Tan-renga: Seánan Forbes & Kirsten Cliff

(i)

wind
bearing winter on its back —
a silent crow

I add my ex's name

into the spell check

 

(ii)

cicadas’ cries
the sharp names
of lost loves

a phlebotomist asks

if I'm prone to fainting

 

(iii)

saying goodnight
when I mean goodbye . . .
Hunger Moon

condensation beads

on the cake's icing

Seánan Forbes

Kirsten Cliff

Kokako 21 (September 2014)

 

 

How quickly

turning hawk
how quickly these tears
dry in the breeze

Kokako 20 (April 2014)

I'll miss you

mountain of green
how I'll miss you
when we're parted . . .
the moon won't taste as sweet
without you to hold it high

Kokako 20 (April 2014)

Yay! Kokako 20 Out Now!

The new issue of Kokako arrived in my letterbox this morning sporting a lovely cover by Ron Moss, "Summer Dreams". Issue 21, due out in September, will have one of my images as cover art, which I'm super excited about!

Back to this issue, here's one of my haiku:

autumn cool his features in the firelight

We haven't started lighting fires yet this autumn, but the mornings and nights are definitely getting pretty chilly!

Here's a tanka of mine that was printed incorrectly in the previous issue, and has been kindly reprinted in KK20:

a rush of tears

at our airport parting . . .

home, I search my luggage

for a last love note

that isn't there

Lot's of great haiku, tanka, haibun and more in Kokako, as well as the details for The 5th Kokako Tanka Competition. Email co-editor Pat Prime for more information. There is also a review of A New Resonance 8. A reminder that copies can be purchased from me - just leave me a message! :-)

The Chosen One

I am delighted (especially after a terrible migraine yesterday) to find out that one of my haiku has been chosen for the 2013 Red Moon Anthology, which collects the best English-language haiku published each year and puts them together in book form.

true north
the eucalyptus sheds
a length of bark 

The Heron's Nest Volume XV, Number 4: December 2013

I haven't had any haiku chosen for this annual anthology since 2010, when the below appeared within its pages:

coming home

to an empty house

so many stars

First published in Kokako 12 (April 2010) 

But between 2010 and 2013 I was lucky enough to have work represented in other anthologies that also strive to gather the best haikai published in that calendar year.

2012 saw my haibun 'hair ties' appear in Contemporary Haibun 14, and in 2011 three of my tanka were honoured to be amongst those in the forth and final volume of the Take Five: Best Contemporary Tanka series. 

So I'm travelling well, and in good company. Let's see what 2014 brings . . .

 

Altar

first drought --
I make an altar
of this tree stump

I wrote this haiku in New Zealand's summer months, and during the first drought my hubby and I had experienced on our rural property. I entered it in the Svetlana Marisova Memorial Kukai 2013 as I thought it encompassed the theme of atonement, or rather "at-one-ment" as Sveta was reported to have pronounced it. You can read the other haiku entered on her blog, and see the results of the voting soon, here.

My tree stump altar is a bit overgrown and cobwebbed now -- I haven't paid much attention to it over winter. But my hubby did write this haiku about it a few months ago, which was published in Kokako 19:

her wooden altar
crowned, just now
by a blackbird

              Cameron Elliot

The blackbirds are singing beautifully these spring days as they prepare their nests, or bring food to their young. We also have a magpie clan in the 30m gum tree near our house, so are experiencing the magical sounds they make on a daily basis. And for the first time we have swallows making a nest under the eaves of our home. These uniquely shaped birds have always swooped and sawed close to the house, even sometimes coming through the house from the back french doors to the front ranch slider. I hope they enjoy living with us for this season. One thing's for sure: there will be haiku written about them. :-)

Hubby and Haiku

I use Grammarly for online proofreading because although my husband, Cameron Elliot, is a self professed geek in these matters, he isn't always right! So it's great to have a more reliable back-up at my finger tips.

We met at the local writer's group, and aren't the first to have found more than friendship there. But apparently we are the only couple writing and publishing haiku in New Zealand. 

Here I share some of my hubby's 'ku on the month of our fifth year since falling in love . . .

busy road 

the rest

of this seagull 

Kokako 15 (September 2011)

city centre

the footpath swerves

around two silver birches 

Commended, NZPS International Haiku Competition 2009; moments in the whirlwind (NZPS Anthology 2009)

treatment ends

the sky yields

a burst of rain

With Cherries on Top: 31 Flavors from NaHaiWriMo (Press Here 2012)

 

Oh, and he doesn't like me using the word 'hubby' (or geek for that matter -- he prefers nerd) but this is my blog so I win! :-)

Of Summer's Past . . .

return journey --

I fill my sunhat

with ripe tomatoes

Kokako 19 (September 2013)

Persistent Rain

bone marrow biopsy --
through my internal tears
a doctor talks
of the persistent rain
on his summer holiday

Kokako 19 (September 2013)

Thankfully all my treatments (and related procedures!) for leukaemia ended a year ago this month. Although I'm still considered high risk, a label that will stay with me for life, I have remained in remission for three years now, so all is looking good. I have also finally completed my collection of haiku and tanka that explore my journey through this experience. It is now with some very generous readers, and then I hope to enter it in the Snapshot Press Book Awards.

