Mindful Writing Challenge – day 6

my eczema

set to 'high itch'

summer heat

Find out more about the January Mindful Writing Challenge here.

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.

If Only

hottest day--
if only he'd heard
my body's yes

Kernels, Spring 2013

Pot Holes

traffic jam . . .
watching the pot holes
fill with rain

Kernels, Spring 2013

NZPS 2013 International Haiku Competitions

New Zealand Poetry Society International Haiku Competition

For haiku and senryu. Cash prizes of $NZ100 each for the first five placings, plus the Jeanette Stace Memorial Prize of $NZ150 for the winner. All winning haiku, plus selected others from competition entries, will be published in the annual anthology. Judge: Nola Borrell.
Closes: May 31, in hand.
Cost: $NZ1.50/haiku, for NZPS members every 5th haiku is free. It is possible to pay via the website.
For full details see the website.

New Zealand Poetry Society Junior Haiku Competition

For haiku and senryu. Open to entrants 17 years of age or younger on May 31, 2013. Three cash prizes of $NZ50 each in both the primary/intermediate and secondary sections, plus the Jeanette Stace Memorial Prize of $NZ100 for the overall winner. All winning haiku, plus selected others from competition entries, will be published in the annual anthology. Judge: Kirsten Cliff.
Closes: May 31, in hand.
Cost: $NZ1/haiku or 4 Kiwi stamps/3 haiku.
For full details see the website.

http://www.poetrysociety.org.nz/2013haikuandhaikujunior

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

 

Biopsy

biopsy i am my heartbeat

Tinywords, Issue 13:1, 22 February 2013

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 . . .

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!

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

A Puzzle of Poetry

I'm pleased to say that I have begun playing with the puzzle that is my first poetry collection, Patient Property. I've been writing for this collection since being diagnosed with leukaemia in March 2010, and it's only recently that my treatment has finally come to a conclusion. That's a lot of experiences to draw on!

At this stage all the relevant haiku, senryu, tanka, and haibun I've written over the past 2+ years is printed out and blue-tacked onto the back of my study door. From there I'm working out in what order the poems should appear, what stays and what goes, and if there are any gaps in my story for which new works need to be written.

Having never done this before, I can tell you it's a challenging job; though no bigger a task than I had expected it would be. I think I'll be a good few months working my way through the ups and downs of this process. I'm very grateful that a few fellow poets have already put their hands up to be early readers.

In the meantime (and long before my book sees the world!) will be my appearance in A New Resonance 8: Emerging Voices in English-Language Haiku. I'm very excited to have my haiku chosen for this volume, which will see a sizable body of my work published in one place for the first time. Many thanks to editors Jim Kacian and Dee Evetts, and all those who have supported my haiku habit over the past six years!

Now I just have to get over the small shock I feel every time I close my study door and am suddenly confronted with a wall of poetry! How is it that I keep forgetting it's there . . .

With Cherries on Top

Super stoked to find that the pdf book of haiku and senryu from the 31 Different NaHaiWriMo Prompters in August 2012 is available now for FREE download! With Cherries on Top: 31 Flavors of NaHaiWriMo, edited by Michael Dylan Welch can be found here. 

I'm grateful to have the following four haiku included (hubby has one in there too!) along with so many other writers from the online haiku community. Thanks to Michael for the ideas and for putting them into action; thanks to the 31 daily prompters, and thanks to all those who took part in the Facebook haikufest that is NaHaiWriMo.


laundry day . . .
when did my feet
last touch the sand

     (Sand prompt from Vincent Hoarau) 


                              growing dusk . . .
                              the stillborn calf
                              is taken away

                              (Birth prompt from Christina Nguyen)

the lion in her  full moon

     (Lion prompt from Alegria Imperial)

                              psychiarist's office—

                              the painting of a boat
                              hung off-centre

                              (Boats prompt from Alison Williams) 



P.S. Also available for FREE download is the pdf book of small stones from Mindful Writing Day, edited by Fiona Robyn and Kaspa. You'll find that here. Enjoy all the weekend reading! :)

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

too much

I wonder what it would be like not to speak aloud for a whole day. No words. From my mouth. For twenty-fours hours. No songs, no soliloquies, no swearing. Out loud. No language of love or lament or loathing. Out loud. Or in whispers.

