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. :-)

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

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)

Wind in the Reeds

The autumn kigo 'wind in the reeds' Sketchbook kukai results are now out - view them here. Congratulations to my writing buddy Cara Holman for her 2nd place win - that's the haiku I gave my top points to! Here are my efforts for what was my first Sketchbook kukai:

wind in the reeds
laying out tarot cards
by candlelight

I always used to
get the wishbone
wind in the reeds

wind in the reeds I dare you to love 

 

Hailstorm

This was my entry for the 38th Caribbean Kigo Kukai held in September 2012 with the theme: Stormy Weather.

hailstorm . . .

three red petals left

to scent this rose

Kirsten Cliff

Congratulations to the winners, and my thanks to Gillena Cox for running this kukai each month. You can read all the haiku here.

Svetlana Marisova Memorial Kukai

To mark the first anniversary of Svetlana's passing (7 September, 2011) and to celebrate her life, a memorial kukai contest was run over the past few weeks. You can now read all the haiku and results of the voting here. My thanks to all involved.

singing dawn . . .

searching for your light

within these words

 

 

Kirsten Cliff

12th Place (5pts)

 



Lucky Number Three

Results of two of the kukai I entered in August have come through and I'm surprised and excited to see that I took out third place in both! Many thanks to my peers for giving kudos to my work. :)

Olympics on TV

I sit folding origami

peace cranes

 

 

Third Place

Caribbean Kigo Kukai #37

Theme: The Olympic Games

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Third Place

2nd Haiku My Photo Challenge

Photo: Christine L. Villa

 

 

Congratulations to the first and second place getters!

 

I have entered a further two kukai: the Sketchbook Kukai and the Svetlana Marisova Memorial Kukai. My votes are in, and I look forward to seeing the final results. Doing kukai has been a new experience for me; one that I've found enjoyable and rewarding. I'd encourage everyone to give it a go.

 





The HAIKU MY PHOTO CHALLENGE Kukai

This must be the month for me entering kukai contests. First it was the Caribbean Kigo Kukai, which I've just done the voting for. Next the Sketchbook Kukai, which I also did for the first time this month. And now Chrissi's Haiku My Photo Challenge, which I judged earlier this year, is back for round two in kukai form!

You'll find all the information your need to enter here. I hope you'll come and join me! :)

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.)

Guest Post: Why Kukai? by Cara Holman

Cara Holman is one of my haiku buddies and is a fellow cancer survivor. She told me about the kukai comps she was involved in a few months back and I've since had the joy of watching her success. I knew she could do a much better post on this topic than I, so I asked her to be my first guest blogger. Her enthusiasm for writing is a delight to be part of and I thank her for this contribution to Swimming in Lines of Haiku. Take it away, Cara...

I discovered Kukai contests in much the same way I’ve discovered everything of worth in cyberspace: by serendipitously following links. The first Kukai I discovered was the Shiki Monthly Kukai. What is a Kukai? Simply put, it is a peer-reviewed haiku competition, in which anyone who submits a haiku gets to vote.

Here’s how it works, in more detail. The Shiki Monthly Kukai has two divisions: the “Kigo” and the “Free format”. In the former, the kigo provided must be included in the haiku, along with a seasonal reference. In the “free format” section, the haiku may be set in any season. Sometimes the word provided must be used verbatim; other times, the only requirement is that it be “strongly imaged or implicit”. A writer may submit one haiku to either or both sections.

Shortly after the submission period ends, ballots are distributed to each participant with the haiku listed anonymously. Each participant has 6 points to distribute, in increments of 1, 2, or 3, and they may not vote for their own haiku. Finally, the votes are tallied, and the haiku are listed in ranked order, along with the writers’ names, points, and any comments they may have received. In addition to the Shiki Monthly Kukai, two other Kukai that I regularly participate in are the Sketchbook Kukai and the Caribbean Kigo Kukai. These are some of my favorite Kukai entries from this year:

night sky –

my thumb

eclipsing the moon

1st place, Shiki Monthly Kukai, July 2010

3rd place, 8th Annual Shiki Poets’ Choice Kukai, October 2010

strains of Mendelssohn

the groom fiddles

with his carnation

1st place, Caribbean Kigo Kukai #13, May 2010

lingering heat

the dogwood’s leaves

curling inward

2nd place, Sketchbook Kukai, July/August 2010

What is novel about Kukai contests, is that unlike traditional haiku journals or competitions with a single judge, Kukai are “judged” by all of the participants, creating a kind of vox populi effect. Kukai are also inclusive—anyone can participate, and everyone is made to feel equally welcome—whether this is their first haiku, or they have been writing and publishing haiku for years. The best way to get started with any of these Kukai is simply to familiarize yourself with the rules, read the past few months of results to get the “flavor” of that particular Kukai, and start writing!

Cara Holman lives in Portland, Oregon, with her husband, the youngest of their three children, and their two cats. She finds inspiration for her haiku in the garden and on forest trails. Visit her blog, Prose Posies, for links to all of her writing, including her creative nonfiction.