My work has just come out in Kokako, A Hundred Gourds and A Fine Line. I've recently had work accepted for Skylark, Presence and Contemporary Haibun Online. And have submitted work to The Heron's Nest, A Hundred Gourds, and the Australia-New Zealand Haiku Anthology. Now I'm getting my entry ready for the Kokako Haiku and Senryu Competition, as well as making haiku cards to take to the fair. Collaborations are still continuing, with Seanan Forbes writing haiku and tanka for some of my photos from Fiji. Never a dull moment!

Don't forget about the Svetlana Marisova Memorial Kukai 2013 (closing September 14th), which marks two years since Sveta's passing from cancer.

waking 
from a dream --
on my lips
I find the word
arohanui*

*Maori for with love/deep affection
RIP Svetlana Marisova

New Zealand Poetry Society Haiku Competitions 2013 Results

In June I was the competition judge for the junior section of the New Zealand Poetry Society Haiku Competition. I had a great time doing this job. You can read about it and find out the results here.

Then last month I found out I'd won fifth place in the adult section of the competition. Yay! Great to have finally cracked the top five of my home country's major haiku contest. I was lucky enough to also receive a commended placing. You can read the full judge's report by Nola Borrell here.

My congratulations to all the winners! Next on the New Zealand haiku calendar is the 7th Kokako Haiku & Senryu Competition. Find out all you need to know here.

Through the Fog

winter solstice ...

a hawk glides on

through the fog

Kokako 18 (April 2013) 

Haiku & photograph by Kirsten Cliff

The 7th Kokako Haiku and Senryu Competition

Closing date: 31st October 2013

First Prize NZ$200

Second and Third Place prizes of NZ$50 each

Judge: Barbara Strang

Send entries to:

The Kokako Haiku Competition,

Patricia Prime, co-editor

42 Flanshaw Road

Te Atatu South

Auckland 0610

New Zealand

Please make cheques out to Kokako

Overseas entrants may send cash at their own risk

Conditions of entry

1. Haiku must be previously unpublished and not under consideration elsewhere.
2. Entry fee is NZ$5 for every 3 haiku; for overseas entries, AU$4 or US$4 for every 3 haiku. Cheques acceptable or cash at your own risk.
3. Send two copies of each group of haiku, with your name, address and email on one copy only.
4. 1st, 2nd & 3rd haiku, 3 Highly Commended and 3 Commended entries will be published in Kokako 20 (April 2014).
5. Winners will be notified by email or mail.
6. Any theme is acceptable.

Any queries, email: pprime (at) ihug (dot) co (dot) nz

 

Autumn Night Alone

                    
                    











                    
                    on this last
                    autumn night alone
                    it hits me --
                    I no longer question
                    my love for him

 Kokako 18 (April 2013)

Tanka & photograph by Kirsten Cliff

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

Contemporary Haibun Online, January 2013, vol 8, no 4

First published in Kokako 17 (September 2012)

Decemeber Haiku Share: The Week That Was #3

Another week of Cara Holman's December Haiku Share has past and more participants have joined us in this unique challenge. Below are the links to the last seven days of posts, and the haiku, tanka and haiga I've shared along the way. Come over and take a look! (Here's the link to the latest prompt - garden spider)

December Haiku Share - Day 15

spring tide . . .
a layer of dust
on the condom packet
– Kirsten Cliff

DailyHaiku, Cycle 12, December 16, 2011
Sea Bandits, September 2012 (Ed. Aubrie Cox)

December Haiku Share - Day 16

the night he left . . . 

the many sounds
of summer rain
– Kirsten Cliff

DailyHaiku Cycle 12, November 2, 2011

December Haiku Share - Day 17

leaf-fall
i finally have
my head shaved
– Kirsten Cliff

‘All the Words that Mean Cancer’ rengay sequence 

with Cara Holman, LYNX 27:3 (October 2012)

December Haiku Share - Day 18 

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

Kokako 13, September 2010

December Haiku Share - Day 19

hailstorm . . .
three red petals left
to scent this rose
– Kirsten Cliff

Caribbean Kigo Kukai, September 2012

December Haiku Share - Day 20

no mail today
a taste of woodsmoke
on the wind
– Kirsten Cliff

From ‘Between the Birdsong’ (with Cara Holman)
LYNX 27:3, October 2012

December Haiku Share - Day 21

(click on image to enlarge)

Appeared on Angie Werren’s blog as part of her 

National Poetry Month ‘Couplets’ posts, April 2012.

