Daily Haiku: March 29, 2020

summer fling over

the wild wave swept

out to sea

 

 

by Roberta Beary (Ireland/USA)

Honorable Mention

9th Setouchi-Matsuyama International Photo-Haiku Contest, 2020

Daily Haiku: March 28, 2020

winter commute

scent of roses from

a street vendor

by Eufemia Griffo (Italy)

Hedgerow, #110, 2017

 

Important Announcement: Get Your Poetry Published in an Attractive Anthology!

Robert Epstein, longtime author, and editor of professionally-produced anthologies, has yet another project underway.

Check out his list of some of his books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Robert+Epstein+haiku&ref=nb_sb_noss_2

And, don’t miss this great new opportunity! If you’ve never sent work into Robert, you’ve been missing out. Robert is multi-talented and is a psychologist and prolific poet.

Call for Submissions:  For a print anthology on giving/receiving help, care, or kindness with humans and non-humans alike,
send no more than 10 unpublished or previously published haiku, senryu, tanka or monochrome haiga to Robert Epstein:
worldofdewhaiku@gmail.com or SASE to 1343 Navellier Street, El Cerrito, CA.  Include full citation for published poems/art.
No compensation for inclusion.  Deadline:  7/31/20.

Peace, everyone, during this difficult time! Keep your mind active with reading and writing when you can.

Best,

Charlotte Digregorio, Author

Ripples of Air: Poems of Healing

Haiku and Senryu: A Simple Guide for All

Daily Haiku: March 27, 2020

Kongming lanterns

wondering which is

my autumn moon

by Lakshmi Iyer (India)

Autumn Moon Haiku Journal, 3.1, 2019

Daily Haiku: March 26, 2020

tradewinds

half the argument

left for later

by Barbara Tate (USA)

Modern Haiku, Vol. 47:2, 2016

Daily Haiku: March 25, 2020

rain shower

how many times today

the sun returns

by Rick Daddario (USA)

Daily Haiku: March 24, 2020

mountain village

the cemetery a little higher

than the church

by  Nikolay Grankin (Russia)

Honorable Mention

The First Morioka International Haiku Contest

Daily Haiku: March 23, 2020

wind through corn

a place for songs

no one sings

 

by Glenn G. Coats (USA)

Frogpond, Winter 2019

A Simple Thought for Readers & Creative Writers

Many readers of this blog  are probably doing a bit more reading than usual, staying at home during the coronavirus crisis.

I was reading Ellen Grace Olinger’s blog and I spotted an interesting thought in a long poem of hers that I’d like to share:

some days
I read a little more
with my heart
and let my mind rest

by Ellen Grace Olinger (USA)

http://www.ellenolinger.wordpress.com

And, if you write,  write with heart, too!

Best Wishes to All of You.

Charlotte Digregorio

Daily Haiku: March 22, 2020

Atlantic sunrise

my great-grandfather’s

third language

by Mary Stevens (USA)

Modern Haiku, 50.2. 2019

Daily Haiku: March 21, 2020

temple garden

I’m praying

with a small lizard

by Eufemia Griffo (Italy)

Blithe Spirit, Vol. 28, No. 2

 

Daily Haiku: March 20, 2020

lightning

the silhouette of trees

on my window

by Rick Daddario (USA)

https://19planets.wordpress.com/

Daily Haiku: March 19, 2020

dawn. . .

I watch the New Year

spill down the mountain

 

by Carole MacRury  (USA)

Snapshot Press Haiku Calendar, 2016

Being an Author Means Doing Publicity & Events

If anyone out there thinks that an author’s job is done once the book has been published, you are mistaken. In fact, once the book is published, your work has really just begun! You must then put on your “Publicity Hat.” This mean scheduling events.

While it’s hardly the time for authors to be doing events during these trying times, it’s possible to schedule events during this downtime for the future. As some of you know, April is National Poetry Month, and it’s sad that there are cancellations for poetry events. I, for one, was scheduled to be interviewed on cable television in Highland Park, Illinois about my new book of several poetic forms, Ripples of Air: Poems of Healing,but it looks like that’s postponed.

Authors need to look ahead to better times, as books don’t just sell themselves.

