Friday, December 23, 2016

United Haiku and Tanka Society, Fleeting Words Tanka Competition, 2016

mute swans
under a moon bridge
the things
I should have confessed
make no difference now

1st Place


Judge an'ya's comments:

Selected for the first place in this competition, is this tanka by a well known author from Canada, Debbie Strange. Smoothly composed, the words "mute swans" in line 1 and "under a moon bridge" in line 2 starts it off beautifully. Debbie creates a distinct pause before she goes into lines 3 and 4 which juxtapose with a human relationship. This tanka then finally spills over to line 5, in a flowing crescendo and the moment of closure. Simple images, and straightforward words make this tanka work for anyone and everyone who reads it.

Cattails, September 2016

1st Place
2016 Fleeting Words Tanka Competition


mute swans
under a moon bridge
the things
I should have confessed
make no difference now


Comments from the Judge:


Selected for the first place in this competition, is this tanka by a well known author from Canada, Debbie Strange. Smoothly composed, the words "mute swans" in line 1 and "under a moon bridge" in line 2 starts it off beautifully. Debbie creates a distinct pause before she goes into lines 2 and 3 which juxtapose with a human relationship. This tanka then finally spills over to line 5, in a flowing crescendo and the moment of closure. Simple images, and straightforward words make this tanka work for anyone and everyone who reads it.

—UHTS Contest Judge: an'ya cattails principal editor


Jane Reichhold Memorial Tribute (1937-2016)


a broken shell
her words return
in waves


*****





failing light
my life lines cradle
her laugh lines


one-eyed crow
a glimpse of starshine
between clouds


wind gusts
a rotten burl full
of wild plums


these stones
skim across water
letting go
of every burden,
I float into light


in my garden
a gatekeeper butterfly
basks in the sun
I cover my pale body
only coming out at night


the songs
my father sang to me
in a tongue
I could not understand
still, they carry me home



VerseWrights, 2016




Undertow Tanka Review, Issue 9, December 2016

they dragged me
to view the body
my sister
no longer larger
than her shortened life


that dream
I long to have again
the one
where I grew lamina
and my breath was fire


I find
white begonias
at my door
in pogonip fog
the vague shape of you

Tinywords, Issue 16.2, December 2016

liquid sun our glasses filled with dandelion wine


Hedgerow Poems, Number 100, December 2016

Print Edition


purple streaks in the busker's hair wild violets


night blindness moonbeams tangled in your lashes


I inhale
and my lungs fill up
with bees
though all hope is lost
there is still this hum


we slept
beneath a star blanket
that summer
and washed our faces
with morning dew




Full of Moonlight, Haiku Society of America, Members' Anthology 2016

ice fog
everything familiar
unfamiliar


3rd Place, Shintai Haiku
World Haiku Review
January 2016

Frameless Sky, Issue 5, December 2016

sugar snow
the taste of nothing
on my tongue


steamy windows
the kettle whistles
our favourite tune


Eucalypt, Issue 21, December 2016

fallen leaves
in uncured cement . . .
we imprint
our own mythology
upon each other's lives


soft silt
at the delta's mouth . . .
our breathing
within this moment
flocks of birds, rising

Beginning, British Haiku Society Members' Anthology 2016

spawning coral
once a year, the snow
falls upward

Blithe Spirit, Vol. 26, Number 4, November 2016

a broken circle
in the zen garden
sparrow prints


soft snow
the imprint of wings
a memory


I hear
your voice in silences
and birdsong . . .
the wind-strummed trees
still sing to me of you


the spaces
in which our hearts dwell
are sacred
palimpsests of those
we have loved before


within us
the light of stars . . .
why is it
we so often
choose not to shine?

