16th Contest Selected Haiku Collection
winter into spring
this never-ending tug
of war
blue butterfly
mother's nurse locates
a vein
Saturday, November 09, 2024
Under the Basho, 2024
Personal Best
cattle roundup
a charred bean can
full of rain
1st Place (joint), 2024 Sharpening the Green Pencil Haiku Contest
Haiku
common loon
a song penetrates
the mist
Postku
clockwise counterculture anticlockwise
Haiga Gallery
The Cicada's Cry: A Micro-Zine of Haiku Poetry, Autumn 2024
October rain
the maples are ghosts
of themselves
Eye to Eye, Tanka Society of America Members' Anthology 2023
Edited by Randy Brooks
winter light . . .
nuggets of purple mica
gleam on my desk
and suddenly, I can
think only of lilacs
Suspect Device Punkzine, Number 15, November 2024
Turning Japanese: Ghosts
mist wraiths
one of them
is you
Our Best Haiga: Black & White Haiga/Haisha, October 2024
Curated by Lavana Kray
October 23, 2024
(Note: this tanka first appeared in GUSTS 35, 2022)
#FemkuMag, Issue 37, Autumn/Winter 2024
depression rising and falling super(blue)moon
bleached whale ribs the|bars|on|this|window|of|disability
body terrorist my trigger thumbs go off
Presence, Number 80, November 2024
wave train the rumble of distant rapids
the weasel
we never see . . .
brush pile
our branches
have grown together
in old age . . .
new leaves shimmer
on the ancient cypress
New Zealand Poetry Society International Poetry Competition, 2024
Paint Me - NZPS Poetry Anthology 2024
My thanks to the editor, Margaret Moores, for selecting the following poem from the entries to the competition:
yellow bird magnolia if we could sing like that
Kingfisher, Issue 10, October 2024
fox kits
no bite left
in the wind
roofless barn
the stars begin
to hoot
Haiku Canada Review, Volume 18, Number 2, October 2024
pasturelandbullthistles
the dances
we used to know . . .
waggling bees
Failed Haiku - A Journal of English Senryu, Vol. 9, Number 104, November 2024
Thrilled to receive 2nd Place in the Ninth Annual Jane Reichhold Haiga Competition (mixed media category). My thanks to the judges, Mike Rehling and Kelly Sauvage Moyer!
Commentary:
Here, again, we have the image of a raven; yet, this time, its role as the harbinger of death stands at the forefront of this work by Debbie Strange. The quickening, a time when early fetal movements are typically felt during pregnancy, is not experienced in this case, indicating the possibility of miscarriage. The gravity of the loss suspected is only enhanced by the straightforward language utilized with the senryu to communicate the power of such an ethereal force. We found this to be an effective, not to mention chilling, creation on the part of the poet-artist.
(note: this is an original photo, superimposed with mono-printed feathers)
The following haiga and tanka art were also included in this issue:
Daily Haiku: Charlotte Digregorio's Writer's Blog, November 2024
November 6, 2024: theme "the blues"
bullets of crows
on gunmetal nights . . .
a deeper shade
of anguish echoes
in her bones
Atlas Poetica, Number 29, 2017
Daily Haiga: An Edited Journal of Traditional and Contemporary Haiga, November 2024
Featured Artist: November 8, 2024
Note: this tanka was first published in Blithe Spirit 32.3, 2022
Cattails, October 2024
My thanks to David Kelly for selecting the following senryu as an Editor's Choice:
probate
a prickle of burrs
in the dogs' tail
Commentary:
On first reading, this piece by Debbie Strange appears a simple comparison. However, having heard of other people's experiences of probate, this poem came to life as I revisited those stories. The law appears so insensitive to people suffering grief. It must be difficult enough, trying to straighten the financial affairs of a loved one once they have died, without having to jump through a myriad of legal hoops. The single word, 'probate' must surely strike dread into the hearts of those who have wrestled with it before. To my mind, the thorny tangle of legislation around probate matches, so very neatly, the mess that burrs can make in a dog's tail.
apricity curling myself into it
candle ice
our paddles break it
into music
and still
I am cut to the heart
by these blades
of wild iris swaying
around your tomb
A Fine Line: The Magazine of the New Zealand Poetry Society, Spring 2024
star-nosed mole
we search for light
in dark places
Shortlisted for Best-of-Issue Award, Presence, Number 65, 2019
rocky ledge
a wolf with the moon
in its mouth
3rd Place, 2015 Irish Haiku Society International Competition
Saturday, October 19, 2024
Ribbons, Volume 20, Number 2, Fall/Winter 2024
prairie nights
and fields upon fields
of stars . . .
