Stella Pierides

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one year older
I learn to notice blades
of grass

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New Year‘s walk
pampas grass plumes
rustle
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so  much is clear
this year too in my purse
the tides tables

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NaHaiWriMo prompt: New Year resolution/review

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packing tackle
the fishing line teasing
the cats
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Inspired by Jane Reichhold’s ‘frayed rope’
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2
a shape no other
than the humble horseshoe
four-leaf clover
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Based on Cherie Hunter Day’s ‘a skull no bigger‘

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NaHaiWriMo prompt: Influence (another poet/haiku) This is the prompt:

Write a haiku based on/influenced by another poet’s haiku. I know, I know, we are always under someone’s influence, but still! Anything goes, except ‘old pond’

If you are stuck for choice, have a look at the link below, the Haiku Foundation’s Montage Archive, where the work of haiku poets is juxtaposed in relation to a theme, for instance, The Little Truths  or any other comparative haiku piece. Or, pull on the ‘frayed rope’ here
See you there!

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against loss
sewn into the mattress
gold coins

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NaHaiWriMo prompt: gold/silver/coins

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what might have been
but for frangipani blooms
December evening

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NaHaiWriMo prompt: taking stock

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oiling

the wheel of fortune

horseshoe

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NaHaiWriMo prompt: oil

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peace and joy -
on the Christmas tree
a red felt heart

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NaHaiWriMo prompt: Good-wishes-ku

Happy Christmas and a Merry, Healthy and Joyous New Year!

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This haiga, using my haiku, was created by renowned haiga artist  Kuniharu Shimizu. Kuni-san is also priest of Tenrikyo, advisor to the  World Haiku Association, and judge of their haiga contests. I feel most honored that one of my snowman haiku was included in his current series of Snowman haiga.

The haiga is accompanied by a lovely commentary on his own blog, seehaikuhere. Click and see.

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tree of life
a stray gene from
Andromeda
2
olive tree
as blessed as it is
humble

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NaHaiWriMo prompt: Tree

December 23 prompt: All about trees. From frankincense trees, to olive and fig trees, Eucalyptus, Jacaranda, cinnamon, Christmans trees, take your pick!
I saw this piece of news re frankincense tree

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cosmic cushion –
pulling the darkness out
pin by pin
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moment of stillness
just before the light changes
direction

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NaHaiWriMo prompt: solstice. The actual prompt ran like this:

Solstice (what else?), cosmic time, longest/shortest day, cosmic light… .
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A haiku I love by Svetlana Marisova:
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incoming tide …
the writing fills
both sides
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More of her poems in the recently created page here (The link takes you to the Haiku Foundation page with several of Svetlana’s poems. Go and see!)

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funicular inner monologue bursting out in laughter (ku-ku)
2
snow storm
all the pigeons become
doves
(cuckoo-ku)
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My haiku plays with the misperception that pigeons are grey and doves white. I came across a site with pictures that corrected me (at least) for good: here

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NaHaiWriMo prompt runs as follows:

December 21 Prompt: Let’s have some serious fun. Pick a genre from Michael’s essay „ku-ku: Because You Can’t Have Enough Haiku“ and write a haiku in that genre. Please indicate which one you’ve picked, eg chai-ku.
See here

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count-down to solstice
two cormorants dry their wings
in the sun

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NaHaiWriMo prompt: numbers

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sheltering
under your wings
fly

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NaHaiWriMo prompt: refuge

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melting
the snowman on the patio
now kneels

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NaHaiWriMo prompt: knee

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avalanche
the sound comes before
the fury

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NaHaiWriMo prompt: snow

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winter forest work
a hairdresser clips
his bonsai

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In Gabi Greve’s World Kigo Database, under Ikebana/Bonsai (scroll down)

(first appearance in FB page: Joys of Japan)

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layer after layer
the same old stink -
onion

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NaHaiWriMo prompt (by Yours, truly): onion (s)

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frosted camelia
the dancers‘ skirt
higher and higher

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In Gabi Greve’s Haiku and Happiness. The photo is beautiful, have a look!

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wild winter roses
the impersonal color
in your cheeks

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NaHaiWriMo prompt:  Haiku involving color

I’d like to share a haiku I read today on the Haiku Foundation site Archive (HaikuNow! winning poem, First Prize for 2011):

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Indian summer
mother dyes her graying hair
the color of straw

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—Tom Painting (USA)

For more winning Haiku and an excellent analysis see the Haiku Foundation Archive

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pines along the shore
and the sea unfolding -
so cold this winter

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I hope this poem conveys something of the difficult situation that Greece is facing…

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Today’s NaHaiWriMo prompt (by Yours truly) as follows:

You are/were on holiday in Greece and this is how your haiku senses sing about /remember it…

By the way, you may know Shamrock, #17 had a Greek focus, with several haiku translated by its editor, Anatoly Kudryavitsky. You can find it here:

From the same issue, I copy a haiku by Giorgos Seferis, transl. Anatoly Kudryavitsky.

empty chairs
the statues returned
to another museum

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winter gusts
again the broken window
rattles

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I copy below today’s prompt for NaHaWriMo that I posted earlier on their FB site. It occurs to me that I should have collected the prompts as I posted them over there in this site too – it is so exciting and an honor to be doing this! Anyway, at least today’s:

December 13 prompt: Write a haiku that tells a story…

Issa:
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mopping sweat–
at his tomb I tell my story
then go
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Trans. David Lanoue. See more here

Also, if you have the time, you might like to have look here

Curious? Interested? Wondering about tomorrow’s prompt? See  here.

