Category Archives: Haiku

Blog, Haiku, News

In The Language of Dragons

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flowering only

in soft moonlight—

dragon fruit

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In anticipation of the year of the dragon, a delightful collection of dragon haiku edited by Aubrie Cox, of Yay Words! The language of Dragons is heart-warming, playful, witty, and wonderful.  I am delighted that one of my own dragon haiku made it there. The entire collection can be downloaded as PDF from Aubrie’s site, here.

 

Haiku, News

Haiku in Sketchbook Kukai and thread

old calendar

the writing on the wall

illegible

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November / December 31, 2011 “old calendar” Kukai, Sketcbook, 6th place, tied.

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old calendar

the sum of my hopes

fading

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in my old calendar

you came first

seedlings

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November / December 31, 2011 “old calendar” Kukai, Sketchbook, 10th place, tied.

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candlelight

how pale the moon

looks

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Choice haiku, Karina Klesko, US, Sketchbook, “Light a candle”

Choice Haiku, John Daleiden, Sketchbook, “Candle in the Wind”

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power cuts

in this wind a candle burns

too fast

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Choice haiku, Karina Klesko, US, Sketchbook, “Light a candle”

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electric candles—

so, I record

my prayer

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Choice haiku, Karina Klesko, US, Sketchbook, “Light a candle”

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prayer candle—

she puts her lips

to the icon

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Choice haiku, Karina Klesko, US, Sketchbook, “Light a candle”

Choice Haiku, John Daleiden, US, Sketchbook, “Candle in the Wind”

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diamonds

sparkle in your eyes

candle flame

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Choice Haiku, John Daleiden, US, Sketchbook, “Candle in the Wind”

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All Choice Haiku poems can be seen here and here

 

 

 

aros, Blog, Haiku, NaHaiWriMo

January 2012 River of Stones

2 Comments

It is January and time for noticing, for paying attention to, well, whatever attracts our attention on a daily basis and writing a small poem, sentence, something about it – what is called a small stone. It is not difficult, believe me. The world calls to us all the time; in the words of Mary Oliver,

“The world offers itself to your imagination,

calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting-“

From Wild Geese, Mary Oliver’s poem in Wikipedia

Let‘s not be deaf to it this year. Let’s start small, noticing one thing at a time, writing a small stone.

If you’d like to join in, take a look at the founding fathers, ooops, founding couple: Fiona and Kaspa’s site here  They explain everything… And you can even get a lovely badge from their site for your blog. I will be getting one soon myself…

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Oh yes, I almost forgot, here is the distillation of today’s noticing in the form of a haiku:

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first day

the rootedness

of everything

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See also NaHaiWriMo prompt: New Year’s day/beginnings

aros, Blog, Haiku, NaHaiWriMo

Haiku #29 December 2011

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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!

aros, Blog, Haiku, NaHaiWriMo, Poems

Snowman Haiga (collaboration)

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.

aros, Blog, Haiku, NaHaiWriMo

Haiku #22 December 2011

1 Comment

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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!)

aros, Blog, Haiku, NaHaiWriMo

Haiku #21 December 2011

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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

aros, Blog, Haiku, NaHaiWriMo

Haiku #15 December 2011

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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

aros, Blog, Haiku, NaHaiWriMo

Haiku #14 December 2011

4 Comments

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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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aros, Blog, Haiku, NaHaiWriMo

Haiku #13 December 2011

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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.