failed haiku A Journal of English​ Senryu Volume 4, Issue 47 michael h. lester ‘Failed’ Editor www.failedhaiku.com @SenryuJournal on Twitter ​ Facebook Page

Haiga by Terrie Jacks

Fourth Annual Jane Reichhold Memorial Haiga Contest Results

Brent Goodman and I both deeply bow to our two judges: Steve Hodge Ron C. Moss and To all the fine poets who submitted to the contest!

Cast List In order of appearance (all work copyrighted by the authors) ​ ​

Lavana Kray Irish Dayondon Torres Bruce England John J. Han Bruce Jewett Claudette Russell Pitt Büerken Mel G Bill Cooper Guliz Mutlu & Fatma Gultepe Angela Terry William Scott Galasso Elaine Wilburt Natalia Kuznetsova Nicholas Mathisen Roberta Beach Jacobson Rp Verlaine Ron Scully Oscar Luparia John J. Dunphy Kath Abela Wilson

John McManus Marilyn Dancing Deer Ward Christina Chin Gail Oare Pris Campbell Roberta Beary Louise Hopewell Agus Maulana Sunjaya Bruce H Feingold Veronika Zora Novak Steve Wilkinson Chen-ou Liu Michael Flanagan David Oates Lee Felty Dorna Hainds Hemapriya Chellappan Cynthia Rowe Julian Heylinck Victoria Bender Marilyn Humbert Ingrid Baluchi Michael Henry Lee Tsanka Shishkova Benno Schmidt Kristen Lindquist

Carol Raisfeld Vasile Moldovan Richard L Ratliff Jim Krotzman Ross Neher Adjei Agyei-Baah Vishnu P Kapoor Tracy Davidson Lew Watts and Charles Trumbull ​ Corine Timmer Mike Gallagher Gautam Nadkarni Adelaide B. Shaw Adrian Bouter Gary Hittmeyer Vincenzo Adamo Angela Giordano Ivan Gaćina Madhuri Pillai Peter Jastermsky Nina Kovacic Tyson West Joanna Ashwell Susan Farner Angelescu Cristina Valentina Ranaldi-Adams

Irina Guliaeva George Schaefer Pere Risteski Terrie Jacks Christine Wenk-Harrison Pat Geyer Sandra amec and Franjo Ordanić Š Franjo Ordanić Mark Ward Richa Sharma Nadejda Kostadinova Maria Concetta Conti Carita Forslund and Mark Gilbert ​ Tomislav Sjekloća Antonio Mangiameli Kevin Valentine Charles Harmon Jill Lange Lori A Minor Hansha Teki

Lavana Kray

Rock 'n Roll's underrated Metallica shouts "sad but true" trees head-banged as I played Slayer's hits in the jungle

Irish Dayondon Torres

She plays The Fabulous Thunderbirds I play The Blasters this could be the start of a flame-tastic affair

Santana plays in a rock stance, his guitar screams out of his open mouth

In the Catalyst in the seventies, a girl dances dreamily in a granny dress next to the band

Bruce England

driving through Tupelo “Guitar Man” tunes fill the air

Fairbanks tour with a lyric in mind: don’t you eat that yellow snow

“Who’ll Stop the Rain” hot drum beats and the memories decades old

John J. Han

dead mother’s dress sways to a rock tempo hanging in the sun girls with backpacks clutched surrealistic pillows stepping off the bus rapid fire strobes fl-fl-flashing on dancers living in lightning her white levis incandescent old Fillmore garage sale go-go boots and tassels grandmothers sigh

Bruce Jewett

first concert next to me my father tries to dance vinyl collection my granddaughter gets a history lesson

Elvis hips gone rogue listening to the oldies on the drive to work I'm sixteen again

Beatlemania my room becomes a shrine to Paul

Claudette Russell

Rock ́n ́roll music the rebel generation now writing haiku

Chuck Berry on air a swarm of sparrows rocking on the power line sweet little sixteen … I'm staring on the figures of her tee

Skinny Minnie I first approached her at the jukebox being on fire I can't do the hip swing like she can

Pitt Büerken

Mel G

ankles just young enough Mashed Potato Time ​ the pulse of our gym floor Heatwave ​ mother's plea to turn The Turtles down let me be let me be

Santana outdoors a cool onshore breeze 59 floors up trumpeting what few Chicago notes i can muster Lee Loughnane

