Tuesday 9 January 2007

MAIN HAIKU SELECTIONS







EDITOR'S WELCOME

Readers are now more accustomed to the six different categories of haiku which are featured in WHR's haiku selections. Of course, a haiku poet is a single person and cannot be dissected neatly and conveniently into categories. All emotions, thoughts and feelings which are working inside a poet will interact with what he or she experiences in the world around. Quite in which way such interaction leads the poet to is unpredictable. That is part of the fascination and joy of poetry creation.

However, the end results can be displayed according to some practical and reasonable characteristics, just like there are in the same music jazz, pop songs, country Western or classical music, or within classical music piano sonatas can be separated from symphonies. WHCvanguard haiku dealing with horrendous cruelty or violent sex do not mix well with WHChaikuneoclassical haiku admiring the beauty of Mt. Fuji or depicting loneliness consoled by cricket songs. I don't want to listen to rock 'n' roll and Mozart in the same concert hall, played simultaneouly. I love Dean Martin and Luciano Pavarotti almost in equal measure but I don't listen to them together. WHC's haiku classification means just that.

It is not so much asking poets to write poems according to such categories (which in itself is an important task but...) as asking them to create anything they like but to show anything worth showing in the right showrooms. If at any given time there are no works worth showing in some of these showrooms, then just don't. Equally, poets who have no interest in kigo at all do not need to post anything, or even join, WHChaikuneoclassical any more than those with no interest in progressive and radical end of vers libre haiku should post, or even subscribe, to WHCvanguard.

There have been misunderstandings and confusion about these aims of WHC's haiku classification. Such misunderstandings or confusion must not be allowed to stand in the way of poets' creation. And these are problems of the poets' own creation and therefore problems for themselves to solve.

Readers are welcome and encouraged to submit their original haiku on a on-going basis as well as in response to our call for submission.

Kengin,

Susumu Takiguchi
Editor WHChaiku, WHR


[Introduction]

all the six categories are as follows:

(a) GENERAL CATEGORY: Haiku poems of any type, form, topic, with or without kigo;

(b) THEMED CATEGORY: Haiku poems on the theme of "Solitude" (to be broadly interpreted. No restrictions
regarding form or kigo);

(c) KIGO CATEGORY: "Leaves turn colour";

(d) NEO-CLASSICAL HAIKU: Strictly traditional (see: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WHChaikuneoclassical )

(e) SHINTAI HAIKU: "shintai haiku" (new-style freer haiku) which sits between neo-classical and vanguard.

(f) VANGUARD HAIKU: Most radical and freest haiku (see: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WHCvanguard )

Each category has The Best (First Place), Best Ten and Zatsuei (haiku of merit). From the six The Best poems, The Grand Best (the best from all categories) is chosen as the Editor's Choice of the Issue.

List of Poets Featured

Dave Bacharach, US
Kent Chadwick, US
Cathy Drinkwater Better, US
Lynn Edge
Elizabeth Fanto, US
Michael Flack, Australia
Lorin Ford, Australia
Laryalee Fraser, Canada
Damien Gabriels, France
Denis M. Garrison, US
Victor P. Gendrano, US
Olga Hooper (Origa), US
Elizabeth Howard, US
Kirsty Karkow, US
Bill Kenney, US
Deborah P. Kolodji, US
Carmel Lively, US
Vinodh Marella (Yajushi), India
Tomislav Maretic, HR
Dubravko Marijanovic, HR
Zoran Mimica, Austria
Ruzica Mokos, HR
Polona Oblak, Slovenia
Paul Pfleuger, Jr., Taiwan
Zhanna P. Rader, US
Narayanan Raghunathan, India
Terrie Leigh Relf (semi), US
Bruce Ross, US
Yuri Runov, Russia
Ann K. Schwader, US
Vaughn Seward (tanemaki koishi), Canada
Adelaide B. Shaw, US
Nancy Stewart Smith, US
Marie Summers, US
Tad Wojnicki, US/Taiwan




#########################


THE GRAND BEST (The best from all categories and thus the Editor's Choice)

Joint Winners



red and gold
the hillside threads
into autumn

Laryalee Fraser, Canada



revealing itself
upon a banana leaf,
october wind

Vaughn Seward (tanemaki koishi), Canada


* * *

I have tried in vain to choose one of these as THE GRAND BEST. Both use century-old themes. Both, nevertheless, have newness and originality. Both deal with autumn. (And both are Canadians!) Both are good. Both I like also. In other words I have absolutely no reason why I would choose one in preference to the other and one thing I don't do is to toss a coin. The only solution left for me, therefore, is to make them joint winners.

