Haiku Poet Word Search, February 2025

Haiku Poet Word Search

Curated by Kelly Sauvage Moyer

February 20, 2025

https://haikupoetwordsearch.com/2025/02/20/debbie-strange/

Debbie Strange is a Canadian short-form poet, musician, and artist, working in multiple disciplines (photography, painting, ink, collage, monoprinting), who is grateful to live on Treaty 1 land. Her creative passions connect her more closely to the world, to others, and to herself, and help mitigate the effects of complex regional pain syndrome. She suffers happily from biophilia, logolepsy, and papyrophilia, with awesome new diagnoses appearing regularly! Debbie’s book-length haiku collection, Random Blue Sparks, won the 2020 Snapshot Press Book Award, and was released by the press in late 2024.

Note:

biophilia – love of nature
logolepsy – love of words
papyrophilia – love of paper

~~~

refugee train
small hands starfished
against the glass

1^st Place, Triveni Haikai India Triveni Awards 2024

~~~

Fata Morgana the (in)visibility of my (dis)ability

2^nd Place, #FemkuMag Marlene Mountain Memorial Haiku Contest 2021

~~~

midnight sun
a polar bear’s breath
catches fire

3^rd Place, Irish Haiku Society International Haiku Competition 2024

Glossary:

1. bokeh (aesthetics of out-of-focus photography – a nod to my deteriorating vision)
2. tuckamores (stunted and deformed trees shaped by wind and sea spray)
3. Fender (my guitar)
4. alto (my voice)
5. aurora (northern lights & the dawn feature in many of my poems)
6. avifauna (a birder for decades)
7. campervan (our 1978 lime-green VW campervan named “Ludwig Van”)
8. wintertide (you have to appreciate winter if you live on the Canadian prairies)
9. empathetic (and hoping for more empathy in this world)
10. hinterland (the backcountry calls me)
11. kinkeeper (maintaining family ties)
12. yutori (slowing down to simply be, breathe, listen, & appreciate life & nature)
13. komorebi (light filtering through trees/leaves)
14. Percheron (I have a special relationship with a horse named Rival)
15. horticulturist (I’m now a balcony gardener, but every inch is packed with flowers)
16. wabi-sabi (appreciating beauty that is imperfect, impermanent, & incomplete)
17. beachcomber (collecting shells, driftwood, lost feathers - my happy place

 

#FemkuMag, Issue 38, Spring/Summer 2025

barrenlands no offspring to keep me grounded

Tsuri-doro: A Small Journal of Haiku and Senryu, Issue #26, March/April 2025

moose rut

the quaking bog

steadies itself

Triveni Haikai India: haikuKATHA - unfolding the story within, Issue 40, February 2025

My thanks to the editors for including the following haiga:

Triya Mag: Basant Edition, February/March 2025

Translated into Hindi

paper-thin roses

from your memorial . . .

I crush them

between palms that have

lost the will to pray

Best-of-Issue, Time Haiku, Number 60

two deep valleys

in a mountain's shadow

village children

pleading at day's end

for one more shaft of light

Certificate of Merit, 2016 Japan Tanka Poets' Society International Tanka Festival Competition

The Heron's Nest, Volume 27, Number 1, March 2025

how to conceal

the diagnosis . . .

slip-stitched hills

 

Telling the Bees: The Red Moon Anthology of English-Language Haiku 2024

scrub jay

nothing left of the blue

in dad's jeans

2nd Place

Betty Drevniok Award, 2024

 

Password: Journal of Very Short Poetry, Issue 2.1, February 2025

weeping willow the if inside grief

Modern Haiku, Vol. 56.1, Winter-Spring 2025

the red gape

of a black guillemot . . .

third miscarriage

Haiga in Focus, Issue 80, March 2025

Curated by Claudia Brefeld

Translated into German

Daily Haiga: An Edited Journal of Traditional and Contemporary Haiga, February 2025

Featured Artist: February 24, 2025

Note: this haiku was first published in The Heron's Nest 24.4, 2022

