By Jon Wesick

Oh, woman on bike

The future of humanity

Rides on your hips

Jon Wesick

By Jahnavi Gogoi

Childhood—

father’s shoulders

my royal seat

Jahnavi Gogoi

By Robert Witmer

eyes

in all directions

the lost potato

Robert Witmer

*

hunger

a stone ripens

in a tight fist

Robert Witmer

By Robert Epstein

no mention

of hope or destiny

sea spray

Robert Epstein

By Ram Chandran

rice porridge—

grandma poured

a folk song into the pot

Ram Chandran

By Ron Nhim

worn out

struggles etched deep in wrinkles

refuse to fade


Ron Nhim

By Ravi Kiran

windblown hair

campfire lights up

half her face

Ravi Kiran

*

flooded street

the paper boat

faster than me

Ravi Kiran

By Bryan Rickert

starting again

at fifty

I scrape

every last bit

of peanut butter

from the jar

Bryan Rickert

By Michael H. Lester and Joy McCall

their brooms

broken and burned at the stake

the witches

assemble at the village gate

to exact a gruesome vengeance

 

there are spells

we learned from the old ones

herbs on the fire

the chant deep and low ...

'the devil take your soul'

Michael H. Lester and Joy McCall

By Reid Hepworth

wintering…

the birch and maple

have given up their leaves

while I remain cocooned

in memories

Reid Hepworth

Nominations for the Red Moon Anthology of English-Language Haiku 2023

 

Our Nominations for
 the Red Moon Anthology of English-Language Haiku 2023

January:

improv class
a student makes up an excuse
for being late
Andrew Markowski

February:

mating hedgehogs
we tell our little kids
they love each other
Keith Evetts

March:

frayed jersey —
those knitting classes
i never took
Rupa Anand

April:

slow hop
outpacing
the snail
Jenn Ryan-Jauregui

May:

earth day…
dandelions decorate
the lawn
Nancy Brady

June:

hailstorm
alley-drinkers take refuge
in a dumpster
John J. Dunphy

July:

washing line
a tiny spider snug
in the spring of a clothespin
Ingrid Baluchi

August:

half-empty cinema –
a moth flutters in and out
of the projector beam
Roman Lyakhovetsky

September:

After midnight
the spider and I don't want
a cricket in the room
Dejan Ivanovic

October:

buzz cut
we get it before
chemo does
John Pappas

November:

warrr
Adrian Bouter

December:

in no particular order falling leaves
Alvin B. Cruz

By Alvin B. Cruz

in no particular order falling leaves

Alvin B. Cruz

By Barrie Levine

the cat’s dish full of snow drifting moon

Barrie Levine

By James Penha

my chatbot prays to a deus ex machina

James Penha

By John Pappas

atlas every road the wrong way home

John Pappas

By Peter Jastermsky

straight no sugar she swallows a bitter truth

Peter Jastermsky

*

 

letting my heart dry in the sun small comfort

Peter Jastermsky

By Michelle V. Alkerton

mother tongue softening hard truths

Michelle V. Alkerton

By Michael H. Lester

 

                              

   Green Witches

   Michael H. Lester 

Goblin Band in a Dollhouse

 Michael H. Lester  

Michael is the author of The Squeeping Catterwhip (available at amazon ( https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09NRF3832/ )  

By Refika Dedić

two bees

full of innocent looks

glass of wine

Refika Dedić

By Ed Ahern

First leaf barely brown

Waif on a still growing lawn

Prophet of the chill.

Ed Ahern

By Lakshman Bulusu

fall colors paint

the evening sky

a patio for Heaven

Lakshman Bulusu

By Richard Bailly

fresh air

changed person

new lungs

Richard Bailly

By Adrian Bouter

warrr

Adrian Bouter

By David He

the rustles

of bamboo

under the moon

I listen

to an owl's hoots

David He

*

full moon

for harvesting...

a squirrel

pulls a pine cone

into her nest

David He

By John J. Dunphy

solar eclipse

a hermit crab

leaves its shell

John J. Dunphy

By David Ngo

clear signal—

the bird flees

while another nears

David Ngo

By Hassane Zemmouri

boiled potatoes

my nephew's begging

to turn the food mill
 

Hassane Zemmouri

By Andrew Terrell

approaching storm

hurrying across the yard

three magpies

Andrew Terrell

By Oscar Luparia

server offline . . .

I get a chance to notice

the moon at my window

Oscar Luparia

By Anthony Lusardi

a sudden gale

pushing me away

from the path i chose

Anthony Lusardi

By Deborah Karl-Brandt

home for sale

on the window sill

a dead fly

Deborah Karl-Brandt

By Ram Chandran

from a cuckoo's song

to another cuckoo's song

... the river flows

Ram Chandran

By James Penha

huddled in the woods

we observe, ask, study, learn

all over again

James Penha

By Kavita Ratna

tiger lily

tears on the pillow

begin to dry

Kavita Ratna

Update on Touchstone Award Nominations

Additional Cold Moon Journal nominations for the 2023 Touchstone Awards have been submitted to The Haiku Foundation (poems published July to mid-November 2023).

 

Congratulations to these 19 talented poets:

Bryan Rickert

Deborah Karl-Brandt

Dejan Ivanovic

Ingrid Baluchi

Janet Krauss

Jerome Berglund

JL Huffman

Joe Whitlow

M. R. Pelletier

Mariangela Canzi

Nicola Schaum

Priti Khullar

Roman Lyakhovetsky (invalidated, as he serves on the board)

Sébastien Revon

Steliana Cristina Voicu

Stephanie Zepherelli

Susan Burch

Timothy Daly

Vandana Parashar

Recap

Earlier this year, CMJ submitted (nine) nominations for individual poems published January to June 2023. 

Link to names of these nominees:

https://coldmoonjournal.blogspot.com/2023/06/2023-touchstone-nominations.html

Going Forward

Editors may nominate up to 30 poems annually. Thus far we are at 28. The possibility exists for us to nominate two more poems published between now and the end of Decemeber. Any such announcement will be made here.

Good luck to all our nominees!