they say my sister
is up there somewhere
Note: this issue also contains the judges' commentary for the following awarded poem in the 2024 TSA Tanka Contest, accessed under the tag "Sanford Goldstein International Tanka Contest":
an arbutus
sheds its outer bark . . .
my skin
is the only thing
holding me together
Honourable Mention
Talking About Strawberries All of the Time, Issue 13, October 2024
Happy to have my "abstract(ions) #1-4" series in this issue! This series was inspired by the way in which the dregs of inks and paints on my palette foster creative play and encourage me to surrender to the process.
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Password: Journal of Very Short Poetry, Issue 1.3, September 2024
northern lights falling your spell under
leaf-whelmed everywhere we look oh
nuclear meltdown sunflowers hyperaccumulate
unborn yet another ghost species
Fresh Out: An Arts and Poetry Collective, October 2024
Curated by Eric A. Lohman
Featured Artist: October 15, 2024
(note: this haiku first appeared in a different haiga in Incense Dreams 2.2, June 2018)
Fireflies' Light: A Magazine of Short Poems, Issue 30, October 2024
Note: this tanka first appeared in Laurels 1, February 2024
Note: this tanka first appeared in Presence 71, November 2021
Note: this tanka first appeared in Red Lights 19.1, January 2023
Daily Haiga: An Edited Journal of Traditional and Contemporary Haiga, October 2024
Featured Artist: October 12, 2024
Note: this tanka was first published in the Take 5ive Journal, June 2023
Saturday, September 28, 2024
Akita International Haiku Network, 2024
Thrilled to be included in the Haiku Beyond Earth Series, with ten haiku, tanka, and haiga translated into Japanese by Hidenori Hiruta on September 28, 2024:
Runner-up
2022 British Haiku Society Awards
drifting sands
sometimes the poem
writes itself
1st Place
2023 Drifting Sands Wearable Art and Haiku Contest
cattle roundup
a charred bean can
full of rain
1st Place (Joint)
2024 Sharpening the Green Pencil Haiku Contest
marsh marigolds
dark waters patched
with light
Highly Commended
2023 New Zealand Poetry Society International Competition
at the moment
I became motherless
something
brushed against me
softer than a feather
1st Place
2022 British Haiku Society Awards
between the bones
of our barn
mucking out stalls
has never felt so holy
2023
British Haiku Society Awards
fireflies
the synchronicity of it all
1st
Place
2022 Irish Haiku Society International Competition
there
was
so much I wanted
to teach you . . .
a blue jay's feathers
are not really blue
1st
Place
2023 San Francisco International Competition for Haiku, Senryu and Tanka
between
the spokes
of your spinning wheel
a dusty web . . .
I never thought our lives
would so quickly unwind
1st
Place
2019 British Haiku Society Awards
watching
you
prepare a star fruit
just so
the small galaxies
of grace in your hands
Runner-up
2019 British Haiku Society Awards
2022 Irish Haiku Society International Competition
so much I wanted
to teach you . . .
a blue jay's feathers
are not really blue
2023 San Francisco International Competition for Haiku, Senryu and Tanka
of your spinning wheel
a dusty web . . .
I never thought our lives
would so quickly unwind
2019 British Haiku Society Awards
prepare a star fruit
just so
the small galaxies
of grace in your hands
2019 British Haiku Society Awards
Cafe Haiku: The Magazine of the Cafe Haiku Group (Mumbai, Thane, Hyderabad and Chennai), 2024
A
Decade of Joy – Retrospective by Debbie Strange
To celebrate my ten years of publishing (after a lifetime of writing!), Rohini Gupta kindly invited me to share a haiga retrospective of my journey along the haiku path. For this initiative, I’ve created ten new haiga incorporating images from my abstract photography exhibition, The Poetry of Light. Though the subjects of these photographs are ordinary (fabric, jewellery, glass), they are transformed into dreamscapes by employing diffusion and shallow depth-of-field techniques. These blurred pictures represent my ongoing struggles with vision, and they have not been digitally manipulated. They also showcase the use of colour therapy in my daily art practice, which increases endorphin production, helping to mitigate the effects of chronic illness. The artworks fall into the non-representational tangential haiga category. For further information on the six recognized categories of haiga, please see: https://www.gendaihaiku.com/kacian/haiga.html
2014
caging a winter sky
caribou bones
3rd Place, 2nd Annual “aha” Awards, 2014
This is one of my earliest published haiku, so it holds a special place in my heart. We have two ecotypes of woodland caribou in Manitoba, and the boreal woodland caribou is a threatened species.
