Daily Haiku: Aug. 17, 2019

sultry breeze
a pear ripens
on papa’s easel

 

by Roberta Beary (Ireland/USA)

Seashores, Vol. 2, April 2019

Daily Haiku: Aug. 16, 2019

monarchs mingle
along a sandy shore
long walk home 

 

by Marilyn Ashbaugh (USA)

Daily Haiku: Aug. 15, 2019

senryu

summer tryst–

his hand on the back

of her sway

by Sondra J. Byrnes  (USA)

Frogpond, Vol. 38:3, 2015

Daily Haiku: Aug. 14, 2019

autumn leaves

the caregiver finds time

to rest

by Ellen Grace Olinger (USA)

Daily Haiku: Aug. 13, 2019

sparrowhawk fence

an ending to the summer

as leaves start to stutter

by Alan Summers (U.K.)

Bacopa Literary Review, June 2019

Daily Haiku: Aug. 12, 2019

silent flight

of a raptor—

your breath on my neck

 

by Marilyn Fleming  (USA)

Akitsu Quarterly, Fall 2017

Daily Haiku: Aug. 11, 2019

robins congregate

in an abandoned garden

cold October rain

by Mike Stinson (USA)

Autumn Moon, Winter 2017

Daily Haiku: Aug. 10, 2019

senryu

garden party
words populate

the wind chime

by Roberta Beary  (Ireland/USA)

Seashores, Vol. 2, April 2019

Daily Haiku: Aug. 9, 2019

first autumn rain

the tortoise shell

brightens

by Dyana Basist  (USA)

Mariposa, Spring 2019

Daily Haiku: Aug. 8, 2019

cemetery visit

the silk flowers show

their fall colors

 

by Susan Farner (USA)

Daily Haiku: Aug. 7, 2019

rows of crows

on the telephone wires

beauty salon gossip

 

by Sharon Rhutasel-Jones (USA)

Frogpond, Vol. 42:2, 2019

Daily Haiku: Aug. 6, 2019

strong wind
an eagle flies higher
than the clouds

vento forte
un’aquila vola più in alto
delle nuvole

 

 

by Eufemia Griffo (Italy)
Hedgerow, #127, 2019

Daily Haiku: Aug. 5, 2019

senryu

spicy chicken . . .

this impulse to ask

if she’s married

by Chen-ou Liu  (Canada/Taiwan)

Modern Haiku, Vol. 43:1, Winter-Spring 2012

Educate Yourselves About Haiku

Dear Readers and Followers,

I am heartened each day to see how many of you are following my blog and even commenting. For those of you who are new to haiku, I realize that although haiku may look like a random thought to you, it goes deeper and its layers may be missed. Some of you new to it have been posting your own poems under the comments’ section and I respond by giving you my email address.

Very few poets, including experienced ones, rarely start writing publishable haiku right off the bat. It takes time to read and study it. If you are new to haiku, besides reading The Daily Haiku each day,  if you live in the USA, please check out my book from libraries to orient yourselves to the form. It is Haiku and Senryu: A Simple Guide for All by Charlotte Digregorio. I am certain it will help you understand haiku basics and supplement your reading of The Daily Haiku. (Senryu is written in the haiku form, but its focus is on human nature, rather than nature.)

And, for those of you in the Chicago area, watch for my haiku exhibits at libraries and dozens of other venues, like galleries, and community centers. I do many solo exhibits and group exhibits, too. Currently, I have haiku exhibited at Wilmette Public Library in Wilmette, IL.

You can never get enough of haiku and senryu, and each time you read them, you become more knowledgeable about them.

Keep reading The Daily Haiku and writing each day, and commenting about poems on this blog.

Wishing you much haiku/senryu inspiration,

Charlotte Digregorio

 

 

 

Daily Haiku: Aug. 4, 2019

where there was war

a sheepdog keeps

the flock in line

by LeRoy Gorman  (Canada)

Frogpond, Vol. 41:3, Fall 2018

Daily Haiku: Aug. 3, 2019

distant forest fire

the tanager

we only hear

 

by Tanya McDonald  (USA)

Mariposa, Issue 34, Spring-Summer 2016

Daily Haiku: Aug. 2, 2019

forest fire–

believing I’ll be

reborn

 

by Cyndi Lloyd  (USA)

Full of Moonlight

Haiku Society of America Members’ Anthology, 2016

Daily Haiku: Aug. 1, 2019

eclipse

a rooster crows

at the second dawn

by Barbara Tate (USA)

Frogpond, Vol. 41:1, 2018

Daily Haiku: July 31, 2019

daybreak

lilies light

the light

by Roberta Beary (Ireland/USA)

Second Place

Kusamakura Contest, 2007

Daily Haiku: July 30, 2019

tendrils of fog

I follow a thread

back into the dream

by Annette Makino (USA)