Bill Cooper

Ginger drumming our heartbeats long autumn wind

RIP Ginger Baker Guliz Mutlu ~ her wedding hey little sister sing us Billy

For Billy Idol Guliz Mutlu ~ guitar strings blue and bright morning star

For Callum Mcphee Fatma Gultepe ~

spring cleaning daughter and I singing Beatles

Fatma Gultepe

freight train headed this way the tracks of my tears reaching out to Ruby Tuesday -- that need for an escape route

Jeremiah was a bullfrog -- his loud splash into the quiet pond bridge over troubled waters... the loud click of the dementia ward door nights in white satin -- the mannequins in the bridal shop window

Angela Terry

anticipation … only you know and I know you give me fever motherless children in hard time Mississippi, blues without blame

William Scott Galasso

rockin’ robin in the playroom learning to twist ​ raindrops keep fallin’ leaving the pharmacy holding Dad’s hand bye, bye miss … driving anywhere with you glow-in-the-dark patch on the quilt—I wear ​ my sunglasses at night teasing Mom choosing Pat Boone over Elvis

Elaine Wilburt

our marriage - he rocks and I roll with nil synergy

Once in the late 50-ies when I was a little girl my brother, ten years older and my idol, brought home a strange thing - a round X-ray film with a hole in the center.* I looked at it against light and saw what my brother explained was a bone with a fracture. He put it on the old record player and ... The rhythm and the voice ( it was Elvis I learned much later) were so magnetic that I couldn't stand still and tried to copy brother's dance steps . He taught me some moves and "used" me as his training ground. (As a matter of fact he did it in all his endeavors including the poker game). I just loved it.

When I hear Elvis now the scene comes back to me - a clumsy, chubby kid with two braids and big ribbon bows rocking to the horror of her puritan nanny and the roaring laughter of her dad.

They are all gone. But memories ... rock 'n' roll on fractured bones ... brother's lessons

*In those years X-rays were used for bootleg records of some banned Western music in the Soviet Union. They were known as 'Bones' or 'Ribs'

Natalia Kuznetsova

bleeding out into the streets GWAR concert rising from the herd of concert goers a chorus of moos found guilty of re-verbal assault Phil Collins for the first time in months I hear Purple Rain petrichor

Nicholas Mathisen

singing my song but the lyrics fail me - a stranger helps she outsings his guitar solo band's rehearsal competes with thunderclaps long forgotten the green tambourine what happens on our tour bus stays on the bus

Roberta Beach Jacobson

midnight rain I whistle our song she has forgotten

Rp Verlaine

surf's upcurled lip serenades the shore Love Me Tender eye on the navel you'll never get juked the King's ruby belt buckle burnin' hunk horizon Sun Records sun down sounds the spit curl off camera Sunday night Ed Sullivan's hips wished they could swivel imagine myself Elvis in the middle of rocking it she pictures him too

In memory of Carlos Colon Haiku Elvis.

Ron Scully

I ain't getting nowhere I'm only rocking around the clock even if my clock is broken

(not only a tribute to Bill Haley's great hit; the first line is also for Bruce Springsteen's and Bob Dylan's songs: "Dancing in the Dark" - "You Aint't Goin' Nowhere")

I feel so good... running shoes, Ipod and Johnny B. Goode

(rock & roll is a fantastic support if you want to go and run...) singing the strike under the CEO's windows – jailhouse rock

(I am a trade unionist and this poem comes from a real experience of mine)

Oscar Luparia https://issuu.com/oscarluparia

oldies concert scent of pot smoke mingled with Bengay® sixties rock band its only original member plays while seated

Sun Studio tour a rose on the taped X where Elvis stood

John J. Dunphy

rock and roll affair but still the promises . . . I left him my guitar my head on his shoulder they kept playing our song three ruffles my prom dress turns Impromptu wedding torrential rain our first day in Delhi the Beatles were here

George bought his sitar . and I my tamboura in a yellow submarine backyard garage dad left our family turned rock and roll band rock 'n roll sleepy hollow neighbors' nightmare

her annual nightlong karaoke marathon

Kath Abela Wilson

my girlfriend and I let our hair down — mosh pit heavy metal blares from the new girl’s headphones — factory canteen thrash metal the chaotic flight of pipistrelles

