Stella Pierides

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one year older
I learn to notice blades
of grass

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1
New Year‘s walk
pampas grass plumes
rustle
2
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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1
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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1
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