The Bamboo Hut
  • Home
  • Read online
    • Winter 2019
    • Number 1 2020
    • Number 2 2020
    • Number 3 2020
    • Number 4 2020
    • Number 1 2021
    • Number 2 2021
    • Number 3 2021
    • Number 1 2022
    • Number 2 2022
    • Number 1 2023
  • Submissions
  • Previous Issues
  • Podcast
Picture

The Bamboo Hut   Issue One   Twenty Twenty Three


​​​Tuyet Van Do


Family

struck by illness
love
binding
siblings
assist one another

advanced in age
children
take turn
looking after
her

New Year's day
with gratitude
they find
comfort
having family



french cat
sitting idly
glaring Eva Do

modeling
on the floor
against the mirror Tuyet Van Do

black coat
with white socks
she blinks a hello Emi Do







Marjorie Buettner
Thomas Chockley


Into Another Morning

at the beginning of night
one lone bird's migrating song
and now at the very end
passing autumn rain

longing for missing birdsong
this early gray break of day
instead the clitter clatter
of sleet in my mind

how lonely the human brain
that fights dementia or worse
the dull sound of shuffling feet
on the bedroom floor

tomorrow’s clothes all folded
neatly should some confusion
mar my morning memory
against the new day

this morning the chortling
of pheasants out my window
and the droning sound of bees
late for the roses

Canada geese chattering
over dewy green grass blades
hidden among autumn leaves
on the long route south

beetles have taken over
the leaf of my new rhubarb
planted in your memory
but failing to thrive

I pray now for a hard freeze
and cut out the wounded stalks…
perhaps next year this slim clump
will yield a sweet pie

late in life I understand
how memory is a burden
weighed down by what we carry
unable to go

my grandchildren have children
I wonder which stories which
family tales they will pass on…
legends for new lives

tonight I wake from sound sleep
to hear the dull sound of feet
shuffling on my bedroom floor
at that shadowed door

while once I ran long races
now short pain spikes in one knee
as I tread slowly into
another morning



Bryan Rickert

woodland stream
seed fluff finding
the current

strike marks
on the guardrail
morning mist

separate beds
cicadas cry us
to sleep



Anthony Lusardi


barbecue ribs;
the hours to cook them
the seconds they’re devoured

touch-me-not seeds--
the smack on my hand
trying to reach hers

spring winds . . .
song thrush adds a beat
cracking a snail shell

Jenny Fraser

the artistry
in accident
spilt milk

drying the sheets the tail of a cyclone

kitchen highchair
a toddler plays
foot & vowel sounds



Richa Sharma

you explain in a dream daylily
after the goodbye walnut shade
out of an indifference into another fishbowl



Oscar Luparia


2022 → 2023 (The Passage)


white butterfly…
the ephemeral dance
of two snowflakes

Christmas tree lights
the memory of my Mom
shines more

merry Christmas, sparrows!
on my balcony
little pieces of panettone (°)

(°)
panettone is an Italian type of sweet bread originally from Milan, usually prepared and enjoyed for Christmas time.

bare tree...
if I close my eyes
green leaves in the blue

new calendar
another 365 days
to be thankful



Richard Evanoff

The light melts.
I scoop up
the darkness
in my two cold hands.


Up here
the birds chirp
slightly off-pitch.
A withered tree
creaks
in the wind.



Long night,
the next morning’s snow.
Tracks darting
this way and that.