Stairway to Heaven . . . the girl I like starts to flirt back rejection email We Are The Champions plays on the radio

John McManus

disconnected WiFi knows my status so well white parakeet the jerk and nod of an old lady's head fallen acorns... life continues by the cenotaph fall of tears 9/11 footprints-- formed then gone yoga class i get friendly with down dog

Marilyn Dancing Deer Ward

a smug unfollow Facebook algorithms boomerang

*Bang a Boomerang hey Mama I call we talk long distance

*Hey look Ma I made it

I try to write senryu he stares down my fake tattoo

*Cos I'm too punk for you

Queen on the radio sings I will rock you

*Mercury, radio ga ga

Christina Chin

whiter shade of pale that sweet haze floating over the stadium old college hangout peanut shells still underfoot forever young one drink too many searching for Mandy on his playlist

Gloria how easy they were then bar chords on his guitar freedom of his soul another drummer lost to rock & roll and drifting away

Gail Oare

no sense to a whiter shade of pale— our perfect song our Vietnam years and our marriage....both a mess. the song still reminds me of our early days.

making love to how you broke my heart... Rod Stewart’s slow side

Never really hearing the words until a new romance was over.

Elvis fan club I learn what it feels like to be the one my teenaged self feeling a first fleeting love

time after time you promise to catch me my many falls

you were the best catcher but I let you go divorce over... your smile’s shadow hides in the rose garden

Dusty Springfield hit...we part but good remains behind if we look for it.

Pris Campbell

my sister topless under the boardwalk people walking above

Personal Note: A hat tip to The Drifters, whose oldies ​ ​ never get old. after the shopping spree kaput on the stairway to heaven

Personal Note: Still true almost 40 years on: Led ​ Zeppelin’s iconic masterpiece. ​ a lifetime ago still can’t untangle this whiter shade of pale

Personal Note: What happened when I first listened to Procol Harum lives forever in the hallowed halls of ​ high school.

back in counseling oh lord won’t you buy me a divorce

Personal Note: Janice Joplin, my first shero.

California Dreamin you want to die tonight and call to say goodbye. you're one continent away on the other coast. still i show up and bang on your screen door. footsteps crash. the door swings open. you're sleepy. or stoned. or both. look-away eyes dead center the wall. you say you're going for a swim. the water is calling you. you try to step past me but i block you. with a bear hug. not a grizzly bear. more like one of those dancing bears. the kind that wear a chain. you don't resist the hug. you don't welcome it either. and you don't hug me back. not yet. daybreak one by one shorebirds claim the body

Personal Note: What I think about when all the leaves are brown (all the leaves are brown) and the sky is grey (and the sky is grey)...

Roberta Beary https://robertabeary.com/ twitter @shortpoemz ​

pruning back the morning glory octopuses’ garden new depths the busker mangles shallow

Echo Point my unanswered questions blowing in the wind pyramid salesman the car radio plays walk like an Egyptian hitting new lows in the karaoke box she’s so high

Louise Hopewell

high school girls in summer dresses I paint them black mackerel sky another reason to believe it’s my life crossing country without any document dust in the wind another one bites the dust this round the black widow wins hand in hand kiss by kiss stairway to heaven

Agus Maulana Sunjaya

a warbler snags a fly a hawks snags a warbler Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da life goes on

Bob Dylan forever young in shades AARP cover

Judy Collins concert line around the block walkers and canes college tour driving past Walden Pond Dylan on the radio channel surfing from Peter, Paul and Mary concert to attack on Paris

Bruce H Feingold

maudlin dawn the piano has been drinking not me grapefruit moon one star shining is all I can see tangerine now a thousand years between blue moon yearning for a love of my own

Veronika Zora Novak

Summer of 69 - The last time I saw my father

Take me to the church - I feel the need to hide from God

Over the hills and far away - the autumn wind carries my faith

Under the boardwalk - the secrets carried away by the neap tide

Bring me to life - my broken heart sleeps in pains numbness

Steve Wilkinson

wild horses ... ​ Mick Jagger's look-alike twists his ankle free bird ... ​ he plays air guitar behind the bars the busker singing you can't always get what you want ... ​ a silver coin gleams in winter sunlight (for a Rolling Stones fan)

Chen-ou Liu

the music takes me back Strumming My Face With Your Fingers... it’s the good times again

NOTE: I spent the '70s in San Diego in the Navy. My time there was both good and bad that one day Simon & Garfunkel in our town … we still sing along

NOTE: Simon & Garfunkel came to the tiny Community College I attended in 1966. I'm still remembering, adding water to that borrowed car … Carly Simon muses on vanity

NOTE: Again in San Diego, our car was dead so we borrowed one from a friend. I had to always have a full canteen of water because of the bad radiator.

in the barracks we all sang about Signs Signs … … and worried about war

NOTE: I was a Navy Corpsman during Viet Nam. Enough said.