On Saturday, May 30 at 6 p.m., if things are looking up, I am scheduled to do a poetry reading in conjunction with my new book,  at Coffee Speaks in Highland Park, IL. (610 Central Ave., Ste. 155). Here is my press release for the event:

Poetry Heals

WINNETKA, IL–Listen to seasoned author Charlotte Digregorio read from her just released book, Ripples of Air: Poems of Healing and be inspired to write poems as a healing exercise to cope with life’s struggles. This event will be at 6 p.m., Saturday, May 30, at Coffee Speaks, 610 Central Ave., Ste. 155, Highland Park, IL. Meet, greet, and ask questions of the author who will be signing her book that contains hundreds of her published and award-winning poems of several forms, along with her essays/prose passages about poetry and its healing nature. Further, learn how to promote your own poetry, as the Appendices of this book provide exhaustive resources for making your poetry visible to the public. The author will also sign her classic book, Haiku and Senryu: A Simple Guide for All, that has instructed thousands of poets in these Japanese forms. Digregorio is recognized as an esteemed educator and workshop leader.

 

I also have two poetry/art exhibits beginning in July, one at the Northfield Public Library, 1785 Orchard Lane, in Northfield, IL that runs through July 31. The other is at Glenview Park District (The East Wing), 2400 Chestnut Ave., Glenview, IL. The latter  will run from July 1 through September 30. Below is a description of both exhibits:

Capture the Moments of Your Life

Through an illustrated poetry exhibit of paintings and calligraphy, experience the healing and artful nature of haiku– an ancient poetic form that dates back to the 1600s in Japan– currently popular worldwide in dozens of languages. Charlotte Digregorio, award-winning author of Ripples of Air: Poems of Healing and of Haiku and Senryu: A Simple Guide for All, invites viewers to capture the moments of their lives through her exhibit. This exhibit contains thoughtful, humorous, or even sad pieces, but they always evoke emotion. Be inspired to write your own haiku (and senryu, a related poetic form)!

Remember: lots of great books never get noticed. That’s because the author never bothered  to publicize and meet potential buyers. If your book doesn’t sell, look inward first. Publicity just involves common sense. It’s not difficult, but like everything else, it involves time and care.

And good luck! With effort, your book will sell!

Copyright 2020 by Charlotte Digregorio.

 

 

 

 

Daily Haiku: March 18, 2020

autumn deepens—
the pumpkins colonize
my grandma’s yard

 

by Goran Gatalica (Croatia)

Creatrix, WA Poets, #48, March 2020

Daily Haiku: March 17, 2020

senryu

library hall

the straight back

of an old chair

by Nikolay Grankin (Russia)

Frogpond, Vol. 43:1,  Winter 2020

Daily Haiku: March 16, 2020

empty park

two crows start

the world over

by Robert Epstein (USA)

Acorn, #33, Fall 2014

 

Daily Haiku: March 15, 2020

sixty-seventh spring

I’ve never been more in love

with birds

by Mike Stinson (USA)

Akitsu Quarterly, Winter 2019

Heal Yourself with this Book

We all need healing. Healing involves facing your disappointments, pain, trauma, and grief. It also involves feeling moments of joy and humor. Poetry speaks to us all. It changes how we see ourselves, others, and our world.

Ripples of Air: Poems of Healing will put you on the path to healing. You’ll likely be inspired to write your own poetry.

In Ripples of Air: Poems of Healing, Charlotte Digregorio has the all-too-uncommon ability to put the reader in the poet’s place. One does not read, so much as experience her poems. Closing my eyes, many of these poems could have been memories from my own past. These very personal poems become personal to the reader. The poet uses words as her brush, and all senses are stimulated.

–Ignatius Fay, Poet and Co-Author of Breccia

Digregorio’s book of 236 pages isn’t just of poems of many different forms for readers. It is a self-help book with essays and prose in each of its twelve sections, and exhaustive Appendices that inspire either aspiring or experienced poets to write as a healing exercise. It includes an Introduction on poetry as a healing art. It also includes multiple lists of ideas for poets seeking publication, readings, exhibits of their work, teaching/speaking engagements, media interviews, and contests. Further, it includes a vast bibliography of poetry collections and anthologies that contain healing poems.

Here are just a few of the many testimonials that are streaming in:

 

An affecting collection. Charlotte Digregorio finds lyricism in solitude, finds reason to celebrate and transform into art the trifles in our gritty lives. These are poems of great skill, poems with a generous heart by a writer who cherishes the luminous particulars of every moment.

–Marsh Muirhead, Poet and Author of last night of the carnival

 

Digregorio’s poetry is healing, gets you through tough times, and saves lives. Nuanced by childhood memories of oceans and jagged monoliths, of black bear and elk, she shares through reflection and meditation, poems with a spaciousness that speak of acceptance and gratitude for what is. She is like the sculptor in one of her poems, “creating equilibrium and harmony.” Digregorio reaches out and invites the reader to join her in solitude, share thoughts and observations. There’s an exuberance of life here that cannot help but touch you.

