Collateral Damage
After four or five years, the miracle pill—the “gold standard” of Parkinson’s treatment—loses its sparkle. The drug wears off several times a day, allowing symptoms to reappear or worsen. Unless you increase the dosage, you’ll be staring into the abyss: muscle stiffness, imbalance, weakness, lethargy… And if you increase it?
dyskinesia. . .
how tall grass
sways
In Contemporary Haibun Online 17.1
Beyond Me
There is a point at which thought unravels, where cosmic dust swims on waves our brains are not equipped to comprehend. This is the reason we learn to speak of concrete things caught by the senses – the fragrance of flowers, light and shadow, bird song, the weight of snow. Holding tight to the literal, we learn to survive.
Betelgeuse. . .
on my third cup
of strong coffee
My heartfelt thanks to editor Clare MacQueen for publishing this haibun
in issue 7 of MacQueen’s Quinterly. It had originally appeared in the
Wales Haiku Journal.
It’s at its loudest in the early morning hours. Before light dissolves darkness, before the neighbour leaves for work, before the birds start singing, his laboured breathing comes over the baby monitor whispering, gurgling, rattling, spluttering….
I lie awake listening to the crack of thunder, the roaring waterfall, the sounds of the sea emitted from his chest. A car starting, the exhaust backfiring, the train leaving station. The boat reversing in the harbour. Light rain. A soft meow. His breathing renders a whole world. In this soundscape, I make out the stories he told me when years ago he put me to bed.
Soon, light dispels the apparitions, and his breath comes over the monitor soft, steady, regular, lulling me to sleep.
music of the spheres
how we became
human
home alone . . . mother’s lipstick on her lips nude lipstick the teacher’s wry smile under her mask big sister’s lipstick . . . first date following his gaze to her mouth… lip reading lip liner learning to say no *** https://prunejuice.wordpress.com/2021/03/01/issue-33-senryu-kyoka/ In Prune Juice 33 (scroll down)
A woman reading a letter in the light pouring through an unseen window. Hair pulled back from the forehead, she is pictured in the style of her favorite painter against an expanse of soft yellows. Areas of blue for the shadows, the armchair and her top allude to hidden layers.
camera obscura
the temptation to see
depth
Her upper body is turned towards the light, held by it, trapped by it. Arrested in the moment, her Parkinson’s is invisible. In a minute or two, she’ll have to change position, align her spine, prevent stiffness from setting in.
Amsterdam to Delft…
in their seats now, the old couple
remove their face masks
This is a good day. In the early hours of the morning, she’d lain listening to the woodpecker hammering time. As the hours rolled in, she made fabric out of wool, squeezed poetry out of the daily grind, mailed her loved ones. Read their letters…
lapis lazuli…
shifting attention
to what matters
This haibun, a collaboration with artist and daughter Maria Pierides, appeared in the project Love in the Time of Covid
Maria Pierides’s art is for sale from Saatchi Art and from her website
Very happy to have “Portrait,” my haibun paired with art by Maria Pierides, appear in Love in the Time of Covid: A Chronicle of a Pandemic. Many thanks to editor Michelle Elvy.
To read, click here
insomnia
hoar frost
in my fridge
In “on the nail” haiku 2021
Dale Wisely says:
Delighted to announce a surprise, special issue of RIGHT HAND POINTING: Haiku 2021! (A nice set-up for our new print journal of haiku/senryu, first frost, coming this May). Thanks to our pal Elizabeth McMunn-Tetangco for curating the issue.
Read it here
Enjoy!
first light
the woodpecker’s
drum roll
Third prize in the THF Kukai, January 2021
Here the writer is more obviously in the picture. We can easily imagine someone who is still in bed, waking to this familiar (and thereby reassuring) but perennially thrilling sound. The experience as conveyed has an energy that could well inspire optimism.
Commentary by Dee Evetts.
Thrilled to see my poem appear as (Per Diem) Haiku of the Day on the Homepagebof The Haiku Foundation! Many thanks to Ralf Broeker for including it in his collection on Spirits, and to Rob Scott for running the feature.
