Category Archives: Haiku

Chrysanthemum, October 2012

Chrysanthemum, the Internet Magazine for Modern Verse Forms in the Tradition
of Japanese Short Poetry, issue 12, 2012 is out. I am delighted to have three
of my haiku in this issue, translated into German. They can be found on page 21.
The Magazine can be downloaded from here
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Pleiades —                             Plejaden —

a hunter lowers                   ein Jäger senkt

his gun                                    sein Gewehr

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Translation: Chrysanthemum Editorial team.

“A Blackbird Sings: a book of short poems”

Thrilling news: A new book brimming with wonderful poetry is out this month. The even more thrilling news: it includes two of my own short poems!

A Blackbird Sings: a book of short poems” edited by Kaspalita and Fiona Robyn, is now available on Kindle and will be available in print from the 1st of November 2012.

This book is the second anthology of  ‘small stones.’ What is a small stone?  “A small stone is a short piece of writing that precisely captures a fully-engaged moment.” It may or may not be a haiku, tanka, or other form.

The editors say:

“This is a book you can dip into and be nourished by again and again. It will surprise you, shock you, move you and delight you. It’ll remind you of the important sparkling details in your own life, and inspire you to pay more attention to what’s around you.”

Well, I can only say I am very excited to be part of this project! Buy the book! You will find yourself coming back to it again and again!

 

‘the woman in blue’ #5 October 2012

Woman in Blue

reading his last letter –

burning red leaves

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NaHaiWriMo prompt: haiku about a painting

83/100 Days of Summer

Small stone

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Found Haiku: The title of Vermeer’s painting is “Woman in Blue Reading a Letter.”

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One of my all time favorites. The stillness and silence in this picture, the allusion to pregnancy, waiting time, the letter/news almost associate to an annunciation.

Yet, it is likely that there is disappointment. The map associates to far away places. Where is he writing from? Perhaps he is not coming back… the autumn of the relationship in the haiku… will she burn the letter too? Where are all the feelings… .

Whatever you make of it, the stillness and containment in this painting keep bringing me back to it.

 

 

‘autumn loneliness’ #4 October 2012

autumn loneliness —
checking whether flames
defy gravity
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NaHaiWriMo prompt: gravity
82/100 Days of Summer

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I have been working on a micropoetry collection about loneliness, and the capacity to be alone, titled In the Garden of Absence. This poem is not included in the collection, but fits well with the theme. Enjoy!

Per Diem Haiku on the theme of Hands

This October, continuing the The Haiku Foundation Per Diem: Daily Haiku series, Ruth Yarrow packs a punch with a collection to delight the heart.

Ruth’s wonderfully touching, and humorous collection is “Hands-On.”  Hands? Yes, hands. This is what she offers by way of an introduction:

“We are a species heavily dependent on our eyes, especially for connection with others and world around us.  But our hands also connect, and that connection often reaches the heart.  Right now my beloved mother-in-law, who doesn’t see well, is dying, and when you approach her, she reaches out her thin hand to connect.  These haiku about hands touch emotion.  They range from humor, as in Randy Brooks’ hand in the cookie jar, to sadness, as in Cherie Hunter Day feeling the weight and warmth of her dying dog’s collar. They include fear, as in John Stevenson’s shiver at a warm hand before diagnosis, sex, as in Sari Grandstaff’s total attention to the hand on her thigh, and even exasperation or anger, as in Kenneth Elba Carrier’s deaf man grabbing at the other’s hands.”

You can read the whole post by clicking here

Gabi Greve has a number of haiku on Hands too; see her blog Haiku and Happiness, where she features the THF Per Diem on Hands. Please click here

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