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Haiku Sequence from Blithe Spirit Spring 2010
one of those nights
she comes back down blanketed
to view the stars
obscurity wells up
around us immutable
light years made clear
new moon's cusp
cuts free from shreds
white veil
side by side against
failing sight brightness fades
falls a meteorite
.
Hill
there is something in the hill
rising out of the hill into the sky
an echo of the road ahead
swirls into emptiness
the post holding up the rusting wire
hollowed by decay...a temporary home
for ancient lichens skilled in waiting
who placed the wire and bent each nail
who spaced it with such deliberation
against the rough and natural flow
of grasses that somehow rain and sun
have perfectly refined...put straight
the rusting and the rot the bent hinge
that barely holds the fallen gate
there is no tide here on the river
just wind and rain and moon
yet at the edge exposed a line
where things from neither world exist
a leaf floats by a stone half wet half dry
prints out its time...cast in the sand
a moment by the red water
by the curve that holds the course
the place where neither world exists
the edge rising up the bridge between
infinitely thin...infinitely distant
infinitely close
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Sunday, 17 January 2010
Wednesday, 6 January 2010
Second Prize in the Winter Moon Awards for Haiku 2009
her sixty fifth
she shows us a rare iris
deeply veined
and Carolyn Thomas's commentary...
"Before I looked up the names of the winning poems (they are always chosen blind) I thought a woman had penned this one,and I saw her as the subject. It feels that personal. I was surprised to discover a man had written it. I had to then read it from a different perspective, a strongly poetic one because 'he' sees the beauty, the connection, between the rare iris and the woman who has lived life. Now I have the choice of two options....
I choose to experience this haiku as I originally read it because it evokes the deepest emotion from me. Here is an older woman appreciating who she is, honouring her life's journey; she knows she is the rare iris deeply veined. She says to everyone in her world, "This is who I am."
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Third prize in the Klostar Ivanic 2009 International Haiku Contest
in the market
only the beggar's dog
stares at the eyes
na trznici
samo prosjakov pas
gleda u oci
Commentary, translated by Prof Vida Pust Skrgulja.
An excellent haiku! It is not difficult to imagine a man who had experienced defeat, a man completely broken by his way of life. Our experience lets us know the fact that such people can't look into other people's eyes any more. There are many reasons of that - feeling shame, fear, pain, being hurt, rejected, inferior. Animals (in this case a dog) do not suffer from such negative feelings. They know by instinct that everything that happens in their life is OK. They are direct, sincere, always having the strength to look into the eyes, and search for help. This haiku is excellent just because the beggar is only mentioned, while the accent has been put on the dog (having positive feelings)
.
.
her sixty fifth
she shows us a rare iris
deeply veined
and Carolyn Thomas's commentary...
"Before I looked up the names of the winning poems (they are always chosen blind) I thought a woman had penned this one,and I saw her as the subject. It feels that personal. I was surprised to discover a man had written it. I had to then read it from a different perspective, a strongly poetic one because 'he' sees the beauty, the connection, between the rare iris and the woman who has lived life. Now I have the choice of two options....
I choose to experience this haiku as I originally read it because it evokes the deepest emotion from me. Here is an older woman appreciating who she is, honouring her life's journey; she knows she is the rare iris deeply veined. She says to everyone in her world, "This is who I am."
.
.
Third prize in the Klostar Ivanic 2009 International Haiku Contest
in the market
only the beggar's dog
stares at the eyes
na trznici
samo prosjakov pas
gleda u oci
Commentary, translated by Prof Vida Pust Skrgulja.
An excellent haiku! It is not difficult to imagine a man who had experienced defeat, a man completely broken by his way of life. Our experience lets us know the fact that such people can't look into other people's eyes any more. There are many reasons of that - feeling shame, fear, pain, being hurt, rejected, inferior. Animals (in this case a dog) do not suffer from such negative feelings. They know by instinct that everything that happens in their life is OK. They are direct, sincere, always having the strength to look into the eyes, and search for help. This haiku is excellent just because the beggar is only mentioned, while the accent has been put on the dog (having positive feelings)
.
.
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