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reading room
the soft tapping
of laptop keys

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NaHaiWriMo prompt: Book(s)/reading

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for a clear head
malt, hops, yeast, and water -
old brewer’s trick

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NaHaiWriMo prompt: recipe-ku

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moonlight -
below the Acropolis
a man sells drachmas

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NaHaiWriMo prompt: place names

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dissecting her heart
they find the sea and the crater
of an old volcano

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NaHaiWriMo prompt: heart

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driving rain

through the porthole

sight of land

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painting by Maria Pierides (www.mariapierides.co.uk)

haiku by Stella Pierides

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NaHaiWriMo prompt: weather/painting by Maria Pierides: Driving rain

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one-breath poem
cut short
by a cough

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NaHaiWriMo prompt: breath/air

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a branch of pine
broken in the storms
Christmas tree

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NaHaiWriMo prompt: gift

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winter wind –
feathers and fishbones shift
inside the eyrie

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NaHaiWriMo prompt: nest

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lighthouse -
on the way we observe
the inner light

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false log beams
I wonder who is holding up
the ceiling

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NaHaiWriMo prompts (by Stella Pierides, by the way!) lighthouse/beam

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suckling
at the mouth of the river
ocean

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NaHaiWriMo prompt: tongue, mouth

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advent wreath –
wax spreading on the table
counts down the days

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NaHaiWriMo prompt: garland or wreath

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slow stream

a heron stretches his beak

towards the sky

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soft rain

how benevolence

works

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I am very pleased that these two haiku were included in the inaugural issue of A Hundred Gourds, alongside contributions by many fine poets. A Hundred Gourds is a new international journal for haiku, haibun, haiga and more, edited by Lorin Ford and a team of distinguished poets. Congratulations to everyone on the team, and many happy returns!

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weaver’s hut –
by the loom a goat chews off
threads

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NaHaiWriMo prompt: carpet

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homesick -
a tree bends
towards the light

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NaHaiWriMo November 2011 prompt: a photo prompt by Carlos Colon, also known as Haiku Elvis. You can find him on Facebook here and on twitter here.

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soft afternoon light -
from behind open curtains
purr of a kitten

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NaHaiWriMo prompt: a 5-7-5 haiku

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dance studio -
learning to ignore
wrong moves

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NaHaiWriMo prompt: dance

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crisp
autumn
leaves
musical
chairs

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NaHaiWriMo prompt: write a five-word haiku in five lines

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in synchrony -
only now her silver thimble
fits my finger

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NaHaiWriMo prompt: heirloom/antique tool

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ten-week-old kitten
how the world calls out
to you!

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NaHaiWriMo prompt: relationships

Living in Germany and England, while having Greek roots, I thought I could lay claim to an international outlook!

Then came the call from the hostess of Language\Place #12, Linda Hofke, to produce work on the theme of food. Armed with my ‘search’ button, I looked for my food haiku and found too many to mention in one post! I mean hundreds … My choice here is limited to (gulp) 17. Some of them either published, or posted on my or other poets’ blogs. But there was a surprise in this for me. The ingredients in the haiku are not that diverse, not that varied! Perhaps I am less international than I’d like to claim. What do you think?

1

celery crunch -
I always knew you threw
the dice

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beets -
and he wonders how he got
kidney stones

3

pumpkin -
the car park attendant scoffs
at my car

4

in this rain
even the eggplant weeps -
billowing clouds

(These haiku appeared in Sketchbook 6-3, May/June 2011, in the Haiku thread/Editor’s Choice).

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tomato -
sometimes even stars are not
enough

Featured in Melissa Allen’s Red Dragonfly: Across the Haikuverse no 20

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through the fog -
mountains of orange
pumpkins

7

mushroom garden -
in the damp, dark corner
full moon

8

magic mushrooms -
under the duvet I find
stars

Nos 7 and 8 featured by Melissa Allen, of Red Dragonfly, together with other haiku,  in her blog post ‘Mushroom Harvest.’

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pale moon -
sugar crystals travelling
south

Featured in Melissa Allen’s Red Dragonfly: Across the Haikuverse, no 23

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ruby wine -
the song of a canary
on my tongue

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wild goose chase -
even the duvet tries
to fly south

12

summer cool -
the blossom lingers
in the cherry

13

vesper bell
on the tree so many
pomegranates

14

chamomile –
drinking the fields
from my teacup

15

so here is the tree
of the liquid gold Homer spilt
so liberally—
between epic verses and
bare rocks it grows its olives

Greece

Olea europea

in Atlas Poetica Special Feature From Lime Trees to Eucalypts: A Botany of Tanka, poem #20, (26 August 2011)  [tanka]

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full moon tea
my book of beasts
lies open

Featured in Aubrie Cox’s Yay Words‚ Tea with Trolls

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I guess after all this food the next haiku is a must:

17

super moon 2034
robotic arm
brushes my teeth

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breaking bread
the sound of glass clinking
against glass

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NaHaiWriMo prompt: thanksgiving

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grilled sardines
beyond the pines
whispering sea

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NaHaiWriMo prompt: holiday food

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knowing how we fail
I keep my eye on the ball
pilgrims

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NaHaiWriMo prompt: ball games

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off the isle of Skye -
two whales break
the surface

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NaHaiWriMo prompt: joyous event

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kindness -
collecting the acer
from the grass

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NaHaiWriMo prompt: weekend activity

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once again
she inverts the hourglass –
Cinderella

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NaHaiWriMo prompt: deadlines

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late grapes –
birds making a meal
of the vine

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NaHaiWriMo prompt: feeding birds

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moving house –
my mother’s tea plates clink
inside the box
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(I am finally moving house tomorrow! I did wrap those plates in extra paper!)

