A Tanka by Reid Hepworth

a pair
of blinded sphinx
share a moment
atop the grave marker
things I can't unsee

~

Reid Hepworth shares her secrets with the trees, plots her storylines with the birds and is known to covet pebbles and sea glass. She finds magic in the smallest, most ordinary things. Her poetry, influenced by her interaction with the natural world and the human condition, has been published internationally. Reid has released two books of poetry.

An Esoteriku by M. R. Pelletier

chanting through the beads
the stations
of Earth's orbit

~

M. R. Pelletier lives in Kansas, but his haiku poetry travels the world. He has published in multiple journals including Bamboo Hut, Five Fleas, Wales Haiku Journal, Mad Swirl and Failed Haiku among others.

A Durga Puja Ku by Vandana Parashar

after the summer
that lasted too long
the scent of shiuli

The shiuli (shiuli/parijat, Nyctanthes arbor-tristis) is strongly associated with autumn in Bengal and with the arrival of Durga Puja. Its delicate fragrance can evoke the festival before the celebrations themselves begin. The flower carries a sense of anticipation, nostalgia and seasonal renewal.

~

Vandana Parashar is an associate editor of haikuKATHA and one of the editors of Poetry Pea and #FemkuMag. Her debut e-chapbook, I Am, was published by Title IX Press (now Moth Orchid Press) in 2019, and her second chapbook, Alone, I Am Not, was published by Velvet Dusk Publishing in April 2022. She won the 2025 HIGH/COO Chapbook Award, and her third chapbook was published by Brooks Books. She is a Lord Shiva devotee but believes in goodness of thoughts, words and deeds rather than following elaborate rituals to appease God. She likes to spend time with nature and herself.

"Parallel World" by Cynthia Anderson

Parallel World

This is a land of forests and lakes and narrow, winding roads with few cars or people. So it's pure chance to encounter an industrious dwarf driving a giant tree forward at a pace barely above a crawl. He gladly stops to show off the mechanism inside the hollow trunk—an assemblage of gears and levers. I ask, Where's your windshield? There isn't one. A jerry-rigged system of rear-view mirrors lets him see where he's been. Moving forward requires driving by feel. The tree, alive and well, is happy to be on the move after occupying one spot for millennia.

half-lifted eyelid
a line of clouds across
the dawn sky

~

Cynthia Anderson loves exploring the relationship between dreams and reality. She has published 14 poetry books, most recently a collection of haiku and senryū titled Heartwood (Cholla Needles, 2026). Her work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, the Best of the Net, and the Touchstone Awards. Cynthia is co-editor of A Bird Black as the Sun: California Poets on Crows & Ravens. She has lived in California for over 40 years. www.cynthiaandersonpoet.com

"A Recipe to Clear" by Joy Hallinan

A Recipe to Clear

one cup kosher salt
three sprigs rosemary
rind slivers of a fresh lemon

Choose a sunny day. Begin by deep cleaning your space. Place aside anything no longer serving you. Open wide the windows. Walk clockwise around the room with a bell or chime or crystal glass tapping softly with a knife. Let the sound echo. Mix the salt, rosemary, and lemon. Place a pinch in each corner saying a blessing. Display the remainder in a porcelain bowl or in grandmother's teacup to absorb the negative. Play music and dance. Remember to toss out the old salt during a full moon and begin fresh again.

~

Joy grew up writing poetry in secret password girls-only treehouses. An ardent herb gardener, hedge witch, and maker of extracts and tinctures, Joy practices folk traditions handed down from her great-grandmother. She is also a longtime student of space clearing and feng shui following Karen Kingston and other international practitioners.

Short-Form Poetry by Patrick Sweeney

Last I heard, he was rescuing worms from puddles in Pittsburgh

A Shahai by Stephanie Zepherelli

 

~

Stephanie Zepherelli, a former dance professor, is a longtime student and teacher of Iyengar yoga, ballet, and contemporary dance; a student of Zen master Robert Aitken; and a reluctant clairvoyant descended from Romanian Gypsies. She was introduced to short-form poetry via Triveni Haikai India. Stephanie lives on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, with her tribe of Madagascar geckos.

An Esoteriku by Oscar Luparia

BLACK HOLES only my cat looks at ease

~

Born in 1956 in Vercelli, Italy, Oscar Luparia is a trade unionist. Haiku, mountains and photography are his main passions. After approaching the classical Japanese poetry about twenty years ago, he has written seven haiku/haibun collections so far (available on the internet for free—https://archive.org/details/@oscar_luparia). His poetry has been published internationally.

An Esoteriku by Hifsa Ashraf

dunes after dunes of war debris no oasis

~

Fueled by a healthy dose of caffeine, Hifsa Ashraf from Rawalpindi, Pakistan, has been writing poetry since her teenage years. She is the author of six individual and four collaborative micropoetry collections. Lately, she enjoys cawing while tracing the contours of shadows.

A Haiga by John Hawkhead

~

John Hawkhead has been writing short-form poetry for over 30 years, publishing three books of haiku & senryu in that time. He lives in the South West of England.

An Esoteriku by Roberta Beach Jacobson

providing my potions
which doctor

~

Roberta Beach Jacobson is an itchy poet living in the flyover state of Iowa. She writes verses perched on barn roofs or in trees.

"Midnight Writer" by Michael Lee Johnson

Midnight Writer

Put it in writing—circle the poem,
and wrap chords around midnight's throat.
I spin in my night robe,
a midnight dancer, nude in the hush,
I slip across shadows,
in the silver-lit kitchen,
bare as a confessional booth.
Welcome to low IQ theater.
Pour Monarch Gut Rot Vodka in my veins.
Sing a lowbrow hillbilly melody to the dark.
All aboard memory's night train through Indiana cornfields.
Distant foxhounds nestle through memory's fields.
Cornfields, Night Train wine uncorked in the gloom.
Now discontinued, I tumble from the shelf—
Once a high school dropout, a basketball star,
track runner in the dark—
I drift under low-wattage dreams,
lost in late-nighttime monologues.
Curtains fall—low IQ theater.
Writing poems all night until dawn.

