after the Fall
Secrets of a life
secrets of a life lived underground… harvest day
The Snowman
Honored to see my haiga collaboration with Kuniharu Shimizu (2011) translated into Irish by Gabriel Rosenstock and into Greek by Sarah Thilykou. An honor. And a lovely surprise. Thank you, Gabriel Rosenstock and Sarah Thilykou!
since you left your hat is worn by snowmen ó d'imigh tú bíonn do hatasa á chaitheamh ag fir shneachta αφότου έφυγες οι χιονάνθρωποι φορούν το καπέλο σου
This morning, changing hats, I read a post in The Culturium, in which Kon Markogiannis and Gabriel Rosenstock offer a wonderful collaboration of image and word on the fragility of life, with haiku in English, Gaelic, as well as modern Greek translations by Sarah Thilykou: Angelic Flights. Breathtakingly beautiful!
Chicory blooming
chicory blooming the courage to be more
Sky Ponds in CHO 19.2
Happy to see my haibun “Sky Ponds-Himmelsweicher” appear in Contemporary Haibun Online 19.2
I found out about the bomb craters in the Augsburg city forest during a walk with my Parkinson’s walking group. Marvelous recovery of a wounded landscape, and people. And apt for our own situation of struggling with progressive disease.
Sky Ponds—Himmelsweiher
The Siebentischwald, on the edge of Augsburg, acts as the lung of the city. Lush green vegetation crisscrossed by water channels and dotted by silent ponds makes this forest the life force of Augsburg. It turns out it is also the repository of an interesting piece of the city’s history: the forest floor bearing the scars of thousands of bombs that were dropped on it towards the end of World War II.
On my morning walk with my Parkinson’s group, in this peaceful, green oasis, pierced by high-pitched peacock cries from the adjacent Zoo, I come across oval ponds and other depressions filled with vegetation. I am told they are Bombenkrater, the remnants of craters formed by aerial bombing.
The proximity to the munitions manufacturer Messerschmitt meant that bombs often landed in the forest. However, the massive bombing raid in February 1944 literally dug up the forest floor, leaving numerous wounds on the landscape. In recent years, a public charity transformed some of these craters into ponds brimming with life.
cool forest shade. . .
lingering by the sky ponds
heat from the past
reflecting
reflecting on the sky's glorious depths... sweet chicory
flying horse
flying horse the merry-go-round of childhood
Haiku in The Mainichi
June 29, 2023 (Mainichi Japan)
they take you for granted ... dandelions
Happy to have this haiku selected by Dhugal J. Lindsay for The Mainichi newspaper. It appeared on Japan’s Daily on the 29th of June 2023.
treasure hunt
treasure hunt… reaching deep into the soil for potatoes
solstice hike
solstice hike... looking for portals to other worlds
curing
curing its perfect head of garlic
Do you Haiga?
Do You Haiga?
Then this is for you! Jim Kacian, The Haiku Foundation Founder and President, and its Haiga Gallery Curator, invites submissions.
“The Haiku Foundation is accepting submissions for the THF Haiga Galleries. If you’ve been creating haiga for a while and are looking for a place to exhibit, have a look at what our space looks like https://thehaikufoundation.org/haiga-galleries/. If you like what you see, you’ll find contact information there. Maybe you could be the next THF Haiga Gallery Featured Artist!”
blue iris
blue iris this longing for color
A Cluster of Lights
A Cluster of Lights is here!
This beautiful anthology is now out in the world! Celebrating the ten-year anniversary of the brilliant project ’52 / 250 -A Year of Flash,’ 52 writers (including yours truly), respond to their previous work with new creations.
Congratulations and many thanks to Michelle Elvy, John Wentworth Chapin, and all contributors!
