Author of Three-Penny Memories: A Poetic Memoir (EIF-Experiments in Fiction, 2022). Pushcart Nominated Poet 2022. Editor MasticadoresUSA.
Nolcha Fox and I have another poetry collaboration up on Hotel! Thank you, Michelle Ayon Navajas, for appreciating our goofy creations! Here is the opening verse, written by Nolcha. Mine are in italics. I’m no poetry groupieeven though I loveto meet online withfellow poets, lovecollaborations.Words flow bestwhen I’m alone.Images turn intopoems whenthis old lonerbasks in... Continue Reading →
Image by Dierik Leonhard 2024 My gratitude to Editor Strider Marcus Jones for curating my poem today in his esteemed Lothlorien Poetry Journal. I’m so honored. Dierik took the photo of me in the field of Henbit after we did a hike of over 3 miles along the Missouri River on a trail he helped... Continue Reading →
The 2024 Eclipse as Seen Through a Colander. Doesn’t the image appear ancient? Dierik and I wanted to see the eclipse without traveling. I hear some places were charging $900 a night. Being in large crowds or stuck in slow traffic didn’t sound appealing. We decided to forego the chance to see the full eclipse... Continue Reading →
My tribute poem to Mom was just published by Grief Book Club. The anniversary of her death was April 3. Mom, I remember You were at my side when I was paralyzed with encephalitis & recovering from the coma I cried in your arms after school each day, learning was so challenging after encephalitis, & the... Continue Reading →
Photo by Lisa Fotios on Pexels.com I have a poem up on Hotel Masticadores House. My gratitude to Editor Michelle Ayon Navajas! @poetrybymich How to Write a Poem Right by Barbara Leonhard A haibun a daykeeps the sonnets at baybecause in the haikuthe meter isn’t true…..If you need a chuckle today, you can read the... Continue Reading →
Cover and Interior Art by Francisco Bravo Cabrera (also Known as Bodo Vespaciano) I was honored and delighted to write a review of Joni Caggiano’s stunning debut poetry collection, One Petal at a Time (Prolific Pulse Press, 2024). It’s published on MasticadoresUSA. I invite you to go there to read the review and preorder the... Continue Reading →
Thank you, Esteemed Editor Michelle Ayon Navajas, for publishing our poem “Party Hearty” on HOTEL Masticadores! Party Hearty by Barbara Leonhard and Nolcha Fox Rona woke up on the right side of the saddle. Felt hoarse. Coughed up phlegm the color of runny yolks. “Good day for a party. They love Worry woke up on the... Continue Reading →
My 5th birthday at my paternal grandparents’ home I 1956. I didn’t know that I would be fighting for my life 2 years later, when I was 6 going on 7. To commemorate International Encephalitis Day, which is on February 22, I have written an article about my case of Measles Encephalitis, which nearly killed... Continue Reading →
Thank you, Michelle Ayon Navajas, for publishing “Birth Name”, a collaboration by Nolcha Fox and me. Nolcha and I had fun spinning verses on Google Drive, responding to each other’s new verses daily for a period of time. Hope you like this poem! Here is the start of the poem. Nolcha’s verses are regular font... Continue Reading →
Photo of a Roller Coaster by Pixabay on Pexels.com Grief and Joy Ride the Smiler The wacky 14-loop roller coaster ride invites laughter and loss. Grief screams and hangs on to Joy as though proposing. The reeling, a dance of ups, downs, ins and outs. Twists and turns. Joy loses her lunch on Loop 8,... Continue Reading →
Extraordinary Sunshine Weaver 