Michael Flanagan

Cadillac is using Led Zeppelin to sell cars I’m old haunting earworm “even if, even if, you don’t love me anymore” rock singer turns his head to show the new tattoo

Muzak in the dentist’s office “Do the Time Warp”

“Authorship? – you played the bass notes that I wrote.”

David Oates

skipping rock and roll I want to hold your hand

The Beatles yesterday all my troubles with the beetles

The Beatles procrastination help I need somebody

The Beatles winter snow you say hello I say goodbye

The Beatles

Lee Felty

blinded by a light in the sky touched by love

Celine Dion this yearning I'd surrender everything to live again with love

I only wanted to see you dancing in the purple rain

Dorna Hainds

autumn leaves they were all yellow power outage a sky full of stars planet convention here comes the sun her cold heart comfortably numb party night another brick in the wall

Hemapriya Chellappan

blue feeling . . . a fool in the rain with a leaky umbrella

I scoop his begging note from the icy puddle. . . somebody to love sprinkles of moonlight through your hair — stairway to heaven rocket man the scent of his mother’s tea roses

Cynthia Rowe

my first vinyl side 1, first track the morning sun caught in the record shelf my seasons digital remaster my scratches still in the song

Julian Heylinck

Friends, I think you know I’ve got a rock and roll heart and a poet’s soul

It still impresses my children and their friends that I went to Woodstock

I wrote my farewell when I retired by quoting from the Grateful Dead.

When I die I want you all to sing Let it Be and drink good champagne

Victoria Bender

aged care garden – lavender blue dilly dilly in every room weeping willows love me tender whispers ​ not to me blue suede shoes nursing home residents bust-a-move

Marilyn Humbert

Dad irate at my first Chuck Berry college freshman essays the heady beat of rock uncensored

Saturday nights in Brighton dancing crazy to the Beach Boys explaining Mom the deep deep deep of Hotel California

Macca’s musicality -- her Bach-style rendition of Yesterday

Ingrid Baluchi

"this magic moment" the night blooming cereus embraces midnight ( the Drifters)

"all things must pass" beneath a bridge the river rising (George Harrison)

"time in a bottle" catching the red eye for parts unknown (Jim Croce) ground fog "I can see clearly now". down a road less traveled (Johnny Nash) autumn rain "things I used to do I don't do anymore" (Stevie Ray Vaughn)

Michael Henry Lee

again war again people sing the song "give peace a chance"

“Give Peace a Chance” (1969) by John Lennon became an anthem of the anti-war movement all over the world. ~ rattle jewelry to the rhythm of rock... royal performance . *On November 4, 1963, the Beatles performed at the Royal Variety Performance in London attended by Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, and Princess Margaret. This concert is memoried because of Lennon's words, “For our last number I’d like to ask your help. Would the people in the cheaper seats clap your hands? And the rest of you, if you’ll just rattle your jewelry.” ~ the teen fell in love with a rock musician... courtesan's diary

~ rock-n-roll cafe... classmates meeting to hang out ~

Tsanka Shishkova

dying stars near Orion the major up there engines on guitar touch the hard day's chord lingering long

Rock and Roll will never die burning out in the autumn sun

John Paul George and Ringo chanting grandma feeds four colored birds

Benno Schmidt

tiger lilies a walk on the wild side of the road you took the words right out of my mouth wild blackberries out of the fog hard rock on the lobster boat battle of the bands a can of chew saving a seat

Kristen Lindquist

you left us with "Chapel of Love” & "Hanky Panky” Ellie Greenwich you were "Leader of the Pack" and I miss you, my friend

Ellie and I went to high school and college together. Always had a guitar or an accordion in her locker. She formed a "girl group", The Jivettes, singing in the ​ ​ girl's bathroom for the echo.;-) Later, The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2013 a "Garden of Ellie" that contains a sculpture of Ellie was placed next to Hofstra University's music school. She had an amazing life. I miss her terribly. bespectacled Buddy Holly sang about “Peggy Sue” but I remember back then the day the music died

Bob Dylan from anti-war to flowery laments a poet laureate knockin' on heaven's door like a rolling stone

sex, drugs and rock and roll “Eleanor Rigby” at heartbreak hotel with Leroy Brown at the sock hop in the school gym you shook my nerves and you rattled my brain great balls of fire!