–Mary Jo Balistreri, Poet and Author of Still

 

In Ripples of Air: Poems of Healing, award-winning poet Charlotte Digregorio offers readers an array of poems that delve deeply into the external, her Midwest surroundings, and the internal, the nature of her creativity. Digregorio’s delectable collection is one to be savored again and again.

 

–Roberta Beary, Poet & Author of The Unworn Necklace

                                                    

The poems of Charlotte Digregorio possess a clarity of vision one seldom finds in contemporary verse. The images she creates are vibrant and alive. We Baby Boomers identify with her all too well.

 

– John J. Dunphy, Author of Touching Each Tree

 

Charlotte Digregorio’s indefatigable writing packs a strong poetic punch. This award-winning poet has the courage to face the truth about love, loss, aging, birth, death, and the upside down nature of life– the full catastrophe. Expect to be challenged and invigorated by her poetry. Without question, Digregorio is a beneficial presence in this world, and I have a high regard for her fresh and poignant poems.

 

–Robert Epstein, Psychotherapist & Author: Healing into Haiku: On Illness and Pain

 

The bumper sticker on my car reads: “Nature: Cheaper than Therapy.” As an adjunct to nature’s treatment plan, however, I would prescribe Charlotte Digregorio’s Ripples of Air: Poems of Healing. Her imagistic poems wind through diverse relational and emotional terrain, and never lose touch with the natural healing qualities of acceptance, wonder, gratitude, and harmony.

 

–Mike Stinson, Psychotherapist, Poet & Author of extra innings

 

Charlotte Digregorio writes of many common struggles including caregiving and illness, but she also practices joy and humor as her poems reveal. She has published six other award-winning books, including Haiku and Senryu: A Simple Guide for All, and a haiku collection, Shadows of Seasons. She writes in various genres, has won 56 poetry awards, was nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and was honored by the Governor of her state for her lifelong literary arts’ achievements. Her poems have been translated into eight languages. Her traveling poetry show is featured at libraries, hospitals, corporate centers, and restaurants, among several venues. A retired professor, she gives workshops at national writers’ conferences and judges contests; is a writer-in-residence at universities; teaches poetry in the public schools; and speaks regularly at libraries, bookstores, and to groups. Digregorio hosted a radio poetry program on public broadcasting and is a popular blogger on the art of writing.

 

Copyright 2020 by Charlotte Digregorio.

 

 

Daily Haiku: March 14, 2020

the way

one song sticks

summer sweat

 

by Glenn G. Coats (USA)

Acorn, Spring 2017

Daily Haiku: March 13, 2020

summer dusk

the piano

plays me

by Terry Ann Carter (Canada)

It’s Published! Ripples of Air: Poems of Healing

Dear Readers and Followers:

My new book is out! Ripples of Air: Poems of Healing. It contains my published poems of many forms, including hundreds of the Japanese forms like haiku. It is 236 pages and is part reference with essays and prose passages on poetry  that will inspire you to write. It also contains multiples resource lists that will give you ideas on where to get published; teaching/speaking ideas; contest ideas; ideas for getting interviewed by the media; and poetry readings and exhibit ideas. Get ideas to showcase your poems! You will not only learn about promoting your work, but more broadly, how to  promote poetry, in general, and the public’s awareness of it as an enjoyable and accessible art form. Further, my book contains a Bibliography of books/anthologies that contain many healing poems, including the Japanese forms, and common other forms by well-known poets.

Here is the press release below:

 

Heal Yourself: Discover the Healing Art of Poetry

 

WINNETKA, IL– In our lives, we face fears, pain, loneliness, struggles and grief. We need to heal, and take personal responsibility for managing our lives.

In Ripples of Air: Poems of Healing, we learn about gratitude for life’s moments, ordinary or grand. Acclaimed Poet Charlotte Digregorio’s healing poems speak to us, often with joy/humor.

“Poetry captures our moments that initially may seem ordinary, but that reveal peace and wisdom, helping us get through life,” she says. “Poetry heals. We find solace in others’ experiences, even relatable ones we haven’t had.”

Her book, endorsed by psychotherapists and award-winning authors alike, isn’t just of poems for readers. It is a self-help book with essays and prose in each of its twelve sections, and exhaustive Appendices that inspire either aspiring or experienced poets to write as a healing exercise. It includes an Introduction on poetry as a healing art.

“Many times in our lives, we hear psychologists in the media advise us to write about our trials or to journal,” Digregorio says. “Since poetry heals, it’s wise to not only read it, but to write it,” she suggests. She offers exhaustive ideas for writers and aspiring ones to excel and to network with others in this healing art.

