Daily Haiku: Jan. 21, 2019

sick in bed–

the gap

between the curtains

by Olivier Schopfer (Switzerland)

Mayfly, No.57, Summer 2014

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Daily Haiku: Jan. 20, 2019

snow-filled nest

the depth of silence

before spring

by Rachel Sutcliffe (England, UK)

cattails, April 2017

Daily Haiku: Jan. 19, 2019

pelting rain …

homeless man

in a prayer pose

 

 

Amy Losak  (USA)

Newtown Literary,  No.10, Spring/Summer, 2017

If You Like Haiku, Be Sure to Read The Asahi Haikuist Network

Dear Loyal Readers and Followers:

In case you haven’t checked it out, the Asahi Haikuist Network, a column from Japan that runs online twice-monthly, is a great resource of haiku and senryu written internationally.  http://www.asahi.com/ajw/special/haiku/

Editor David McMurray has been writing the Asahi Haikuist Network column since April 1995, first for the Asahi Evening News and now for The Asahi Shimbun daily newspaper. He is on the editorial board of the Red Moon Anthology of English-Language Haiku, is a columnist for the Haiku International Association, and is editor of Teaching Assistance, a column featuring graduate students in The Language Teacher of the Japan Association for Language Teaching (JALT).

McMurray is Professor of Intercultural Studies at The International University of Kagoshima where he lectures on international haiku. At the Graduate School, he supervises students who research haiku. He is a correspondent school teacher of Haiku in English for the Asahi Culture Center in Tokyo.

McMurray judges haiku contests organized by Ito En Oi Ocha, Asahi Culture Center, Matsuyama City, Polish Haiku Association, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Seinan Jo Gakuin University, and Only One Tree.

McMurray’s award-winning books include: Only One Tree Haiku, Music & Metaphor (2015); Canada Project Collected Essays & Poems, Vols. 1 — 8 (2013); and Haiku in English as a Japanese Language (2003).

 

I received a pleasant surprise in today’s issue, as David McMurray notified me of below:

 

Dear Charlotte,

from the ceiling
i hang my paper snowflake
sculpting the air

–Charlotte Digregorio (Winnetka, Illinois)

is in today’s issue.

Your haiku matches the paper decorations used by the priest in the sketch in
today’s Asahi.

http://www.asahi.com/sp/ajw/articles/AJ201901180006.html

Your kind wishes were quoted near the end of the column.

Thank you.

David

Readers,

If you are serious about haiku, don’t miss an issue of the Asahi Haikuist Network to keep current on what kind of haiku is being written  worldwide, and contribute  to the column when you can.

Best Wishes,

Charlotte Digregorio

Daily Haiku: Jan. 18, 2019

prairie darkness–
what a child’s breath reveals
on the train window

by Chad Lee Robinson (USA)

Haiku Windows, June 2018

The Haiku Foundation

Daily Haiku: Jan. 17, 2019

senryu

hope chest

mother’s collection

of broken glass

Susan Beth Furst (USA)

hedgerow, #125, 2018

Memories Linger of the Holidays

 

The Dowager

by Rita Yager

 

With insistence on formality

at family gatherings

let us remain civil

even if it’s a lie

smiling

through gritted teeth

until our faces hurt

laugh while holding down

the sour in our throats

enjoy a stiff hug

yes, let us remain cordial

please serve mine chilled

my preference is iced

 

 

Rita Yager of Illinois began submitting her poetry for publication in 2018 after being a creative writer for more than 50 years. She is a wife, mother, and grandmother, and recently retired from nursing, spending 36 years with an area hospital system. During her nursing career, she worked in many medical specialty clinics. In particular,  she loves caring for and teaching special needs people. Due to her professional background, she says her message in much of her creative writing involves suffering, survival, and healing, and the need for inclusion. She believes her writing is a visual vehicle for people of all ages to realize they are not alone.

 

She has written and published medical research through the Society of Teachers in Family Medicine with the Family Medicine Department of Glenbrook Hospital. She was a clinical nurse educator assisting in the teaching of medical students and residents of the University of Chicago. She holds a bachelor’s and master’s in Health Services Management, the latter from Webster University.

