brass bell: a haiku journal (haiku happiness)

I'm so glad I didn't miss this one--"Things that Make Us Happy" on brass bell: a haiku journal. Thank you so much, Zee Zahava! https://brassbellhaiku.blogspot.com/.../haiku-happiness...

World Haiku Association (143rd Haiga Contest)

       Kuniharu Shimizu has mentioned each month he will be selecting haiga with higher criteria both in image and haiku. For this month he accepted 26 out of 58 submissions. I'm happy that my haiga was one of them

 

 World Haiku Association 

(143rd Haiga Contest, June 2016)

 

A Hundred Gourds 5:3 June 2016

     My haiga on the last issue of A Hundred Gourds. I agree with my poet friend, Hazel Hall, that this tanka is an apt poem for their sad ending. I don't submit here all the time, but I will miss reading more issues. I'm glad to know that they are still keeping their website.

  

A Hundred Gourds 5:3 June 2016

Vladimir Devide Haiku Award 2015

     In March, I was happily surprised to find out through Facebook that my poem was commended by the judges. This haiku had been submitted to a few contests, but it had never been recognized.

 

 

 

 

     I just found out today while checking out the link that there is a video announcement of the contest winner. It was so good to hear all the poems being read. Mine was the first one! Click here to view the video and to read all the winners on the website. 

      

Tanka Poets on Site (January 2015 prompt - April 2015 prompt)

 

an avalanche

of memories snowballing

into grief . . .

the stories behind

a box of receipts

 

 

January 11 prompt: opening the box

See comments here.

 

why can't life

be simplified

I'm always baffled

in the grocery aisle

of cheese

 

 

January 31 prompt: say cheese

See comments here.

 

writing his name

on my bathroom mirror . . .

the mist disappears

just like the promise

he once said

 

 

February 5 prompt: what you draw or write on a napkin, back of envelope, etc.
See comments here.

 

touching

the same piano keys

you once touched . . .

I learn to hum our song

on my own

 

 

February 11 prompt: instrument

See comments here.

 

waking up

with no desire

to get out of bed

I picture the pinkness

of azalea blooms

 

 

February 17 prompt: beauty of spring

See comments here.

 

just listening

to the plip plop of the pond

maybe this time

my heart will unwind

its bandages

 

 

March 20 prompt: healing ourselves

See comments here.

 

not knowing

the exact moment

I knew I loved you . .

footsteps of a flamingo

at the edge of the lake

 

 

March 21 prompt: subtle

See comments here.

 

what dreams

have I missed . . .

I stay awake

just to hear us

breathing

 

*inspired by the song "I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing"

 

Kathy Uyen Nguyen's response

 

you breathe fragments

into my hollow dreams . . .

suddenly I wake

to the dawn song unfolding

from a robin's wing beat

 

 

April 2 prompt: rhythm and rhyme

See comments here.

 

telling me about

our old friend dancing

to Greek music . . .

are you at death's door

peeking through heaven?

 

 

April 6 prompt: peeking out of a window, a door with unexpected sight

See comments here.

 

Celebrating National Haiku Writing Month 2015 (Part 2)

northwest

forget-me-nots blossoming

in the wrong pot

 

February 11 prompt: northwest

See comments here.

 

uno dos tres

the way I count the stars

after eating paella

 

 

February 12 prompt: numeric

See comments here.

 

new negligee . . .

he whispers another

term of endearment

 

 

February 13 prompt: newfangled

See comments here.

 

 

 

 

February 14 prompt: neuter

See comments here.

 

 

 

February 15 prompt: nest

See comments here.

 

 

 

February 16 prompt: nickel

See comments here.

 

 

blood moon nothing stops my desire for you

 

 

February 17 prompt: nosebleed

See comments here.

 

 

February 18 prompt: neon

See comments here.

 

 

 

February 20 prompt: notebook

See comments here.

 

NaHaiWriMo (January 2015 prompts)

 

a piece of sky

mirroring myself . . .

spring pond

 

 

January 1 prompt: mirror

See comments here.

 

marmalade sky  . .

just knowing I'll see you

one day

 

 

January 2 prompt: marmalade

See comments here.

 

that feeling of knowing

you were already gone . . .

murmur of stars

 

 

January 3 prompt: murmur

See comments here.

 

a squirrel nibbles

the afternoon silence . . .

autumn song

 

 

January 4 prompt: morsel

See comments here.

 

purple magnolia . . .

I plunge into the deep

colors of sunset

 

 

January 6 prompt: magnolia

See comments here.

 

star magnolias

even on a moonless night . . .

dreaming again

 

 

January 7 prompt: mask

See comments here.

 

silent war ends . . .

her jar of mango jam

on my welcome mat

 

 

January 9 prompt: mango

See comments here.

 

first date

she hands him

a peppermint candy

 

 

January 14 prompt: mint

See comments here.

 

a firefly blinking

through the fountain mist . . .

memories of you

 

 

January 15 prompt: mist

See comments here.

 

autumn night . . .

a photo frame on her mantel

still empty

 

 

January 16  prompt: mantel

See comments here.

 

Old Guitar Tanka on NeverEnding Story

     What a special treat! I thought I only have one big news to share today, but just a few minutes ago, I received an email from Chen-ou Liu. He informed me that my old guitar tanka, the poem that won 2nd place at the Diogen Winter Haiku Contest 2012, is up today. 


winter moonlight
on his old guitar ...
once again 
I hear him sing
our favorite song

     Chen-ou's comment:

    The upper verse sets the thematic context while the tonal shift in the lower verse, combined with the effective use of "once again," enhances the emotionally suggestive power of the poem.

     To see Chen-ou's two Chinese translations under the section One Man's Maple Moon, click here. 

