One Man's Butterfly Dream: NeverEnding Story

Last week one of my haiku appeared on Chen-ou Liu's new bilingual blog, NeverEnding Story, where he does Chinese translations of English-language haiku and tanka. The post with my haiku, complete with translations and Chen-ou's commentary, can be found here.

I've had a few more haiku and tanka accepted and look forward to them appearing in the future. To submit your own published or unpublished haiku and/or tanka for possible inclusion on NeverEnding Story, see this link. The best haiku and tanka from this year will be put into two anthologies, plus there is a $50 prize up for grabs for the best haiku and tanka.

http://neverendingstoryhaikutanka.blogspot.ca/

I hope you'll enjoy taking a look around Chen-ou's one-of-a-kind blog project, and send in some of your work.

The Twelve Days of Christmas

Here are the haiku I've been writing and sharing over the past 12 days at Gillena Cox's blog for her Twelve Days of Christmas celebration.

Christmas morning

 amongst the pine needles

a spider's gift

family gathering ...
the many sounds
of laughter

cemetery visit --
I place a Christmas angel
at his headstone

full moon ...
picking at leftovers
from the fridge

Christmas lilies ...
the way her eyes
light up

packing away

the Christmas decorations ...

another year without her 

New Year's Day ...

the bunch of balloons

hangs shriveled

first dream of the year --
i wake not knowing
which way is up


late Christmas card
call of a peacock
in the distance


somehow
in every room
threads of tinsel


wrapped up
in this Christmas gift, too
his love for me


holiday's end --
the spirit of Christmas
still in the air

My Crafty Christmas

Christmas cards: an angel cut-out from Christmas music (click to enlarge)

Here are two crafty gifts I've made for my family this Christmas,

along with my 2013 Calendar of Haiku & Photography.

Reindeer Christmas tree ornaments for the kids

Celebrate the Twelve Days of Christmas haiku-style on 

Gillena Cox's blog Lunch Break from  

Tuesday, December 25 to Saturday, January 5

where she invites you to collaborate for the fifth year running.

I'm hoping to share in Gillena's Christmas story for the first time.

It would be great if you joined me! :)

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)

A Big Small Kindness

Big thanks to the girls at Cafe Botannix Bethlehem last Wednesday who turned off the music that afternoon at my request. My hubby has Asperger's Syndrome and he has extreme noise sensitivity as a result. It can be really hard for us to find a quiet place to treat ourselves to a coffee. We seriously appreciate the kindness these staff members showed. It meant the world to my husband at that moment. YOU ROCK!

This blog post is part of the Small Kindnesses Blogsplash. You can still get involved. Find out all the info here. As part of the blogsplash Fiona Robyn's novel Small Kindnesses is FREE on Kindle today. Enjoy! :)

Small Kindnesses Blogsplash

A new blogsplash event organised by Fiona Robyn and Writing Our Way Home...

On Tuesday the 27th of November I'm joining the Small Kindnesses Blogsplash and writing about a special small kindness someone paid me in the past. Would you like to join me?

The Blogsplash is organised by Fiona Robyn to celebrate the release of her novel 'Small Kindnesses' which will be free on Kindle on the day. All you have to do is write something about being kind - a memory of someone who was kind to you, a list of kindnesses over the past week, or something kind you did for someone else. It'll be a celebration of kindness in all its forms, especially those little kind acts that make all the difference.

To find out more visit Fiona's blog, or join the Facebook event. Do ask your friends to join you, and feel free to copy this blog onto your own to help us spread the word.

See you on the 27th! :)

Day of the Dead #3: A photo-haiga with Cara Holman

Haiku by Cara Holman / Image by Kirsten Cliff (click on image to enlarge)

See Margaret Dornaus' full Day of the Dead post on her blog Haiku-doodle.

Day of the Dead #2: A photo-haiga with Cara Holman

Haiku by Cara Holman / Image by Kirsten Cliff (click on image to enlarge)

See Margaret Dornaus' full Day of the Dead post on her blog Haiku-doodle.

Day of the Dead #1: A photo-haiga with Cara Holman

Haiku by Cara Holman / Image by Kirsten Cliff (click on image to enlarge)

See Margaret Dornaus' full Day of the Dead post on her blog Haiku-doodle.