Samantha Sirimanne Hyde & Marilyn Humbert

Earthbound

ivy cuttings
planted many years ago
so eagerly
now their aerial roots
invade the roof rafters

gravity
holds me earthbound--
each night
my mind traverses
distant planets and suns

starlit skies…
across the dam
a lone wallaby
jumps over the paddocks
to disappear into the dark

alone again
in half-light I search
for footmarks…
this loneliness of silence
before the sun rises

rural abode
I gaze at a supermoon
marvelling
at the years it has taken
to believe in myself

first sunbeams
morning glory buds
burst open--
I accept a job offer
to work overseas


Year’s End

year’s end…
all the resolutions
I didn’t keep

dust motes swirl
the calendar opens
to January

crossing names
off my address book
idle friendships

party noise
from over the fence--
I’m blackballed

social media…
she deletes her “like”
on my post

power outages
this freedom from
chat platforms



Ram Chandran

whispering mantras
the priest
takes a handful of water,
hold it for a moment
before pouring back in the river

hanging from the hut roof
a wooden lantern
spreading more shadows
than light ...no worries
outside, sparkle of fireflies sprinkles light under no moon sky

still winter night
yet
the porch wind chimes singing to the tune of moonlight



Barbara Gaiardoni

a funny bellied gentleman
known as the "cestaio"
who weaves wicker baskets
for whole days

learn the art
and put it aside

will it be true?



Daniel Birnbaum

old temple
a flag keeps slapping
a statue of god

just at its place
the crow
on the first snow

the man
bent over his cane
days getting shorter



David Mihalyov

The Horn

A sweetness borne by the breeze,
more apple blossom than cotton candy . . .

And now the sky empties itself of clouds,
the blue changing from slate to robin's egg,

a shift that happens faster than the red to green
which spurs the call of the bleating horn behind me.


​
Joshua St. Claire


frozen earth
the grey squirrel scrapes
the Oak Moon

plum blossoms
winter waking
white from white

distant storm
sparrows spin
through light and shadow



Farah Ali

ink blots paper crows flutter on snow
​
hidden treasure
within the log pile --
sleeping butterfly

the sky
snared by antlers…
a solitary stag


Wai Mei Wong

my sacred symbol
a daisy
I trace again and again
under the buddha’s forever smile
toward my nirvana

at 3 a.m.
on paper my pen gliding
knocking on the doors of my past
bringing back the smile
I lost somewhere



Christina Chin & Uchechukwu Onyedikam.

junior boxing
championship
clenched fist
hoarding all his strengths
to be a man.


Alan Bush, Geoffrey Winch & Cherrie Taylor

Speech of Morning

such Traveller’s Joy
the speech of morning sun
voluminous hedgerows - ab

sheep with short shadows
gather at their gate - gw

dandelion wishes
counting the
ways - ct

dip, dip, scarp
steep, the coolness of trees - ab

sundown
cooling down enough
to merengue the night away - gw

nightswimming
under the Sturgeon Moon - ct




Seeing Deeper

leaves start to fall
we see deeper
into the woods - gw

beneath the pines
saffron milkcaps glow - ct

beside a bole of beech
light hangs
bryony through the haw - ab

tree branches after rain
silvered by the moon - gw

collecting conkers
shiny brown nuts
get ready for the game - ct

in the tread of excuses
a puddle’s cracked reflection - ab



Muskaan Ahuja

dawn…
the milkman’s horn
in another street

Home!
an old man slaps the oxen
on its rump

a falling leaf…
I too
shed a memory




A.A. Marcoff & Joy McCall

the silence
of the water-lilies
resting
on the silence
of the dream

below
the stilling surface
after the rain
mountain minnows
in the green reeds



Mark Gilbert

distant thunder ...
seeking a pattern
in the fallen leaves

silver distance
between the clouds
cracked concrete

peace bell …
the death toll
remembered



Evan Coram

halfway through
a twelve hour shift
the cricket
ends his break


managing
expectations
nestlings

moonless
whitecaps turn black
then fade into night




B. L. Bruce

waxwings
on their brief winter visit
dawn song

such stillness
in the darkening house
new moon

winter dawn
the moon’s bone-color
in a lilac sky



Seth Copeland

orangetips lap
up crowpoison
amber dusk

a dickcissel
on barb wire
Instagram famous

year's first snow
a young bison adrift
in tallgrass



Erin Jones

Changing seasons
Halloween lights come down
Christmas lights go up

your heart should be
a kintsugi tea cup
mended with gold
more valued
for its imperfections

