Powered by RedCircle
Hello my name is Patricia and I’d like to welcome you to the second episode of the fourth series of the haiku pea podcast. It’s a podcast dedicated to haiku and senryu, which started in 2017 as I started to share my learning of haiku and invited you to come on the journey with me. I was so happy that so many of you joined me and together we have spread the word that haiku is fun, but perhaps a little harder than you would imagine to write.
Here we are now in 2021 in the fourth series and the goal of the podcast is subtly changing, for the good, I hope. We’re still shouting from the rafters about how much fun it is to write, read and listen to haiku, we’re still welcoming new poets but this year I thought we’d work on our technique together.
With this in mind, this year our topics will, I hope, be a litte more challenging to write for. I’d like to offer workshops from experienced haijin who can guide and mentor us to improve our writing skills. I think we have made a good start so far with workshops from Roger Watson about humour and Deborah P Kolodji about exaggeration in haiku and I have more to come.
As you know I’m always open to suggestions and if you, or someone you know have ideas for workshops and speakers, do please get in touch. It’s already happening and as a result, Randy Brooks is coming along to talk to us in a future episode, as too are Ben Gaa and Brad Bennett.
Let’s talk about this episode. Well, our challenge was to write verses about spring and autumn. Traditionally Japanese haiku have used Kigo, words which you all know symbolise a season. Now as I said before, it’s relatively easy to do that when you are writing haiku which involves one culture or country, not so easy when you write English language haiku and the poets who write these verses originate from so very many cultures and nations across the hemispheres, which is one reason I am covering two seasons in one podcast. Anyway, in this instance I asked that you give us a clue which season you were writing about, either spring or autumn.
In the last podcast I told you that I’ll be changing the format for the monthly reading podcast. How? Well, I’d like to introduce a panel of judges to choose their favourite poems and tell me why. They’ll tell you which one’s they’ve chosen during the podcast and why. I will put their analysis in the journal along with the results of our deliberations, which we have off air, so to speak.
I’m starting in this podcast. I invite you to meet my family, a very supportive bunch who I press ganged into being this month’s judges. You’ll meet them as we go along.
The original plan was that we would spend Christmas together and perhaps over a cup of coffee and some Christmas cake we have a family discussion and decide on the winning haiku. However. like many of you I guess, our Christmas was not as we had intended. One of my sons and my daughter were locked down London and so the five of us had an evening zoom chat instead. Not the same but we all have to make the best of things at the moment, don’t we? I wonder if you will agree with the choices.
As usual I’ll start the podcast with some haiku that have been published elsewhere and then of course it’s your turn for some original haiku written for the Haiku Pea Podcast. As usual I read the verse first and then tell you who wrote it.
Previously Published
blue nemophila
I still miss the little things
about my sister
Debbie Strange – Winner, 2020 Akita International Haiku Contest
Sap rising he imagines me completely
Melissa Allen, Modern Haiku 42.3
leaves blowing into a sentence
Robert Boldman, Haiku in English the First Hundred Years
Daffendils a memory of childhood
Robert Horrobin, The Poetry Pea Journal of haiku and Senryu, Summer 2020
writer’s block
a young fox runs into
my haiku
Marion Clarke, The Poetry Pea Journal of haiku and Senryu, Spring 2020
Unpublished
prom night—
a snowy egret steps
ripple by ripple
m shane pruett
weaving
in the mackerel sky
skeins of geese
Cherry A
falling leaves
a black mask
tight on my face
Anna Maria Domburg Sancristoforo
the ruts we slip into falling leaves
Debbie Strange
fragrant lilac
winters –
farewell
Laura Driscoll
early frost
the roses
even pinker
Lori Becherer
flowers sleep
in forgotten warmth
leaves start to fall
Sarah Mahina Calvello
chicks in the nest
dappled with the sunrise
wind chimes
Carrie Ann Thunell
Indian Summer
do those white puffs over the hills
spell the storm?