~

Published in 47 countries, Michael Lee Johnson is an accomplished poet with eight Pushcart Prizes and eight Best of the Net nominations. He has created 445 poetry videos on YouTube. He is the editor-in-chief of three poetry anthologies, all of which are available on Amazon, and has authored several poetry books and chapbooks. Michael has administered and created 6 Facebook poetry groups. His latest book, Lost Leaves: Short Poems of Nature & Love, co-authored with Irma Kurti, is available here:  https://www.amazon.com/Lost-Leaves-Short-Poems-Nature/dp/9353538386/ref. He is a member of the Illinois State Poetry Society (http://www.illinoispoets.org/) and Poets & Writers (https://www.pw.org/).

An Esoteriku by Anne Fox

wild coltsfoot
an embryonic vision
quickens the dream

~

Anne Fox, considered a witch-child from birth, is an off-planet soul doing psychopomp work behind the scenes for our dying civilization.

An Esoteriku by Bruce H. Feingold

and god said let there be light   Monet's pond

~

Bruce H. Feingold lives in the San Francisco Bay area and is a retired psychologist. His haiku have been published world-wide and have won numerous awards. Author of six collections, including everything with an asterisk (Red Moon Press, 2022), an HSA Merit Book Award recipient, Bruce recently released a boy who lived one day. In the author's note he wrote, "I am more aware than ever of the fundamental value of one's unique haiku voice and authenticity and becoming who you are as a poet and human being . . . the practice of composing has become a truly amazing, mysterious grounding, and joyful way of being." Bruce is on the Board of Directors of The Haiku Foundation, chairs The Touchstone Awards and is the Vice-President of the Haiku Poets of Northern California. Bruce's haiku may be found on Instagram (haikubruce) and at haikubruce.com. 

An Esoteriku by Vidya Premkumar

dysthymia wet laundry across a low-voltage sky

~

Vidya Premkumar from India is an educator, poet, writer, digital librarian, graphic designer and visual artist. Her works reflect her multidisciplinary interests in life, society and nature.

A Tanka by Jackie Chou

fallen leaves
curled around
the edges
there is only so much
the dead can do

~

Jackie Chou is a writer from Southern California who has two collections of poetry, The Sorceress and Finding My Heart in Love and Loss, published by cyberwit. Her poem "Formosa" was a finalist in the Stephen A DiBiase Poetry Prize. She has recent work in The Ekphrastic Review and Synchronized Chaos.

An Esoteriku by Arvinder Kaur

after father
something of the milky way
in your bouquet

~

Arvinder Kaur believes in a superpower that lives within each one of us, whose presence she feels in all forms of creation. She has released four collections of haiku and is working on her fifth one. Totally in love with her mother tongue, she also has three translated works to her credit. Her haiku/senryu often appear in major international journals. A retired educationist, she lives in Chandigarh, India with her family.

An Esoteriku by Maria Tosti

the wind's phone—
your silent answers echo
inside me

~

Maria Tosti is an Italian poet, author, artist and also a photographer for passion.

She made her literary debut in 2014 with a multilingual book of poetry spanning various genres, including her first short poems written in the Japanese style. She has several publications of her literary and artistic works around the world.

She loves angels and everything that represents divine light.

On this journey between earth and heaven, she is always in search of beauty; she loves to linger over details and read between the nuances of existence.

An Esoteriku by Peter Jastermsky

wind phone
her familiar voice
dust to dust

~

A New England native, Peter Jastermsky lives among the Joshua trees in the high desert of Southern California. His is the author of twelve books of haiku-based work. Peter is a word alchemist. He resides in that magical space between reader and poem. To learn more, please go to peterjastermsky.com.

Short-Form Poetry by Patrick Sweeney

His left eye is lower than his right; yet he knows where to find famine roots
and how to avoid the suntraps of sainthood

"Nyxis" by O.P. Jha

Nyxis

neither rain
nor storms
but the nest fell

the broken nest is missing
the throbs of love

the Earth swallowed
the seeds of yearning
and it's moving around
the great burning ball.

~

O.P. Jha's works appeared in 150 plus literary journals including Rigorous, Mantis, Punt Volat, Discretionary Love, In Parentheses, Shot Glass, Lothlorien Poetry, Odessa Collective, Backchannels, Poetry Pacific, Five Fleas, miniMag, Iceblink, Infinite Scroll, The Rome Review, Valiant Scribe, Kelp, pulplit, etc. His poems appeared in 8 anthologies including We Were Seeds and We Are Resilient. He holds a Ph.D. in "Translation Studies." X: @OPJha17

A Cherita by Shloka Shankar

ritardando

anywhere
you can reset

your pulse
with a metronome
is home

~

Shloka Shankar is a disabled poet, editor, and visual artist from Bangalore, India. A Best of the Net nominee and widely published haiku poet, Shloka is the Founding Editor of Sonic Boom and its imprint, Yavanika Press. She is the author of the haiku collections The Field of Why and within our somehows, and co-author of the haiga anthology, living in the pause. Website: www.shlokashankar.com | Instagram: @shloks23

A Tanka by Reid Hepworth

what karmic
aftermath is in store
for me
empty on the floor
a bottle of insecticide

~

Reid Hepworth shares her secrets with the trees, plots her storylines with the birds and is known to covet pebbles and sea glass. She finds magic in the smallest, most ordinary things. Her poetry, influenced by her interaction with the natural world and the human condition, has been published internationally. Reid has released two books of poetry.

An Esoteriku by Joanna Ashwell

doomsayer the moon in a darkened well

~

Joanna Ashwell is a poet and spiritual healer. Her recent collections of poetry published include Love's Scriptures, Moonset Song and Book Patronus. She loves crystals, angels and dragons. She searches for the joy in life and loves to empower others to do the same.

"Sukkot Begins Tonight" by Gerard Sarnat

Sukkot* Begins Tonight

—thanks to Rabbi Zac
for forwarding wisdom
R'  Meshulam Feivush
Rebbe of Zbarazh in
Yosher Divrey Emet

Embrace is hinted
at in the sukkah:
Just as a parent
embraces child
in love
        encircling
& sheltering, so
does our sukkah
for Gerardo's fam
+ friends're invited
regardless
                of religion.

*Sukkot is an annual Jewish festival, also called the Feast of Tabernacles, that commemorates two main events:  the 40 years of wandering in the desert after the Exodus from Egypt and the fall harvest. Celebrated for seven days in the autumn, it involves building and dwelling in a temporary hut called a sukkah.