Frogpond, 40:1, Winter 2017

Daily Haiku: July 29, 2019

alpenglow

a pika gathers stems

of light

 

by Debbie Strange (Canada)

Commended Haiku

Iris–A Little Haiku Contest, 2019

 

Daily Haiku: July 28, 2019

bioluminescence

I skip a pebble across

the universe

 

by Debbie Strange (Canada)

First Place

OtherWordly Intergalactic Haiku Competition, 2019

 

Daily Haiku: July 27, 2019

senryu

candlelight dinner

the warm glow

from a cell phone

 

by Lori Becherer (USA)

Frogpond, Vol. 42:2, Spring/Summer 2019

Daily Haiku: July 26, 2019

deep water . . .

resting our paddles

we float through silence

by Marje A. Dyck (Canada), Author

A Piece of the Moon

Daily Haiku: July 25, 2019

dandelions gone to seed

hair

turns grey

 

by Wilda Morris (USA)

 

Daily Haiku: July 24, 2019

browning lilacs

the months since

my last confession

by Elliot Nicely  (USA)

Presence, #56, 2016

Daily Haiku: July 23, 2019

silhouettes

in stormy moonlight

their final pas de deux

 

by Paul Beech (Wales) 

Blithe Spirit, Vol. 29, No. 1, February 2019

 

 

 

Daily Haiku: July 22, 2019

labyrinth i walk into and out of myself

by Debbie Strange (Canada)

Third Place (Senryu)

San Francisco International Competition, 2018

Haiku Bridges Borders

My attention span has always been fairly short. Unless I’m really involved in a project, my mind usually wanders after an hour of working at my desk. Then, I need to take a break for at least five minutes– rub my eyes, stand up, shake my legs, and do side bends.

What I like about haiku is that it’s short, and I can read and write it in small doses. It’s therapeutic. I can think about it for a minute or so at a time, and then revisit it off and on.

I’m sure not a philosopher, but years ago, I wrote a seemingly trite note and posted it on my desk that said “Find Something to Believe In.”  I’ve always found this hard to put into practice, so it’s probably not that trite after all. After publishing The Daily Haiku since 2015, I’m reminded that haiku crosses borders in many ways, not just geographically. And, that it gives us something to believe in and to live by, no matter where our native home is. It unifies us.

Please read Carole MacRury’s haiku today on borders, and think about it. And, I hope you also re-read the haiku that precedes it, from time to time,  going back a few years.

Peace,

Charlotte Digregorio

Copyright 2019 by Charlotte Digregorio.

 

Daily Haiku: July 21, 2019

border crossing–
cherry petals drift
into Canada

by Carole MacRury  (USA)

Mann Library’s Daily Haiku, April 2009

Daily Haiku: July 20, 2019

senryu

 

Grieg on low . . .

he feels her smile

through his shirt

 

by Paul Beech (Wales) 

Failed Haiku, Vol. 2, Issue 22, October 2017

 

Daily Haiku: July 14 through 19, 2019

Dear Readers and Followers:

The following were all written by Terri L. French, prolific and longtime haikuist in the U.S. Enjoy each of these, and re-read them often to fully appreciate Terri’s simple and elegant style:

senryu

knit one purl two

grandma lets

the secret slip

 

 

A New Resonance, #11, 2019

cowbird’s song

an adopted child

brought home

A Hundred Gourds, 1:4, 2012

Ash Wednesday

a whole congregation

with the same thumbprint

Modern Haiku, 45:1, Winter-Spring 2014

 

senryu

lingering fog

a pair of reading glasses

in every room

 

Sonic Boom, #3, 2014

senryu

hangover

a mosquito comes back

for hair of the dog

 

Failed Haiku, 1:2, 2016

reconstructing

a field mouse–

owl pellets

The Heron’s Nest, XIII:2, 2011

Daily Haiku: July 13, 2019

deep breath

in the small yard

the chrysanthemums

 

 

by Nikolay Grankin (Russia)

Asahi Haikuist Network, Oct. 19, 2018

 

Daily Haiku: July 12, 2019

first dew—
glittering butterfly
on mother’s palm

 

Goran Gatalica  (Croatia)

Autumn Moon Haiku Journal, Vol. 2:2, Spring/Summer 2019

Daily Haiku: July 11, 2019

senryu

the mountain

looming from childhood . . .

father’s back

by Jo Balistreri (USA)

akitso, December 2018

Daily Haiku: July 10, 2019

overcast day

between the puddles

wheelchair’s tracks

 

 

by Nikolay Grankin (Russia)

Hedgerow, #125, 2018

 

Daily Haiku: July 9, 2019

senryu

farmer’s market–

the widow selects

things he didn’t like

 

by Sharon Hammer Baker  (USA)

Frogpond, Vol. 42, No. 2, 2019

Daily Haiku: July 8, 2019

flowering bittersweet . . .

