Kat Lehmann

@songsofkat

A Beloved Fire Becomes the House (Red Moon Press, July 2026)🏠 Co-EIC @whiptailjournal.bsky.social🦎 Winner, Rattle Chapbook Prize 🐦 Creator of the multi-haiku form sudo-ku. Hampshire College F87 🦄 & Ph.D. Biochemistry

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Bluesky

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Kat Lehmann@songsofkat· 8d

My son has been doing photography, including some cool photos for businesses, so I set him loose on a copy of my latest book. Love what he did. 🥰 Here’s a small sample (the book is a hybrid memoir of interwoven #haibun and #haiku).

Kat Lehmann@songsofkat· 29d

Many thanks to Haiku Society of America Merit Book Award judges Michael Henry Lee and Michele Root-Bernstein for placing “no matter how it ends a bluebird’s song” in the awards! Big congrats to everyone recognized in their category!🌸 www.hsa-haiku.org/meritbookawa...

Kat Lehmann@songsofkat· Jul 7

What a thrill…Stacy Nigliazzo and I won First Place in the Haiku Society of America Rengay competition! Congratulations to everyone recognized. Thanks to the judges, Sarah Paris for coordinating the awards, and of course Garry Gay who invented this inspiring form! #rengay

Reflection

alpine lake
a single acorn
blurs its tree

blue sun
my mother's eyes

contrail
we move through
the what ifs

beak of breath
I don’t know how
to begin

the quiet rustle
of hours and worms

cymbal splash
resurfacing
wet wings

Kat Lehmann: 1,3,5
Stacy Nigliazzo: 2,4,6

Reflection rewards rereading in a way that few rengay do. Its associative linking moves effortlessly between the outer world and inner experience, each verse opening intuitively into the next. The progression is so seamless that the collaboration reads with the ease of a single poetic voice. Memorable images, such as “the quiet rustle of hours and worms”, continue to reveal fresh resonances. Together, these qualities set Reflection apart as our first-place winner.

https://www.hsa-haiku.org/rengayawards/2026-rengay-judges.htm

Kat Lehmann@songsofkat· Jul 1

I’ve been writing it for as long as I can remember, from childhood diaries, to a 175p memoir, to chapbooks, all unpublished. I wrote “around” it in my first three books, ruminating on happiness after loss. Released today from Red Moon Press! 🔥 #haibun #haiku redmoonpress.com/product/a-be...

I’ve been writing it for as long as I can remember, from childhood diaries, to a 175 pagememoir, to chapbooks, all unpublished. I wrote “around” it in my first three books, ruminating on happiness after loss. Released today from Red Moon Press!

Kat Lehmann@songsofkat· Jun 28

I’m thrilled to share that my haibun “Body Work” was chosen as the favorite haibun of Modern Haiku 57.1! Many thanks to editor Roberta Beary for curating it and to editor Paul Miller and the anonymous selector! What an honor to receive this wonderful surprise recognition for a favorite #haibun 🎉

"Body Work

I am a table. This woman loves the table. Her octopus hands. She ensures that nothing heavy is placed on me. Every knot is polished into yes with the scent of a ripe orange grove. The initials of old lovers wilt like a willow no one owns.

resting pulse a thicket of swaying sea grass

Her tentacles bend and shape me into something new. Curved ribs. Scrolled neck. Arched back. No longer a table, I pluck what I learned of her water sounds. And float in her ink cloud as the tides pull me under.

trigger points loosening a lower octave of violin"

Kat Lehmann@songsofkat· May 10

I’m deeply grateful to my kids for making me a mother and changing the meaning of Mothers’ Day, which was a day I dreaded for most of my life. Gentle landings to all who struggle on this day. another mother's day band aid for the exit wound -Kat Lehmann ONE ART Haiku Anthology, 2024 #onelinehaiku

another mother's day band aid for the exit wound

-Kat Lehmann
ONE ART Haiku Anthology, 2024

Kat Lehmann@songsofkat· Apr 29

Received a moment ago from the current #HampshireCollege president: “…the Hampshire campus as we know it will not endure in its current form. It will need to become something different for the College to meet its obligations.” 😭 Oh, my heart…a special home lost that we keep losing 💔

My Hampshire ID… I am 87F. We received these stickers each semester to pile up to show we were a current student. I guess the rest fell off (the pile became rather piley by the time we graduated).

