Osaka Castle Leaf 342 – Looking Back   Kawanishi Yuzaburo - Osaka Castle (1967) One is often apt to see some odd pets here in Japan. Not just the wid...

Gazing up at Osaka Castle.

An iguana –
wearing a
pink feather boa.

#gembun #shortverse #micropoetry #poetry

Shared Landscapes Leaf 311 – Art Inspired   Alexandra Buckle - Woodland Edge (2020) This poem was inspired by one of Alexandra Buckle’s prints, ‘Woodland ...

On a walk through
the landscape of
our childhoods –

my mother and me.

#gembun #shortverse #blueskypoets

Coming of Age Leaf 285 – Art Inspired   I recently watched the film ‘Empire of the Sun’ (1987), which is based on J.G. Ballard’s book of the same titl...

COMING OF AGE [II.]

Death’s radiance rises in darkness:

Watching Mrs Victor’s
soul ascend –
into bright white light.

(after J.G. Ballard’s ‘Empire of the Sun’)

One of two #gembun #artinspired #shortverse #blueskypoets

.

the whole morning spent
staring into the distance
where did my life go?

.

#haiku #tanskenga @gavinwade.bsky.social #micropoetry #shortverse

#poetrycommunity #poetry #poet #globalcultpoet #poem #poems #BlueSkypoet #poemoftheday #romance #romantic #philosophy #philosophicalpoetry #shortverse

a black box with a haiku poem saying "bleeding out. aid refused: they hid behind their masks."

bleeding out,
aid refused:
they hid behind their masks

#haiku #senryu #tanshi #hokku #haikai #waka #poetry #poetryofinstagram #instapoetry #poemsociety #poems #poésie #poetrylovers #poesia #watermelon #feet #micropoetry #shortverse #verse #poetsofinstagram #poems #poemcommunity #ice

bringing slices of watermelon
in a plastic bag

#haiku #senryu #tanshi #hokku #haikai #waka #poetry #poetryofinstagram #instapoetry #poemsociety #poems #poésie #poetrylovers #poesia #watermelon #feet #micropoetry #shortverse #verse #poetsofinstagram #poems #poemcommunity

October Haiku is now!
#haiku #hokku #haikai #micropoetry #poetry #poetsofbluesky #poem #shortverse

In Search of the Saxons Leaf 156 – Looking Back   One of my most favourite history documentaries of all time is Michael Wood’s “In Search of the Dark Ages” whic...

'In Search of the Saxons' - a short poem about landscapes and legacy, inspired by historian, Michael Wood's "In Search of the Dark Ages."

#shortverse #poetry #blueskypoets #hwæt

The Egg Leaf 150 – Looking Back   Following on from Leaf 149 , this poem was another originally published in still 3: four (1999). Even now, all...

In the frying pan
the egg –

making up a mind
that was never made.

#haikai #shortverse #poetry

And in the final rays of day, she stretches skyward—reveling in the sun’s heat upon her face. 🌻💛

*photos and verse by Joie Lesin

#flowers #fioridigioia #flowersofjoy #fleursdejoie #shortverse #shortversepoetry

And for one day, she bloomed.

*photo by Joie Lesin

#flowers #fioridigioia #flowersofjoy #fleursdejoie #shortverse #shortversepoetry

a constant hum
disembodied like the
distant past

- Anant

#vss365 #shortverse

Screenshot of a haiku by Tim Chamberlain, as it appeared on Fresh Out's Facebook page. The poem reads: heavy with rainwater the blossom head breaks with the breeze

The first of two new poems by me which both came out today. The other is in what (I'm very sad to say) will be the last issue of 'Failed Haiku' (Issue #111): failedhaiku.com/2025/08/31/i... #haiku #poetry #shortverse

We have lost our humanity.
In an artificial reality.