A Blackbird Sings

I'm very pleased to let readers know that the 2012 anthology of small stones is now available on Kindle, and for pre-order on Amazon. A Blackbird Sings: a book of short poems is edited by Fiona Robyn and Kaspalita and will have a special launch on November 1st, the first ever Mindful Writing Day. Once again, people from all around the world with gather to pay attention and write it down. These small stones will be gathered by Fiona and Kaspa and published on their Writing Our Way Home blog, where they'll be giving away five free paperbacks of A Blackbird Sings to their favourites. And also on this day the Kindle version of the anthology will be FREE! Find all the Mindful Writing Day info here. I hope you'll join us. :)

Here are my two poems in the anthology, which are in good company, including many of my haiku poet friends:

Cover by Ken Hurd

gold moon

my nose pressed against

cold glass

                         empty glass
                         the sound
                         of his sobs

Forever Home: A Tanka Sequence with Margaret Dornaus #9

lost

in that deepest green . . .

the mountain alone

has left its imprint

on my psyche

Fern Pass, Austria, 1998 (click on image to enlarge)

Tanka & photograph © Kirsten Cliff

Tanka appeared in LYNX XXVII: 3 (October, 2012)

in "Forever Home" a tanka sequence with Margaret Dornaus

To start with the first post in this sequence click here.
To see Margaret's tanka and pictures for "Forever Home", 
visit Haiku-doodle.

Forever Home: A Tanka Sequence with Margaret Dornaus #7

the angular roof

beneath marshmallow clouds . . .

an old Chocolat factory

          enveloped, even now

          in the sweet breath of summer 

                              

                    Berne, Switzerland, 1998 (click on image to enlarge)

Tanka & photograph © Kirsten Cliff

Tanka appeared in LYNX XXVII: 3 (October, 2012)

in "Forever Home" a tanka sequence with Margaret Dornaus

To start with the first post in this sequence click here.
To see Margaret's tanka and pictures for "Forever Home", 
visit Haiku-doodle.

Forever Home: A Tanka Sequence with Margaret Dornaus #5

still showing me

the blessings of survival . . .

an ancient oven

and a stone wheat-grinder

in this deserted city

Pompeii, Italy, 1998 (click on image to enlarge)

 

Tanka & photograph © Kirsten Cliff

Tanka appeared in LYNX XXVII: 3 (October, 2012)

in "Forever Home" a tanka sequence with Margaret Dornaus

To start with the first post in this sequence click here.
To see Margaret's tanka and pictures for "Forever Home", 
visit Haiku-doodle.

Forever Home: A Tanka Sequence with Margaret Dornaus #3

crumbling brickwork

echoes across the canal . . .

with every bridge

I renew my faith

in a boundless sky

Venice, Italy, 1998 (click on image to enlarge)

Tanka & photograph © Kirsten Cliff

Tanka appeared in LYNX XXVII: 3 (October, 2012)

in "Forever Home" a tanka sequence with Margaret Dornaus

To see the first post in this sequence click here.
To see Margaret's tanka and pictures for "Forever Home", 
visit Haiku-doodle.

Forever Home: A Tanka Sequence with Margaret Dornaus #1

Recently, my friend and fellow poet Margaret Dornaus and I decided to write a series of tanka based on travel pictures we'd taken over the years. The result, our tanka sequence "Forever Home," was published in the October issue of LYNX, where you can find our alternating verses in their entirety. We thought it might be fun, however, to share the verses and the accompanying pictures that inspired them on our blogs simultaneously, which we'll be doing, one by one, over the course of the next several days. Here is my first tanka that started it all. To see Margaret's tanka and pictures for "Forever Home", visit Haiku-doodle.

decorating our first home

our forever home

with photos of travels past . . .

will I ever explore the beauty

of these landscapes with you

My travel photo albums - clockwise from top: Arundel, West Sussex, England 1997; Fern Pass, Tyrolean Alps and Innsbruck, Austria 1998; Mount Fuji, Japan (from Fujikyu Highland theme park) 1999. (click on image to enlarge)

Tanka & photograph © Kirsten Cliff

Tanka appeared in LYNX XXVII: 3 (October, 2012)

in "Forever Home" a tanka sequence with Margaret Dornaus

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!

Welcome to Spring!

