Shorter Poems
By Barry Vitcov
As fall drifts into winter and the days grow shorter and darker, let us take the time to focus on haiku and senryu. While sparsely written with a few carefully selected syllables, these poems are intended to evoke larger insights and themes. We are happy to welcome back David Hoffman to this column. And thank you to Leroy Coppedge, previously published in the Ashland Daily Tidings “Haiku Corner,” for his clever alliterative poems.
Five Poems
By David Hoffman
dry fly on the line
casting mustard seeds to wind
hoping fish will rise
boundary dweller
upon the outlier path
weaving between worlds
moved gently by breeze
silently falling through time
snowflakes lifelong friend
the wolf moon watches
tracks in fallen snow
owls pierce the silence
misinformation
drowning necessary truth
answers clear as mud
Inspired by the wild, David Hoffmann’s writing explores themes of loss, hope, and spirituality. He grew up in a small cabin on the outskirts of Palmer, Alaska, then moved to Ashland, Oregon, in 2006. David’s poem Into the Night became lyrics for a musical composition of the same name. His poetry has also been published by Grandmother’s Circle the Earth Foundation, Edge of Humanity Magazine, and Family Friend Poems. In 2024, Hoffmann’s haiku Astuteness was published in The Best Haiku Collection 4 International Anthology. In 2025, five of David’s haiku were published by Literary Revelations in Tranquility: An Anthology of Haiku.
Five Poems from “Haiku Alphabet”
By Leroy Coppedge
ascending artists
almost always abandon
arid ambition
doggedly dark days
dangerously drag dad down
depressingly deep
graceful grown-up girl
gorgeous gifted graduate
grandpa’s glowing grin
kindhearted kneading
knobby knees keenly knocking
kindergartner’s kiss
let laments lie low
lose laborious longing
live lightheartedly
Leroy Coppedge wrote his first haiku in 1980. He had been taking writing classes and writing regularly since 1972. He’s had poems and short stories published in small journals and one of his three-act plays scored a theatrical reading in Portland. In 1999 and 2000, his wife Teri went to Morelia, Mexico for 90 days each summer to earn an M.A. It was the first time in their married life they had lived apart and Leroy missed her terribly. He emailed her a romantic haiku each day. Many were later published in the Ashland Daily Tidings between 2018-2020. Leroy is 83 years old and lives in Ashland. A few months ago, he awoke with a question: Could he write 26 haikus with each haiku using only words that began with the appropriate letter of the alphabet? He titled it Haiku Alphabet.
Poetry Submissions Welcomed!
You are invited to submit original work to the Poetry Corner. There is only one restriction: Poems ought to show a connection to Ashland and/or Southern Oregon. Your interpretation of that connection is fairly loose and mine is probably even looser! Be sure to include the title of your poem, your name as you would like it to appear, the city or town in which you reside, and, if you wish, your preferred pronouns. Finally, please submit a bio statement of less than 150 words written in the third-person.
To submit poems, send to Barry Vitcov at haikubjv@gmail.com.
