Ravi Kiran

cloudless sky

the blues

you left behind

—Ravi Kiran

Richard E Schell

old graveyard

snow collects

on child’s name

—Richard E Schell

Lucas Weissenborn

departure

steaming

asphalt

—Lucas Weissenborn

Mike Fainzilber

a riot of reds bougainvillea

—Mike Fainzilber

Herb Tate

winter again…

caught between counting

snowflakes

—Herb Tate

Thomas Landgraf

shaker bottle...

another abandoned goal

in the bottom drawer

—Thomas Landgraf

dark night

I'm drunk but not

stepping on her jonquils 

—Thomas Landgraf

CMJ Touchstone Nominations for 2025

Congratulations! 

rescue boat a boy's request for one more trip	Srinivasa Rao Sambangi
deep winter the flashing red lights at her bedside	Richard L. Matta
reeds until they move heron’s legs	Ravi Kiran
cursive writing — grandson’s thoughts fly beyond the margin	Neena Singh
country roads all of us singing of home	Jamie Wimberly
mother’s belongings in boxes gathering clouds	Alvin B. Cruz
a puzzle missing piece childhood	Robert Witmer
cold shower the nettles erect	Tony Williams
flashes of red in the rose bush a touch and go robin	Katie Montagna
far from home the familiar language of a robin	Ravi Kiran
divorce day mold on the bread getting darker	Hifsa Ashraf
the many dialects of silent treatment	Ravi Kiran
jisei book learning to write the last page	Oscar Luparia
harvest time the village waits for grandma’s dinner	Aleksandra Rybczyńska
stout beer not too warm not too cool this autumn night	Bryan Rickert
bruised fruit she says she fell	Joseph P. Wechselberger
another lie told to the wife ice fishing	Mircea Moldovan
washing my hands with French-milled soap after scattering her ashes	John J. Dunphy
Gaza Strip even the sparrows starving	Pitt Büerken
free at last rites	Susan Burch
sudden remembrance of an empty crib gentling rain	John Hawkhead
at both ends of winter burning leaf scent	Bryan Rickert
a year after— my mother's closet just her scent	Nicholas Gentile
winter rain we choose to say remission	Doug Belville
rain bow sun above rain below	Pitt Büerken
softly this conflagration of wings	Stacy R. Nigliazzo
petrichor the room overflowing with his laughter	Mohua Maulik
tangled roots– clinging to the walls of a broken home	Jagajit Salam
spring moon father's laugh some where	Manasa Reddy Chichili

Neena Singh

fading light. . .

the nurse hums 

changing sheets

—Neena Singh

Christmas dinner

your empty chair

warmed by a coat

—Neena Singh

Ash Evan Lippert

thunder 

deep in the roses

a wild scent of rainbows

—Ash Evan Lippert

Sharon Ferrante

painting you in a magenta sky the quiet 

—Sharon Ferrante

Federico C. Peralta

in my little room

devoid of your warm presence,

the fireworks bring me

closer to the sky above

as you drift away, my love

—Federico C. Peralta

summer stars--

   lying on its back

      hermit crab

—Federico C. Peralta

cold night—

  an empty spider web

     holds the moon

—Federico C. Peralta

Bryan Rickert

becoming autumn 

the heron

still blue

—Bryan Rickert

stout beer

  not too warm

    not too cool

      this autumn night

—Bryan Rickert

Samo Kreutz

marian altar ...

the rising shadows

of a wax scent

—Samo Kreutz 

Ephemerae, a haibun by Colleen M. Farrelly

I amble the beach as waves fall and rise and fall again. The wind whips at my down jacket and shifts the sand dunes across a worn pebble path we walked as children. I haven’t been back since her wake but find myself at her favorite dock.

guy rope

her hand steadies

my heartbeat

Jonash Lepcha

winter warmth...

the déjà vu 

of summer's chill

—Jonash Lepcha

Mohua Maulik

sipping chai

i sway to the rhythm

of oldies

the whiplash when you slip

in a let’s break up

—Mohua Maulik

Sheza T

psithurism

the two friends

part ways

—Sheza T

Dust, a haibun by Tim Dwyer

I’ve been thinking about a friend I haven’t seen for forty years. One New Year’s Eve when we were in our twenties, we drank wine, played backgammon and told stories late into the night. She shared one about her Japanese mother at the start of a new year. She was sweeping last year’s dust out the front door, and suddenly froze in place.

stray cat

the green eyes

of grandfather

Alvin B. Cruz

full moon

the last sleeping pill

in the bottle

—Alvin B. Cruz

Stephanie Zepherelli

broken buddha

in the graveyard 

tulips blooming

—Stephanie Zepherelli