chill autumn night
the smell of wood smoke
lingers



Christina Chin & Linda Ludwig

sleep therapy
fresh geraniums under
grandma's pillows
the earthy scent
calls her home


in the breeze
perfumes de gardenias
fill the garden
moonlight — music
and white wine


hike trail --
the waterway overrun
with weeds
a dandelion fluff
rains wishes




Ben Gaa

morning fog
moving through the campground
the scent of coffee

sitting in the garden
mom is now
a memory

evening light
through the cafe window
passing winter coats




Giuliana Ravaglia

L'aria nuda volteggia
nel sole caldo
del mattino
dalle persiani chiuse
l'eco sommessa del dolore

The bare air swirls
in the hot sun
of the morning
from closed shutters
the soft echo of pain


Come anima di seta
s'increspa l'aria della sera
veleggiando d'immenso
veglia i sogni la luna bianca

Like a soul of silk
the evening air ripples
sailing
the immense white moon
watches over dreams



Sherry Grant

cherry on top
baby sister
gets her way

school days
her socks always
unmatched

nothing personal new year’s resolution



Roberta Beach Jacobson

morning chirps
are they warning me
of climate change

daughter's first kiss
I pray it will be
consensual

workplace safety
zero days since anything
made sense


Daipayan Nair

crowd clapping --
a JCB shovels
out the sewage

morning lane --
the thump
of an exhaust

perfect balance --
the man head-loads a basket
of dried fish



Debbie Strange

Scorched

ash-speckled,
ghost horses emerge
from the haze . . .
we offer them water
and sanctuary

rescue workers . . .
a missing dog wags
her singed tail

charred bones
of houses and cars . . .
all is lost,
except for the loving
kindness of strangers

homeless . . .
someone else's jacket
warms my heart

shell-shocked,
I sift through the rubble
of my life . . .
neighbours bring me cups
of tea and sympathy
Tony Williams

looking deep
into the heart of a pearl…
winter sky

spring equinox
a little honey
on my porridge

wearing
this season’s colours--
crocuses



Adrian Bouter

mom's recurring smile orphan moon
night wind
caught up in tree branches
and a loose tarp

missing rungs
on my way to the stars
this ladder...



Edward Cody Huddleston

whiskey moon
getting a handle
on myself

winter sunset
biting the bruise
off an apple

between the lines
of my friend's obituary
horizontal rain




Theresa A. Cancro

sea glass--
a kittiwake's call
in the spray

cracked mirror--
the clown wipes off
his smile

morning sun . . .
winter melon cools
my tongue



Jerome Berglund

angry gods’
haunted house
shrouded strobe lights
from every direction



they meet
dressed in black…
enclosed by flames
she does most
of the dancing



Anne Curran

a barefoot boy
scrunches
dry autumn leaves -
his smile as he walks
the winding pathway

the sun illuminates
a sheen of mist
in the gully -
a gnarly oak bent
over ferns and bracken

spring florals
on mother's china teacups
as pretty as can be -
I write up my invitation list
for the New Year


Neena Singh

laughing dove
my hands still hold
your warmth

camp bonfire
the night sparks stars
in your eyes

magpie-robin
sweeter than words
the song you sing



Srinivasa Rao Sambangi

fallen sandal tree
the river
and the lumberjack
wash the axe, until
it loses its fragrance

village olympics
lily pad to lily pad
a little frog jumps

sought her the way
to cherry blossoms
she disappeared
showing me
the eightfold path



Anna Cates

Phantoms

the train whistle
fades into honeysuckle
rainy autumn
bringing with it
such loneliness

in a single day
all the gingko leaves
gone!
autumn itself
such a ghost!


a moth floating
over a landmine--
sunflowers

bomb crater
covering the wound
pink yarrow



Goran Lowie

standing on the ice
you hide away
in my arms

I owe my heart
your grief-stricken
silence

an unbearable morning
sitting down
in the quiet light




Mukund Gnanadesikan

History Lesson

Cold stream’s murmur
Reminds of empty canoes
River’s Trail of Tears



The Great Migration

Lions, wildebeests
chase across the Kalahari,
all lives under siege



Mehreen Ahmed

Promise
I am the promise that cannot be broken.
I am the love that cannot be severed.
I am the dream that will not be realised.
I am the desire that will burn forever.