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siesta
my sister and I peep through
half-closed shutters

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NaHaiWriMo prompt: childhood memory.

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lunch
a fishbone swims down
my throat

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NaHaiWriMo prompt: bad luck

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running along
the rim of the crater –
old soldier

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NaHaiWriMo prompt: veterans

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weeping meadow -
every time love loses
its dream
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NaHaiWriMo prompt: scene from a movie

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Inspired by Theo Angelopoulos’ film The Weeping Meadow (watch the trailer)

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volcanic ash -
the taste of the market
fallout

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NaHaiWriMo prompt: natural disasters

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Mars swallows –
we beam them down
for winter

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NaHaiWriMo prompt: scifi ku

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dark moon–
at the foot of the Parthenon
last throw of the dice

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NaHaiWriMo prompt: gambling

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flowering–

on your face the ghost

of a smile

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@CuentoMag #165, 5 November 2011

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changing gear –
instead of inscribing
I tweet

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NaHaiWriMo prompt: social media

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Rosetta Stone -
a life
in three languages

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(Why is this not a senryu? It is, too!)

NaHaiWriMo prompt: ancient Egypt

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cactus needle –
loneliness turned
inside out

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NaHaiWriMo prompt: tactile

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under the red maple
red maple –
autumn’s harvest

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NaHaiWriMo prompt: autumn foliage

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full moon tea

my book of beasts

lies open

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tea leaves —

a fate worse than

cuticles

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kallikantzaroi—

drinking tea they forget

the World tree

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Three haiku included in Aubrie Cox’s collection Tree with Trolls, in her blog Yay Words. Twenty seven poets saying, in their own unique way, Happy Halloween! And thank you Aubrie!

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ant lines -
weaving a pine needle
necklace

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NaHaiWriMo extension; prompts this month by Carlos Colon: sweet indulgence

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no-go area –
her recipe-book
on the top shelf

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NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: secret

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on her tombstone dove
two snails
mating

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NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: cemetery

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telegraph wires –
swallows too are waiting
for your news

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Nahaiwrimo extension 2011; prompt: migrating birds

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charred blankets -
the doll
still smouldering

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NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: consequences of war

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chill wind -
remembering
the things I forget

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NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: frightening

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winter’s beginning –
last year’s coat
two sizes larger

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Or,

winter’s beginning –
last year’s coat
two sizes too big

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NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: beginning

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when you blush -
the faintest shade of pink
above the horizon

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NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: dawn

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squall –
learning to blow
against the wind

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NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: windstorm

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as if the word for peace were war cloudy skies

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cloudy lens –
looking without
seeing

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NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: peace

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curling
against your warmth
ebb tide

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NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: place of peace

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perfume wars -
her statement still lingers
in my study

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NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: scent

bee hive 

where the workers never

strike

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Sketchbook 6-4, Editor’s Choice Haiku, John Daleiden: Life in the Mostly Unexamined World (scroll down)

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eternal life
only the roaches
come close

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in my salad
a green caterpillar—
life lesson

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Sketchbook 6-4, Guest Editor’s Choice Haiku, Bernard Gieske : A Glimpse into the Past (scroll down)

and Editor’s Choice Haiku, John Daleiden: Life in the Mostly Unexamined World (scroll down)

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gut feeling –
blinking
the third eye

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NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: belly

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nightfall -
losing the certainty
of youth

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NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: dusk

Two one-line haiku

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the unrelenting waves under your pillow

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portentous below the belt oracles

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NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: one-line haiku

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hairline -
wading on the riverbank
terns

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NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: baldness

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never too late -
listening to the silence
of the moon

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NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: late/too late

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such innocence
the soft curve
of your lip

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NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: innocence

Delighted! My haiku “starry night” came second (tied) in the July/August 2011 Sketchbook Kukai (peer-reviewed contest).

Here it is:

starry night—
growing old
together

Delighted also that several of my fellow haijin from NaHaiWriMo did so well, esp Terri Hale French (1st), Michelle Harvey, Cara Holman, and others…

Two other haiku I submitted received no votes! Food for thought, of course.

The entire thread can be read by clicking here

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last kiss
i unplug
the telephone

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NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: kiss

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rose-tinted clouds
in Broadstairs -
marshmallows

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NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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missing you -
on the ocean floor
conch shells

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NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: telephone.

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on this spot
the sun has been –
moonshine

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NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: loss

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balance -
perched on a wire a dove
and a crow

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NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt Pris Campbell: beauty

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out of Ithaca –
a poem about
life

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NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: journey

Happy National Poetry Day!

The National Poetry Day Patchwork Poem 2011, Pelmanism, collated by Andy Jackson from lines taken from contributions by a number of poets/writers appeared today. To my delight, it includes a line from my own poetry: ‘war games, the unbearable logic’. The Patchwork Poem, published in the North Carr Light, can be read here. It is a multi-layered, thoughtful poem… I cannot imagine how Andy Jackson put it together from all those separate poems and poets! What a feat!

