The Bamboo Hut
  • Home
  • Submissions
  • Current Issue
  • Previous issues
    • 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
    • Number 2 2023
    • February 2024
    • September 2024
  • YouTube Channel

Picture

The Bamboo Hut                      Issue Two           2022


Orrin PréJean & Joy McCall
 
morning coolness
on the balcony
a mug full of coffee
sleep still in these 
forty yr old bones
 
reading Zhuangzi
I travel back in time
two milennia
and five thousand miles
and deep within
 
how often 
have i read Li Bai's
Jueju about the bed
and moonlight then
returned to my life?



Paul Smith & Joy McCall
 
tattered edges 
and yet
each day
is still
a blessing 
 
I try to mend
my life's fraying cloth
as it fades
but the thread is thin
and the needle blunt



Bryan Rickert
 
deep winter
I pull her warmth
closer to mine
 
moonbathing
the starkness
of sycamores
 
winter winds
the chill
of regrets 



Dee Allen
 
REDUCED
 
To
Numbers on uniforms,
Headcounts in cells, statistics on
News reports--Jailhouse
Cyphers.
 
 
 
DESIGNATED ENEMY
 
Walks
Cellblocks, shouts commands,
Beats cons into submission for
Power & thrills:
C.O.*
 
_______________
W: 10.13.21
 
*Corrections Officer.
Another name for "prison guard".



Robert Hirschfield

 
big purple radio
 the smell of rain
 in Crosley Field
 
The old man’s
nostalgia
for what never was



Bisshie
 
sleet slashing
through the weeping willow:
first grey hair
 
white out no longer cat tracks



Ronald Scully
 
glass jar
full of riverrocks
from the dam
bottom
bookshelf
 
pile of leaves
10,000 puzzle pieces
first one fits



Theresa A. Cancro
 
pink lady's slipper
finding my way
in the forest

paperwhites
under the skylight
the sound of sleet

first snowfall . . .
reaching on tiptoe
for the flour



Jerome Berglund

eye of Ra :: those thorns which guard the nectar

flattop grill
enough sunny side ups
to feed an army
daisies

between hard place                Goldilocks lays her head beside Aristotle’s                     and rock



petro c. k.
 
mum's visit
turning around all the books
on erotica
 
copper moon . . .
change is in the air
heads or tails



Anthony M. Lusardi
 
spring twilight . . .
enchanted by the shape
of her silhouette

pounding rain--
the silence that follows
our argument
 
does the rain envy
            the falling cherry blossoms?
                       or does it weep?



Oscar Luparia
 
FOOD STORIES

sweet watermellon
even more sweet
when summer begins

Sunday work:
my pumpkin pie
is baked

will she still kiss me?
the onions I cooked
for my lunch

cheap restaurant –
artificial flowers on the tables
more fresh than the soup of the day

Cantonese fried rice...
my attempts with chopsticks
continue



Samo Kreutz
 
first amendment
finally in unison
barking and chirping
 
auction ...
not sold to anyone
the crow's shriek



Cherrie Taylor & Geoffrey Winch
 
Elemental 
 
weaving a web of dreams
she catches the breeze 
in her hand 
 
in the rustling of leaves 
a message or a sigh 
 
" fine as a beeswing
 a rare thing" 
. . . running wild
 
quietly rippling
a meandering stream
knows which way to go
 
leaving the shadows 
she swims upstream
 
her open book
left in the shade
a breeze turns another page 



Geoffrey Winch & Cherrie Taylor
 
Brush Strokes
 
her front door 
repainted 
since he last called 
 
the letter still in his hand 
he turns to go . . .
 
a tidy mind says
take your litter home
but if one has no home . . .
 
home . . . our home 
can time open up 
her heart?
 
just a crack in a wall
leaves it open to the world
 
painting a new life 
he walks 
into the light



Geoffrey Winch & Cherrie Taylor
 
 
Doors: Open and Shut
 
the elevator stops
at every floor
doors slide open
every landing is the same
but a different colour 
 
doors opening
the disembodied voice declares
outside the Queen Room
I lift the sign
Do not disturb
 
the next-door-room’s
muffled TV voice
reading the early news
so disturbing to those
wishing to shut out the world
 
you sleep on...
head buried 
under the pillow
the news
is not good
 
a ghost figure haunts
my world of dreams until
I’m awakened
by the closing of
a door
 
I watch as
the lift doors
slide open...
your perfume 
fills the air 



Don Thompson
 
 
Finches
 
These seem to ignore each other
As we do in a crowd--
Jittery but isolated
Beneath raspberry hoodies.
 