Robert Witmer

autumn afternoon
a child's forgotten glove
by the acorn's cockeyed cap

gathering violets
from cracks in the playground
new girl at school

raindrops
on a foggy window
cataracts over blue eyes



Shikha S. Lamba
For Shafiqa

There is no cure
for the ordinary man’s grief
other than madness.
The mind shall easier go insane
than make sense of a world
that drowns its people in their own sorrows.

(After Nadia Hashimi’s book, The Pearl That Broke Its Shell)


If what’s keeping you apart
is keeping you sane,
own the distance,
own each and every step of
that space and make it yours.


If you’re going to hide behind your silence
and cry quietly inside
remember, silent winds still carry sounds
and hollow beings still make noise.



Christopher Peys

sheep
sheep sheep
sheep sh e e p s l e e . . .


ebbing tide
we are
flowing tide
washed away


misty morning
the peaks of our hills
peek into the grey




Cristy Watson

first day of school
a voice over the loudspeaker –
the dog and I walk the perimeter

russet leaves
a season
under my feet



Ink

mosquitoes
my bloodline
continues

deer's best friend
crunchy leaves under
the predator's paws

yellowed leaves crumble
from their twisted metal bough
all that's left to say


Chen-ou Liu
​

one food drive
after another, another ...
Arctic cold snap

couch surfing ...
each snow-covered house
smells different

a polar plunge
the distance between us
shorter... and shorter


Birk Andersson

beyond the horizon
there is
another one

photo album
familiar
strangers

cemetery
a dead leaf
flutters away



Olivier-Gabriel Humbert

In a frozen garden

the old wheelbarrow
forgotten
at the bottom of the garden
is dressed in a coat of snow
I didn't take mine

under my steps,
the frosted brown leaves
evoke the crispness
of the bread crust:
I am hungry

picked under the snow
the last radish
from the vegetable patch
is warming me
a little too much


Ron Scully

snow squall
in the middle of the night
a change of mind

reading Lucretius
by the open window
cardinals torch the hedge

cell phone
dropped overboard
surf's static


Vipanjeet Kaur

holy dip -
ice-cold water burns
the sins of past lives

foggy morning -
outside the window
a brave dove

hibernal solstice -
in fog moving slower
than the sun



Randy Brooks

upright piano
rests on the kitchen table
a flood survivor

sunny playground
the unexpected grief from
a little girl’s laugh

purple martins
swoop around the barn
her endearments



Xenia Tran

fiddles and bows
an old man bends his tune
the highland way

clarsach concert -
in a ring of lanterns
winter woods

owl song
mother's hair as white
as the field


Govind Joshi

night stroll
scent of night jasmine
guides us home

crescent sun
the partial eclipse
in the heart

silver oak
hiding
a cuckoo's song



Cynthia Anderson

gusty day a trapeze of ravens
wind chill factor
still the sun
on my back

cloudy and cold
the dozing cat
hides his head



Mona Bedi

deep winter
I warm my hands
in your pockets…
will you be always
there for me

ash moon--
the continuous verbiage
of street dogs
when will we stop
fighting over small things

paper flowers
as I look around for
the scent of you…
an anonymous bouquet
lands on my doorstep



Paul Callus & Christina Chin

self-criticism ~
she discusses her body
with the mirror
he rolls
his eyes


breathless -
the explosive bursts
of ocean waves
the taste of salt
on my fingertips



