THF June 2022 Kukai, first prize

This poem I wrote, won first prize in the Haiku Foundation's June contest:

canning day

mason jars filled

with sunshine 

Thank you very much to all who voted for my haiku, and to Dee Evetts for his commentary. 

Live for the Love of it,

Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)

THF May 2022 Kukai, first prize

This monoku I wrote, won first prize in the Haiku Foundation's May haiku contest:

spent blossoms falling softly out of love 

Thank you very much to all who voted for my poem, and to Dee Evetts for his commentary. 

Live for the Love of it,

Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)

In Response to Traditionis Custodes, a sonnet

The Society of Classical Poets has published my sonnet On the Traditional Latin Mass.

The sonnet's written in response to Traditionis custodes ("Guardians of the tradition") - the new motu proprio issued by Pope Francis on July 16, 2021.

Happy Dance: My Haiku Wins 2nd Place in an International Contest

 Happy to share the news: my haiku won 2nd place in the Japan Fair 2021 International Haiku Contest.

Grateful to Michael Dylan Welch for selecting my haiku, and to the Japan Fair for the opportunity.

Thank you.

Live for the Love of it,

Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)

CONNECTED, my sonnet for Falun Gong, wins 1st place in FoFG poetry contest

On the World Falun Dafa Day, I'm honored that my sonnet "Connected" has won 1st place in the annual Friends of Falun Gong poetry contest. 

Thank you, FoFG and Society of Classical Poets for choosing my poem. 

Ever so grateful to Samantha Hopkins for giving "Connected" a powerful voice. Watch Samantha recite "Connected" tonight at 9 pm EST.

Congrats to the winners and honorable mentions!

The Ekphrastic Review: Poetry of Roman Khe in English Translation

Today in The Ekphrastic Review:

Roman Khe's original poem "At the Exhibition of Japanese Ceramics" and its English translation.

Grateful to the journal, and grateful to Roman Khe for the honor to translate his poetry.

Live for the Love of it,

Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)

My two cents

The Slope We Slide Down

It's not enough to quote Micah 4:4.

It takes more than a phrase 

We seek harm to none

to erase the harm that is done— 

being done—in the name of justice.

Words don't cut it. It's a fact. It just is.

How can we hope for the Light

when we delight in staring at our own reflection

thinking, "It might not be perfection, but it's close,

and those—the others—if only they could be

like us – righteous..."? How can we see

we are about to fall

when all we care for is mirrors?

Careful – humans make errors.

When you set forth ill-equipped with pride,

watch your step – it's slippery outside.

Live for the Love of it,

Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)

prompted by the inaugural poem

image: Pixabay

Ekphrastic Poetry: Old Trees

The Ekphrastic Review logo

Happy dance: a publication! 

Head over to The Ekphrastic Review to read my poem Old Trees

and see the beautiful photo that inspired it. Thank you, Mark Windham!

Live for the Love of it,

Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)

"Like shepherds of the bygone days..." (poem)

Like shepherds of the bygone days
We heed the Angel from on high —
Our pastures left in disarray
As Bethlehem is drawing nigh

Like ancient Kings we scan the skies
Pack gold, and frankincense, and myrrh —
Unguarded our own kingdoms lie
As King of Kings descends on Earth

Like toddlers on our knees we fall
Inside the cave where in the calm
All sheep, all pastures, kingdoms all
The newborn child holds in his palm



Happy 4th Sunday of Advent, Merry Christmas Eve

Live for the Love of it,
Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)

Image: Unidentified artist. Nativity of Christ, 15th century. Oil (and tempera?) with gold leaf on panel, Overall: 17 3/8 x 13 1/4 in. (44.1 x 33.7 cm). BF362. Public Domain.

Eclipse Poem

Eclipse

Today I am free. I’m a bee going back to its hive,
a spider destroying its web, the earth’s crust
pushing upward. I stand tall, rising
with the burning, aching,
irresistible
sun.

Live for the Love of it,

Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)

Celebrating Poem in Your Pocket Day

Enjoy "PINK AND WHITE"

by Deborah Garrison

Live for the Love of it,

Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)

Fall's Garden (poem)

Springtime is lovely, so they claim

I dare not strip it off its fame

Of earth’s awakener, yet I

Have grown to find Spring rather tame

Each year it urges me to try

To turn back clocks and be the shy

And silly child I used to know

Oh no, the apple of my eye

Aren’t you, sweet Spring, and long ago

My childhood like a timid doe 

Ran hiding in the falling dusk

Away from me, its biggest foe

No, I’ll stay here until I must

Go with the changing leaves I trust

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust

Live for the Love of it,

Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)

prompted by dVerse

"Strange Image": Echoes of William Morris' "November"

I meant to take a picture of this pumpkin, then realized I accidentally took a self-portrait :)

Here's my "face in the woods" creation (can you spot another laughing pumpkin in the lower left corner, and a somewhat stern looking creature to the right of me, leaning in and looking straight into the camera?):

"Yea, I have looked, and seen November there;

The changeless seal of change it seemed to be,

Fair death of things that, living once, were fair;

Bright sign of loneliness too great for me,

Strange image of the dread eternity,

In whose void patience how can these have part,

These outstretched feverish hands, this restless heart?"

--  William Morris, November

Live for the Love of it,

Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)

Fall (square poem)

Leaves fall

Fall leaves

This couplet became part of a collective poem "Grass of Leaves" prompted and put together by David Lehman.

Live for the Love of it,

Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)

Falling (poem)

free for a shining moment brief

fall’s printed folded airborne leaf-

lets sail the blues on winter’s eve

let’s fail with grace, then take our leave.

Live for the Love of it,

Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)

Don't Blink: On the Habit of Flowers

when you are not looking

flowers and children

grow up

Live for the Love of it,

Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)

A Fresh Start: Morning in the Garden

a sunbathed morning

after a night full of rain

a new day opens

Live for the Love of it,
Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)

Peony Quadrille (poem)

What a peony bud told me when I told him he wouldn’t last past May

He nodded, “Be that as it may,

I’ll bloom my heart out come sweet May,

Then petal-light I’ll fall and flow

Where all spent hours and flowers go.

Yet till the end my fate I’ll tease

While days of May will past me breeze.”

Live for the Love of it,

Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)

a Quadrille written for dVerse

Losing It: Dandelion

dandelion giggles 

till it bursts--second

childhood 

Live for the Love of it,

Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)

Happy, Happy Dance

My poem "Storytelling" is on the shortlist of The Loneliness Project run by Theatre Cloud.

And it's read by a British actress Samantha Hopkins.

"Storytelling" has never sounded so good.

Listen to the reading, and don't forget to click on the heart icon to like the submission :)

Thank you.

Live for the Love of it,
Sasha A. Palmer (aka Happy)