'threads into autumn' and that the october wind is 'revealing itself upon a banana leaf' are the bits which make each of these haiku special respectively. The former is excellence of wording or expression. 'nishiki wo oru' is a Japanese expression which means to weave or thread cloths of exquisite colours and Fraser's phrase is surprisingly close to it, even if it may be a sheer coincidence. 'threads into' gives a sense of movement and the progression of time, as well as a skilful sketch of the autumn landscape.

Seward's is a case of superior grasp of an ordinary occurrence in an unusual and innovative way. We are accustomed to such expressions as whatever leaf or leaves swaying or trembling. However, to see wind revealing itself because of the certain movement of the banana leaf is new indeed.

Both are extremely good examples that we can still create a new and original haiku using the hackneyed and stereotypical materials.


******************************************************



(a) GENERAL CATEGORY:

THE BEST


deep ocean fog
the ferry passes
a last buoy

Bruce Ross, US

*

BEST TEN (In no particular order but includes THE BEST)


1

first chill
a spider weaves his web
under the neon light

Polona Oblak, Slovenia

2

doctor's waiting room
tropical plants
reach for light


Elizabeth Fanto, US

3

Summer day —
the whole valley is just for me
and the skylarks

Zhanna Rader, US

4

short day —
clouds race across
the prairie sky

Laryalee Fraser, Canada

5

Without distant peaks
the plain looks so dreary
swept by autumn wind

Yuri Runov, Russia

6

Spring again —

how can it be when my son

died last autumn?



Nancy Stewart Smith, US

7


deep ocean fog
the ferry passes
a last buoy

Bruce Ross, US

8

autumn evening
following my shadow
into the shadows

Bill Kenney, US

9

old path
grassed over
spring

Tad Wojnicki, US/Taiwan

10

the old couple
not ready to go in —
autumn evening

Bill Kenney, US

*

ZATSUEI (In no particular order)

widow's walk
a pool of leaves circles
the river birch

Kirsty Karkow, US

*


Hurrican Katrina: Fifteen Haiku
Septembet 2005

New Orleans floodwaters:
the face of the mutt
stranded in a tree

suddenly homeless
a mother holds her babies
too tight

water swirls
around submerged street signs—
rainbows of oil

in water-logged buildings
broken windows gape...
helicopter sound

floating rooftops
flames leap
from the water's surface

nightfall—
gunshots ring out
across the dark water

crowded shelter
the old woman's
tear-streaked face

amid search and resuce
video of looters
with a cart of TVs

manna from heaven—
helicopter-dropped MREs
splash down

sunlit tarmac:
a soldier carries a child
in each arm

rooftop rescue—
beneath the floodwaters
countless dead

sunset:
a journalist in hip waders
begins his report

photo-ops and sound bytes—
exhausted relief workers
hand out water

rifles at the ready
going door to door
in search of life

fetid waters
on his porch a hold-out
smiles and waves at the camera

Cathy Drinkwater Better, US

*

A night walk
with fireflies to the music
of tree frogs

Zhanna Rader, US

*

moonlight fresco
on the snowy slope
pawprints

Laryalee Fraser, Canada

*

early worship
sparrow shadows crisscross
the stained-glass dove

Elizabeth Howard, US

*

sunrise
the night fisherman reels
in his line

Lynn Edge, US


early morning
the heron's double image
glides downriver

Lynn Edge, US


*

Snow on a crow's back —
white on black, on white
Kent Chadwick, US

*

garden spider
a sunray caught
in its web

Marie Summers, US

*

watering —
a lizard laps up the drops
spilt on the pavement

Damien Gabriels, France

*

a rock on the hill
on a petrified shell
lichen grows

Polona Oblak, Slovenia
*

white dawn
a moon crab sinks back
into sand



Lorin Ford, Australia

*

moonlit bridge —
my shadow checks the path
before my steps

Olga Hooper (Origa), US
*

Tedious chit-chat...
light taps of the evening rain
in old apple trees.

