Collab by Mike Turner & Melinda Hicks

Raven’d Thief

Jet-black raven crossing sun
Ruby’d seed clutched in curved beak
Scavenged gem snatched on the run
A forager: 
Cunning, bold pratique 

Lofts o’er valley, stream and hill
Plumed wings stretching, talons bared
All the while its jewel held still
Provision 
Neither lost nor shared

Oh! Were I in raven’d flight
Filched prize held as mine alone
‘Twould transit, ‘til in dark of night
I would alight 
In nested home

To savor that rare, precious grist
And with its husk my roost adorn
Awaiting then the dawning’s mists
To scrounge again 
Against the morn’

Bumblebee Gold 

The gold medal goes
To flower’d pollinator:
Humble bumblebee

* Traditional haiku are untitled

Cattails, Haunts and Swales

Call it slew, marsh or swale
Reed mace or cattail
The bogs and the bulrushes call

Haints of mojo, hoodoo
Wraiths and spirits call you
Their mystery and magic enthrall

‘Cross the bayou, moans, low
Loons speak out a rondeau 
Sing to us their plaintive tattoo

As the eve’ yields to dusk
Curtain’s rung down for us
‘Til next eve, ghostly scenes come anew

Artworks: “Marauder, Trickster, Thief” (watercolor on paper), “Dressed in Layers” (mixed media on paper), “Vanishing Point” (watercolor on paper) by Melinda Hicks

About the Poet and Artist:
Melinda Hicks (Artist) has a camera, a collection of “collage stuff” and a vision for art.  Mix these elements with water + color, and something magical happens: visions flow off the tips of her brushes onto paper, and art is created. Melinda’s paintings are based upon photos she takes on walks, from the car and while traveling, as well as painting plein air; she works mainly in watercolor, with collage pieces to add depth. Melinda lives in Fairhope, AL with her dedicated “art critic” husband Donald and her trusty art buddy, Lady Bug, their cat. 

Mike Turner (Writer) is a songwriter and poet living on the U.S. Gulf Coast. Named Male Gospel Entertainer of the Year by the North America Country Music Associations International (2017), his original songs have received radio and streaming play in the U.S., UK, Europe, Australia and on the US Armed Forces Radio Network. Mike has had over 350 poems published in more than 70 journals and anthologies; his poem, “Sense of Peace,” won the Alabama Writers’ Cooperative’s 2023 Roger Williams Peace Prize. His book, Visions and Memories, is available from Amazon.