Edited after writing group critiques
DAVID HOFFMANN BIO
127 words
Inspired by the wild, David Hoffmann’s writing explores themes of loss, hope, and spirituality. He grew up in a small cabin on the outskirts of Palmer, Alaska. He moved to Ashland, Oregon, in 2006 and now lives in a small cabin in the Cascade Siskiyou National Monument. Some of David’s favorite times are spent in places such as Denali and Yosemite National Park. He also enjoys the humpback whales in Alaska and Hawaii. In 2024, David’s haiku astuteness was published in The Best Haiku Collection 4 International Anthology. David’s poem Into the Night is published as lyrics for a musical composition titled Into the Night. David’s poetry has also been published by Grandmother’s Circle the Earth Foundation, Edge of Humanity Magazine, and Family Friend Poems.
Copyright David Hoffmann © 2025 – All Rights Reserved
HAIKU 0134
Snowflakes are sleeping
dreaming of a white Christmas—
wildfire ash falling
HAIKU 0157
cold one-room cabin
bitter drafts of whistling wind
teeth play percussion
SENRYU 0106
veil of protection
a cloak in the looking glass
no longer needed
SENRYU 0114
life’s frayed leather lace
pulled through another eyelet—
coming to the end
HAIKU 0163
sly as a red fox
the slithy raven swoops in
one less hamburger
Copyright David Hoffmann © 2025 – All Rights Reserved
ASK ME by William Stafford
Some time when the river is ice ask me
mistakes I have made. Ask me whether
what I have done is my life. Others
have come in their slow way into
my thought, and some have tried to help
or to hurt: ask me what difference
their strongest love or hate has made.
I will listen to what you say.
You and I can turn and look
at the silent river and wait. We know
the current is there, hidden; and there
are comings and goings from miles away
that hold the stillness exactly before us.
What the river says, that is what I say.
In 1975, William Stafford was named Poet Laureate of Oregon; his tenure in the position lasted until 1990.