Akitsu Quarterly, Winter 2016

Inside back cover:



Thursday, December 08, 2016

Under the Basho, November 2016

Personal Best 2016


fog deepens
the sound of rabbits
nibbling night


Grand Prize
2016 World Haiku Contest


World Haiku Association, November 2016

147th Monthly Haiga Contest







Ripples in the Sand, Tanka Society of America Members' Anthology 2016

jars of dew
on the veranda
tomorrow
i will consecrate
my baby's body


the brevity
of your sweet nothings
at times
i long for blossoms
rather than a bud


the meadow
astir with blue skimmers
their wings
darning these placid days
into our histories

Ribbons, Volume 12, Number 3, Fall 2016

these nightmares
of black widow spiders
spinning webs
into oncoming storms
that I can never name


two deep valleys
in a mountain's shadow
village children
pleading at day's end
for one more shaft of light

Certificate of Merit
Japan Tanka Poets' Society
The 8th International Tanka Festival Competition, 2016


NeverEnding Story, November 2016

Translated into Chinese by Chen-ou Liu


ballerinas
rehearsing in the park
i never knew
there were so many
graceful ways to die


A Hundred Gourds, 3:3, June 2014


Chen-ou Liu's comments:

Strategically speaking, through a pivot on the unexpected (L3) to uncover the existential/inevitable aspect of the human condition, Debbie's tanka effectively builds, poetic phrase (ku)/line by poetic phrase (ku)/line, to a thematically significant and emotionally powerful ending that has the most weight and reveals the theme of death (or more precisely, of the relationship between art and death).

By the way, I think the ballet referred to in the upper verse might be "Swan Lake."


*note from me: this tanka does indeed refer to "Swan Lake"


Neon Graffiti: Tanka Poetry of Urban Life, November 2016

the brilliance
of New Year's fireworks
at forty below
the colder it gets
the warmer we are


waiting for the bus
in morning's half light
not knowing
it would be the last time
she would hear her name


f i n a l l y
the river trail freezes
our ski tracks
the only graffiti
in this whitewashed city


at the corner
of poverty and despair
an Indigenous girl
is found in the river
I weep, I weep


on the midway
corn dogs and candy floss
a year older
but still not tall enough
to ride the roller coaster


peregrines
are nesting again
four chicks
on a hotel roof
peer into the lens


still waiting
year after year after year
for the news
how could no one have seen
or heard anything that night


city lights
in the frozen distance
spires reaching
toward the heavens
searching for a god


the neighbours
hibernate all winter
e m e r g i n g
into their backyards
like white-throated sparrows


Haigaonline, Vol. 17, Issue 2, Autumn 2016

Comfort Food Challenge




Failed Haiku - A Journal of English Senryu, Issue 12, December 2016

The first haiga is in memory of Carlos Colon, aka Haiku Elvis






Creatrix Poetry and Haiku Journal, Number 35, December 2016

catch and release
the fat moon wriggles
off my line

Brass Bell, December 2016

saskatchewan . . .
we photograph antelope
in the gloaming

Asahi Haikuist Network, November 2016

sparkling wine our sailboat leans into the sunset

Wednesday, November 09, 2016

Living Haiku Anthology, 2016

A portfolio of 77 haiku published between 2013 and 2016 may be viewed at:




World Haiku Competition, Lyrical Passion Poetry E-zine, 2016

fog deepens
the sound of rabbits
nibbling night


Grand Prize
2016 World Haiku Competition

Failed Haiku - A Journal of English Senryu, Issue 11, November 2016

The following works received Honourable Mentions in the Mixed Media Category in the 2016 Jane Reichhold Memorial Haiga Competition:





Commentary:

Immersing myself in the spinning colours emerging from darkness, the words remind me of my favorite song sung by Pete Seeger "All My Life's a Circle." I love the mysterious quality the layering has created. Don't we all go around in circles and isn't it great when we find ourselves! The font and its size goes well with the image. The placement and colour and hue of the words could be played with more to echo the movement in its words and enhance the composition more. I really like the use "words & image" in the signature, but felt the hue could be toned down to blend in with the total effect of this delightful haiga.

