Honoured to receive 2nd place in the 2024 Fujisan Tanka Contest. My thanks to the judges!
I climb higher
up this sacred mountain
meeting your spirit
halfway along the path
toward enlightenment
Saturday, December 21, 2024
Triveni Awards, 2024
Honoured to receive 1st Place in the inaugural Triveni Awards! My thanks to the judges, Susan Antolin and Kala Ramesh, for their lovely comments:
refugee train
small hands starfished
against the glass
Commentary by Susan Antolin:
The verb "starfished" is brilliant in this poem. It feels essential that the verb is in the passive rather than active form. The word "starfished" accurately describes the shape of children's hands spread wide against a window and also evokes the sense that both starfish and refugee children are at the mercy of forces larger than themselves. The refugee children are themselves like starfish, carried by the ocean and deposited on the shore. Here they are on a train, looking out at the world they have been thrown into. The reader cannot but hope these small hands will be carried to safety.
Commentary by Kala Ramesh:
We went through the first, second and third selection lists and in each list, this poem scored full marks. In our final Zoom meeting, this poem surfaced to the first position. I echo Susan's sentiments, which she has voiced extremely well.
Geppo: The Work-Study Journal of the Yuki Teikei Haiku Society, Volume XLIX:3, August 2024
May - July 2024
garden zazen
a stray kitten nestled
inside an empty pot
bus stop bench
a drifter whistling
up the day
thunderstorm
flocks of crows scatter
the wind
family photo
a quokka grinning
for the trail cam
Summer Challenge Kigo: firefly, fireflies, hotaru
fireflies
the glow-stick halos
of graveyard angels
Honoured to know that "garden zazen" and "thunderstorm" were included among the "Voted Best" (7 or more votes) in the subsequent issue!
Also honoured to know that "garden zazen" and "thunderstorm" were included among Dojin Patricia J. Machmiller's favourites, and that "bus stop bench" was included among Dojin Emiko Miyashita's favourites!
Yuki Teikei Haiku Society Haiga Holiday Celebration, December 2024
Delighted to have the following haiga included in the slideshow:
The Haiku Foundation, re: Virals, November 2024
re: Virals 479 - November 29, 2024
The Haiku Foundation's weekly poem commentary feature on some of the finest haiku ever written in English. This week's poem was chosen by Lakshmi Iyer (thank you, Lakshmi):
krill migration
humpback whales
scoop up the stars
The Heron's Nest, Volume 24, Number 4, December 2022
The Haiku Foundation: Haiku of the Day (formerly Per Diem), December 2024
Selected by Jackie Chou for the theme of "Reflection": December 6, 2024
flood plain
a red barn succumbs
to its reflection
Kokako, Number 36, April 2022
Humana Obscura, Issue Number 11, Winter 2024
winter solstice
your lantern disappears
over the hill
featherweight
Half Day Moon Journal, Issue No. 2, December 2024
hairstreak this butterfly and i
orca above murmurating herring below
Haiku Talk: Podcast Episode 113, November 25, 2024
Honoured to have the following haiku featured by the podcast host, Ben Gaa. I'm grateful for his sensitive and insightful commentary!
roofless barn
the stars begin
to hoot
Kingfisher, Issue 10, October 2024
Eucalypt, Issue 37, December 2024
this day
was made for mourning . . .
snowflakes
melt into the dark night
of a raven's wing
Daily Haiga: An Edited Journal of Traditional and Contemporary Haiga, December 2024
Featured Artist: December 20, 2024
Note: this haiku was first published in Presence 77, 2023
Friday, December 13, 2024
Triya Mag: Sharad Edition, Anniversary Special, October/November 2024
Translated into Hindi
autumn arrives
in a whirl of leaves
this body
withering, too, despite
my best intentions
2nd Honourable Mention, 2022 San Francisco Int'l Haiku, Senryu and Tanka Contest
geriatric ward
burning matchheads begin
to droop
Highly Commended, 2023 Gloucestershire Poetry Society Haiku Competition
Shining Wind Haiku Anthology, 2024
Thrilled to have the following haiku on the theme of "light" selected for this collaboration between the British Haiku Society and Bulgarian haiku poets. My thanks to editors A.A. Marcoff, David Bingham, Iliyana Stoyanova, Vladislav Hristov, and to assistant editor, Maya Daneva. Special thanks to the translators, Darina Deneva, Iliyana Stoyanova, Maya Daneva.