~

Eighty-year-old late-phase often graphic chronicler arrived in seventh decade, aphorist, humorist or sometimes meanderist, Gerard Sarnat (he/they) is a multiple Pushcart/Best of the Net Award nominee who also has been invited to serve as judge for competitions. Activism Through Poetry: How Gerard Sarnat Uses Verse as a Form of Protest is a 2025 retrospective: https://culterateblog.wordpress.com/2025/02/20/activism-through-poetry-how-gerard-sarnat-uses-verse-as-a-form-of-protest/. His words have been widely published in four collections by Rattle, Songs of Eretz, London Arts-Based Research Centre, Israel Association of Writers in English, The Nature of Our Times/Poets for Science, Gravity of the Thing, Third Wednesday, Poetry Center of San Jose, Brooklyn Review, Tokyo Poetry Journal, Gargoyle, Deronda Review, New Delta Review, Buddhist Review, New York Times, Mount Saint Mary's LA/Saint Benedict/Saint John's Universities, Oberlin, Slippery Rock, St. John's University, Northwestern, Yale, Pomona, Harvard, Missouri Baptist, Stanford, Dartmouth, Penn, Columbia, Grinnell, Johns Hopkins, NYU, Brown, North Dakota, CUNY, McMaster, Maine, Oklahoma/British Columbia/Toronto/Chicago/Virginia/Alabama university presses—and more. He's a Harvard College and Medical School-trained physician, Stanford professor and healthcare CEO. Currently, he's devoting energy and resources to dealing with climate justice, serving on Climate Action Now's board. Sarnat's belonged to the longest-running U.S. Jewish-Palestinian Dialogue Group. Gerry's been married since 1969 and has three kids, seven grandsons—and looks forward to future granddaughters. gerardsarnat.com

An Esoteriku by Ravi Kiran

DEMONstrating his possessiveness

~

Ravi is a late-blooming haiku poet with a penchant for minimalism. His haiku have won awards and have been featured in leading journals. He is the editor of Leaf haiku journal.

An Esoteriku by Alan Summers

a hand's breadth
from the humpback whale . . .
batteries not included

~

Alan Summers is related to the first ever American best-selling/block-buster author! Plus he lurks within the shadows of the local Best Western hotel coffee lounge tapping imaginary keyboards that send messages back home.

An Esoteriku by Adrian Bouter

space autumn
the hexagon on Saturn
from blue to brown

~

Adrian Bouter is a poet. For more details see HAIKUPEDIA. His first collection of ku in English, DEW OF LIGHT, was released in autumn 2024 (Red Moon Press). He wishes everyone the best—😊

An Esoteriku by Vishal Prabhu

sand mandala
gathering back the
world

~

A lover of all things deep and dark, Vishal Prabhu is forever walking over the edge of a forest.

An Esoteriku by Jerome Berglund

for that hoodoo
you do so well
frizzled chicken

~

Jerome Berglund has had a lifelong interest in angels, demons, hoodoo, voodoo, saints, sinners, spiritual ritual, occult practices, and supernatural phenomena. His lineage includes victims of the Salem witch hunts. Many haiku, haiga and haibun he's written have been exhibited or are forthcoming online and in print, most recently in bottle rockets, Frogpond, and Presence. His first full-length collections of poetry were released by Setu, Meat for Tea, Mōtus Audāx Press, and a mixed media chapbook showcasing his fine art photography is available now from Fevers of the Mind.

Short-Form Poetry by Travis Park

I mistook the omen for weather

~

Travis Park is an Indiana poet and photographer whose work has appeared or is forthcoming in Modern Haiku, Presence, Ribbons, McNeese Review, and other journals.

An Esoteriku by Kirsten Cliff Elliot

with finger pricks
we become blood sisters
red sky at night

~

Born on Lammas and married on Samhain, Kirsten Cliff Elliot is interested in Jungian dream interpretation and the collective unconscious. She has been writing and publishing short-form poetry for almost two decades. Her latest haikai collection, A Body of Work: Poems on Aging and Chronic Illness, is out soon from Cuttlefish Books.

An Esoteriku by Vandana Parashar

under my wings the wind before it is

~

Vandana Parashar is an associate editor of haikuKATHA and one of the editors of Poetry Pea and #FemkuMag. Her debut e-chapbook, I Am, was published by Title IX Press (now Moth Orchid Press) in 2019 and her second chapbook, Alone, I Am Not, was published by Velvet Dusk Publishing in April 2022. She won the 2025 HIGH/COO Chapbook Award, and her third chapbook was published by Brooks Books. She is a Lord Shiva devotee but believes in goodness of thoughts, words and deeds rather than following elaborate rituals to appease God. She likes to spend time with nature and herself.

An Esoteriku by M. R. Pelletier

morning sit
putting the monkey
to sleep

~

M. R. Pelletier lives in Kansas, but his haiku poetry travels the world. He has published in multiple journals, including Bamboo Hut, Five Fleas, Wales Haiku Journal, MadSwirl and Failed Haiku among others.

An Esoteriku by Patrick Sweeney

el trains of moonlight in the dilated eyes of the jumper

An Esoteriku by Arvinder Kaur

just one tab left open dolce far niente

~

Arvinder Kaur believes in a superpower that lives within each one of us, whose presence she feels in all forms of creation. She has released four collections of haiku and is working on her fifth one. Totally in love with her mother tongue, she also has three translated works to her credit. Her haiku/senryu often appear in major international journals. A retired educationist, she lives in Chandigarh, India with her family.

A Tritina-Haibun by Colleen M. Farrelly

Intergenerational Meditations

I think of my grandma,
growing up poor—mother-
less—raising her daughter.

I think of my daughter—
adopted—and her grandma
doting like a mother.

I think of my mother,
caring for my grandma
and her daughter's daughter.

swaddling babe grandma's mother also a daughter (once)

~

Colleen M. Farrelly is a mathematician and haibun poet who's been exploring the universe through mathematics and physics since childhood. She's an amalgam of mystic Jewish/Catholic traditions and mathematician-philosophers like Blaise Pascal, with a deep appreciation for meditation and what she learned about public health and spiritual health from South African village shamans in the mid-2000s.

