Heartsick At Issa's Untidy Hut

heartsick . . .
the foxgloves of my childhood
out of reach

Wednesday Haiku #106, Issa's Untidy Hut 

(Wednesday, March 13, 2013)

Haiku & Photo by Kirsten Cliff

 

Wednesday Haiku: Call For Submissions

From Editor, Don Wentworth:

Just a note to you all who know about the weekly "Wednesday Haiku" postings at Issa's Untidy Hut.

Over the last 14 months or so, the Wednesday Haiku posting has featured the work of two haiku poets. This was done largely to a backlog I had, which had been causing people an inordinate wait for their haiku to see the light of day. Publishing twice as many a week halved the wait. 

At this juncture, however, the coffers are getting a tad low. I can always revert to one poem per week, but feel two poems creates a different dynamic, one of more interest to the reader and to myself as editor. 

So, this is a general call for haiku for the Wednesday feature, as always one poem at a time: 

Here's the deal - every Wednesday, I publish one or two original haiku on the blog, Issa's Untidy Hut.  Electronic submissions only, with the following caveat:

Send one (one only) original haiku

That's one original haiku per poet.  I will reply in a timely manner, with simply a yeah or nay. Poets whose poems are accepted will receive the 2 current issues of Lilliput Review or a 2 issue extension of their current subscription if s/he already subscribes. Send your original haiku to: 

wednesdayhaiku@gmail.com

Once the haiku is accepted or rejected, you may send another.  Otherwise, only one submission of one haiku per poet at a time.  I believe I said one, is that right?

Feel free to share this email with haiku-writing friends or on Facebook haiku groups, and likewise on Twitter, etc.

Thanks very much.

best,
Don

I'm excited to have just had a haiku accepted by Don for the "Wednesday Haiku" after responding to this call. So get into it folks! Don is a very approachable editor and generally gets back to you quickly. See you there!
 

October Round-Up - A Surprise Or Two Or Three...

I had a couple of great surprises this month: I was excited to receive a contributor's copy of paper wasp and to find that four of my haiku and four of my tanka were published inside! And I was absolutely ecstatic to be accepted as a contributor for Cycle 12 of DailyHaiku where 28 of my haiku will appear over the next six months. My first week of haiku started on 30 October and can be read here.

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

• week forty - submitted one haiku to the Polish International Haiku Competition (first time submitting here)
• week forty-one - submitted ten tanka (+1 for the contest) to Moonbathing (first time submitting here), one tanka accepted!
• AND submitted ten tanka to Notes from the Gean, one tanka accepted!
• AND submitted one haiga to Yay Words!, which appeared in Aubrie Cox's Tea with Trolls post
• week forty-two - submitted two haiku, two tanka and one haiga to tinywords (first time submitting here)
• AND submitted six small stones to a handful of stones, three accepted!
• week forty-three - submitted two haiku to the Sketchbook Sep/Oct 2011 "cemetery" Haiku Thread
• AND I submitted my second set of ten haiku for Daily Haiku

During the month, my haiku, tanka and haiga appeared online at DailyHaiku, Notes from the Gean, Issa's Untidy Hut, Chrysanthemum, Yay Words! and in paper wasp (print). And there's much more to come this November and December as all my diligence in submitting each week, and trying so many new journals, pays off. Only eight weeks left!

But wait, there's more...

I've left the biggest surprise 'til last...

Cameron and I eloped last week and were married at 2pm on 31 October in Auckland (NZ). Here's our favourite photo from the day, which was taken just after our first kiss as a married couple!

brush strokes haiga

Issa's Untidy Hut, Wednesday Haiku #40
Wednesday, October 19, 2011

(click image to view larger)

July Round-Up - A Month Of Gratitude

July: the second River of Stones month for 2011, where people all over the world took time out each day to pay attention to something fully and write it down. My practise of this observational exercise was enhanced by adding gratitude to the process: it made me more grateful of the things in my life as I looked around, listened, touched, tasted, photographed, read and rested. Why small stones of gratitude? See here.

As part of my practise of gratitude and abundance, and as July was my birthday month and the 2nd anniversary of my engagement, I decided to have a draw to give away two haiku books. The post about that here and the winners here. It's cool to have so many new people join me on Swimming in Lines of Haiku and great to be sending out two New Zealand haiku books to readers and writers in America. I think I'll run a haiku competition for my 2012 birthday so stay tuned!

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

• week twenty-seven - submitted one haiku to Wednesday Haiku @ Issa's Untidy Hut - accepted!
• week twenty-eight - submitted seven tanka and seven haiku to paper wasp, awaiting outcome
• AND submitted a tanka to Red Dragonfly (Melissa Allen's blog) mushroom feature post - accepted!
• week twenty-nine - submitted ten senryu to Prune Juice, three accepted!
• week thirty - submitted one previously published haiku to Pin-ku, awaiting outcome
• AND resubmitted three haiga to Notes from the Gean (due to change in editor)

Me with my haiku on the Papamoa Poetry Walk
for New Zealand's National Poetry Day 22/7/2011

July was a fruitful month as I reaped the rewards of my past poetry and prose labours -

• Four of my haiku appeared in 'poetry walks' around parts of Tauranga as part of National Poetry Day on Friday 22nd July
• Prune Juice (Issue 6, Summer 2011) came out with two of my senryu
• a fine line, The Magazine of the New Zealand Poetry Society, came out with my feature article A Haiku Journey
• Melissa Allen's Mushroom Harvest post came out with my tanka
• Excellent Writing (July Issue) came out with two of my senryu and the final of three Quick Tips For Freelance Writers
• Three of my haiku appeared in the May/June Sketchbook “vegetable(s)” haiku thread (#07, #40, #48). “sunday brunch” was named "Editor's Choice" by John Daleiden, and “sunday brunch” and “pulling up” were named "Guest Editor's Choice" by Bernard Gieske, and "returning home" and "sunday brunch" were named "Editor's Choice" by Karina Klesko. This means all three of my entries were highlighted in the judging process; not bad for my first time participating.

An update on the state of affairs re my various artistic projects -

• I finished my haiga calendar and had one printed so I could see how it looked in the flesh. I'm really happy and excited about it so will now get several more printed out for family Christmas gifts. Sorted!
• I haven't made any new collage haiga this month and I still have an unfinished one on my art table from May! Hopefully I can get that completed in August and then I will have two full albums of collage haiga that have haiku and tanka from my collection exploring my leukaemia journey.
• I did manage to finish my vision board around finding a new home, and what a mammoth task that was! Now it's time to make the magic happen :)

My completed vision board!