this life full
of entanglements . . .
nasturtiums
Wednesday, December 22, 2021
Seashores - An International Journal to Share the Spirit of Haiku. Vol. 7, November 2021
I wonder
what happened here . . .
feather atlas
cracked headstone
this meandering river
of moss
NeverEnding Story, December 2021
Translated into Chinese by Chen-ou Liu:
the pair bonds
of prairie voles . . .
she asks
if he used to be
her husband
Third Place
2017 UHTS Fleeting Words Tanka Contest
Chen-ou Liu's Comments:
The contrast/comparison between pair bonding (selective and lifelong relationship) and (uncertain) marital relationship portrayed in the two parts of the tanka is poignantly effective.
Moonbathing, Issue 25, Fall/Winter 2021
a knot of clouds
unravels into rain
these freshets
of grief welling up
again inside me
Mahmight Haiku Journal, November 2021
Grateful to have the following haiku chosen for commentary by Richard Matta:
a wild sky
tethered to earth . . .
chain lightning
Gnarled Oak, Issue 1, December 2014
Richard's Commentary:
"Having lived in Florida I know lightning and can relate to the wildness of the sky. The assonance in tethered and earth is wonderful, and the use of tethered and wild certainly makes one think of a wild monster with which you might try to use a chain."
Hedgerow Poems, Number 136, 2021
graupel now and again the small dots of redpolls
whitewater
a pelican blends
into it
Frameless Sky, Issue 15, December 2021
Honoured to be the "Take the Challenge" winner with the following artwork chosen by Elisa Theriana to accompany her featured haiku:
Cold Moon Journal, Touchstone Awards Nomination, 2021
My thanks to the editor, Roberta Beach Jacobson for nominating the following work for a Touchstone Award:
full moon
a strawberry ripens
in the basket of sky
Cold Moon Journal, June 2021
#FemkuMag: haikai poetry by womxn and non-binary folx - Red Moon Anthology Nomination, 2021
My thanks to the editor, Lori Minor, for nominating the followng work for the Red Moon Anthology:
Fata Morgana the (in)visibility of my (dis)ability
2nd Place
2021 Marlene Mountain Memorial Haiku Contest
#FemkuMag: haikai poetry by womxn and non-binary folx - Touchstone Awards Nomination, 2021
Grateful to the editor, Lori Minor, for nominating the following work for the Touchstone Awards:
Fata Morgana the (in)visibility of my (dis)ability
2nd Place
2021 Marlene Mountain Memorial Haiku Contest
bristlegrass
you take offence
so easily
#FemkuMag, Issue 30, July 2021
#FemkuMag: haikai poetry by womxn and non-binary folx - Issue 31, November 2021
constructed reality the world view from my sickbed
spill/age (.)(.)
abs(dis)traction
onion skin
you p e e l my layers
and i weep
Daily Haiku: Charlotte Digregorio's Writer's Blog, December 2021
December 10, 2021
lost gloves sprout
from melting snowbanks
every finger
points me toward
a place I'd rather be
Honourable Mention
Fleeting Words Tanka Competition 2021
ghost pumpkins
winter arrives without
a sound
Third Place
International Haiku Contest on the Theme of Gourds, 2020
December 21, 2021
frigid weather
a red rose shatters
on impact
Editor's Choice
Cattails, April 2021
Daily Haiga: An Edited Journal of Traditional and Contemporary Haiga, December 2021
Featured Artist: December 10, 2021
Note: this haiku was first published in The Heron's Nest XXII #2, June 2020
Creatrix Poetry and Haiku Journal, Number 55, December 2021
laundry day
we learn to wring out
our anger
Contemporary Haibun Online, Issue 17.3, December 2021
My thanks to Ron Moss for selecting my work for the haiga showcase feature, and for his lovely commentary!
Debbie Strange's work has been published widely; her haiku and art are always of a top standard. In this gallery we can see how she combines colors and shapes to create mesmerizing images, and then pairs them with poems that deepen the experience.
Haiga Showcase Feature:
Wow! The colors and shapes of "city skyline" ensure that this haiga will stand out anywhere. The clever visual of repeated shapes connects well with the one-line haiku, which is nicely balanced at the bottom of the image.
