First

haiku conference
I meet an old friend
for the first time

Written in Santa Fe NM, where I have been attending Haiku North America, a bi -annual conference of haiku poets from North America and elsewhere. Another attendee was writing almost exactly the same poem, at almost the same time, as I was writing mine. The only difference was that she wrote "gathering" where I wrote "conference." This experience, of meeting in the flesh for the first time someone one has known for years through their work and sometimes through correspondence, provides some of the most powerful moments of the conference. The rest of the stuff is good, too.

fear

clothing optional
my fear of water
and women

First published Failed Haiku

solitaire

solitaire
on a night in spring
I lose

First published in Failed Haiku

yearbook

high school yearbook
I wonder what I
would think of me

First published in Failed Haiku

Grandmother

Grandmother's house
the upright piano
no one ever played

First published in Failed Haiku. A slightly different version, published in A Thousand Gourds, was posted here at the time of that publication.

Mother's Day

waiting for a call
from the son who never calls –
Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all who qualify.

square

village square
leaves blowing across
the afternoon

First published in Acorn.

Happy Easter, everyone