A flock that’s one and one and one
Like bits and pieces
Of loneliness
Crumbled from an immense solitude.
 
 
Sheet Lightning
 
When an angel opens his journal,
Illuminating the sky,
 
No one knows what he’s written,
Who has no need for aides memoire--
 
Who writes with the invisible ink
Of light on light.



Roberta Beach Jacobson
 
fun
erased by rain
hopscotch
 
drought
hanging my doubts
out to dry
 
tending crops
field warriors
with plows



Elena Malec
 
steaming tea
the cat's whiskers pierce
the frigid air


autumn sky
the sound of rain
on a tortoise shell

chrysanthemum leaves
the scent of approaching
winter




Frances Carleton & Marilyn Humbert

The Ticking Clock

 
on the lush verge
a decaying caress
meaningless
to many humans--
I weep for your legacy
 
country drive
through acre on acre
of charred stumps,
two years on
no regeneration yet
 
turtles migrate
to different ponds
after rains
dandelions bloom
—the ticking clock    
 
in the riverbank
below the waterline
a burrow
all the mysteries
hidden from sight
 
your ballet
causes ripples
on the water
rakali dancing
brings forgotten hope 




Margi Abraham & Marilyn Humbert

Signs and Shadows

 
low sun
bronzes city roofs
last light
holds me at the window
my back to the shadows
 
faint shapes
flood my mind…
long ago
you and I together
at the river cutting
 
morning shower
my bathroom mirror
fogs up . . .
unveils a love heart
you traced last night
 
I search
for signs you passed
this way…
a broken twig, a bent stem
along the rose petal trail
 
weak light
through cold windows
tree shadows
play on our bedroom wall
. . . on my wavering heart



Hifsa Ashraf 
 
Paris Agreement
the v of seagulls
lost in the fog


summer ends
in the birdbath
white feathers


draught lake lily the last of its colours



Kevin Browne
 
the mind’s
empty vessel
breakfast dishes
 
walking the rails
through the fog of youth
vanishing point



Nika
 
after the frog
the silence
of water striders
 
another year
older than father
cherry blossoms
 
flowing down
the waterfall
crow's shadow



Adrian Bouter 
 
sea birds circle
around the cliffs
the wake of a boat
 
all pieces
fall in place here
empty bottle
 
 
sea glass
the future is the past
when you look at it



Cullen Whisenhunt
 
Mountain shouts in stone 
spires overshadowed by cloud
--cotton-silent sky
 
morning rain:
stars distilled
as droplets in cedar



Eavonka Ettinger
 
in the pew
the scent of lilacs
grandmother
 
adjusting 
the height on her walker
mom shrinks again



Carmela Marino
 
last chemo
absorbed by the sun
dewdrops 
 
summer rain
my hair grows back
little by little
 
night rain
only my footprints
follow me



R.C. Thomas 


slowly finding 
the widest hole... 
crow's sluggish earthworm 
 
stone rubbing 
the Zingel asper makes 
a body of work 



Uchechukwu Onyedikam & Christina Chin
 
offerings 
smell of the lone river
they clean
the grave moss 
for ancestral worship
 
the look-alike 
silver-haired old
siblings 
moon and stars glitter
grandma's jubilee



John Grey
 
 a golden dragonfly 
camouflaged in pond’s stealth
a twinkle in the darkling
 
firecracker sky
elemental rain
pings off outdoor café tables




Minal Sarosh
 
raindrops 
clinging to the leaf
a love poem
 
green tea
the birdsong chasing 
my thoughts 



Jenny Fraser
 
rose clouds
on the shoreline  
the world fades away    
 
a breaking wave 
in the shallows 
again I rebuild   
 
letting go 
all the soft sounds 
of the sea    



Tony Williams
 
high summer
the pond so green
I could walk on it

wildflowers
a way
to rise above



Mike Gallagher
 
 twilight hour
fearing closeness more 
than distance
 
south wind
boisterous on the lake
Canada geese 
 
best forgotten
in the sweetness of its night
a long day



Ram Chandran
 
every monsoon season
grandma would say
her wedding took place
amidst heavy rains...
this year's monsoon is here
but not those words in her deep voice
 
gone with her
the kiss on my forehead
and the whisper 
of good morning
 
with smudged kajal on her eyes
she bids goodbye...
all my way, her huge black eyes
stare at me through clouds
 
*Kajal is a black herbal paste used in India as a cosmetic on the  eyelashes.