In this artistically-designed book, readers learn about poetic forms; receive ideas for capturing poetic moments; become inspired to write poems that speak to all; and refine their writing.

Digregorio’s indefatigable writing packs a strong poetic punch. This award-winning poet has the courage to face truths about love, loss, aging, birth, death, life’s upside down nature–the full catastrophe. Expect to be challenged/invigorated. Without question, she’s a beneficial presence in this world. I have a high regard for her fresh and poignant poems.   –Robert Epstein, Psychotherapist and Author of Healing into Haiku: On Illness and Pain

     Readers also learn about making their poetry visible to the public through national/community outlets, so the art of poetry is increasingly recognized as a healing one, just as the visual arts are. One essay instructs on how to make poetry visible by, for example, organizing events and partnering with organizations. There is information on where to publish one’s poetry and promote it through print/broadcast outlets; cultural/art/literary associations; and businesses. There are ideas for speaking and leading poetry workshops, for example, to network with others and share one’s literary art in difficult times.

The book has a comprehensive Bibliography of healing poetry collections; Appendices with ample lists of journals, general-interest publications, media/cultural/literary organizations and particular businesses that recognize poets through awards, interviews, readings, workshops, and poetry exhibits.

This collection has hundreds of the author’s poems, divided into thematic sections. Among them are: Nostalgia, Peace, Creatures, Seasons’ Potpourri, and Art. Each section contains inspiring prose with information on crafting poems.

We’re inspired by Digregorio’s images extolling nature’s majesty and her leisurely street/public place scenes. We need calm to problem-solve through illness, family deaths, broken relationships, and other traumas. This book is the pathway to finding peace.

Note: This book is available through Amazon, and autographed copies are available through me.  You can contact me, Charlotte Digregorio at c-books@hotmail.com.

Copyright 2020 by Charlotte Digregorio.

Daily Haiku: March 12, 2020

crane speak

somewhere between a croak

and a song

by Mike Stinson (USA)

Akitsu Quarterly, Fall 2019

Daily Haiku: March 11, 2020

do I know you

from another life

grasshopper?

by Kanchan Chatterjee (India), Author

Scattered Leaves

Daily Haiku: March 10, 2020

the child

we didn’t plan–

morning glories

by Tia Haynes (USA)

Akitsu Quarterly, Spring 2019

Daily Haiku: March 9, 2020

cataract

shadows creep

across the moon

 

by Scott Wiggerman (USA)

cattails, September, 2016

Daily Haiku: March 8, 2020

campfire light

a stretch of song

along the river

 

by Glenn G. Coats (USA)

The Heron’s Nest, March 2018

Daily Haiku: March 7, 2020

rosy dawn

our paddles stippled

with petals

by Debbie Strange  (Canada)

Highly Commended

New Zealand Poetry Society International Competition, 2019

Daily Haiku: March 6, 2020

senryu

Leonardo mixing paint

the eye

before the smile

 

by Robert Witmer (Japan)

Heart Breaths: Book of Contemporary Haiku, 2016

 

Daily Haiku: March 5, 2020

relaxing

each muscle

melting snow

by Tia Haynes (USA)

Hedgerow, #123, Spring 2018

Daily Haiku: March 4, 2020

A haiku and a senryu is featured from Scattered Leaves, a new collection

by Kanchan Chatterjee of India.

 

autumn rains . . .

slowly, the village trail

disappears

 

 

wish I could change

the scarecrow’s old jacket . . .

sunny morning

Daily Haiku: March 3, 2020

spring fever—
the turtle’s neck
at full stretch

by Carole MacRury  (USA)
Second Place, Peggy Willis Lyles Haiku Award, 2013

 

Daily Haiku: March 2, 2020

broccoli for lunch . . .
bright winter sun
days grow longer

by Ellen Grace Olinger (USA)

https://ellenolinger.wordpress.com/

Daily Haiku: March 1, 2020

soft rime

a chickadee’s song

becomes visible

by Debbie Strange (Canada)

Honorable Mention

Irish Haiku Society International Competition, 2019

 

Blog Special: A Book to Savor

Award-winning Poet and Author Mary Jo Balistreri has written a book that I keep coming back to on my bookshelf.  Still is an adventure to read with many experiences we can all relate to. The poems are like stories. At times, she speaks of sorrowful experiences–from cancer to family illness/deaths, but she always comes back to hope for the opportunity of beginnings, appreciation and gratitude for the beauty of life that surrounds us.

Here is one poem:

 

Waiting for The Light Rail

by Mary Jo Balistreri

She sits in an alcove of light and dark,

a pause between coming and going.

She’s an empty bench, a blank sheet of paper,

a sign askew, a mouthful of air,

a pencil in hand, and the now of now.