2015
a faded cap drifts
downriver
1st Place, Harold G. Henderson Awards, 2015
On one of our adventures in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, we discovered many cairns along the Athabasca River, with notes imploring hikers and canoeists to be on the lookout for a young man who had slipped over the waterfall and perished.
2016
the sound of rabbits
nibbling night
Grand Prize, World Haiku Competition, 2016
I used to have a huge perennial flower garden, and keeping rabbits at bay could be a chore. When I discovered a nest of five baby cottontails in the leaf mulch under my rose bushes, I could hardly be angry at their mother!
2017
flocks of snow geese
pull up the moon
1st Place, Autumn Moon Haiku Contest, 2017
This sketch-from-life haiku evokes fond memories. We were camped beside a lake in mid-autumn. A huge harvest moon was on the rise, accompanied by the soft calls of snow geese overhead. Their loose skeins gave the appearance of reins, pulling the moon out of the water.
2018
frozen trough
I cup the warm breath
of my horse
1st Place, Sharpening the Green Pencil Haiku Contest, 2018
“Rival” is a special Percheron draft horse in my life, whose charcoal gray coat is spattered with white stars. He is powerful, yet gentle, and when he snuffles his warm breath against me, I feel at peace with the world.
2019
alpenglow
a pika gathers stems
of light
Commended, Little Iris Haiku Contest, 2019
We’ve only had the good fortune of seeing a wild pika once, but what an experience it was! The light was turning the mountains to rose-gold, when we heard a squeak coming from behind some rocks. A little “rock rabbit” appeared, with a mouth full of backlit plant stems to add to its “haystack” of food.
2020
prairie town
rusted rails lead us
into sunrise
Museum of Haiku Literature Award, Blithe Spirit, Volume 30, Number 2, 2020
As anyone who has lived in a small prairie town will tell you, walking on the rails is almost a rite of passage! There is something compelling about the way they beckon you into the distance, sparking imagination as to what might be ahead.
2021
fireflies the synchronicity of it all
1st Place, Irish Haiku Society International Haiku Competition, 2021
Whilst lingering around our campfire, mesmerized by bright sparks illuminating the dark night, we noticed that not all of them were born of the flames. It was a wonderful experience to feel part of something so magical.
2022
skinny-dipping the moon snail’s umbilicus
Runner-up, The David Cobb Haiku Award, 2022
Summers spent at the cottage with my sisters were happy times filled with love and laughter. One night while my mother kept watch, we girls frolicked in the moonlit water, naked as mermaids. We had to beat a hasty retreat, though, when we saw the lanterns of night fishermen winking at us!
2023
drifting sands
sometimes the poem
writes itself
Winner, Drifting Sands Wearable Art and Haiku Contest, 2023
One of my favourite things to do when we are beachcombing is to write words and poems in the sand. I decorate them with leaves, feathers, stones, and shells, hoping that someone will find these little offerings before the tide rises.
The Haiku Foundation - Haiku for Parkinson's, September 2024
My thanks to Stella Pierides for inviting me to participate in this wonderful initiative!
My article, "Haiga for Healing", explores the relationship between colour in my artwork, and its impact on my chronic illnesses:
The transcript of this essay can also be viewed under the "Articles/About" tab of this blog.
The Haiku Foundation: Haiku for Parkinson's Feature
Curated by Stella Pierides
September 2024
In August, we ventured beyond the Parkinson’s Disease landscape to explore the benefits of haiku for ailments of the heart. September takes us to a cluster of conditions that may benefit from applying haiku in its iteration in Haiga, the form that marries haiku with image.
Debbie Strange writes:
Haiga for Healing
Though I do not live with Parkinson’s, I have been diagnosed with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, severe Fibromyalgia, and Essential Tremor, which share some of the same characteristics. When it became apparent that the efficacy of traditional pain management pharmaceuticals was negligible, I knew I had to concentrate my efforts on finding another method to help mitigate the debilitating effects of chronic illness. As many fellow sufferers will attest, we are generally open to alternative pain management methods to help reduce our reliance on medication. We often feel as though we have lost control of our lives. In my opinion, it is worthwhile to take whatever small steps we can to regain some power over the fight-or-flight response to trauma. My daily creative practice is a direct result of that challenge, and it has become both a healing and a meditative force in my life. I spend about five hours a day writing and making art, and this dedicated time continues to help me cope with symptoms and flares.
