failed haiku, 2025

before and after
social media ads
Rumi’s love


moon waning over the cliff edge a single mom


long hardship—
the graffiti of stains
on mom’s apron


first chemo
the frayed ends
of her pink ribbon bow

failed haiku, volume 10, Issue 108

tsuri-dōrō, 2025

Remembrance Day — 

the poppy petals fall 

from a veteran’s diary 

tsuri-dōrō issue #30 – Nov/Dec 2025

https://tsuridoro.org/issue-30-nov-dec-2025

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Sufi hymn —
dripping from the roof
raindrops

deep winter —
the missing arm
of Orion the Hunter

tsuri-dōrō issue #28 – July/August 2025

https://tsuridoro.org/issue-28-july-august-2025 

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winter ends —
a tapestry of stars
in the village pond

tsuri-dōrō Issue #26 – March/April 2025

https://tsuridoro.org/issue-26-march-april-2025

Also included in the anthology Turf Cottage, edited by Tony Pupello and published by tsuri‑dōrō Press.

https://tsuridoro.org/tsuri-doro-press

Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/turf-cottage-Haiku-Senry%C5%AB-tsurid%C5%8Dr%C5%8D/dp/B0GT1X52FG/ref=sr_1_1?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.GxRGHEFnlKI0iesCp-IjGoEfmt9Yhlq_gMmKkeh7sw4.fKGqecVdU51eIGW18Aha_qrzn_gDjsv-Ve1NVHBI1HE&dib_tag=se&qid=1775482287&refinements=p_27%3ATony+Pupello&s=books&sr=1-1&text=Tony+Pupello

Cold Moon Journal, 2025

divorce day—
mold on the bread
getting darker

Cold Moon Journal, Saturday, November 29, 2025

https://coldmoonjournal.blogspot.com/.../hifsa-ashraf.html

https://www.instagram.com/cold_moon_journal/p/DRpvk2oAPvH/

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raging heat
his words
against mine

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moonlit trail
dad recalls
his first love

Cold Moon Journal, Sunday, February 23, 2025

Poetic Lithic Expressions 4, 2025/2026

 Honoured to be included in the video series of VSANA entitled Poetic Lithic Expressions 4. Thanks to Tom Elias, Anita W. Harris and Paul A. Harris.

forced migration
the rough edges
of a new moon

Also published in "Coming and Going" - December issue of VSANA 2023


deep forest
the lingering echoes
of my childhood

Also Published in “Verdant Hills.” January issue of VSANA 2024

Here is the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFBtSjvOY1o

A great honour to be included in a new short video Poems Inspired by Rocks, Poetic Lithic Expression 4 by Tom Elias. This video features 22 poems by 15 internationally known artists. It has just been published on YouTube and can be viewed via this link:

https://youtu.be/eLo22GAeQwY?si=XSlUtLNk6Z7o7Du9

 

Asahi Haiku Network, 2025

In Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Hifsa Ashraf shuddered. Compare her three lines below to these penned in 1923 by D.H. Lawrence: Never swallows! Bats! The swallows are gone.

dead of night--
bats emerging
from the moon

Published in ASAHI HAIKUIST NETWORK/ David McMurray

December 05, 2025

https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/16196449

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solitary stroll--
shrouding the naked trees
autumn fog

Published in ASAHI HAIKUIST NETWORK/ David McMurray
Oct 31, 2025

https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/16119716

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disputed neighbourhood
the dry leaves gather
around the shared fence

Published in ASAHI HAIKUIST NETWORK/ David McMurray
Aug 01, 2025

https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15927504

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barking dogs
shifting our conflicts
from home to neighbours

Published in ASAHI HAIKUIST NETWORK/ David McMurray
May 30, 2025

https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15787975

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old snow the layers of silence within
 
Published in ASAHI HAIKUIST NETWORK/ David McMurray
February 21, 2025

https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15632135

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wishful thinking

one after another

snowflakes

 

Published on January 31, 2025 

ASAHI HAIKUIST NETWORK/ David McMurray

 https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15602945

Whiptail, 2025

body shaping the murmuration of norms

Whiptail: Journal of the Single-Line Poem, Issue 13, June 2025

https://www.whiptailjournal.com/_files/ugd/61a9c9_f5b265b0507b41cba444561b42ea6c25.pdf

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moon
lit
nigh
t

un
ravell
ing

the
sw
arm
of
moths


Whiptail: Journal of the Single-Line Poem, Issue 12, February 2025

THF Haiku Dialogue, 2025

baisakhi day—
the dhol’s beats fade
into the thresher’s hum

Again a poem about the passing of an era, a way of life through cultural connotations associated with farming. ‘baishakhi day’ has tremendous significance. On the agrarian level it is associated with harvesting, with renewal and collective joy. It is also a sacred day having spiritual significance. The opening line situates us in tradition, festivities and culture before reality hits. The ‘dhol’s beats’ become a sound metaphor and the fact that these are fading tells us the story of our times. Is it loss or is it transition? The answer to the question is left for the reader to answer as per individual perceptions. ‘fade’ has a gentle melancholy which lends an endearing quality to this poem.

L3 takes us to the juxtaposition of the sound metaphor. The ‘beats’ have given way to the routine ‘hum’ of the thresher underlying a mechanical progression that was necessary. But this coming away has left us nostalgic and somewhere we do hear the beating of dhols albeit fading.

The poem encapsulates a philosophy that is agrarian and existential at the same time.

HAIKU DIALOGUE – Working with the Soil – working with the soil in a modern context commentary, January 7, 2026

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preparing soil—
the farmer’s sweat falls
without a sound

It is unsung labour again that this poem seeks to glorify, richly deserved by the quiet farmer in the act of simple living. The silence of his sweat falling is celebrated by the poet. The stage is set with the preparation of the soil. The em dash acting as kireji takes the movement from the external to the internal, to the reaction of being, the sweat, mirroring the unadorned existence of the farmer. The silence of the sweat opens a space of contemplation, gently nudging the world to sit up and notice. The farmer, the soil, the sweat take the readers into the world of Nature that is not just a landscape but a part of our reality.

As the sweat evaporates and the effort goes unrecognised the poem gently suggests impermanence. The silence at the end leaves the reader in a contemplative mood as so much remains unsaid.

HAIKU DIALOGUE – Working with the Soil – traditional soil work – commentary December 17, 2025

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Sufi Qawwali—
attuning to the heart
beats

HAIKU DIALOGUE – Music Around the World – To enlightenment and beyond or music and the spiritual path – long list

https://thehaikufoundation.org/haiku-dialogue-music-around-the-world-to-enlightenment-and-beyond-or-music-and-the-spiritual-path-long-list/

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distant stars—
the refugee mother rewrites
her lullaby


Haiku Dialogue prompt– Music Around the World – Loving you with all of my tunes or let’s talk about feelings. October 30, 2025

https://thehaikufoundation.org/haiku-dialogue-music-around-the-world-loving-you-with-all-of-my-tunes-or-lets-talk-about-feelings-long-list/


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cawing breaks the ice down memory lane

HAIKU DIALOGUE – All the World’s a Stage – Break a Leg – long list