Note: this tanka received 2nd Place in the 2018 Fleeting Words Tanka Competition
Monday, May 30, 2022
Parkinson's Art Academy: Tulips for Breakfast Haiku Course, September 2021
Honoured to have the following haiga chosen by Stella Pierides for her Introduction to Haiku presentation - a free 8 week course for people affected by Parkinson's, their families, and friends:
(Note: this haiga first appeared in the 2020 Under the Basho Haiga Gallery)
(Note: this haiku received a Zatsuei Haiku of Merit in the World Haiku Review's 2019 R.H. Blyth Award)
I have given permission for Stella to use the above-mentioned haiga indefinitely.
The Ending Hasn't Happened Yet: A Theatrical Experience - Every Body Has a Story, May 7th and 8th, 2022
Two nights of unique virtual performances, presented by The Story Shepherds: Harper Hendrickson, Lana Phillips, Elizabeth Meade and Laura Hope-Gill. Based on the anthology The Ending Hasn't Happened Yet, edited by Hannah Soyer and published by Sable Books.
Director's Statement:
"Being and becoming Disabled fills a life as much as it creates challenges. This theatrical production, using as texts poems from the anthology The Ending Hasn't Happened Yet, edited by Hannah Soyer, presents the stories of being in a body that walks by or doesn't speak clearly, unaware of its own precarious normalcy. When we speak of our bodies, we speak of all aspects of life that they hold. These glimpses of life with disability reveal passion, love, grief, joy, beauty and humor through an unfiltered lens. We are disabled. Our entire lives are a creative process. Every body has a story."
—Laura Hope-Gill, deaf
Afflicted
as if I were
this ash-filled burl,
black veins
of decay winding through
my body like a river
hares boxing
in the flush of dawn . . .
it seems
impossible to defeat
an opponent I can't see
a raven
believed it could fly
through me
unaware that I am glass,
pretending to be sky
I have learned
how to keep silent . . .
these pebbles
under my tongue
seasoned with rue
Publication Credits
1st verse: Commended Tanka, Mandy's Pages, The Burning Issue 2020 Tanka Contest
2nd verse: Red Lights 15.2, June 2019
3rd verse: 3rd Place, 2020 San Francisco Int'l Competition for Haiku, Senryu and Tanka
4th verse: Cattails, April 2021
Burnt Diary: Memoir in Haibun and Tanka Prose, Moth Orchid Press, 2022
My thanks to the editor, Lori Minor, for including the following haibun and tanka prose in this lovely anthology:
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
2nd Publisher's Choice Award
KYSO Flash Haibun and Tanka Prose Contest, 2016
Totems
When I live on the prairie, I long for the sea. When I live by the water, I yearn for the land. I am always living either half-empty or half-full, my totem selves pulling me in opposite directions.
my weathered skin
crusted with salt and dirt
the aftertaste
of this life and the last
where do I go from here
Skylark 3:2, 2015
The Bamboo Hut: Fields of Gold - Poems of Peace, 2022
My thanks to the editor, Steve Wilkinson, for including my work in this anthology. All proceeds will be donated to the Disaster Emergency Committee to benefit those displaced and impacted by the war in Ukraine. The book's title is taken from my tanka:
fields of gold
gleam against blue sky . . .
all the times
we have taken
freedom for granted
Seashores - An International Journal to Share the Spirit of Haiku, Vol. 8, April 2022
community pasture
someone else's cows
come when we call
shelterbelt
half of the lake
a mirror
Our Best Haiga: Black & White Haiga/Haisha, May 2022
Curated by Lavana Kray
May 3, 2022
(Note: this haiga was first published in colour in Haigaonline's 2021 Winter Gallery)
May 25, 2022
(Note: this tanka art was first published in Ribbons 14.1, 2018)
Haiku 2022: 100 Notable Ku from 2021, Modern Haiku Press, 2022
Thrilled to be included in this anthology edited by Lee Gurga and Scott Metz!