Ben Gaa

restless night
even the wind
changing directions
 
the cat snuggling
on top of us snuggling
Sunday morning rain



Thomas O'Connell
 
Walks with my father
Ended by the alarm clock
Vanished once again
 
Writing haiku lines
The songs of fire engines
Play in the background



Anna Cates
 
The Undead
 
vampire lovers--
fallen petals
of red rose
 
 
first stars--
on the castle's lowest level
casket hinges creak
 
 
in their garden
only nightshades--
mischievous moon
 
 
bat dung--
only the gargoyles
enjoy the smell
 


The Dragon
 
in a lost world
in cryptic art
in ice age chill
its memory lingers--
the leviathan
 
the warlock
didn’t try to temp him
with a baited meat hook
only warned his pupils,
Play with fire:  get burned.



Sean O’Connor
 
autumn equinox –
he leaves space for my name
the old stone cutter
 
All Souls Night
over my father’s grave
the stars are shining
 
tidying his grave;
with no need to speak
this Father’s Day



Tuyet Van Do
 
Sixteen Days
 
ambulance sirens
paramedics
ask for
her Mum's
vaccination status
 
updating family
news from ICU
she asks
herself
the meaning of life
 
forward planning
with family
she cries
of missed
opportunities
 
welcoming Spring
her Mum
now medically stable
ready for
discharge
 
seeing her Mum
rests in own bed
tears of joy
kissing
her lips



Maya Daneva
 
salt on the beach
after the sea storm
my grief
 
mudflat hiking
this sandpiper 
showing me the path
 
looking as if
I'm going to cry
dense fog



Billy Pauly & Julie Schwerin
 
from the thicket
after frost  . . .
a basket of sparkleberries
scraping a circle of window glass
the size of the moon
 
approaching April
I save some daylight
for the songs to come
what's left of the shells
pushed from the nest
 
spinning wheel . . .
I ask if it's the new
year already
a child's finger traces
the mobius strip




M. R. Defibaugh & Christina Chin



autumn near 
she begins to write
more haiku
he reads them under 
the river birch




withered pampas
still a single blade
points me home
in a dream 
within a dream



Michael Hough & Christina Chin 
 
stray kittens 
in a recycle box
they purr 
missing only heartbeats 
of a mother cat
 
my breath like thunder
echoes in these hills 
the drumming summer rain     
fills the shallow wells 
and empty harvesters




Joy McCall & Steve Wilkinson



I sat under the privet tree
in the early autumn sunshine
and above my head a robin sang
the sweetest, clearest song



Simple things, these are all we need
The red cap of the woodpecker
Flashes out from the birdfeeder
In the sun’s first rays



Robert Witmer

two chairs
in the overgrown garden . . .
alone at the window
 

thunder
the iron smell of rain
before the sheets of steel




Erin J. Jones

Close the door
let the memories remain
such as they are

A bold blue moon
on all hallows eve
the world did not end

Such a lonesome sound
a lone car traveling
into the night



Robert Witmer

two chairs
in the overgrown garden . . .
alone at the window
 
thunder
the iron smell of rain
before the sheets of steel



Steve Wilkinson


Two tricubes


No more God
religion
or con men

I reject 
the doctrines
of these frauds

Dressed to kill
with poison
on their lips



Looking back
down through time
I see it

The slow fade
away from
piety

No more faith
to bind me
to falsehood








TanshiArt


Picture

Picture

Picture

Christina Chin


Picture
Picture
Picture

Picture
Picture

Debbie Strange

Picture
Picture

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • Submissions
  • Current Issue
  • Previous issues
    • 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
    • Number 2 2023
    • February 2024
    • September 2024
  • YouTube Channel