This afternoon, I went to the Royal Festival Hall for the National Poetry Live event. A fantastic afternoon of poetry, poetry, poetry; all sorts of poetry. Simon Armitage, Lemn Sissey, Jackie Kay, Jo Shapcott, Jo Bell and others… Wonderful work. My absolute fav though, was Joelle Taylor, who read her poetry from the heart. Wrote it from the heart… Hard-hitting as well as thought-provoking work set in the  wastelands of high rise buildings in London’s poorest areas, it spoke of dispossessed children, women, people, and lives, finding hope in poetry and its transformational  powers.

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moving house –
a snail and the same old
me

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NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: home

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bamboo screen -
not a single
butterfly

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NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: butterflies

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gnarled olive
the tenderness of human
love

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NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: courtship etc

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coming home -
the garden has forgotten
my hand

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NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: sabi

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sunrise -
the singular beauty
of a rose petal

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NaHaiWriMo extension 2011. New prompter, Pris Campbell, prompt: awe

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crocus-
cutting your first
tooth

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NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: beginnings

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making ends meet –
I sew an extra button
on my waistband

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NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: ends

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harvest festival
the last apples before
the Fall

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NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: celebration.

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harvest -
so much food for
the soul
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NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: harvest.
September challenge 19 Planets.

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autumn circus -
keeping all her juggling-balls
in the air

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NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: circus

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so many bees
on the Autumn Joy…
Octoberfest
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Autumn Joy = one of the sedum family (flower)

Oktoberfest: oh well…

NaHaiWriMo extension 2011, prompt: autumn flowers.

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city life -

inside the belly

of the whale

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Matchless Magazine 18 September 2011

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setting sun -
I too let go of
attachments
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.#.

Thinking about this haiku, hm, it seems better without the ‘my’. I’ve made the change in the haiku, but not in the haiga.

photo: Hermann Mueller; haiku: Stella Pierides.

NaHaiWriMo extension 2011 prompt: sunset

Taking part in Rick Daddario’s 19 Planets September challenge (almost there!)

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growing up -
I learn to live
with the tides
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NaHaiWriMo extension 2011, prompt: beach.
Taking part in Rick Daddario’s 19 Planets September challenge.

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NaHaiWriMo extension 2011: animals

Taking part in Rick Daddario’s 19 Planets September haiga challenge.
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your patience -
the way a river
cuts through rock

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NahaiWriMo extension 2011. Prompter: Johnny Baranski, prompt: river(s).

My haiku ‘back to school’ was included in the Asahi Shimbun Haikuist Network showcase of the 16th of September 2011, edited by David McMurray. This showcase appears two to three times a month in the daily Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun and is a must read for haiku lovers. Click here and read all the poems! Really good work by poets from around the world.

(My haiku is in the section ‘From the notebook’)

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Taking part in Rick Daddario’s 19 Planets September challenge: A haiga a day … or so…

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what I know
each lake has its own
full moon

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This haiku was written in response to a prompt for  a haiga using Margaret Rosenberg’s artwork. You can see the whole artworld + haiku (haiga) in here

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through the fog -
mountains of orange
pumpkins

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NaHaiWriMo extension 2011: mountains

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summer -
this bee
gets lost again

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NaHaiWriMo extension 2011: Haynaku

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in this asphalt jungle
money grows on trees -
blood moon

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NaHaiWriMo extension 2011: prompt ‘asphalt jungle’

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lucky charm -
on the crest of the wave
sound bubbles

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NaHaiWriMo extension 2011: luck

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blood moon

how the light changes

direction

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NaHaiWriMo extension 2011, prompt: moon viewing.

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laying nets they beat
olives from the trees
merciful moon

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setting out
to dispel darkness?
moon

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NaHaiWriMo extension 2011: light and dark

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this old city

a river runs through

its heart

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Taking part in Rick Dadario’s 19 Planets September Challenge: A Haiga a day, or every few days … .

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angel
meeting the endless
light
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Taking part in Rick Daddario’s 19 Planets September Challenge: A Haiga a day, or every few days …

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blue moon
which came first the fall
or the apple?
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(Leaving Ammersee)

Taking part in Rick Daddario’s 19 Planets September Challenge: A Haiga a day, or every few days …

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waiting for the tide -
fishing boats line
the harbour

…

I was thinking of Wells-next-the-Sea, but please feel free to supply your own harbour …

NaHaiWriMo: vacation memories

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school days -
counting sparrows
in the yard
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NaHaiWriMo extension 2011: school days

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waiting
for the fish to be caught
frying pan
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The artwork in this haiga was originally a photograph taken by Hermann Mueller in Diessen am Ammersee, a small town on the shores of the lake. Diessen is famous for its Baroque gem of a Church, its community of artists and craftsmen, its yearly world-famous ceramic market, and its fish. Fish nurseries have been flourishing for a number of years here. The couple in the picture is a wood-carved sculpture on the lane leading to the lake promenade (I hope to find out the name of the artist or at least the owner of the sculpture and will be posting it here).

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Taking part in Rick Daddario’s 19 Planets September Challenge: A Haiga a day, or every few days …
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apple orchard –
on the picnic blanket
spilt wine
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NaHaiWriMo extension 2011: picnic.

