#FemkuMag, Issue 42, Summer 2026

crushing

juniper berries between

our fingers

the scent of gin conjures

unwelcome memories

this world

is unsafe for innocents . . .

a crow

shakes its tail feathers

once, twice, three times

#FemkuMag, Issue 41, Spring 2026

My thanks to guest editor, Vandana Parashar, for inclusion in this International Women's Month issue. I'm honoured to know that "genocide" received the Best of Issue Award and that it has been nominated for a 2026 Touchstone Award!

genocide

flags of olive leaves

at half-mast

hurkle-durkle

it's been that kind

of morning

#FemkuMag, Issue 40, Autumn/Winter 2025

Honoured to be a featured poet in this issue and to be the cover artist!

Femku Features:

bikini wax

the scarlet-thighed dacnis

strikes a pose

Litha bonfire

my flower crown

begins to wilt

childless

our young beans lost

to halo blight

chronic illness the multitudes i once contained

woodland owl saw-whetting the appetite for scandal

if we could

detoxify this world . . .

nettle soup

Cover Haiga

#FemkuMag, Issue 39, Summer 2025

Honoured to have "bully culture" nominated by the editors for the 2025 Touchstone Awards and for the Red Moon Anthology!

fogged in

a friend jumps off the bridge

to nowhere

bully culture

six coyotes surround

a mule deer

if we had one

to call our own . . .

star nursery

Note: this issue also includes a lovely review of Random Blue Sparks. It can be accessed under the Random Blue Sparks tab of this blog. My deepest thanks to Rowan Beckett Minor for the sensitive reading and commentary.

 

#FemkuMag, Issue 38, Spring/Summer 2025

barrenlands no offspring to keep me grounded

#FemkuMag - Award Nominations 2024

Thrilled to have the following poems nominated by the editors!

Nominated for the 2024 Touchstone Award:

ill winds of autumn i'm still spitting up leaves

#FemkuMag, Issue 35, Spring 2024

stunted lilac

the baby's grave

rooted to earth

#FemkuMag, Issue 36, Summer 2024

Nominated for the 2024 Red Moon Anthology:

bleached whale ribs the|bars|on|this|window|of|disability

#FemkuMag, Issue 37, Autumn/Winter 2024

#FemkuMag, Issue 37, Autumn/Winter 2024

depression rising and falling super(blue)moon

bleached whale ribs the|bars|on|this|window|of|disability 

body terrorist my trigger thumbs go off

#FemkuMag, Issue 36, Summer 2024

button quail cute as a

stunted lilac

the baby's grave

rooted to earth

 

#FemkuMag, Issue 35, Spring 2024

Honoured to have the following haiga selected by guest editor Vandana Parashar for the cover of this International Women's Month issue:

The following works were also selected:

ill winds of autumn i'm still spitting up leaves

vesper flight

we were taught to keep

our feet on the ground

 

#FemkuMag: haikai poetry by womxn and non-binary folx - Award Nominations 2022

Thrilled to have the following two poems nominated by the editor!

Nominated for the 2022 Touchstone Award:

lunulae

a friend tells me

about her stillborn

#FemkuMag, Issue 34, November 2022

Nominated for the 2022 Red Moon Anthology:

wishbones

a dumpster-diver

goes under

#FemkuMag, Issue 32, January 2022

#FemkuMag: haikai poetry by womxn and non-binary folx - Issue 34, November 2022

lunulae

a friend tells me

about her stillborn

 

#FemkuMag: haikai poetry by womxn and non-binary folx - Issue 33, April 2022

litterbugs the propagation of human insects

lifeboat

theory

the

disabled

denied

boarding

teen suicide

the lichen-pocked faces

of stone angels

 

The Haiku Foundation: The Touchstone Awards for Individual Poems, 2021

There were 1506 nominations, and I'm honoured that the following haiku is included in the longlist of 57 poems. My thanks to the editor of #FemkuMag, who nominated my work, and to the judges for taking the time to read!

Fata Morgana the (in)visibility of my (dis)ability

2nd Place

2021 Marlene Mountain Memorial Haiku Contest 

Against the Current: the top 30 contributors of #FemkuMag, Issues 1-30, Moth Orchid Press, 2022

Honoured to have contributed to 30 issues of the groundbreaking #FemkuMag! The title of this anthology is named after the following poem:

pay equity

she swims against

the current

Other selected work:

poverty we hope the new year will be brighter

inner peace

i offer it

to the world

ripening pear the bruises that never heal

Longlisted

Touchstone Awards for Individual Poems, 2020

hot (fl)ashes the combustibility of womxn's rights

Honourable Mention

Marlene Mountain Memorial Haiku Contest, 2019

Fata Morgana the (in)visibility of my (dis)ability

2nd Place

Marlene Mountain Memorial Haiku Contest, 2021

Longlisted, The Haiku Foundation Touchstone Awards, 2021

#FemkuMag: haikai poetry by womxn and non-binary folx - Issue 32, January 2022

orbweaver the deconstruction of a lie

wishbones

a dumpster-diver

goes under

cicadas

this

gradual

climb

out

of

poverty

 

#FemkuMag: haikai poetry by womxn and non-binary folx - Red Moon Anthology Nomination, 2021

My thanks to the editor for nominating the following work for the Red Moon Anthology:

Fata Morgana the (in)visibility of my (dis)ability

2nd Place

2021 Marlene Mountain Memorial Haiku Contest

 

#FemkuMag: haikai poetry by womxn and non-binary folx - Touchstone Awards Nomination, 2021

Grateful thanks to the editor for nominating the following work for the Touchstone Awards:

Fata Morgana the (in)visibility of my (dis)ability

2nd Place

2021 Marlene Mountain Memorial Haiku Contest

bristlegrass

you take offence

so easily

#FemkuMag, Issue 30, July 2021

 

#FemkuMag: haikai poetry by womxn and non-binary folx - Issue 31, November 2021

constructed reality the world view from my sickbed

spill/age (.)(.)

abs(dis)traction

onion skin

you  p e e l  my layers

and i weep

#FemkuMag: haikai poetry by womxn and non-binary folx - Issue 30, July 2021

Honoured to receive 2nd Place in the 2021 Marlene Mountain Contest (for monoku)! My thanks to the judges for their sensitive commentary.

Fata Morgana the (in)visibility of my (dis)ability 

Commentary:

Not only are invisible illnesses difficult to live with because one is forced to convince others that they are sick, but some chronic illnesses can make one feel invisible due to the disconnect between those sick and their able-bodied friends and family. These illnesses are debilitating and isolating.

The brilliant use of parentheses parallels this by separating those who are seen and those who feel invisible, as well as disabled folx and those who are able-bodied. For those who are sick but still struggling to seek answers, Fata Morgana is all too familiar. The pain felt is real, but when the test results keep coming back normal, one can't help but feel stuck and just about end up gaslighting themselves. Not to mention those answers seem unreal and so far out of reach. We can also see the way Debbie possibly views herself, as one stuck as an optical illusion, living in society in one fashion and being unable to in another. This heartbreaking monoku calls us to hear and to see, to understand and develop compassion where it is most needed.

Other work included in this issue:

internal dialogue only one of us has anything to say

wild foxglove the poison lurking behind beauty standards

bristlegrass

you take offence

so easily

paper birch

to know the inner bark

of you

#FemkuMag: An E-zine of Womxn's Haiku - Issue 29, April 2021