—Kris Kondo




Commentary:

I was instantly captured by the colors and the interplay of the different elements. Fish in the sky drew me in right away and I quickly went to the words to help me find out what this wonder world could be about, and I wasn't disappointed. Mindscapes and a longing for a family pet to love - there was much to find here and I enjoyed the journey. The composition of the elements was handled very well and the digital collage works well. I also liked the font which is a design element that can achieve a lot with a fun playful font. I really enjoyed this one.

—Ron C. Moss



The Literary Review of Canada, November 2016

Vanishing Point


the last
grain elevator
demolished
our little town sinks
further into dust

we leave
wild blanketflowers
on your grave
hoping deer will come
to keep you warm

trees stand
against the horizon
so far
and few between
but, oh, this prairie sky

Gnarled Oak, Issue 10, October 2016



Tuesday, November 08, 2016

Prune Juice, Issue 20, November 2016

in the tracks
of a dog I wish were mine
snow sparkles


your scent
as strong now as then
rosemary


dark mourning
my cousin's name
on the news


a broken hook
the faded ribbons
of her apron


This issue also contains the announcement of winners of the 2016 Jane Reichhold Memorial Haiga Competition. I received two Honourable Mentions in the Mixed Media Haiga Category, and links to these works appear in the November Issue of Failed Haiku: A Journal of English Senryu.






World Haiku Association, October 2016

146th Monthly Haiga Contest





Skylark, Vol. 4, Number 2, Winter 2016

a fish
falls from the sky
what magic
when eagles dance
talon-to-talon





Modern Haiku, Vol. 47.3, Autumn 2016

snowed in
the rounded shoulders
of my mother


emergency flares
above us the crackle
of northern lights

Hedgerow Poems, Number 95, November 2016

Resident Artist






These haiku, without visual art, originally appeared in Blithe Spirit in 2016.



Daily Haiku, Charlotte Digregorio's Writer's Blog, November 2016

on the tundra
caging a winter sky
caribou bones


3rd Place
2014 Hortensia Anderson Awards
United Haiku and Tanka Society


Frogpond, Vol. 39:2, Spring/Summer 2016

sugar cookies
we swallow each phase
of the moon

Chrysanthemum, Number 20, October 2016


Translated into German







Brass Bell, November 2016

we hover around our mother hummingbirds

Atlas Poetica, Number 26, October 2016

inscriptions
etched on roadside cliffs
permanent
reminders of all that is
impermanent


the pain
of this invisible
disability
today, I choose to wear
a quiet cloak of strength


oceans within
unbounded skies without
somewhere between
hollow feathers and flukes
so many ways to sing


muskmelons
and golden chanterelles
even their names
linger on the palate
of my motherless tongue

Asahi Haikuist Network, October 2016

fall migration . . .
many wings beat against
a moon drum

Acorn, Number 37, Fall 2016

mallard flock the iridescent sound of morning


Tuesday, October 18, 2016

KYSO Flash, Issue 6, Fall 2016

Coming Undone


She always wore the same sweater. I've kept it all these years, and I wear it whenever my memories of her start to fade. Today, the last button came off, and I put it in the sweater's frayed pocket for safekeeping. When it slipped through a hole, and dropped between the floorboards, I finally realized that she was never coming home.


heirloom quilt
sparrow prints embossed
on new snow


Second Publisher's Choice Award, KYSO Flash HTP Writing Challenge


Commentary by KF Editors:

This little button of a haibun reminds us of the set-up in "The Last Leaf" by O. Henry, in which the consumptive young woman thinks that she'll die when the last leaf falls outside her window. "Coming Undone" avoids any clever plot twists and aims directly at the heart in a spare and effective way.




Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival, Haiku Invitational, 2016

sakura
in the garden centre
we choose her name


Honourable Mention
Sakura Award, Canada

Inkling Press - More Grows in a Crooked Row: Tanka Conversations of Angela Leuck, 2016

More Grows in a Crooked Row is comprised of responsive tanka conversations between Angela Leuck and 15 Canadian poets.


