haiku by J D Nelson

the computer hums —
the black moth on the ceiling
has been there for hours


J D Nelson, Colorado, USA

The Corner by Holly Day

the beetle in the
web clicks soft
in time to the spinning of its
body in the long arms of the spider
that has made its home in
the dark corner of
my office. it clicks
so regular I turn off my computer, my
desk clock to make sure it's
really him

the clicks speed up
when the spider
reaches out
with one long, pale
leg to spin
the trapped insect
another turn, they slow down
fade to near
silence whenever
the spider
pulls away


Holly Day, Minnesota, USA

Ladybird, Ladybird by Alison Lock

I stop the sh sh across my page

to watch a squirrel nuzzle the ground

all auburn fuzz,  nose down

re- checking the co-ordinates

on a mental map for a nut called X

the shrubs wear their prettiest bonnets

of permed seed heads, legs

black stockinged from stalking

the late summer rains

the lawn has had its last trim of the year

concentric, whorled

shaved into an Italianate maze.

A four spotted ladybird comes to my sill

I lend her my pen for a bridge

I am curious

now there are six spots

two on the edge of her shell

as if about to fall off, and they do

with a shiver, she splits

into a pair of dash away wings

taking her back to her home.

I carry on with the sh sh across my page.


Alison Lock, UK

This poem is from Alison's collection  'A Slither of Air', published by Indigo Dreams Publishing

Samara by Joseph Harker

Where did we

learn about gravity?

The playground--

but not from

Newton's apocryphal apple

plummeting to earth.

Our source was

September maple

gone slow gold,

the sunlight

preening the paper wings of

its whirligig seeds.

And since then,

the verb to fall is

less fearsome.

We learned it

as slow rotation; we don't

believe in impact.


Joseph Harker, USA

Space Station Blues by Les Merton

in an interplanetary space station

with bustling pedestrian zones

he sits on his own in a buzz bar

drinking a glass of cloud nine nectar

it is an orange sky day

with smile impregnated air

he doesn’t respond

to the feel good waves

he’s thinks he is the loneliest man

in the universe and he’s feeling down

wondering will he ever hear

a language he can understand again

Les Merton, Cornwall, UK