Failed Haiku - A Journal of English Senryu, Vol. 10, Number 108, March 2025

A thousand thanks to Mike Rehling, founding editor, who has published over 150 of my haiga since 2016. I'm beyond grateful to him for including the following work in his last issue as editor:

Creatrix: Poetry and Haiku Journal, Number 68, March 2025

water spider

it was too cold to swim

anyway

dandelions

a mower interrupts

the dance of bees

The Cicada's Cry: A Mic ro-Zine of Haiku Poetry, Winter 2024

northern lights

the sun donates

its plasma

Cantos: A Literary and Arts Journal, March 2025

Delighted to have the following four haiga included in this issue:

Whiptail: Journal of the Single-line Poem, Issue 12, February 2025

dawn chorus starlinging me out of night terrors

Triveni Haikai India, February 2025

My thanks to Arvinder Kaur for selecting the following tanka for the Triveni Spotlight Feature on the colour "red" on February 7, 2025:

we had almost

forgotten how to smile . . .

a loveliness

of ladybugs spills down

the rotten fencepost

Red Lights, Volume 17.2

Triveni Haikai India: haikuKATHA - unfolding the story within, Issue 39, January 2025

My thanks to the editors for including the following haiga:

 

Time Haiku, Number 61, February 2025

moon race

a scallop ignites

its rocket

hurricane agate

I cup your hand

around the wind

a groundhog

sees its shadow . . .

showdrops

I hand-stitch

a bereavement quilt

through the night

silver threads unwind

from spools of my tears 

Honoured to know that the following work was selected as Best-of-Issue Tanka in Time 60:

paper-thin roses

from your memorial . . .

I crush them

between palms that have

lost the will to pray

The Bamboo Hut, Number 1, February 2025

Thrilled to have the following artworks selected for this issue. My thanks to the editor, Steve Wilkinson!

Our Best Haiga: Black & White Haiga/Haisha, February 2025

 Curated by Lavana Kray

February 5, 2025

(note: this haiku received 1st Place in the 2024 Triveni Awards)

February 20, 2025

(note: this haiga received 2nd Place in the 2024 Ninth Annual Jane Reichhold Haiga Competition, Mixed Media Category)

Where the Mountains Were: Haiku for the Victims of Hurricane Helene, Cuttlefish Books, January 2025

My thanks to Rowan Beckett Minor and Joshua Gage for selecting the following work:

storm hour

the cliff's face carved

a little deeper

3rd Place, 2020 Irish Haiku Society Int'l Competition

aftermath

we tuck a note inside

the riven oak

Wales Haiku Journal, Summer 2020

Laurels: Tanka Society of America Online Journal, Number 3, February 2025

My thanks to guest editor Margaret Tau for including the following tanka for the theme: "choice"!

an orca

backflips near our boat . . .

when was

the last time we tried

to impress each other

Haiga in Focus, Issue 79, February 2025

 Curated by Claudia Brefeld

Translated into German

Frogpond, Vol. 48, Number 1, Winter 2025

lambing pasture

the aurora escapes

from dad's hands

eulogy

the blur of water

over stones

Blithe Spirit, Volume 35, Number 1, February 2025

deep silence

boulder fields where

the rapids were

windchill factor

a merganser and I

raise our hoods

come for tea . . .

I will treat you

gently,

sprinkling sugar

on your wounds

 

The Abstractaphy Initiative: aBstractaphy-from the palETTE, journalette 4 - February 1, 2025

 Curated by Tish Davis

(note: haiga first published in Human/Kind Journal, November 2020)

A Fine Line: The Magazine of the New Zealand Poetry Society, Summer 2025

Honoured to know that outgoing editor, Gail Ingram, has included the following poem in her Editor's Favourites 2021-2025 feature:

frozen trough

I cup the warm breath

of my horse

1st Place, 2018 Sharpening the Green Pencil Haiku Contest

Random Blue Sparks, Snapshot Press, December 2024