#HumanityDrift #ShortVerse #PostHumanWorld #MicroFic #DigitalGhosts #HelloDearReader

High Speed Rail (Leaf 96) – Reflection   This poem was written at far too early an hour on the KTX, while travelling (seemingly on a beam of light) from...

The train passing swiftly over
misty ghost-land levees.

Early morning fog,
sunlight
lifting.

#shortverse #blueskypoetry #haikai

The Balloon (Leaf 95) – Reflection   Le Ballon Rouge (1956) I’m not sure what prompted me to write this poem, or when. It’s definitely an old one, a...

Holding onto
the balloon,
will not stop
the wind from
wanting to take it!

#shortverse #haikai #blueskypoetry 🎈

Screenshot of a short poem by Tim Chamberlain (2025), which reads: BLIGH’S BOUNTY A small ship stuck in a smaller bottle, brewing a tempest of dark cloud within; rudely wrested from his sole command, set adrift and abandoned all at sea, Captain Bligh muttering of misfortune and mutiny, in an open boat nursed across 3,500 nautical miles of dead reckoning – by an unforgiving ego; seething more with every swell survived, outriding fate and rigging out for fame as sure as the bountiful sea’s return; Captain’s word is law, self-regarding, he swore: “Ye shall reap as ye didst sow.”

#wss366 prompt: bounty ⚓️
#shortverse #blueskypoetry

Simple Souvenirs (Leaf 76) – Reflection   This was another poem written around the time of my visit to Nara’s T ō dai-ji in January 2004 (see, Leaf 75 )....

Simple souvenirs
– a red maple leaf,
or a temple hanko
in my notebook.

#haikai #shortverse

No grand purpose,
So I paint,
My own small dream.

🎨 🫟

#Senryu #Poem #MicroPoem #ShortVerse #CreativeWriting

Under the Tree (Leaf 61) – Looking Back   Re-visiting my hometown, recalling childhood roots in leafy suburban London ...     ONE AFTERNOON   Pau...

Re-visiting my hometown, recalling childhood roots in leafy suburban London ... a short poem. #shortverse #haikai #blueskypoetry

The Thames at Night (Leaf 60) – Reflection   George Hyde Pownall - Tower Bridge at Dusk Looking back, having grown up in London, it seems like much of my li...

Full moon
over the Thames

alongside empty wharves,
the muddy waters
glint and glide.

#tanka #haiku #shortverse

The Swan (Leaf 57) – Reflection   This poem was written about a swan which I saw making a very stately and regal-looking progress upstream on the w...

Celestial and serene,
a swan gliding
along the sunlit path
of the Thames.

#shortverse #blueskypoetry

Hot Air Balloons (Leaf 54) – Reflection   This poem is about a very vivid memory of one morning while camping in Northamptonshire, during one of the long...

'Hot Air Balloons' - a poem about an unusual awakening. #haikai #shortverse

Green Woodpecker (Leaf 52) – Reflection   Jan Sevcik - Green Woodpecker, Picus viridis (NaturePhoto) A few years ago, I used to spend a lot of time in Ma...

Beneath tall trees,
his beak, makes no sound,
foraging in the grass
– green woodpecker.

#shortverse #blueskypoetry

[The short and the long (versions) of a single idea]:

igneous and sedimentary,
elementary erosion -
the sands of time.

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#SenseWrds Prompt 78 #shortverse
#blueskypoetry #blueskypoets

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#SenseWrds Prompt 77 #shortverse
#blueskypoetry #blueskypoets

Criticism (Leaf 37) – Senryu (or, a witty riposte)   CRITICISM There’s always one, isn’t there. Someone who takes umbrage at other people’s enjoym...

'Criticism' - or, Horses for courses: a short essay on those who do and those who don't get haiku. #haiku #senryu #tanka #micropoetry #shortverse #literarycriticism

From - 1/22/2025

Mountains

Tackle your tallest
Mountains first, for the rest become hills thereafter

#poetry #almosthaikus #shortverse #writings