the chances

i did take

 

by Elliot Nicely  (USA)

Acorn, #38, 2017

Daily Haiku: July 7, 2019

back from the countryside
full of thistles—
kids’ hair

 

        by Marta Chocilowska (Poland)

                                                                                              Asahi Haikuist Network, Aug.19, 2016

Daily Haiku: July 6, 2019

senryu

bone china

things we speak of

things we don’t

by Harriot West  (USA), Author

Shades of Absence

Touchstone Distinguished Books Award, 2018

Daily Haiku: July 5, 2019

senryu

fresh laundry
i rewrite
my resume

 

 

by Billy Antonio (The Philippines)

Otata, #16, April 2017

Daily Haiku: July 4, 2019

where other trees
reach upwards
the willow

 

 

by Michael Rehling  (USA)

Haiku North America Anthology, 2013

Daily Haiku: July 3, 2019

empty room

the scent of daffodils

fills the silence

 

by Anna Maria Domburg-Sancristoforo (The Netherlands)

Under the Basho, June 2019

Daily Haiku: July 1, 2019

onshore breeze

waves break over

the gull’s cry

 

by Terry Ann Carter (Canada), Author

Now You Know

King’s Road Press 2011

Daily Haiku: June 30, 2019

senryu

 

blood moon

he doesn’t take no

for an answer

 

 

by Susan Burch (USA)

2nd Place

Marlene Mountain Memorial Haiku Contest, 2018

Daily Haiku: June 29, 2019

senryu

stage 2

counting the spots

on the ladybug

by Beverly Acuff Momoi  (USA)

Mariposa, #29, Fall 2018

Daily Haiku: June 28, 2019

sunset glow:

the ocean still breaks

where those people were

by Mike Dillon (USA), Author

the road behind

Daily Haiku: June 27, 2019

senryu

after the bomb

a clock

with no hands

 

by Dave Read (Canada)

Modern Haiku, Vol. 49, No. 2, 2018

Daily Haiku: June 26, 2019

senryu

summer beach
the sea delivers a bottle
without a message

 

spiaggia estiva:

il mare consegna una bottiglia

senza messaggio

 

by Antonio Sacco (Italy)

Daily Haiku Special: June 25, 2019

Tsugigami:gathering the pieces, by haikuists/linked verse poets Valorie Broadhurst Woerdehoff and Connie R Meester, is an artful collection that is well-worth your time and attention.

I don’t often review books, due to having many commitments, but some poetry collections I just can’t pass up. When I read haiku and senryu, I want to see life for what it is, and in this collection of linked haiku and senryu, I see life unadorned and truthful. In this book, I am moved by the themes of love, loss, and family, among others. This collection engages all the senses with concrete images, as we poets look for in well-written haiku. The authors’ sensitivity for nuance and heightened perception is evident throughout. The two poets met decades ago in a haiku class and formed a lasting friendship and collaboration.

 

Tsugigami is handmade paper that was used for collages in Japan in the 11^th century. The poetry in this collection is a collage rich in life’s experiences. There are intriguing illustrations of collages that complement this collection of linked poems including rengay– the latter, haiku and senryu written by two or more poets.

 

For the primary interests of this blog’s readers, rather than reprinting entire linked verses, I’ll take either individual haiku or senryu from linked poems to illustrate the simple elegance and beauty of this book’s imagery, as well as some consecutive verses in a poem.

 

Tsugigami is a journey about the human condition, and finding oneself. Broadhurst and Meester give voice to our innermost feelings and relationships with others. These are the first four verses in the poem “Exhaling”:

 

miles down the wrong road–

deep in pines

a lone birch

 

framed by a full moon

the owl screeches too

 

trying to find you

in this new darkness

trying to find me

 

 

deep breath

wishing I could crawl inside

the big dipper

 

————————————–

Other verses include:

 

silence between us

echoes the angry words

 

fall bike ride

leaning

into your turn

 

This is the last verse of “One Last Goodbye”:

 

adrift

the sky and I

move down river

 

The authors find meaning in what surrounds them, that many people often miss.

 

deep into winter

a cardinal bathes

in new snow

 

Overall, this collection does haiku and senryu justice by crystallizing a moment in time and experience, springing from intuition and perception. These are two consecutive verses from the poem, “The Red Caboose”:

 

only a distant train whistle

anniversary

of his death

 

waiting for the red caboose

to bring him home

 

 

Delightful and moving verses in this generous collection remind us of childhood pleasures and the wisdom of youngsters:

 

May Day baskets

Mother’s smile answering the door

again

 

I’ll take care of you

says my toddler son

after the divorce

 

Tsugigami is highly recommended as a book you’ll want to pull off your shelf to re-read often, mindful of the significance of all that surrounds us. It is also a book to gift to thoughtful friends navigating through life’s challenges. You may order it through Red Moon Press, www.redmoonpress.com.