Random Blue Sparks - a haiku collection released by Snapshot Press on December 30, 2024

https://www.snapshotpress.co.uk/books/random_blue_sparks.htm

Winner of the 2020 Snapshot Press Book Awards

http://www.snapshotpress.co.uk/contests/book_awards/results.htm

I'm beyond honoured to announce that my book-length haiku collection, Random Blue Sparks, winner of the 2020 Snapshot Press Book Award, was published by the press on December 30, 2024. Thank you to John Barlow for selecting and sequencing these poems, and to Chuck Brickley for his valuable insights. I'm also grateful to Chuck Brickley, Ron Moss, and Tom Clausen for their generous blurbs. Special thanks to my husband, Larry, who is my first reader and second pair of eyes.

Praise for Random Blue Sparks:

'Debbie Strange's first full-length collection of haiku offers a stunning display of sensory artistry inspired by the landscapes and ecosystems of Western Canada. Random Blue Sparks is a wonderfully vibrant gathering of moments to savour.'

—Chuck Brickley

Author, earthshine

'From finely tuned observations of the tiniest life forms to quiet reverence for open landscapes of earth and sky, this brilliant collection is a timely reminder of the relevance of nature haiku in today's climate.'

—Ron C. Moss

Author, The Bone Carver

'Illuminating the essence of experiences and things, Random Blue Sparks is a compelling love letter to the prairies, mountains and waters of the western provinces of Canada. These indelible haiku brim with poetic joie de vivre.'

—Tom Clausen

Author, Growing Late

Haiku

stormlight

a pronghorn outruns

the rain

meadowlarks

the grace notes that follow

me home

weaving light

into this day of mourning . . .

damselflies

submerged log

the descending sizes

of painted turtles

weathered oars

we fold our worries

into the river

(note: this collection contains sixteen award-winning haiku)

Irish Haiku Society International Haiku Competition 2024

My thanks to the judge, Anatoly Kudryavitsky, for selecting the following haiku:

midnight sun

a polar bear's breath

catches fire

3rd Prize (joint)

IHS, International Haiku Competition 2024

Origami Butterflies, Yuki Teikei Haiku Society Members' Anthology, 2024

My thanks to the editor, Gregory Longenecker!

winterberry

the first holiday

alone

late thaw

a ribbon of water

unspools

Members' Challenge Haiku:

rows of maize

we put our affairs

in order

Wales Haiku Journal, Winter 2024-2025

cardinals

our cheeks branded

by the wind

United Haiku and Tanka Society, Songbirds Waka Online Journal, 2025

in the final

blue vestiges of night

a vixen's eyes

flashing like mine before

I lean into your kiss

the flames

of autumn foliage

ignite

so too this memory

of a love forgotten

night descends

and fireflies light up

the meadow

you trace a star map

across my belly

curtains

of clematis hide us

from view

let us lie together

a little while longer

restlessness

seeps into my blood

come autumn

how far must I roam

in search of your heart

 

Tsuri-doro: A Small Journal of Haiku and Senryu, Issue #25, January/February 2025

banshee fog

a barn owl summons

the night

Triveni Haikai India: haikuKATHA - unfolding the story within, Issue 38, December 2024

This issue includes the results and commentary for the 2024 Triveni Awards:

refugee train

small hands starfished

against the glass

1st Place

(note: please see the Triveni Awards tag for the commentary)

Tinywords, Issue 24.2, January 2025

 

Note: this senryu received an Honourable Mention in the 2024 H. Gene Murtha Contest and the haiga first appeared in The Abstractaphy Initiative, August 2024

Tan-ku for Ukraine - A world Haiku and Tanka Anthology, December 2024

My thanks to the compiler, Dimitar Anakiev, and to the pubisher, Gabriela Zaneva, for including the following work in this anthology:

cold war

the fallen rank and file

