what cranks the wheel
why we need to care
which way to hold an infant
how to wipe dry the tears
when to turn away an eye
whose hand to hold on a cliff
whatever happens in dreams
whichever flower to lay on a tomb
however a name sounds
whenever a manacle breaks
whosoever belongs to whom
where to bury endings
because wounds bleed
laughter crackles
smiles break walls
sobs thicken nights
giggles bring in the dawn
sighs stir cankered clouds
words breathe life to bones
wings shade a peregrine
ponds feed moonlight
I will brave the deep
vow on a mountain
promise with the galaxies
pledge on steel
believe moons stay
November 12, 2014
Posted by alee9 |
free verse, poetry, reflection | bones, clouds, dawn, endings, galaxies, giggles, manacle, moons, nights, peregrine, pond, test, verses, walls |
2 Comments

February 23, 2013
palm reader’s eyelashes my fortune in a hat pin
February 22, 2013
wall portraits—
I begin my yoga count
from the top
February 21, 2013
turtle pond
a girl shares unshelled
peanuts
February 20, 2013
first stanza . . .
the missing subject
is a snail
February 19, 2013
adrift
in a fishbowl . . .
stray moon
February 18, 2013
what if
beneath footfalls
an egg laid
February 17, 2013
always
a raindrop hangs on her gaze—
Black-eyed Susan
to read in succession the whole Cycle 14 click on DailyHaiku
on my blog roll and go to archives
Thank you for staying with me in this haiku journey
(artwork is mine from a doodle play on my iPod touch)
…
March 15, 2013
Posted by alee9 |
haiku, poetry | alegria imperial, Black-eyed Susan, DailyHaiku Cycle 14, egg, fishbowl, footfalls, fortune, haiku, moon, palm reader, peanuts, pond, portraits, raindrop, snail, stanza, subject, turtle, yoga |
4 Comments

haiga7 for haiga-a-day made with clip art on Microsoft Publisher
abducted fireflies
glowing in its eyes
frog
Another post for Rick Daddario’s haiga-a-day challenge at 19 Planets Art Blog, which I created from a clip art on Microsoft Publisher.
And what’s behind the image of the frog? This…
Noticing what could be unseen or merely imagined, magnifying the significance of what would be otherwise, some speck lost in the swarm of air particulates, this is what poetry, especially haiku, does to me. My mind cannot seem to work within limitations of space and time, or even sensations. What’s beyond a simple object in a single moment becomes a truth that breaks through thought barriers. Take the frog.
Basho has immortalized its break out of anonymity with his famous haiku, ‘old pond’. Reading it again and again, one steps into the monastic peace of an old pond until a frog that one hardly notices among stones, plops, and animates the peace with the sound of water. In a moment, the old pond turns into a universal moment of any moment that once was lifeless, suddenly, breathing from the unexpected.
My haiga is hardly a takeoff from Basho’s frog. It does not have the quietness of it, nor of the objective quality that identifies the poet as the observer but in whose mind, reality is arranged into three lines that total into a truth. While an observation as well, mine is less objective in that I state what I suppose in what I see, namely, the glow in a frog’s eye–seen especially in the dark. Knowing what it feeds on, I imagine fireflies and connect it with that glow. In reality, it is far-fetched as we know that anything creatures eat ends up far from the eyes, in the stomach. If a glow ever shows in the eye, it is that of satisfaction. But what I have done here, or think so, anyway, is tweak reality and made it slide into poetic thought, some other truth.
September 16, 2011
Posted by alee9 |
comment, haiga, haiku, poetry, reflection | 19 Planets Art blog, alegria imperial, Basho, clip art, creatures, Daily life, Daily wage, dark, eyes, fireflies, frog, haiga-a-day, haiku, haiku moment, jornales, Microsoft Publisher, objective, peace, pond, reality, Rick Daddario, sensations, sound of water, space, stomach, stones, time, unexpected, universal moment |
4 Comments

heron at lake courtesy of wikicommons
me to Shiki:
how far can i go
with haiku?
his possible answers
heron equals
stillness
***
stillness–
we break the rules
***
nothing moves in the pond–
turtle
***
plum tree–
only when it blooms
***
only lotus flowers
in the pond
***
wind to bamboo:
how far
can whispers go?
May 28, 2011
Posted by alee9 |
haiku, poetry | alegria imperial, bamboo, Daily wage, frog, haiku, haiku moment, heron, jornales, lotus flowers, pond, Shiki, stillness, turtle, whispers, wind |
12 Comments

