queen's
mother explains

Stephen A. Peters

 

Late for work—
the only clean shirt
is Hawaiian.

Liam Wilkinson

 

recently divorced
at the dry cleaners
picking up the fresh laundry

Stephen A. Peters

 

grocery cart
I hide the prune juice behind
the Depends

Claudia Wilson

 

too quickly
the girl at the pharmacy
knows my name.

Carlos Colón

 

family get-together
all the eyes all the feelers
all the hands tearing shrimp

Anita Virgil

 

the lost son
visiting his father
with his son

Jörgen Johansson

 

at dinner —
criticizing the chicken
dad takes more

Gautam Nadkarni

 

During dinner,
he tells us
we’re not in his will.

Alexis Rotella

 

guests for dinner . . .
on the broccoli
pepper with legs

Tanya McDonald

 

her stomach answers
my question first

Raquel D. Bailey

 

He looks at his gut
beginning to understand
where his money goes

Belly Peterson

 

weight loss clinic
stepping on the scale
she spits out her gum
 
Claudia Wilson

 

how heavy
the empty can
of Slim-Fast

Carlos Colón

 

in traffic...hungry
I scan the billboards
for my food choices

Claudia Wilson

 

snack time
the vegetarian kid eyes
the animal crackers

Carol Raisfeld

 

her first curling iron
she asks about the label
For External Use Only

Carol Raisfeld

 

tornado watch —
my brother builds
a pillow fort

Laurence Stacey

 

my uncle
was the kind of man
the wind blew away from

John Stevenson

 

old photo —
the bucktooth girl
my first date

Gautam Nadkarni

 

Ava Gardner movie —
my husband’s face
softens

Alexis Rotella

 

getting acquainted
beneath the make-up
a few wrinkles

Stephen A. Peters

 

Double chin—
I contemplate growing
two beards.

Liam Wilkinson

 

wiping the mirror
the big nose comes
into focus
 
A. Sethuramiah

 

50th class reunion
I only recognize —
the music

Claudia Wilson

 

looking for the pipe wrench
I find the keys
I lost last year

Bob Brill

 

cleaning the gutters
I scoop up
lost ping pong balls

Anita Virgil

 

in my sink
the new rust-free drain
already rusting

Mykel Board

 

Walking the sunny pavement,
isn't life wonderful?
Ooooh, a dime!

Ted Heavens

 

  trilling back at the tree frog,       
        he answers me!
wonder what it was I said

Anita Virgil

 

          the woodpecker knocks
a wild haired man swings open the door
           and slams it shut again

Alan Pizzarelli

 

CREDITS:

Cover photograph: Title, O'Brien's Monday - says she "you will," E.W. Kelley, ca. 1906, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. Graphic design by Donna Beaver.

“in his mother’s house” from Frogpond, copyright © 1988 by Dee Evetts; by permission of the author.

“Ava Gardner movie”, “Eat everything” and “during dinner” from OUCH: Senryu That Bite, Modern English Tanka Press, copyright 2007 by Alexis Rotella; by permission of the author.

“too quickly” from Modern Haiku vol.37.3, copyright © 2006 by Carlos Colón; by permission of the author.

“how heavy:” First Place, San Francisco International Senryu Contest, copyright © 2004 by Carlos Colón; by permission of the author.

“the morning mail so good” and “family get-together” from One Potato Two Potato Etc., Peaks Press, copyright © 1991 by Anita Virgil; by permission of the author.

“my uncle“ from Roadrunner, VI:2, copyright © 2006 by John Stevenson; by permission of the author.

“the woodpecker knocks” from Senryu Magazine out to lunch, River Willow, copyright © 2001 by Alan Pizzarelli; by permission of the author.