From this afternoon’s walk across the Schmutter wet meadows. The snow has gone and it feels like Spring…
it must be
something I said…
cherry blossom
backyards…
snow blankets
our differences
lockdown blues…
waiting for the red lipstick
to arrive
.
Inspired by @MariaPierides’s Lipstick project
felted fire bowl
the innocence
of red lipstick
not taking calls…
my mobile phone’s
new felted case
A Happy New Year 2021 to all my friends! A year filled with Health, Love, Creativity, Happiness, and Peace!
Meanwhile, still in 2020, JuxtaSix: The Journal of Haiku Research and Scholarship, the print issue, is available! I just received my print copy from Amazon. It is a very interesting and well-presented issue. I am happy to say it includes an article on Haiku and the Brain that I co-authored. Many thanks to the editors, and reviewers, and well-done to my fellow authors!
the weight
of our arguments
falling snow
Happy to see my poem included In the inaugural issue of the wonderful Blo͞o Outlier Journal!
Thank you, Alan Summers!
Delighted to see my work included in the new journal “tsuri-dōrō – a small journal of haiku and senryū.” The Inaugural Issue is just out! Have a read and submit!
Zoom meeting
a bird flies into
the window
What a wonderful project! The brainchild of Krzysztof Kokot, the International Picture Postcard Project “Haiku Connects Us” brings together poets and poetry from around the world. Beautiful pictures, coupled with haiku…what a treat! So pleased to see my contribution included here!Thank you, Krzysztof!
Earlier this year, I was very pleased to see that The Signature Haiku Anthology: Including Senryu and Tanka, edited by Robert Epstein, included one of my poems.
Robert Epstein describes a signature poem as “a unique and authentic expression of one’s haiku spirit or sensibility,” a poem by which the poet would wish to be remembered.
Now Gregory Pico, noting in one of his posts that “Some writers selected their most awarded and anthologized poem, while others chose a poem that best captured their poetic style, or portrayed a place or event of deep personal importance,” selected a few of these poems to feature on his website. Mine was included! Thank you so much, Gregory Pico!
whether I am here or not returning tide
Haikupedia opened its doors on 21 June 2020. Now in its seventh week, it has released articles on haiku in several countries, biographies, awards and contests, and other articles for study, for research, and enjoyment. All you ever wanted to know about haiku is being written by experts and gathered in one place: Haikupedia. Every week new material! It is growing and it is getting better.
And it is always open, always there. You can visit anytime you like: https://www.haikupedia.org
21 June: Biography of Issa, the Matsuyama Declaration, and Haiku in New Zealand
https://www.thehaikufoundation.org/2020/06/21/this-week-in-haikupedia-june-21-2020/
28 June: Biography of W. G. Aston and Haiku in Finland
https://www.thehaikufoundation.org/2020/06/28/this-week-in-haikupedia-june-28-2020/
5 July: The Genjuan Haibun Contest and West African Haiku
https://www.thehaikufoundation.org/2020/07/05/this-week-in-haikupedia-july-5-2020/
12 July: The Touchstone Awards over the years
https://www.thehaikufoundation.org/2020/07/12/this-week-in-haikupedia-july-12-2020/
19 July: All about England and Wales
https://www.thehaikufoundation.org/2020/07/19/this-week-in-haikupedia-july-19-2020/
26 July 2020: Southern Africa and The European Top 100 Most Creative Haiku Authors https://www.thehaikufoundation.org/2020/07/26/this-week-in-haikupedia-july-26-2020/
2 August: More to come! So much more …
After a few false starts with seedlings disappearing overnight, flowers dropping off unpollinated, good news at last. My first courgette is now growing! Swelling by the hour. A wonder! Now the question is, after all the effort, setbacks, heartbreak, patience, pleasure, and pride, how could I possibly eat it?
This Week in Haikupedia — June 28, 2020 http://dlvr.it/RZXPfN —
Brimming with goodies. Check it out: https://www.thehaikufoundation.org/…/this-week-in-haikuped…/