Over the years, I gradually noticed a visceral relationship between pain levels and the colours I used in my art. I became fascinated by the ancient Egyptian theory of colour psychology in which the effects of colours on mood were studied and applied holistically. One of the treatments was to shine light through coloured crystals, allowing it to enter the body. This method was believed to heal ailments, and it was adopted by many other cultures. Nowadays, this might be considered pseudo-science, but the underlying concept is central to the ongoing exploration of my emotional and physical reactions to certain colour combinations in my paintings and photography.
Carl Jung developed art therapies to help people deal with trauma, stating that “colours are the mother tongue of the subconscious.”
After some experimentation with the effects of colour on my mood, I began to gravitate less to black-and-white photography and stark ink sketches, in favour of more vibrant work. I found that the use of colour helps to stimulate my brain’s production of endorphins, which are useful hormones in combatting stress and pain. On bad days, I tended to paint in somber colours, and write dark poems, whereas on good days, the opposite was true. Now, I deliberately choose to use colours in direct contradiction to what the mind-body connection is telling me. Injecting colour into my life often helps to elevate mood and de-escalate pain, contributing to an enhanced overall sense of well-being. Of course, what works for one person may not work for another. Though this “therapy” does not always produce a positive outcome for me, any scintilla of relief is gratefully received!
The following comparison uses the illustrative haiga technique to explore this article’s theme. You might experience a different reaction to each image.
One of the most enjoyable and calming aspects of my artistic practice is the daily creation of haiga based on original photographs and artworks. Pain becomes secondary to pleasure while I am engrossed in the process. I have created and shared thousands of haiga via journal publications, The Haiku Foundation Haiga Galleries, and my blog archive. I use illustrative, interpretive, and associative techniques in a variety of mediums, such as watercolours, inks, acrylics, and collage. The possibilities are endless, and I am excited every day to immerse myself in the process. Making haiga seems to soothe my body into becoming less a vessel for pain and more a receptacle for imagination, hope, and joy! At the end of a haiga-making day, I am exhausted but also exhilarated. It is especially rewarding when a reader comments that my work has resonated with them on some level.
At the beginning of the Covid pandemic, I invited 50 emerging and established short-form poets to collaborate on a haiga project for healing. They contributed poems, and I created accompanying haiga. Sharing this creative process was one of the highlights of my haiga-making life, and I am grateful to all those who so generously provided their words.
I encourage everyone, healthy or infirm, to try their hand at this venerable craft. You don’t need to start with anything more complicated than a few words, a simple line sketch, a splash of paint, a bit of torn paper, or a photograph, and you are well along your way!
This quote by Vincent Van Gogh speaks to the artist, poet, and musician in me: "I don't know if you'll understand that one can speak poetry just by arranging colours well, just as one can say comforting things in music."
Please note: This article should in no way be taken as medical advice. It simply documents my own experience with the relationship between colour and pain.
The Haiku Foundation Haiga Galleries, September 2024
My thanks to Jim Kacian for presenting my third Haiga Gallery for The Haiku Foundation!
The following artwork incorporates 40 award-winning haiku and tanka:
#1
blue nemophila
I still miss the little things
about my sister
1st Place
2020 9th Akita International Haiku Contest
busker's hat
a child offers coins
of dried lunaria
1st Place
2022 Bloodroot Haiku Award
canyonlands
a meadowlark sings
me out of myself
1st Place
2022 Drifting Sands Monuments Number 1 Contest
cattle roundup
a charred bean can
full of rain
1st Place (joint)
2024 Sharpening the Green Pencil Haiku Contest
drifting sands
sometimes the poem
writes itself
1st Place
2023 Drifting Sands Wearable Art and Haiku Contest
fireflies the synchronicity of it all
1st Place
2022 Irish Haiku Society International Haiku Competition
geriatric ward
burning matchheads
begin to droop
Highly Commended
2023 Gloucestershire Poetry Society Haiku Competition
heated debate
even the fence
is barbed
1st Place
2022 Creatrix Haiku Prize
marsh marigolds
dark waters patched
with light
Highly Commended
2023 New Zealand Poetry Society International Haiku Competition
skinny-dipping the moon snail's umbilicus
Runner-up
2022 British Haiku Society Awards
vintage typewriter
the spiderling adds
an asterisk
Judges' Favourites
2023 Golden Triangle Haiku Contest
#12
stubbled fields
the remains of something
I cannot name
Editor's Choice
Haiga in Focus, Number 52, August 2022
#13
soft rime
a chickadee's song
becomes visible
Honourable Mention
2019 Irish Haiku Society International Haiku Competition
#14
rusted gate
old lilacs blooming
for no one
Selected Haiku
2015 Yamadera Basho Haiku Contest
#15
pine forst
the advice I'd give
my younger self
Honourable Mention
2020 Soka Matsubara International Haiku Contest
#16
outdoor wedding
an unexpected flurry
of cabbage whites
Haiku Laureate Award
2021 Hexapod Haiku Contest
#17
lily pad rafts
dotting the pond . . .