Carol Raisfeld

Illumination- dancing all night in hip hop rhythm after the concert of Christian rock the silence of the night

Vasile Moldovan

Lovely velvet breast Tattoo artist’s buzzing pen And Elvis Presley

Richard L Ratliff

convolutions the furrows where the words grow poetry

"Convolutions" Convolutions · Colin Newman It Seems ℗ Crammed Discs ~ the elephant graveyard moving the dead man in a piano box

"The elephant graveyard" "Elephant Graveyard" Molly Rhythm GTG Records ~ all i know is this there is no order everyone cares for himself no laws only consequences

"All I know is this" "Last words" by Courtney Parker ~ they kill out there I medicate myself

in the elephant grass standing on the seat of my harley at 80 mph

"They Kill Out There" "Chaos VS Order" by Darkane ~ blue-collar workers vomit Descarte work assembly lines & actuary tables I work therefore I’m exhausted

"Blue Collar Workers" "Mountain Song" by Jane's Addiction ~

Jim Krotzman

Catholic misery 6 days of Meatloaf Phish on Friday

Pearl Jam leaves The Doors ajar

The Cars for sale, low mileage see: Gordon Lightfoot

The Pointer Sisters tiptoe in One Direction

Hotel California foreclosure in Dire Straits

Ross Neher

in the strings after the show Rock & Roll heartbreaking sound I switch from Blues to Rock & Roll

Rock & Roll show over still hooked by the string of the lead guitarist aged couple finding their feet again Rock & Roll

Adjei Agyei-Baah

the swing back and forth like mom's old music young rock 'n roll spring breeze even cherry blossoms rock 'n roll ever new strokes but that music rocks and rolls in old hearts still young my heart beats faster thinking how i rocked her rolling eighties drum beats of seventies skin colour didn't matter on dance floor

Vishnu P Kapoor

my alarm clock radio belts out Chuck Berry... I chuck rocks at it blue suede shoes how I trained my hound dog to love them tender summer of '85 the whole world rocked to their rhapsody a hundred thousand hands under his spell

Tracy Davidson Twitter: @tracydavidson27 ​

Do You Feel Like We Do this old stairway to what we thought was heaven ... I wonder

World Trade Center completed; there’s a bad moon on the rise bombed out of our minds on the water fire in the sky out of body trip — he dreams that all around him are spiders from Mars

yes, I see you shining, flying, purple wolfhound and so, Mr. Musk can you find your way back? Orion rising

Lew Watts Charles Trumbull

Hi-Heel Sneakers . . . I roll my socks down to my ankles

Chantilly lace around the edge of her skirt— bobbing ponytail rock 'n' roll music— remembering mother’s polka dot dress a vintage polka dot dress in the shop window mother and father dance into my memory

Corine Timmer

girl with a beehive I got stung (Sure did, we celebrated our fifty-fourth wedding anniversary this year!) cover me dancing in the dark I’m on fire blue suede shoes walking to New Orleans because they’re young

Cathy’s clown crying in the rain baby, I don’t care running scared hard headed woman you win again

Mike Gallagher

Gautam Nadkarni

rock around the clock the new baby finally sleeps after the quarrel the sound of silence a homeless man asleep in the doorway— walk on by not his wife’s lipstick on his shirt— bad moon rising two hours late to get to work— it’s the same old song

Adelaide B. Shaw

world history - do not follow anyone just like that...

Bob Dylan *Mr. Tambourine Man* on the edge of town leaves lay golden carpets... caged autumn sun

Bob Dylan *I shall be released* calm creek the pebble next to the one less shiny...

Bob Dylan *Every Grain of Sand* despite or because of messages on the park bench we give it a try...

