f/k/a archives . . . real opinions & real haiku

…. Prune Juice Journal …

at last in his coffin
depressed friend
is smiling

… by George Swede – Prune Juice (Issue 1, Winter 2009)

morning after—
what’s left of the cheese
has a bite

…. by Jim Kacian – Prune Juice (Issue 1)

.. Haiku legend Alexis Rotella has uncorked her first distillation of Prune Juice: Journal of Senryu and Kyoka (Issue 1, Winter 2009), which she describes as a biannual print and digital journal “dedicated to publishing and promoting fine senryu and kyoka in English.”  Issue 1 offers more than 130 poems by about four dozen haijin, many of them very well-known for their well-crafted poems and wry insight into human nature.

Senryu are structured like haiku, and kyoda like tanka, but their focus is different.  As Alexis explains:

“Senryu generally emphasize human foibles and frailties, usually satirically, ironically, humorously. Season words are not necessary nor usual in senryu. Kyoka have a different history than senryu; nevertheless, for modern kyoka in English, the definition is similar: a poem in the tanka form but with the satirical, ironic, humorous aspects of senryu.a poem in the tanka form but with the satirical, ironic, humorous aspects of senryu.”

Agreeing with the bumper sticker from StickEm2/CafePress, Alexis tells us that senyru “is an outlet, a therapy of sorts.”  She wants poets and readers to use senryu and kyoka to help reveal and share their real emotions, saying in her introduction to Issue I:

“I hope this issue inspires you to step up, to come and mingle with the rest of us—to make a toast with a glass of prune juice in honor of the plum blossoms who, without that delicious metaphorical elixir that gets things moving, would not exist. And if you are one who hides behind a potted plant, come out come out whoever you are.”

Alexis seeks to publish senryu and kyoka that range from “gently humorous to the most wicked satire”  — and advises that “Our tastes run towards the wicked end of the scale.”

Frankly, the curmudgeons in the f/k/a Gang like to sip, rather than swig, senryu. And, we’re a little wary (maybe even weary) of editors and poets trying to give us shocking or “wicked” poems.  So, we plan to decant our Prune Juice a little at a time. With Alexis Rotella at the helm, however, we’re pretty sure a lot of readers will be filling their cup to the brim with Prune Juice, and asking for refills.

Here are a few more poems by members of our f/k/a family of Honored Guest Poets from Prune Juice: Journal of Senryu and Kyoka (Issue 1, Winter 2009):

blind date—
the jangle
of handcuffs

……… by Roberta Beary

Instead of an air conditioner . . .
I return
with popsicles

… by Tom Clausen

new to the group—
sitting in back with
the artificial plants

… by Jim Kacian

reading of the will
cremated mother
rematerializes

the feud continues—
shoveled snow piled high
on the property line

first ice
on mother’s gravestone . . .
her tea time

…… by George Swede – Prune Juice (Issue 1, Winter 2009)

.. click for an annual subscription to the Prune Juice print edition ($32 with S&H) ..

p.s. Seven-Day Countdown: Speaking of feeling our emotions, getting things moving and setting ourselves free, the f/k/a Gang plans to stop adding to this weblog as of March 1, 2009.   It will remain online, with thousands of haiku and senryu, and a lot of law-related and cultural punditry. But, the last f/k/a posting will roll off your Editor’s fingers no later than Feb. 28, 2009. We’ll try to write a few more posts related to lawyer fees before we hang up our blawger sword; then we’ll be looking for something more enjoyable and less stressful to do online.  Naturally, we’ll have a little more to say when we sign off at the end of this week.

afterwords: Many thanks to Scott Greenfield at Simply Justice for his kindly post reacting to my announcement that f/k/a is closing down production. See “Phoenix Rising” (Feb. 24, 2009)

the pond ices over –
impressionist to
cubist overnight

early March –
the weather vane goose
still heading south

small sad face
in the puddle –
last weekend’s snowman

…….. by David Giacalone – Simply Haiku (Autumn 2006, Vol. 4 no. 3)

..  The newest issue of Frogpond [Vol. 32:1, Winter 2009], the journal of the Haiku Society of America, arrived at my door this snowy February afternoon.  Frogpond always has a lot of winning haiku, but this issue also announces the winners of HSA’s most prestigious annual contests: The 2008 Kanterman Merit Book Awards for best published books in 2007; the 2008 Henderson Award for best haiku; and the 2008 Brady Award for best senryu.

