my stone soup haiku as Carlos Colon ‘concretized’ it (yet another NaHaiWriMo moment)
watingtobouncetoaboil stone soup ….my haiku at NaHaiWriMo in response to the food prompt of Judith Gorgone had so stimulated responses from fellow haiku writers, some on what to throw into the soup, but most especially on how the haiku might be turned into a concrete (innovative) poem by multi-published haiku poet, Carlos Colon. I had earlier posted my interpretation of a suggestion he posted on the comment space for my haiku at NaHaiWriMo and here two posts down. Here’s his, or what I had imagined but couldn’t quite figure out how to do it. I just love it, and I’m sure you would, too! An extra note on what happens at NaHaiWriMo: gained friends like Carlos whom I wouldn’t have met in an ordinary ‘mortal ‘ way. Friends who care genuinely. Or would this sort of collaboration have happened? Gratitude, Carlos, is a word that means much more it reads or sounds.
From NaHaiWriMo: my random February haiku selection (the first year anniversary)
We, members of the NaHaiWriMo community at facebook had a blast last month to celebrate one year of writing a haiku a day. Yes, It’s been a year since. Most of us have stayed (I took a break twice for a few weeks). I can say how much I’ve learned about haiku while drawing out my ‘haiku voice’. What worked for me is its kukai-like format where we responded to a prompt everyday. But unlike the other kukai I join (Shiki, Caribbean and Sketchbook) that gives some time for a writer to compose a haiku, at NaHaiWriMo, the window is only 24 hours. And once a post is shared, the reading as well as the ‘like’ or the silence and a comment, if merited, also appears just as fast. The energy has worked for me. I’ve gained the discipline I’ve always worked at. I’ve gained friends and kindred spirits, too! Most of all, I know more of haiku now than the years I tried to learn it on my own. Above all, I think I’m writing better haiku; proof of it is the increasing acceptance of my submissions in haiku journals. Do this random selection of my ‘anniversary posts’ last month on prompts by Michael Dylan Welch read better? Oh yes, I haven’t pared down my posts to one, but to two haiku from the three and more everyday last year. Honestly, I haven’t reviewed my files for fear of an avalanche! I hope you enjoy this selection and if you do, come over at NaHaiWriMo and give it a try. You can blame me if you stay.
#29/02/12 (leap/leap year)
spring gust
and i but a wave leaping
to touch the sky
#28/02/12 (haiku generator)
haiku gen:
arrows seduce, strut
deliveryman quacks, meaty
pure dogs extrude, cool
mine:
deliveryman struts
into a flock of ducks
missing zip code
#27/02/12 (bad, ‘huh!’ haiku)
email subject ‘none’
squiggles on blank screen
dancing a Swan Lake
…and I had the gall to submit these to Peggy Willis Lyles (The Heron’s Nest) who sweetly sent them back with a note, ‘pass on this one’ and more to succeeding submission calls (without fail) always 15 per suite of these ‘huh’ or ‘yikes’ haiku, none of which worked until she died.
#24/02/12 (x)
spread-eagle
ticklish below his navel
the Center of Man
#23/02/12 (wig)
through a wig
grazing her sparse brow
first smile
#21/02/12 (umbrella)
umbrella
this tight
our crossed-eyes
#20/02/12 (talus)
talus
winds blast to dust
its face and mine
#19/902/12 (sandals)
his unshod feet
the redolence
of her perfumed tears
#18/02/12 (rattle)
still bush
a rattling
as it uncoils
#17/02/12 (queue)
downpour
a thickened queue
at the quay
#14/02/12 (nachos)
Nacho Supreme
not quite the red roses
she wanted
#13/02/12 (mountain)
Sierra Madre mist
our highways to nowhere
#12/02/12 (laundry)
white lies
doused with stain remover
i lose count
#09/02/12 (ice)
so hollow
his icy voice
on a glass
#08/02/12 (hat)
the mime
unfolds his hat
a falcon soars
#07/02/12 (grief)
lingering wail
hers or a mourning dove’s?