The Ink Fading

a new thought
my gaze shifts
from the page


*


the ink fading
as I print a haiku
about spring's end



Excellent Writing (July, 2011)

Senryu and photograph © Kirsten Cliff 2011

In Memoriam, Svetlana Marisova

Haiku written for friend and fellow haiku poet Svetlana Marisova,

during her illness, and on her passing 7/9/2011

winter sun...
my thoughts again
turn to you

winter breeze...

your haiku song in

these wind chimes

                 winter's end...

                         the world through this

                         blackbird's song

Please do take the time to read some of Svetlana's haiku on her website here and as Featured Poet in Simply Haiku here.

Crafty with a K

Here's my latest crafty piece: turning the wooden 'k' from my childhood (the front surface of which had been defaced with stickers - yes I loved sticking stuff to other stuff even then:) into an item of interest once again that I'm happy to display on my writing desk.

It's a project I'd had in mind for some time but wasn't sure what to cover it with. Then I remembered a page I'd marked in one of the old children's books I keep for collage and knew it would be perfect! You'll see I've kept that sense of childhood about it - I think we all need things around us to remind us to play.

Submissions are open for DailyHaiku Cycle 12‏

Patrick M. Pilarski and Nicole Pakan
Editors --- DailyHaiku
http://www.dailyhaiku.org

DailyHaiku is a print and daily online serial publication that publishes the work of Canadian and international haiku poets, blending contemporary, experimental, and traditional styles to explore the boundaries of English-language haiku. Through our special features section, we also aim to chronicle the diverse and ever-changing landscape of contemporary haiku-related forms. We're now looking for a new roster of six talented haiku poets for our upcoming cycle (Volume 6, Cycle 12, Fall 2011/Winter 2012). If selected as a contributor, you will be responsible for providing a total of 28 haiku over a six-month period.

Submission Period: Sept. 1st--30th, 2011 (closes 11:59 pm Mountain Standard Time)

How to Submit: Email submissions to desk@dailyhaiku.org

What to Submit: Ten unpublished haiku---no more, no less---your contact information, a 75 word publication-ready biographical note, and a digital author photo. We do not accept work published or under consideration by other journals or websites.

Payment: One contributor copy of the print volume featuring your work.

For specific submission guidelines and more information about this publication, please visit: http://www.dailyhaiku.org

One Day You're In, The Next Day You're Out

This is one of my haiku and photo combinations that hasn't made it into my calendar. I love the image (taken at the entrance to Tauranga's Mission Cemetery in June this year) and the haiku - but found the pairing to be over illustrated, with not enough for the mind and eye to ponder.

Haiku first published in Presence #40 (Jan, 2010)

This haiku is now matched with another of my images taken around a similar time (just at the end of autumn). It still features a gate but it doesn't dominate the shot leaving room for the haiku to breath and the senses to expand. (Please click on the photo to see a larger image.)

Cicada Song

cicada song

replaces the heavy traffic

of home

Haiku and photographs © Kirsten Cliff 2011

From Spider's Strand in Lynx: A Journal for Linking Poets

(scroll down to find Spider's Strand: a linked haiku verse with Patricia Prime, Catherine Mair, Margaret Beverland, Steve Cordery, Owen Bullock, Sandra Simpson, George Swede and myself) 

Size Nine

he creates

a new centrepiece
for the dining table
a size nine shoebox
full of medications

Presence #44 (June, 2011)

Tanka and photograph © Kirsten Cliff 2011

While I Have Chemo

          planning our wedding

          in the hospital chapel
          while I have chemo
          I am not dying
          but a part of me is

Presence #44 (June, 2011)

Tanka and photograph © Kirsten Cliff 2011 

First Winter's Day

          first winter's day
          I slip into
          his gumboots

The Heron's Nest, Volume XIII, Number 3: September, 2011

Haiku and photograph © Kirsten Cliff 2011

An Update on the 2011 NZPS Anthology

I just found this information on The New Zealand Poetry Society website, regarding poems submitted to The 2011 Annual International Poetry Competition:

"We regret that due to circumstances beyond our control notification of poems selected for our anthology were not made before the end of August. We apologise for the delay, and request that entrants wait a little longer before submitting their poems elsewhere. We are sorry for the inconvenience."

So, you could still have a haiku chosen for the 2011 NZPS anthology edited by Linzy Forbes. Watch this space :)

My Half

one side of the rose
has no petals:
hoping he'll return,
I keep to my half
of the bed

Kokako 13 (September, 2010)

Tanka and photograph © Kirsten Cliff 2011

August Round-Up - It Was All In The Cards

August saw me getting crafty making birthday cards for family members: see my mum's one here and the ones for my niece and nephew in Canada here. I also began on a card project of a different kind: thinking about a collage I could make with all the cards I received while in hospital. You can read my post about that here, and I will keep you updated on my (very slow) progress.

I had a haiku appear in Melissa Allen's Red Dragonfly blog post about dragonflies: see my contribution here and the full post in all it's glory here. A recommended read, for sure! And speaking of reading: I'm doing a daily one from Martin Lucas' Stepping Stones: a way into haiku. The haiku are top drawer and I'm learning new things all the time. You can get your copy here.

Here's how I'm doing on my 2011 goal of submitting poetry to a publication or competition every week:

• week thirty-one - submitted five haiku, seven tanka and one haibun to Presence, one tanka accepted!
• week thirty-two - submitted ten haiku/senryu to Chrysanthemum (first time submitting here), one haiku accepted!
• week thirty-three - submitted ten tanka to Ribbons (first time submitting here), awaiting outcome
• week thirty-four - submitted five haiku to the Katikati Mural Festival collaborative arts project

August was a very low energy month for me so lots of resting was done.
This is a sight I saw often: the shadow of the trees and a bird ornament
with a crystal casting many shapes and rainbows on the drawn curtains.

September is already in full swing: the September issue of Kokako has come out with my paper cranes image on the cover, the new edition of The Heron's Nest has been released containing one of my haiku, and my first column as editor of the haikai section of a fine line (the Magazine of the New Zealand Poetry Society) is in NZPS members' in-boxes and mailboxes. Happy haikuing to you!

Paper Cranes & Kokako 15

The September issue of Kokako arrived in my mailbox yesterday morning sporting my paper cranes image on the cover. My scan here of the print copy hasn't come out very clear so please do pop on over to my Photography page and check out the original image.

folded
next to the washing
my tired girlfriend


Cameron Elliot (my fiancé)







Don't forget about the The 6th Kokako Haiku and Senryu Competition which closes on October 31st. Entry details here.