Frogpond XXXI:1 (Winter 2008; see cover) arrived over the weekend, and it has been a superb antidote to both Super Bowl excess and Super Tuesday agita. Its quality represents a fitting final chapter to John Stevenson‘s stewardship of the journal of the Haiku Society of America.
halfway across the bridge
the quiet part
of the river…………………………. by Hilary Tann – Frogpond XXXI:1 [Note: this is a corrected version of the poem, substituting “of” for the typo “or”]
As we reported last September, John Stevenson has taken over as the new Managing Editor of The Heron’s Nest. The next issue of Frogpond (Spring/Summer 2008), will be in the good hands of another of f/k/a’s haiku friends, the venerable George Swede (see our prior post). Congratulations to John on a job done with style and great care, and best wishes to him and to George in their new roles at the helms of two of the haiku community’s most important journals.
Eleven of the haiku and eleven of the senryu in Frogpond XXXI:1 were penned by members of our Honored Guest poets team, and we’ll be sharing them here at f/k/a. You’ll find their senryu from the Winter 2008 edition of Frogpond below. (Samples of their haiku will be posted before Valentine’s Day.)
Senryu from Frogpond XXXI:1 (Winter 2008):
mixed in
with the instructions
her perfume…………… by Tom Clausen
sea spray —
the time it takes
to think twice………………………………….. by Alice Frampton
the longest day
kids playing Quidditch
on earth-bound brooms
southern drawl
smoldering underbrush
reignites……. by Peggy Willis Lyles
Mother’s Bible
the binding peels
in my palmseparation
she turns on
all the lights
………………….. by Pamela Miller Ness
This edition of Frogpond sports a photograph on its cover for the first time — a lily pad image taken by Yu Chang. For several years, HSA’s (apparently former) logo — a sumi-e brush painting of a heron, by Stephen Addiss — could be found on Frogpond‘s cover. We like the water lily and hope it will stay for a while on Frogpond‘s cover (and not be the start of a series of photos).
warming up
over a cup of tea
my mother-in-law
……………………………. by Tom Painting
funeral mass
my sister’s hat
blocks the view…………………… by Roberta Beary ..
she’s naked in the hallway
I put on
my glasses…………………….. by David Lanoue
tavern’s square tank
fish swimming
in circles
……………………….. by George Swede
Speaking of human nature circa 2008, the commercials from Super Bowl XLII might surely inspire quite a few senryu. Need a nudge? How about Richard Simmons as road kill?
watching a rerun
my granddaughter
in my daughter’s arms……………………………. by Yu Chang