R. J. Swanson

Rollingbay, Washington

R. J. Swanson wrote his first haiku while living in Japan in 1995. It was about lunch. He wrote a second haiku in 2017 and has written many more since. Recent work appears in Acorn, Failed Haiku, Frogpond, Heron’s Nest, Kingfisher, Modern Haiku, Prune Juice, and Wales Haiku Journal. He gardens and teaches Chadō.

summer heat—

still posting letters

with Santa stamps

cut chrysanthemums—

a lifetime of cigarettes

in the priest’s voice

snowdrops

pushing through frost

first communion

snowfall

crumpling obituaries

to light a fire

zigzag bridge

through an iris marsh

the urge to disappear