As usual, several of f/k/a‘s Honored Guest Poets have been honored this year.

• John Stevenson received 1st and 3rd place awards in the Harold G. Henderson Haiku Contest for 2008:

Thanksgiving–
fifteen minutes
of mince pie

[1st Place, 2008 Henderson Contest]

butterfly
my attention
attention span

[3rd Place, 2008 Henderson Contest]

• Michael Dylan Welch won 2nd Place in the Gerald Brady Memorial Contest for 2008, with this senryu:

busy Italian restaurant–
happy birthday
sung to the wrong table

[2nd Place, 2008 Brady contest]

• Among the Mildred Kanterman Memorial Book Awards for 2008:

• Roberta Beary’s The Unworn Necklace (Snapshot Press 2007) placed third [find poems and discussion at f/k/a here]
• While Matt Morden’s Stumbles in Clover (Snapshot Press 2007; discussed here at f/k/a) shared Honorable Mention honors with Gary Hotham’s Missed Appointment (Lilliput Review 2007; featured at f/k/a in posts here and there)
• The Best Anthology award went to Jim Kacian’s Big Sky – The Red Moon Anthology of English-Language Haiku 2006 (Red Moon Press 2007; find sample poems at the bottom of this prior post)
• The Best Haibun award went to “Dr. Bill” w.f. owen for his book small events (Red Moon Press 2007)

.. In the very near future, we’ll share poems from the Winter 2009 issue of Frogpond written by our Honored Guests (update: go here and there).  Below the fold, you will find a list of all the winners from the three contests described above (soon, you will be able to find all the winning poems and the comments of the judges by clicking on the link for each contest at the HSA Haiku Contests page):

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.. Poet-editor-publisher Denis M. Garrison has recently produced his first batch of Ambrosia.  Ambrosia comes in many forms, but Denis’ version won’t make you immortal, or give you hay fever; and, it’s not that green squiggly stuff your Aunt Tootsie brought for dessert at Thanksgiving.

It is, however, “something with an especially delicious flavor or fragrance.”  To be more precise, and in Denis’ own words:

“This premiere issue of Ambrosia: Journal of Fine Haiku includes 100 top drawer haiku from twenty-eight leading poets from around the world. All these poets, while writing in English, respect the formal values of traditional Japanese haiku.

“Ambrosia holds that a haiku in English, to be fine, must have the traditional shape and duration of haiku, its metre and music, and exhibit aspects of traditional Japanese poetic aesthetics. We prefer haiku written in a natural, modern, English idiom with great care for the sound of the verse when spoken. Ambrosia’s haiku touch the reader powerfully.”

The new, quarterly Ambrosia haiku journal is published by Modern English Tanka Press.   It comes in print form (as a 4.25″ x 6.87″ paperback pocket book) and as a PDF ebook (a steal at $4.95), both of which can be ordered from Ambrosia‘s Lulu.com webpage.  You can subscribe to the print edition here.  However, we are most pleased to tell fellow lovers of genuine haiku that Ambrosia is also available for free as a digital online magazine.

In addition to numerous poems by our Honored Guest poet Laryalee Fraser (you’ll find them below), this first issue of Ambrosia features several poems from each of these poets: Hortensia Anderson, Susan Constable, Bill Kenney, Michael McClintoch, Jo McInerney, Kirsty Karkow, and Raffael de Gruttola, plus offerings from twenty other haijin.

lightning storm —
biting into the blackness
of licorice

…. by Laryalee Fraser – Ambrosia (Issue 1 – Autumn 2008)

In his Editor’s Note, Denis tells us: “Ambrosia considers the traditional poetic aesthetics of Japan as necessary, not in order to pay homage to the tradition, but because without their understanding and skillful use, writing haiku worth reading is difficult, if not impossible.” At a time when some editors seem to mistake artifice for originality, unusual for unique, contrived for creative, and juvenile for rejuvenating, the f/k/a Gang applauds Denis Garrison for reminding us that the haiku genre does indeed have a recognizable shape and scent, and for insisting on standards of quality.

Or, as our crankily frank Prof. Yabut might say:

They may be one breath long, but every brain fart is not a publishable haiku!