Daily Haiku: Jan. 16, 2019

this path of stars
my universe was once
a lawn of daisies

 

by Karen Hoy (Wales)

The Haiku Foundation Haiku Windows:

spaceship window, June 2018

 

 

Daily Haiku: Jan. 15, 2019

black swan

the beauty

in difference

 

by Mary Kendall  (USA)

cattails, October 2018

Daily Haiku: Jan. 14, 2019

 

tinnitus several octaves higher in the key of Om

 

by Curtis Dunlap  (USA)

A Poem that Makes Us Grateful for What We Have

Dear Loyal Readers and Followers:

I asked Paul Beech  (UK) if he would kindly let me reprint his poem.

Please read below.

 

Charlotte Digregorio

 

Dear Charlotte,

Please find below my poem Countdown.  Many thanks for requesting it.  If you’d care to run it on your blog, I’d be delighted.

Countdown stems from my days as a social housing manager, helping the homeless, and concerns an old boy from the wilds of the Peak District borderland.

My work with the homeless, spanning the whole range from bankrupted businessmen to battered wives, was challenging, grueling and often harrowing too.  As I said on your blog, I was daily reminded of the old adage, “There, but for the grace of God, go I.”

The pay-off was when a good outcome was achieved, with a new home found for the client, a chance to get back on with life.  Yes, this was satisfying indeed. 

Have a good Sunday.

My very best,

Paul

___________________________________________________________________

COUNTDOWN

 

Midnight in bed,

and a whirling, rustling spiral of dreams,

fragments of the day gone by,

dead leaves in a storm.

 

2 a.m.,

and a lingering whiff of witchcraft,

the smell of an old tramp,

woodfire for warmth in the snow.

 

4 a.m.,

and a hazy moon replicated on my pane,

ghostly eyes, accusing still:

“S’alright for you, Guv, you’ve gorra big ‘ouse.”

 

6 a.m.,

and downriver a cock crows,

time to do it all again, almost:

another day with the homeless.

 

Paul Beech 

 

Note:  ‘Countdown’ was first published in the author’s collection Twin Dakotas: poetry and prose (Cestrian Press, 2016) and subsequently in Unheard (Cestrian Press, 2016) and The Sons of Camus Writers International Journal, Issue 13, Autumn 2017.

 

 

 

 

 

Daily Haiku: Jan. 13, 2019

senryu

bustling shoppers

the bell ringer’s

prosthetic hand

by Curtis Dunlap  (USA)

The Heron’s Nest, X:4–12, 2008

Daily Haiku: Jan. 12, 2019

my pockets swell

with wadded tissues

winter clouds

 

by Joyce Clement (USA)

bits of itself

The Haiku Society of America Membership Anthology, 2002

Daily Haiku: Jan. 11, 2019

empty tracks

a stranger and I

looking in the same direction

by Yu Chang (USA)

Upstate Dim Sum, 2002, II

Daily Haiku: Jan. 10, 2019

more snow–

a man on the bus

with a braille laptop

 

by Tom Clausen (USA)

Upstate Dim Sum, 2011/11

Calling All Poets and Artists!

Enjoy haiku! Become motivated to write it. My haiga– a haiku sequence accompanied by art by Nicole Garcia– is on exhibit at City Hall in Highland Park, IL through Feb. 28. There will be a reception for this group show, from 4 to 6 p.m., Monday,  Jan. 14. Come meet a lot of poets and artists. You can even learn all about haiku from me!

I always like to connect with people who love poetry and art. The show is sponsored by The Art Center of Highland Park that selected artists and poets to participate, along with the assistance of Jennifer Dotson of Highland Park Poetry who helped The Art Center to select pieces by poets. Of course, I am most grateful to Nicole Garcia who did the stunning artwork for “Homeless,” my haiku sequence. Through Highland Park Poetry, this piece travels a lot!

If you are a poet, think about expanding your horizons and meeting artists to collaborate  with. This piece of haiga was gifted to me by Highland Park Poetry after I won one of its Poetry Challenge Contests several years ago. Nicole Garcia, a student in Highland Park at the time, joined in the project. Thanks to Highland Park Poetry,  it was displayed in Pace Buses in suburban Chicago, too.

