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

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Biopsy


biopsy i am my heartbeat




This was my first appearance on Tinywords: haiku & other small poems. My thanks to the editors for choosing my work, and to all those who left comments at the site, or on my Facebook page, or through email, expressing their enjoyment of this poem. I'm inspired and humbled to know that readers were moved. 

This piece still hits me where it hurts, and will be part of my collection that explores my leukaemia journey. I haven't touched my manuscript for nearly two months, but it's calling my name, and the publishing of "biopsy" may be just the catalyst I need to get going again . . .


Sunday, February 10, 2013

Call For Submissions: Moonbathing 8

From the editor of Moonbathing:
 
MOONBATHING
A JOURNAL OF WOMEN'S TANKA
 
EDITOR
Pamela A. Babusci 

PLEASE NOTE SOME CHANGES BELOW:
 
Moonbathing Issue 8 is now accepting submissions. 
I have additional copies of Moonbathing Issue 7, if you wish to purchase a copy(ies) please e-mail me.

Moonbathing will publish two issues a year: Fall/Winter and Spring/Summer.
 
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: 

Moonbathing will feature only women poets. Send a maximum of 10 tanka per submission period. Submission deadlines: 
Spring/Summer: In-hand Deadline:  May 15th spring/summer themes or non-seasonal only

THIS ISSUE: Spring/Winter In-hand deadline:  May 15th
spring/summer theme ONLY or non-seasonal 

No previously published tanka or simultaneous submissions; no tanka that has been posted on-line, on Facebook/Twitter or on a personal website/blog.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:
 
Send your tanka IN THE BODY OF AN E-MAIL to: Pamela A. Babusci:  moongate44(at)gmail(dot)com PLEASE NO ATTACHMENTS. E-mail submissions ONLY.

PLEASE NOTE:
 
All tanka poets who have their work accepted in Moonbathing are required to purchase a copy of the issue they are published in or a year's subscription. Unfortunately, Moonbathing cannot survive without your financial support due to the increase every year with the cost of printing and mailing.  Thank you in advance for your understanding.


DONATIONS MOST WELCOME

DISCLAIMER:
Moonbathing does not assume liability for copyright infringement or failure to acknowledge previously published tanka.
 
COPIES/SUBSCRIPTIONS:

NOTE:  I will now be accepting Paypal for foreign poets-PLEASE e-mail me FIRST, so, I can give you the details-thanks!
 
Subscriptions: $12 for one year (two issues) U.S. and Canada; $6 for single issue. International: $16
(two issues) $8 single issue U.S. dollars; send US cash or international M.O.—payable to Pamela A. Babusci
 
Pamela A. Babusci, Editor of Moonbathing
244 Susan Lane Apt. B    Rochester, NY  14616  USA 
 
 The Editor of Moonbathing is looking forward to receiving your best tanka. If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail Pamela A. Babusci moongate44(at)gmail(dot)com 
 
Please feel free to forward this e-mail to any of your female tanka poets that might be interested in submitting-many thanks!
 
Respectfully submitted,
Pamela A. Babusci, Editor of Moonbathing
 
 

Friday, February 8, 2013

DailyHaiku Submissions Now Open

From the DailyHaiku editors:
 
DailyHaiku is now accepting submissions for Cycle 15! 
 
Our submissions period will remain open until 11:59 pm on Feb. 28, 2013. If you're interested in submitting, please be sure to visit our submission guidelines page: http://www.dailyhaiku.org/info/#contribute and make sure you understand the criteria before you submit. Submissions that don't follow our guidelines may be disqualified. 

Not sure what kind of work might interest us? Take a look through our online archives to get a feel for what we find exciting (http://www.dailyhaiku.org/haiku/). 

We look forward to reading your submissions!
Nicole and Patrick
Editors---DailyHaiku
 
 

Thursday, February 7, 2013

National Haiku Writing Month 2013

It's on now! Write a haiku-a-day this month -- the shortest month for the shortest genre of poetry. Do it at home by yourself, or join hundreds of folk doing it on-line through the Facebook NaHaiWriMo page here. Michael Dylan Welch is doing daily prompts to spark our senses -- this week was all about food. Here's my highlights:



fantail song . . .
this bird's nest of
angel hair pasta

'pasta' prompt



duck egg blue that look in his eyes

'eggs' prompt



the spice
in his argument--
lightning moon

'spice or spices' prompt



All you need to know about NaHaiWriMo can be found on the main site here: https://sites.google.com/site/nahaiwrimo/ Enjoy!


Sunday, February 3, 2013

c.2.2. -- Anthology of short verse

The c.2.2. anthology, edited by Alan Summers and Brendan Slater, and published by Yet To Be Named Free Press has just been released! All works appear under a pen name, but I can now reveal that two of my poems are within its pages . . .




silent night terror




New Year's Day
the only thing different
this calendar





c.2.2. is an anthology of short-verse poetry tackling themes such as loss of identity, poverty, racism, homelessness, unsentimental love, crime, punishment, in short, real life. Each poet is identified by a pen-name, there are no frills, lavender or lace in these pages, just honest, gritty and experimental verse that will hopefully make the reader sit up and take notice, get inspired and rethink the role of short-verse in not only the poetry world but also in society which is after all both subject and audience.


c.2.2. can be purchased from Createspace here and soon from Amazon; see the press release here. I've ordered mine and can't wait to read it! My thanks to the editors for this exciting new project.

Friday, February 1, 2013

hair ties

When I first returned home from the hospital, I didn't really notice them. They were just a part of the normal clutter of home. Not something that needed my attention. But as the days moved on and I sunk back into my life – half the old and half the new – I started seeing them everywhere, and it made me uneasy. Eventually the snippets of tension they were creating, the cracks they were prising open within my coping, meant they had to go.

I went around the house collecting them, one by one, and putting them in a clear plastic bag. How did I ever need so many? One on my desk, one on the coffee table, one in the bathroom, one on the dresser, one by my bedside, one in my handbag...

I put them away in the back of a cupboard. It would be a good 18 months before I'd need one again.

the rain quickens
i should have known
there'd be tears



First published in Kokako 17 (September 2012)