 

 

Decemeber Haiku Share: The Week That Was #2

The second week of Cara Holman's December Haiku Share has finished and it's still going strong. Below are the links to the last seven days of posts, and the haiku and tanka I've shared along the way. Yes, that's right--tanka too! Come on over and share your previously published works, or write something new if inspiration hits you. You'll find a group of poets who care about haiku and tanka, enjoy reading it and commenting on it when they do. (Here's the link to the latest prompt - blue eucalyptus)

December Haiku Share - Day 8

cold moon
still the weight of her baby
in my arms
–Kirsten Cliff

DailyHaiku, Cycle 12, January 27, 2012

December Haiku Share - Day 9

shirtless
he weeds
between the gravestones
– Kirsten Cliff

Moonset 6:1 2010

December Haiku Share - Day 10

lost
in that deepest green . . .
the mountain alone
has left its imprint
on my psyche
– Kirsten Cliff

‘Forever Home’ tanka sequence with Margaret Dornaus, LYNX 27:3, October 2012
see this link for the image that inspired the tanka

December Haiku Share - Day 11 

*waka taua –
paua eyes reflect
the afternoon midges
– Kirsten Cliff

the taste of nashi: New Zealand Haiku (Windrift, 2008)
Bay News, Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Waiariki Institute of Technology 2010 Calendar

*Waka Taua is a Maori war canoe.

December Haiku Share - Day 12

winter afternoon
one empty space
in the library carpark
– Kirsten Cliff

Honorable Mention, Haiku International Association 2009 Haiku Contest

December Haiku Share - Day 13

thinking of you –
the light
on a paua shell
– Kirsten Cliff

Kokako 10 (April 2009)
Waiariki Institute of Technology 2010 Calendar

December Haiku Share - Day 14

for today
I have this one wish
not to feel
like I’ll always carry
that scared little girl
– Kirsten Cliff

Presence #44 (June 2011)

Decemeber Haiku Share: The Week That Was #1

The first week of Cara Holman's December Haiku Share has finished. Below are the links to the seven days of posts, and the haiku I have shared each day. I hope you enjoy reading all the haiku as much as I have been, and maybe you'll come and join us this week! (Here's the link to the latest prompt - night sky)

December Haiku Share - Day 1

coming home
to an empty house
so many stars
– Kirsten Cliff

Kokako 12, April 2010
evolution: The Red Moon Anthology of English-Language Haiku (Red Moon Press, 2011)

December Haiku Share - Day 2

suspended
from an evening cloud
the mountain
–Kirsten Cliff

the taste of nashi: New Zealand Haiku (Windrift, 2008)
Bay News, Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Waiariki Institute of Technology 2010 Calendar

December Haiku Share - Day 3

drifting fog
where does the dream end
and I begin
–Kirsten Cliff

“Dream Catcher” rengay with Cara Holman, Fox Dreams, April 2012 (edited by Aubrie Cox of Yay Words)

December Haiku Share - Day 4 

extinguished
after love-making
a single candle
– Kirsten Cliff

paper wasp 17:3 (October 2011)

December Haiku Share - Day 5

summer again
the dress I wore
to hospital
– Kirsten Cliff

‘All the Words that Mean Cancer’ rengay sequence with Cara Holman, LYNX 27:3 (October 2012)

December Haiku Share - Day 6

as I begin to sing
in my head
the sparrows scatter
– Kirsten Cliff

Kokako 9, September 2008
Waiariki Institute of Technology 2010 Calendar

December Haiku Share - Day 7

fallen blossoms –
loading empty beehives
on the truck
– Kirsten Cliff

Kokako 8, April 2008

A Happy Haiku Holiday Season . . .