Be bold! Go to art shows and meet artists. Maybe you’ll meet an artist that you can learn from and also get him/her interested in writing poetry. It’s a two-way street. It’s not just about you, but the other person, too.

Start this new year off by challenging yourself. Of course, if you have a skill like photography, or any artistic skill, think about using your creativity to the maximum and combining the two yourself.

I wish all my readers a rewarding and productive new year.

Copyright 2019 by Charlotte Digregorio.

Daily Haiku: Jan. 9, 2019

senryu

 

scolded

my daughter searches

for a lost doll

by LeRoy Gorman (Canada), Author

glass bell

Daily Haiku: Jan. 8, 2019

packed in snow

the burlapped roots

of a blue spruce

 

by Julie Warther  (USA)

Frogpond, Vol 41.3, 2018

Daily Haiku: Jan. 7, 2019

sunset on the lake

all the colors

come ashore

by Connie R Meester (USA)

Frogpond, Vol. 41.2, Spring/Summer 2018

Daily Haiku: Jan. 6, 2019

cool wind off the river

I ask my wife

the time

 

by LeRoy Gorman  (Canada), Author

glass bell

Daily Haiku: Jan. 5, 2019

no matter

how carefully I walk

mud on my shoes

by Angela Leuck  (Canada), Author

Dusting the Buddha

King’s Road Press, 2010

Daily Haiku: Jan. 4, 2018

senryu

punk concert–

the one girl

not wearing black

by Stanford M. Forrester/sekiro  (USA)

Frogpond, Vol. 41:3, Fall 2018

Daily Haiku: Jan. 3, 2019

lest we forget

the words unspoken

since last year

by Beverley George  (Australia), Author

Spinifex

Daily Haiku: Jan. 2, 2019

coming home at night

Venus

is still above my house

by Mac Greene  (USA)

Frogpond, Vol. 41:3, Fall 2018

Daily Haiku: Jan. 1, 2019

giving a piece of cardboard

a bit of life

our cat

 

by Tom Clausen  (USA)

Frogpond, Vol. 41:3 , Fall 2018

Daily Haiku: Dec. 31, 2018

cicadas;

gleam of the folded

nail clippers

 

by Michael Nickels-Wisdom (USA)

Frogpond, Vol. 36, No.3, 2013

Daily Haiku: Dec. 30, 2018

full moon

the dog and I awake

for our own reasons

by Heather Jagman  (USA)

Frogpond, Vol. 36, No. 3, 2013

Daily Haiku: Dec. 29, 2018

morning fog

the stone Buddha smiles

through a spider’s web

by Carole MacRury (USA), Author

In the Company of Crows

Daily Haiku: Dec. 28, 2018

winter storm
the stubborn leaves
on the oak

 

by Michael Rehling (USA)

Daily Haiku: Dec. 27, 2018

atop his column

the Southern general

dark against the stars

 

by David G. Lanoue  (USA)

Frogpond, Vol. 36:3, 2013

Daily Haiku: Dec. 26, 2018

at the shore removing our masks we become one

 

by Michael Rehling (USA)

Sept. 10, 2017

Daily Haiku: Dec. 24, 2018

until mountains

come between us

migrating cranes

by Sandi Pray (USA)

The Heron’s Nest, Fall 2018

Daily Haiku: Dec. 23, 2018

hint of rain

the hours after

visiting hours

 

by Sharon Pretti (USA)

Frogond, 39:3, 2017

Daily Haiku: Dec. 22, 2018

senryu

padlocked to the gate

in a bad neighborhood

Santa’s reindeer

by Marita Gargiulo (USA)

Frogpond, Vol. 41, No. 3, 2018

Daily Haiku: Dec. 21, 2018

a couple

holding hands

testing the ice

 

by Tom Clausen (USA)

Upstate Dim Sum, 2009/1

Daily Haiku: Dec. 20, 2018

autumn chill–
the night trembling
with the moths

 

 

by Goran Gatalica (Croatia)

The Mainichi, 28:11, 2018

Daily Haiku: Dec. 19, 2018

in the forest

a gnat explores

my nostrils

by Steve Schultz  (USA)

Daily Haiku: Dec. 18, 2018

watching a sound

the bobcat becomes

the forest

 

by Sandi Pray  (USA)

Daily Haiku: Dec. 17, 2018

shopping list
a woman at the market
sells catkins

by Kohana, Marta Chocilowska  (Poland)

International Women’s Haiku Festival, March 28, 2018

Poets Can Enrich Their Work: Collaborate with Visual Artists/Musicians

I am exhibiting a piece of haiga– a haiku sequence illustrated with graphic art by Nicole Garcia– at City Hall in Highland Park, IL. The group show, featuring poets and artists, is sponsored by The Art Center of Highland Park. Selection of pieces was made by The Art Center and Highland Park Poetry.

