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ayaz daryl nielsen

     ayaz daryl nielsenayaz daryl nielsen was born in Valentine, Nebraska, attended schools in Minnesota and Wisconsin, has lived in Monterey, Mexico and Bonn, Germany, and now lives in Longmont, Colorado, with his beloved wife, poet, and analyst, Judith Nielsen.

A veteran, former hospice nurse, and ex-roughneck (as on oil rigs), he has been editor of the print publication bear creek haiku for over 40 years and 185+ issues. ayaz can be found online at bear creek haiku—poetry, poems and info.

     ayaz daryl nielsen’s poetry has been published worldwide, including senryu chosen in 2010 and 2012 as "best of year" by the Irish Haiku Association, chap-books include haiku - tumbleweeds still tumbling, and, Rain in the Night Wind (Kind of a Hurricane Press). Among other deeply appreciated honors, he is especially delighted by the depth and quality of poets worldwide whose poems have found homes in bear creek’s print and online presence.


ayaz daryl nielsen's microchap links & selected poems are available below.  Download the PDF by clicking the title.  

Origami Microchap

Poems

heart-to-heart      

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ayaz daryl nielson BioCVR heart to heart 2023 march

Cover collage by JanK

 

home somewhere
         ahead of me
on the road again

 

 

words clothed
in nurturing garments
our poetry

 

rose colored clouds
unfold
scent of sunrise

 

 

working with a poem
     the bus leaves
without me

 

look!
this sliver of a moon
it’s grinning!

 

from now on
streets will only run
heart-to-heart

 

 

 

 

ayaz daryl nielsen © 2023

imprints of love      

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 ayaz daryl nielsen 190 Cvr 2022

Cover - Longmont CO view
from elevation.maplogs.com

 

roadways through our lives
among the many tire tracks
these imprints of love

 

lap cat
licking
my tears

 

upon my good-luck tattoo
your familiar
caress

 

a weekend we own
waltzing in the living room
among the green plants

 

just drinking moonlight
and thinking about our earth
the garden of us

 

this day is singing
we’ll cross any old boundaries
exhaling peace

(adios for now!)

ayaz daryl nielsen © 2022

the colorful hues      

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ayaz daryl nielsen 3CVR the colorful hues 2021 Jan

Cover by Lauri Burke:: 

How Can We Broach This Wall Between Us

 

like a child’s drawing
evening’s radiant sunset
the colorful hues

 

fading twilight sky
as if going somewhere else
beyond all darkness

 

 

 

murmurs in hallway
something gentle about them
friends enter our room

 

sturdy old maple
my great-grandparents, also,
rested in your shade

 

 

 

nation-wide virus
my grandfather’s bandana
hanging from my face

 

drifting toward the shore
I know not where it came from
an empty rowboat

ayaz daryl nielsen © 2021

grandfather's stetson      

ayaz daryl nielsen CVR grandfathers stetson R2020 JUN

Cover collage by JanK

 

grandfather’s stetson
rests upon the closet shelf
a firm presence

 

together
call of loon, glow of firefly
we grow older

 

 

 

it was far away
it was a long time ago
my heart remembers

 

 

evening fades
the hue of grandmother’s
bed-time prayer

 

 

 

above the marsh
something birdish in the reeds
unseen wholesomeness

 

listen closely...
small creek flowing over rocks
in complete silence

ayaz daryl nielson © 2020

premonitions of an eternity      

ayaz daryl nielsen premonitions of an eternity 2 2019

Cover collage by JanK

 

the silence within forgetting

 

premonitions

the year ends
dark cold with
its black nights,
deserted rooms,
desolate avenues
with pale buildings,
mad chatter
amidst quarrels,
premonitions
of an eternity

 

the world empties my heart

the sounds of silence forgetting,
of a left open mirror,
of an open doorway,
of prowling new things
reaches my ears

 

the geese flying low
a snowdrift in our garden
all as it must be

 

 

 

 

 

birds have taken flight
and I, alone among
... fallen flower petals
end of another season

 

fluttering butterflies on flowers
move peacefully in gardens
even while we sleep
s new backyards ’ each day
always filled with motion,
the spiritual movement
within all corners of earth

 


ayaz daryl nielsen © 2019

proof of love

     
Click above title to download PDF
Cover: Speak with the Tongue
of the Wild Rose
by Lauri Burke

*
 Every microchap
may be printed, for free,
from this website.

 

an odd evening
everyone is lined up
at someone else’s door
the problem seems to be
nobody is home
to invite us in
for treats and warm
conversation

-

my feelings
scamper on
ahead of me
your door opens
just as
I arrive

 

someone at this table
seeks a conversation
wants to be heard
it takes awhile
before I realize
it’s me

 

There are no wrong words
There are no harsh winds
That can remove your memory,
                         shining friend,
From the hearts of us who love you.

-

small things
their own story
a worn trowel
proof she loved
her garden

 

I have not washed the linens
on our bed as I said I would

They carry your lingering scent
and I am this much less alone

When you are safely nearby,
clean linens will be drying as

I wait beside the unlocked door
of an open home and heart.

 
ayaz daryl nielsen © 2016