There is now a PDF with all the small stones written on the first Mindful Writing Day
– Fiona and Kaspalita have put it together and it is available to download for free
here. There is also a blog post with a list of winners in their blog entry here.
Well deserved to the winners! And well done, everyone!
My own small stone is on page 16.
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reflected in the doe’s eye full hunter’s moon
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Received one of the 3 Dottie Dot Awards in the October 2012 Haiku Bandit Society Moon party.
Thank you, Dottie Dot!
Now my scarecrow has a wife! At least in the poem “Autumn loneliness”! Thrilled that my poem is included in the Asahi Haikuist Network, edition 2 November 2012, From the Notebook section! Scroll down slowly, enjoy great poems by poets you know on the way! Click here
I have copied the absolutely wonderful illustration from the Asahi Haikuist Network page in the Asahi Shimbun below, assuming it is OK to do so (I’d be more than happy to remove it immediately, if it infringes any copyright or other rights).
And here is David McMurray‘s reading of the poem:
“Hardworking farmhands in Germany sometimes need help finding partners…”
*
Autumn loneliness
a farmer makes a wife
for his scarecrow
This coming Thursday, the 1st of November, is the first ever Mindful Writing Day, organised by Kaspa & Fiona at their blog ‘Writing Our Way Home.’
To join-in, simply slow down, pay attention to one thing and write down a few words from this experience (thus producing what is called a ‘small stone’).
Fiona and Kaspa claim that ‘small stones’ are easy to write, and that they will help you connect to the world. Once you’ve started, you might not want to stop… I concur! You might want to polish your little ones too, expand them into a longer poem, or shrink them, prune them and polish them into a micropoem or haiku. It is up to you!
As an additional bonus, if you visit ‘Writing Our Way Home’ on Thursday you’ll find out how to download your free kindle copy of the new anthology, ‘A Blackbird Sings: a book of short poems‘. This is a lovely, richly-textured book of poetry and prose by several contributors who have been writing small stones this year. Two of my own poems are included in this book.
If you do write, you can submit your small stone and see it published on the blog, and be entered into a competition to win one of five paperback copies of the book.
I will be taking part. In fact, taking part in the Facebook community NaHaiWriMo (National Haiku Writing Month) which is on-going all through the year, I have been writing ‘smalls stones’ every day, several of them haiku, and have been posting at least one a day every day. For me to do something different on this Mindful Writing Day, may amount to not writing at all! Just joking, I couldn’t stop, if I tried!
But if, say if, you do not feel like putting pen to paper, or fingertips to laptop keys, you might visit the blog anyway, and read what the others have written; or start visiting the site of the The Haiku Foundation, in order to read one haiku a day, every day, expertly chosen for you by monthly poetry editors. You will find this feature in the Per Diem: Daily Haiku panel, at the right hand lower corner of the Foundation Homepage. For the link click here
Whatever you decide to do, don’t forget to look at the sky. It is always there…
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.
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!
harvesting sponges—
how the women hold
their breath…
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rustling leaves—
a thief forgets
his own name
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In Aubrie Cox‘s new PDF Sea Bandits! Thrilled to be included!
(September 2012)
autumn drought –
the story in
her liquid eyes
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My entry for the shiki kukai Sept 2012
NaHaiWriMo prompt: Earth
77/100 Days of Summer
Today, 29 September 2012, is the day when 100 Thousand Poets for Change gather online, in person, and in print to celebrate poetry, art and music, and to promote social, environmental, and political change.
If you happen to be in Munich today, drop by the Munich Readery, the largest and friendliest secondhand bookstore in Germany. They will be hosting an evening of readings and performances from 19:00 – 22:00.
In observance of today’s 100 Thousand Poets for Change, I offer the following prose poem: The Beach at Blakeney Point, first published in the North London Writers and Poets Anthology Gathering Diamonds from the Well, 2007.
The Beach at Blakeney Point
Hard as I try, I can’t recall the beach at Blakeney Point. Images blend and memories merge – this beach with that at Holkham, with Morston, Burnham Overy and Brancaster Staith.
I only see an expanse in my mental map, the horizon shimmer, Old Lifeboat House looking stern from afar. The salt marsh carpet, creeks, dunes and samphire. Now it is summer. Blue above and below, and the sharp pinpricks of the flying sand. Now it is winter. The saltings dim grey and dirty brown, freezing crystals on the scrub.