My contribution to a tanka conversation with Angela Leuck follows:


Broken Resolutions


New Year's morn
the air hangs heavy
with ice fog
and the acrid smoke
of broken resolutions

on groundhog day
we speak of shadows
etched on snow
forgetting how we lengthen
into filaments of light

while a snow lion
roars outside our door
you tame me
with the fire in your hands
until I tremble like a lamb

a robin's trill
fades into evening
how green
the scent of longing
after the first rain

I still wear
her frayed sweater
on Mother's Day—
are we ever resigned
to being orphaned?

a perigee moon
the polished stone
at my breast
waxing and waning
with every breath

our paddles
stirring twilight
into the lake
after all these years
the stars in our eyes

four sisters
shared a bedroom
on the farm
now we harvest memories
from summer fallow fields

at the hospice
another little bird
hits the window
we'll always wonder
what father tried to say

maple leaves
and geese take flight
I, too, am restless
as autumn writes
the poetry of storms

poppies
on street corners
the wounds
we carry in our hearts
bleed into winter skies

solstice
the northern lights
shape-shift
over frozen prairie
I curl my hand into yours


VerseWrights, 2016



Wild Plum, Issue 2:2, Fall & Winter 2016

caterpillar
on an oak leaf boat
i offer my hand


night fog
an owl's call fills
the spaces





Tinywords, Issue 16.2, September 2016


haiku only published in Kernelsonline, Summer 2013


The Bamboo Hut, Autumn 2016

believing
you were my bellwether
I followed
every footstep sinking
deeper into the mire


where are you
my fair-weather friend
have you left
for sunnier climes
grown weary of my rain


at the first
slow swell of violins
these tears
that seep into my mouth
and quench my thirst


inheriting
her jewellery chest
I wonder
about the secrets
she had yet to tell


calluses
on my fingertips
musical scars
that bleed every time
I strum our duet


at the base
of this volcano
cinnabar
our pilgrim cheeks blaze
with revelation


don't sell me
anti-ageing creams
the lines
upon this canvas
my life's masterstrokes


over time
every mountain
sinks back
into the ocean
as must we all





Presence, Number 56, October 2016

eclipse an otter dives through a ring of fire


hinterland the call and answer of wolves and moon


fallen leaves
a porcupine nibbles
the last apple


a twinkle
in the pumpkin's eye
harvest moon




Shortlisted for Best-of-Issue Award in Presence 55:


coastal trail a rainbow appears in the orca's breath


NeverEnding Story, September 2016

Translated into Chinese by Chen-ou Liu


in cupped hands
the harvest moon rests
for a moment


First Place, Bangor Group 2015 Autumn Moon Haiku Contest


Chen-ou Liu's comments:

A visually stunning moment is keenly captured in Debbie's "ichibutsu shitate" (one-image/object/topic haiku).




NeverEnding Story, August 2016

Translated into Chinese by Chen-ou Liu


migrating geese
writing cursive letters
across the sky
I finally read between
the white of your lies


Runner-up, British Haiku Society Tanka Awards, 2014-2015


Chen-ou Liu's comments:

The juxtaposition between the cyclic nature and temporal precision of bird migration and the fluctuating nature of human relationships makes this poem emotionally effective.

A fresh take on relationship tanka.

Kokako, Number 25, September 2016

snowbound
every garden pot
a ptarmigan


crane silhouettes
i practice the kanji
for my name


our bodies
no more than stardust
we fall
from constellations
and for a moment, shine

Haiku Canada Review, Vol. 10, Number 2, October 2016

runaway (t)rain all the world a blur


orphaned cubs
mammatus clouds
after the storm

Gusts, Number 24, Fall/Winter 2016

snow-bent
the rushes that held nests
of marsh wrens
I close my weary eyes
and turn into a song


curls of clouds
become passerines
each autumn
the low-angled light
invites me to follow


stonescapes
along the arroyo
rain-spattered
my every bone thirsty
for one last taste of you

Creatrix Poetry and Haiku Journal, Number 34, September 2016

shelf clouds
a scare crow leans
against wind

Failed Haiku - A Journal of English Senryu, Issue 10, October 2016

Honoured to have this haiga on the cover!