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plain sailing?
once again we run into
trouble

NaHaiWriMo: games. Leaving Ammersee.

Taking part in Rick Daddario’s 19 Planets September Challenge: A Haiga a day, or every few days …

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between us

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between us -

this sunset is also

a sunrise

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NaHaiWriMo prompt: sunrise

Taking part in Rick Daddario’s 19 Planets September Challenge: A Haiga a day, or every few days …

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NaHaiWriMo prompt: weekend. Lake Ammersee.

Taking part in Rick Daddario’s 19 Planets September Challenge: A Haiga a day, or every few days …

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Having lived by the lake Ammersee for ten years, we are now moving further inland. These photos with haiku/haiku within a photo (haiga) are our way of capturing our last autumn walks by the lake.

(I will be posting them on Flickr too, set: ‘leaving Ammersee.’)

Inspiration also through NaHaiWriMo extension prompt: weekend.

Taking part in Rick Daddario’s 19 Planets September Challenge: A Haiga a day, or every few days …

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September drizzle -
on my wall calendar
the page for August

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NaHaiWriMo extension 2011/prompt: calendar

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leaving a trail
of crumbs for the way back
history lesson

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Prompt: photo of wine cellar, NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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shower of sparks
last year‘s pine cones
giving up the ghost

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Prompt: campfire. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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rice fields after the harvest caesium

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refusing to draw
the plow, water buffalo –
caesium fields

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Prompt: environmental concerns haiku. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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just because
the sky is navigable –
thistledown

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Prompt: just because. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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baring his teeth
the hobbling dog –
harpsichord

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This month’s prompter, Terri Hale  French, suggested we use a randomly generated haiku by the haiku generator (a JavaScript Haiku application) to work on our own haiku. I did. The result is the haiku above. You can see the original, software generated haiku below:
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harpsichord sickens
dense snowstorms hobbling dogs
wailing, formless

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car boot sale -
on schoolyard tables
grown-up divorce

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Prompt: second hand. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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Aegean heat -

in the animal shelter

an eery silence

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Prompt: natural disasters. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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a goldfinch
lines her nest
thistledown

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Prompt: Photo of thistle with cicadas. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

Atlas Poetica, Special Feature From Lime Trees to Eucalypts: A Botany of Tanka, poem #20, (26 August 2011)  (Olea europea) 

The Mainichi Daily News, 29 August 2011. (‘warm morning’)

escarp, the ‘ selective, twitter-based review of brief poetry and prose’ (‘glacial’)

Red Dragonfly, Melissa Allen’s, excellent mainly haiku blog, (‘dark waters’ and ‘iridescent wings’) and

Asahi Shimbun, in David McMurray’s column The Asahi Haikuist Network, on the 19th of August 2011 (‘grey skies’ and ‘watermelon’)

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glacial

the silence of space

against glass

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In escarp, the ‘ selective, twitter-based review of brief poetry and prose’, posted on 20 August 2011. (#8)

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wireless
the quiet certainty of
old love

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NaHaiWriMo extension 2011: radio

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flying saucer
the wind carries away
my hat

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NaHaiWriMo extension 2011: flying

All  you ever wanted to know about dragonflies … in haiku…in Melissa Allen’s blog Red Dragonfly.

It is a dream of a post with amazing poems, images/artwork. (Don’t miss the video of the dying dragonfly.) The links to the poets and their sites/work is an extra bonus, and I know it is much appreciated.

So, go over there and read! (Delighted that two of my own haiku are included! Thank you, Melissa!)

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mushroom garden

mushroom garden–

in the damp, dark corner

full moon

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magic mushrooms

magic mushrooms—

under the duvet I find

stars

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from the primordium

dark cloud–-

from the primordium

a billowing mushroom

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In Red Dragonfly, Mushroom Harvest, July 2011

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star gazing
I leave my shadow
behind

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NaHaiWriMo extension 2011. Prompt: bad haiku (so, how can I write a good haiku without my shadow?)

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teeth skin
hanging loose
a meta-ku

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s
..  ku
i
n

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Prompt: Experimental haiku, NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

For an introduction to experimental haiku, Terri Hale French, this month’s prompter for NaHaiWriMo, suggested  George Swede‘s article in Simply Haiku.

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this moussaka
I taste the tomatoes
still ripening

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NaHaiWriMo:humour.

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flea market
in this light her pearls look
false

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Prompt: garage sale, NaHaiWriMo extension 2011

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wallflower—
slowly getting to know
your sense of humor

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Prompt: walls, NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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full moon—
a meteor flies past
incognito

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Prompt: space. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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fireflies–
reflected in her eyes
my childhood

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Prompt: daughters. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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this heart urchin shell half-buried in the sandbed

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Prompt: Write a one line haiku.

Terri Hale French, this month’s prompter for NaHaiWriMo extension 2011, suggested an article from Simply Haiku, to help us orient ourselves. Really helpful article, by William Higginson, can be read here.

For images of heart urchins click here. Pages and pages of them…

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on my doorstep–
this old city in flames
licking its wounds

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Well, even though I am not in London at present, as I live there for part of the year… a ku from my watching the news.

Prompt: front porch. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011

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frayed at the edges
this sunflower had too much
sun

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Prompt: sunflower. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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pale moon—
sugar crystals travelling
south

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Prompt: tired/sleep. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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Hot dog
when hunger gets the better
of me

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Prompt: dog. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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ruby wine—
the song of a canary
on my tongue

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Prompt: beverage. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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ebb and tide—
our holiday against
the horizon

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Prompt: driftwood haiga. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011. Written for photo by Terry Hale French.