The "hammered dulcimer" is a lovely kaleidoscope of shapes and colors, with a touch of texture and human emotion. The text has been balanced well on the image and contained in a small box, which allows for readability amongst all the busyness.
"Our bodies" offers another strong image. The tree takes the whole frame, and the white space surrounding it gives us room to breathe. The haiku's use of the curving wind echoes the leaning tree, making everything come together in a balanced way.
Two strong brushstrokes compose the main visual of "the wingspan," and they're countered nicely by the vertical text—something that is not easy to achieve. The subtle background colors give us a feeling of a sky in the digital realm.
Chalk on the Walk Haiku Project (New Zealand), 2021
Curated by Sherry Grant
Collaborative Haiga Feature: December 21, 2021
(Note: This collaborative haiga was first published in Frameless Sky 15, December 2021. My thanks to Elisa Theriana who wrote this lovely haiku, and chose my artwork to accompany it in the Frameless Sky 15 "Take the Challenge" contest.)
Chalk on the Walk Monoku Project (New Zealand), 2021
Curated by Sherry Grant
Haiga Feature: December 21, 2021
(Note: this haiku was first published in The Heron's Nest 22.1, March 2020)
Chalk on the Walk Haiku Project (New Zealand), 2021
Curated by Sherry Grant
Haiga Feature: December 11, 2021
(Note: this haiku was first published in The Heron's Nest XXII #2, June 2020, and the haiga first appeared at Daily Haiga on December 10, 2021)
Chalk on the Walk Monoku Project (New Zealand), 2021
Curated by Sherry Grant
Haiga Feature: December 1, 2021
(Note: this haiga was first published in Incense Dreams 3.1, October 2019)
Bull-Headed: Haiku, 2021
My thanks to the editor, Corine Timmer, for including my work in this anthology, and for donating the proceeds to "Care for Cows Vrindavan"!
highland steer the shagginess of my covid hair
please note: this work was submitted as a monoku, but was published as a three-line haiku in error
Temple, British Haiku Society Members' Anthology, 2021
moon bridge
the arch of a dragonfly
laying eggs
Blithe Spirit, Vol. 31, Number 4, November 2021
a woolly bear's
segmented colours . . .
firebreak
we shelter beneath
our cedar-strip canoe
heavy rain
hammers nails of light
into the water
a rabbit's head
falls out of the dusk
I stand transfixed
as a horned owl's wing
silently lifts my hair
note: This tanka is based on an actual event. A horned owl dropped his dinner on our balcony, and then swooped in to retrieve it. A truly magical (albeit, gruesome) moment!
Akitsu Quarterly, Winter 2021
circling wolves a cyclone of reindeer in the forecast
humid cave
ice pillars thrust
upward
My thanks to the editor, Robin White, for featuring this haiga on the back cover!
Autumn Moon Haiku Journal, 5:1, Autumn/Winter 2021-2022
night of stars
the singing bowl
of our campfire
lifting fog
the day breaks into
something other
Sunday, November 21, 2021
Tsuri-doro: A Small Journal of Haiku and Senryu, Issue #6, November/December 2021
basalt pillars
father used to seem
so tall
Ribbons, Volume 17, Number 3, Fall 2021
My thanks to Jenny Ward Angyal for her lovely review of The Language of Loss: Haiku & Tanka Conversations. It may be accessed via the book title's tab of this blog.
a whisper
of moths circling
the beacon
it is much too late
for sirens
My thanks to Ryland Shengzhi Li for including my work in his essay, Gifts of Tanka: An Essay on Structure:
"The event-and-response structure comprises an event, state, or thing paired with a response...
the ocean
was in a rage last night
but today,
these peace offerings
of blue mussels and kelp
(1st Place, 2018 Sanford Goldstein International Tanka Contest)
Here, the event comprises the first two lines of the ocean in a rage last night, while the response, today's peace offerings, comes in the last three lines. What follows rage is not destruction, as one might expect, but offerings of peace.
Although the words of the poem focus on the ocean, they also invite the reader to infer meanings about human life. The poem suggests a mood of hopeful expectation in a dire situation, perhaps reconciliation after a fight. If even the ocean, the vastest thing on earth, can resolve rage with peace offerings, how much more so we human beings. In this sense, the poem's description of the ocean gives us perspective and grounding in our own life, while relating the ocean to human affairs helps us see the ocean with greater familiarity. The poem also suggests the impermanence of all things: even a strong emotion like rage will eventually wane and be pacified. The "peace offerings" here are also food items, often used to cultivate peace between humans.