Yuri Runov, Russia

*

aeons pass ~
yellow butterfly still
on the red rose

Narayanan Raghunathan, India

*

a sun appears
at midnight ~ the lamp

lights by itself



Narayanan Raghunathan, India



*



island through the haze
quivering with
the clamour of cicadas



Tomislav Maretic, HR

*

dancing with waves
snowflakes and sea foam
winter game

Ruzica Mokos, HR


*

Birds greet the morning. . .

sunlight filtering through the leaves

warm summer rain



Michael Flack, Australia



*



no money
— just the time
left

Zoran Mimica, Austria



*



waiting for a verdict —
the window becomes opaque
with frost

Denis M. Garrison, US



*






(b) THEMED CATEGORY (Solitude):



THE BEST




a stray stork
the sound of planes landing
and taking off

Polona Oblak, Slovenia

*


BEST TEN (In no particular order but includes THE BEST)

1

alone on the beach
the wavelength
of a single thought

Laryalee Fraser, Canada

2


a stray stork
the sound of planes landing
and taking off

Polona Oblak, Slovenia

3

Cutting old hazel —
we grew up together
and aged...

Yuri Runov, Russia

4

a widow watches
the setting sun, unmoved
by the loon's cry

Victor P. Gendrano, US

5

aimless feet
wander
in solitude

Vinodh Marella (Yajushi), India

6


the old couple
silent together sharing
solitudes

Bill Kenney, US

7

grandma's house
dust mites and memories
live in the attic

Carmel Lively, US

8


solitude
only the hum
of a dryer on low

Terrie Leigh Relf (semi), US

9

all alone —
urinating on my
own shadow

Dubravko Marijanovic, HR

10

winter isolation —
only the death visits
remote villages

Tomislav Maretic, HR

*

ZATSUEI


shallow water
a heron and I watch
one small fish

Kirsty Karkow, Maine USA

*

Alone at last —
a scuba tank on my back
and fish around

Zhanna Rader, US

*

late day stillness
a single acorn hits
the back deck

Bruce Ross, US

*

crowded subway —
careful to avoid
all the eyes

Dave Bacharach, US

*

camping alone —
the faces of women
in the fire

Dave Bacharach, US

*

long-distance call
lying alone and cold
in the double bed

Elizabeth Howard, US

*

hidden waterfall
in the redwoods
a lone hiker

Deborah P. Kolodji, US


*

a swift crossed the sky
that moment
she was gone

Denis M. Garrison, US


*

sleepless —
how even the moon
is alone

Ann K. Schwader, US




(c) KIGO CATEGORY: "Leaves turning colour"



THE BEST



red and gold
the hillside threads
into autumn

Laryalee Fraser, Canada



BEST TEN (In no particular order but includes THE BEST)

1

How carelessly
the birch throws away its gold
to the autumn wind

Yuri Runov, Russia

2

all the leaves are brown. . .

my son's ashes and dog

both lost to me



Nancy Stewart Smith, US

3


Leaves turning —
this year the old man watches them
only from his window

Zhanna Rader, US

4


red and gold
the hillside threads
into autumn

Laryalee Fraser, Canada

5

asphalt driveway —
a leaf mosaic
shifts its pattern


Adelaide B. Shaw, US

6


leaves turning color
I ask my hairdresser
to hide the gray

Deborah P. Kolodji, US

7


marching band
red and yellow leaves swirl
with the panoply of flags

Elizabeth Howard, US

8

leaves turning color
last green patches as green
as they will ever be

Bill Kenney, US

9


red leaves!
the tree climbing vine

drops its disguise



Lorin Ford, Australia


10

grey morning
the first yellow birch leaf
behind the wiper

Polona Oblak, Slovenia

*

ZATSUEI (In no particular order)