Bob Dylan *Simple Twist of Fate*

lonely town crowded places we used to go

Bob Dylan *Lovesick*

Adrian Bouter

searching AM radio static for a few notes country back roads

Graceland Memphis Tennessee The King trapped behind walls

"WHAT??" driving home from the Kiss concert peace and love and speed bad vibes at Altamont

Gary Hittmeyer

Tutti Frutti allusions and ambiguity delivered to posterity

Manhattan street a homeless dances "Rock and Roll music"

Be-Bop-A-Lula Indecipherable no morals for posterity

Vincenzo Adamo

dance alone to the beat of rock and roll- heavy rain all night long at the rock & roll concert- youthful memories rock & roll in headphones- my daughter wants to know because I'm happy family party- one vinyl after another of rock music of rock music the stereo floods me- deep autumn

Angela Giordano

old turntable . . . in the rock and roll forest her visions last appearance . . . in the labyrinth of notes sails Elvis Presley high heels dance to the rhythm of the music . . . downpour becomes quieter tempting light on a tight stage . . . the guitar's contour

Ivan Gaćina

‘Who’ addiction... my father puzzles over my brother’s taste

‘What would you do if I sang out of tune....” the old radiogram no longer sings

A Hard Day’s Night– after the movie he hugs the screen my father and I ... our trip to the record shop yields me a rich harvest

Herman’s Hermits reverberate through the coach.... school netball team

Madhuri Pillai

burning down the house a favorite song sparks alarm

“Hey, girl I tell you no lies” background music for the one text that’s left to delete ramble on my foot and sock out of step have i the right? forgetting i can't make her mine

Peter Jastermsky

Imagine discreet space between us disappearing

God Save the Queen - his hairstyle endures neighbors’ spiteful gaze neighborhood in panic … a night attack by Marshall ​ ​ amplifier

Whole Lotta Love dozing cat moved top of its tail rock’n’roll dance … carefully brushing his third age eyebrows

Nina Kovacic

strike the pies softly bang kicks slowly – ghost notes for dead drummers cold starry night we lit bics not phones for lemy’s last show seger’s hair silver voice ricochets off the back beat – still the same i cheered live janis and jimi and jim before their sound checks too old fogeyed I missed winehouse, cornell and cobain memory care home great grandma never remembers my name screams elvis when the muzak plays always on my mind

Tyson West

I sit alone in the darkness the clock ticks by I wonder too if you’re lonely tonight these dreams are made of dust where every beat I try to dance upon takes my breath away

I shake my shoes to the rhythm and blues yet still can’t find my way through it all back to you

Joanna Ashwell

a bullfrog named Jeremiah Chem 101 exam

Elvis and The Beatles Ed led the way boomers to millennials Rock & Roll connection music, mud and masses Woodstock rock concert on the quad purple haze

Susan Farner

I've attached three haiga on the theme Rock and Roll. They are inspired from Guns N Roses (November rain), Queen (Days of Our Lives) and Alice Cooper (Poison).

Angelescu Cristina

a Beatles song - trading cards scented with bubble gum wearing a Raspberry Beret The Most Beautiful Girl In The World drives a Little Red Corvette in the Purple Rain When Doves Cry

Note - "Raspberry Beret", "The Most Beautiful Girl In The World", "Little Red Corvette", "Purple Rain" and "When Doves Cry" are five songs written by Prince. being immortalized in a Prince song - Valentina

Note - "Valentina" is a song written by Prince.

Valentina Ranaldi-Adams

This kyoka is inspired by Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. I was pretty much a "folkie" until David Bowie expanded my musical horizons in the early 1970s.

Debbie Strange

show must go on Mercury`s voice interrupted by Goldy`s death

Rock and Roll in the park granddad`s wheelchair Empty

Irina Guliaeva

Heeding Frank’s advice so I tighten my head band as Jerry kicks axe searing astral streams flowing into orgasmic climax

Taking advice from a Frank Zappa song at a Grateful Dead concert in Philly on 3/24/86 during an incendiary version of Morning Dew ~

Rudy can't fail proved to be prophetic and then ironic

London Calling was always one of my favorite albums ~

Captain Trips ventures into Phil Zone as drums fade to Space parking lot scene tie dyed vendor showing off wares

