C. Jean Downer's Blog

Folk Ku Journal

Just finished reading @kingriverpress‘s 民句 Folk Ku Journal, issue 4. The haiku and tanka are striking!

I’m so grateful to editor Jodie Hawthorne for including a few of my pieces in this rich issue. Congratulations to all the poets included

You can purchase a traditional East Asian stitch-bound journal or download a PDF here:

民句 folk ku journal – free PDF

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Bletherskate

Scottish orig:

“blather” nonsense talk + “skate” someone who is contemptible.

How do you handle the bletherskates in your life?

Image public domain:
“Ugolino and His Sons”
Sculpture by Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, 1870

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#vsspoem #zero

I fade
into velvet words
blanketing me
with a thousand suns
my eyes refuse to open
up in these clouds
always tethering
my zero-gravity heart
to her

Image: Marie Laurencin’s “Turquerie,” 1937

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Haiku Canada Review

Sincere appreciation to editor Mike Montreuil for including my poem in the esteemed Haiku Canada Review. Congratulations to all the featured poets

slow crawl
over the mountains
winter rain

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Poetry Prompt

home again
still the silence
in her bedroom
listening at the door
waiting for a sign

#vss365 #silence

Image: Silence, 1799 by Henry Fuseli (Johann Heinrich Füssli); public domain

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Presence Issue 80

Our international mail has been held up so long that I have yet to receive Presence, issue 80. When it does arrive, I look forward to reading all the featured poets!

My deepest appreciation to editor Ian Storr for all he has done with Britian’s leading independent haiku journal and for including a few of my pieces in his tenure’s penultimate issue.

falling leaves

all the colours

of the unhoused camp

cold moon rising

a street sign reads

these are the end of days

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Jae’s Sapphic Book Bingo 2025

It’s week two of Jae’s awesome Sapphic Book Bingo 2025.

Here are the squares the first two books in the Sloane West Mystery series fill! Happy reading!

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Book recommendation

I gifted myself time to sit and reflect on the sublime short form poems in Reid Hepworth’s debut collection. Through haiku, haibun, and tanka, Hepworth deftly reveals grief’s universality. I found myself letting go and relating each piece to my life stories. We each wake in one or more stages of grief, and _loss is a river_ connects us deeply to those feelings, a process I found quite moving. Highly recommended.

Here’s one that resonated with me:

withdrawing
from the noise
of life
you journey
to a quiet place inside

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Lonely Street

the sound of her voice
when she said goodbye
hit me like a thrown rose
landing on a coffin
but I don’t blame her
she never intended to leave
never meant for me
to stroll the stillness
by vesper light
from picture windows
to speak with her again

#vss365 “vesper” January 7, 2025

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Poetry Pea Journal

Deeply grateful to incredible managing editor Patricia McGuire and the editing team at Poetry Pea Journal for including my tanka in issue 6:24 and for a lovely reading on podcast S7E53 The Poetry that is Tanka. Congratulations to all the poets

sixteen hours
in the emergency room
waiting
for a lotus bloom
to rise again

You can acquire the journal here

Listen to the podcast here:

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