Hard as I try. My first walk to the Point fromCleyBeach. Before I knew about tide tables, I set off walking the deep shingle spit, bruising calves and blackening nails. I did reach the end, the sea and the tern’s nests. The feeling of space and the sense of infinity. The tide withdrew to sea while I rested, leaving casts of lugworms, deserts of sand behind. Buccinum and Hydrobia shells. Leaving the bottom of the sea to me. Its cruelty.
A baby seal washed up dead, lying in pools of water, alongside sparkling stones and Flustra fronds the colour of hope. Why, where is the…, what can I…? Too late. It was, I was, too late. I walked back barefoot, the seal receding with each step, ebbing away. The boom of the sea and the spray. The wind sculpted sounds, I licked salt off my lips.
Hard as I try. Sea holly, sandwort and sand sedge cling to shifting dunes. I can’t remember the beach at Blakeney Point. Only that seal, that wind, and my impotence.
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76/100 Days of Summer
For Blakeny Point, see here
The Beach at Blakeney Point, in Gathering Diamonds from the Well, ed. Brian Docherty, Laurence Scott, and Katie Willis (London: New Gallery Books 2007)
I am very happy to have my work included in Diogen Haiku 2012, Diogen pro culture magazine. Six haiku in all, all in English and also translated into Serbian!
A very special thank you to Đurđa Vukelić Rožić, the editor of this haiku section of the magazine.
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The direct link is here
The link to the issue is here (please scroll down)
scissors
instead of sewing—
remaining heat
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singular beauty of chameleons remaining heat
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9th, 10th, and 11th places, tied, in the 6th International Kukai
A few more haiku from recent contests/publications:
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soul boat —
waves of silence
in gold leaf
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short-lived
shine of a melon seed
your words
A Hundred Gourds, 1:4, Sept 2012, p7
http://ahundredgourds.haikuhut.com/ahg14/haiku07.html
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…………………….
nest building –
on the other side of the fence
a deeper blue
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2nd Haiku My Photo Challenge
blossomrain.blogspot.com, Chrissi Villa
old wall
ants in and out
of the cavities
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In Shamrock No 23, September 2012 (Haiku Journal of the Irish Haiku Society)
“Mexicans Pay in Blood for America’s War on Drugs”
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tasting metal
the cup fills with news
of war
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This haiku, linked with the article above, now appears in Haiku News: the personal is the political is the poetical
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(Vol. 1, No. 30)
I am thrilled for my work to be featured on Kathy Uyen Nguyen’s blog/Live Journal Origami Lotus Poetry. My entry is today, the 5th of August 2012. Many thanks to Kathy for her generous and insightful comments.
Each day all through this month, Kathy features one individual poet, artist, or writer from all over the world. Please visit her blog, read, and leave a comment.
The results of the International Kukai 4th of July Forget-me-nots are out. I am very happy to see one of my haiku reach 2nd place this time round.
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sticky notes
on the fridge door
forget-me-nots
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2nd place
…..
forget-me-nots
fading on her palm
his phone number
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4 (tie)
…..
cluttered desk—
next to her own picture
forget-me-nots
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9 (tie)
I am very pleased to report that two of my haibun set in Athens, Greece, have been published by Contemporary Haibun Online: Feeding the Doves, a story inspired by a photograph on Robert Geiss’ wonderful blog “daily Athens photo”; and “The Haircut”, exploring the hardships Greek people are facing in the current economic crisis.
The actual photograph of the man feeding the doves that inspired this story can be seen here. In fact, visiting the site to look for the link, I realise that a version I’d sent Robert thanking him for the photograph, had been posted on his blog! So, let us keep feeding the doves!
I am taking part in the Project 100 Days of Summer 2012. In the words of the organizers:
“100 Days of Summer provides its members with the opportunity to share their creative work within the intense framework of providing one artistic submission per day for 100 days. Officially, we are beginning on July 5th and expect the program to run through October 15th or so.”
Steve Veilleux provides the prompts using “cards from a game called ‘The Origin of Expressions’. ” He encourages us to use the information in any way we like, “borrow ideas from other postings, or create literal or abstract interpretation of the expression”.