Haiku Canada Review, Volume 15, Number 2, October 2021
(ir)rational thinking you might even be right
clear conscience
a loon's call drifts
into morning
This issue includes a lovely review by Pearl Pirie of Prairie Interludes. It may be accessed via the book title's tab of this blog.
My thanks to Maxianne Berger for mentioning my work in her review of Window Seats: A Contemporary Anthology of Cat Haiku & Senryu, edited by Stanford M. Forrester:
There are cats who have no homes, and cats who do.
pussy willows
the swollen bellies
of feral cats
(note: this haiku was originally published in Acorn 32, Spring 2014)
Daily Haiga: An Edited Journal of Traditional and Contemporary Haiga, November 2021
Featured Artist: November 20, 2021
Note: this haiku was first published in Modern Haiku 51.1, Winter-Spring 2020
Monday, November 08, 2021
Mariposa, Number 45, Autumn/Winter 2021
pyrocumulus
the dragon arching
across your back
dusty tack
hangs in empty stalls
redolent
with memories that might
or might not be mine
Graceguts: Michael Dylan Welch's Blog, 2021
My thanks to Michael Dylan Welch for including the following collaborative work in his trifold, City Rengay, published in 2021:
Winnipeg Wind
by Michael Dylan Welch (in normal type) and Debbie Strange (in italics)
Portage and Main—
the wind whipping snow
after my missed bus
Assiniboine Forest at dusk
a deer flicks its tail
in the ruin
of St. Boniface Cathedral
a crushed snail
another heatwave—
Leo Mol nudes recline
in the garden
the Golden Boy
still pointing north
at Fort Whyte
the snowshoe tracks
of humans and hares
Note: this rengay first appeared in The Bamboo Hut's Hands Across the Water - A Journal of Collaborative Poetry, December 2018.
GUSTS, Number 34, Fall/Winter 2021
a whirlwind
of forsythia petals . . .
your impatience
with all the little things
that stop me in my tracks
you press
your ear against
a birch's heart
come, listen to the sap
bubbling inside me
a kaleidoscope
of clearwings spinning
above the meadow
on this summer day,
I remember you
Frogpond, Vol. 44, Number 3, Autumn 2021
wolf pack
our social glue
u n s t i c k s
This issue includes Kristen Lindquist's lovely review of The Language of Loss: Haiku & Tanka Conversations:
My thanks to Kristen for taking the time to write such a thoughtful and appreciative review! A transcript of her review may be accessed under this blog's tab for The Language of Loss.
This issue also includes Randy Brooks' wonderful review of A New Resonance 12:
My thanks to Randy for the following excerpt regarding my work:
Debbie Strange is a master at setting a scene, then inviting the reader to settle in for a story. She doesn't provide the end of the story, but just enough to get us anticipating or imagining possibilities. We get the gist and feel the feeling of the tale:
porch swing
songs where we least
expect them
This issue also includes the results of the 2021 Haiku Society of America Merit Book Awards for books published in 2020. My thanks to the judges, Ce Rosenow and Bryan Rickert for awarding The Language of Loss: Haiku & Tanka Conversations an honourable mention in this contest! Their comments follow:
True to its name, Debbie Strange's The Language of Loss explores the many facets of loss and survival using both haiku and tanka. One haiku and one tanka are paired beautifully on every page. Never predictable and always revealing, this book delivers consistent quality from start to finish.
Daily Haiga: An Edited Journal of Traditional and Contemporary Haiga, October 2021
Featured Artist: October 19, 2021
Note: this tanka was first published in Kokako 25, September 2016
Creatrix Poetry and Haiku Journal, Number 54, September 2021
hang gliding
the sequential take-off
of fledglings
The Cicada's Cry: A Micro-Zine of Haiku Poetry, Autumn 2021
dead man's fingers
nature puts the fun
in fungus
Chalk on the Walk Monoku Project (New Zealand), 2021
Curated by Sherry Grant
Haiga Feature: October 22, 2021
(Note: this monoku received 2nd Place in the 2021 Marlene Mountain Contest)
Cattails, October 2021
a wounded crow
pecks at our casement
we open
our shutters and invite
the darkness in
a sheaf
of bamboo strips ready
for weaving
we bend to the task
of shaping each other
the blue lining
of a cormorant's mouth . . .