heron at lake courtesy of wikicommons
me to Shiki:
how far can i go
with haiku?
(his possible answers)
heron equals being still
***
stillness–
we break the rules
***
not a stir in the pond–
turtle
***
cherry blossoms–
what’s wrong with fruits?
***
plum tree
only when it blooms
***
the jade Buddha laughs
long after sunset
***
wind to bamboo:
how far
can whispers go?
April 26, 2011
Posted by alee9 |
haiku, poetry, Uncategorized | alegria imperial, bamboo, Bhuddha, blooms, cherry blossoms, Daily wage, fruits, haiku, heron, jade, jornales, plum tree, pond, rules, Shiki, stillness, sunset, turtle, whispers, wind |
Leave a comment
1.
stillness–
the lotus the pond
and the sky
2.
rain
on tear-stained cheeks
cleansing over and over
March 30 NahaiWriMo profile (facebook)
Wish you were here!
Today, I’ll be with Vicki McCullough, Jessica Tremblay and Angela Naccarato–we of the Vancouver Haiku Group–and YES, Michael Dylan Welch at Van Dusen Gardens here in Vancouver, BC for the opening of Sakura Japan Days. We have a table for haiku enthusiasts or for those just curious at the Floral Hall. We expect to follow ginko walks with Michael as well as lead some ourselves. He will be on stage for a haiku reading tomorrow. I’ll be there again tomorrow. We also expect to pin on a wall curtain selected haiku we’ve written on Japan.
Wish you were here!
April 2, 2011
Posted by alee9 |
haiku, poetry | alegria imperial, bird songs, Daily life, Daily wage, facebook profile, haiku, haiku moment, Japan, jornales, lotus, NaHaiWriMo, National Haiku Writing Month, pond, Sakura Days, sky, spring, stillness, Van Dusen Gardens, Vancouver BC |
4 Comments
abducted fireflies (haiga7 for 19 Planets Art Blog)
haiga7 for haiga-a-day made with clip art on Microsoft Publisher
abducted fireflies
glowing in its eyes
frog
Another post for Rick Daddario’s haiga-a-day challenge at 19 Planets Art Blog, which I created from a clip art on Microsoft Publisher.
And what’s behind the image of the frog? This…
Noticing what could be unseen or merely imagined, magnifying the significance of what would be otherwise, some speck lost in the swarm of air particulates, this is what poetry, especially haiku, does to me. My mind cannot seem to work within limitations of space and time, or even sensations. What’s beyond a simple object in a single moment becomes a truth that breaks through thought barriers. Take the frog.
Basho has immortalized its break out of anonymity with his famous haiku, ‘old pond’. Reading it again and again, one steps into the monastic peace of an old pond until a frog that one hardly notices among stones, plops, and animates the peace with the sound of water. In a moment, the old pond turns into a universal moment of any moment that once was lifeless, suddenly, breathing from the unexpected.
My haiga is hardly a takeoff from Basho’s frog. It does not have the quietness of it, nor of the objective quality that identifies the poet as the observer but in whose mind, reality is arranged into three lines that total into a truth. While an observation as well, mine is less objective in that I state what I suppose in what I see, namely, the glow in a frog’s eye–seen especially in the dark. Knowing what it feeds on, I imagine fireflies and connect it with that glow. In reality, it is far-fetched as we know that anything creatures eat ends up far from the eyes, in the stomach. If a glow ever shows in the eye, it is that of satisfaction. But what I have done here, or think so, anyway, is tweak reality and made it slide into poetic thought, some other truth.
September 16, 2011 Posted by alee9 | comment, haiga, haiku, poetry, reflection | 19 Planets Art blog, alegria imperial, Basho, clip art, creatures, Daily life, Daily wage, dark, eyes, fireflies, frog, haiga-a-day, haiku, haiku moment, jornales, Microsoft Publisher, objective, peace, pond, reality, Rick Daddario, sensations, sound of water, space, stomach, stones, time, unexpected, universal moment | 4 Comments