My Dear Readers:
In celebration of Canada's 150th birthday, I am pleased to introduce you to Wordless: Haiku Canada 40 Years of Haiku edited by Marco Fraticelli and Claudia Coutu Radmore (Ekstasis Editions, 2017). This unique anthology, dedicated to the memory of Eric Amann (see my "Dark Wings of Night" post, Eric Amann and His Wordless Poem), marks the 40-year existence of Haiku Canada. It's "more than the usual collection of three-line poems. It’s a story of the paths poets have taken to write their best haiku, a contemporary history of Haiku Canada members who write in English and French."
Selected Haiku
the names of the dead
sinking deeper and deeper
into red leaves
Eric Amann
into the afterlife red leaves
Peggy Willis Lyles
starlight
red leaves fall
into a poem
Chen-ou Liu
newborn
one pink blossom
unfurls
Susan Constable
the x-ray
shows less of me
winter light
Louisa Howerow
waterfall
without the rush
of words
Deb Koen
first thaw ...
the magnolia
drips winter
Shrikaanth Krishnamurthy
echo of the evening bell
into the silence
into myself
Heather MacDonald
spring fever --
the turtle's neck
at full stretch
Carole MacRury
winter winds
behind my back
the stars
Marianne Paul
rocky ledge
a wolf with the moon
in its mouth
Debbie Strange
passport check:
my shadow waits
across the border
George Swede
starlight
in the pond
frogs' eyes
Rhonda Lee Usipiuk
loons scattering ...
a float plane touches down
into summer
Michael Dylan Welch
autumn colors --
the wooden scent
of pencil sharpenings
Pamela Cooper
donor form
while the body is still warm
lilac breeze
Ignatius Fay
caterpillar
turning a leaf
into itself
Ann Goldring
To wrap-up today's posting, I would like to share with you my haibun about Canada Day:
My First Canada Day
Sitting in my ESL teacher's living room with its wall-to-wall Persian rugs, I am enveloped by family stories and jokes. Although half the time I can only guess what's going on, I put a smile on my face and keep saying Yes, No, and I see in the right places. All of a sudden, a shriek breaks our laughter. My teacher's sons rush to the door. Slowly, we file out of the house toward the manicured front yard.
rainbow flowers
blooming in the night sky
my immigrant dream
Haiku Canada Review, 9:2, October 2015
Alienation
At daybreak, I wake up from a recurring dream: I ride the Mongolian horse through snowy fields deeper into the unknown world of one color.
a bowl of congee
next to a cup of coffee...
exile and after
Can I find out now what A thought of me? Why did L stand before I, blocking the sky on Canada Day? And what did E want to be added to? At last…will my being mean anything for N or for the rest of the word?
Diogen, September 2012
Note: ESL stands for English as a Second Language
autumn colors --
the wooden scent
of pencil sharpenings
Pamela Cooper
donor form
while the body is still warm
lilac breeze
Ignatius Fay
caterpillar
turning a leaf
into itself
Ann Goldring
To wrap-up today's posting, I would like to share with you my haibun about Canada Day:
My First Canada Day
Sitting in my ESL teacher's living room with its wall-to-wall Persian rugs, I am enveloped by family stories and jokes. Although half the time I can only guess what's going on, I put a smile on my face and keep saying Yes, No, and I see in the right places. All of a sudden, a shriek breaks our laughter. My teacher's sons rush to the door. Slowly, we file out of the house toward the manicured front yard.
rainbow flowers
blooming in the night sky
my immigrant dream
Haiku Canada Review, 9:2, October 2015
Alienation
At daybreak, I wake up from a recurring dream: I ride the Mongolian horse through snowy fields deeper into the unknown world of one color.
a bowl of congee
next to a cup of coffee...
exile and after
Can I find out now what A thought of me? Why did L stand before I, blocking the sky on Canada Day? And what did E want to be added to? At last…will my being mean anything for N or for the rest of the word?
Diogen, September 2012
Note: ESL stands for English as a Second Language
Such a poignant tribute page to Canadian haijin!
ReplyDeleteJan Benson