Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Dan Franch & Elmedin Kadric:
Wednesday Haiku, #230




Two-faced moon,
I thought I
knew better

Dan Franch



 Photo by ardfile


sunset...
the same color
loneliness

Elmedin Kadric




 
it seems to wash
the summer mountains...
sunrise 
Issa
translated by David G. Lanoue



best,
Don
PS  Click to learn how to contribute to Wednesday Haiku 

Sunday, August 7, 2016

The crane screeches, the cicada's cry: Deep Mystery in the Haiku of Bashō

Photo by Castlelass


In loving memory of the Jane Reichhold, who, among her many accomplishments, is her English language translation of 

------------------------------------



     The crane screeches:
At its voice
     The bashō will surely tear

                         Bashō
                         Translated by R. H. Blyth



In my morning reading (Haiku, v. 4, R. H. Blyth), I ran across the above Bashō poem which I didn't remember but which struck me immediately. It put me in mind of the more famous Bashō poem:


Quietness--
Sinking into the rocks,
A cicada's cry

        Bashō
        Translated by Makota Ueda


Some translations go so far as to say piercing the rock(s), which heightens the mystery inherent in the poem. What struck me here is the relationship between these two pieces, the first a touch more literal, the second, more famous poem, perhaps closer to the mystery.


And what of the mystery? The less said, the more realized? Perhaps the poems are each transcendent moments or, in this case, two moments sharing a certain otherness?


Thinking on these things, I took a break for breakfast, and began reading a review of a book on, believe or not, camping. In the book, as noted by the reviewer, the author made a rather a limp joke referencing one of Leonard Cohen's most famous verses:


Ring the bells that still can ring 
Forget your perfect offering 
There is a crack in everything 
That's how the light gets in. 


Bad joke or not, as so often happens in my morning reading, the bell rang ... again and again and again.


Leonard Cohen's "Anthem."






my cracked teacup
like Buddha on display...
plum blossoms

             Issa
             trans. by David G. Lanoue



best, 
Don

PS Click to learn how to contribute to Wednesday Haiku. Here you will find Jane Reichhold's contribution.

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

With a Deepening Presence Book Launch Party, Saturday, July 16th, & The Trouble with Poets, a Film by Tom Weber, Friday, July 15th


This Saturday, July 16th, at the Irma Freeman Center for Imagination, from 7:30 to 9:30, is the launch of With a Deepening Presence. Books will be available for purchase and signing. Presence will be sold at the special reading price of $8.

Reading will be Kristofer CollinsChristine Starkey, Che EliasScott Pyle, Rosaly Roffman, Bart Solarczyk, Bob Ziller and myself. Food and drinks (water, beer) will be provided. 

If you can't make it (or even if can), I'll be reading the night before at the screening of Tom Weber's film, The Trouble with Poets, at Pittsburgh Filmakers (477 Melwood Avenue, Pittsburgh), from 6:30 to 9:30 pm.

The Filmmakers reading will be a general overview of my work. The launch reading will focus on the new book and a raft of all new poems never performed before. So, two nights, two very different readings.

Hope to see you at one or the other, or both.




yanking a radish
taking a tumble ...
little boy

Issa
translated by David G. Lanoue

best,
Don

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Gloria Jaguden & Dennis Garvey: Wednesday Haiku, #229




oval moon
its woman's face
waiting

Gloria Jaguden





 

daylight moon
wearing a shroud
for just this instant

Dennis Garvey




 


which of you owns
that red moon
children?

Issa
translated by David G. Lanoue



best,
Don
PS  Click to learn how to contribute to Wednesday Haiku 

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Patrick Sweeney & Chen-ou Liu: Wednesday Haiku, #228




Chess between adepts
persimmons on
a leafless tree

Patrick Sweeney


Photo by Brendan Adkins



the whiteness
of a cold moon ...
you, slanted eyes

Chen-ou Liu



Photo by Joe Stump



in cherry blossom shade
there are even those
who hate this world

Issa
translated by David G. Lanoue



best,
Don
PS  Click to learn how to contribute to Wednesday Haiku  

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Helen Buckingham & Susan Constable: Wednesday Haiku, #227

 Photo by Gabor

winter's end
snowdrops ticker-tape
the hedgerows

Helen Buckingham

 

 Photo by Schwarzkaefer

a caterpillar
on the palm of my hand
soft autumn light

Susan Constable


Photo by Mez Love


winter rain--
too many strings bend
the chrysanthemum

Issa
translated by David G. Lanoue

best,
Don
PS  Click to learn how to contribute to Wednesday Haiku 
 

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Bart Solarcyzk & Chen-ou Liu: Wednesday Haiku, #226

Photo by Walter A. Aue


going  back
    to say goodbye
                 tomorrow
     Bart Solarcyzk 
 
 

Photo by Vern


summer's end
my footprints in the sand
a little deeper

     Chen-ou Liu


 Photo by davebloggs007



tomorrow morning
a humdrum river beach again?
summer moon

Issa
trans. by David G. Lanoue



best,
Don

PS  Click to learn how to contribute to Wednesday Haiku 

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Sondra J. Bynes & Kalyana Hapsari: Wednesday Haiku, #225

Photo by Philip Chapman-Bell



he didn't leave a message--watching cottonwood fluff fall up
                                   Sondra J. Byrnes


Photo by Laura Lewis



candle light dinner 
lipstick on her wine glass 
glistens 
      Kalyana Hapsari


Photo by Kristy Hom


cotton fluff scatters--
little thicket, little shrine
little ditch
Issa
trans. by David G. Lanoue



best,
Don

PS  Click to learn how to contribute to Wednesday Haiku