another white lie
I can’t bear to repeat . . .
hunger moon

Modern Haiku, vol. 43.1, Winter/Spring 2012

before her death
she tries to sing the hymn
we know by heart . . .
the words she asks to hear
the words I sang for her

red lights, vol. 8, no. 1, January 2012

giving voice to my night coyotes

Modern Haiku, vol. 43.1, Winter/Spring 2012

I’ve recently started trying my hand at monostich, or one-line haiku–the English-language version of the Japanese practice of writing haiku in one horizontal line across the page.  Some months ago I asked my friend Melissa Allen, a wonderful monostich writer, what makes for a good one-line haiku.  She referred me to some websites,  including her own Red Dragonfly, where she has several discussions on the subject (check out her examples from one of the form’s masters, Marlene Mountain).  A few months later, she and several other contemporary haiku poets began posting one-line haiku regularly on the eponymous Monostich–a website dedicated to the form.  There are many other great resources you can explore easily through the internet.  Perhaps, like me, you’ll give it a try . . . .

river bottom
wild ferns unfurl beneath
my bare feet

Notes from the Gean, vol. 3, no. 3, December 2011

red lights, vol. 8, no. 1, January 2012

I am so happy to be included in Marilyn Hazelton’s current issue of red lights alongside so many wonderful tanka poets.  If you don’t already know about this biannual gem of a journal, you can click on the link for more information.  What a pleasure!

Moonbathing, no. 5, Fall/Winter 2011-2012

Anyone who reads this blog on a regular basis knows that there are multiple reasons why I have a special fondness for Moonbathing, Pamela A. Babusci’s biannual journal of women’s tanka.  Pamela, a wonderful tanka poet and editor, led me to my discovery of tanka just a little over a year ago when I saw a call for submissions to her journal.  It was a call that, literally, changed my life.  When Pamela agreed to publish my first poem shortly after I began writing tanka, I was beside myself with gratitude.  Little did I know how much I would grow to appreciate and love this ancient five-line form.  Or how much I would love the feeling of community I share with other tanka writers–both male and female–whose work I respect and admire.  

It is especially gratifying, then, for me to introduce others in some small way to tanka . . . and to Moonbathing.  (I know several other poets learned of the journal here; now, their tanka are among the many beautiful poems featured in this new issue.)  To subscribe to or learn more about Moonbathing, e-mail Pamela at: moongate44@gmail.com.  I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.  I know I’m not.  And, Pamela, thank you . . .

Acorn, no. 27, Fall 2011

new year . . .
the dragon’s fiery breath
lights the way

Happy New Year of the Dragon!  If you’re looking for inspiration while you wait for your fortune to unfold, head over to Aubrie Cox’s Yay Words! blog for a special New Year’s dragon collection of poetry and haiga.  It’s chock full of fanciful words and images to help you get your dragon on. Thanks, Aubrie!

Image via Wikipedia

Sometimes life throws you a curve ball, as it did one warm spring day when–top down–I screeched my rented convertible to a halt on the way from Wichita to Dodge City.  Ahead of me was the strangest field of dreams I’d ever seen: giant whirligigs blowing in the wind above the Kansas prairie.  I had to stop.  I had to investigate.  And when I did I came face to face with not only the distorted renderings of frogs and pigs but the visionary folk artist who created the weird roadside menagerie.  Dressed in paint-spattered overalls, he too was suspended momentarily in the Kansas sky as he sat on a large tractor, mowing the back of a field occupied by his scrap metal sculptures.  At first, he didn’t move; then, warily, he turned off his mower and dismounted.  The next thing I knew he was giving me a cook’s tour of his rogues gallery, occupied by warped kinesthetic versions of Bill and Hillary Clinton, Elvis, Marilyn, and Hitler to name a few. 

After that, the ghosts that occupy Dodge City–Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Bat Masterson–were pretty much a letdown . . . .   

At Aubrie Cox’s Yay Words!, she’s saying goodbye to the Year of the Rabbit and hello to the Year of the Dragon by hosting short-form poems and haiga about, what else, dragons (and water or fire).  You still have a couple of days left if you’d like to contribute; just visit her site for more information.   If you need inspiration, you might like to know that dragons–often maligned in the West–are considered to be not only powerful but wise in Eastern cultures.

Meanwhile, Sanjukta Asopa’s blog Wild Berries is counting down the 12 Days of Christmas in true haiku style by posting themed samplings of haiku she’s come across during the past year.  It’s a great way to pause. Reflect. Look back. Look forward. Dig in. Dig out. Well, you get it . . . don’t you?