By: Rhonda Bronte Brown
Morning stillness
Rhythmic movement
Zephyr and leaf
Zephr/ The Best Haiku 2025 International Anthology
Category Archives: Published Poetry/Haikus and More
“Threnodies” Orchard Press/Winter Issue 2025
“Threnodies"
As autumn falls silent under evening's snow,
sheltered seeds don winter's coat below.
Sleeping silently beneath winter's breath,
trees fold into a counterfeit death.
A magical moment when the sun stands still,
winter begins with a brisk, cold chill.
Wintry winds whistle ceaseless threnodies,
glistens frosty precip melodies.
Amidst frigid fields, icicles drip.
Cardinals swoop midstream for a sip.
Mice tucked warmly under subnivean snow,
moonbeams prance across a snowlit plateau.
Betwixt two astral stars, the moon hangs bright,
eerie wolf howls echo through the night.
Playful trickery, a spring bud pops its head.
Winter snaps, not yet, and tucks them back to bed.
Thank you for submitting your work to The Orchards Poetry Journal. It is our great pleasure to inform you that we have selected your poem, Threnodies, for publication in our Winter 2025 issue.
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The Atchafalaya Basin by RL Brown
“This was written as a haiku, but I trashed it and started over. The haiku may have captured the essence of Louisiana’s swampland but missed its vibrancy.”
https://www.trashtotreasurelit.com/publishedpieces on April 2, 2023
The Atchafalaya Basin by RL Brown
Across the boot parishes, a vast swampland exists where the Cypress reign as keepers of the river forest.
Underneath a feathery dome, robed in reddish-bark with shields of twisted branches, resides the age-old kings.
Gators serve as sentries guarding the murky waters below, instilling respect for life and doom for the ignorant.
Sinkholes, shifting sand, watchful eyes always stare, ever mindful of a changing landscape.
A river basin teams with bass, crappie, and crawfish, full of beauty and wonder. Its esse seeps into a Cajun's soul.
Stagnant water breeds relentless mosquitoes. Yet, the yellow warbles and purple martins feast.
Host to mink, otters, muskrats, bears, deer, and bobcats, this bayou exists for life and shares in its hardships.
Standing between worlds is a glimpse of immortality, a time passage that remains under the Cypress' rule.
es·se essential nature or essence. "two traditions, each of whose esse is opposition to the central tenets of the other"
Across fourteen parishes, the longest swamp river flows, the Atchafalaya River. The Cypress tree reigns as king in the sleepy waters of the Atchafalaya and Chitimacha rivers. They stand tall and proud, robed in a reddish-bark, untouched by time. Adorn with delicate leaves that sparkle in the sunlight, branches stretch to cover their domain.
If the Cypress is king, gators stand guard in murky waters beneath, keeping unwanted or unaware at bay.
This ecologically rich heritage is as diverse as the cultural peoples who have come to make it their home. European, African, Caribbean, and Native American descendants dug their roots deep into the bayou. The bayou blends them all into a cajun or creole cultural mix.
Resources: https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/where-we-work/united-states/louisiana/stories-in-louisiana/the-atchafalaya-river-basin/ https://www.basinkeeper.org/theatchafalayabasin#:~:text=Other%20animals%20that%20call%20the,%2C%20armadillo%2C%20fox%20and%20opossum. https://www.bsaswampbase.org/atchafalaya-swamp
Published Poetry/ Haikus and more
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*Zephyr* The Best Haiku 2025 international anthology.
Zephyr @haikugenius.ai/adbeia8aa
Meat for Tea/ The Valley Review Volume 19 Issue 1 pg. 46
Fairytale Fishin’ No buckets, no boats, And no carrying large totes, Just Grandpa and me. A pole in each hand Grasshoppers by the pond bank. Gramps catches our bait. A nibble, a tug. Feel the line, ignore the bug- Wait-then jerk the hook- A flip-flopping, splash, reeling in a big fat bass (Excerpt from a Kid’s Tale by RL Brown)
Congratulations! Your poem "Fairytale Fishin'"was selected to be a part of the 2022/23 Conway Public Poetry Project installations. In the coming months, we will be working with the City of Conway to install these poems in various locations around the community. We are also working on a booklet that will contain the poems, their locations, and information about each poet Sponsored by Blackbird Art Collective, Conway AR
A Pastoral Cacophony
As morning’s first blush slips through the mizzling mist, dawn’s chorus begins. The woodland world wakes, nestlings fluff their feathers, squish together and listen to their twitter song.
