I disregard the proportions, the measures, the tempo of the ordinary world. I refuse to live in the ordinary world as ordinary women. To enter ordinary relationships. I want ecstasy. I am a neurotic -- in the sense that I live in my world. I will not adjust myself to the world. I am adjusted to myself."    Anais Nin, 1933



photo by Michael Myers

Autumn Walk

Mushroom smell weighs
on cheerful disposition
 

clumsy feet trample on 
scrawny russet leaves
 

creaky crackle crack
 

I stare at shattered scraps
hints of the original

Crack of life

I wake to a dim dawn

sallow waves filtering through

the shutter’s slits and sawn

at both extremes. In the blue

of tinted walls I sense the frame

on tin tack hung – suspended –

the photograph of the shame,

no one to blame, it simply ended

a ray reaches my naked knee

warms it up a bit. The lamp I lit

stretching, stirring myself

from lethargy – yawn – wail –

to a convalescence day

and up I sit

Alessandra Gallo
Turin, Italy
http://www.lessthanperfectmoments.com/

Alessandra Gallo is a 34 year-old poet from Turin, Italy. EFL teacher by day, married, mother of two boys, she has written poetry in English since December. 2003. She is an active member in various poetry groups, and some of her poems have appeared in a few e-magazines.

"Sometimes I have a number of sounds or words in my arms that cry out for form. When they stop weeping, I put them to sleep on a white sheet."

photo by Bandursbox

noon straight up
spring wiggles its way
down the hillside

the pinkness

horse classic

migrating geese fly over

the jump fences

low chapparal

the praying mantis

cocks its head

O thorny bush

how inviting those berries

whose keeper you are

 

coastline fog

a shard of sea ice

washes ashore

an'ya
Oregon,US
http://www.haigaonline.com/


The haigo (nom de plume) 'an'ya', loosely translated, means 'a peaceful light in the moonless night'.  an'ya is of Serbian/American heritage, and keeps a (non so anchoritical lifestyle now) in Oregon, USA. This published haijin previously taught Balkan dance troupes, was a former Nascar-track trophy girl, Slavic foods caterer, and a pre-school teacher  She is currently the Director/Editor of 'beginners' for the 'World Haiku Club', a co-editor for 'Haiku Moments', Jugoslavia, and the editor-in-chief of haigaonline, newsletter editor for the Tanka Society of America, founder and President of the Oregon haiku and tanka Society..

an'ya's book 'haiku for a moonless night' recently won second place at the Merit Book Awards 2004, Haiku Society of America.

"A haiku is a small fish easily swallowing a large fish"
from Robert Spiess' Speculations

THE WORLD WON'T STOP

I'm searching for the marbles that I lost
Somewhere on my journey to tomorrow
Wondering was it really worth the cost
When all that still remains is naught but sorrow

What right, do we have to give our heart
To those who are not willing to receive it
When they have gone and torn their own apart
Suspicious minds engage and don't believe it

Assuming that all gifts must come with strings
Retreat inside their solitary self
Oblivious to damage that it brings
Detach themselves and climb upon a shelf

Sit back and watch the world go rushing by
Bite the hands that reach out to be kind
Eventually they'll see their life's a lie
The world moved on and they've been left behind



liberated

tears trickle down silent cheeks

seeking liberation

from the troubled mind

in which they reside

each drop echoes hollowly

as it strikes the cold bare floor

coming to rest

beside all the shattered pieces

of my heart



Who Are We To Judge

We're bemused
By the chaos of life's
External folly
For what is life
Without dissention,
Among fools
We defeat the whole idea
Of rational thought
And theory
Yet this is what we're
Teaching
In our schools
Diversity is real
And we have to teach
Acceptance
On this idea
We all seem to concur
But what is right
And moral
In each of our opinions
Is where proverbial lines
Begin to blur
Nay Sayers fight their battles
With all their lights and cameras
Their valiant efforts
Never seem to cease
They regress into their shells
When they are faced with
Confrontation
But no closure do we ever
Seem to reach

Christine Williams
Ohio,US
http://www.everelusivemuse.com/

Christine Williams is an imperfect wife and mother of 4 wonderfully imperfect children and she resides in Central Ohio. She has been writing poetry since her grade school years. Her writing is her therapy in this insane world and even if she only connects with one person, it will have made the journey worthwhile.

"Do not weep; do not wax indignant. Understand" -Baruch Spinoza

Haiku

 

Drooping lily
Battered by the rain
Bitter repose

Honking geese
Steam rises from cocoa
In salute

Shriveled leaf falls
Rusty wind chimes
Sing of lost happiness

Haiku by
Kim Mladjen

FOUR CITY HAIKU

 

Suburban

on the stairs
two cigarette butts
and a leaflet

Discarded

big mac box
disposable emptiness
swept in a corner

Fight

three pigeons
after a french fry
a floating feather

 Ants

black strings
lined to their duty
in search of food

Haiku by
Alessandra Gallo

abandoned nest
on a wire
autumn wind

applying lipstick
she discovers the cracked voice
of teenage son

summer breeze
leaves dance
with light

Haiku by
John Tiong Chunghoo