Moonbathing Issue 14 (Spring/Summer 2016)

Sonic Boom Premiere Issue

     Sonic Boom is simply BOOMbastic because it has a FANTASTIC array of literary forms that you will truly enjoy! I'm so honored to have two tanka included in the inaugural issue.
http://media.wix.com/ugd/61020d_17b4a75e89f2483db97acf43314c019d.pdf

the coldness
as leaves turn red . . .
from another photo
I rake memories of you
to keep me warm

***

morphine moon . . .
fading in and out
my courage
as you ask me
where you are

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. 

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

Prom Photo

 

 

                                                                                                  

 A Hundred Gourds (1:2 March 2012)

Semifinalist for September 2011

  

  falling leaves

  raking memories

  from old photographs

  ITO EN North America New Haiku Grand Prix
  Semifinalist for the month of September 2011
 Shukan New York Seikatsu newspaper


*After submitting this, I realized that the first line wasn't how I wanted it to be. Just one verb with "ing" is enough. I should revise this. I wonder if a revised version can still be submitted somewhere else.