Unless stated otherwise, all poetry on Swimming in Lines of Haiku is Copyright Kirsten Cliff and may not be reprinted in any form without written permission from the author. kirsten(DOT)cliff(AT)gmail(DOT)com

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Linked Haiku & Tanka in LYNX: A Journal for Linking Poets

I've been busy behind the scenes the last few months and this work has come to fruition in three linked verses now available for your reading pleasure in LYNX XXVII:3.

"Between the Birdsong" and "All the Words that Mean Cancer" are both rengay sequences that I did via email with Cara Holman. Cara and I have written several rengay together this year, but these are our first longer linking verses where four rengay appear as one sequence. The Cancer sequence was very difficult emotionally to write at times, but we did it together and are both very pleased with the outcome. It's been published at a significant time as I have just completed my treatment for leukaemia and Cara is having her sixth anniversary of being diagnosed with breast cancer. I hope our writing about this will help a reader out there who is struggling with the realities of cancer.

The tanka sequence "Forever Home" is my first time writing linked tanka, and also my first time writing with Margaret Dornaus. This sequence is based our respective travel photos and soon we will each post our tanka with the corresponding images on our blogs (watch this space!). I thoroughly enjoyed writing with Margaret, and exploring tanka (hers and mine) at a deeper level. We are in the process of writing other tanka sequences based on our travels, so more from us coming soon!

My thanks to editors Jane and Werner Reichhold for publishing so much of my work in this current issue, and of being so encouraging and enthusiastic about each submission. My thanks also to my writing partners, Cara Holman and Margaret Dornaus.

LYNX XXVII:3 (October, 2012)

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