Haiku Poetry Awards Maverick Winner - Judy Clarence

Judy Clarence, a retired university librarian, lives and works in Penn Valley, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains in California after many decades in Berkeley. She shares her household with her daughter and grandkids, a goofy old dog, and two cats. She’s also an accomplished classical violinist. She and ruth began their lifelong friendship in San Francisco in the late 1950s, hanging out in North Beach and sharing their poems. Judy has poems appearing or forthcoming in Allegro Poetry Magazine, Shot Glass Journal, Amarillo Bay, Persimmon Tree, Blue Unicorn and more. She has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

Six Haiku for ruth by Judy Clarence

You and I picked quince

from that field’s last tree, before

we knew we’d grow old.

Zim-Zoom running in

the tall grass in Bernal Heights

that summer. Good dog!

My little daughter

admired your blue hair. She’s been

dyeing ever since.

Distracted by jazz,

I hear your granular voice

inundate each poem.

You called. I ignored

the message wanting money.

I wish I’d answered.

Now the beach winds blow.

No one home there anymore.

The tides keep breathing.