gap-toothed pier
deserted shack
finger paintings grace
every wall
the vitriol
of (un)social media . . .
spittlebugs
Cafe Haiku: The Magazine of the Cafe Haiku Group (Mumbai, Thane, Hyderabad and Chennai), October 2021
Haiga Feature: October 24, 2021
Australian Haiku Society, 2021
Spring 2021 AHS Haiga Kukai: Seasonal Entry
weeping cherry
she never thought
he'd be the first
Spring 2021 AHS Haiga Kukai: Non-seasonal Entry
nothing left
of the rainbow . . .
funnel clouds
(Note: these haiku were written in response to artwork by Ron Moss)
Akitsu Quarterly, Fall 2021
muddy lane
a leaf collage glued
to my boots
sweetgrass
ruffled by the wind . . .
blue-winged teal
sun-warmed sage
the burnished horns
of bison
A Fine Line: The Magazine of the New Zealand Poetry Society, Spring 2021
rewilding
we move a box turtle
off the freeway
the last seeds
from father's garden . . .
snowbound
Friday, September 17, 2021
United Haiku and Tanka Society, Fleeting Words Tanka Competition 2021
My thanks to the judge, Marilyn Humbert!
lost gloves sprout
from melting snowbanks
every finger
points me toward
a place I'd rather be
Honourable Mention
2021 Fleeting Words Tanka Competition
Haiku Contest of the Haiku Society of Constanta in Romania, 2021
Translated into Romanian
theme: raging sea
the lighthouse
without its beacon . . .
tsunami
Runner-up
Constanta Haiku Contest 2021
Ink Sweat and Tears - The Poetry and Prose Webzine - September 2021
Word and Image Feature - September 17, 2021
My thanks to Desree for selecting this "pwoermd" artwork!
Geppo: The Haiku Work-Study Journal of the Yuki Teikei Haiku Society, Volume XLVI:2, May 2021
February - April 2021
rusty watering can
how vibrant the life
of mud
snowdrops
the future is almost
upon us
baby skunks
the unmown strip
of grass
loonsong
I am not alone
in the mist
Spring Challenge Kigo: Kite, Toy Kite, tako, ikanobori
kite tails
we watch you
slip away
Honoured to know that "loonsong" was included among the favourites of Dojins Michele Root-Bernstein and Patricia J. Machmiller, and "baby skunks" was included among the favourites of Dojins Emiko Miyashita and Patricia!
World Haiku Review, Summer 2021
sultry day
a tornado screws itself
into the earth
Zatsuei Haiku of Merit
Neo-Classical Haiku Category
lily pad rafts
dotting the pond . . .
leopard frogs
Zatsuei Haiku of Merit
Neo-Classical Haiku Category
Tsuri-doro: A Small Journal of Haiku and Senryu, Issue #5, September/October 2021
a drift of quail
among the leaves . . .
woodsmoke
scorched prairie
I have forgotten the sound
of rain
The Awakened One: Buddha-Themed Haiku from Around the World, 2021
My thanks to editors Adjei Agyei-Baah and Gabriel Rosenstock for including my work!
transience . . .
petal by petal
we let go
Winning Haiku, Canada
Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival Haiku Invitational, 2017
Trash Panda: Life in the Anthropocene in 17 Syllables or Less, Volume 1.1, Summer 2021
oil slick the way we colour our world
Failed Haiku 3.31, July 2018
aftermath
we tuck a note inside
the riven oak
Wales Haiku Journal, Summer 2020
The Cherita, Book 50, May 2021
Issue: "washed by sunset"
the whimpers
of a starving puppy
draw me near
she offers her paw
and just like that,
I fall in love again
16,000 nights
and still,
these kisses
fall as dew
from the rose petals
of our tongues
the hull of our home
withstands
storm after storm
curtains flying
out every window
like pennants
Shamrock Haiku Journal, Number 46, September 2021
the black tip
of a ground squirrel's tail . . .
stubble fire
salmon dart
across the highway . . .