An Esoteriku by Randy Brooks

so many unborn
milkweed silks alight
upon the lake

~

Randy Brooks is Professor of English Emeritus at Millikin University, where he teaches a haiku course. Randy and Shirley Brooks are publishers of Brooks Books and co-editors of Mayfly haiku magazine. His most recent publication is HAIKU DECK which features 52 haiku, one each for card.

A 9/11 Remembrance by Bruce H. Feingold

bronze plaque
for its lost 9/11 patrons
blood-stained bar

~

Bruce H. Feingold lives in the San Francisco Bay area and is a retired psychologist. His haiku have been published world-wide and have won numerous awards. Author of six collections, including everything with an asterisk (Red Moon Press, 2022), and a HSA Merit Book Award recipient, Bruce recently released a boy who lived one day. In the author's note he wrote, "I am more aware than ever of the fundamental value of one's unique haiku voice and authenticity and becoming who you are as a poet and human being . . . the practice of composing has become a truly amazing, mysterious, grounding, and joyful way of being." Bruce is on the Board of Directors of The Haiku Foundation, chairs The Touchstone Awards and is the Vice-President of the Haiku Poets of Northern California. Bruce's haiku may be found on Instagram (haikubruce) and at haikubruce.com.

An Esoteriku by Chad Lee Robinson

shadow moon—
my name keyed into the paint
upside down

~

Chad Lee Robinson has been writing haiku and related poetry for more than twenty years. He is the author of five award-winning haiku collections, including Pop Bottles (True Vine Press, 2009), Rope Marks (Snapshot Press, 2012), The Deep End of the Sky (Turtle Light Press, 2015), The White Buffalo (Backbone Press, 2023), and Dust of Horses (Brooks Books, 2026). Much of his haiku is about the prairie, but he also enjoys writing horrorku, which have appeared in a wide variety of journals, such as horror senryu journal, Otoroshi Journal, Circle of Salt, Haikuniverse, and Scifaikuest. He lives in Pierre, South Dakota.

A Cherita by Peter Jastermsky

when
wrapping
a blue whisper

in wizard skin

the pendulum says
better pass

~

A New England native, Peter Jastermsky lives among the Joshua trees in the high desert of Southern California. He is the author of twelve books of haiku-based work. Peter is a word alchemist. He resides in that magical space between reader and poem. To learn more, please go to peterjastermsky.com.

An Esoteriku by Daya Bhat

yatagarasu
mother turns into a song
on my window sill

~

Daya Bhat lives in Bangalore, India. To her, writing poetry is a never-ending quest to find the person she is at the core. She has contributed free verse and short form poetry to journals and publications in addition to publishing two books. Painting and digital art are other ways her thoughts find expression.

An Esoteriku by Adrian Bouter

mossy boulder   time has a soft spot

~

Adrian Bouter is a poet. For more details see HAIKUPEDIA.

His first collection of ku in English, DEW OF LIGHT, was released in autumn 2024 (Red Moon Press).

He wishes everyone the very best—😊

A One-Sentence Poem by Mark Valentine

The spilled beads from
Zarathustra's rosary
are found on any beach.

~

Mark Valentine is interested in bungalow visionaries, bedsit occultists, back-street brooders, bus station café poets, top floor troubadours, chip shop radicals, quayside soothsayers, semi-detached flying-saucerists, reading-room ruminators, rucksack ley-hunters, apocalypticks in creepered villas, terraced house neo-kabbalists, tower block zaum-niks, seekers of zodiacs, cliff-edge samphire-gatherers, and allied trades.

An Esoteriku by Shloka Shankar

the descent into oblivion player piano

                                               after Kurt Vonnegut

~

Shloka Shankar is a disabled poet, editor, and visual artist from Bangalore, India. A Best of the Net nominee and widely published haiku poet, Shloka is the Founding Editor of Sonic Boom and its imprint Yavanika Press. She is the author of the haiku collections The Field of Why and within our somehows, and co-author of the haiga anthology, living in the pause. Website: www.shlokashankar.com | Instagram: @shloks23

An Esoteriku by Anne Fox

a cock's crow
in the black of night
Abraxas

~

Anne Fox, considered a witch-child from birth, is an off-planet soul doing psychopomp work behind the scenes for our dying civilization.

An Esoteriku by Vidya Premkumar

carrying what will be the malabar grey hornbill

~

Vidya Premkumar from India is an educator, poet, writer, digital librarian, graphic designer and visual artist. Her works reflect her multidisciplinary interests in life, society and nature.

An Esoteriku by Ravi Kiran

no man's land between friendship and love

~

Ravi is a late-blooming haiku poet with a penchant for minimalism. His haiku have won awards and have been featured in leading journals. He is the editor of Leaf haiku journal.

A Tanka by Joy Hallinan

underwater
the undine lies
waiting
not waiting for a man
to grant a soul

~

Born in the 60's flower child era, Joy spent many happy unsupervised hours roaming the woods. Her haiku, tanka, haibun, and tanka prose can be found in journals internationally. Sometimes her haiku may also surprise you on a street corner sign or in a botanical garden. Winner of the 2026 Ecopoetry Award, Fiiloli Gardens and Finalist Washington, D.C. Golden Haiku Competition.

An Esoteriku by Ravi Kiran

. . . and then ashes and peace

~

Ravi is a late-blooming haiku poet with a penchant for minimalism. His haiku have won awards and have been featured in leading journals. He is the editor of Leaf haiku journal.

An Esoteriku by Maria Tosti

cosmic breath—
we are sleeping stars
waiting for dawn

~

Maria Tosti is an Italian poet, author, artist and also a photographer for passion.

She made her literary debut in 2014 with a multilingual book of poetry spanning various genres, including her first short poems written in the Japanese style. She has several publications of her literary and artistic works around the world.

She loves angels and everything that represents divine light.

On this journey between earth and heaven, she is always in search of beauty; she loves to linger over details and read between the nuances of existence.

"The Eternal Search for the Perfect Purse" by Nolcha Fox

The Eternal Search for the Perfect Purse

Griselda thought herself a princess who deserved the most and the best. Especially when it came to purses.

"This purse doesn't work anymore!" she complained to her friend and advisor, Brunhilda, over lunch at the finest hamburger restaurant in town.