as leaves turn
a laughing gull
on every rock

Kirsty Karkow, Maine USA

*

Windy day —
red maple waving good-by
to its leaves

Zhanna Rader, US

*

autumn equinox
the two burning bush
brighter red

Bruce Ross, US

*

early September
with the first color changes
how white the birch

Bruce Ross, US

*

mountain trek
a spray of red leaves
hanging from the bluff

Elizabeth Howard, US

*

her last quilt
an abstract pattern
of fall leaves

Carmel Lively, US

*

coming back from work
first yellow leaves
in the path of the garage

Damien Gabriels, France

*
sunny California
only the maple trees wear
golden leaves


Victor P. Gendrano, US

*

Indian summer
footpath paved in gold —
acacia leaves

Polona Oblak, Slovenia

*

yellowing leaves —

she quits cigarettes

again



Lorin Ford, Australia



*



unfolding autumn
with color change, the tree
has shrunk

Olga Hooper (Origa), US





(d) NEO-CLASSICAL HAIKU:


THE BEST



revealing itself
upon a banana leaf,
october wind

Vaughn Seward (tanemaki koishi), Canada


*

BEST TEN

1


nameless flowers

sway in the cool breeze ~

a butterfly names them ~



Narayanan Raghunathan, India



2


end of August
evening advances
shadow by shadow

Bill Kenney, US

3


autumn dusk
grandpa gazes at the bird
flying alone

Victor P. Gendrano, US

4


revealing itself
upon a banana leaf,
october wind

Vaughn Seward (tanemaki koishi), Canada

5


downtown sidewalk
cherry petals
clog the cracks

Tad Wojnicki, US/Taiwan

6

a muskrat
glides in silence,
under the ice

Vaughn Seward (tanemaki koishi), Canada

7

sun-baked earth —
black ants crawling
into a cracked rock

Terrie Leigh Relf (semi), US

8


now fading into dawn
the moon that shone so brightly
in the midnight sky

Bill Kenney, US

9


first snowfall —
here is a christmas card
to be mailed, last year

Vaughn Seward (tanemaki koishi), Canada

10


crisp winter day —
columns of chimney smoke
hold up the sky

Olga Hooper (Origa), US



*


ZATSUEI (In no particular order)


No one in the park —
gusty rain is whipping
the bare tree branches

Zhanna Rader, US

*

coolness
into the Black Sea
lightning

Bruce Ross, US

*

dead reeds
along the Danube River
dragonflies

Bruce Ross, US

*

frosty evening —
the faint thump
of a basketball

Vaughn Seward (tanemaki koishi), Canada

*



(e) SHINTAI HAIKU:


THE BEST

Autumn wind —
her ex's ashes blow
into her face

Zhanna Rader, US



*


BEST TEN (In no particular order)

1


home from the coast
when the door opens
coffee scent and her voice

Denis M. Garrison, US

2


old photograph
my wife's face
before she knew mine

Bill Kenney, US

3


cicada's persistence where the artist was shot in the back

Paul Pfleuger, Jr., Taiwan

4

bricklayer asleep
fountain of flies springing up
every turn and toss


Vinodh Marella (Yajushi), India

5


Autumn wind —
her ex's ashes blow
into her face

Zhanna Rader, US

6


field of greens
and pleasing me most
these dry weeds

Bruce Ross, US

7

birthday cake
left in the oven
late bus


Terrie Leigh Relf (semi), US

8

do I know you —
my young face looks at me
from an old photo

Bill Kenney, US

9


sugar cane bowing promptly before the new moon

Paul Pfleuger, Jr., Taiwan

10

first great grandchild. . .

raindrops chuckling

down the spout



Nancy Stewart Smith, US

*

ZATSUEI (In no particular order)



earthquake news —
grandson's head resting
on my shoulder

Olga Hooper (Origa), US

*

hydrangea bed ~

a dragonfly, a honeybee

in sunlight chats



Narayanan Raghunathan, India










(f) VANGUARD HAIKU:


