Summer Poetry Swap

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What a joy to receive the day’s mail and find a trove of poetic treasures from Irene Latham. Thoughtful and clever, Irene had been to my website, so everything she sent had special meaning just for me. I had written a “Why I’m Here” poem, so she wrote a “Why I’m Here Poem” too–about me! She knows I am a huge fan of haiku, so she used one of my haiku to write two new haiku, using a line or two from mine and adding a new line or two of hers. It’s a brilliant exercise she found in a book titled Write Your Own Haiku for Kids by Patricia Donegan.

Here’s my haiku:

always
one step ahead
sidewalk sparrow

Here are Irene’s:

always
one step ahead
crabgrass

traffic snarls
in front of hotdog stand
sidewalk sparrow

Irene turned the haiku into calling cards and slipped them into a sweet bowl I now have by my door. I dream of adding to the pile and giving them to friends who stop by. Over the summer I read in the Haiku Handbook (by William Higginson and Penny Harter) that  haiku writers used to include haiku in their letters to one another–to tell each other how they were. I love that.

Thank you Irene, for giving me a special treat this summer and congratulations on your wonderful book Can I Touch Your Hair, written with Charles Waters, and your many new books coming soon! And thank you Tabatha Yeatts for organizing another wonderful swap and reminding us that poetry is a gift and that we are part of a beautiful community that gives so generously.

Mary Lee has the Poetry Friday round-up today.

Happy Summer!

Liz

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Golden Triangle Haiku

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now here’s something that doesn’t happen everyday. Each spring the Golden Triangle Business Improvement District runs a haiku contest and then prints the winning entries and many, many honorable mentions on signs and posts them in tree boxes all over the neighborhood. They are literally beautifying the neighborhood with poetry. I love that they are putting poetry out in the world where people can see it during the course of their day. I love that they do this in March just before spring really arrives. The haiku are like the earliest flowers, helping us wait just a few more weeks for the daffodils and tulips. I want to thank the Golden Triangle BID for celebrating the city, spring, and haiku. I encourage you to follow the link to read the wonderful haiku. I also want to thank the store Shop Made in DC for having my haiku on their window. I love being part of a store that celebrates local makers by selling their work and hosting their events. The store sells fabulous jewelry, ceramics, clothing, cards, etc. And chocolate! Did I mention the chocolate? I’m feeling super appreciative!

For more Poetry Friday fun, visit Michelle at Today’s Little Ditty.

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Winter Puppy Haiku

Ray Heus

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

puppy walk
stopping to sniff
the falling snow

 

I love reading Jama Rattigan’s gorgeous blog Alphabet Soup. She recommends wonderful books, cooks delicious (looking) foods, and takes beautiful pictures that generally include some very cute bears. I also love following Jama on Facebook because she posts lovely pictures that brighten my day. Often they are from children’s books, but not always. In December Jama posted this painting by Ray Heus. I loved it at first sight. I took a screen shot and saved it to my computer desktop so I could look at it from time to time. Last week I wrote this haiku inspired by it.

Happy Poetry Friday! Kay McGriff has the roundup today.

 

Correction: When I originally posted, I misattributed the work of art. I now understand the print was made by Ray Heus, who was influenced by Kawase Hasui. I apologize for the error.

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A Few Haiku

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sidewalk race–
the boy slows to watch his sister
pull away

 

some sun–
his sister agrees to play
the wolf

 

flying home–
seeing the shadows
for what they are

 

I’ve had good luck with my haiku this year. I’ve managed to place a handful in a variety of wonderful journals. Notably, at least half were accepted by the second or third place I sent them. Still, some of my favorites have come back unaccepted time and time again. The three above fall into this category. Oh well. I hope you don’t mind my sharing them here with you.

I also want to mention that Kwame Alexander was on the Kojo Nnamdi Show on NPR yesterday with Heidi Powell, the manager of the children and teens’ department at my very own local book store, Politics and Prose. Their conversation about kids’ books and poetry and diversity in children’s literature was interesting and entertaining. It’s certainly worth a listen. Kwame and Heidi also posted summer reading lists.