September 2012 - Kirsten's Calendar of Haiku & Photography

September 1st marks the beginning of Spring in New Zealand and above is the page I did for my family's calendar. The haiku first appeared with another photo last year in Notes from the Gean here (Sept, 2011), and appeared again this year in Kathy Nguyen's August Blog Bash! with her commentary here. However, the photo in this version was taken at the start of the Papamoa Hills walking track, near my old home, and was later printed in the local paper in the weather shots section. (Click on image to enlarge.)

August was a super busy month with writing, posting and reading haiku daily for NaHaiWriMo. It also was a month of medical appointments for me with several visits to the dentist (a 2nd tooth extraction tomorrow and then hopefully I'm done for a good long while!), a check over of all my moles before summer (no cancer lurking:), and most importantly, seeing my Haematologist at Waikato Hospital. I have now officially finished all my drug treatments for leukaemia. Unfortunately, I will continue my three monthly bone marrow biopsies for a further year because of the risk of relapse. But all signs point to it being done and dusted by next spring. Yay! :)

This month I've already had super news: I've been nominated by the community of New Resonance Poets to enter my work into consideration to join them in A New Resonance 8. Apparently, my haiku have been deemed outstanding and worthy of a wider readership, and I've been invited to submit 50-100 poems. 17 finalists (out of more than 40) will then be chosen to appear in the book. I am so excited and honoured and wowed! And already working on putting my large submission together! :)

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get my haiku-a-day challenge ready to go for this month, but watch out for it coming soon! Enjoy your spring (or autumn!). This is my first spring in my new home and I'm loving seeing the countryside come to life again after winter with birds, green growth, and baby animals. Happy haiku writing!

The August Countdown . . .

August is a big month for me:

• I'm writing a haiku-a-day for the special 31 Different NaHaiWriMo Promters for August 2012. This I'm thoroughly enjoying. I haven't participated through the NaHaiWriMo Community Facebook page since my writing buddy Cara Holman was a guest prompter back in May 2011. It's great connecting up with lots of new-to-me haiku writers, seeing how others approach each day's prompt, and it's keeping my haiku mind active! If you're not on Facebook then feel free to follow along with me here, posting your haiku for the prompts in the comments section of the relevant day.

• Two of my photo haiga have been featured on Kathy Nguyen's August Blog Bash 2012, with commentary. See the August 13th post and write-up here. Kathy is hosting writers and artists of all kinds this month at her Live Journal Origami Lotus Poetry. I believe there are still places left, so check out how you could be involved here. All participants receive a free gift for taking part, as well as going into the draw to win the Snapshot Press 2013 Haiku Calendar. 

• I entered my first kukai contests this month: Caribbean Kigo Kukai and Sketchbook Kukai. I've been wanting to do this for some time, and finally got myself organised to give it a go. If kukai is new to you, then take a look at this article by Cara Holamn, written especially for Swimming in Lines of Haiku in 2009. It will give you all the links and info you need to get started.

• I'm currently writing rengay and tanka sequences with two of my American contemporaries. The tanka sequences are new for me and I'm revealing in working more closely with this form, and exploring writing tanka on different topics. Who knows where it will lead...

• And the best reason that August is a big month for me... I will finally finish my maintenance treatment for leukaemia! :) I've almost reached the end of two long years, and I'm still in remission. Yes! Thanks to everyone who has supported me along the way. It's been a tough ride at times, and all the poetry has kept me going. I hope you enjoy your August!

August 2012 - Kirsten's Calendar of Haiku & Photography

Above is the August page of the calendar I made for my family. The photo was taken at about this time of year (almost spring!) from Papamoa Beach, looking towards Mt Maunganui, in 2009. The haiku has appeared in a few different forms in a few different places. The closest version to the above was published in the taste of nashi: New Zealand Haiku. (Click on image to enlarge.)

Moon Tanka...

Don't forget to share your moon-themed tanka with Maragret Dornaus for her birthday bash giveaway. You have until July 20, and go into the draw to win a copy of Modern Japanese Tanka. Here's mine:

          Why did my DNA

          mutate...

          pacing this shoreline

          my answers come bathed

          in healing moonlight

© Kirsten Cliff 2012

More Great Giveaways...

...From Kathy Nguyen this Northern Summer Holidays over at her blog Origami Lotus Poetry. There is a haibun contest, a haiga contest, and there's still time to be part of the big blog bash for artists of all kinds! Check out all the details at the links. And have fun :)