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. 

Tanka Poets on Site (April 4 prompt)

even in the dark
notes from his guitar
still find me . . .
like the scent of moonflowers
crawling from my feet



prompt: night blooms
See comments here.

Evening Drizzle on NeverEnding Story

evening drizzle

notes from his guitar 

perfume the air

Haigaonline 12:2, December 2011

     Yesterday Chen-ou Liu published the above haiku on his new blog NeverEnding Story, particularly in the Butterfly Dream section, with two Chinese translations and his comment. 
     This haiku was also reprinted in four e-papers. 
     Poetry and Poetry Lovers, edited by Sweepy (A D Joyce)
     The Poetry Daily, edited by Govind Joshi
     The Poetry Daily, edited by My Blogworld
     The Poetry and Me Daily, edited by Poetry and Me
      

      If you want to submit your best published haiku or new work to Chen-ou, go to this link. 

He Doodles, You 'Ku - Day 28

power outage

your guitar notes

still find me

See doodle here.

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. 

FREE Book Giveaway: NaPoWriMo 2012

     Kathy Uyen Nyuyen's haiku/senryu/tanka competition on her blog is still on. Submit your entry here for a chance to have your own copy of Paul Newton's book, What We Find.

     My submissions: 

midnight summer breeze

notes from his guitar

drift into my dream

~

summer heat—

drinking from a birdbath

morning glories

Black and White Challenge

 Haigaonline (Vol. 12 Issue 2, December 2011)
This may be viewed under "contemporary haiga."

     When I found out that Haigaonline was accepting submissions for their black and white challenge, I was excited. I have this black and white photo which means so much to me. The actual challenge for me was to come up with a haiku that was strong enough to make the absence of color on the image significant.

     If you'd like to learn more about black and white haiga, read Jim Swift's article, Black and White Photography, which can be found under haiga workshop in the December 2011 issue of Haigaonline. I suggest that you check out featured artists. I'm sure you'll be inspired by the exquisite works of an'ya and Ron C. Moss.