Thrilled to have the following four haiga included in this issue:
Monday, March 04, 2024
Gloucestershire Poetry Society Haiku Competition, 2023
My thanks to the esteemed judge, Alan Summers, for selecting the following two poems, and for his insightful commentary:
geriatric ward
burning matchheads
begin to droop
Highly Commended
Commentary:
The almost visceral 'burning matchheads begin to droop' at a geriatric ward could be anything from someone with dementia, to someone having secret vices, or it can be possibly figurative imagery. It feels like an opening scene, or even closing scene, to a film or serial drama.
...haiku contain sabishii which can mean "I'm lonely." Japanese people might culturally mean it as "I'm lonely as I'm not with you" instead of the phrase "I miss you."
summer heat battling another swarm of explosive drones
Merit
San Francisco International Competition for Haiku, Senryu and Tanka, 2023
there was
so much I wanted
to teach you . . .
a blue jay's feathers
are not really blue
First Place
Judge's comments:
For me, this was the clear winner. The tanka is deliberately concise and open-ended. This brevity lends weight to every word. A sense of loss and longing permeate the poem, giving it great emotional depth. There is enough 'space' to allow for reflection - it's a poem that the reader can truly inhabit. It also prompts us to look closely, to observe the details. The combination of all these elements made this tanka leap from the page. A deserving winner.
—Alan Peat
let's drive
down this prairie road,
singing until
we collide head-on
with the Milky Way
Honourable Mention
Judge's comments:
Although our ultimate fate is unavoidable, there is such a sense of untrammeled joy in this tanka. And what a final image!
—Alan Peat
The Cherita, Book 81, December 2023
Issue: "lighthouse keeper"
no one promised
this life
would be easy
but without hardship
I would not have found
this pen, this brush
sky spirits
are dancing
tonight
my feet
begin
to tingle
long-awaited
this rain
that slakes the thirst
of a wizened earth,
grown old
before its time
deepening snow
footsteps
make no sound
but I can hear
my breath
singing
A Cherita Lighthouse Award
aspens are turning
into yellow wraiths
in the wind
soon,
they will be nothing
more than bones
A Cherita Lighthouse Award
marsh cattails
exploding
in the sun
I catch a bit of light
and put it
in my pocket
A Cherita Lighthouse Award
silver sage
graced
by moonlight
its scent
somehow
immortal
A Cherita Lighthouse Award
Tsuri-doro: A Small Journal of Haiku and Senryu, Issue #20, March/April 2024
snow fleas
no blood will be shed
today
Trash Panda, Volume 6, Winter 2023-2024
dead orchard
the random blue sparks
of woolly aphids
3rd Place, Irish Haiku Society International Contest, 2018
Laurels: Tanka Society of America Online Journal, Number 1, February 2024
My thanks to guest editor Richard L. Matta for including the following tanka for the theme: "a makeover: finding beauty in the broken"!
lying on this bed
of sun-warmed moss
and lichen,
I imagine myself
a fruiting body
Ink Sweat and Tears - The Poetry and Prose Webzine - February 2024
Word and Image: Pride Feature, February 26, 2024
Pride/Prejudice
Note: this paper weaving represents a broken flag and incorporates words culled from Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" to reflect the ongoing erosion of LGBTQ2S+ rights
Humana Obscura, Issue Number 8, Spring 2024
Thrilled to have the following photograph selected for this issue!
Taking Leave
Heliosparrow Poetry Journal, February 2024
Thrilled to have the following two paper collages and four small poems featured on February 29, 2024:
Note: these paper collages incorporate phrases culled from my book, "Warp and Weft: Tanka Threads"
bones thinning the only part of me
flow state of the mind's ink
mackerel sky bones disintegrating into rain
echolalia
echolali
echolal
echola
echol
echo
ech
ec
e
Frogpond, Vol. 47, Number 1, Winter 2024
twilit snow
I follow the blueprint
of your journey
wind squall
the willow reclaims
its voice
Fresh Out: An Arts and Poetry Collective, March 2024
Curated by Eric. A. Lohman
Featured Artist: March 1, 2024
Note: "riven" was created by incorporating words culled from my book, "Warp and Weft: Tanka Threads"
Failed Haiku - A Journal of English Senryu, Vol. 9, Number 98, February 2024
ice fishing
the catch and release
of breath
zombie fire
the pain that comes back
to life
Daily Haiga: An Edited Journal of Traditional and Contemporary Haiga, March 2024
Featured Artist: March 3, 2024
Note: this haiku was first published in Blithe Spirit 33.1, 2023
Featured Artist: March 15, 2024
Note: this haiku was first published in Tsuro-doro 14, 2023
Creatrix: Poetry and Haiku Journal, Number 64, March 2024
out-breath
a child catches it
in her mittens
frosted tent
our socks stand up
by themselves
ice storm
the rose hips preserved
for another day
Contemporary Haiku, Volume 19, Red Moon Press, 2024
Honoured to have this haiga chosen by Ron Moss for Contemporary Haibun!
Blithe Spirit, Volume 34, Number 1, February 2024
morning worship
a tuft of moss inside
the icicle
skyscrapers
the stop-start of wind
and worry
we come upon
the scattered bones
of a wild horse . . .
strange cacti sprouting
from desert sands
Akitsu Quarterly, Spring/Summer 2024
fledged robin
a discarded kettle
lined with mud
air traffic
an oodle of gannets
churns up the sky
beaver dam
salmon seek refuge
from the drought
pasture gate
the buck squeezes through
one antler at a time
Honoured to have the following haiga selected for the inner front cover:
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