THE BEST

earthquake stills —

the living huddle

in sullen rain




Nancy Stewart Smith, US



*

BEST TEN


1

WORLD WAR II IN THE PHILIPPINES

by Victor P. Gendrano, US




made to movie
Bataan death march
too real for me


my brother
at fifteen learns
to shoot and kill


my sisters
still in high school
became first-aiders


through jungles
I carry their
provisions


my parents
hide their tears
on lonely nights


bayonets do not
discriminate
they only kill


women brigade
smuggling food
to prisoners


barely fourteen
she suffers silently
in nakedness


against their will
young girls became
comfort women


take your pick
bayonet or malaria
or play dead


wayside graves
no sign nor cross
long way from home


he dies
with the natives he helped -
Japanese soldier


in war
everybody loses
but war itself


Bataan, Corregidor
Capas, Manila
remember them

2


Their three-legged dog
still playing by the road —
cars zooming by

Zhanna P. Rader, US

3


Internet love —
virtual hug spans
the ocean

Olga Hooper (Origa), US


4

visions of Mandalas ~

I reach infinite cosmoses

of unborn beginnings



Narayanan Raghunathan, India



5

power outage the uncomfortable silence

Deborah P. Kolodji, US

6

earthquake stills —

the living huddle

in sullen rain




Nancy Stewart Smith, US



7


Gang rape —
the body
isn’t found

Zhanna P. Rader, US

8


into a pot
feathers and all —
the end of spring

Paul Pfleuger, Jr., Taiwan

9

Chinese New Year --
augury on the beast
inside me

Olga Hooper (Origa), US

10


laughing pumpkins
fly into the spring sky ~

hungry eagles chase



Narayanan Raghunathan, India


*


ZATSUEI (In no particular order)


below the highway's agitato
a drifter asleep

Paul Pfleuger, Jr., Taiwan

*

car accident. . .
a shattered hip and fire ants

in hidden places



Nancy Stewart Smith, US


*


valley fruit
sinking my teeth
I draw blood

Tad Wojnicki, US/Taiwan



*



Sequence "The Haiku Box"

The Haiku Box

haiku in a box
on all six sides
different labels

deciphering labels
twelve greybeard teachers
each eminent somewhere

haiku unread
for twenty-four reasons
the box unopened

brush strokes faded
after forty-eight years
of hot debate

an empty box
a ninety-six degree day
no end of hot wind

NOTES: This sequence deals satirically with haiku
politics.

Denis M. Garrison, US



*



Sequence "Terror War"

Terror War

for half an instant
a monstrous peony blooms
above the bus stop
red-orange in pale blue sky
then the shock wave hits

I missed the bus —
now it flies
back at me

somewhere in the flames
cell phones ring
constantly

black smoke lifts
streams of blood
mix in the gutter

a slim hand holds
a shopping list —
her bent ring

fatal weeds
huge fire-blooms
the flowers of death

blocks from the blast
drivers curse traffic
suddenly sirens

the news turned off
time for comedy
no attacks here

morning paper
front page photo
my son ... my son!

bomber's funeral
mourners' wild eyes when
a bus backfires

NOTES: This haiku sequence, headed by a tanka, is
inspired by the attack in London.



Denis M. Garrison, US


*



smashed windows
an old jazz man
marches the saints in


(image taken from television coverage of looting following hurricane
Katrina in New Orleans -- "saints" refers to jazz/gospel song standard
"When the Saints Go Marching In")

Ann K. Schwader, US

*

a 5 ft jump —
38 years to
touch ground!

(Israel pulled out of the Egypt-Gaza buffer zone known as 'philadelphi corridor' on 13th Sept,05 -
immediately followed by Egyptian boys, men, women and even gun toting militants. Egyptian boys jumped into Gaza (just across the 5' high wall) to play with their Palestinian counterparts after a gap of 38 years!)


