What a difference two years makes. On November 3, 2004, your Editor was so moved by the Election Results that he wrote towards a “democratic morality” and majority, urging his fellow Democrats to acknowledge and emphasize the values that we share with a broad portion of the American public: To start a conversation with “people of good will and strong personal ethics, [who are] deeply committed to their social and family responsibilities,” and then to “build a broad consensus on values and morality — social and personal — that can make America stronger and more united.
With our punditry allergy still strong, we’ve been letting–others–react to this past week’s very different Election Results. And, offer just two quick points: 1) Last year’s advice still goes: stress the values we share we a majority of Americans (and don’t overestimate your mandate); and 2) use the insight offered by David Callahan in his The Moral Center — the public/electorate is not so much split between liberals and conservatives, as between “The Cares [about the fate of all Americans]” and “The Care Nots.” Reaching out to The Cares will allow the Party to achieve much of its legislative agenda, without pushing all those Blue State congressional districts back into Republican hands in 2008.
Although the move to two-party Government again in Washington, DC, may have many political and social ripples, tonight we’d rather emphasize haiku ripples from Peggy Willis Lyles and Laryalee Fraser. This week, Laryalee unveiled her online anthology opus a procession of ripples — with hand-picked haiku by her haijin friends and fellow travelers (100 of them), arranged in 36 topics, with each of the 36 pages illustrated with an image created in black-and-white by Ms. Fraser. Part II of the anthology is also a tribute to Laryalee’s “mentors . . . in order of their appearance along my haiku path.”
In addition to a pair of haiku by Ed Markowski, and one each by f/k/a Honored Guests Alice Frampton and Andrew Riutta, plus dagosan, a procession of ripples contains two poems by Peggy Willis Lyles. Below you can read them both, along with two of her “ripple” haiku that have appeared at f/k/a. Then, we offer an excerpt from an Interview with Peggy Lyles that speaks of haiku ripples and mentors.
of its shadow —
the frog
a periscope rises
from the oil spill
a ripplereaches the pond’s edge —daffodilsglide of the kayakripples overlappingwater lilies. . . . by peggy willis lylesAn Interview with Peggy Willis Lyles (by Lidona Beer,Global Haiku Tradition, Millikin University, Spring 2001)When did you start writing haiku?– Lyles: . . . [T]he first edition of Cor van den Heuvel’s The Haiku Handbook, which I found in the University of Georgia Bookstore in 1976, brought me firmly into the North American haiku movement. The haiku there still sparkle with vitality and create ever-widening ripples. The poems thrilled me with a “shock of recognition.” Something fine was in progress, and references to books and contemporary haiku magazines offered first steps toward becoming part of it.Do you have a mentor—someone who introduced you to haiku or had the most influence over your style?– Lyles: I think of many haiku poets as mentors at a distance, usually teaching me through their work rather than by specific instruction. Perceptive editors, Robert Spiess in particular, have given me invaluable guidance simply by accepting some haiku and returning others.
CREDITS: “still at the edge” – a procession of ripples; To Hear the Rain“crescent moon” – a procession of ripples; To Hear the Rain (2002)“a ripple” – The Heron’s Nest VII:1 (March 2005)“glide of the kayak” – Terebess Asia Online
Blawg Review # 83…
Election Law is pleased to host Blawg Review # 83. As with last week’s Blawg Review by Ed Still at Votelaw, this Review focuses on election law, in an effort to law blog the vote. Before getting to this week’s……
Comment by Election Law — November 13, 2006 @ 2:45 am
Thanks to Prof. Rick Hasen at Election Law weblog for including this post in his post-Election Day edition of Blawg Review – #83. It’s interesting that we were including in the category “other significant blawg posts this week” that did not touch on election/campaign issues.
Comment by David Giacalone — November 13, 2006 @ 10:40 am