The Daily Verse
To make The Wise Owl more dynamic, we have introduced The Daily Verse, a segment where we will upload poetry all days of the week. Just send in a poem to editor@thewiseowl.art
Theme for October
Nostalgia
Thursday, 10th October, 2024
dew on her grave
the many eyes
of the sun
rosebush
a raindrop
on every thorn
the old pier groans
so many come and go
syllables of salt
About the Author
Robert Witmer has resided in Japan for the past 45 years. Now an emeritus professor, he has had the opportunity to teach courses in poetry and creative writing not only at his home university in Tokyo but also in India. His poems and prose poetry have appeared in many print and online journals and books. His first book of poetry, a collection of haiku titled Finding a Way, was published in 2016. A second book of poetry, titled Serendipity, was published earlier this year (2023). An author’s page for Robert Witmer can be found at both the Poets & Writers and AuthorsDen websites.
Wednesday, 9th October, 2024
Footsteps...
By Ketaki Mazumdar
in a constant wandering
I flow with the clouds
in moments of realisation
am the lotus
in the moonlight
at your feet
am the peacock that dances
with the sound of the rain
and the strains of the Dark One's flute
I return to You over and over again
I burn in an ecstasy
waiting for that unity
we shared every lifetime
in my soul's journey
About the Author
Ketaki Mazumdar is an educationist and a poet. She is a recipient of many awards. Her poetry reflects her excitement with the beauty of nature, emotions of grief, joy, love and also gently touches on the spirituality and mysticism of life.
Tuesday, 8th October, 2024
flicking through
old photographs
home movie
christening lace
on the baby
her wedding dress
dewdrops
on white lilies
anniversary
About the Author
Marguerite Doyle’s publication credits include Vallum, Stillpoint Literary Magazine, Reliquiae, The Galway Review, The New Welsh Reader and The Ireland Chair of Poetry Commemorative Anthology, Hold Open the Door. She has been shortlisted twice for the Anthology Award and was Winner in Category for the Trócaire / Poetry Ireland Award. Marguerite lives in Dublin, Ireland and is interested in her local environs as the poetic space.
Monday, 7th October, 2024
Late Summer Storm
By Belinda Behne
Thunder cracks
The sky opens
We dance barefoot
thru the wet grass
Laughing
Pelted with rain
Our open mouths
become fountains
Mother whistles
Calling us in
with just two fingers
between her lips
Loud and shrill
We don’t want to hear her
but we do
And we come
Tracking mud and rain
into her kitchen
We are soaking wet
and thrilled to the bone
Still laughing, giggling, sliding
across the slippery wet floor
With mud squishing between our toes
we are electrified
Transformed
by the storm
About the Author
Belinda Behne grew up in the midwest, but she has spent most of her adult life in the vibrant culture of New York City. Her first career, as a teacher of special education, led her to the love of art, literature and theatre. She has pursued her passions of acting, writing poetry and performing professional voice-overs for more than three decades. She currently lives on the edge of a salt marsh, where life continues to inspire her in new ways. Her poems can be found in LEAF Journal, The Wise Owl, Scarlet Dragonfy and Cold Moon Journal.
Friday, 4th October, 2024
Waning Summer
By Dan Hardison
Shadows stretch longer
slanting across the landscape
as days grow shorter.
The evening sun
flaming in amazement
as it drops on the horizon.
Mornings awake
from longer nights
to a fine veil of pearly mist.
Garden blooms are fewer
as cornstalks and gourds
join rust-colored wreaths.
Nuts and burnished leaves
are covering the ground
as the air turns cooler.
A dazzling display
of elemental colors
as autumn beckons.
About the Author
A native of Tennessee, Dan Hardison now lives in Wilmington, North Carolina where he is a writer and artist. His artwork is inspired by Japanese woodblocks and ink painting (sumi-e). As an artist and writer, he is drawn to the Japanese haiga – a combination of image and poem. Dan Hardison’s writing has appeared at The Wise Owl, The Ravens Perch, Frogpond, Cattails, Contemporary Haibun Online, Chrysanthemum, and other print and online journals. His self-published book Quietude is available from Lulu Press. His work can also be found at his website Windscape Studio and blog Some Tomorrow’s Morning.
About the Author
Maurizio Brancaleoni lives near Rome, Italy. He holds a master's degree in Language and Translation Studies from Sapienza University. His haiku and senryu have appeared in Synchronized Chaos, Dadakuku, Lothlorien Poetry Journal, Under The Basho, among others. In 2023 one of his micropoems was nominated for a Touchstone Award, while a horror ku originally featured in the Halloween-themed issue of Scarlet Dragonfly was re-published in this year's Dwarf Stars anthology. Maurizio manages “Leisure Spot", a bilingual blog where he posts interviews, reviews and translations:
Wednesday, 2nd Oct, 2024
Neighbourhood Revisited
By Sonia Nicholson
old Margaret, wild white hair
flying as a veil as a flag
of another time
/different or better/
behind her red walker
pushes on after-noon
the street pushing daisies pushing almost
Spring outside her bungalow (stucco)
1930s beauty
hidden behind the roses
and around the corner
the doddery man still plants
gnarled and stooped
against February
a row of daffodils
tulips alternating yellow and red
in his neat flower bed
a bloom for every season
a memory
tossed like seeds
(the flower bed, the bungalow
dug up now
all traces of red
under glass)
About the Author
Sonia Nicholson’s work has appeared in various publications including Inspirelle, Literary Heist, Pinhole Poetry, Heimat Review, and Rivanna Review. Her writing explores themes of identity, family, and place. A first-generation Canadian who grew up in a Portuguese immigrant household, she was born and raised in Osoyoos, British Columbia. She holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in French and Spanish from the University of Victoria and continues to call Victoria home. Her debut novel, Provenance Unknown, was published in 2023 by Sands Press and she has signed a contract with Okanagan Publishing House to publish A Year of Summer, her second.