Failed Haiku - A Journal of English Senryu, Issue 9, September 2016





Brass Bell, October 2016

the bleached husk
of a small crayfish . . .
summer wanes

Brass Bell, September 2016

fingerprints
on yellowed recipes
she is here, still


Blithe Spirit, Vol. 26, Number 3, September 2016

moonstruck
the scent of night settles
in your hair


ocean waves
advance then retreat
shy lovers
teaching the shore how
to make the stones sing


odds and ends
flutter from clothes lines
songbirds
lift this mundane life
into the divine

Asahi Haikuist Network, September 2016

stone angels
among the ruins
a flash of stars


blues festival
stray dogs howling
at streetlights

Akitsu Quarterly, Fall 2016

a smudge
on the azure sky
day moon


orange lichen
glacial rocks bloom
with age


cloudspill
across the lowlands
muffled bells






Friday, September 23, 2016

Friday, August 12, 2016

Mandy's Pages Annual Tanka Contest, 2016

each moment
here on earth is numbered . . .
so why not
fly too close to the moon,
and hang our hats on stars?


1st Place


Judge's Comments:

I chose this as the winner because I wanted to base my decision on originality, freshness, and authenticity. The poet's writing style is utterly captivating! The serious tone of the first two lines pivots in the phrase, "so why not." The mood that follows is somewhat childlike, evoking a sense of adventure and imagination. Isn't that how we should enjoy life? We should take risks, dream big, have fun! With the use of the s/l/s/l/l form, this tanka gives you a heartwarming ending with some dreaming space.

—Christine L. Villa

Yamadera Basho Memorial Museum English Haiku Contest 2016

8th Contest Selected Haiku Collection


snow lantern
the fading glint
in her eyes


lavender
we pack her clothes
in silence

World Haiku Association, July 2016

144th Monthly Haiga Contest



Sonic Boom, Issue 6, August 2016




Ribbons, Volume 12, Number 2, Spring/Summer 2016

what the hands know


she sits and stares
her palms curling skyward
against her thighs
two weathered coracles
adrift, and filled with rain

disconsolate
she fillets a fishbone sky
into quadrants
the way they divided
her cancer into stages

barn swallows
scissor through thick air
until a cloud
falls through her fingers
in an epiphany

Gnarled Oak, Issue 9, July 2016

Honoured to have this image (without haiku) chosen for the cover of Issue 9!



Daily Haiku, Charlotte Digregorio's Writer's Blog, July 2016

in cupped hands
the harvest moon rests
for a moment


1st Place
Bangor Haiku Group
2015 Autumn Haiku Contest

Failed Haiku - A Journal of English Senryu, Issue 8, August 2016




Thursday, July 14, 2016

Cattails, January 2015

spewing lava
a volcano erupts
between us


early frost
a gazing ball reflects
white roses


another egg
in the falcon's nest
rising moon


midwinter
ribbons of aurora
u n f u r l i n g
we tie up the loose ends
of our divergent lives


the goodbye
i never said
at dawn
a bull elk bugles
on the hillside


your fingers
played a symphony
in my hair
when I was a cello
and you were the bow


Tanka Editor's Choice:

A wonderful "short song" (tanka) composed by Debbie Strange from Canada, in which we not only hear the symphony played by two lovers, but where the lyrics of this write present in a musical fashion. I cannot stress enough the importance of line 2, 4, and 5 being of nearly equal length to create a melody like this author has accomplished
—an'ya, cattails principal editor






Cattails, January 2016

dusty sky
refugees make kites
from plastic bags


bagpipes skirl
across the prairie
Dad goes home


midnight sun
will you miss me
when I'm gone


in the hills
cattle lowing between
silences


aftermath
a skunk forages
in fireweed


the dry ache
of a long goodbye
how do we
reach the other side
with the bridge washed out


Tanka Editor's Choice:

This Editor's Choice is by Debbie Strange from Canada, and it demonstrates a songlike rhythm which is pleasing to the ear and desirable in the tanka form. However I chose it not only for the melody but for its contents and its juxtaposition as well. Representative of an aching heart after a long goodbye, we are left to wonder how to reach the other side with the bridge washed out. Metaphoric in its content, leaves a reader to believe in that old saying that "love always finds a way".

