Inner Voices - International Women's Haiku Festival, March 2018

sisterless . . .
another star falls
into the lake


African violets
the fuzzy details
of my past


Editor's Comments:

Taken together, these two poems convey volumes about women's experience. In "sisterless . . ." the special relationship that only sisters can share is viewed from the vantage point of its utter lack, and illustrated with the heartrending image of a star falling into permanent darkness in a lake.

"African violets" is a compassionate take on the parts of our lives that we may prefer to leave in the relative safety and comfort of the vagueness of the past. Likening the "fuzzy details" of the past to bold and beautiful (and, yes, fuzzy) African violets acknowledges that even the shadows of one's past are still, in their own unique ways, beautiful and brilliant.

—Jennifer Hambrick

Inner Voices - International Women's Haiku Festival, March 2017

cirrus clouds . . .
she donates hair
before chemo

Editor's Comments:

Debbie Strange turns those wispy clouds that look like pony tails into locks of hair on the stylist's floor. The woman in this haiku is a picture of proactivity, strength, and generosity in the face of possible death, embracing her diagnosis with eyes and heart wide open.

—Jennifer Hambrick

laundry day . . .

my skinny jeans

fat with wind

Editor's Comments:

It's not enough that the thought of wearing skinny jeans strikes fear and dread in the hearts of some; the wind has to rub it in. The image of the puffed-up skinny jeans pokes fun at our warped obsession with weight and body image, leaving us to laugh at how quickly we abandon more noble constructs of authentic beauty, and thus the paths to true contentment, in the pursuit of pretty packaging.

—Jennifer Hambrick