Vinodh Marella (Yajushi), India

*

FROM THE FALLEN LEAVES (SHU-I-SHU: PART THREE)







Selected by
Susumu Takiguchi, UK

When leaves change colour, we pick from among the carpet of fallen leaves the ones we love. Likewise, I pick haiku from among many. Some may live as pressed leaves. Others may go on decaying. But they are all beautiful fallen leaves. ‘Shu-i-shu’ is a Japanese literary term. Meaning gleanings, it used to be chosen for the title of anthologies of those poems which escaped a first anthology.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Poets featured in this issue:


James W. Hackett, US

Stanford Forrester, US



############################


James W. Hackett, US

From: The Zen Haiku and Other Zen Poems, James W. Hackett, Japan Publications, Inc., 1983, ISBN 0-87040-533-0 (Completely revised and enlarged edition of The Way of Haiku: An Anthology of Haiku Poems)



Searching on the wind,

the hawk's cry...

is the shape of its beak.



Come, lie in this stream...

all the sun of summer gone

is within its flow.



Deep within the stream

the huge fish lie motionless,

facing the current.



Look, last night's wind

has set the whole garden ablaze

with bougainvillea !



Butterfly's splendor

folds into a tall silence

upon the flower.



All of a sudden

autumn clings to the window...

and then disappers.



A bitter morning:

sparrows sitting together

without any necks.



Wintry wind now sweeps

the trees, touching the same leaves

never... and again.



Beside a new grave...

burdened with the crushing weight

of ungiven love.



A distant dog

is adding another shade of gray

to the morning.



Viewing new snow...

the shape of my loneliness,

every winter breath.



Melting sun... one by one

boughs of the cedar spring back

into its contour.



Such a humble bloom

on the ivy, and yet see

how it draws the bees !



God must have been

felling very frivolous

when He created the cat.



Cricket chews the grass

till it starts to give way, then

wings to another.



Wherever I look

within this blue summer wind,

I can find a seed.



The more sparrow climbs

toward the top of that reed —

the lower he gets.



The dreaded thistle,

for all of its many spines,

is a host to bugs.



A roaring waterfall:

eucalyptus trees tossing

the summer wind.



Now at journey's end,

circling the shallow stream...

years of open sea.



Gradually moving

the whole forest to silence,

an enchanted bird.



Need friends ever speak?

There's tea to taste, and windsong

from the garden trees.



Gnats come as a cloud,

and then spread out over

the coolness of the pool.



Reading this sutra,

I suddenly began to laugh...

without knowing why.



Just in from the rain,

my wet shaggy dog smells

like fifty dry ones !



The spider spins round

and round his ancient design,

bound for the center.



Time after time

caterpillar climbs this broken stem

— then probes beyond.



The long drop of dew

must have been held by my

attention alone !



The puppy's wonder

tilts his head, first to one side

and then the other.



A gull flying low

above a deserted beach,

racing its shadow.



Sweltering city...

echoing through an alley,

the slaps of hopscotch.



Breaking gray pavement

in a hard world, full of words:

a flowering weed.



My reflection now

swept by wind, I see nothing

but a constant flow...



Waking... amid grasses

and wild flowers bright with dew:

cold mountain sunrise.



The grasshopper's game:

to light on the tip of a grass,

then ride out the sway !



An old spider web

low above the forest floor,

sagging full of seeds.



A heavy night fog

has so silenced the city,

each light seems a friend.



A yellow streetlight

haloing ... into a gray

drifting nothingness.



Lights give depth to this fog...

some are bright, and others dim,

all of them lonely.



Free at last, the fly

flew out the window — and then

right back in again.



Seaweed in the tide

takes the shape of each swell

until stilled by sand.



Moving slowly through

and old, abandoned beach house...

shadows of the moon.



Buildings hide the sky

and pavement the earth, and yet

this weed grew to seed.



The sunset fading,

I turn around toward home...

a huge, saffron moon !



Empty the night seems,

and yet endless flights of birds

calligraph the moon.



In a darkened room,

a spider at the window,

spinning with the moon.



A dry leaf, tumbling

along the pavement ... an edge

to the summer air.



A berry splashes,

then moves across the shallows

by fits and starts.



Never more alone

the eagle, than now surrounded

by screaming crows.



The Jesus bug

skating over the stream's surface

leaves no wake behind.