**Eugeniusz Zacharski
scribbling
the prologue
pink blossom
Zahra Mughis
burying his head
in a warm scarf
the scarecrow
Marilyn Ward
blood moon
the burning eyes and grin
of a pumpkin
Barun Saha
wild garlic –
that pungent scent
of my youth
Dorothy Burrows
eine kleine nachtmusik
the acorns’ staccato
on the barn roof
Kristen Lindquist
spade down
wiping my brow with a sleeve
a tulip blossoms
Kim Russell
the robin
reclaims his garden –
russet and olive
Peter Draper
Crow Moon
the shades of a feather
tangled in the holly
Alan Summers
siamese cat
sniffs at a mole hole
the day shortens
Kathleen Tice
equinox morning
grandad trades his long johns
for boxers
Nika
And now we come to our first nomination for the judges choice. It’s Alex’s choice:
dark clouds
racing past empty branches
tea kettle sings
B A France
ripe suns
shining in moon light
pumpkins
S Narayanan
warm water
the koi
kiss my toes
Ronald K Craig
not quite winter
still hanging by a thread
red maple leaf
Richard Tice
cherry blossoms how quietly morning comes
Srinivas S
a red leaf
reconsidering the meaning of
the word woman
Nadejda Kostadinova
first frost
I find her letter
in his pocket
Vandana Parashar
amber golden brown
how many hues
ageing takes
Anjali Warhadpande
the clearing
at an old stone slab
Easter lilies
Christina Chin
rain
falls on the tarps
olive harvest
Roberta Beach Jacobson
digging the garden
the robin and my coat
sitting on the spade
James Young
abscission –
the brittle sound
of my adidas
Jitendra Menghani
nature’s torpor brings
hedgehog back to life, seen as
an Easter miracle
Ian Speed
tall dandelions
going to seed in perfect globes
untouched by breezes
Richard Bailly
flaming maples—
a girl cartwheels
in the leaves
Elaine Wlburt
around each new leaf
crippled calf curls his grey tongue
sweet grass within reach
Ronald Tobey
sunlight calls
I strum
the prairie grass
Kelli Lage
edge of dawn…
hitting all the right notes
the nightingale and I
Sonal Srinivasan
pre dawn. . .
waiting by the mailboxes,
our old school bus
Brett Brady
billowing clouds…
the quiet whispers
of tea-pickers
Neena Singh
Next we find out which of the poems was Leo’s nomination for the judges’ choice.
boarded-up carousel
— a flagless cord
whips the pole
eddy lee
Feast of St. Andrew
the eye of the sea bass
beneath a lemon slice
**Joshua Gage
grey light –
dawn walk through trees of
saffron crimson tangerine
Neera Kashyap
crescent moon
filling the blanks in
with fireworks
Tracy Davidson
clear water
a slight stir
in the turn of a trout
Pat Davis
pansies
brimming with dewdrops
Mother’s Day
Natalia Kuznetsova
even as it falls
the silence –
pink camellia
Angela Terry
cold morning –
stretching to the rhythm
of falling rain
Paul Callus
double-whammy
on the line
shallow side of river
E L Blizzard
bear poop
full of berries
the forest hush
Craig Kittner
blooming dogwood
my son brings home
his first girlfriend
John McManus
first prongs
of dogwood leaves
tiny crab claws
David Oates
I’m going to interrupt our poetry for a minute to say a few thank yous.
Firstly, thank you very much for all the positive feedback from episode one. I’m so pleased you enjoyed Debbie’s presentation and I look forward to receiving your submissions of exaggerated perspective from the 1st to the 20th of February.
The feedback about Jim’s postcard project was also very pleasing. Many of you have said that you will definitely give it a go, perhaps you could also email Jim, you’ll find his email address in the show notes for episode one of the fourth series and the poets’ directory. Let him know that you are taking part in the project. I think he’s had three emails so far, plus a post card from me which might even be with him by now. I received one from him yesterday and it’s absolutely beautiful. Thanks Jim. I don’t think he’ll mind whether you are sending him a postcard or sending postcards out to all your friends and family he will just be thrilled that he has given you the motivation to send these little gems out into the world. S if you can, please spare him a moment and let him know.
Now as you know the haiku pea podcast is free and I intend to keep it that way, but I do have costs. That’s why I put the buy me a coffee button on the website. It’s an opportunity for you to donate a little bit to the work I do and help me offset some of the costs. I wasn’t sure whether it would work, but you have been using it and it really helps, thank you.
Now back to the poetry:
each day follows the next duckling
Brad Bennett
on the laburnum branches
a cuckoo sings
of the dawn.
Rose
lights off,
blinds closed –
tricking the neighbours
not to ask for treats
Chris Peys
cuckoo calls out
of fog wrapped trees
to East or West
Robin Rich
fallen leaves…
a layering carpet
on failing lawn
Rob McKinnon
the sun returns
frenzy of nest building
after the rain
Eve Castle
first light
gold leaves shimmer
on a still pond
Bona M Santos
It always makes me happy to hear that one of our poets has tried something new for the first time. Today our next poet, Lekha has written a monoku for the first time. She has resolved to try more new forms in the future, big round of applause for Lekha.