leopard frogs
Zatsuei Haiku of Merit
2021 World Haiku Review
#18
forgotten grave
only the small bones
of leaves remain
Commended
2020 Polish International Haiku Competition
#19
first school day
the coiling tendrils
of loofah
Honourable Mention
2023 International Haiku Contest on the Theme of Gourds
#20
cold war
the fallen rank and file
of sunflowers
Selected Haiku
2022 Yamadera Basho Haiku Contest
#21
watching you
prepare a star fruit
just so
the small galaxies
of grace in your hands
Runner-up
2019 British Haiku Society Tanka Awards
tussocks
soften the bog's edge
my thoughts
lost in this tangle
of lemming runways
3rd Place
2023 Fleeting Words Tanka Competition
there was
so much I wanted
to teach you . . .
a blue jay's feathers
are not really blue
1st Place
2023 San Francisco International Competition for Haiku, Senryu and Tanka
sunbeams sift
between the bones
of our barn
mucking out stalls
has never felt so holy
Runner-up
2023 British Haiku Society Tanka Awards
dried cattails
delicately spun with frost
confections
sweeting the bitterness
of winter without you
2nd Place
2022 Fleeting Words Tanka Contest
between the spokes
of your spinning wheel
a dusty web . . .
I never thought our lives
would so quickly unwind
1st Place
2019 British Haiku Society Tanka Awards
awaiting
rain's unkept promise
crops wither
in the dust of dreams
passed down to me
1st Place
2022 Drifting Sands Monuments Number 1 Contest
at the moment
I became motherless
something
brushed against me
softer than a feather
1st Place
2022 British Haiku Society Tanka Awards
a raven
believed it could fly
through me
unaware that I am glass,
pretending to be sky
3rd Place
2020 San Francisco International Competition for Haiku, Senryu and Tanka
a fleet
of trumpeter swans
at anchor
on the smoke-veiled lake
every bird, a beacon
Highly Commended
2020 The Burning Issue Tanka Contest
#31
pipistrelles
emerge from our barn
into dusk . . .
how short the wingspan
of this perfect moment
Honourable Mention
2020 Mandy's Pages Annual Tanka Contest
#32
as if I were
this ash-filled burl,
black veins
of decay winding through
my body like a river
Commended
2020 The Burning Issue Tanka Contest
#33
let's drive
down this prairie road,
singing until
we collide head-on
with the Milky Way
Honourable Mention
2023 San Francisco International Competition for Haiku, Senryu and Tanka
lost gloves sprout
from melting snowbanks
every finger
points me toward
a place I'd rather be
Honourable Mention
2021 Fleeting Words Tanka Contest
my easel stands
neglected in the corner
still flecked
with bright colours of a world
I no longer recognize
Commended
2020 The Burning Issue Tanka Contest
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autumn arrives
in a whirl of leaves
this body
withering, too, despite
my best intentions
2nd Honourable Mention
2022 San Francisco International Competition for Haiku, Senryu and Tanka
by and by
I promise to tell you
everything
but for now, let us listen . . .
nature is speaking
Editor's Choice
Cattails, October 2020
leaving home
for the first time
my carpetbag
filled to bursting
with butterflies
Tanka Favourites (selected by Joanna Ashwell)
GUSTS, Number 35, Spring/Summer 2022
sea pebbles
glinting in the sun
we, too
lose more of ourselves
with every passing wave
Honourable Mention
2020 British Haiku Society Tanka Awards
skeins of wool
unravel at my feet
in the last light
a swirl of snow geese
begins to descend
Honourable Mention
2023 San Francisco International Competition for Haiku, Senryu and Tanka
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