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Hello! It’s yūgen time! If this is the first time you’ve listened to the podcast it might be an idea to go back and have a listen to a workshop that Stanford M Forrester did in episode 11 of this 4th series,  that will give you a great introduction to this episode.

This week I’ll be reading you a few poems that have been published in other journals and magazines, and lots and lots of poems that have been written just for you using yūgen.

As usual I have company this week. I’m joined by two familiar voices, Kristen Lindquist and m shane pruett and one voice that is new to the podcast, although if you’re a regular you will know his poetry, BA France. They very kindly read through all the submissions and have chosen three poems that they would like to nominate for the judges choice.

If you’d like to read their commentaries they will be in the journal which I hope to publish in September. Do make sure you’re on the mailing list so you will get advance notice of the publication date. You can sign up here on the website.

Now before I go on this is a good time to remind you that this month we are writing haiku using place names. If you haven’t already done so please send your place name haiku by email by the 20th of August 2021. If you’re needing inspiration you’ll find a couple of workshops by Richard Tice in episode 13 and 15 of the podcast.

And so let’s hear  some poems that were previously published. Poem first, poet second.

highway markers—
the journey measured
by cherry blooms

m shane pruett
2nd Place
The First YŪGEN International Haiku Contest
Miroslava, Iași, Romania

red bus
on the Euston road
a glimpse of her

Bisshie, Blithe Spirit, 31.2

ghost apple
this emptiness
inside

Debbie Strange
Shamrock Haiku Journal 42, 2019
Shortlisted, 2019 Touchstone Awards

Original Haiku written by the Haiku Pea community.

I’d like to welcome Kristen Lindquist back to the podcast. I hope you heard Kristen’s reading in S4E9, if you haven’t then I recommend you do, it’s a piece of work that I really enjoyed recording and it’s had very good feedback so far.

Kristen Lindquist’s nomination for the Judges’ Choice

tower ramparts
a raven lets go
of its voice

Robert Kingston

seamless the starry sky i add my breath

Kala Ramesh

floating
in the sea
I am a star

Susan Young

fresh persimmons
in each seed
a new universe

Marilyn Ward

the unfinished blanket—
Grandma’s empty hands
still knitting

Richard Tice

a rustle
on the lakeshore
rising fog

Daniela Misso

petrichor
steaming from the pavement
summer rain

James Young

birth – death
that little dash
between

Brett Brady

narrow trail
deep into the woods
wild orchids

Bruce H Feingold

deepening fog
the boy in my selfie
fades away

Vandana Parashar

the crystal vase
holds yellow chrysanthemums
… till long after

Neena Singh

thin breeze
the monk’s bowl brims
with nothing

Ravi Kiran

the song sparrow
has become two
spring deepens

Kristen Lindquist

a butterfly
… halfway in
drifts out

Christina Chin

bubbles under the ice–
an old song waiting
to be sung

Pippa Phillips

lost and found —
the raindrop
on the lotus leaf

Amrutha Prabhu

vacant cobwebs
on frosty hedgerows
hunger waits

Kim Russell

cases down
the stranger in line
squeezes my hand

EL Blizzard

cup of oolong I listen to its steam

Roberta Beach Jacobson

flower-filled leaf boats
float down the Ganges
sunset puja

Christa Pandey


Where would the podcast be without its coffee donations…? Much worse off.  I’m saving for a new microphone, because you may have noticed that you can hear the plosives with the one I’m currently using. With the help of my donors last month, :
Giddy Nielsen Sweep
Dale Bennett
Ian Speed
Laughing waters
Linda L Ludwig
Carol Judkins
Esther Lim
Natalia Kuznetsova

I am 13% of the way to being able to afford it. Thank you so much.

More thank yous, this time to James Young, Robert Horrobin and Vandana Parashar for editing the submissions for yūgen last month. You are so kind to give up your time to help me and in some cases to pass on a little bit of help and advice to poets who submit. We can’t do that for everyone, there just isn’t time, but if can we do.

Don’t forget James, Robert and this month Ronald K Craig are awaiting your place name submissions, deadline 20th August.

foggy morning
the lost lake returns
with the sun

Srinivas S

family tree
only one branch
in the clouds

Dorothy Burrows

foreclosure
turkey vultures circle
the farm field

Marilyn Ashbaugh

her silence stills me
into contemplation
wind through grasses

John Hawkhead

palm branches raising psalms on the zephyrs

JL Huffman

on my wrist
the broken prayer charm
still spinning

Katherine E Winnick

footprints etched
on the sea of tranquility . . .
rearing stallion

Debbie Strange

all the day’s tales
folded in the night wear
a lone star

Lakshmi Iyer

sandcastle
a red handle
halfway in the sand

Laughing waters

old treehouse . . .
children’s echoes fall
into shadows

Kathleen Tice

sifting through boxes
before the estate sale
I find only leaves

Robert Beveridge

fireflies
what happens between
each flash

Doris Lynch

at the Goddess’ feet
from the heart of the hibiscus
a ladybug

Baisali Chatterjee Dutt

May Crowning
at the mission church
saguaro blooms

Deborah P Kolodji

autumn solitude
I watch her flowers
drift with the tide

Bona M Santos

old square
weathered buildings stooped
by the weight of years

Bruce Bynum

loon call
I imagine the shape
of the banshee’s comb . . .

