Off Road

                    
                    winter walking
                    we venture off-road
                    with my wheelchair

 Winterspaziergang

wir wagon uns ins Gelände

met meinem Rollstuhl

Chrysanthemum 13, April 2013

Haiku & photo by Kirsten Cliff

German translation by Editors

Kirsten's 2013 Calendar of Haiku & Photography: First Quarter

We're a quarter of our way through the year already and I haven't revealed any of the pages from my 2013 calendar yet! So here's a catch up of the first four months (click on images to enlarge):

January 2013 Haiku & Image by Kirsten Cliff

February 2013 Haiku & Image by Kirsten Cliff

March 2013 Haiku & Image by Kirsten Cliff

April 2013 Haiku & Image by Kirsten Cliff

As with last year's calendar (see here) I used images that I thought my family would enjoy, and haiku that I thought they'd 'get'. I hope you've enjoyed this taster of what's to come throughout 2013. More soon! :)

Through the Fog

winter solstice ...

a hawk glides on

through the fog

Kokako 18 (April 2013) 

Haiku & photograph by Kirsten Cliff

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

Mindful Writing Challenge: Day 7

the aching in my back

it speaks of a day enjoyed with friends

and now calls for a chair to rest in

Take Notice

This week is Mental Health Awareness Week and the theme is "Take Notice". To find an event in your area, click here, and look here for some tips on taking notice. Writing haiku and small stones starts by paying attention. I hope this week you'll stop and appreciate what's around you, and maybe write it down . . .

taking a mental health day--

the way sunlight moves

through the trees

Haiku & photograph by Kirsten Cliff

Published on Head Lines NZ

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!

He Snores

My photo of last month's super moon rising. Click on image to enlarge.

 full moon tonight he snores louder

DailyHaiku Cycle 12 (December 2011)
Haiku & photograph © Kirsten Cliff

The Night He Left...

                    the night he left...

                    the many sounds

                    of summer rain

DailyHaiku Cycle 12 (November 2011)

Haiku & photograph © Kirsten Cliff

 

Long Winter Nights...

...are perfect for getting crafty! But before I show you what I've been up to this week, below is the June page of my calendar. The haiku was written a year ago today and appeared in The Heron's Nest. The photo was also taken a year ago at the new Te Puke Cemetery, as the last of the sun was going down.

June 2012 - Kirsten's Calendar of Haiku & Photography

Now that winter has hit us here again in the Southern Hemisphere, I've been spending some time each evening sticking stuff to other stuff, and coming out with these cards:

I love using bits and pieces I find in old books, and adding a bit of origami is always fun. I look at these cards as mini canvases. I just see an image in my head, then try to collage it out into the real world. I'm not making these with any person or any occasion in mind. I'm just enjoying getting stuck into my crafting again, and enjoying having my own creating room for the first time, to do it in! :)

How Did Your NaHaiWriMo Go?

I quietly wrote my haiku-a-day for NaHaiWriMo this February: I didn't follow the prompts by Michael Dylan Welch on the NaHaiWriMo Facebook page, and I didn't blog about it. Unfortunately, I did miss two days mid-way through due to illness, but as I wrote two haiku a few of the days throughout the month, I have come out with more than 29 at the end of it all, and am pretty pleased with my lot.

March 1st signals Autumn in New Zealand, and so it's time to share the March page of my calendar... 

March 2012 - Kirsten's Calendar of Haiku & Photography

The photo was taken at McLaren Falls near Tauranga last year, and the haiku was written on this blog during April's NaPoWriMo last year. You can click on the image for a larger view. Enjoy!

Chinese New Year

January 2012 - Kirsten's Calendar of Haiku & Photography

Regular followers of this blog might remember that I actually set myself a second goal last year: to make a calendar of haiku and photography to be given as Christmas presents to my family.

Well, I did it, and everybody loved it! :)

With the Chinese New Year celebrations upon us, I thought it was about time I showed my readers some of what my calendar turned out like. Above is my January page: a shot I took near my old home of Papamoa Beach, from one of my favourite spots, and the haiku is one that was published in the NZPS Anthology in 2008, Before the Sirocco.

It's probably one of my favourite haiku by me: it was my first play around with form in haiku, and I still think of it every summer when I stretch out my toes and feel that first rush of cool breeze.

I hope the sunny scene warms those of you in the Northern parts of our Earth. And Happy New Year once again!

High Risk

          she advises

          I'm at high risk

          of a relapse...

          I breathe in air heavy

          with crushed dreams

Moonbathing #5 (January, 2012)

Tanka & photograph © Kirsten Cliff

Daydream

daydream...

will you share yours with me?

red dragonfly

Haiku by Kirsten Cliff  -  Photo by Cameron Elliot



spring sunlight haiga

Notes from the Gean, volume 3, issue 2

(click on image to view larger)

New Neighbour

          new neighbour

          a peony blooms

          through the fence

paper wasp, volume seventeen, number 3, winter 2011

Haiku and photograph © Kirsten Cliff 2011 

First Winter's Day

          first winter's day
          I slip into
          his gumboots

The Heron's Nest, Volume XIII, Number 3: September, 2011

Haiku and photograph © Kirsten Cliff 2011