One leaf on the stream

suddenly whirls round and round,

and then vanishes.



Bug lights on the leaf,

takes a wild ride through the rapids,

then flies away.



All of a sudden,

every bird becomes silent...

the sound of fall.



Drifting whitely

over a deserted beach...

the sound of surf.



Gulls rise as a cloud

and fly out to sea, then turn back,

all but a few...



That gull in the surf,

though deluged by breaking waves,

always reappears !



The lofty eagle,

lowered by hunger, becomes

the prey of gulls.



The sparrow jiggles

the spider web with his bill,

then watchingly waits.



City lineliness...

dancing with a gusty wind:

yesterday's news.



Rubble everywhere...

except for a flight of stairs

ending in the air.

Clearly heard within

the meadowlark's flight of song:

the sound of the spring.



As the first drops of

rain begin, the gentle sound

of the spring leaves...



How drab this rock seems,

and yet what hidden color

each raindrop reveals...



All the more beautiful

dewed by rain, the bloom

of your laughing smile !



Whatever the bird,

the nestling's cry of hunger

always sounds the same.



Now, each wisp of hair

that I comb out of my dog

ends up in a nest.



Now that I have freed

the butterfly from the web,

I feel uneasy.



The puppy's panic !

The beetle she's been sniffing

just climbed on her nose.



The eagle struggles,

into flight, but once aloft —

seldom flaps his wings.



The cantankerous crow

sleeps in a nest that's nothing

but broken branches.



In Japan

The monastery dog

bids the stranger welcome

with wagging silence.



The struggling ant

is suddenly unburdened

by his winged cargo !



A forest of fog —

yet the eagle flies, squawking

his way to the sea !



Level web mystery:

solved, by seeing the spider

that rides on the wind !



A first drop of rain

rolls around upon the leaf,

finds and edge, then clings.



Crumbling with rust

upon a deserted shore...

the weight of war.



Hosing the jasmine, —

scores of startled white spiders

bail out of its blooms !



The gust of wind

that is trying on that shirt

needs a larger size !



As twilight tolls,

petals fall into the dark stream

revealing its flow.



In this empty web,

left by a will to be free:

a pair of small wings.



This flat skipping stone

kept for tis color, appears drab

without the stream...



Let the campfire die —

we can better see the summit,

this night of starts !



Nothing but mountains...

and yet with every wind,

the smell of the sea.



Grown tired of being

many men, I live now

as that soaring bird.



###########################

Stanford Forrester, US


daylight...
no one notices
the firefly

meditation hall...
an ant carries away
my cocentration

just within my reach —
the lightning bug
turns off

autumn wind —
only the stink bug
clinging to me

winter wind —
the length
of the homeless man's beard

new year's day —
not liking my fortune
I buy another

* * *

summer afternoon...
the first drops of rain
on my bare feet

* * *

WHCshowcase: HAIKU (Third Installment)










HYAKU-NIN IKKU (One Hudred Haiku by One Hudred Poets Project)

Selection by Susumu Takiguchi, UK


(WHCshowcase was formally launched during the "World Haiku Festival 2004—La Fenice in Venice", an international haiku event which was held from 28 August to 15 September 2004. The official display of WHCshowcase in the cyberspace began on 13 November 2004.)

This unique showcase for haiku and related genres is designed to be an exhibition area where works in these various genres of the highest standards and quality will be displayed on a continuous basis. They will be shown not only to WHC members but also to everyone else in the world. Authors may be invited to make some revisions as and when necessary.

WHCshowcase is part of WHC's initiative for "Higher Standards & Quality" and seeks to be a yardstick against which good works can be judged. It is expected that the number of works selected for WHCshowcase will be small. These selected works are expected to be considered to be included, with the author's permission, in a future world haiku anthology of WHC. Haiku poems selected for WHCshowcase will be considered for the WHC’s new project: HYAKU-NIN IKKU (One Hundred Haiku by One Hundred Poets), which is to select one best haiku from each of the one hundred poets invited.

