Five Haiku about Tranquility by Barbara Harris Leonhard

 

Nastasya Banana

Five Haiku about Tranquility

blooming crocus, cooing doves

solitude cools rain

humming bees, poetic breeze

**

lake grass prickles the hot sand

warm toes tickle waves

hollow reeds whistle my breath

**

garden bounties the sun, I’m

on a hungry quest

with a doe and a mud turtle

**

the riparian forest

weeping willow sighs 

a song to the old river

**

night breeze opens the window

hooting lone barred owl 

awakens my twilight dreams 

(First appeared in Tranquility: An Anthology of Haiku)

© Barbara Harris Leonhard

Enjoy more posts by Barbara Harris Leonhard HERE.

Barbara Harris Leonhard

Barbara Harris Leonhard is the author of Three-Penny Memories: A Poetic Memoir (2022) and The Lost Book of Zeroth (2025). She is the co-author of Too Much Fun to Be Legal (2024) and Broken Rengay: Unruly Poetry (2025). She’s a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominee. Trending Poets named her Poet of the Year more than once. Her poetry has been translated into Italian, Albanian, and Chinese. She is the Editor for MasticadoresUSA and FEED THE HOLY. Her blog is Extraordinary Sunshine Weaver. 

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Our Hidden Flower by Barbara Harris Leonhard

Наталья Севрук

Our Hidden Flower 

It isn’t a secret because we are

the daffodils, sprung in spring 

before an unexpected snow 

that bends our backs so low 

we wonder if we can survive 

the weight of a lingering winter. 

We brace for cold, wet tears 

and hold grief in a sacred spot 

where its roots can uphold us 

until the frost melts.

© Barbara Harris Leonhard

Enjoy more posts by Barbara Harris Leonhard HERE.

Barbara Harris Leonhard

Barbara Harris Leonhard is the author of Three-Penny Memories: A Poetic Memoir (2022) and The Lost Book of Zeroth (2025). She is the co-author of Too Much Fun to Be Legal (2024) and Broken Rengay: Unruly Poetry (2025). She’s a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominee. Trending Poets named her Poet of the Year more than once. Her poetry has been translated into Italian, Albanian, and Chinese. She is the Editor for MasticadoresUSA and FEED THE HOLY. Her blog is Extraordinary Sunshine Weaver. 

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Ode to a White Pelican by Barbara Harris Leonhard

 

Dmitry Voronov

Ode to a White Pelican

Left behind for weeks in the wetlands. It’s rare 

to discover a pelican alone. His safe harbor, 

the same area in Pool 1 behind a grove. 

His stately posture. Huge, stretchy throat pouch.

He can still feed on carp. But we’ve never seen 

him fly. For weeks, we check up on him like doctors 

on daily rounds, taking turns with binoculars. 

Worried that we’ve lost him this time. 

Relieved to find him roosting on the grass. 

On more than one occasion, an egret companion. 

Once, another pelican perches in proximity until 

it flutters its great wings, lifting off to join the flock 

swirling into a descent into Pool 2, the light from 

the setting sun shimmering off their wings. 

Our pelican’s squadron returning to the wetlands? 

In past seasons, Pool 1 was their fishing ground. 

Despite the flock’s gregarious gatherings in Pool 2, 

our pelican friend remains solitary. On each excursion,

we crane our necks to locate him. 

Until one day— just an egret.

First appeared on Chewers by Masticadores

© Barbara Harris Leonhard

Enjoy more posts by Barbara Harris Leonhard HERE.

Barbara Harris Leonhard

Barbara Harris Leonhard is the author of Three-Penny Memories: A Poetic Memoir (2022) and The Lost Book of Zeroth (2025). She is the co-author of Too Much Fun to Be Legal (2024) and Broken Rengay: Unruly Poetry (2025). She’s a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominee. Trending Poets named her Poet of the Year more than once. Her poetry has been translated into Italian, Albanian, and Chinese. She is the Editor for MasticadoresUSA and FEED THE HOLY. Her blog is Extraordinary Sunshine Weaver. 

Follow Feed the Holy