of sunflowers

Selected Haiku, Yamadera Basho Haiku Contest, 2022

fields of gold

gleam against blue sky . . .

all the times

we have taken

freedom for granted

The Bamboo Hut: Fields of Gold - Poems of Peace, 2022

Panorama International Literary Festival (India): The Drop of Life (on the element of water), January 2025

Honoured to be one of seven selected poets to collaborate with artist Sankara Jayanth Sudanagunta for his animated short haiga film, "Ephemeris":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLcogrm8Xhs

Poet's Statement: (grateful thanks to Vandana Parashar for the reading on my behalf, as I was unable to attend the conference)

My poem was written as a call-and-answer response to the haiga, as well as to the other selected poems. It can be read both literally and metaphorically. At dusk, the world is in a state of transition from daylight to nightfall. We, too, are in a transitory state as we pass through this life, emerging into light at birth, and into shadow at death. The way the film slowly progresses from one frame to the next reminds me of the transient nature of our existence. The moon pulls us from scene to scene in much the same way as its phases influence all life on this planet.

Our Best Haiga: Black & White Haiga/Haisha, January 2025

 Curated by Lavana Kray

January 14, 2025

(note: this tanka art was first published in Ribbons 20.2, Fall/Winter 2024)

Ink Sweat and Tears - The Poetry and Prose Webzine - December 2024

 The Twelve Days of Christmas Feature

Eleventh Day, December 31, 2024

(note: this haiga first appeared in Failed Haiku - A Journal of English Senryu, Vol. 9, Number 97, January 2024)

Ink Sweat and Tears - The Poetry and Prose Webzine - December 2024

Word and Image Feature: December 22 and December 26, 2024

(note: this tanka first appeared in GUSTS 36, Fall/Winter 2022)

(note: this collage first appeared in Petrichor 21.5, Pebbles Vol. 2, Feb/2023)

Haiga in Focus, Issue 78, January 2025

 Curated by Claudia Brefeld

Translated into German

Hedgerow Poems, Number 147, 2024

 Chaff and Bone

This washboard road, lit by rusty torches of burdock, leads to what's left of our farmhouse. The stone in my chest dislodges and liquefies, seeping through pores clogged with memories. I feel myself becoming smaller the closer I get to home.

meadowlark

if you could see

me now

Folk Ku: A Journal in Honour of Master Masoka Shiki (1867-1902), King River Press, Issue 4, November/December 2024

home range

even the barn owls

have moved away

frozen path

a vole that didn't make it

to the burrow

mom becomes

a shadow of herself . . .

firelight

Note: for my Mother, Marjorie MacKenzie (1920 - 1990)

Failed Haiku - A Journal of English Senryu, Vol. 9, Number 106, January 2025

 

Daily Haiku: Charlotte Digregorio's Writer's Blog, January 2025

Daily Haiku New Year's Special - January 1, 2025

refugee train

small hands starfished

against the glass

1st Place, 2024 Triveni Awards

probate

a prickle of burrs

in the dog's tail

Editor's Choice Senryu, Cattails, October 2024

I climb higher

up this sacred mountain

meeting your spirit

halfway along the path

toward enlightenment

2nd Place, 2024 Fujisan Tanka Contest

Bottle Rockets, Vol. 26, Number 2 (or #52), February 2025

magnolias and that is all

The Abstractaphy Initiative, December 2024

 Curated by Richard Grahn

Artist's Statement:

A word-weaving of culled Wikipedia details regarding Treaty 1 (in my home province of Manitoba) affixed to stained watercolour paper, referencing the boil-water advisories on many First Nations in Canada.

(note: Shortlisted, 2023 Sonic Boom Annual Vispo Contest)

The Abstractaphy Initiative: aBstractaphy—from the palETTE, journalette 3 - January 21, 2025

 Curated by Tish Davis

(note: haiga first published in Frameless Sky, Issue 17, December 2022)