December 2012 - Kirsten's Calendar of Haiku & Photography

The end of the year is upon us and it's time for me to look back and see if my ideas for 2012 came to fruition. My poetic leanings for this year were to:

• Make haiku and tanka a part of my everyday life -- I've certainly done this with having my own haiku calendar on my kitchen wall this year, the December page of which you see above. (See the pages for each month of 2012 at my side-bar link Kirsten's 2012 Calendar of Haiku & Photography.) I've created a second calendar for 2013 with all new photos and haiku, which I look forward to my family seeing for the first time come Christmas; and of course, having it on my own wall for the year. I also wrote haiku in cards this year, and made cards with haiku on them, giving them to family and friends. And I added haiku to the odd email or other message here and there, when I felt it might be appreciated. You can also read the post I did for New Zealand's National Poetry Day here about how I get my daily dose of haiku.
• Write more linked haiku and tanka verse -- Yes! All up this year I wrote 13 rengay with Cara Holman, all of which have been published, and three of which have been submitted to the rengay anthology. I had never written rengay before this and have found it very inspiring and enjoyable. I also wrote one rengay with Aubrie Cox, which was published in Kokako, and has been submitted to the rengay anthology as well. Mid-year I was part of a group that wrote a junicho; most of us for the first time. This was quite a different process to writing rengay, and a steep learning curve, but definitely something I would try again. The result of our efforts "Cold Sun" is in the December issue of A Hundred Gourds. Last, but not least, I wrote a tanka sequence with Margaret Dornaus, which was published in LYNX. This was another rewarding experience, and another first for me. We hope to write more together in the future.
• Write more haibun and tanka prose -- I wrote the most of these forms in a year than I ever had, and read a lot too! I decided that two of my haibun were worthy of polishing up and presenting to editors, and gratefully both were accepted; one in Kokako and one in Contemporary Haibun Online. Tanka prose I found a bit trickier and only in the last few weeks have I finalised two that I think are of a publishable standard. The first has been accepted to Haibun Today, and I'm waiting on news for the second. Needless to say I'm super pleased with my efforts and definitely want to keep writing more. I'm still interested in writing a poetic memoir in this fashion, although I'm keen to write it about a different time in my life than I'd originally conceived. Watch this space!

I did lots of other things in haiku-land for the first time, too, this year, like participating in kukai, judging a competition, and collaborating on photo-haiga. It's all made for a well rounded year of fun and challenges and learning and friendships. I'm looking forward to more! :)

There is a lot I'm interested in pursuing next year: collaborations of all kinds, finalising putting my first collection together, and entering the most haiku and tanka competitions I ever have in 12 months!

What will actually happen?

I don't know, because what I do know is that I can't do it all. I'm actually only a few submissions away this year from having done, what would work out as, one submission a week (which I did as a minimum in 2011). My coffers are running low. So it's a big period of concentrated writing that is needed right now. See you soon...

Here's to a happy haiku holiday season to all my readers!

May you eat, drink, write and be merry. :)

Share a Haiku-a-Day for December

Cara Holman has come up with a great haiku sharing event on her blog Prose Posies for this month. As she points out, there's many haiku out there that we miss seeing because there is so much to read, or maybe it was published before our time, or in a journal in a country far from our own.

What Cara is inviting us to do is to share a haiku each day in the comments section of her blog that relates in some way to the haiku she posts each day. Easy peasy, and heaps of fun. Get into it folks! Here's the first post (sign up to her blog and receive her posts directly to your email inbox).

a stranger in the crowd
that looks like you
blue mist

Cara Holman

(Shiki Kigo Kukai, November 2012)

coming home
to an empty house
so many stars

Kirsten Cliff

Kokako 12, April 2010
evolution: The Red Moon Anthology of English-Language Haiku (Red Moon Press, 2011)

October Oops!

The beginning of another month and I'd usually be showing readers the corresponding page on my 2012 calendar of haiku and photography, but . . . I unfortunately got the last two months in the wrong order, missing out a winter page! So I've now put all the months, up to October, on a separate page, which you can view here. By the end of the year the whole calendar will be up and you can view them at your leisure.

Please click on the image to see full screen.

In place of my October calendar page I've posted the above haiku and image. The haiku is part of a rengay I wrote with Cara Holman on dreams, which was published in one of Aubrie Cox's Yay Words! projects. You can read the full rengay, "Dream Catcher" here, and download your own pdf copy of the ebook that it appeared in, Fox Dreams here. The photo is of the Kaimai Range (or My Mountain as I affectionately call it:) and was taken from my home on a misty spring morning last month.

Tomorrow begins a week of tanka and images here in collaboration with Margaret Dornaus and her blog Haiku-doodle. Our recently published tanka sequence, "Forever Home" (LYNX, October 2012) was written from our respective travel photos, and now we'll bring you the photos along with the tanka. Tune in each day as we bring you a pair of tanka and images between us. We hope you'll enjoy a further insight into our first tanka sequence together, as much as we enjoyed writing it. :)

September was a busy one for me: writing an essay on my favourite haiku for Haiku NewZ, sending in my huge submission of 100 haiku for A New Resonance 8, writing my November haikai column for a fine line, submitting to the 20th Anniversary Rengay Anthology, entering The 4th Kokako Tanka Competition and participating in a further two kukai. Hoping October will be quieter!