Thanks to Laryalee Fraser for sending me over to Ambrosia, and for penning these haiku, which can found in Ambrosia (Issue 1 – Autumn 2008).

dragonfly —
skirting the edge
of a heron’s stillness

frayed sunlight
between the pilings —
summer’s end

cornflowers —
between the clouds
a handful of sky

a rainbow
over autumn maples…
the laundry forgotten

drowsy morning…
the bird that belongs
to the song

…. by Laryalee Fraser – Ambrosia (Issue 1 – Autumn 2008)

p.s. If you prefer quirky commentary to quirky poetry, we remind you to get a virtual shot of hot caffeine at the BabyBarista weblog (see our prior post), which was selected this week for the 2008 ABA Journal Blawg 100.  It’s a daily soap opera about the “reality” of life as a junior barrister at the English Bar — with characters to love and loathe, and plenty of ethical and anthropological issues to ponder over a cup of java.  If you enjoy BabyBarista, like we do, please consider voting for it in the “Beauty Pageant” going on from now until Jan. 2, 2009, at the ABA Journal website, by heading over to the Quirky category.

[orig. haiga here]

lipstick on his
coffee mug –
steam rising

photo: ARTHUR GIACALONE
poem: DAVID GIACALONE

John Stevenson turns 60 today, October 9, 2008.  You may recall that we made a very big deal over Yu Chang’s 70th birthday back in August.  However, living to sixty isn’t all that impressive in 21st Century America.  It’s not John Stevenson’s age we’re impressed with, but the way he’s lived his six decades and enhanced our lives.  We celebrate sixty years well-lived and anticipate and wish him many more — filled with much accomplishment, joy, and friendship.

John Stevenson made his first appearance at f/k/a in March 2005.  If necessary, you can learn a bit of the record of this much-acclaimed haiku poet and editor at that first post, and here.  Suffice to say, if the haikai community gave out Lifetime Achievement Awards he’d already have one on his shelf.

summit view
my friend
examines his shoes

… by Hilary Tann – The Heron’s Nest IV #1

John’s love for the art and craft of haiku (and related literary forms, like renku) has enthused others and created deep bonds of friendship and admiration.   He’s fully present in all he does — as poet, actor, kayaker, parent, friend, movie-goer, dinner companion, and much more (including, over the past couple of years, bocce player).   It’s his being fully there that makes John’s friends want to be at his side.

I’ve already said more than I intended.  The poems in this post were chosen by a few of John’s close haiku friends because they spoke to the poet of John and his spirit.  Click to enlarge the sparkling photographs, which were taken by his inveterate kayaking companion, Yu Chang (who has a lot of pictures of John’s back).  Speaking for many others, Yu says:

John is not only a very good friend,
but also a source of my inspiration.

autumn colors
we paddle closer
to the mountain

another spring
the nameless shoot
still nameless

star gazing
he pulls another chair
on the floating dock

… by Yu Chang

autumn night
in the white beard
60 birthdays

autumn settles
dark frosting
on a white beard

autumn evening
in the white of his beard
another birthday

. . . . by Roberta Beary

staring down
into stamens
of a water lily

ahead
one paddle
above the reeds

……. by Hilary Tann, who says:

John —  thinking of our Upstate Dim Sum camaraderie at Tai Pan
or renku at Onawa … Happy Day! Hilary

a kayak
on the roof rack–
long way home

…. by Peggy Willis Lyles

even the mime
sings along –
the glow of sixty candles

cake crumbs
on index cards —
the editor’s chair

.. by dagosan

winding road –
under the influence
of a strawberry moon

…… by David Giacalone – The Heron’s Nest VII: 4

autumn colors-
his train
on time

… by Tom Clausen

Happy 60th Birthday, John!

