cloud formation

a snail glides
on the horizon
false spring

where do I begin

hoping for
a second opinion
cliff’s edge

telling you

how to love
yourself first
pink camellia

Note: Italicized lines above are by Hemapriya Chellappan.

Christine L. Villa

is an all-around creative explorer: an award-winning visual artist who dabbles in painting, doodling, and photography; a crafter; a speaker; a children’s book author; an editor; and a publisher. She is also a poet whose passion for writing haiku and tanka has resulted in the publication of her work in many online and print journals worldwide and has garnered her several awards. Her debut full-length collection of Japanese short-form poetry, The Bluebird’s Cry, was published in 2016.

Chrissi is the founding editor of (1) Frameless Sky, the first haiku and tanka journal that offers collaborations of art, poetry, and music, available on DVD and through private online viewing; and (2) the journal’s imprint, Velvet Dusk Publishing, a small printing press that publishes Japanese short-form poetry, cherita, and mixed-genre full-length books, chapbooks, and ebooks. She was the editor of Ribbons (Tanka Society of America) from Winter 2019 to Winter 2021.

Author’s website: www.christinevilla.com

Author’s blog, Blossom Rain: www.blossomrain.blogspot.com

Hemapriya Chellappan

is an engineer turned haikai poet, and an illustrator and haiga artist who resides in Pune, India. She took to Japanese literary short forms in the summer of 2019. Ever since, her works have been published in various international print journals and e-magazines including The Heron’s Nest, Hedgerow, Acorn, The Cicada’s Cry, Moonbathing, Prune Juice, and other notable publications. Her work has also appeared in Living Senryu Anthology and podcasts.