Brunhilda almost sighed. Griselda frowned at her, so Brunhilda's sigh turned into a hiccup.

"My dear friend, what is wrong with your beautiful new purse?" Brunhilda asked. "Does the color not perfectly match your divine outfit?"

Griselda snorted. "It's not the color, you twit! It hurts my shoulder."

"Perhaps if you didn't stuff your bowling ball in your purse . . ."

Griselda waved the thought away. "This is not the perfect purse after all. We'll go shopping after lunch."

Brunhilda heard her feet scream in dismay. "Perhaps tomorrow?"

Griselda shook her head. 

"Perhaps an extra slice of cherry pie instead?"

"No, I want another purse. Now!" Griselda stood up and brushed the crumbs from her clothes. "Let's go." She pulled Brunhilda out of the booth and marched her to the nearest mall.

"What about this purse?" Brunhilda dangled a bag in front of Griselda's eyes. "It has padded shoulder straps, and it's expandable. Plus, it has wheels so that you don't strain your royal self."

"No, that won't work. It's too awkward to throw into my carriage. Let's keep looking."

"My dear princess," Brunhilda said. "Let me take a quick beauty break while you find the perfect purse."

Griselda nodded, barely listening. She might have spied The One.

Brunhilda walked quickly out of the store. She stopped at a travel kiosk and booked a one-way ticket to Jamaica. She was done with Griselda. And her purses.

Meanwhile, Griselda asked the sales clerk to bring her an odd bag on a hook near the ceiling.

"An old magician left the bag in the store and never returned," the sales clerk said.

"Is it used?" Griselda asked.

"We don't know. We've never been able to open it."

Griselda gave the sales clerk twenty dollars for the purse. Brunhilda could open the purse for her. After all, Brunhilda did everything else for her.

But Griselda didn't see Brunhilda anywhere. Griselda shrugged her shoulders. "Brunhilda has gotten worn around the edges. I can replace her."

When Griselda returned to her palace, she used every tool in the King's workroom to pry open the clasp. She tried a screwdriver, a hammer, a saw, a drill, and even a rake. Nothing worked.

Finally, she tried to force the latch open with her fingers, but she only broke a fingernail. She sobbed in frustration. "I give up!"

Those were the magic words. With a soft click, the clasp released and the purse opened.

Griselda gasped. Finally! She stuck her head in the bag. And fell in.

"Ouch! That hurts!" She rubbed her head and sat up. And sneezed. The purse was full of drifting, glowing dust.

She looked around. She saw no corners, no sides. As far as she could tell, the purse expanded into infinity. "Oh goodness, think of all the things I could fill this with!"

She looked up. More stars than she had ever seen twinkled above her head. "Oh, no! The clasp is closed again! How will I get out to collect everything this bag could hold?"

A realization melted into her brain. This bag was her empty soul. Stuffing the bag would never fill what was missing inside her. She had no idea how to find it.

But Griselda was a stubborn princess. "I get everything I want. I'll figure this out. Someday."

~

Nolcha Fox's poems have been curated in print and online journals. A best-selling author, her poetry books are available on Amazon and Dancing Girl Press. Nominated for Best of the Net and Pushcart Prize multiple times. Editor of Chewers by Masticadores and LatinosUSA.

Website:  https://writingaddiction2.wordpress.com/ and https://nolchafox2.wixsite.com/nolcha-s-written-wor/blog

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/nolcha.fox/

An Esoteriku by Vandana Parashar

pill moon
another night
out of my body

~

Vandana Parashar is an associate editor of haikuKATHA and one of the editors of Poetry Pea and #FemkuMag. Her debut e-chapbook, I Am, was published by Title IX Press (now Moth Orchid Press) in 2019 and her second chapbook, Alone, I Am Not, was published by Velvet Dusk Publishing in April 2022. She won the 2025 HIGH/COO Chapbook Award, and her third chapbook was published by Brooks Books. She is a Lord Shiva devotee but believes in goodness of thoughts, words and deeds rather than following elaborate rituals to appease God. She likes to spend time with nature and herself.

Short-Form Poetry by Patrick Sweeney

turning lane, a coffee cup for loose change,
and the distinctive hand salute of a Marine

A Personal Essay by Kim Underwood

The other day I met my friends Bob and Kelly at Pulliam's—the renowned restaurant on Old Walkertown Road that has been serving hot dogs and barbecue since 1910.

The next day—in the course of continuing to have fun talking about hot dogs with Kelly—I mentioned that I had participated in two hot dog eating contests over the years. The first one had been at the city recreation center supervised by Art Blevins, a man renowned for inspiring young people and treating them with respect.

I like to say that Art had such a remarkable balance in the Bank of Good Will that people were happy to do whatever he asked them to do. When Art invited professional basketball players and TV anchor Cameron Kent to participate in the annual basketball tournament at the recreation center, they said "yes".

At the time of the hot dog eating contest in the late 1980s, I was writing for the Winston-Salem Journal. Art invited me to be their sole adult competitor in a contest in which the rest of the participants would be young people at the center.

On the day of the tournament, as the time for the competition approached, Art plunked down a mysterious closed white box in front of me. It contained special hot dogs he had fixed just for me, he said. More available if I needed them. When the bell rang for the competition to begin, I opened the box to discover that, while all the young people would be eating regular-sized hot dogs, mine were all footlongs.

Knowing that Art had ensured that, when he announced the winner, there was no way it was going to be me, I had to smile. Nonetheless, I forged ahead. I am sorry to say that I no longer remember how many footlongs I swallowed.

I can say that, along with the winner, I received a trophy. The boy who won thought my trophy was more impressive than his and asked if I would trade him. One of my regrets in life is that I told him "no" because my trophy had my name on it. If I had it to do over, I would definitely give it to him.

I can also say that my friend John Downey—who no longer remembers how many I ate either—told me that he could have most certainly done better. Back and forth between us led to deciding to have our own competition with regular-size hot dogs.

Our friends Kelli and Liz decided to join and, with the help of a couple of friends who agreed to be in charge of ensuring that we had all the hot dogs we needed, we were set.

The first few dogs went down quickly and easily. It wasn't long, though, before the process slowed down. By six or seven dogs each, Kelli and Liz were done.