—UHTS cattails tanka editor an'ya, USA






Note: This issue also contains a lovely review of Warp and Weft, Tanka Threads by an'ya which may be accessed via the book's title page of this blog.






Red Lights, Vol. 12, Number 2, June 2016

kittiwakes
wheeling the blue beyond
calling, calling
a glimpse of your face
before you slipped away


at cliff's edge
waves roiling below
I stand
eye to eye with gulls
unafraid of flight


on the shore
jellyfish sailors
stranded
my hopes deflating
with these pink balloons

Paper Wasp 22 (2), 2016

the sound of rain
millions of monarchs
taking wing


morning chill
the dark field aglow
with pumpkins


above the marsh
a swarm of gnats spins
dusk into night

NeverEnding Story, July 2016

Translated into Chinese by Chen-ou Liu


empty nest
on the for sale sign
mourning doves


Selected Haiku
2015 Yamadera Basho Memorial Museum Haiku Contest


Chen-ou Liu's comments:

Technically speaking, L1, "empty nest," provides a "scent link" (in Basho's sense of the phrase) to L3, "mourning doves." And the doves' soft, drawn-out calls effectively enhances the tone and mood of the poem.

Hedgerow Poems, Number 85, July 2016

Resident Artist







Poems without images published as follows:

1) brass bell, September 2015
2) Frameless Sky, June 2015
3) brass bell, November 2015
4) Failed Haiku, May 2016



Daily Haiku, Charlotte Digregorio's Writer's Blog, July 2016

rocky ledge
a wolf with the moon
in its mouth


3rd Place
Irish Haiku Society
7th International Haiku Competition 2015

Daily Haiku, Charlotte Digregorio's Writer's Blog, July 2016

stone cairns
a faded cap drifts
downriver


1st Place
HSA 2015 Harold G. Henderson Haiku Contest
Frogpond #38:3, Autumn 2015

Atlas Poetica, Number 25, July 2016

a bird gone quiet
in the tender hollow
of your throat
I miss you more than words
can say I miss you


basking seals
on the breakwater
steam rises
from our sleek bodies
into otherness


an ant
pushing the universe
up this hill
in a water droplet
I find my inner strength


prairie dawn
an exaltation of larks
on barbed wire
ancestral blood pinging
along the gravel road home

Friday, July 01, 2016

World Haiku Review, June 2016

(theme eros and agape)


button moon
we undress each other
in the dark

Zatsuei Haiku of Merit
Vanguard Haiku Category


crescent moon
a scar on the curve
of your belly

Hon. Mention
Vanguard Haiku Category


fireflies
so many reasons
to shine

Hon. Mention
Shintai Haiku Category


mending fences
the scent of sagebrush
on your fingers

Hon. Mention
Shintai Haiku Category





JapanTanka Poets' Society,The 8th International Tanka Festival Competition, 2016

two deep valleys
in a mountain's shadow
village children
pleading at day's end
for one more shaft of light


Certificate of Merit
Conferred by The Tanka Journal
(300 entries)

Shamrock, Number 34, June 2016

shining wind the halt and sway of evergreens


frosted dawn
crows spill across
the horizon

Prune Juice, Issue 19, July 2016

frogspawn
the way you wriggle
out of lies


a fox
in the hen house
your affair


blood-streaked
arms and legs flailing
we relearn
the complicated steps
of the mosquito Macarena

Presence, Number 55, June 2016

coastal trail a rainbow appears in the orca's breath


lambing season
swirls of fog become
a wolf pack


rising wind
a volley of ducks explodes
from the marsh


snowy owls
drifting over prairie
northern lights




North Carolina Poetry Society, Griffin-Farlow Haiku Award, 2015

fog weaving
between fence posts
a coyote's song

Hon. Mention
Griffin-Farlow Haiku Award 2015
Pinesong, Volume 52, Awards 2016


Judge's Comments:

I awarded honorable mention to this haiku for its deft juxtaposition of senses both visual and aural. I like where this haiku led me: piano (fence post), pianist (fog) and music produced by the combination of those two images (coyote's song). Each reader's interpretation of a haiku is unique and based on the reader's own experience. Where does this haiku lead you?