NaHaiWriMo #12-16 Prompt

     I guess posting every day has still been a struggle for me. To make up for it, I'm posting all my haiku for NaHaiWriMo prompts last month. 

 

for two quarters

I took home a busker's song . . .
jazz moon

Feb. 16 prompt: busker

See comments here.

tire patch

he tries to pretend

nothing's wrong

Feb. 15 prompt: tire

See comments here. 

mountain sunset . . .
the clouds reaarrange 

my destiny 

Feb. 14 prompt: betrayal

See comments here. 

missing bookend--

my life falls apart

without you

Feb.13 prompt: bookend

See comments here.

brittle bough--

I break in two

without warning

Feb. 12 prompt: bough

See comments here. 

Tanka Poets on Site (February 19 prompt)

out of the blue
an old familiar song
blasts on the radio . . ....
the floodgates of my tears
suddenly reopen



prompt: entry gate
See comments here. 

Tanka Poets on Site (February 6 prompt)

a fading song

of a nightingale . . .

whatever is left of me

will learn to forget

how the night bleeds

prompt: leftovers

See prompt here.
 

Tanka Poets on Site (February 3 prompt)

why wait for
my last sunset
I breathe in
all the colors
of the day


prompt: sunset
See comments here.

Kathy Uyen Nguyen wrote a response for my tanka.

all the day's colors
you gave me
with your breath--
it is now that I understood
the song of beginnings

Two Awards in the Diogen International Winter Haiku Competition 2012

     What a surprise! A double treat for me :-)

     84 poets from 25 different countries sent 628 works to this contest. To see all the winners, click this link. 

Missing My Hometown

DailyHaiga (December 28, 2012)

 

Ring on Her Finger

 

Inspired by Rick Daddario's 30 Days of Haiga - 

September 14th prompt: a band of stars

and September Heights P#173 - 

prompt: revelation

This photo was originally taken by John Verne Hollingshead. I did some photo effects to enhance it.  

Angelo B. Ancheta's version:

diamond ring...

a symphony of stars

in concert

Moonviewing

     The last NaHaiWriMo prompt for the month of August is "moonviewing", provided by Alex Benedict.

 

 

  

 

   Comments on my haiku may be found here. Click this for more information on the 31 Different NaHaiWriMo Prompters in August 2012.

     I'm also sharing this with September 2012: 30 Days of Haiga (Random Steps) on Rick Daddario's A 19 Planets Art Blog as my first haiga for the month. Come and join us! Check out his blog for more details.

     Here's a haiku by Angelo B. Ancheta (Philippines), written for my photo above.

 

somewhere

under a blue moon

our theme song

 

  

Doodlefest (Day 2-10)

(Click the headings to see doodle of Aubrie Cox on Yay Words!)

I Doodle, You 'Ku - 2

focusing on a tree

a squirrel poses

for the camera

I Doodle, You 'Ku - 3

the taste of coffee

so many words

slip away

I Doodle, You 'Ku - 4

taking me home

the shadows

of a dragonfly

I Doodle, You 'Ku - 5

cradling my heart

a slice of grandma's

apple pie

I Doodle, You 'Ku - 6

missing petals--

on the photo

her toothless smile

I Doodle, You 'Ku - 7

the song

in my prayer...

candle flame

I Doodle, You 'Ku - 8

writer's block

searching for a haiku

to unclip my wings

I Doodle, You 'Ku - 9

heart emoticons

making me blush

cyber love

I Doodle, You 'Ku - 10

   crushed petals--
sending him
the last email

Spring Morning

     This photo is from Catching the Moment. I wrote a haiku for Rita Odeh's Photo Haiku Activity-1.

spring morning

the same bird song

through the new leaves

Music of Heaven

 

 

 

Haigaonline (Vol. 12 Issue 2, December 2011)

This may be viewed under "contemporary haiga."

 

     It wasn't something that I was expecting or waiting for. It was something that happened when I actually just wanted to be by myself. A flock of birds suddenly started chirping non-stop. The birds were hopping from one branch to another. It was a beautiful experience! I didn't care what kind of birds they were, nor what color of wings they had. What mattered at that time was that their songs made my heart sing. Like the haiku master Kobayashi Issa, I have also heard the music of heaven. Here is one of Issa's prose translated by Nobuyuki Yuasa.

     It was widedly rumored that certain persons had heard celestial music coming down from heaven around two o'clock in the morning on New Year's Day. And they say it has been heard every eighth night since. Some told me in all seriousness that they actually heard the music at such and such place on such and such a night. Others dismissed it as simply a prank played by the wanton wind. I, for one, was inclined to take the idea seriously, but could neither accept it as completely true or reject it as absolutely impossible. For heaven and earth are filled with strange and mysterious powers, and we have all heard of the dancing maidens, and the "sweet dew" that came from above. It is not possible that courtiers in the halls of heaven may have been rejoicing to see the world at peace and called for music-- and if we could not hear it, is it not probable that it was our sinful natures that prevented us? In any event, I found myself intrigued, and invited a group of friends to come to my humble cottage on the nineteenth day of March. We all listened intently, from early evening on, but we heard nothing until the first sunbeams touched the far end of the eastern sky. Then all at once we heard a voice-- we heard music-- coming from the plum tree near my window.

Only birds

sing the music of heaven

in this world.

 

The Essential Haiku: Versions of Basho, Buson, and Issa  

Edited by Robert Hass  

 

Just Enough Shadows

      I've not been feeling well lately, but knowing that I have some haiku/haiga published out there makes me feel better. I feel blessed that I've been given a chance to connect with other people through my own experiences.

     This photo was taken last winter where I used to live. It was a very peaceful moment, one which I knew would mean something to me someday.

     This haiga can be found in Notes From the Gean (December 2011: Vol. 3, Issue 3, p. 107)