Welcome  to the haiku pea podcast, a podcast all about haiku. This is number 23 of the second series, just one more to go in this series, .

In today’s episode I have some housekeeping, some news, which I hope will be interesting, and then I have a couple of treats for you. The latest from the renku and some more whoku that some of you were inspired to write having listened to episode 17, the one in which we heard from Mark Gilbert.

What’s the news, then? Well some of you will know already but I’m going to try and create some new projects for next year, which I will do alongside the podcast, because the podcast, at least for me, is the most important part of my plans for next year.

The first new project is the creation of the poetrypea haiku and senryu journal. You’ll find more details on the poetrypea website. I’m thinking for next year that it will be a quarterly one and then, with the help of your feedback I’ll make a decision for 2021.

Following episode 19, our birthday episode, in which we explored haiku for children I decided with the help and a bit of prodding from the lovely Jonathan Roman to put together an anthology of haiku and senryu for children. I realised while doing the research and reading your work, that you and I could absolutely create an anthology as good as anything that children are currently reading. I haven’t put together the final details on this one but I’ll keep you updated.

Wayne Kingston put an idea into my head, I’d like to extend the current YouTube offering from poetrypea. NHK Haiku Masters is no more, so what I’d like to do with your help is to create something, not completely the same, to fill some of the gap it’s left behind. More details to follow, but start getting your photo haiku ready to send to me. For this project, I will stay with the topics for next year’s podcasts, which are now on the website. In case you haven’t noticed I’ve changed the deadlines. They are now the first of every month.

I’m creating a mailing list to update people as there is so much going on. I have used mail chimp in the past for my other podcast and found that it works very well. So far, I’ve asked some of you whether you would agree to go on the mailing list but if I haven’t already sent you an email asking this, do you think you could let me know via email, if I could possibly add you to the list?

As I said at the beginning, series 3 is just around the corner. Over Christmas I’ll be thinking about topics for next year which will improve the haiku I write and hopefully will be of some value to you too. For example, the essence of haiku. We started to think about this in episode 9 this year and many of you sent me your thoughts and feedback. Now it’s time to go back and have another think as a result of your feedback. There’s still time to send me your thoughts.

Speaking of which, what are the topics that you would like me to flag up next year and get us all thinking about? Maybe I’ll have a look at techniques, thanks Scott for that idea, have a look at rules and how they work for or against us, and I’d like to have another look at the use of me or I in haiku and senryu. If you haven’t already had a look at the bones journal submissions for the next issue, do have a look, Johannes is obviously thinking about this topic too. Any thoughts and ideas  will of course be welcomed.

Now as you know I am loving the renku. We are well into writing our second renku together and it’s just wonderful to work with other poets to create something so interesting.

Thank you to Kim Russell, Richard Bailly, Wendy c bialek, m shane pruett, Veronica Hosking, James Young, Andrew Syor, s zeilenga, B S Saroja, Rickey Rivers Jnr. and Craig Kittner for their help verses in the current renku.  I’m very happy that there are poets out there who agree to work with me. There’s still more to be done and we’ve started the third one already so I shall keep you posted.

1.
marble steps
sculpted by endless soles
a welcome chill

Kim Russell

2.
mural tablets—
how ancient my son’s name

Patricia

3.
wind in the willows
unanticipated storm
green blades impaling

Richard Bailly

4.
will the night be dark
or give no shelter?

Patricia

5.
kissed moon
all those unfinished poems
underwater

wendy c. bialek

6.
empty leaves
the fading colours

m shane pruett

7.
an old quilt
grandmother’s warmth
passes down

m shane pruett

8.
bitterly cold
she adds peat to the fire

Patricia

9.
hypnotic glow
involuntary shiver
reaches his soul

Veronica

10.
snow glitter
in the alpine air

Patricia

11.
shawl bent
the long trudge through winter
collecting logs

James Young

12.
a returning trapper
offers his assistance

Andrew Syor

13.
breaking bread
news from another village
northern lights

s zeilenga

14.
the sky lamp shines long tonight
love birds

B S Saroja

15.
urgent flight
whisking wings
gallows bright

Rickey Rivers Jnr

16.
red dawn
a new life divides

Patricia

17.
market square
mired in slush
a solitary rose petal

Craig Kittner

Thank you once again to all of you.

Now if you haven’t listened to episode 17 do go back have a listen because you’ll understand the next bit a great deal more. In episode 17 the lovely Mark Gilbert gave us an introduction to the art of whoku. He and I have been collecting whoku since that episode and today I’d like to give you my selection, I hope Mark will come back and give us his in series 3.

Kim M. Russell

Sylvia Plath
poet trapped in tense lines
her suicide

Wayne Kingston

muted vibrance;
vision beyond 20/20
— Rembrandt

Lovette Carter

nailing down
the last button
Armstrong

Christina Chin

Chinese greatgram
an engraved tombstone spells
Veronica Voon

floppy
my bengal cat
Atilla

Prof R K Singh

weaving its nest
grass blade by grass blade
R K Singh

John McManus

autumn downpour
I tell my son how to spell
Kurosawa

Robin Rich

Archimedes
turning the screw
on divinity

Newtons
change of mind
Einstein

Jonathan Roman

even in name
my wife always wins
Victoria

Victoria Gold
rich in name before choosing
a mere roman

Mineko Takahashi

with a new role
evident glow
Empress Masako

Sarah Bint Yusuf

Mr Alfie Bones
Hairier than Movember
The postman’s best friend

Thank you all for your wonderful verses. That’s the end for this week and next time of course we are going to be writing ekphrastic haiku and senryu. Not sure what that is? We have covered  it before.   the deadline for this topic is fast approaching, it’s the 9th of December. And just to remind you because I’ve change the deadlines for next year the deadline for the topic of animals in January is also approaching, the deadline for that will be the 1st of January.

Email submissions only please, thank you.

So lots of opportunities to get your brain ticking over and create some terrific verses.

As always thank you so much for coming along and listening, for sending me your feedback and for writing  for the podcast. If you haven’t taken the plunge yet, please send me some of your work . I’m really not that frightening, most of the time!

Until we meet again in a couple of weeks, keep writing…

If you can’t find anything I’ve been talking about in the show notes just send me an email and I’ll put it right.

Series 2 Episode 23: Treats