Translated into Bulgarian
inner shine
ensōs of ice define
each pebble
Poetry Pea, October 2024
The Haiku Pea Podcast
Series 7, episode 41 - "Contemporary Tanka Poetry" - October 18, 2024 (selected by Guest Editor, Vandana Parashar)
a raven
believed it could fly
through me
unaware that I am glass,
pretending to be sky
3rd Place, 2020 San Francisco Int'l Competition for Haiku, Senryu and Tanka
Our Best Haiga: Black & White Haiga/Haisha, December 2024
Curated by Lavana Kray
December 6, 2024
(Note: this haiku first appeared in Geppo, May 2022)
Mariposa, Number 51, Autumn/Winter 2024
petroglyphs
a kayak claimed
by the rocks
let fall
the things that drag
you down . . .
pine trees begin to shed
their snowy burdens
GUSTS, Number 40, Fall/Winter 2024
willows bend
to stroke the river
as it passes . . .
I caress your face
for the final time
a box of earth
on your bedside table . . .
frail hands tend
this garden that grows
for no one but you
canola fields
lit by a pink brume
of aurora . . .
harvesting can wait
for another night
Fresh Out: An Arts and Poetry Collective, November 2024
Curated by Eric A. Lohman
Featured Artist: November 25, 2024
(note: this haiku first appeared in Frogpond 46.3, Autumn 2023)
Flying Fish Haiku Journal, Inaugural Issue, January 2025
Honoured to have five tanka selected for the first issue!
there was
so much I wanted
to teach you . . .
a blue jay's feathers
are not really blue
1st Place, San Francisco Int'l Competition for Haiku, Senryu and Tanka, 2023
between the spokes
of your spinning wheel
a dusty web . . .
I never thought our lives
would so quickly unwind
1st Place, British Haiku Society Tanka Awards, 2019
the ocean
was in a rage last night
but today,
these peace offerings
of blue mussels and kelp
1st Place, Tanka Society of America Sanford Goldstein Int'l Tanka Contest, 2018
a halo around
the long night moon . . .
I find
another strand
of mother's light
1st Place, 10th Annual Moonbathing Tanka Contest, 2018
mute swans
under a moon bridge
the things
I should have confessed
make no difference now
1st Place, United Haiku and Tanka Society Fleeting Words Tanka Competition, 2016
Commentary by the editor, Ranice Tara:
...Comparatively more silent, the mythical and symbolic imagery of mute swans floating under a highly arched bridge reminds us of the classical proverb: 'The swan sings before death.' What is interesting here is that the poet's special thought hints towards the wisdom of shaping and directing one's life. By thinking about things that matter, we can avoid becoming completely vulnerable to chance in life.
Enchanted Garden Haiku Journal, Issue 10: Luminaria, December 2024
Honoured to know that the editor, Steliana Voicu, nominated this poem for a 2024 Touchstone Award:
Translated into Romanian
the magic hour
tree ferns become
fountains of light
#FemkuMag - Award Nominations 2024
Thrilled to have the following poems nominated by the editors!
Nominated for the 2024 Touchstone Award:
ill winds of autumn i'm still spitting up leaves
#FemkuMag, Issue 35, Spring 2024
stunted lilac
the baby's grave
rooted to earth
#FemkuMag, Issue 36, Summer 2024
Nominated for the 2024 Red Moon Anthology:
bleached whale ribs the|bars|on|this|window|of|disability
#FemkuMag, Issue 37, Autumn/Winter 2024
Creatrix: Poetry and Haiku Journal, Number 67, December 2024
insect hotel
the woodpecker drills
a new window
Humour, British Haiku Society Members' Anthology, 2024
keep your nose
against the grindstone
they said,
but now I have nowhere
to rest my glasses
Blithe Spirit, Volume 34, Number 4, November 2024
desert sunset
a mustang's silhouette
rears up
our horses slip
into canyon shadows
the ridgeline
harnessed to a yoke
of crescent moon
The Art of Tanka, Issue 3, Fall/Winter 2024
sunlight fills
cracks in the darkness
of sorrow
we spend our lifetimes
waiting to be whole
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