—Roberta Beary



Moonbathing, Issue 14, Spring/Summer 2016

barnacles
cling to foam-flecked rocks
e x p o s e d
at my lowest ebb
I yearn to let go

Hedgerow Poems, Number 82, June 2016

Resident Artist




Poems without images published as follows:

1) cattails, May 2016
2) cattails, May 2016
3) Undertow Tanka Review, Issue 7, 2015
4) The Bamboo Hut, Volume 2, Issue 1, 2014


Haiku Society of America, Harold G. Henderson Haiku Contest, 2015

stone cairns
a faded cap drifts
downriver


1st Place
2015 Harold G. Henderson Haiku Contest

A Splash of Water, Haiku Society of America, Members' Anthology 2015

water lily
the way you close
your hands to pray


World Haiku Association
122nd Haiga Contest 2014

Sailing Into The Moon, Haiku Canada Members' Anthology, 2016

merlot moon
fires burn somewhere
close tonight


Asahi Haikuist Network, November 2015

Frameless Sky, Issue 4, June 2016

smudged sunrise
the length of a bittern's neck
among rushes


ever-changing
this topography
of hills and dales
our ageing bodies
fit together, still


for hovers
over sawtooth mountains
when I reach
the furthest pinnacle
will I finally see

Failed Haiku - A Journal of English Senryu, Issue 7, July 2016



Daily Haiku, Charlotte Digregorio's Writer's Blog, December 2015

night drive . . .
a deer leaps over
the moon


Gems Anthology 2014

European Haiku Society, June 2016

weathered barn
the silence of cobwebs
in moonlight


Hon. Mention
European Haiku Prize

Thursday, June 02, 2016

World Haiku Association, May 2016

142nd Monthly Haiga Contest







World Haiku Association, April 2016

141st Monthly Haiga Contest



Undertow Tanka Review, Issue 8, May 2016

on the verge
of here and hereafter
surely we
are not the only ones
with revenant hearts


scraps of lace
behind old windows
footfalls echo
we are bound by webs
of good intentions

Tinywords, Issue 16.1, May 2016

sugar snow
sifting through evergreens
empty nests, full

The Heron's Nest, Vol. 18, Number 2, June 2016

cloudless sky
a pelican's pouch
full of light


Editors' Choices

The Heron's Nest, Volume 17, 2015

crab spider
a frost moon dangles
out of reach


Perseid shower
the scent of tamarack
on the campfire


evening fog
antlers ghosting through
the coulee


summer camp
children sieve the sky
for tadpoles

The Cicada's Cry, A Micro-Zine of Haiku Poetry, Spring 2016

old argument
this frosty morning
ruffled feathers

The Bamboo Hut, Spring 2016

even when
you came home early
blood-spattered
with glass in your hair
I never saw this coming


though my feet
have never trod upon
that fair isle
they know it better
than these dirty streets


the times
that are the hardest
give way
to those that soften
this, I tell myself


when, at last
we turn to dust and bone
my hair
an eternal waterfall
will still flow over you


rose thorns
and twists of barbed wire
you trace
my body's deep scars
until I believe

Skylark, Vol. 4, Number 1, Summer 2016

ease me down
into cool waters
plait my hair
with green willow roots
make of me your anchor


this is the song
of our humpback hearts
when we listen
to the ocean breathing
blood returns to water



Note: This issue also contains a lovely review of Warp and Weft, Tanka Threads by Jenny Ward Angyal which may be accessed via the "Books and Reviews" page of this blog.