Marion Clarke

obelisk
echoing past
in stairwell

Richard Bailly

old China mug
still the taste
of new tea

S Radhamani

city park
the crow and the statue
sharing time

Minal Sarosh

 m shane pruett’s nomination for the Judges’ Choice

cut roses
in a glass
the shape of the water

Angiola Inglese

Ganga Aarti
a million Suns
sink into darkness

Teji Sethi

dark alley
footsteps, sometimes distant
sometimes near

Joe Sebastian

cool breeze
throwing my mind
over the railing

Alex Fyffe

becoming one
with creation
twins roll downhill

Douglas J Lanzo

winter’s end
she skims the surface
of consciousness

Tracy Davidson

where I was when I got the news
the yellowed paper’s headline

Craig Kittner

Uluru rock art…
thousands of years old voices
telling stories

Rob McKinnon

gathering twilight
into turned back ears
the rutting buck

Richard L Matta

morning
the wetness
under a stone

Robert Witmer

fluttering
towards the red sunset
palm leaves

Richa Sharma

restless heart
a flock of blackbirds
over the lake

Anna Maria Domburg-Sancristoforo

dark clouds
over the elm tree
bald eagle call

Pallavi Sriram

the get-well text
unanswered . . .
wind in the chimes

PH Fischer

bagpipes
drifting across the park
a light rain

Sarah Paris

wave after wave
are they leaving
or returning

Elancharan Gunasekaran

an empty swing –
she takes hold of
a stranger’s hand

Paul Callus

ancient tree
in the roots of sunshine
wild violets

Erin Castaldi

autumn wind
the old man cradles the child
in himself

Eugeniusz Zacharski

dawn break –
the stillness in
the sound of a conch

Cherry A

all that’s left
in the potpourri
scent of summer roses

Melanie Vance

still
the war gong
sounds

Kelley J White

the ceramic pot
she’d thrown at him —
Kintsugi

Linda L Ludwig

canyon shadow
a pebble comes to rest

martin gottlieb cohen

short and sweet
a dying star’s final glow—
footprints in the sand

Wendy Gent

dark alleyway
the dim glow
of a cigarette

Jay Friedenberg

along the path
of a kite’s curving bill
—apple snail

m shane pruett

bamboo flute
a bird
spreads its wings

Lori Becherer

break up –
a hibiscus falls
next to me

Devoshruti Mandal

in his restless eyes the clouds

Mariangela Canzi

sunshower
the asphalt offers
its incense

Hannah Hulbert

middle age blues
my son sounds
like my father

Mona Bedi

day moon
almost a vapor
the liminality of death

Ronald K Craig

broken mirror
gathered in my hand
the pieces of me

Samo Kreutz

brief silence
before leaves flutter
to forest floor

Eve Castle

river moon
fading more
the winter twilight

Hifsa Ashraf

ocean sand
in the bungalow corners
gathering secrets

Steve Ullom

strength of his arm
around my shoulders
the Milky Way

Mimi Ahern

pitch dark
the sound of a sleeping-bag
zipper

David Oates

moth on the wall
hurrying monk in a
straw raincoat

Sherry Grant

dad’s weekend
a butterfly comes to rest
on the child’s shoulder

John S Green

cracked sidewalk
my fate in the lines
of my palms

Jackie Chou

driftwood…
letting life take me
where it will

Angela Terry

the hairdresser
cuts me
a new identity

EL Forrest

still wet rocks
the tide
turns

Pam Joy

through broken stained glass
sun rays light the altar lamp …
quiet presence

Natalia Kuznetsova

estate sale
this solitary pearl
in a velvet box

Carol Judkins

BA France’s nomination for the Judges’ Choice

father’s day –
feeling the hug
I don’t feel

Chris Dean

BA France was a previous winner of the Judge’s choice with this poem:

everything
nourishes what is
already strong

B.A. France, Judges’ Choice, Poetry Pea Journal of haiku and senryu, Found Poetry, Winter 2020

Congratulations to all the poets who have been singled out for a nomination. Now we are going to debate which of these poems will be the judges choice and which the honourable mentions. It’s always really difficult to make this choice, but none of the judging panels have come to blows yet. Wish us luck…

What great judges, thanks Kristen, BA and Shane. If you want to know the final results, and to read the commentaries of our judges, they will be in the Poetry Pea Journal, out in September. Remember, sign up for the mailing list on the website and you will get advance notification of its publication. But you can go to the show notes and read all the poems that were featured on the podcast today.

Next time on the podcast I’m planning to be joined by Mark Gilbert who is coming to chat with me about long haiku. I know we’ve got some examples that make my heart sing, just keep your fingers crossed that the internet fairies are with us and we get everything recorded without problem.

One last reminder that you only have a few days to get your place name haiku to the editing team, deadline 20th August, 2021. AND a plea for help… I’m looking for someone in the community who is available to connect with an Australian / New Zealand time zone to complete another panel of judges. If you think that might be you, please get in touch.

Thanks for coming along and listening today and a big virtual round of applause to all our poets. You are fabulous.

Til next time, keep writing…

I hope I’ve got everything right this time, but if not, please email me, Ciao…

S4E16: Original haiku using yügen