non-stop rain
The Poetry Pea Journal of Haiku and Senryu, Summer 2021
Editor: Patricia McGuire
"No Ego"
leaf litter
turkey tail fungus
skirts the pine
cemetery shade
this luminescence
of lilies
"Euphony"
ripe pumpkins
deer tracks riddle
the frost
"Kigo"
monarch migration
the unexpected tremor
of my lips
ostrich ferns
unwind themselves . . .
daylight savings
"Selective Realism"
lantern light
becoming one
with the fog
bison range
a magpie rides off
into the sunset
"Yūgen"
twilit rookery
let the storytelling
begin
footprints etched
on the sea of tranquility . . .
rearing stallion
Poetry Pea, August 2021
The Haiku Pea Podcast
Series, 4, Episode 16 - "Original Haiku Using Yūgen", August 16, 2021
ghost apple
this emptiness
inside
Shortlisted, 2019 Touchstone Awards
Shamrock Haiku Journal 42, 2019
footprints etched
on the sea of tranquility . . .
rearing stallion
Our Best Haiga: Black & White Haiga/Haisha, September 2021
Curated by Lavana Kray
September 8, 2021
(Note: this tanka art was first published in Ribbons 17.1, Winter 2021)
September 25, 2021
(Note: this tanka was first published in Blithe Spirit 30.3, August 2020)
Our Best Haiga: Black & White Haiga/Haisha, August 2021
Curated by Lavana Kray
August 24, 2021
(Note: this haiku was first published in Kokako 33, September 2020)
NeverEnding Story, September 2021
Cool Announcement: A Freebie, Mouth Full of Stones by Debbie Strange
My Dear Readers:
NeverEnding Story contributor, Debbie Strange, published a collection of sociopolitically conscious haiku, Mouth Full of Stones (Title IX Press, 2020 - now, Moth Orchid Press), and she shared her fine work as a free download available at the Moth Orchid Press website.
Selected Haiku:
dry lightning
her mattress scarred
with cigarette burns
day moon
(dis)appearing
sister's thin face
hot (fl)ashes the combustibility of womxn's rights
cows and calves
bawling at weaning time
my breasts ache
angry words
the gossip of gulls
d r i f t i n g
street kids
shadows fold
into the night
neon lights
a cardboard roof
sags with snow
cyberbullying
the buzz of a high voltage arc
permafrost
a polar bear's paws
sink deeper
Failed Haiku - A Journal of English Senryu, Vol. 6, Issue 69, September 2021
Guest Editor: Hemapriya Chellappan - Linked Forms
Darkroom
duality
the shadows and light
inside memory
exposing yourself
for what you are
negative strips
I am nothing more
than a ghost
changing your colours
before my eyes
chemical bath
it would be so easy
to drown
red light
you stop at nothing
contact prints
these permanent reminders
to forget
Dwarf Stars 2021 - The Very Best Short Speculative Poems Published in 2020
winter jasmine
we inhale the scent
of dying stars
The Poetry Pea Journal of Haiku and Senryu, Autumn 2020
Daily Haiku: Charlotte Digregorio's Writer's Blog, September 2021
forgotten grave
only the small bones
of leaves remain
Commended Haiku
Polish International Haiku Competition, 2020
snow whirls
outside the henhouse . . .
father cups
my hands around
a warm brown egg
3rd Place
Fleeting Words Tanka Competition, 2018
Daily Haiga: An Edited Journal of Traditional and Contemporary Haiga, August 2021
Featured Artist: August 18, 2021
Note: this tanka was first published in Tanka Origins 3, April 2020
Window Seats: A Contemporary Anthology of Cat Haiku & Senryu, Bottle Rockets Press, 2021
pussy willows
the swollen bellies
of feral cats
Acorn 42, Spring 2014
Bottle Rockets, Vol. 23, Number 1 (or #45), August 2021
dandelions the multiplication factor of yellow
Blithe Spirit, Vol. 31, Number 3, August 2021
stray kitten
our hen unfolds
her wings
the click-snap
of a barn owl peering
from our hayloft
we defer roof repairs
for another year
Monday, August 02, 2021
New Zealand Poetry Society International Poetry Competition 2021
My thanks to Simon Hanson, the judge of this contest!
the darkness
arrives on a thousand legs . . .
cosmic caterpillar
Highly Commended
#FemkuMag: haikai poetry by womxn and non-binary folx - Issue 30, July 2021
Honoured to receive 2nd Place in the 2021 Marlene Mountain Contest (for monoku)! My thanks to the judges, Lori A. Minor and Tia Haynes, for their sensitive commentary.