I hope you are enjoying the summer and have a great 4th of July!

For more Poetry Friday, please visit Heidi at My Juicy Little Universe.

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City Life

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today I have one for the kids and one for the grown ups.

 

city life
the birds take a bath
in the gutter

 

Wall Street
the birds take a bath
in the gutter

 

© Elizabeth Steinglass, 2014, all rights reserved

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Haiku

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wishes floating
                        on a breath
land
on earth
                                      dandelion fluff

 

© Elizabeth Steinglass, 2014, all rights reserved

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Spring Haiku

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spring sun
the fence blossoms
with coats

 

spring surprise
      it’s snowing
           soft pink petals

 

rock collecting
I pocket a smooth black egg
with stripes of magic

 

It’s National Haiku Day so of course I wanted to write and post a few haiku. Perhaps you’re wondering how the photo connects to the poems. Whenever I go for walks, I take pictures of anything that catches my eye. Later, if I’m not sure what to write about, I look at my photos for inspiration.

© Elizabeth Steinglass, 2014, all rights reserved

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Cherry Blossoms

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I lose my pen
among the petals…
cherry blossoms

 

How foolish it is to try to write a haiku about cherry blossoms, but how can one resist?

© Elizabeth Steinglass, 2014, all rights reserved

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Haiku Friday

I've been working on a haiku about these seedpods but I don't quite have it. Want to give it a try?

I’ve been working on a haiku about these seedpods but I don’t quite have it.
Want to give it a try?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Every so often, I set aside a day, or a few, to write haiku. I love that they require me to slow down and attend to the world around me. Haiku are about our immediate experience of the physical world. They are different from so many other forms because they don’t generally use rhyme or metaphor or other poetic tools. The writer is not supposed to interpret the experience for the reader—just transport the reader, so the reader can have the experience too. In a way the writer is supposed to make herself invisible. But, not really. The writer is, of course, present in the moment she chooses to share and in the way she constructs the experience for the reader. I’m not even sure it’s quite correct to say haiku doesn’t use metaphor—sometimes the metaphor seems to lie in the unstated connection between the two parts of the poem and sometimes the whole poem feels like a metaphor.

My very favorite aspect of haiku is the inference. The reader must infer the meaning, which the writer does not state. It is the unsaid that I find endlessly intriguing.

 
Today I thought I would share some of haiku of mine that have been published recently. Another nice thing about writing haiku is that there are a handful of journals that accept and publish them regularly, so haiku poets have opportunities to share. I highly recommend all of these publications for reading and for submitting. The Heron’s Nest and A Hundred Gourds are available on-line. Frogpond and Acorn are gorgeous, paper journals.

 

icicles…
keeping time
until the end

The Heron’s Nest, Vol. XVI: No. 1, March 2014

 

snow field
the earth marked
by fallen angels

Frogpond, Vol. 36:3, Autumn 2013
Third Place, Harold G Henderson Memorial Award, Haiku Society of America

 

measuring
  the length
    of my solitude
inchworm

A Hundred Gourds, Vol 3:2, March 2014

 

sending ripples
through the clouds…
water strider

Acorn, Fall 2013

 

 

For more Poetry Friday, visit the rogue anthropologist!

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Christmas Cookie Haiku

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eating the tree
before decorating it—
holiday traditions

 

sweet greenery—
wreaths welcome
to the tongue

 

decorated reindeer—
Rudolph’s nose
goes first

 

buttons
missing jackets—
gingerbread kids

 

ornaments
never meant for the tree
iced baubles

 

These haiku were inspired by Robyn Hood Black’s wonderful haiku series, “We Haiku Here,” and Laura’s delicious post at Author Amok last Friday in honor of National Cookie Day!

For more Poetry Friday, visit Tabatha Yeatts at The Opposite of Indifference.

Happy Holidays!

© Elizabeth Steinglass, 2013, all rights reserved.

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