In the spaciousness of release, her mind fills

with words, the words become flesh,

and a cement shelter melds with the loam

of a thousand fields, fragrant as the fleshy blooms

that dangled from her father’s pear trees. Now on the cusp

of summer, the wind ruffles her hair, rustles leaves

she cannot see, carries the whistle of the oncoming train—

and is the breath that writes the living poem,

intertwined, inexhaustible.

 

Balistreri has a talent for poetic imagery with consummate sensory appeal. Her elegant language is music with a background as a professional musician. Here are some of my favorite lines from a variety of poems:

• In the waning light, beech trees along the river/ morph into pillars of a faraway temple.

• frosted window panes/ spangles of dreamscapes/ like antique lace

• wings flicking just slightly upward before/

graceful, gangly legs drop down into courtships of bows and leaps,/

jumps and pirouettes.

• The last sunflower in the barrel/ closed its petals this morning/

ragged cloak faded

• the diamond-dazzle or sheen of light/ swallowing sailboats in its maw.

• Let your eyes rest where the red of winter wheat/

flames in a prairie you thought bare

• I inhale marsh and musk./

The plonk of a carp emphasizes the silence

• the silver-gray splay of light after storms,

• my father, who doesn’t recognize my face./

Sometimes he hums snatches of songs,/

but he has lost the key,/

his shadowed smile uncertain.

 

This is a book that non-poets and poets will appreciate. It will encourage everyone to notice the beauty around them and to capture and write about it. Highly recommended for yourself or to gift to others.

https://www.amazon.com/s?i=aps&k=Mary%20Jo%20Balistreri&ref=nb_sb_noss&url=search-alias%3Daps

 

Copyright 2020 by Charlotte Digregorio.

 

 

 

Daily Haiku: Feb. 29, 2020

daylight fading

the distant

bleating of a sheep

 

by Olivier Schopfer (Switzerland)

bottle rockets, #42, 2020

Daily Haiku: Feb. 28, 2020

how quiet

the field has become

without butterflies

 

by Tom Clausen (USA)

bottle rockets, #42, 2020

Daily Haiku: Feb. 27, 2020

winter sunlight

a priest blesses

father’s eyelids

by Roberta Beary (Ireland/USA)

Simply Haiku, Vol 5:4, 2007

Daily Haiku: Feb. 26, 2020

black tumbleweeds

on winter solstice

the cancer lingers

by Scott Wiggerman  (USA)

Frameless Sky, 2018

Daily Haiku: Feb. 25, 2020

senryu

no more dandruff

on his blue suit

open casket

by Lori Becherer  (USA)

Modern Haiku, Vol.  48.2, 2017

Kooser, #751, American Life in Poetry,

August 2019

Daily Haiku: Feb. 24, 2020

senryu

soup kitchen

a hole in the sole

of Santa’s boot

 

by Joe McKeon (USA)

Modern Haiku, 50.3, Autumn 2019

Daily Haiku: Feb. 23, 2020

bullfrogs

a full moon

floods the lake

by Carol Raisfeld (USA)

Frogpond, Vol. 43:1, Winter 2020

Daily Haiku: Feb. 22, 2020

star gazing . . .

one frog answers

another

by Carole MacRury  (USA)

Third Place

Betty Drevniok Award, 2010

Daily Haiku: Feb. 21, 2020

senryu

 

my father’s grip

still crushing

a lifetime later

by Scott Wiggerman (USA)

Under the Basho, 2017

Daily Haiku: Feb. 20, 2020

skywriting all the disappearing words between us

 

by Margaret Dornaus  (USA)

Second place

International Kusamakura Haiku Competition, 2012

Daily Haiku: Feb. 19, 2020

senryu

a heated argument
the length of the quiet car–
in sign language

by Marita Gargiulo (USA)

Cattails, October 2018

Daily Haiku: Feb. 18, 2020

fading dusk
children and fireflies
dance on the lawn

 

by Adelaide B. Shaw (USA)

Modern Haiku, Vol. 34, No. 3, Summer 2003

Daily Haiku: Feb. 17, 2020

mountain side

the sunlight funnels

dusk

 

by Dave Read (Canada)

Haiku Canada Review, Vol. 13, No. 2, October 2019

Daily Haiku: Feb. 16, 2020

sinking sun—

the heron stalks what’s left

of the day

 

by Carole MacRury (USA)

Third Place

Francine Porad Award, 2015

 

 

Daily Haiku: Feb. 15, 2020

castle ruins . . .

walking on their memories

ancestors

by Eufemia Griffo (Italy)

Asahi Haikuist Network, September 2017