The link at the publisher’s site is here: https://pureslush.com/…/anthologie…/a-cluster-of-lights/
• paperback – https://bit.ly/PB-CLUSTER
• ePub – https://bit.ly/ePubCluster
• Kindle – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C56JGVJ9/
For a ‘taste of a Cluster of Lights’, click below:
“lillies” in Haiku of the Day (Per Diem)
Negative Ions
Negative Ions, my haiku sequence, and contribution to International Haiku Poetry Day (IHPD) on The Haiku Foundation YouTube channel:
World Parkinson’s Day
On this World Parkinson’s Day, aiming to foster awareness of the disease, let us remember that we have tools available to help improve psychological well-being and support quality of life. For me, exercising my brain and body, is vital.
Haiku poetry – by virtue of its brevity, simplicity, concentration on the moment, connectedness, and power to encapsulate experience – has proved to be a powerful tool for the challenges of PD. https://tinyurl.com/3vt3b5yv On the physical side, table tennis is my pillar of support http://shorturl.at/giow4
In REFLECT, at Creek Creative Studios
I am happy to be included in the REFLECT and Intriguerium 3 exhibition at Creek Creative Studios, Faversham, England, curated by Robert Lamoon. Two of my tiny haibun, as two objects, are to be found in tiny boxes made by the curator!
One of the haibun, Who is, was inspired by a story I read in the news: the calcified remains of an unborn fetus were found accidentally during a scan for a totally unrelated health problem. The fetus had rested inside its mother’s body for over thirty years…
Who is
Lithopedion. The calcified remains. Bonded. Forever. The grief of the unborn, the consolation of eternity.
stone baby the weight of forever
Are you in the area? The exhibition is on till the 16th of April!
starflowers
evening walk … the forgiving scent of starflowers
Parkinson’s Life feature
I am honored to be included in this Parkinson’s Life feature celebrating World Poetry Day!
In “Poems reflecting life with Parkinson’s Disease,” Sarah McGrath writes:
“How can poetry help to raise awareness of Parkinson’s? In light of World Poetry Day on 21 March, we look back at five interviews with writers who have picked up their pens to share their perspectives on the condition.”
Thank you, Sarah McGrath, indeed, haiku is in my PD toolbox supporting my well-being and helping me to live well with Parkinson’s.
April is Parkinson’s Awareness Month
How to live well with Parkinson’s Disease? What helps me: Haiku for #Parkinsons and #tabletennis!
I have haiku in my Parkinson’s toolbox! Poetry, exercise grounding the senses, living in the moment. And I am sharpening my table tennis skills, as it has been found to help with the disease.
For all things haiku, including advice for absolute beginners, check out The Haiku Foundation https://thehaikufoundation.org/
For haiku for Parkinson’s see Parkinson’s Life, the magazine of Parkinson’s Europe, https://parkinsonslife.eu/the-aim-of-the-haiku-poet-is-to-capture-the-essence-of-a-moment/
More information about table tennis for Parkinson’s on Facebook and website https://www.pingpongparkinson.de/
Live well and prosper! Or as I am increasingly learning, “bleib’ am Ball”!
Alpine views
Alpine views … filling the heart with space
From the Book of Life
FROM THE BOOK OF LIFE
A time will come in your life when you too will feel like a prisoner. It may be love keeping you boxed in or hate sucking out the air around you. It may be illness clipping your wings, or simply the weight of years … no matter.
Bach cantatas... unpicking stitches from the kneeler
beneath her eyelids
deep waters the dreamer’s eyes twitch beneath her eyelids
Spring air
the spring air studded with blooms… morning grace
RING-A-RING-O’ ROSES
Shelling a nuclear plant is never a good idea.
Zaporizhzhia—
now you see us
now you don’t
.
In The Other Bunny, March 6, 2023
Forgiving mists
forgiving mists my stash of wool for rainy days
The Brecon Beacons, Wales
Apathy
APATHY
The Luitpold Bridge in Munich is closed. Climate activists have glued themselves to the road disrupting traffic. They are not afraid of a jail sentence, they say. Part of me yearns to be there with them. Making statements, taking action. Instead, I follow signs for an alternative route, like so many ahead of me, and so many behind. Our long, slow-moving queue snakes around our principles.
on the radio…
instructions for instant
gratification
In The Other Bunny 27 Feb 2023
When the going gets tough
Valentine’s Day
Valentine’s Day under blue skies fields edged in red
