my ‘precious stones’ haiku thread on Sketchbook February 2012
It’s been quite a whirl for me as I tried to keep up with submissions and still failed to meet some including that of Sketchbook for February. These pieces for the haiku thread, in fact, got to the editor’s inbox a day after the deadline. I marked it as another flop but John Daleiden had kindly put it in…Working on the next deadline for April 19 now: ‘pond life’ for the haiku thread and ‘swing’ for the kukai. Check out Sketchbook from my blogroll.
1.
midnight sky
the glint of sapphire
on wet leaves
2.
first meeting
her opal smoothness
in a handshake
3.
diamond stud
rooting on her chin
unsaid words
4.
her eyes
on the emerald display case
mid-sea calm
5.
bishop’s ring
i kiss a ruby stain
on the martyr’s relic
6.
waning moon
the scent of topaz
fainter
7.
an onyx heart
in grandma’s jewelry box
hidden crescent
8.
the sultan taps
the serpent’s sapphire eyes
ceremonial belt
9.
champagne cabochon
her tears as he slips his mom’s
wedding ring in hers
10.
candle fingers
the snake’s garnet scales
wraps her pinky
Three of my favorite ‘insect’ haiku…
dragonfly
from stalk to stalk–
moonrise
trying my way
through yours—
Monarch butterfly
shifting light–
the truth about black
in this spider
…of the others in the ten published at Sketchbook 6-4 July August 2011 haiku thread. Again, I can’t seem to apply any haiku quality in any of these, except of course, that they’re written in three lines–though not in 5/7/5 syllables, which Michael DW has long debunked–and I believe present two images/thoughts not necessarily complementing each other but serving as a counterpoint for each other in what’s identified as ‘juxtaposition’ in haiku writing. I’ve posted here some reflections on my haiku but lately I seem unable to. I leave these three for now hoping they could stand on their own as haiku or poem should if they are good, that is. What do you think?
My voted haiku and haiku ranked ‘with merit’ in Sketchbook 6-4 July-August 2011
Sketchbook 6-4 July-August 2011 haiku kukai ‘starry night’
Forty-one poets from 15 countries contributed 111 poems to this kukai. A kukai is a peered review poetry contest wherein a haiku Topic is assigned by the editor. An ‘anonymized’ list of submitted haiku is then distributed to all participating poets and they are invited to vote. Votes are returned to the editor who tallies the votes and publishes the haiku for the participants, this time with names and points revealed. The following haiku that placed 7th (tied with 5 others) is one of three haiku I submitted and published.
opaque windows—
we dwell on remnants
of starry nights
Haiku thread: ‘insect’
Forty-three poets from 13 countries contributed 273 poems to Sketchbook 6-7 July-August 2011 haiku thread with the kigo ‘insect’. Two of ten I submitted and published were ranked among others as’haiku with merit’ by editor John Daleiden, which he arranged into sequences under the following titles:
The Carriers (with 6 other haiku)
crossing
our invisible bridges–
army ants
Dawn to the Light (with four other poems)
summer wind–
our thoughts imitating moths
circling the light
I feel honored and delighted! I hope they, too, entertain you. But to read the more outstanding haiku in this issue, access Sketchbook 6-4 July-August 2011 on the web.
autumn wind (correction 11/09)
autumn wind–
the chapel door
closes early
by Alegria Imperial
7th place Sketchbook 5 SeptOct kukai
(Checkout the haiku thread as well–a lot of great haiku from poets of 70 countries who participated. Correction: 70 poems sent with 27 voted on/posted from poets of 10 countries)
Sometimes, a haiku moment just crystallizes. I must have been quite stilled when this one slipped in. But of course, just as swiftly, such a moment has sort of vanished and I’m fumbling through some lines again.