Monday, 30th September, 2024
inside her breast-pocket a piece of night
a lonely verb nostalgic about the active days
late night -
only the sound
of nails growing
in her digital heart my neatly arranged nights
fossils of me in her neon smiles
winter night a gaze still clings to my bones
About the Author
Vijay Prasad is a poet from Patna, India. He is disappointingly interested in life. He has a passion for haiku, language, philosophy, and so on ... He is published in Bones, Under the Basho, tinywords, Failed Haiku, The Mumba Journal, Haiku Dialogue, Prune Juice, among others.
Friday, 27th September, 2024
roots...
a yellow flower
before leaving
doorstep -
rhythm of the waves
so far away
red maple -
slides on the water
the light of sunset
About the Author
Giuliana Ravaglia was born in the province of Bologna (Italy), is a former primary school teacher and has a great love for poetry, especially haiku. His poems have been published on websites and online magazines: Otata, Troutswirl, ESUJ-H, Asahi Haikuist Network, The Mainichi, Scarlet Dragonfly Journal, Haikuuniverse, Cold Moon Journal, Akita International Haiku Network, The Bamboo Hut, Take 5ive, Haiku Corner, Memoirs of a Geisha, HaikuNetra, Haiku World, Failed Haiku among others. he received Honorable mention in Haiku EuroTop 100.
Thursday, 26th September, 2024
aftertaste of
peppermint candy
eyes look for appa
ruby-red
the wedding ring
leaves a mark
names
on a steamy mirror
vanishing act
About the Author
Kavita Ratna is a children's rights activist, poet and a theatre enthusiast. Sea Glass is her anthology of poems published by Red River. Her poems have appeared in The Kali Project: Invoking the Goddess within, A little book of serendipity, Muse India, The Wise Owl, Triveni Hakai India, Haiku in Action, the Scarlet Dragonfly, the Cold Moon Journal, Five Fleas Itchy poetry, the Haiku Dialogue, Stardust Haiku, Leaf (Journal of The Daily Haiku), and many others. She was on the Haiku panel at the Glass House Poetry Festival, Bangalore, 2024. She is also a Pushcart Prize nominee, 2024.
Wednesday, 25th September, 2024
child's tin soldier
still on the garden wall -
autumn dawn
cricket in the palm
of a five year old -
orange setting sun
day after day
Christmas gone
i light the yule log
About the Author
Deborah A. Bennett is an American poet whose poetic work consists mostly of haiku and senryu. Her poems have most recently appeared in Acorn Haiku, Fresh Out Magazine and The Mamba, Journal of the Africa Haiku Network.
Tuesday, 25th September, 2024
bullock cart creaks
on the dirt road
fading murals
speak of bygone tales
under evening stars
crow perches
on the old station
his final wave drifts
with the distant rumble
of trains long departed
a broken lantern
dangles from the balcony
missed arrivals
trail the fleeting arcs
of comets in the dark
About the Author
Born into a literary family in Punjab, India, Sandip Chauhan holds a PhD in Punjabi literature. Currently residing in Northern Virginia, USA, she pursues a career as a bank regulator in the federal government. Chauhan has contributed to three haiku anthologies: "In One Breath: A Haiku Moment," co-edited by her; "Kokil Anmb Sunhavi Bole" (The Sweet Song of Koel Bird from the Mango Tree); and "Beyond the Fields," a trilingual haiku collection in English, Punjabi, and Hindi. Additionally, she authored "Sprouting Grass," a haiku poetry collection. With a deep passion for Japanese haiku, Chauhan finds joy in expressing herself through writing poetry in her mother tongue, Punjabi.
About the Author
Al Gallia is a poet from Lafayette, Louisiana USA. He loves writing poetry in every moment he can spare.
THE DAILY VERSE POETS
Click hyperlink to read
Cedars at Dusk by Belinda Behne
Reflections on August by Sreelekha Chatterjee
THE DAILY VERSE POETS
Click hyperlink to read
Morning Solitude by Peter A Witt
Poems on Solitude by Jennifer Gurney
The Colored Umbrella by Dr Mary Annie
Poems on Solitude by Mona Bedi
Micro-Poems on Solitude by Snigdha Agrawal
Micro-Poems by Barbara Anna Gaioraldi
Riding a Unicorn by Petrouchka Alexieva
Midsummer Magic by Jennifer Gurney
Midsummer Magic by Sasha Clark
Poems on Midsummer magic by Jennifer Gurney
Midsummer Musing by Gopal Lahiri
Week 3, May 2024
On the Face of it by Hester L Furey
I Remember Mart Oliver by Oscar Houck
Final Week, May 2024
Music of the Lake by Peter Witt
How do I feed my marriage by Bruce Whitacre
Burst of Colours by Amrita Mallik
Haiku on Colours by Steliana Voicu
Week 2, May 2024
Haiku: On Transformation by Steliana C Voicu
The Sky Over the Ganga by Satbir Chadha
Life is like a box of chocolates by Petrouchka Alexieva Haiku on Colours by Govind Joshi
Light & Shadow by Carolyn Crossly
Haiku on Light & Shadow by Govind Joshi
Towards Mutualism by James Penha
Haiku by Steliana Cristina Voicu
Haiku by Satyanarayana Chittaluri
More Haiku with Titles by Tomh Bakelas
The Summoning by Kathleen Chamberlin
A Visitor by Kathleen Chamberlin
Haiku with Titles by Tomh Bakelas
The Night Sky by Debra S Mascarenhas