Haiku by Steve Ausherman

Chalky limestone cliffs
Lug upon their fossil backs
Shadows of clattering birds.


Photographers point lenses
Of sadness at the defeat
Of leaves gone autumn brown.


Crickets hum darkness.
Alleyway alchemy
Of murkiness into song.


What about beat-up bags
Of sin and redemption.
The preacher is sweating.


Stiff-necked sky soldiers.
Ravens hold updrafts
In wingtips brittle as moon.

Steve Ausherman is an artist, photographer and writer whose poetry has thrice been nominated for the Pushcart Prize in poetry.  His first chapbook entitled Creek Bed Blue (Encircle Publications, 2012) has been nominated for a 2014 New Mexico Book Award and celebrates farming, family heritage and a connection to place.  His forthcoming chapbook entitled, Marking the Bend (Encircle Publications) is scheduled for 2015 publication and celebrates travel, spirit in the landscape, and a love of wilderness.  His poetry has recently been in the literary journals Decanto, Bear Creek Haiku, the Aurorean, Cheap Seats:  Ticket to Ride, Pilgrimage and Shemom.  As well, his work recently appeared in the poetry anthology Mo'Joe (Beatlick Press, 2014).  Free time finds him exploring the hiking trails of the American West with his wife Denise.