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sun-kissed Aegean
gulls swoop where the boat
has been

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Prompt: journey. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

I have been reading an article published in Notes from the Gean, The Intentional Ellipses: Haiku and its Relationship to Space, by Tracy Koretsky, and so experimenting with space in this haiku. While not a new article – it was first published in Triplopia, the excellent  internet journal no longer available online – it had escaped me first time round.  I am so glad Notes from the Gean published it now. I am going back to reading and trying out more space haiku…

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life’s journey
I count the years
in my neck

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Prompt: journey. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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beach combing–
amongst pebbles a muddy
Drachma

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Prompt: coins. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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corn silk—
still searching for the face
under all this hair

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Prompt: child/childhood. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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letters
learning the abc
of thanking you

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Prompt: gratitude. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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mockingbird
still I kept the Athenian
accent

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Mockingbird: Mimus polyglottos!

You can hear this amazing bird mimic other birds, squeaky gates, machines etc here

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olive press—
how else do you write your
haiku?

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Prompt: trees. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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spring morning–
bluebird, is that my hair
in your nest?

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Prompt: birds. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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cat nap–
on my desk the mouse still
on the mouse mat

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Prompt: cat NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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spring ephemerals—
now my roots need colour
often

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Prompt: spring ephemerals. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

1. Delighted to have three of my haiku included in Melissa Allen’s mushroom collection, on her site Red Dragonfly. Hers is a wonderful post with photographs, drawings, haiga and of course, lots of great poetry. Here is the address

2. The Language/Place collection, issue #8 is out. Put together by Walter Bjorkman it  is a delight to read. Contributions from around the world!  My post Haiku from Lake Ammersee is included along with photographs, poetry, all different kinds of meditation on the spirit and the poetry of place. Visit and see! wbjorkman.wordpress.com

Where can I find mushrooms, some of my readers have been asking me. A strange question, especially since I am allergic to mushrooms. I think they may have been smelling Melissa Allen’s mushroom garden, across the haikuverse. If you too are interested in mushrooms, you are invited to visit and even pick some. Please scroll down to find mine! The link? Here  it is

Haystacks, Kochelsee

two haystacks--
in the fields the same
old story

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Prompt: New Year. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

Haiku by Stella Pierides, Photo by Hermann Mueller.

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waiting for the peach
I miss the blue of the sky—
summer harvest

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Prompt: soft fruit. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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vernal pool—
they trend on Twitter all
morning

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Prompt: pool, puddle. NahaiWriMo extension 2011.

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Aegean moon—
still hot the pebble shifts with
the tide

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Prompt: moon. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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wild goose chase—
even the duvet tries
to fly south

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Prompt: quilt. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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gale force winds—
I steer my desk through a dark
ink swell

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Prompt: wind/stillness. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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pins and needles—
sparkling stars
in my finger tips

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Prompt: stars. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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crisp snow—
I dream of a hunted
deer

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Prompt: Snow. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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shadow line
reaching across I catch
a crab

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Prompt: shadow. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

Murnau moor

..

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sea of green–

even my trike

warms to it

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Prompt: sea/seaside. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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word-smith—
on the anvil a haiku
slowly takes shape

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Prompt: haiku, writing, word. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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Cretan knife—
picking wild mushrooms she pricks
her finger

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Prompt: indigenous/groups. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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Lainbach—

the river sculpts a garden

in stone

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Prompt: Garden. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

For photographs of the haiku walk, and of course, the river, see my Scrapbook here

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flow tide
hoarse through the fog
terns‘ cries

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Prompt: Fog. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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growing old–
that pink sky twice removed
now returning

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Prompt: First light. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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neon lights
a lonely glow worm’s
mate

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Prompt: Fireflies/Glow worms. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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two doves fighting–
who‘ll perch higher
on the olive tree

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Prompt: Doves. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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fireworks—
forgetting the taste
of cherries

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Prompt: Fireworks. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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larva and silkworm-
once upon a time
there was a girl

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Prompt: Butterflies, bugs. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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cuckoo affair–
thrown out of its nest
a baby robin

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Prompt: Birds. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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reggae—
in the book of life my name
in beats

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Prompt: reggae. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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on a haze-wrapped stone

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June heat–
by the pond
the shed skin of a snake

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Prompt: music. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011. I took the prompt to its limit; my haiku is full of silence and absence.

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roller coaster ride—
I learn to hold my heart
still

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Prompt: Fairs. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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Adam and Eve—
we keep mowing
their lawn

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Prompt: Indigenous people – my haiku is a long shot!

NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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home for strays—
her vacant eyes
stare through me

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Prompt: dogs/pets. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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marathon—
beyond the wall
dandelion

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Prompt: Sport. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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summer heat–
on school benches
bleeding hearts

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Prompt: School. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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shortest night—
all day she misses her beauty
sleep

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Prompt: Solstice. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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poppy fields–
the roar of the sea
a murmur now

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Prompt: Noise, NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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dark spring—
he dreams of sunflower seeds
on the moon

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Prompt: Freedom. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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on the road—

train drives over

poppies

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Unprompted, while travelling.

