September 2020
Bio Note: This sequence is the work of seven members of the Towpath Haiku Poets Group. We are a
longterm poetry group in the Washington DC environs that focuses on haiku.
Roberta Beary: I am a native New Yorker now living in Ireland, who believes short-form poetry has the power to unite people.
Elizabeth Black: I am a poet and artist in Northern Virginia and exhibit my poetry and art throughout the US.
Mark E. Brager: I am a public affairs executive in Washington, DC, mainly just is trying to figure out what the next word is.
Ryland Shengzhi Li: I am a civil servant and poet living in Northern Virginia.
Bill Sette: In 2014, I began to read and write haiku, based on my longstanding interests in zazen, tai chi, and poetry.
Richard M. Titus: I trained in architecture at Harvard's Graduate School of Design when we were in love with everything
Japanese and have been scribbling ever since.
Linda Weir: I am a biologist and enjoy how haiku can express so much about nature in so few words.
Elizabeth Black: I am a poet and artist in Northern Virginia and exhibit my poetry and art throughout the US.
Mark E. Brager: I am a public affairs executive in Washington, DC, mainly just is trying to figure out what the next word is.
Ryland Shengzhi Li: I am a civil servant and poet living in Northern Virginia.
Bill Sette: In 2014, I began to read and write haiku, based on my longstanding interests in zazen, tai chi, and poetry.
Richard M. Titus: I trained in architecture at Harvard's Graduate School of Design when we were in love with everything
Japanese and have been scribbling ever since.
Linda Weir: I am a biologist and enjoy how haiku can express so much about nature in so few words.
Sirens in Bloom
by Towpath Haiku Poets of the Chesapeake Watershed*
spring equinox the showy squirrel’s self quarantine (RB) pink rain we circle Jefferson (HEB) Embassy Row in every language silence (MEB) still the cherry blossoms (RSL) quiet walks alone in pairs (BS) self-isolation missing his enemies (RMT) WaPo virus articles free to all readers (LW) on the empty towpath an echo of laughter (RB) hunkering down under the trees Einstein and me (HEB) distant gunshots sirens in bloom (MEB) shrill cries of a gander the evening star (RSL) the gentle stare of Lincoln all the way down the Mall (BS) for Abe aloneness by now no big thing (RMT) museums closed until further notice (LW) shelter in place the dreamy sway of daffodils (RB) *Roberta Beary (RB) Leader; Elizabeth Black (HEB); Mark E. Brager (MEB); Ryland Shengzhi Li (RSL); Bill Sette (BS); Richard M. Titus (RMT); Linda Weir (LW) Towpath Haiku Poets of the Chesapeake Watershed composed this sequence, led by Roberta Beary, as a response to their collective self-isolation.
Originally published in Art in the Time of COVID-19 (San Fedele Press, 2020)
©2020 Roberta Beary
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