In the park, on the bus, at the market, in the piazza ... it’s as if I’m wearing a sign that says, please stand too close and tell me how much you’d like to.

sounding board
the same refrain
over and over

Lorraine A Padden

is a Touchstone Award-winning poet and former professional ballet dancer whose career and scholarship in the performing and visual arts have garnered national recognition, including an appointment to the National Endowment for the Arts. Her haiku have been honored by The Haiku Foundation, Tricycle Magazine, Haiku Society of America, Tokutomi International Haiku Competition, and the British Haiku Society, among others.

Lorraine is a featured poet in A New Resonance 13, the acclaimed anthology showcasing emerging voices in English-language haiku. Upwelling, her debut collection of haiku and related short forms, was published by Red Moon Press in 2022.

Author’s website: https://www.lorrainepadden.com/