Clear as a Bell

Clear as a Bell In a 2019 Sewanee Review essay, Mary Ruefle said that “No poetic form embodies the bell so much as the haiku. The haiku is the most bell-like thing in language I know. Haiku simply strike the present passing moment, stilling it in such a way that we pay attention.” The following bell poems, except the last two, appeared in my essay, “Ringing the Bell: Learning Haiku from Mary Ruefle.” a chime of bells across the snowy field—            the horse’s breath                 Frogpond 18:4, Winter 1995 cathedral bells . . . the chestnut vendor’s steaming cart                 Shiki Internet Haiku Contest, 1997 Runner-Up; Sand Hill Review Vol. IV, Spring 2003 ringing church bell— moonlight dimmed by a gentle snowfall                 Geppo XXIX:5, September–October 2004 distant dinner bell— one more time through the labyrinth                 Matrix #107, Fall 2017 temple blossoms . . . the deep tones of wind bells                 Brussels Sprout 10:3, September 1993 noon rain     syncopating         church bells                 Cicada VI:3 (#20), July 1994 dinner bell— her husband comes as fast as the cat                 Ёrshik: Journal of Senryu and Kyoka, July 2013 distant church bells . . . a sparrow’s breath           lost in the holly berries                 Frogpond 20:3, December 1997 temple bell the haijin’s tweed coat sprinkled with pine needles                 Modern Haiku XXI:3, Autumn 1990       + the old rope smooth in my hand— new year’s bell fading                 Clover: A Literary Rag #9, June 2015