#poetry – Joanna the nomad

The Last Haiku

Mt Fuji

I left you behind
And flew to the mountainside.
You were waiting there.

© Joanna Rubery 2017

July 14, 2017July 20, 2017

Nine o’clock

Black clouds

Cicadas all night
Screaming at the lack of light
Where the forest was.

© Joanna Rubery 2017

July 2, 2017October 22, 2017

Spilt Milky Way

Milky Way in Africa

The night’s light-speckled
And freckled with ivory
On indigo silk.

© Joanna Rubery 2017

June 25, 2017July 3, 2017

least said, soonest ______

Stitches

Torn. Broken. Shattered.
Ripped apart, and then stitched up,
Peace by shredded peace.

© Joanna Rubery 2017

June 18, 2017July 3, 2017

étoiles étrangères

Milky Way

The scattered stars are
Closer than the two of us
And burn more brightly.

© Joanna Rubery 2017

June 15, 2017June 17, 2017

Limeade

Limeade

The hard grit of life
Caught inside an oyster shell
Turning into pearl.

© Joanna Rubery 2017

June 4, 2017June 11, 2017

Kyoto

Kyoto Golden Pavilion

Clear sparkling water
Splashing shallow over stone
Like my love for you.

© Joanna Rubery 2017

May 25, 2017May 28, 2017

Haiku #5

Skyscraper

Glass reflects us both
Standing under real green leaves
With fake emotion.

© Joanna Rubery 2017

May 20, 2017May 21, 2017

Unloved

Teacup

Unanswered questions.
Undrunk tea, untaken paths
Unpicked in hot sun.

© Joanna Rubery 2017

May 14, 2017July 20, 2017

Night Onsen

Nikko onsen

Looking down at stars,
Feather-heavy, floating, caught
Between Then and Now.

© Joanna Rubery 2017

Joanna Rubery worked for Oxford Dictionaries on and off for over fifteen years, and now writes and edits children’s literature. She has also spent considerable time as a travelling writer and musician while teaching English around the world. So far she’s lived and worked in Belgium, Cambodia, Italy, New Zealand, Poland, Germany, Japan, India, and Spain. She’s also worked voluntarily in Peru, and spent a lot of time in Ireland.

Joanna’s travel writing and articles on language have been published by Oxford University Press, Wanderlust, and the Christchurch Press. She has also won and been placed in several Very Short Fiction competitions, and her short stories have been published in Narrative magazine and the Grindstone Literary Anthology.