John and I kept at it, though. In my memory, I am soon in a super slow-motion world where each bite takes forever. My eyes are locked on watching John eat and there is no way that I am going to let him have the satisfaction of lording it over me as the contest winner.

Eventually, with 11 hot dogs behind us and halfway through the 12th dog, both of us reach the point at which it is not possible to take another bite.

We reluctantly declare a tie.

These days, after finishing two hot dogs at Dairi-O, along with sweet-potato fries and endless refills of soda, it's hard to imagine I once lived in a universe in which I ate more than 11 hot dogs.

What's not hard to remember is how amazing Art Blevins was.

It has been my good fortune to meet many people such as Art who have a gift for bringing love into the world.

~

The son of a Presbyterian minister, Kim grew up in North Carolina and West Virginia. After he took a leave of absence from college, he spent his 20s in New York, Atlanta and San Francisco.

After he moved back to Winston-Salem. N.C., he spent 25 years as a reporter and columnist for the Winston-Salem Journal and another 10 years writing for Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools. During those years, he met many remarkable people.

Along the way, Kim wrote and his wife, Garnet, illustrated two picture books—His Dogness Finds a Blue Heart and The Wonderful World of Sparkle Girl and Doobins. Since retiring he has written Cat & Wren, a chapter book for young people he hopes will be published one day.

"Substrates" by Peter Jastermsky

Substrates

Describe the room in which one day you'll forget to wake up. How many steps did you leave behind? Can you make the describable unrecognizable? Are songs of extinct people still audible? When your call drops is there a bucket it falls into? A tree topples in the forest and we never make a sound.

~

A New England native, Peter Jastermsky lives among the Joshua trees in the high desert of Southern California. He is the author of twelve books of haiku-based work. Peter is a word alchemist. He resides in that magical space between reader and poem. To learn more, please go to peterjastermsky.com.

An Esoteriku by Jerome Berglund

fall schedule mystery school

~

Jerome Berglund has had a lifelong interest in angels, demons, hoodoo, voodoo, saints, sinners, spiritual ritual, occult practices, and supernatural phenomena. His lineage includes victims of the Salem witch hunts. Many haiku, haiga and haibun he's written have been exhibited or are forthcoming online and in print, most recently in bottle rockets, Frogpond, and Presence. His first full-length collections of poetry were released by Setu, Meat for Tea, Mōtus Audāx Press, and a mixed media chapbook showcasing his fine art photography is available from Fevers of the Mind.

An Esoteriku by Randy Brooks

handsewn voodoo doll
his crotch holds all
the pins

~

Randy Brooks is Professor of English Emeritus at Millikin University, where he teaches a haiku course. Randy and Shirley Brooks are publishers of Brooks Books and co-editors of Mayfly haiku magazine. His most recent publication is HAIKU DECK which features 52 haiku, one each for card.

An Esoteriku by Adrian Bouter

night sky stars lie for the world

~

Adrian Bouter is a poet. For more details, see HAIKUPEDIA.

His first collection of ku in English, DEW OF LIGHT, was released in autumn 2024 (Red Moon Press).

He wishes everyone the very best—🙂

An Esoteriku by Kirsten Elliot

the philosopher's stone(d)

~

Born on Lammas and married on Samhain, Kirsten Cliff Elliot is interested in Jungian dream interpretation and the collective unconscious. She has been writing and publishing short-form poetry for almost two decades. Her latest haikai collection, A Body of Work:  Poems on Aging and Chronic Illness, is out soon from Cuttlefish Books.

An Esoteriku by Biswajit Mishra

insomnia the fifth corner of the room

~

Biswajit Mishra from Calgary, Canada, is looking to find in verses what he might have missed in his 35-year-long career in different industries. He hopes to keep on learning the ways to unlearn.

An Esoteriku by Vandana Parashar

without an alibi the shooting star when he died

~

Vandana Parashar is an associate editor of haikuKATHA and one of the editors of Poetry Pea and #FemkuMag. Her debut e-chapbook, I Am, was published by Title IX Press (now Moth Orchid Press) in 2019 and her second chapbook, Alone, I Am Not, was published by Velvet Dusk Publishing in April 2022. She won the 2025 HIGH/COO Chapbook Award and her third chapbook was published by Brooks Books. She is a Lord Shiva devotee but believes in goodness of thoughts, words and deeds rather than following elaborate rituals to appease God. She likes to spend time with nature and herself.

An Esoteriku by Arvinder Kaur

coffin lid closing the turquoise of your eyes

~

Arvinder Kaur believes in a superpower that lives within each one of us, whose presence she feels in all forms of creation. She has released four collections of haiku and is working on her fifth one. Totally in love with her mother tongue, she also has three translated works to her credit. Her haiku/senryu often appear in major international journals. A retired educationist, she lives in Chandigarh, India with her family.

An Esoteriku by Daya Bhat

trapping the meteors
of an untouched galaxy
wedding ring

~

Daya Bhat lives in Bangalore, India. To her, writing poetry is a never-ending quest to find the person she is at the core. She has contributed free verse and short-form poetry to journals and publications in addition to publishing two books. Painting and digital art are other ways her thoughts find expression.

An Esoteriku by Roberta Beach Jacobson

we think alike coven wisdom

~

Roberta Beach Jacobson is an itchy poet living in the flyover state of Iowa. She writes verses perched on barn roofs or in trees.

Short-Form Poetry by Patrick Sweeney

he's auditioning in the big hotel elevator mirror
for the part of the loneliest man in the world

An Esoteriku by Ravi Kiran

summer's end of mango season

~

Ravi is a late-blooming haiku poet with a penchant for minimalism. His haiku have won awards and been featured in leading journals. He is the editor of Leaf haiku journal.

"Waiting for My Friend to Come Home" by Nolcha Fox

Waiting for My Friend to Come Home

A red silk scarf that flies above my head,
the wind will take him who knows where.
He is the rain, a sudden summer storm,
that cleans the dust from all the leaves,
and just as quickly disappears.
I cannot paddle in the stream
of words that flow beneath his pen.
I run aground, the words a dream
that vanishes into the sunrise sky.
When I give up all hope that he
will come back home,
he is the moon that shines
in the darkened hours.