Fata Morgana the (in)visibility of my (dis)ability
Commentary:
Not only are invisible illnesses difficult to live with because one is forced to convince others that they are sick, but some chronic illnesses can make one feel invisible due to the disconnect between those sick and their able-bodied friends and family. These illnesses are debilitating and isolating.
The brilliant use of parentheses parallels this by separating those who are seen and those who feel invisible, as well as disabled folx and those who are able-bodied. For those who are sick but still struggling to seek answers, Fata Morgana is all too familiar. The pain felt is real, but when the test results keep coming back normal, one can't help but feel stuck and just about end up gaslighting themselves. Not to mention those answers seem unreal and so far out of reach. We can also see the way Debbie possibly views herself, as one stuck as an optical illusion, living in society in one fashion and being unable to in another. This heartbreaking monoku calls us to hear and to see, to understand and develop compassion where it is most needed.
Other work included in this issue:
internal dialogue only one of us has anything to say
wild foxglove the poison lurking behind beauty standards
bristlegrass
you take offence
so easily
paper birch
to know the inner bark
of you
The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls: An Oceanic Literary Magazine, July 2021
July 3, 2021
sea pebbles
glistening in the sun
we, too
lose more of ourselves
with every passing wave
Honourable Mention
2020 British Haiku Society Awards
July 4, 2021
I carry
an ocean within
my pocket . . .
this blue lace agate
etched with ancient tides
Honourable Mention
2018 Fleeting Words Tanka Competition
July 5, 2021
the ocean
was in a rage last night
but today,
these peace offerings
of blue mussels and kelp
1st Place
2018 Sanford Goldstein International Tanka Contest
The Haiku Foundation, Haiku Dialogue, July 2021
"Paradigm Shift" prompts by Craig Kittner: the artifacts of wind
an egret's plume
the airs and graces
of wind
Yuki Teikei Haiku Society Haiga Tanabata Celebration, July 2021
Though I was unable to attend the virtual YTHS Haiga Tanabata Celebration, I was delighted to share this haiga:
The Cherita, Book 49, April 2021
Issue: "a shadow of myself"
we built
staircases of books
in our bedroom
following each other
from one world
into the next
lost again
deep inside
the forest's magic
a flush
of fairy inkcaps
enchants me
my sisters and I
nestle like spoons
underneath the comforter
father keeps
our kittens warm
inside his pockets
Ribbons, Volume 17, Number 2, Spring/Summer 2021
(un)worthiness
a blue sand dune
discovered on Mars
the universe
gives me so much more
than I deserve
lost again
in the forest of mind
I tread warily
through macrocosms
of contrition
astronomers
describe a star's death
as spectacular
who is to say that
mine will not be so
Red Lights, Vol. 17, Number 2, June 2021
we had almost
forgotten how to smile . . .
a loveliness
of ladybugs spills down
the rotten fencepost
lamentations
I gently strum
a lark's bleached ribcage . . .
how long
have you lain here
with your mossy heart
we never
expect grief to come
calling . . .
will no one answer
the phone of the wind*
*An unconnected phone booth in Japan helps people cope with the loss of loved ones.
Presence, Number 70, July 2021
resident owl
the rabbits that lived
under our shed
thirsty
for all the little things
we've missed . . .
brackish water fills
an elf-cup stone
Droplets
rengay with Jennifer Hambrick & Debbie Strange
empty street
rain falling louder
then softer
time slows down
to a drizzle
dripping eaves
a lone house sparrow
takes shelter
puddles of light
a raccoon rinses
its hands
a wash of stars
keeping their distance
petrichor
the earth lets go
of its breath
Poetry Pea, July 2021
The Haiku Pea Podcast
Series 4, Episode 14 - "Realistic Haiku", July 19, 2021
drought
the kestrel catches
a piece of sky
Highly Commended
2016 New Zealand Poetry Society International Competition
lantern light
becoming one
with the fog
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