Curt Linderman

the stairway
to heaven
led me to the
clearance floor
wings of desire
now half off



real flowers are
too much work she says
while spending
hours each & every week
rinsing the dust
off of her plastic plants


Carmela Marino

evening breeze
on the edge of the moon
my memories

milky way
the journey of breath
into myself

twinkling stars
the old year disappears
in the fog


Diana Raab

Peace

Yesterday I went to the cosmetic store
for foundation to cover acne scars
born nearly sixty years ago,
when I was approached by a beautiful
black woman who introduced herself as “Peace.”
I want that name, I told her smiling.


Sanity

Where does sanity end and insanity begin
the chasm between joy and pain
desire and lack thereof.


Live in Wonder

Must be the key to happiness.



Minal Sarosh

frozen lake
his foggy breath
speaks to me

traffic smog
a whiff of marigolds from
the flower market

cold breeze
my cat opens just an eye
when I call



Ruth Holzer

for a moment
resting on this oak trunk
our shadows

supper for one--
the insistent clinking
of a spoon

forty-ninth
wedding anniversary--
a frying pan



Luke Brannon

granddad’s memorial
the church lit up
with drinking songs

white hibiscus
how you wear the moon
in your hair

empty morning
essence of what I’m meant to be




Tiffany Shaw-Diaz

deep into the umbra
i learn to
love again

arctic
this bed
without you

when the wind slows down the milkweed


Debbi Antebi

morning drizzle
dozing off to
Dostoevski

winter sun
the shadow of an oak
fills up the park

quiet night
my daughter’s breathing
a lullaby


Mike Gallagher

without nostalgia –
the good old days
remembered

eagle talons
the keyboard player
about to pounce

after rain
blackbirds stretching
elastic worms


Maria Concetta Conti

peaceful evening
in the book the story
of the soul

a break
in the war
winter starlight

quiet afternoon
in a dream
with my dad again


Tomislav Sjekloća

summer lake
long legs
of a water strider

questioning
my decisions...
spring rain

cute flight attendant
my joke
doesn't land



Susan Burch

Molasses Swamp
bogged down
with work

volleyball moon
how you set me up
to be the bad guy

quicksand losing my job


Patrick Sweeney
thawing
every rainspout
its own voice

reciting the old pond
we say 'mizu no oto'
together

crow and I
here to meet
the train


Lysa Collins

morning mist
slowly disappears
in the singing of a whale

grassy plain
the timeless need
for sunsets

rising
from a hidden pool
lilies full of stillness


Samo Kreutz

the steps
yet to be taken –
a kindergarten

world's fair
the toddler presents
newly learned word

old sweater
just a bit stretched
her mum's scent



petro c. k.

new light
cotton tails hopping
across the sky

knocking
of the baseboard heater
winter lets itself in

chef's smoke break
garnishes
the china sky



Sreenath Mysore

graffiti
on the walls
town speaks

humility -
mighty ocean
washes my feet

fishing boats
along the horizon ...
floating lamps



Katherine E Winnick

solar eclipse
within a slice of sun
a slice of moon

petals dripping
flower by flower
autumn moon

- raindrop
a pond of stillness
in Buddha's eye


Michelle V. Alkerton

grey January
hawk bares the underbelly
of a field mouse

digging deep
the black cedar
we plant for our dead


Mona Iordan

glassy sky
a black bird glides
into nothingness

impatience
the clouds pregnant
with snow



Amoolya Kamalnath

deep winter
the shape of silence
in her breast

winter chill -
a school of fish
swallows the sunlight



Doug Lanzo

Nutcracker Suite
a pod of seals
swirl through strands of kelp

symphony of sound
raindrops filtered
through forest canopy
​
tea house fountains
misted scent flowing
through gardens of mint




Tanshi Art

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Debbie Strange
Picture
Picture
Michelle V. Alkerton
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.