—  find links to hundreds of his poems here – –

. . . HAPPY BIRTHDAY to YU! . . .

dewdrops
I count
my blessings

….. by Yu Chang – from Upstate Dim Sum (2003)

To the surprise of anyone familiar with his physical and mental vitality (and that cherubic face), Yu Chang is 70 years old today.  We couldn’t find a party room big enough for all his friends and admirers; and one weblog posting is not adequate to express the depth of our affection and breadth of our well-wishes for Yu.

just long enough
to leave an impression
dragonfly

….. by Yu Chang – Upstate Dim Sum

Yu Chang plays and lives many roles, including: husband, father of four, and grandfather; Union College professor of electrical and computer engineering; accomplished haiku poet and editor; skillful and enthusiastic photographer; avid chef and kayaker; tender of gardens (rock and floral); and — for especially lucky and undeserving ones like myself — generous, mischevous, and caring friend.  No matter how he enters your life, Yu leaves a positive, lasting impression, with his intelligence and talent, empathy, sense of humor, and humility.

Personal note: Many good things have come out of my discovery and love of haiku.  At the top of my haiku-related blessings is making the acquaintance and enjoying the friendship of my goombah and bocce-mate Yu Chang.  As told in the post introducing Yu here at f/k/a, “all poetics is local” (May 27, 2005), I admired his poetry for several years before realizing that Yu lives right down the road from me here in Schenectady.  He has become such an important part of my everyday life, it’s hard to believe it’s only been a few years since we met.

As poet-editor John Stevenson — Yu’s very good friend, frequent kayaking and dining companion, and Rt. 9 Haiku Club co-founder — wrote to me this morning:

My life has been immensely enriched by my friendship with Yu. I wish him a happy birthday and a happy day after. I suspect that he would prefer less fanfare for the occasion but he will be gracious about our effusions of affection today.

A couple days ago, I asked John and a few other haiku poet friends to contribute poems for Yu’s birthday celebration at f/k/a.  John sent back this revealing message:

“So many of my poems remind me of Yu or relate to him in ways that might not be clear to others. I could make a collection consisting entirely of poems I’ve written while kayaking with him and another of poems that reflect our summers in Maine. His editorial skill in producing our first sixteen issues of Upstate Dim Sum has added something special to many another poem, which forever carries additional resonance as a result of his juxtapositions with the work of Tom Clausen, Hilary Tann, or Yu himself.

Emblematic of Upstate Dim Sum (because it first appeared there), of my friendship with Yu, and of the present occasion, the following poem comes to mind:

marsh tide
turns around
a lily

Although not prone to produce on deadline (like so many other haiku poets I could name so often must do), John says:

In order to honor the occasion, I have attempted to produce a few overnight poems; something that Yu is known for accomplishing on a regular basis. It’s not my usual method, so I just hope that these are okay:

overnight
a few
fiercely red leaves

our two autumns
both of us
travelers

marsh explorers,
we bushwhack toward
the open water

…. by John Stevenson (written for Yu Chang’s 70th Birthday)

– Ed. Note: They’re definitely more than “okay,” John.  As is the photo you took of Yu kayaking that we’re using with this posting. Many thanks.

Ed Markowski has long admired Yu Chang’s work and has heard about him and his personality from me over the past few years.  Ed wanted to join our party today, and wrote a few poems this morning for Yu’s birthday.

seven decades
the glow of a wind resistant
birthday candle

70 today
father’s soft voice
still stops us

70
the birthday boy lays rubber
with the lawn tractor

. . . by Ed Markowski (for Yu Chang’s 70th Birthday)

update (Aug. 31, 2008): Ed kept celebrating even after Yu went to bed last night:

70 today
his finger traces a trail
through the icing

another year older
sunflowers frame
father’s smile

Most of my closest friends will be turning sixty in 2008 or 2009.  And, frankly, some of us approach that number with a bit of anxiety over what all this aging might mean for our physical and mental capabilities.  Seeing Yu at 70 gives me — and probably many others — a lot more hope about the possibilities for continuing to thrive as the decades slip by.

Here’s what Tom Clausen, another member with Yu in the 4-poet Rt. 9 Haiku Club, wrote in response to my request for poems to honor Yu’s 70th birthday:

“I am honestly shocked by your message… I had heard Yu had a big birthday coming up and was not sure what age he is, but assumed he was turning 60… he is so incredibly young spirited, playfully wonderful a person that it hardly seems possible he could be 70, not that any age has to be thought of any particular way!”

