Favorite Haiku of the Month

     If you'd ask me who's my number one contemporary poet, I'd quickly say it's the multi-awarded Chen-ou Liu of Ontario, Canada. It's remarkable that English isn't his first language and yet he has managed to be a great prolific English writer. He's not only excellent in writing haiku, but also in writing other forms of Japanese poetry like tanka and haibun.

     I discovered his haiku in 2010, when I shared the same issue with him in Berry Blue Haiku. I was a frustrated newbie that year, managing to write only one decent publishable haiku, but at the same time I was an eager reader, full of admiration for Chen-ou's remarkable talent.

    These two captivating haiku below were among the June 2010 Haiku Picks of Berry Blue Haiku.

butterflies

wing over cherry petals—  

shadows embracing

on maple leaves

glittering raindrops gather—  

floating worlds

    Since I had resumed writing haiku in the second half of 2011, I've been coming across Chen-ou's works. I have so many favorites, but I'm sharing some of the ones which have garnered him high praises and awards.

spicy chicken...

this impulse to ask

if she's married

                                  Editor's Choice Senryu (Modern Haiku, 43:1 February 2012)

a deceased friend

taps me on my shoulder--

plum blossoms falling

                                  Grand Prize Poem of the Year 2011 ( Heron's Nest)

attic window--                                                    

a few moonlit shadows                                       

come and go 

                               2nd Prize (The Klostar Ivanic Haiku Contest 2011)      

                

moonlit branches . . .

glazed with autumn rain

droplets of me 

                              Commendation (The Klostar Ivanic Haiku Contest 2011)

her face

in my whisky

the moon floats

                             Grand Prix (The Klostar Ivanic Haiku Contest 2010)

             

cherry petals

falling on cherry petals...

I dust your photo

                             Sakura Award (Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival 2010)

    Included in my list of favorites is this unforgettable haiku sequence published in Frogpond 34:1, 2011.

     A Life in Four Seasons

I write her

one poem every day

spring dewdrops

a butterfly

tattoed on her buttock

summer heat

autumn dawn

before the mirror I count

gray hairs

snow on snow

thoughts of her emerge

one at a time

     Most of his published haiku are highly evocative. As Neal Whitman has said, he has "the gift of tugging at our hearts." If you like to read more of his haiku, go to Poetry in the Moment. You'll be able to see where to purchase his books. One of them is Following the Moon to the Maple Land, the first prize winner of the Spring Haiku Pix Chapbook 2011. On the cover of his chapbook is a photo that I had taken. Can you imagine how thrilled I was when the editor of Haiku Pix requested my photo for Chen-ou's chapbook?

     For some unexplainable reason, I don't have a free copy of this, but thanks to Chen-ou because pretty soon I'll be getting my own copy. I'll be reading on my couch, following the moon to the maple land. 

Favorite Haiku of the Month

     After reading the book, Be Still and Know, I've decided to feature some of my favorite haiku written by Svetlana Marisova. I wish I had the chance to meet here while she was still actively participating on NaHaiWriMo. I get a little glimpse of myself in some of her haiku. In fact, I have written at least two haiku that are similar to hers. Perhaps, if she were still alive, we would have connected.

singing alone

the child chains daisies . . .

autumn dusk

~

   morning frost—

the crackling sound

of our eyes

 ~

winter chill—

still this outburst

of flowers

 ~

autumn rain—

the colour of birdsong

smudging

 ~

so simple

the way dewdrops

leave

 ~

prayer time . . .

snowflakes melting

on my palms

 ~

icy wind—

the bare branch scratches

an epitaph

 ~

fading light . . .

my eyes follow

a mayfly

 ~

the spring dew

I have become . . .

rising sun

 ~

distant sun . . .

dewdrops clinging

to branches

 ~

flashlit eyes—

the dream of being

someone's dream

     It will be incomplete not to include at least two of Ted van Zutphen's haiku. These two haiku made my eyes teary as I was reading the last pages of the book.

autumn rain . . .

the mirror in a night

of tears

~

our last touch

through the looking-glass . . .

moonlight shadows

     Once again I'm posting here where you can read more about the piognant story of these two soulmates who met on line. You can purchase it on that site or here with free shipping. If you want to take a peak of the book, a PDF copy can be found on Svetlana's blog. 

Favorite Haiku of the Month

     Ted van Zutphen is another haiku poet whom I've noticed on NaHaiWro. His haiku seems to linger in my mind.
     Here are two of his remarkable haiku.

     deep freeze...
     the sound of ice
     cracking the moon

     the rose
     holding on to its color
     dirty laundry

     He has always been consistent so I got interested in finding out who he is. Luckily, while doing my detective work here on Facebook, I found out that he has a book entitled Be Still and Know that just came out. :-) I read the synopsis and it quickly grabbed my interest. In just a couple of days, I ordered a a copy here! Read the background story for yourself so you would know what it's all about. I just found out today that you can actually order it with free shipping if you order it from here.
     Thanks, Ted, for sharing me your haiku and for being generous enough to allow me to share Svetlana's haiku here on my blog. I'll let you know which ones before I do.
     For now... I'm waiting impatiently for my book....

Favorite Haiku of the Month

     The month of February has been an inspiring month with all the memorable haiku that I've read on NaHaiWriMo. Here are a couple of haiku from Alan Summers.


     this delicate rain
     the petal makes a typo
     of a gravestone date


     the rain
     almost a friend
     this funeral


     For me, these haiku evoke both beauty and grief. Even in grief, nature has its way of connecting with us.


     Alan Summers is a Japan Times award-winning writer for haiku and renga. He is also the founder of With Words which promotes literacy and literature events. If you want to read more of his works, visit his blog Area17.
     I suggest that you click these links to his Area 17 blog.


     http://area17.blogspot.com/2010/08/anatomy-of-haiku.html
     http://area17.blogspot.com/2011/04/alans-haiku-created-into-posters-at.html  
     http://area17.blogspot.com/2011/08/catch-my-haiku-on-iphone-ipad-and-ipod.html


     I'm so excited to find out that that there's a collection of haiku that can be read on the Iphone, Ipad, or Ipod touch. I should look into this and see if it's compatible with my old Ipod touch. :-)
     Thanks a lot, Alan, for sharing your haiku and for giving me all the links to your sites.