~

Nolcha Fox's poems have been curated in print and online journals. A best-selling author, her poetry books are available on Amazon and Dancing Girl Press. Nominated for Best of the Net and Pushcart Prize multiple times. Editor of Chewers by Masticadores and Latinos USA.

Website: https://writingaddiction2.wordpress.com/ and https://nolchafox2.wixsite.com/nolcha-s-written-wor/blog

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nolcha.fox/

An Esoteriku by Rowan Beckett Minor

called to the grave
of a woman I don't know
fresh carnations

~

Rowan Beckett Minor (they/them) is a disabled Melungeon poet and hoodoo practitioner from Prince, WV, who currently resides in Cleveland, OH. They have been featured in:  Mayfly, A New Resonance 12, as a confluence journal Fellow (2024-2025), as a presenter for Haiku North America (2019, 2021), and co-judge for the HSA Brady Senryu Contest (2022). Rowan is honored to have served as HSA Midwest Regional Coordinator in 2024.

An Esoteriku by Anne Fox

star spell
again this wish
to be human

~

Anne Fox, considered a witch-child from birth, is an off-planet soul doing psychopomp work behind the scenes for our dying civilization.

An Esoteriku by Adrian Bouter

sunflowers  each their own shine

~

Adrian Bouter is a poet. For more details see HAIKUPEDIA. His first collection of ku in English, DEW OF LIGHT, was released in autumn 2024 (Red Moon Press). He wishes everyone the very best — 🙂

An Esoteriku by M. R. Pelletier

a boulder forks
the waters—hands
together in mudra

~

M. R. Pelletier lives in Kansas, but his haiku poetry travels the world. He has published in multiple journals including Bamboo Hut, Five Fleas, Wales Haiku Journal, Mad Swirl and Failed Haiku among others.

An Esoteriku by Jared Frank

telephone pole crow caul for the quiet child

~

Jared Frank writes poetry somewhere in Washington State. Most of his audience are wild animals and little rocks with drawn-on faces, but on occasion he shows his material to humans, too. He generally leans towards various combinations of existentialism and mysticism in his spiritual practice. https://lnk.bio/JaredFrank

An Esoteriku by Kelly Sargent

dust in the sunbeams
the signs
I did not see

~

Kelly Sargent is a poet, editor, and devoted tea drinker residing in Vermont. Though she writes about autumn foliage and fallen acorns, she most enjoys penning poems that reflect the multiple facets of being human. She is an assistant editor for #FemkuMag and served last year as a co-judge for the HSA Harold G. Henderson Haiku Contest. Her latest haiku/senryu collection is entitled The Honeybee's Waggle (Cuttlefish Books, 2026). She writes because when a reader gives a little nod or slight smile, she no longer bears the weight of living, alone.

An Esoteriku by Randy Brooks

not in Kansas anymore
just keep clicking
those red shoes

~

Randy Brooks is Professor of English Emeritus at Millikin University, where he teaches a haiku course. Randy and Shirley Brooks are publishers of Brooks Books and co-editors of Mayfly haiku magazine. His most recent publication is HAIKU DECK, which features 52 haiku, one each for card.

An Esoteriku by Jerome Berglund

altar ego

~

Jerome Berglund has had a lifelong interest in angels, demons, hoodoo, voodoo, saints, sinners, spiritual ritual, occult practices, and supernatural phenomena. His lineage includes victims of the Salem witch hunts. Many haiku, haiga and haibun he's written have been exhibited or are forthcoming online and in print, most recently in bottle rockets, Frogpond, and Presence. His first full-length collections of poetry were released by Setu, Meat for Tea, Mōtus Audāx press, and a mixed media chapbook showcasing his fine art photography is available now from Fevers of the Mind.

An Esoteriku by Sarah Mahina Calvello

between pine cones twilight descends

~

Sarah Mahina Calvello lives in San Francisco and writes mostly haiku. She loves nature and is addicted to coffee. https://heyyouhaiku.blogspot.com/?m=1

Tanka Art by Debbie Strange

 

~

Debbie Strange is a chronically ill short-form poet and artist who believes in the healing magic of word paintings.

An Esoteriku by Vishal Prabhu

death poems
walking over a lake
and back

~

A lover of all things deep and dark, Vishal Prabhu is forever walking over the edge of a forest.

An Esoteriku by Ravi Kiran

p-a-t-r-i-a-r-c-h-?

~

Ravi is a late-blooming haiku poet with a penchant for minimalism. His haiku have won awards and been featured in leading journals. He is the editor of Leaf haiku journal.

An Esoteriku by Biswajit Mishra

but after an undivided donut chewing guilt

~

Biswajit Mishra from Calgary, Canada, is looking to find in verses what he might have missed in his 35-year-long career in different industries. He hopes to keep on learning the ways to unlearn.

An Esoteriku by Vandana Parashar

outside blind conformity the places where it rains

~

Vandana Parashar is an associate editor of haikuKATHA and one of the editors of Poetry Pea and #FemkuMag. Her debut e-chapbook, I Am, was published by Title IX Press (now Moth Orchid Press) in 2019 and her second chapbook, Alone, I Am Not, was published by Velvet Dusk Publishing in April 2022. She won the 2025 HIGH/COO Chapbook Award and her third chapbook was published by Brooks Books. She is a Lord Shiva devotee but believes in goodness of thoughts, words and deeds rather than following elaborate rituals to appease God. She likes to spend time with nature and herself.

An Esoteriku by Rowan Beckett Minor

snake shed
steeping in jojoba
the full moon

~

Rowan Beckett Minor (they/them) is a disabled Melungeon poet and hoodoo practitioner from Prince, WV, who currently resides in Cleveland, OH. They have been featured in:  Mayfly, A New Resonance 12, as a confluence journal Fellow (2024-2025), as a presenter for Haiku North America (2019, 2021), and co-judge for the HSA Brady Senryu Contest (2022). Rowan is honored to have served as HSA Midwest Regional Coordinator in 2024.

An Esoteriku by Princes Rose Manuel

going home
riding
paper planes

~

Princes Rose grew up watching the moon and stars until the moon became plenty and the stars began to hide. Her vision might be blurry, but she still has the pictures in her mind. Pictures that keep her writing.

