My Ten Haiku, May 2008
WORLD HAIKU REVIEW Volume 6 Issue 3 - May 2008
MY TEN HAIKU
SELECTED BY POETS THEMSELVES
MY TEN HAIKU
- A New Series -
INTRODUCTION
The World Haiku Club has endeavoured to celebrate and demonstrate haiku poems of quality, newness and originality.
In this new series we ask poets to select by themselves, say, 20 haiku from among the numerous haiku poems which they have written all through their haiku life and which, without false modesty or show-off, they feel confident, happy and genuinely proud in the sense that they represent what they want to say in haiku and reflect what they believe to be the essence of haiku. We will narrow these 20 to 10.
It is hoped that these stringently selected ten will represent something by which the authors can be judged critically and emulated.
Poets are selected not according to the length of their haiku life, 'position' or fame in the world haiku community or even the number of their publications, but purely and simply according to the quality and merits of their poems. They are presented in alphabetical order. In this issue, the featured poets are Victor P. Gendrano, Michael McClintock and Gabriel Rosenstock.
MY TEN HAIKU
by
Gabriel Rosenstock, Ireland
foghorn at dusk ...
little by little
the world disappears
somewhere
in this dark universe
the voice of a crow is formed
was its spirit released?
branches of an old tree
all aflame
a glimpse of a god
in the eyes of a cat
following a moth
green green green
the pines
seconds before snow
the wild duck
slows down
almost to the pace of the river
news of a death -
fruit bats suspended
in slumber
faint sunlight
injecting the veins
of a falling leaf
mountain sheep
in mist
chewing the universe
suddenly
the universe expands:
wild geese honking
*****
THREE VITAL POINTS OF MY HAIKU-WRITING
1) Existence is imbued with terror and wonder. Experiencing haiku episodes in daily existence sharpens one's own sense of the terror and wonder
of creation and brings clarity, sobriety and wakefulness to daily living.
2) Perceiving the beauty and essence of little transitory moments in life heightens one's sense of eternity, of timelessness in time. Most moments in people's lives seem to be unconscious and miracles remain unrecorded.
3) One excellent reason for writing haiku is that it is there, the form exists and calls on haijin to participate in its on-going history and possibly even to enrich it or bring some variety or spiritual nourishment to one's own literary and linguistic tradition.
BRIEF BIO
Gabriel Rosenstock is a poet and haikuist, author/translator of over 100 books, mostly in Irish (Gaelic). Large sections of two unpublished manuscripts Haiku Enlightenment and Haiku, the Gentle Art of Disappearing have been serialised in World Haiku Review. Some of his poetry may be viewed on the websites of Poetry Chaikhana and Poetry International and many of his books are available on Amazon.
Gabriel Rosenstock
37 Arnold Grove,
Glenageary,
Co. Dublin, Ireland
*
[This series will continue.]
MY TEN HAIKU
BY
Victor P. Gendrano, USA
misty afternoon
she takes a last look
at the leaving train
still in their box
the flowers start to wilt
Mother's day
sleepless night
I touch gently
her empty space
Father's Day
I add to my wardrobe
my son's outgrown shirts
midnight chill
I wait for New Year
alone
alone
at her favorite table
the jukebox plays our song
a lilly blooms
near a makeshift cross
war-ravaged field
Mother's day
my daughter brings her daughter
as a peace offering
raindrops roll down
the golden leaf
first day in hospice
she finally throws out
his half-empty cologne
New Year's day
Guidelines in writing haiku
When writing haiku, I try to follow these guidelines.
(1) Kigo, whether directly mentioned or implied, to
indicate the time and place.
(2) Juxtaposition, use of two different or seemingly
unrelated images to tie up the relationship between an
occurrence in nature and human interaction.
(3) Objectivity or detachment. As much as possible, I
try to exercise a certain measure of objectivity or
detachment, avoiding overt emotional response, showing
but not telling the reader what I, the author, want to
convey. A certain vagueness or mystery is a plus as it
may elicit more active reader participation.
Short Biography
I am a retired librarian. I write poems in English and
Tagalog, my native language as English is my borrowed
second language. My first book, Rustle of bamboo
leaves: Selected haiku and other poems was published
in November 2005. Presently, I am preparing two books
for publication, one is a collection of my newer haiku
and tanka poems, a sequel to my first book. The second
one is an anthology of the works of Philippine poets
whose works were published in the now defunct Heritage
magazine, an English quarterly, which I published and
edited from 1987 to 1999.
*
MY TEN HAIKU
by
Michael McClintock, USA
*
the moon
has found it for me,
a mountain path
a poppy . . .
a field of poppies!
the hills blowing with poppies!
done for the day
my dad brings to supper
the smell of turned earth
April funeral --
the weeping mother neatens
her son's perfect hair
the day heats up --
I make the dog's grave
deeper by a foot
twisting inland,
the sea fog takes awhile
in the apple trees
dead cat
open-mouthed
to the pouring rain
heat lightning . . .
all the way into Mexico
the mountains rise
not green itself
but a hint of it --
the slanting spring light
traveling, too,
on a seat by the window --
green melons
*
At this time in my writing life I try to have nothing in particular in mind when I write haiku. Pre-dispositions and formulas of any kind are so crippling and blinding! But of course I must be prepared and ready, and that means getting rid of those things I do not need to think, feel, or do. When I write a haiku I tell myself ---
1. Experience the subject at its center, whole, with the mind-and-heart.
2. Fit the arrow to the bow.
3. Aim-and-shoot. This also means: Do not lie.
I evaluate my haiku in light of these same three things.
Michael McClintock holds degrees from Occidental College and the University of Southern California in English and American Literature, Asian Studies, and Information Science. He lives and works in Los Angeles and Fresno, California, as a poet, anthologist of contemporary short form poetry, and independent scholar in the liberal arts and humanities. His work in poetry and essays on literary and art theory ran parallel to his career as principal librarian, film and recordings curator, and administrator for the County of Los Angeles Public Library System. McClintock's poetry has been widely translated and published internationally, including by Nobel Laureate, Czeslaw Milosz. His internationally acclaimed collection, Letters in Time: Sixty Short Poems, was published by Hermitage West in 2005. Meals at Midnight, a collection of tanka from Modern English Tanka Press, and Sketches from the San Joaquin, winner of the Turtle Light haiku chapbook competition, are due for release in 2008. He is married to artist Karen J. McClintock.