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