I often do one-person shows of poetry combined with art–my own pieces or pieces of my poetry illustrated by visual artists that were gifted to me. I have been fortunate to belong to poetry/cultural organizations in the Chicago area that encourage collaboration between poets and visual artists. These organizations often hold activities where poets can meet visual artists and work jointly on projects.

Many years ago, when I had a radio poetry program on public broadcasting, I interviewed poets who collaborated with musicians to set their poetry to background music.

Poets and artists of all mediums should collaborate to enrich their pieces and gain knowledge of other art forms that they can start practicing.

Don’t take the attitude that you can’t learn  other art forms, though you might not have excelled in them when you were in school. In adulthood, our abilities evolve with our expansion of experiences. For example, my abilities with photography have grown simply because of the increasing access I have to technology and smartphones where pictures are just at the click of a button, anywhere and anytime.

I have always believed that, yes, you make your own opportunities, so make a concerted effort to expand your skills in every aspect of life that is meaningful to you.

Make this a goal for 2019: discover more of your hidden talents!

Copyright 2018 by Charlotte Digregorio.

 

Daily Haiku: Dec. 16, 2018

the tea steeps

her morning practice

in patience

 

by Beverly Acuff Momoi  (USA)

Frogpond, Vol. 41:3, Fall 2018

Daily Haiku: Dec. 15, 2018

Another year older

the sun slides

into its shadow

by Eufemia Griffo  (Italy)

seashores, Vol. 1, October 2018

Daily Haiku: Dec. 14, 2018

senryu

my long johns

on the basement clothesline

dwarfed by dad’s

by Ignatius Fay (Canada), Co-Author

Breccia

Daily Haiku: Dec. 13, 2018

dandelion leaf–

the journey
of a ladybug

by Rosa Maria Di Salvatore (Italy)

Daily Haiku: Dec. 12, 2018

snow lantern

the fading glint

in her eyes

 

 

by Debbie Strange (Canada)

Selected Haiku

Yamadera Basho Haiku Contest, 2016

 

Daily Haiku: Dec. 11, 2018

one candle

lights another

 . . . Silent Night

by Jeannie Martin (USA)

Daily Haiku: Dec. 10, 2018

news of her death

each snowflake melts

as it touches the ground

 

by Marco Fraticelli (Canada), Author

                                                                                                 Drifting

Haiku and Senryu Guide Makes a Great Gift–For Others and to Yourself

In the midst of reviewing haiku books during the past months, it suddenly struck me that I can be self-serving and promote my own book for the holidays!

About a week ago, longtime haiku editor and publisher Marco Fraticelli of Canada wrote this to me, after purchasing my book:

“Your book, Haiku and Senryu: A Simple Guide for All, arrived yesterday. What a terrific book! Clear and sensible, and easy to understand even for someone who has very little knowledge of haiku. Every school should have a copy. Are all the haiku in the appendix yours? There are some amazing haiku there.”

I responded to Marco that in addition to all the haiku I included by other poets for instructional purposes, the Appendix, indeed, contains mine.

If you want to improve your haiku writing skills, teach it to students and adults alike, or are having trouble even getting started writing and publishing haiku, my book is your guide.

Haiku and Senryu: A Simple Guide for All will show you just how creative you can be, and get you writing and publishing haiku and senryu regularly.

As many of you know, when I am not earning money, I am living and breathing haiku, senryu and eleven other poetic forms. I already  have haiku/haiga exhibits and workshops scheduled for the Chicago area in 2019 which I will be revealing in January through this blog and other outlets.

