Paper Mountains: 2020 Seabeck Haiku Getaway Anthology, 2021

mockingbird—
I hold back
my narrative

Paper Mountains: 2020 Seabeck Haiku Getaway Anthology Paperback – July 29, 2021

Ribbons, 2021

seeking refuge
under a misty bridge
of nothingness
when the wind exposes
my primordial bones

Ribbons Spring/Summer 2021: Volume 17, Number 2

Modern Haiku, 2021

winter sky—
the remains of roses
in her diary

Modern Haiku, volume 52.2 Summer 2021

Presence, Britain's leading independent haiku journal, 2021

Bone Dance

onyx floor
all the demons
under my feet

tapping out the steps
of a danse macabre

epiphysis
reshifting
my axis

coiled into
the skull chamber
a blood oath

passing on
the endless vendetta

at the cliff edge
grasping the chalice
on an altar of salt

Hifsa Ashraf and John Hawkhead
Presence, issue #71

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morning mist 

the low flight 

of a white raven 

alpine moon 

brewing more coffee 

for the night


Presence, Issue #71, November 2021

---------

fireside story
a raven breaks the silence
at the end

Presence, Issue#70, July 2021

the QuillS, June 2021

Time’s Mirage 

white skies

a pebble in my palm

grows cool

fading footprints

through spins of winter fog

time’s spirals

the hands of the clock

become a blur

reflection 

of my random beliefs 

water mirage

cast stone

ripples through the statue

zero gravity 

I disown 

my shadows

John Hawkhead, England 

Hifsa Ashraf, Pakistan 

----------

The Wandering Moon 

floating

a pale hand opens

in the darkness

evening prayer 

dust settles in the bowl 

twilight birdsong

constellations expand

in the miso

visibility 

of my anonymity

flickering light

candle moments

moving about the eaves

midnight dream

the farside 

of the moon  

John Hawkhead, England 

Hifsa Ashraf, Pakistan 

-------

Memory Echoes

another day 

moving through the city 

wind song

 

through orange clouds

echoing migratory birds

shifting light

a change in resonance

from tilting stones

back home late

his sweaty palms

on the door handle

creaked floorboard

the grain of a secret

door ajar

I let go

of his memory

John Hawkhead, England 

Hifsa Ashraf, Pakistan

the QuillS, issue 8

kontinuum: kortárs haiku_contemporary haiku, 2021

winter migration 

the weight 

of snowflakes

-----

late-night train 

the mother's lullaby 

for everyone

kontinuum: kortárs haiku_contemporary haiku, 1. évf. 1. sz. / vol. 1, no. 1

Also shortlisted for Touchstone Individual Poems Award, 2021

----------------

my #haiku in the first preprint of kontinuum: kortárs haiku_contemporary haiku. 

late-night train 

the mother’s lullaby 

for everyone

https://haikukontinuum.com/preprint/

Frameless Sky, 2021

sorbet violas—
grandma recalls
her late childhood

-----------

peeping through
the grey clouds

day moon

this urge
of seeing
beyond seeing

-------

when I move
from unknown
to known

without him

on my way
flickering fireflies

Frameless Sky, issue 15

------

reconciliation

we forget
who is who

in the sky
there is a perfect harmony
among stars

Also added in the sneak preview of Frameless Sky

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzsi2keaJcs&t=392s

-------------

cascading waterfall
from the crevice
of an old rock  
I reach the point
of forgiving myself  

-------------

a tapestry
of marigold blossoms
in the garden
the invisible hands
of my mother’s love

Frameless Sky, Issue 14