Poetry & Politics . . . a familiar pairing

Habeas corpus
And that pesky Bill of Rights
Who needs ’em? Wink. Wink.

- Jean Hall, Norwood, MA.

For your contemplation. . .

Summer night -
even the stars
are whispering to each other.

- Isaa

(photo)

Haiku Tuesday

The thief failed to take it -

The moon shining

At the window.

                                             - Ryokan

(photo)

A Tiny Gem . . .

Don’t weep, insects –
Lovers, stars themselves,
Must part.

                              - Kobayashi Issa

Haiku

The lamp once out
Cool stars enter
The window frame.

                                       - Natsume Soseki

They Have No Sense of Personal Space . . .

The morning glory!
It has taken the well bucket,
I must seek elsewhere for water.

- Kaga no Chiyo (woman haiku master)

Wishful Thinking

Winter seclusion -

Listening, that evening,
To the rain in the mountain.

- Issa

More Rain . . .

Spring rain
conveyed under the trees
in drops.

Spring rain
Leaking through the roof,
Dripping from the wasps' nest.

              Skylark on moor --
              Sweet song
              Of non-attachment.

                                                                                                         A mountain pheasant cry
                                                                                                         fills me with fond longing for
                                                                                                         father and mother

- Matsuo Basho

Photo by: PrettyMoment

More Haiku at: The Haiga Pages

The Dog Ate My New Poetry Anthology!

Well . . . two dogs actually.

My son and his two Blue Tick Coon Hound puppies are staying with us, and I fear the dogs took Mark Strand's Eating Poetry a bit too literally. I didn't even know they'd read it.

At any rate, my Acorn #29 is now confetti.









 

By the way, that isn't my son in the picture.

He's taller.

. . . and Another

Exhausted, I sought
a country inn, but found
wisteria in bloom

- Matsuo Basho

Winter . . . in Verse

winter rain -
in one room
yesterday, today passes


sleeping alone
awakened
by the frosty night . . .


putting up my hair
no more -
my hands in the kotatsu

                                       - Chiyo-ni

                             Photo Source.

POETRY: Read More, Blog More #7

After last month's mess up where I managed to put up the posts for both that month and this month as well as botch the links, I was left wondering what I could possibly do this month to top that technical sleight of hand.

Some questions should just not be asked.

Anyway, school is finally out for the summer and I've been recouping in my garden. It's amazing how frustrations and anxieties flake off into the dirt as compost and fertilize new life. It doesn't make anything easier really, but it sure does feel good.

Most mornings are spent working in the soil, weeding and watering, and then topped off with tea, breakfast, and a good book in the garden. All the while I'm surrounded by singing birds, dancing butterflies, buzzing bees, wonderful scents - and beauty.

I also mentioned last month that I've started writing daily Haiku. And as it just so happens, most of those little gems are about my garden.

Quelle Surprise!

I don't practice perfectly. Occasionally I miss a day or two and go back to fill in. And on other days I find myself writing several. But those days I miss just feel wrong; I can tell that there is something missing. 

Because I take a few minutes every day to write (often in the garden), I find myself paying closer attention to the things around me. I have cultivated a deeper connection with, not only my garden, but all of its varied inhabitants and visitors, and of course, myself. 

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm still dealing with all the same issues as I was before. The world itself hasn't changed - but I have. 

I'm no Basho; not even close. But the benefits of "living a haiku life" are palpable. I have even expanded my initial goals, but that's for another time.

Here are a couple of my efforts:

brightly colored pot 

now a home for garden frogs
broken no more

no cherry blossoms
just swaying fields of orange
California spring

Haiku copyright © J.F. Spillane.

POETRY: Read More. Blog More #6

To Challenge Myself . . . Living a Haiku Year

 I recently revisited a little book called The Haiku Year, which I had originally discovered while looking for something else. Serendipity, indeed!

I had really enjoyed my original reading of this little book and the reread was no disappointment. The poetry is interesting, as is the story of the book's inception.

But what really struck me was the reactions of those who took the time daily for a year to write the haiku contained in the book.

Tom Gilroy, one of the contributors who also wrote the Forward, called the resulting poems "precious moments." And Steve Earle, who wrote the Introduction, calls his Haiku year "The best year of my life."

Reading these responses got me to thinking.

We all live busy lives, whatever our circumstances, and it is so easy to get caught up in the business of living and forget to really notice, let alone connect with, the world in which we live.

So, here's the challenge:

After rereading this short book and noting the thoughts of the participants, I have decided to challenge myself to "living a Haiku year." That is, I challenge myself to take a few moments each day to write three lines, 17 syllables, one haiku. I even have a beautiful little red book in which to record my "precious moments."

Is anyone interested in joining me?

The purpose is to take a few moments and really notice the world around you, feel it, and capture the experience. Good, bad, mediocre. It doesn't matter. It's not nearly as difficult as it may sound, and like any exercise it actually gets easier with practice.

If you need a little information on the form and its requirements there have been many books written on the subject, as well as many online resources. Some are concerned with form only while others incorporate the writing of haiku into a spiritual journey.

 
These are a few BOOKS I've read myself:

• How to Haiku: A Writer's Guide to Haiku and Related Forms - Bruce Ross
• The Haiku Handbook: How to Write, Share, and Teach Haiku - William J. Higginson
• Haiku - The Sacred Art: A Spiritual Practice in Three Lines (Art of Spiritual Living) - Margaret D. McGee
• Seeds From a Birch Tree: Writing Haiku and the Spiritual Journey - Clark Strand

And a few WEBSITES: 

Haiku World, Composing your own Haiku, Absolute Write, How to write/teach Haiku poetry,  In the moonlight, a worm...,

Here is a book that I have not read, but the title intrigues me: [UPDATE: It just arrived in the mail and is only waiting for me to begin!]

• One Continuous Mistake : Four Noble Truths for Writers - Gail Sher 

And just for fun, 
here is a website with writing tips - WRITTEN IN HAIKU. 

My grumbling wife -
if only she were here!
This moon tonight...

- Issa

The Wisdom of Poets . . .

from: It's Not the Same

- by Fukunaka Tomoko

And

the enemy in the world today

is not the United States,

is not the Soviet Union

but, bridged between you and me

unidentifiable

words of silence.

from: Women Poets of Japan. Copyright 1977.

A Haiku for Today

On the road through the clouds

Is there a short cut

To the summer moon?

- Den Sute-Jo

from: Women Poets of Japan. Copyright 1977.

A Haiku for Today

 

Silently

time passes.

The only life I have

submits to its power.

- Hatsui Shizue

from: Women Poets of Japan. Copyright 1977.

Good Question

If culture is lost

to mass consumerism,

can we buy it back?

- Laura Caudill

from: Haiku for Sociologists. 

Copyright 2009.

Sorry, Improv Only

If I knew life was

a play, I would have asked for

my script long ago.

- Alexis Dispenza

from: Haiku for Sociologists. 

Copyright 2009.

Illusion?

Freedom only means

people are freely choosing

their conformity

 - Vananh Nguyen

from: Haiku for Sociologists. 

Copyright 2009.