Hello Poets and Friends,
More Haiku news from The Weekly Avocet and Bear Creek Haiku
The Weekly Avocet, November 18th, 2015–Special Haiku Edition Honoring my Haiku buddy, Mankh (Walter E. Harris III):
From Charles Portolano, editor and publisher of The Avocet:
I had the pleasure of meeting Mankh (Walter E. Harris III) from Selden, NY, at our get-together of Avocet poets on Long Island this September. He read his haikus and a few of his students read their wonderful haikus, too. I have greatly enjoyed reading his book Haiku One Breaths.
I started playing with haikus when I became editor of The Avocet. I love writing them now, hard to write a great one, but, then, that is what makes it so much fun.
At the end of this issue are wonderful haiku by haiku master Yosa Buson. Wonderful work!!!
Though its roots go back at least 2600 years, haiku as a literary form began to flourish with Matsuo Bashô in 17th century Japan. The individual hokku (what would become haiku) was extracted fromhaikai-no-renga (linked verse).
Nearly all modern haiku poets agree that the 5-7-5 syllable structure is not necessary, as Japanese is a picture language and does not have syllables, rather onji (sound-symbols, what the 5-7-5 refers to). If the poem happens to be 17 syllables (or occasionally longer), fine, but in general, 10 to 14 syllables more aptly convey what a haiku in Japanese sounds and feels like. One guide-line: whatever works best!
Typically there’s a kigo (season-word), e.g. “cherry blossom” indicates spring so you don’t need to write ‘in spring the cherry blossoms…’ Remember that haiku is a minimalist art; less is more. A haiku also has a kireji or pause, typically after the first or second line. For example, Kobayashi Issa’s classic: Don’t worry spiders / I keep house / casually; the pause is after “spiders.”
The first two lines of a haiku often create a tension/conflict/contrast which the third line resolves or somehow takes to another level, rather than repeating what’s already been stated. While some poets experiment with one long line or four lines, the principle remains the same.
If having trouble writing a haiku, ask yourself: What is it that stirs me to put this experience or observation into words? Try to translate that experience (it may take some editing) so as to allow for the exact words, so as to allow the reader/listener to experience what you experienced. So if I saw an amazing sunrise, more important than that I saw it, would be trying to convey the feeling itself.
Senryu have a similar structure but highlight human nature and are typically humorous, ironic, or poignant . . . though it can be challenging to tell the difference, so haiku often becomes the generic term for both. A haibun is a short prose piece typically followed by a haiku, and often used in travel journals, the most well-known being Bashô’s Narrow Road to the Interior. Art combined with a haikuis traditionally called haiga.
My pocket-sized book is part how-to write haiku and part anthology with poems by 24 people. It’s titled Haiku One Breaths because it’s said that the length of a haiku is what can be uttered in one breath. The subtitle is, a voice through a tangle because these little poems help to illuminate the present moment, or as Alan Watts wrote, from a Buddhist perspective, in his book The Way of Zen(p.44): “Therefore the practical discipline of the way of liberation is a progressive disentanglement of one’s Self from every identification.”
Thus, each moment gives us the opportunity to be awake . . . and haiku can help remind us of this consciousness, along with keeping us connected with the flowing movement of the seasons.
One way to learn about haiku is simply to read them and notice what you appreciate.
must be good friends,
three sparrows gathering
on a lilac branch
Mankh (Walter E. Harris III)
Selden, NY
all the sunflowers
bowing to the earth,
autumn rain
Mankh (Walter E. Harris III)
Selden, NY
October trying to memorize
marigold scent
on my fingers
Mankh (Walter E. Harris III)
Selden, NY
see that tree,
standing tall in the freezing cold —
what’s your story?
Mankh (Walter E. Harris III)
sunrise songs
birds drinking
the light
Mankh (Walter E. Harris III)
Selden, NY
Mankh (Walter E. Harris III) writes haiku and other kinds of poems, also essays, much of whichis at www.axisoflogic.com where he is resident poet, and his website www.allbook-books.com. He teaches haiku, brush calligraphy, and balancing East-West traditions. He enjoys music, meditation, munchies, and more.
Here are my contributions:
ghostly calicos
toms the color of midnight
catnip bewitches
Patricia Carragon
Brooklyn, NY
sleepless in Brooklyn
restless like rain’s persistence
against the window
Patricia Carragon
Brooklyn, NY
baby ginkgo fan
wears the color
of life and death
Patricia Carragon
Brooklyn, NY
unlike red maples
oaks and honeylocusts
turn blond or brunet
Patricia Carragon
Brooklyn, NY
broken olive branch
nursing home garden in bloom
Mommy . . . I’m sorry!
Patricia Carragon
Brooklyn, NY
Other Haiku Avocet writers: Joan Higuchi, Chris Valentine, Art Elser, Theresa A. Cancro, Charles Portolano, Judy Wucherer, Narges Rothermel, Indy Quillen
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Bear Creek Haiku, Issue #130, November 12, 2015
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Sam, the Brownstone Poets Mascot and friend of Linda Lerner, is a guest of honor on the Bear Creek Blog |
in the bear creek haiku issue #130:
sharon anderson hopwood pennsylvania
heitor almeida araujo villa mon logis france
translated by teresinka pereira
patricia carragon brooklyn new york
alan catlin schenectady new york
lysa collins white rock british columbia
lone crow fort collins colorado
nancy l dahl ypsilanti michigan
robert edwards kirkland washington
chase and chris faiers marmora ontario
joanna haymart (10 years old) cottontown tennessee
granddaughter of james b peters
stephanie hiteshew ellicott city maryland
kitsuné somewhere in nepal
dorothy mclaughlin somerset new jersey
charlie mehrhoff oakland maine
karla linn merrifield brockport new york
karen o’leary west fargo north dakota
syed liaquath peeran bangalore (bangaluru) india
andré peragallo vernevil france
translated by teresinka pereira
teresinka pereira toledo ohio
james b peters cottontown tennessee
dennis rhodes naples florida
toma rosen mt baldy zen center california
dennis saleh seaside california
g a scheinoha eden wisconsin
rex sexton philadelphia pennsylvania
vivian bolland schroeder humble texas
t kilgore splake calumet michigan
brian k turner fullerton california
p l wick empire colorado
yates young palm coast florida
paula yup spokane washington
ajsa zahirovic sarajevo bosnia and herzegovina
Very pleased to have one of my haiku featured on this blog, as well as the cover page:
Zen on a park bench
I am no different than
the trees or bushes
(first published in First Literary Review-East November 2013—Cindy Hochman has good taste! 😀 )
My two other haiku in this issue are:
he throws out
the garbage
before Zen enters
Kerouac kitty
poems unravel
like toilet paper
(first published in First Literary Review-East January 2013—Cindy Hochman has good taste! 😀 )
Patricia Carragon's Blog: Words Give Me the Will to Write 