Wind whirls and swirls multi-coloured crunchy confetti
Lekha Desai Morrison
balmy breeze
severely emaciated
a snowman
Samo Kreutz
too long inside a shell the baby bird cracks
Robert Witmer
magenta shades
between earth and sky …
cosmos flowers
Daniela Misso
fiddlehead ferns
the first of
four movements
Lorraine A Padden
alone in the field
not even a crow
harvest moon
Linda L Ludwig
hazy evening
the impending night
of sleep deprivation
Giddy Nielsen Sweep
harvest moon –
the toasty scent
of pumpkin bread
Valentina Ranaldi-Adams
shameless winds ravage
carnival foliage stripped
a forest shudders
Robert Quezada
dawn moon
the rattle of
milkman’s containers
Richa Sharma
simmering chutney
the aroma ripens
every room
Mark Gilbert
final harvest
enough dill
for Friday’s fish
Christine Wenk-Harrison
getting near grandpa’s,
the waft of jasmine
Riham El-Ashry
daylight moon
burying the hyacinth bulb
pointed side up
Doris Lynch
deserted streets
in spite of it all
tulips bloom
**Sharon Rhutasel-Jones
day dreaming
the three-fourth moon
still in the sky
Lakshmi Iyer
six feet apart
in the patch
faceless pumpkins
wendy c bialek
light morning mist
rises over the songs
of swamp sparrows
Doug Lanzo
first day
back to school…
the sound of yellow fog
**Kendall Lott
the slope
blooming with wild sage
distant village
Bruce H. Feingold
almond flowers open
petals amongst bare branches
waiting for the bee
Richard Hargreaves
pale moon
the loneliness of each leaf
that falls
Arvinder Kaur
daffodil trumpets
the dawn chorus muted
by late snow
Robert Horrobin
raindrops trickle through branches
sounds in my silence
Barbara Carlson
the sun rises through
the half dense mist
a diamond corona
Ibrar Hussain
hot suns
in the tender grass –
primroses
**Mariangela Canzi
Let’s close with our final nomination for the judges choice. Two of the team chose the next verse, Imogen and Harry.
vacation’s end
in the child’s pocket
a handful of sand
Maya Daneva
Well we’ve had our off air discussion and chosen the winner and the honourable mentions. You’ll be able to see how it went in the Spring Journal. Thanks to my family for their analysis.
Off air it also led to another discussion and I wonder what you think? Is it time to think outside the box for our seasonal poems? We debated whether we should be traditional in our approach and use seasonal words or whether next time we should avoid seasonal words and see what we could evoke without them. What to do… I need to think about it and would really love to hear your thoughts.
Just another couple of reminders before I go: You still have time to send me your submissions for your haiku and senryu inspired by FS Flint’s Ogre. Deadline 31st January. I’m accepting humourous senryu and haiku until the 20th January, so you are cutting it fine if you haven’t sent them yet. Exaggerate perspective is next month 1-20th February.
Don’t forget if you have haibun I am accepting submissions for the Spring Journal.
So, thank you to everyone who wrote for the podcast today, I enjoyed reading them and thank you for coming along and listening today. It was terrific to have your company.
Next time on the haiku pea podcast, Ben Gaa will be interoducing another topic, No ego. I hope you come along and listen and don’t forget to check the poetry Pea YouTube channel, there is more and more on their for you to enjoy.
Til next time…. Keep writing.
If I have missed anything let me know via email and I’ll put it right. Ciao
** Poets new to the podcast
Vision
The Haiku Pea Podcast started small in 2017. I thought I would more or less be talking to myself, but reckoned without the power of haiku, and the word spread. Now here at Poetry Pea there are a number of ways to celebrate haiku with lots and lots of like minded haiku poets.
In 2021 the Haiku Pea podcast will be offering two podcast a month on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of the month, the first to explore haiku topics and the second to hear the haiku and senryu that you have been writing.
Listening options:
You can listen here on the website or you can find us on a number of podcasting platforms: iTunes, stitcher, spotify, amazon, google, player and tunein radio not forgetting YouTube. Please leave us a review.
Please subscribe the podcast where ever you chose to listen and the latest episode will be delivered to your feed, and if you have a moment please leave a review. Alternatively, you can sign up for our mailing and you’ll get information about every new release and all the latest news.