freight train the rags of a vagabond moon
Geppo XLVI.4
Fresh Out: An Arts and Poetry Collective, May 2022
Curated by Eric A. Lohman
Featured Artist: May 18, 2022
Daily Haiku: Charlotte Digregorio's Writer's Blog, May 2022
May 13, 2022
estuary light
the treble clefs
of flamingos
2nd Place
Third Maya Lyubenova International Haiku Contest, 2022
The Cicada's Cry: A Micro-Zine of Haiku Poetry, Spring 2022
vernal equinox
the quick-change artistry
of snow
Thursday, May 05, 2022
Haiku Canada Shohyoran Book Review Column 4:23, A New Resonance 12: Emerging Voices in English-Language Haiku, 2021
Honoured that Pearl Pirie mentioned my work in her September 6, 2021 review of A New Resonance 12 (Red Moon Press 2021) - Jim Kacian and Julie Warther, Editors:
Debbie Strange has a painterly picture (p. 164) that is fresh-seeing.
alpenglow
a pika gathers stems
of light
We know that moment where the highlights are blown into pure light even without eyes, in a backlit autumn field. I appreciate the specificity of pika, as if a rebuttal to the argument that only common nouns that are the theoretical construct of "universal" serve haiku.
Haiku Canada Shohyoran Book Review Column 4:4, Dance into the World, Tanka Society of America Members' Anthology, 2020
Honoured that Dave Read mentioned my work in his February 26, 2021 review of Dance into the World, the 2020 Tanka Society of America Members' Anthology - Michael Dylan Welch, Editor:
Similarly, many of the tanka about the pandemic in "Garden of Dwindling Petals" shine:
sprites flash
across purpling skies
for a moment
I forget the grim state
of this locked-down life
Strange's tanka, on the other hand, is about a moment of distraction. However, that moment is brief. Even in watching the "sprites flash / across purpling skies", the narrator is not far from her awareness of the pandemic. The poem's force hinges on the word "grim" which jettisons the reader back to the reality of "this locked-down life".
Haiku Canada Shohyoran Book Review Column 3:1, Wales Haiku Journal, Winter 2019-2020
Honoured that Sandra Stephenson mentioned my work in her February 17, 2021 review of the Wales Haiku Journal, Winter 2019-2020 - Paul Chambers, Editor:
Of the poems, open and totally accessible with a good-sized serif typeface, many are note-worthy, Canadian Debbie Strange's egg that didn't open caught my eye...
the egg
that didn't open . . .
waning moon
Trailblazer Contest, 2021
Honoured to have the following concrete tanka selected as 1 of 12 finalists (longlisted from 406 entries) in this "contest without winners"! My thanks to the judging panel for their selection and insightful comments below...
Comments from the Judging Panel:
Chrissi Villa: This tanka is not only visually compelling, with the jumbled arrangement of the letters of "capsized" and the upside-down reflection of the words of the whole poem, but is also poetically poignant.
Shloka Shankar: I recently read a poem by Jim Harrison titled 'Becoming,' and the opening lines, for me, truly encapsulate the emotions underlying this brilliantly crafted concrete tanka:
Nowhere is it the same place as yesterday.
None of us is the same person as yesterday.
We finally die from the exhaustion of becoming.
We all have to face the inevitable uphill battle of growing old and frailer as the years pass us by. The visual potency of this poem, seen as a mirror image, is somehow magnified, staring us straight in the face. What particularly struck me was L2: the "i" in lowercase is almost a depiction of helplessness, the image of being lost at sea, without any kind on anchor.
On the other hand, there is a quiet sense of acceptance that pervades this poem, making it all the more appealing and relatable.
Julie Bloss Kelsey: Strange's visual poem about the loss of health evokes a boat, with scattered letters over the surface of the water implying deeper problems lurking just beneath the waves. The placement of the letters in "capsized" - with "i" in the center - brings to mind a spinning vortex. This is reflected in the rest of the text - "sink deeper into the shipwreck of my body." The repetition of the vortex, both visually and conceptually, effectively implies that the subject of the poem is also falling deeper into depression over their situation. Expertly crafted.