Deadhead senryu ~ morning dew on grass wets my shoes and socks I think of Jerry

George Schaefer

bee sting ummagumma

* Père Lachaise this is the end ​ beautiful friend

* the wanderer singing ​ House of the rising sun

* video message from London Rock 'n' Roll Swindle

Pere Risteski

Terrie Jacks

tie dye shirt in the closet guitar with a missing string California dreaming new spin old technology vinyl records daring to be different bandmates wear ball caps backwards sudden storm music festival closes early bolt earrings sell out stifling heat drum roll-- cicadas tune up

Christine Wenk-Harrison

December 26, 1963...The Beatles "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "I Saw Her Standing There" are released in the United States, marking the beginning of Beatlemania on an international level... he sees me there then holds my hand... we let it be she's standing there... she's just seventeen with the way she looks she just can't hide he sees her standing there through my dream frames if you saw my love you'd love her too... and i love her eyes closed i'm kissing you with all my loving so, wow, yeah you should be glad she loves you

Pat Geyer

Photo by: Sandra amec Š Haiku by: Franjo Ordanić

Photo by: Sandra amec Š Haiku by: Franjo Ordanić nostalgia carves rings into vinyl plate rock star seventh time on rehab hope

Franjo Ordanić

summer rehearsal - waiting for the temperature to break like fever a sluggish cd drags its underside along the car park gravel

Mark Ward

shape of my heart the truth beyond icy words

( The Backstreet Boys ) ~ cassette's back the greatest hits of my youth ~ complicated heart the distance created by silent explanations

( MLTR ) ~ reviving forgotten images Oh! darling

(The Beatles) ~ Richa Sharma

love song I am blinded by a sunray still shining through the rust of the time a rock star evening out the musician is more talkative a bubbling pot jumping with the rhythm of my legs winding road the mountain is shaking to the music

Nadejda Kostadinova

death anniversary the loud music behind me

Maria Concetta Conti

Sound Behavior a shared glance a nod and the music starts backdrops and banners and barricade fences we are rebels shoegazing the tap of a toe on the wah-wah pedal sound behavior the incarnated amplifiers of ten thousand ears the drums roll down my spine sphincter the band leaves the audience singing

[by Carita Forslund and Mark Gilbert] ​ ​ ​ - We have both (independently) been to many live gigs and here we have tried to capture some of that rock'n'roll experience in a joint senryu sequence.

years later always coming back to toys in the attic

*Aerosmith album ~ first time - superunknown

*Soundgarden album ~ in the car 69 love songs

*The Magnetic Fields album ~ tough times I turn to Jesus and Mary Chain

Tomislav Sjekloća

the drums the river in flood - rhythm

Antonio Mangiameli

band practice-- the lead singer's girlfriend does her nails sacked! the drummer's replacement some guy named Ringo ​ mid-life crisis the metal-head upstairs switches to smooth jazz hospice-- All Things Must Pass her favorite song

* "green ocean jade" is a type of LSD Kevin Valentine

I dig rock and roll music except when it digs me don't stop thinking about tomorrow yesterday we've only just begun stuck in the middle with you this is the end street fighting man I've seen the toughest around I'll stand my ground his drum-shaped house his guitar-shaped swimming pool his piano-shaped bar his heart-shaped King size bed his Fentanyl-shaped coffin...

(kyoka previously published in Atlas Poetica 38, ​ September 2019

Charles Harmon

her first 45 rpm— ‘Rock Around the Clock’ ~

Talking Divorce

We’re living in Motown. His name is Bob and he admits he’s vain. I bring home a new Gordon Lightfoot album ‘If You Could Read My Mind.’ Bob prefers another song on that album.

over and over and over again he’s playing ‘Me and Bobby McGee’ ~ line dancing— the way you make me feel Michael Jackson ~

two husbands and many lives later . . . i (still) love rock & roll music ~

Jill Lange

Pictures of You fading scars ~ dirty skin the color of death

*found poem using Putting Holes in Happiness by Marilyn Manson ~ the black sky screaming youth

*found poem using Black Hole Sun by Soundgarden ~

Lori A Minor

I miss the train while listening to people get ready writer’s block . . . I see a minstrel and want to paint it black moving sultrily to a very cellular song the blonde sucks me in not yet dead the long lost track to my generation dazed and confused our love flies like a lead balloon

Hansha Teki

Michael H. Lester ‘Failed’ Editor [email protected]

(all work copyrighted by the authors) ​ ​