I know you’ll find my book useful, as it includes something for everyone: haiku and senryu basics; why poets love to write these poems; reading them with appreciation; where and how they originated; writing haiku sequences with a theme; how and where to get published; and how to teach haiku and senryu to adults and students of all levels. Quite simply, it will inspire you to write or keep up your momentum, if you are already writing and publishing good haiku.

Below, are just a few of the 80 terrific reviews I’ve received for my book from the experts:

• An altogether brilliant work that must be read by anyone with so much as a passing interest in haiku.

(John Dunphy, Haiku Poet and Author)

• This book is overall the best one out there on the subject.

(Michael McClintock, Author/Editor/ Former President of The United Haiku and Tanka Society)

• If a book about haiku inspires the reader to create haiku, then Charlotte Digregorio’s Haiku and Senryu: A Simple Guide for All has done its job bountifully.

(Robin Stratton, Editor, Boston Literary Magazine)

• A strong overview of haiku–a wealth of information on how to introduce and teach haiku to children, college students, and interested adults.

(Michael Rehling, Haiku Editor and Poet)

• An energetic and comprehensive guide by a prolific writer and educator with insightful perspectives and a generous sampling of published haiku and senryu.

(Frogpond, Journal of the Haiku Society of America)

• I honor the work Charlotte Digregorio has done on  behalf of English-language haiku in Haiku and Senryu: A Simple Guide for All. She has a gift for writing clearly, concentrating on what matters beyond passing controversy.

(Robert Epstein, Haiku Author and Editor)

• Marvelous book and marvelous insight! I truly enjoyed this book, being wonderfully surprised by the new information I didn’t know.

(Donna Bauerly, Poet and Professor Emeritus, Loras College)

• Passionate, clear, well-supported instruction about haiku and senryu. Any artist will revel in the splendor, humor, and knowledge this book has to offer.

(Connie, Kuntz, Editor, The Rockford Review)

• A poetry reference book that should be on all poets’ bookshelves.

(Authorship magazine, National Writers Association)

• A rich resource for teachers with concise and accessible definitions of haiku and senryu. The material is wonderfully delivered and accessible to even student-poets, loaded with examples and explanations.

(Tom Painting, Haiku Author and Teacher)

• Charlotte Digregorio, a best-selling writer, has produced a compendious volume offering straightforward training not only to write competent haiku, but also to see your results published.

(Lin Geary, Book Reviewer, Haiku Canada Review)

 

 

My book is available through Amazon or you can receive an autographed copy directly from me, if you email me for instructions: c-books@hotmail.com

If you simply afford the book, don’t worry. It is available at libraries, and also free through inter-library loan.

I wish all my blog readers a happy holiday season and a very creative new year!

 

Copyright 2018 by Charlotte Digregorio.

Daily Haiku: Alan Summers’ Week, Dec. 3 through 9

It’s Alan Summers’ Week once again. Alan is from the UK. Those of you who are avid readers of The Daily Haiku know that I regularly run Alan’s haiku and senryu, and often feature a week’s worth of his poetry. I have posted seven of his poems to last you the whole week, today through Sunday, Dec. 9.

We hope you enjoy these seven poems, and we do, in fact, enjoy comments about all posted poems.

Thanks to all for your readership!

 

train journey
the spreadsheet
of city lights

Stardust, Issue 22, October 2018

night frost . . .
each breath holds
an owl’s hoot

Stardust, Issue 20, August 2018

 

starlight
the sharp tang
of thorn

Troutswirl–A Sense of Place

The Haiku Foundation, October 2018

 
a dog fox slips
into snowflakes…
blackbird-braille

 

after Kate Bush

note: ‘after Kate Bush’ in italics

blackbird-braille is a term created by Kate Bush for her album and title song “50 Words for Snow”

ephemerae, vol. 1, issue 1, April 2018

 

 

petting zoo
my reindeer dreams
of snowflight

 

note: “snowflight” as one word

 

Stardust, Issue 7, July 2017

 

 
the speed of snow
pigeons clench tight
along the railing

 

Presence, Issue 61, 2018

 

sky shift
a Chinese lantern
hits the moon

空の変化 中国のランタン 月を打つ

Japanese translation by Hidenori Hiruta

 

International Haiku New Year’s Festival, 2011

Akita, Japan