An Esoteriku by Roberta Beach Jacobson

meditating until magick rises within me

~

Roberta Beach Jacobson is an itchy poet living in the flyover state of Iowa. She writes verses perched on barn roofs or in trees.

An Esoteriku by Patrick Sweeney

nothing was ever said
about the brown blood in the marrow
of the Sunday hambone

An Esoteriku by Adrian Bouter

moving door handle . . .

a universe opens to
another universe

~

Adrian Bouter is a poet. For more details see HAIKUPEDIA. His first collection of ku in English, DEW OF LIGHT, was released in autumn 2024 (Red Moon Press). He wishes everyone the very best—😊

An Esoteriku by Jared Frank

downriver

                                                 a holy man
                                      sings
                the current                                    home

~

Jared Frank writes poetry somewhere in Washington State. Most of his audience are wild animals and little rocks with drawn-on faces, but on occasion he shows his material to humans, too. He generally leans towards various combinations of existentialism and mysticism in his spiritual practice. https://lnk.bio/JaredFrank

An Esoteriku by Gordon Brown

mississippi wind
the god i trick myself
into believing

~

Gordon Brown grew up in the deserts of Syria and now lives in the deserts of Nevada. Since arriving in the New World, his work has appeared in McSweeney's Internet Tendency, Weird Horror Magazine, Hunger Mountain Review, and elsewhere. His horror haiku chapbook, Skin Crawls, is forthcoming from Cuttlefish Books. He spends his time writing feverishly and looking after his cats, of which he has none.

"Life Goes Like This" by Stephen Philip Druce

Life Goes Like This

The ketchup won't
come out of bottle,

ten shakes,

fifty slaps,

one hundred expletives—

before the entire
contents shoot out.

~

Stephen Philip Druce is a poet from Shrewsbury in the UK. He is published in the UK, the USA, Ireland, Hungary, India and South Africa. Stephen has also written for BBC Radio 4 Extra and London theatre plays.

An Esoteriku by Jerome Berglund

no adept
but
a neophyte

~

Jerome Berglund has had a lifelong interest in angels, demons, hoodoo, voodoo, saints, sinners, spiritual ritual, occult practices, and supernatural phenomena. His lineage includes victims of the Salem witch hunts. Many haiku, haiga, and haibun he's written have been exhibited or are forthcoming online and in print, most recently in bottle rockets, Frogpond, and Presence. His first full-length collections of poetry were released by Setu, Meat for Tea, Mōtus Audāx Press, and a mixed media chapbook showcasing his fine art photography is available now from Fevers of the Mind.

An Esoteriku by Thomas L. Vaultonburg

comet—
the mountain
looking up

~

Thomas L. Vaultonburg lives in Rockford, Illinois. His haiku have appeared in Modern Haiku, The Heron's Nest, Presence, Acorn, Mayfly, and other journals. He is the author of Vanished Roads and co-founder of Wolf Twin Books.

An Esoteriku by Vishal Prabhu

Tathagata
a stream follows
the first thaw

~

A lover of all things deep and dark, Vishal Prabhu is forever walking over the edge of a forest.

An Esoteriku by Sarah Mahina Calvello

a sky stricken with stars puts me in my place

~

Sarah Mahina Calvello lives in San Francisco and writes mostly haiku. She loves nature and is addicted to coffee. https://heyyouhaiku.blogspot.com/?m=1

An Esoteriku by Rowan Beckett Minor

smoke rising
from bundled rosemary
mid-summer heat

~

Rowan Beckett Minor (they/them) is a disabled Melungeon poet and hoodoo practitioner from Prince, WV, who currently resides in Cleveland, OH. They have been featured in:  Mayfly, A New Resonance 12, as a confluence journal Fellow (2024-2025), as a presenter for Haiku North America (2019, 2021), and co-judge for the HSA Brady Senryu Contest (2022). Rowan is honored to have served as HSA Midwest Regional Coordinator in 2024.

An Esoteriku by Tom Bierovic

lingering incense—
the last bell
a cricket's chirp

~

Tom Bierovic is a devoted writer of haiku, senryu, and tanka poetry. When not reading or writing, he enjoys playing backgammon, playing Native American flutes and Irish whistles, and drumming on bongos and djembe. Tom and his wife Laurie make their home in DeLand, Florida.

An Esoteriku by Patrick Sweeney

this close to Johnny Cash
when my brother Franky gave away
his turtle soup recipe

An Esoteriku by Randy Brooks

tonight's new moon
the bullfrog's
one note samba

~

Randy Brooks is Professor of English Emeritus at Millikin University, where he teaches a haiku course. Randy and Shirley Brooks are publishers of Brooks Books and co-editors of Mayfly haiku magazine. His most recent publication is HAIKU DECK which features 52 haiku, one each for card. See the web page https://www.brooksbookshaiku.com/Brooks-HaikuDeck.html 

A Visual Poem by Laszlo Aranyi

 

~

Laszlo Aranyi (Frater Azmon) poet, visual poet, anarchist, occultist from Hungary. Earlier books:  (szellem)válaszok, A Nap és Holderők egyensúlya, Kiterített rókabőr. His poems in English have appeared in over a hundred journals. His new books are:  Delirium & . . . The Seven Haiku (published by DEAD MAN'S PRESS INK, ALBANY, NY 2023), Sacred anarchy! Poems and Visual Poems (Nut Hole Publishing 2024), The Temple of Confrontation (DunapArt Publishing, Hungary, 2026), Lady Buddha (O:JA&L / aRt journal, Montana, USA, 2026). He has been nominated several times for international awards. Known spiritualist mediums, art and explores the relationship between magic.

"Confession" by Colleen M. Farrelly

Confession

I believe in the father-
less, the motherless, the sons
now raised by ghouls and ghosts—

the ones who shun cloaked ghosts
and rap about their father
issues—and the ones whose sons

escape the jails and drugs, sons
who study—and write white ghosts
they know from present fathers . . .

shriving pew the Father's godson a bedsheet ghost

~

Colleen M. Farrelly is a mathematician and haibun poet who's been exploring the universe through mathematics and physics since childhood. She's an amalgam of mystic Jewish/Catholic traditions and mathematician-philosophers like Blaise Pascal, with a deep appreciation for meditation and what she learned about public health and spiritual health from South African village shamans in the mid-2000s.