Expression #1 follows (week of July 1-7):
“Paint the town red”
Meaning: Spend a wild night out
and
Expression #2 (week of Jul 1-7)
“out like a light”
Meaning: Fast asleep
So, here we go! We Paint the Town Red! I will be posting mainly haiku/senryu and micropoems with the occasional photo haiku and photographs.
……….
rainbow dress
it doesn’t live up
to its promise.
in 3rd International Kukai – Rainbow
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no wedding bouquet –
her dress, though, is made
of roses
in #35 Caribbean Kigo Kukai – wedding bouquet
“Things with Wings & Other Poems” is now up as a PDF on Yay Words.
“Things…” is a collection of doodleku derived from a month-long challenge, initiated by Aubrie Cox on her blog Yay Words!
Throughout March 2012, poets were invited to participate in a challenge called “I Doodle, You ’Ku.” A doodle was posted each day and poets wrote poems in response to it.
I didn’t catch on until mid-month, but then what fun it was! Aubrie had the difficult task of choosing one/more haiku per day to go with her doodle. I don’t know how she did it, but the resulting collection is amazing! Truly splendid! Visit and see!
dandelion clock
each seed
a kite
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3rd place (joint) International Kukai No. 2 May 2012
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sailing the skies
a boy
and his kite
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kite flying
how long is a piece
of string
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7th and 8th place (joint) International Kukai No. 2 May 2012
………………………………………………..
Full results here
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reticence —
how rose petals curl
back
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Shiki Kukai, May 2012 kigo: rose(s)
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dandelion clock —
getting up when
it’s time
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Shiki Kukai, May 2012 free theme: morning habits
307 poets from all over the world are taking part this coming Saturday, 26 May 2012, at 18.00 Cyprus time, in the “Spring Poetry Rain” event in Nicosia, Cyprus.
All along Ledra and Araşta streets in Nicosia, the last divided city in Europe, poets from 55 countries, will participate through their poems in an event supporting “Individuality, Respect, Tolerance, Acceptance, Human Rights, Living Together, Sharing the same Life, Sharing the same Space,” under the motto:
“Different Nationalities – Many Ethnicities – One people – One Europe – One World – Same Future~”
The organizers of the event, coming from both sides of the dividing line of Cyprus, say:
“Large Balloons filled with poems and flying all along the Ledra and Araşta streets, will create ‘a chain of connection’, without the dividing line. The balloons will be burst at intervals releasing the poems which will fall, just like the rain!
The poems will be printed in hundreds of copies. Platforms will be placed all along the two streets, from which music groups will perform and poems will be read by poets, actors and of course by the public, which will be collecting them.”
I am particularly proud to be taking part in this event, and hope that it will provide a good opportunity to focus on the need for the peaceful coexistence of all people on the island.
More details about the event here:
http://www.ideogramma-cy.com/event_9_concept.html
You will be able to follow the event online by accessing these websites
www.ideogramma-cy.com
Organizers:
Ideogramma (www.ideogramma-cy.org)
Sidestreets (www.sidestreets.org)
Ευρωπαϊκό Κοινοβούλιο Γραφείο στην Κύπρο (www.europarl.cy)
Participating Poets here: http://www.ideogramma-cy.com/event_9_poets.html
This is what the Goethe Institute in Nicosia (associate partner to the event) had to say about it: http://www.goethe.de/ins/cy/nic/ver/en9232159v.htm
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Instead of
cherry-blossom-viewing
she counts syllables
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My poem in the Asahi Haikuist Network, From the Notebook, http://www.asahi.com/english/haiku/ 4 May 2012
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Delighted that my tanka was selected to be included in Take Five: Best Contemporary Tanka, Volume 4!
It can now be ordered through Amazon, or the link here
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Today, an old poem from 2011:
spilling its seeds
a broken pomegranate
bleeds for luck
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First appeared in Unfold magazine, 2011
(NaHaiWriMo prompt: broken)
And the great news:
My poet page is up on The Haiku Foundation’s Haiku Registry site. It can be seen by clicking here
Many thanks to Billie Wilson for creating it and putting it up.
My haibun ‘Drawings’ is included in Contemporary Haibun, vol. 13, of Red Moon Press.
I am delighted to be in such a good journal and in such good company!