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empty flagpole–
a dove loses its
way

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Prompt: Flags. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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magpie—
down the road my purse grows
wings

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Prompted: Crime, NHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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old people’s home—
she insists on making her own
bed

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Prompt: independence, NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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tzitzikas—
the millennia-old rustling
of the pines

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tzitzikas is Greek for cicada http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicada

Prompted, NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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Cinderella–
turning into a pumpkin
was the easy part

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Prompted, NaHaiWriMo extension2011.

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tomato—
sometimes even stars are not
enough

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Prompted, NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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in my ear

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Prompted, NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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June winds—

on sober sands

frothing waves

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(Kingsgate Bay. (Klick for the wiki photo.This wiki photo shows the bay in its calm mood!!!)

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chill wind—
the boy now beyond
the daffodils

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Prompted, NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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stars—
red carpet to
the milky way

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Prompted, NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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dream space—
yoking the bear we plough
galaxies

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Prompted, NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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sunrise—
or is the earth rotating
on its axis?

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Prompted, NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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midsummer-

losing the tug of war

once again

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Prompted, NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

Kaspa & Fiona have taken over my blog for today, because they need our help.

For their fantasy wedding present, they are asking people across the world to write them a ‘small stone’ and post it on their blogs or on Facebook or Twitter.

A small stone is a short piece of observational writing – simply pay attention to something properly and then write it down. Find out more about small stones here.

Whether or not you have a blog,  write them a small stone on their wedding day whilst they are saying their vows and eating cake, post it on your blog, and send it to them.

You can find out more about their project at their website, Wedding Small Stones, and you can also read their blog at A River of Stones.

They also have a July challenge coming soon, when they’ll be challenging you to notice one thing every day during July and write it down.

They thank you for listening, and hope they’ll be returning from their honeymoon to an inbox crammed with small stones, including yours.

So do it! Please…

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medicine bag—
pine needles, sage and crystal
against missing you

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full moon–
in the pine forest
shadows

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Prompted, NaHaiWriMo 2011.

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between glances
a question mark—
butterfly noon

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Prompted, NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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word by word
we burned
our bridges

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Prompted, NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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reed beds—
all that remains of
a lost village
.
Prompted, NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

(Playing with Basho’s haiku here, using it as a ‘template’.)

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spring’s end—
a grass snake in the ashes
of the bonfire

Prompted, NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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And here is the snake in my garden, though not the one in the haiku!

Simon, the snake in my garden

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falling petals—
she throws the ball without
looking

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Prompted, NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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against the sky
the heavenly scent of
wisteria

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Prompted, NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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first butterfly –
a piece of the sky in
my cat’s mouth

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mountain mist-
all through the rain
the cuckoo calls

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Prompted NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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azalea spring
with raised arms they greet
the dawn

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Prompted, NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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vesper bell
on the tree so many
pomegranates

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Prompted, NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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shooting star -
between dreams
reality

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Prompted, NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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Olympus -
reaching for the sky again,
Gaia?

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Prompted, NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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flower moon
the poppies harsher
than the sax

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Prompted, NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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when the colors sing –
an onion dome between
my teeth

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Prompted, NaHaiWriMo extension 2011
This haiku refers to Kandinsky’s ideas about color and its use in painting; and my own novel in progress of the same title.

See also about synaesthesia here

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spring wind on the lake–
in the sound of the waves
the might of the ocean

.

Prompted, NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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spring tides –
more regular than
some birds

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Prompted, NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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spring tides –
searching the sands for a
lucky stone

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Prompted, NaHaiWriMo extension 2011

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jasmine flower
when light shines into
your eyes

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Prompted, NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

Three of the haiku I wrote for the 2011 NaHaiWriMo and its extension during the following months, were picked and translated into French by Vincent Hoaru in La Calebasse: ‘geranium’, ‘wrong season(ing)’, and ‘have you thought’. Vincent’s blog is highly original and I am indeed honored to be included. You can find the three haiku by scrolling down here.

For one more of my haiku translated into French see my earlier post here

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granny’s attic –
brushing my hair
spider web

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Prompted, NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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receding tide
a broken chair
in the river bed

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A version of this poem appeared in 7X20 in March 2011. This version was posted on NaHaiWriMo fb page. Many thanks to Pris Campbell for her suggestion.

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olive branch –
let our barque glide through
smooth water

.

Prompted NaHaiWriMo extension 2011

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white daisies …
to her a necklace
of pearls

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Prompted, NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

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between
my ego and yours
a butterfly

.

Prompted, NaHaiWriMo extension 2011

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spring clean
shredded in the compost heap
newspapers

.

Prompted, NaHaiWriMo 2011 extension

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lilac sprays
though my birthday is
in the summer

.

Prompted, NaHaiWriMo extension 2011

.
fruit bowl
a bee in and out of
the sunlight
.
Prompted, NaHaiWriMo extension 2011

.
lilac flower
first through the school gates
a bee
.

Prompted, NaHaiWriMo extension 2011, see facebook page here

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April frost
I never meant to let you
go so early
.

Prompted, NaHaiWriMo extension fb page here

.
chamomile –
drinking the fields
from my teacup
.

Prompted, on NaHaiWriMo fb wall here

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small mercies
windswept hair and the sea
on my lips

.

deckchair –
I dream of its beech forest
home

Deck Chair

Prompted, posted on the NaHaiWriMo extension April 2011 here The prompt was: Trees.

(The photo is from Wikipedia! I really like this deckchair!)