Blackbirds sing a low mellow tone blending choral notes to a day-spring chant. Red-breasted robins' antiphonal tweets twitter back and forth. A cool zephyr breezes through the budding trees, and a hermit thrush adds a rhythmic woodwind harmony.
Chee-pippety-chee-chee, Jenny wren joins in with a light peppy lilt, stepping up the beat. Colorful warblers echo a descant as tiny rainbows shimmer in twilight’s dew. A Capella chorus in one voice sings a spring aria.
A blue jay’s catcall
signals a tail twitching taunt,
kitty in the weeds.
My inspiration for this poem came one spring morning while listening to bird songs at dawn's light. The slow build of antiphonal tweets and the sudden end, orchestrated by my cat reminded me of Bolero by Ravel.
Better Than Starbucks
Poetry and Fiction Journal
November 2022
Vol VII No IV
Rhonda Bronte Brown is a retired counselor/teacher who lives in Arkansas. She was published in Better Than Starbucks, the Trouvaille Review, and Haiku Seed Journal in February and March 2022. She also writes children’s books. Find her online at https://brontebrown2.com.
Better Than Starbucks Poetry and Fiction Journal November 2022
Vol VII No IV
Haiku: by R Bronte Brown
Winter folds a tree-
into a counterfeit death
gray, boney, lifeless.
Better than Starbucks, February 2022 Publication p. 41
Editor's comment: Stark, powerful and tied to the four seasons.
Haiku Seed Journal @HaikuSeed_ Featuring these wonderful #haiku for the #HaikuSeed "winter" spring buds pop their heads, february trickery, winter snaps, not yet! #HaikuSeed / 24 Feb, 2022 winter
All I can think of is an adult snapping at their children who were sneakily playing video games under their blankets instead of sleeping. Loved the playfulness of the writer and the haiku, there is a wholesome nature to it that brings out a smile.
— Sankara Jayanth
Editor, Haiku Seed Journal
@coffeeandhaiku
Trouvaille Review, February 15, 2022 Publication
The Dignity of Winter by R Bronte Brown
Wind rustles the leaves.
Trees shimmer yawning deeply,
Anticipation.
Autumn equinox,
the balance of light and dark,
time juncture converts.
Turn your face eastward.
Fall moon on the horizon
blazing golden hues.
Extravagant colors!
A migratory bird's last song.
Light wanes for evening.
Winter grants Fall's wish
for an encore flower dance,
frost procrastinates.
Nature splendor yields
a harvest of abundance,
Thankfulness expressed.
Inner autumn calls,
time to embrace season’s change.
The wind howls for rest.
Winter winds whistling
Indian Summer's last stance
Bowing gracefully
Winter’s dignity
Lifeless trees quiet strength
Autumn seeds nestled deep-
Sheltered.
From Bronte Brown:
morning’s blush
slips through
the mizzling mist
The Haiku Pond 🍃
@TheHaikuPond
Aug 13,2022
You can listen on your favorite podcast app or here: http://anthonynanfito.com/2022/08/14/a-waterfalls-purpose/
Trouvaille Review, March 23, 2022 Publication The Hummingbird Swiftest things that run the world, Hums and beats, their wings unfurled. Hummingbirds need constant fuel. Brilliant blooms attract this jewel. Forward, backward, upside down. These dashing fliers zip around. Golden flowers brilliant blooms Entice birds with shiny plumes. Blazing Star to Geranium, Coral Bells to Delphinium. Flower meadows, patchwork plots, Scattered seeds in local lots.
Fairytale Fishin’ Conway AR
Fairytale Fishing / A Haiku (WC 49) written by RL Brown
No buckets, no boats, And no carrying large totes, Just Grandpa and me. A pole in each hand Grasshoppers by the pond bank. Gramps catches our bait. A nibble, a tug. Feel the line, ignore the bug. wait- then jerk the hook- A flip-flopping, splash, reeling in a big fat bass. Update (4/12/2022)
Fairytale Fishin’
No buckets, no boats,
no carrying large totes,
just Gramps and me.
A pole in each hand
grasshoppers by the pond bank.
We catch our bait.
A nibble, a tug.
Feel the line, ignore the bug-
Wait-
then jerk the hook-
a flip-flopping, splash,
reeling in a big fat bass.
brontebrown2 
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