Kat Lehmann@songsofkat· Apr 29

Here’s some excerpts from The Haiku Foundation Touchstone Distinguished Books Award commentary. Heartfelt gratitude to the Panel, coordinator, and THF! Full commentary at thehaikufoundation.org/kat-lehmann-...

Commentary from the Panel:

Kat Lehmann’s no matter how it ends a bluebird’s song has already garnered accolades from the poetry world having received the 2025 Rattle Chapbook Prize. It’s easy to see why this collection deserves notice and praise. Lehmann explores the terrain of illness, loss, grief and recovery, subjects that have been written about across genres for generations. In lesser hands, the depiction of these human experiences risks becoming sentimental, cliché or redundant. Lehmann avoids these pitfalls through her skillful attention to the elements of poetry: sound, rhythm, word choice, imagery.

This haiku memoir travels the path from illness to recovery. Lehmann deftly pairs the natural world with life-changing experiences.

two

days

after

the

first

dose

the

world

falls

into

starlings

trapped in a body the star a sky wanders

The pairings are unexpected, often startling, and accomplish what all good poetry accomplishes: the images give the reader an intellectual, physical, and emotional experience, a moment the reader can reside in and wonder what it is like to be trapped in a body while the surrounding universe continues to spin.

Nuance and beauty abound in these pages alongside heart wrenching moments.

beyond the bed

a lilt of voices live

my former life

This poem invites us to read it out loud and fully appreciate its sound. The masterful use of rhythm, assonance and alliteration becomes its own pairing against the devastating losses and isolation of illness. Lehmann’s haiku and monoku are wonderfully understated. The reader is never told how to feel or what to think. Throughout, we’re kept interested in Lehmann’s journey through unusual yet meaningful juxtapositions.

ICD

codes

the

taxonomy

of

raptors

(Continued)

river cloud

the X of this body

unsolvable

One of the many strengths of this collection is that it offers no answers about life, pain, illness or loss. The narrative dwells in uncertainty. Even hope and the future are held lightly. This perspective is particularly refreshing, courageous and brings a universality to each poem.

is it ok to hope an ocean road

but what if it all works out cherry blossoms

Recovery is presented as open-ended, another journey to embark upon. no matter how it ends a bluebird’s song is compelling and rife with original images that do not soothe or instruct. Instead, we’re offered the present moment exactly as it is.

Kat Lehmann@songsofkat· Apr 17

Here’s a photo I took of the book last spring when it was published. I love the way the book camouflages with the tree and sky. This tree is blooming again! 🌸 I have copies of Bluebird available for those interested in a signed copy 💙

no matter how it ends a bluebird’s song (Rattle, 2025) by Kat Lehmann is sitting a weeping cherry tree. The colors of the tree and sky match the colors of the book. The book won the Rattle Chapbook Prize and The Haiku Foundation Touchstone Award for Distinguished Books.

Kat Lehmann@songsofkat· Apr 17

I was a First Gen student at Hampshire College and was fleeing a bad situation. It was impossible to out-weird there. Hampshire became my place to deeply discover, to see interrelatedness and complexity. Find home and belonging. The college closure is devastating to everyone I know who went there.

Me with my nana in the Hampshire College library quad, 1988.

Kat Lehmann@songsofkat· Apr 4

Waves of shock…Somehow I have work on all three Touchstone Long Lists this year? Many thanks to the panelists for long hours and to The Haiku Foundation for holding these awards. This is a labor of love. Gratitude to the editors of Rattle and MacQueen’s Quinterly as venues of first publication!

Kat Lehmann@songsofkat· Feb 14

Happy bday! Here’s one just published in Modern Haiku 🎻

Kat Lehmann@songsofkat· Nov 20

Are we all receiving these weird, likely AI-generated spam pitches? I receive them daily, so many I could use them as wallpaper. And they're kinda hilarious (apparently, I've cracked the code for binding metaphors with molecules). Perhaps they believe that poetry is lucrative? 😂

Kat Lehmann@songsofkat· Oct 24

With gratitude to editor Sue Antolin for including my poem in this beautiful issue of Acorn! 🥰 I love the mixing of modern and ancient language in this. #haiku #wysiwyg

wysiwyg
one cumulus beast
begets another

Kat Lehmann
Acorn 55 (2025)

