September 2018 Vol. III No. VIII
Not your ordinary poetry magazine!
If good coffee (or just the concept of coffee), great books, sharp wit, and great authors excite you, we are for you!
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We have a new publishing schedule!
Better Than Starbucks 2018 Haiku Contest Winners
Congratulations to all the finalists, including the three winners!
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Thank you again to John DeCesare of CraftekDesign for sponsoring this contest!
We had so many wonderful submissions (thank you all). Many were on the border of haiku and senryu, leaning more toward human affairs than nature. Here are the winners and finalists. We hope that you enjoy them. - BTS Editors
First Place
corroded barbed wire
on Sinai border
rain exposes land mines
Hanoch Guy
Second Place
Fly on the window:
do you stare with wonder and
sense eternity?
Evan Guilford-Blake
Third Place
at the beach
I leave footprints
for my son to follow
Michael Kang'a
spilt milk
he demands to know
why she’s crying
John Hawkhead
a breeze through open
window not finding her song
stills the lace curtain
Dan A. Cardoza
yard sale
the toddler in the doorway
hugs her doll
Greg Schwartz
newly hatched tadpoles
circle water poppy
exploring life begins
Ray Spitzenberger
my cowboy saddles
up his tractor, rides the range
corralling hay
published in 2013 in Manifest West: Even Cowboys Carry Cell Phones, published by Western Press Books
Sally Clark
in the library—
silent books
speak volumes
Pamelyn Casto
rub hands together
ready for my lunchtime meal
a fly on my plate
David Bankson
Author Bios
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Hanoch Guy is a bilingual poet in Hebrew and English. His poetry has won awards in Poetica Mad poets, Phila poets and Poetry super highway. He is the author of six poetry collections, among them haiku collection, A Hawk in Midflight, published in 2017. His new book Spring Time in Moldova will be published by Kelsay press.
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Evan Guilford-Blake’s work includes two novels, two short story collections, and 39 plays. It has appeared frequently in journals and anthologies. He and his wife (and inspiration) Roxanna live in the Southeast. He reads and writes haiku constantly.
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Michael Kang’a is a Psychologist who keeps two pet pigeons (Mandy and Mindy) and a dog (Mikhail) — also a pet. If kitchen gardens count, he’s a prolific *sic* small-scale farmer.
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John Hawkhead is a writer from southwest England. His haiku book Small Shadows is available from Alba publishing.
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Dan A. Cardoza has a B.A. in Psychology and a Master of Science Degree in Counseling. His publishing credits include: Pierian Spring, Brandon University, Canada, Aleola, The Avocet, Ardent Poetry Journal, Pacific Poetry and the California Quarterly.
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Greg Schwartz works in a cubicle. His poems have appeared in Frogpond, New York Quarterly, Blue Collar Review, and Modern Haiku. He was fortunate enough to have two of his haiku reprinted in annual Red Moon anthologies.
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Raymond Spitzenberger is a freelance writer who has published poetry, haiku, fiction, non-fiction, and history in numerous publications. He holds a Doctor of Arts in English from the University of Michigan and a Master of Arts in English from the University of Houston.
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Sally Clark is the author of Where's My Hug?, Ideals Children’s Books, a WorthyKids imprint, 2015, the Winner of a 2015 Silver Moonbeam Children’s Book Award, and a Pushcart Prize Nominee.
Pamelyn Casto has articles on flash fiction in Writer’s Digest, Fiction Southeast, OPEN: Journal of Arts & Letter, Field Guide to Writing Flash Fiction, The Greenwood Encyclopedia of New American Reading, and Critical Insights: Flash Fiction.
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David Bankson lives in Texas. He was finalist in the 2017 Concīs Pith of Prose and Poem contest, and his poetry and microfiction can be found in concis, (b)oink, Thank You for Swallowing, Artifact Nouveau, Riggwelter Press, Five2One Magazine, and more.