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Barbara Anna Gaiardoni

Surprise

Summer Day at the Beach of Skagen by Lauritz Tuxen

We could go for a walk on the beach and find stones looking like humans.

Look what was hiding in the rocks… a necklace. A special necklace that from a distance it looks pretty banal, but up close you can see that it’s actually strung from gazillions of tiny shells.

I was raised on a diet of seafood that included clams, scallops, mussels, oysters, limpets and more.

To wear this necklace it’ll be like breathing that scent.

It will mean being children again, which is no small thing.

sea poppy –
a stop along
our way

 

About the writer:
Barbara Anna Gaiardoni is an Italian pedagogist and author. Her Japanese-style poems have been published in Asahi Haikuist NetworkAkita International Haiku NetworkHaiku Column International Tokyo DepartmentHaiku Dialogue THFHaiku UniverseHaiku TimeThe Japan Society UKDrifting Sands HaibunCattailsThe Wise Owl and in eighty other international journals. They have been translated into Japanese, Romanian, Arabic, Malayalam, Hindi, French and Spanish languages. Drawing, swimming, and walking in nature are her passions.

Image: Summer Day at the Beach of Skagen by Lauritz Tuxen (1853-1927). Oil on canvas. 31.4 x 46.4 inches. 1907. Public domain.

OJAL Art Incorporated, publishing since 2017 as OPEN: Journal of Arts & Letters (O:JA&L) and its imprints Buttonhook Press and HOT BUTTON PRESS Contemporary Issues, supports writers and artists worldwide.

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