Kat Lehmann@songsofkat· Jul 26

Very happy to be included in Haiku 21.2, which anthologizes English-language #haiku published 2000-2010. This was the 13th haiku of mine that was ever published, and I still really like it! Gratitude to Lee Gurga and Scott Metz. a comma becomes a full stop moonshadows A Hundred Gourds 4.2 (2015)

Kat Lehmann@songsofkat· Jul 16

Ocean Ancient and Evolving is included in the FREE downloadable sudo-ku micro-chap "to wade through the wind as a night" (Ghost City Press, 2025) ghostcitypress.com/2025-summer-... The virgin GR page is just sad sad sad... www.goodreads.com/book/show/23... 🐦‍⬛ #multi-haiku #haiku

Ocean Ancient and Evolving (Rattle, 2023). The work is a sudo-ku multi-haiku form created by Kat Lehmann. Ten sudo-ku are included in "to wade through the wind as a night" (Ghost City Press, 2025).

Kat Lehmann@songsofkat· Apr 1

I'm receiving queries about how to get a copy of my new Rattle chapbook. For those interested, copies are available through only me and Rattle. If you would like a copy from me (signed), dm :)

For those interested, I have copies of the new Rattle chapbook available. There are only two places to get these: me and Rattle. If you would like a copy from me (signed), dm :)

Kat Lehmann@songsofkat· Mar 18

There's no shortage of darkness these days, but there's moments of light to be found. This cover reminds me that spring is finally here. 🌸 Gratitude to all who have supported this journey. Thanks to @rattlepoetry.bsky.social, @timothygreen.bsky.social, and to all who have reviewed on Goodreads.🐦

Cover of the chapbook "no matter how it ends a bluebird’s song" by Kat Lehmann, winner of the 2024 Rattle Chapbook Prize. The chapbook of 81 contemporary haiku was published in March 2025.

Kat Lehmann@songsofkat· Mar 16

14yo and I decided to make homemade bread and homemade butter tonight. This was a deliciously bad decision for me (off to walk on the treadmill for a while).

Kat Lehmann@songsofkat· Feb 26

The bluebird is here...or not here? Thanks to @rattlepoetry.bsky.social for selecting my contemporary #haiku manuscript for the 2024 chapbook award and to Tim Green for his work bringing it into the world! The weeping cherry by Rachel Bingaman looks great on the cover. Recommended by Oppie Otterfox!

Kat Lehmann@songsofkat· Feb 25

My dad in his 20s!

Kat Lehmann@songsofkat· Feb 23

Quick backup of some recently found childhood photos

Me and my dad on a motorcycle up Lehmann Lane. I was 4yo

Me on an old couch with a stuffed animal given to my mother when she was born. Both still exist (my family likes old things)

Kat Lehmann@songsofkat· Feb 23

Such an incredible honor to be a part of this fabulous chapbook series. Counting the days!

Kat Lehmann@songsofkat· Feb 8

Some memorabilia came in the mail today

Kat Lehmann@songsofkat· Feb 4

More kitten for those who need it.

Kat Lehmann@songsofkat· Feb 4

A kitten update for those who need it (hint: we all need it)

Kat Lehmann@songsofkat· Feb 3

Result: did an adult do this or a toddler? Good thing she says she doesn't care what it looks like.

Kat Lehmann@songsofkat· Jan 30

A couple months ago I was shopping for holiday gifts when I found the perfect bluebird necklace to celebrate my forthcoming Rattle chapbook "no matter how it ends a bluebird’s song"...then the clasp broke, so I reached out to Baked Beads who replaced it for free. Happy to have my bluebird back!

Kat Lehmann@songsofkat· Jan 16

I'm happy to be in the latest antantantantant along with Itami Kimoko (trans. Hiroaki Sato), Melissa Allen, Jon Cone, Richard Gilbert, Chris Gordon (+editor..thank you!), Jennifer Hambrick, John Martone, Scott Metz, and Michael O'Brien, each with several pages of poems. Here's some of mine below.

chickadee feeder he's eager to leave

And other short poems

that sun he rode a camel where they store their desert water

And other short poems

Kat Lehmann@songsofkat· Jan 1

Mail from Japan is never bad when you're a haiku poet