Alan Summers: The use of I on its own line has me thinking of times when 'we' as an individual capsize, and the "i" is reduced by circumstances, and social pressure. Of course, health is always an issue, and sometimes it's not merely physical and physiological, but affected by external issues such as politics, war and famine, poverty, intimidation, and other circumstances beyond our control. The "i" needs to stand on its own line, as we must never lose sight of ourselves despite extraordinary times and peer pressure.
Interview with me:
What inspired the poem?
This tanka was inspired by my experience with chronic illness and the resultant physical and emotional trauma.
What was your process for writing it?
My daily writing practice helps me to shift focus away from the things I cannot control to the things I can! I keep a file of words and fragments that spark my imagination and interest. The word "capsized" was the driving force behind this poem.
What other forms, formats, or iterations did you consider, and why do you think the poem had to be written this way?
The first iteration of this tanka was written in the traditional five-line s/l/s/l/l form. Its final version emerged as a concrete poem because I wished to express the sentiment in a more dynamic manner. The scattered letters symbolize the feeling of being overwhelmed. Use of a lowercase "i" serves to emphasize loss and the myriad ways in which the marginalized and disabled are often made to feel small. The reflected letters are a metaphor for drowning.
How to you think the poem helps to push the boundaries of, or contributes to, the genre?
Invisible disability is often misunderstood, much like tanka, so the dialogue between these two subjects comes quite naturally. Debates surrounding the definition of these topics continue to evolve, and I'm excited to lend my voice to the ongoing conversation!
Monday, May 02, 2022
Cattails, April 2022
bomb squad another robot bleeds to death
fractured identity he slips in and out of her mind
tent caterpillars
this jumble of roads
leading nowhere
we wrap
our arms around
each other . . .
sun dogs embrace
the ice-splintered sky
in silence
she crochets by the fire
lacy snowflakes
drift softer than breath
onto her apron
World Haiku, Number 18, 2022
Translated into Japanese
shepherd's crook
her flock shape-shifts
into clouds
berry-picking
even our shadows
turn blue
skating pond
the unopened lotus
beneath us
Note: these haiku previously appeared in Akitsu Quarterly
Whiptail: Journal of the Single-line Poem - Into Oneness, Issue 3, May 2022
section: light's thesaurus
Wales Haiku Journal, Spring 2022
ebb tide the overnight appearance of new w(r)inkles
spring snow
a red fox pounces into
another dimension
first wellies
an alphabet of earthworms
on the sidewalk
Tsuri-doro: A Small Journal of Haiku and Senryu, Issue #9, May/June 2022
seaside fireworks
the blue heron's grace
goes unnoticed
snowy pine
a nuthatch spirals
into the unknown
Our Best Haiga: Black & White Haiga/Haisha, April 2022
Curated by Lavana Kray
April 20, 2022
(Note: this tanka received an Honourable Mention in the 2021 Fleeting Words Tanka Competition)
Kokako, Number 36, April 2022
black truffles
we search for something
beyond the obvious
the icy glint
of uncertain tracks . . .
tundra sunrise
flood plain
a red barn succumbs
to its reflection
GUSTS, Number 35, Spring/Summer 2022
a swan
with bumblefoot disease
taking flight . . .
wellsprings of hope
rise inside my breast
leaving home
for the first time
my carpetbag
filled to bursting
with butterflies
someone slept inside
this hollow log last night
blankets of moss
to keep the cold at bay,
a bird's nest for their pillow
#FemkuMag: haikai poetry by womxn and non-binary folx - Issue 33, April 2022
litterbugs the propagation of human insects
lifeboat
theory
the
disabled
denied
boarding
teen suicide
the lichen-pocked faces
of stone angels
Failed Haiku - A Journal of English Senryu, Vol. 7, Issue 77, May 2022
My thanks to Kelly Moyer for selecting the following haiga:
A Fine Line: The Magazine of the New Zealand Poetry Society, Autumn 2022
the stillness
of a dragonfly's wings . . .
first frost
Judge's Choice
2016 Craigleigh Press Haiku Contest
cormorants
we open our arms
to the sun
3rd Place
2018 Jane Reichhold International Haiku Prize
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