From Tom’s cache of haiku and senryu, he sent along quite a few to help celebrate Yu’s special birthday:

in the attic
an old sleeping bag
rolled with childhood

moonlight bright-
a young woman there
stands in the swing

out my childhood window
tree silhouettes
grown up

droning plane fades out… 
how little difference it makes
what age I am

flats of seeds
beginning-
meditation room

beach walking…
collecting pebbles
and letting them go

Milky Way-
a sprinkle of valley lights
way below

… by Tom Clausen and dedicated to his friend Yu Chang

Dagosan was up all night baking a virtual birthday cake, so he didn’t have much time to pen new poems.  These are offered with more than our usual humility:

71 candles
the smoke detector
sings along

photo after photo
he bends closer
to smell a rose

birthday party —
after dim sum
a little bocce

the stones chosen
the stones
not chosen

sharing the last
moon cake
autumn equinox

.. by dagosan (for Yu)

八 八 We all recently learned how lucky the number eight is in Chinese society. As Yu Chang begins his eighth decade, all of his friends, fans and loved ones wish him 8X8 luck and longevity, with gratitude for our good fortune in knowing this special man. Other haiku poets who want to join the party are invited to add greetings and/or poetry of their own (by email or in a Comment).

— Pass this Party to friends with this easy URL: http://tinyurl.com/YuChang70thBirthday

afterwords (Sept. 2, 2008): Yu’s friend and fellow Route-9er Hilary Tann was incommunicado while I was putting this post together, but just wrote in to send her greetings and good wishes to Yu.  Hilary offers this poem in tribute:

old friends –
sunlight plays
through the leaves

… by Hilary Tann – Upstate Dim Sum 6/II

Below the fold, Yu’s gift to us — a small sampler of his haiku and senryu. (Find many more by clicking the links on our Yu Chang Archive Page.

– Yu Chang – (Simply Haiku, Modern Haiga, Winter 2007) –

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. . Baseball Haiku at Chautauqua, June 26, 2008 . .

– see the 49-minute Roundtable on video at FORA.tv –

Has your game been rained out? Have storms or floods forced you indoors, too? Are you looking for a family- or workplace- safe video to watch at your computer this afternoon? Well, I suggest the 49-minute video of the Base Haiku Roundtable, from the Chautauqua Institution (June 26, 2008), available free online from FORA.tv.

I just discovered FORA.tv today (thanks to Ed Markowski), and it is a Prolific Playground for the Pensive Procrastinator. As they say on their About page:

FORA.tv delivers discourse, discussions and debates on the world’s most interesting political, social and cultural issues, and enables viewers to join the conversation. It provides deep, unfiltered content, tools for self-expression and a place for the interactive community to gather online.

After you’ve watched the Baseball Haiku video, savor some of the poems again, with this reprise from our June 28th recap of the Roundtable:

summer loneliness . . .
dropping the pop up
i toss to myself

… by Ed Markowski – Baseball Haiku (2007); pop up (tribe press, 2004)

biking to the field
under a cloudless sky
my glove on the handlebars

…. by Cor van den Heuvel – Baseball Haiku (2007) and Play Ball (Red Moon Press 1999)

at the produce stand
a kid with a baseball
plays catch with the awning

…. by Al Pizzarelli – from Baseball Haiku (2007); The Windswept Corner (2005)

rainy night
a hole in the radio
where a ballgame should be

…. by Ed Markowski – Baseball Haiku (2007); Games (2004)

Cor & Ed at the Roundtable (by Sara Etten)

through the blue sky
the tape-wrapped baseball trails
a black streamer

conference on the mound
the pitcher looks down
at the ball in his hand

..… by Cor van den Heuvel, from Baseball Haiku (2007) and Play Ball (Red Moon Press 1999)

late innings
the shortstop backpedals
into fireflies

summer haze
i pick off
the invisible man on first

“red hots!”
for an instant i’m ten
and
father’s still alive

April rain
my grandson practices
his infield chatter

………………………. by ed markowski – Baseball Haiku (2007)

game over
all the empty seats
turn blue

 

at shortstop
between innings
sparrows dust-bathing

the score keeper
peeks out of the scoreboard
spring rain

 

.. by Al Pizzarelli – from Baseball Haiku (2007)
“score keeper” – The Windswept Corner (2005)
“at shortstop” – Past Time (1999)

One more reminder to check out Ed Markowski’s free online brochure, “American Sports . . . American Haiku” (June 2008; cover), which has two dozen sports haiku and senryu that were compiled to celebrate the Sport in America week at Chautauqua.