I'm sure I say more than is necessary. Maybe most of us do. But could I make it through a day without talking? And what would I learn from doing so? Is it possible to be overwhelmed by such an experience, by too much God? Or is there only goodness to be found through such a practise?

chemotherapy all the people I've lost along the way

 

contemporary haibun online vol 8, no 3 (October 2012)

 

 

Thievery by the Sea

Aubrie Cox has come up with a new Yay Words! Project to challenge our haiku minds . . .

"I will take small poems until Saturday, September 15th about the sea and/or thieves/thievery. As I have with other projects, I will take up to 5, and I’ll at least take one. I reserve the right to ask you to try again if nothing really catches my eye, but don’t take it as a brushoff; that really does mean try again!

Theme/What to write about: The sea and/or thieves/thievery.

What form: Haiku, senryu, tanka, kyoka, gogyōka, renku, haibun, haiga (doodles most welcome!), small stones, short poems (up to 10 lines), etc. As is art!

How many: As many as you want! I will take as many as 5 and no less than 1.

When: Send them in by Saturday, September 15th (I will wait until the whole world has reached the 15th); I will post a PDF on this blog on September 19th (or as some know it, International Talk Like a Pirate Day).

Where to send: Email to aubriecox [at] gmail [dot] com - put “EVERY ROAD TAKES ME TO THE SEA” in the subject line, if you please."

I hope to see you there! :)

Time

August 26th NaHaiWriMo prompt is "time", provided by Jessica Tremblay. 

walking behind

this old lady—

I stand up straighter

Find out more about the 31 Different NaHaiWriMo Prompters for August 2012 here.

Two Great NaPoWriMo Giveaways!

The wonderfully supportive and energetic Kathy Nguyen is running two competitions to celebrate National Poetry Month.

The first is a haiku/senryu/tanka contest on her blog - Origami Lotus Poetry
Take a look at all the details here, and you'll be able to see my entry already in the comments section.
She is giving away a copy of Peter Newton's What We Find to the winner, and you can read her review of the book here.

The second is for WOWH members and the giveaway is one of Fiona's or Kaspa's e-courses!
You can find the prompt and all the info here, and if you're not already part of the Writing Our Way Home community then why not consider joining. You can find out more about WOWH here.

There's still lots of fun to be had this April!

Dust

visiting the in-laws

this dust on her

artificial flowers

Prune Juice, Issue 8, Spring 2012 

Senryu and photography © Kirsten Cliff 

 

New Dress

          shopping

          for a new dress... 

          blisters

  

paper wasp, 18:1, summer 2012

  Photo & senryu © Kirsten Cliff

When A Poem Finds Its Home

I'm beginning to believe more and more that every poem has a home, which will be found eventually. Prune Juice is a place where senryu of mine (some written back when I began in 2007) are finally finding their kin and I'm so pleased that these poems, which I was starting to think just didn't fit anywhere, are now being enjoyed by an audience who can appreciate my humour.



          at the lookout
          we view pics
          on his camera



                    valentine's day
                    buying tampons
                    on special



                                        the size of this bathroom
                                        with me in it
                                        as well as the fly



This third senryu is relatively new having been written during NaHaiWriMo last year. But even so, it was still rejected its fair share of times before finding a place in Prune Juice's pages. NaHaiWriMo 2012 starts in just a few days, where people all over the world will be writing a haiku a day for the month of February. Check out all the information here. And who knows what place your haiku will eventually call its home...

News From Haiku News

Greetings Friends!

We would like to announce that after a several month hiatus, Haiku News will be returning in January. As often happens, life got in the way and forced us to prioritize other things. However, we are ready to begin 2012 with a new vision and commitment to publishing excellent poetry that reflects the social and political events of our world.

On January 15^th, we will begin accepting submissions. Please email your tanka, senryu, and haiku to our new address, the4shades@gmail.com.

We would like to thank all of our readers for being patient and supporting our journal through word of mouth and quality poetry. Please be on the lookout for news about site updates, including a new interview project headed by Laurence.

Thanks!

The Haiku News Staff