The following are the selections of WHCshowcase subsequent to the 50 poems displayed in the previous issues of World Haiku Review. They are poems displayed from 30 July 2006 (No. 51) to 29 December 2006 (No. 85):

51

summer night...
the river takes stars
towards the ocean

[original Italian]

quando fa notte
il fiume porta stelle
verso l'oceano

Brando Altemps (Italy)

52

Back from Egypt ...

desert sun
the sand too hot
for footprints

mirage ...
the last drop of water
in my bottle

Hurghada ...
in the desert I forget
my own name

Bedouin camp --
life is a camel's
hump

sunrise ...
I stare into the eye
of God

desert evening ...
I enter my own
wilderness

Ella W. (The Netherlands)

53

cool morning
a street dog
also sneezes

[Original haiku in Spanish]

fresca mañana
un perro callejero
también estornuda

Israel López Balan

54

pawn shop window
the ring
bought for her

Don Haney, USA

55

drought -
the first raindrops
raise a little dust

Carole MacRury, USA

56

reading room
the silence
of turned pages

Bill Kenney, USA

57

sundown
. . . the snail inching its way
into autumn

Robert Wilson, USA

58

hot asphalt -
an ant hauling
a dead ant home

Carole MacRury, USA

59

Au fil de l eau
le bouchon tire le pecheur
vers le soir

Downstream
the float pulls the angler
towards the dusk

J. P. Cresta, France

60

chemotherapy -
she always liked the way
I kissed her hair

Bill Kenney, USA

61

mid-winter . . .
a rice paddy
sprouting cone hats

Robert Wilson, USA

62

last day of summer -
cicada in my attic
no longer sings

a few yellow leaves drift
in cool morning breeze

last day of summer -
desert cactus blooms again
within the green-house

scent of rosemary lingers
as a distant memory

Joachim Seckel, USA

63

glacier in the lake -
a splash is seen
before it is heard

Vaughn Seward, Canada

64

autumn lawn...
more leaf-mulching
than grass-cutting

Vaughn Seward, Canada

65

dripping mist
pulls the sky
into the valley

Kala Ramesh, India

66

morning mist . . .
the soup maker chopping
fish heads

Robert Wilson, USA

67

crowded bus
every passenger breathes
the same autumn

Israel López Balan, Mexico

68

fallen leaves -
a leashed pup tumbles
off the curb

Allen McGill, Mexico

69

deep night
the silence of a spider
spinning

Carol Raisfeld, USA

70

What is Basho's
old pond or frog to a
tired commuter?

Kami (Judy Kamilhor), USA

71

a fly buzzing
behind the blinds
i am not alone . . .

opening the blinds . . .
oh, the friendly fly
has died

Dustin C. Neal, USA

72

naked branch
last night a leaf
trembled there

Bill Kenney, USA

73

storm-dashed
poppy heads rise up
from the fallen grasses

Dick Pettit, Denmark

74

star gazing . . .
a young woman
wanting children

Robert Wilson, USA

75

midnight
rat gnaws book pages
deep silence

Radhey Shiam, India

76

first showers
fill the creases
on his face

on the march. . .
lives bundled
on their heads

pinpricks of light
against
the full moon

the child...
nestled
in her curve

Yajushi, India

77

spiaggia d'inverno
senza pause l'amore
fra riva e onda

beach in winter
restless love between
shore and wave

Moussia, Italy

78

in love with the new sun
the cherry blossom forgets
the night's frost

Ivan M. Granger, USA

79

birch tree --
i leave on it
a wordless poem

Stanford M. Forrester, USA

80

spring rain
on the mower's blade
last year's grass

Andria Plowman, UK

81


first snow—
my child's footprints no longer
fit inside mine

an'ya, USA

82


I put on high heels -
everything in my house
looks different.

Zhanna P. Rader, USA

83


patch of ice...
a remembrance day poppy
embedded

Vaughn Seward, Canada

84

foggy rooftops . . .
a sense of the day
only in outline


Michael McClintock, USA

85

old year, new year....
one soul newly arrived
one soul soon to leave

tamashii no katsu umare katsu saru kozo-kotoshi

Debra Woolard Bender, USA


[END]