Peach Tree

Suzi Smith, of Spirit Whispers, hosting this month’s Festival of the Trees, asks  us to think of trees which make us tick, inspire us, which get the metaphors flowing. Well, there is no question, for me there are three trees: the lemon, the fig and the olive. (earlier posts here and here). I wrote a novel with the lemon tree in the title as well as in the centre of the main character’s home; a poem about olive trees, which won second prize in the inaugural edition of Big Pond Rumours Poetry Competition, 2007, and, well, the fig tree features in the novel too.

But there are others, of course, there are others. I have a peach tree in my garden, resting against the wall of the house; two pear and three apple trees; a plum tree, various conifers, and a yew, in addition to my three lieblings! If you knew the size of my garden, you would understand that fitting so many trees in such a small space is no mean feat – but I simply enjoy having trees in my garden: sitting under them, watching them grow, flower, and prepare for winter, harvesting their fruit…

So we established I love trees. But is there one in particular? Thinking about it for the last week, wondering which one is really the most and absolute favorite of mine,  I finally came to a decision. I made a choice. My favorite is, breath deeply, yes, it is the Tree of Life. The tree of all trees, the tree that contains all of my trees and all trees and beings and life, in a nutshell. Or is it the other way round? Is it the case that each tree contains in itself the Tree of Life, and all that it represents? I’ll let you decide.

Today, Arbor Day in some parts of the world, I’d like to share a few pictures of my trees and a few of my tree-inspired haiku and micro-poems:

trap door
the scent of lemon blossom
carried by the wind

tree of life
an olive branch was never
enough

in the garden
a bush warbler serenades
plum tree blooms

against the fence
a forgotten willow broom
buds

Domesday Tweet

The last fruit from the Tree of Life
picked, weighed and DNAed,
graced Kew Garden’s Eden Landscape.

[In escarp March 26, 2010]

More tree pictures in my Scrapbook here

.
trap door
the scent of lemon blossom
carried by the wind

Prompted, see NaHaiWriMo here.

Wonderful news! One of my haiku, ‘Chrysalis,’ was highlighted in issue 17 of Haikuverse, in Melissa Allen’s Red Dragonfly. Honored indeed to be included alongside, well, I don’t even dare mention names… you have to go and read for yourselves.

Melissa Allen’s blog is a must read if you are interested in Haiku, Haibun, Haiga and related forms. Informative, and fun to read, it will blow your socks off; it will surprise and delight you edition after edition. Go and see…

Also in my news: my very short story (vss) ‘Cruelty’ has been selected to be included in the Upper Rubber Boot Books anthology of work from Seven by Twenty. The anthology will be named 140 And Counting, and is expected to be released as an e-book by the end of 2011.

Finally, forthcoming:

Haiku ‘Vineyard’ in Shamrock, the Haiku Journal of the Irish Haiku Society

Haiku ‘Zen Garden’ in ‘A Handful of Stones’

Flash Fiction in 52250 A Year of Flash: ‘Fishing’

.
firing clay –
once again playing
gods
.

Prompted, posted on fb NaHaiWriMo extension 2011 here

.
spring horse—
the robot rides without
a smile
.

Prompted, posted on fb page of NaHaiWriMo extension here

.
peonies –
soon after the snow
white lies
.

Prompted, posted on NaHaiWriMo extension fb wall here

See also informative post about peonies on the World Kigo Database here

.
egg tooth–
chipping away at the shell
of this haiku

.

What is an egg tooth? Accrding to Wikipedia ‘ the egg tooth is a small, sharp, cranial protuberance used by offspring to break or tear through the egg’s surface during hatching.’  See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_tooth

This is a prompted haiku, posted on the fb page of the NaHaiWriMo extension 2011
.

.
Passion Play –
what is the price
of love?
.

Prompted, posted on NaHaiWriMo extension 2011 here

.
earth to earth–
half the garden under
my fingernails
.

Prompted, on Earth Day 2011. See also here

.
for your eyes only–
cherry blossom lit by
the full moon
.

This haiku, prompted, was posted on NaHaiWriMo’s  facebook page here

.
garden fence –
weeding round her narcissi
my neighbour
.

.
learning to trust
my nature?
windmil
.

.
tree of life
an olive branch was never
enough
.

.
old people’s home –
she looks for her cherry tree
again and again
.

.
boxed in
the nightjar flaps its wings
in vain
.

.
Thames mist—
street lights join
the Milky Way
.

Ammersee

April sun sets over the Ammersee. Magical!

.
tin cry–
tired of bending, always
bending

.

“When a bar of tin is bent, a crackling sound known as the ‘ tin cry’ can be heard due to the twinning of the crystals.”
.

.
dream boat—
still waters and
a silent moon
.

.
chrysalis –
when did I learn about
Venus?
.

.
my diary –
more plum pudding
than plum fairy
.

.
wind chimes –
at the garden gate
the ode to joy
.

.

for the journey –
a sprig of thyme
between his teeth

.

This haiku refers to the custom of placing thyme on or inside the coffin. It is supposed to give courage to the departed and facilitate the journey to the other world. See Wikipedia here.

Of course, thyme,  being an aromatic herb with antiseptic properties, has a variety of culinary and medicinal uses: For instance it is a major ingredient in mouthwash! I mainly cook fish with it!

(Prompted NaHaiWriMo extension April 2011)

.
spring rains –
the wheel of fortune
rusts
.