Three haiku were also published in Presence, Issue #62, 2018:
1.
dreams lost in dreams wild poppies
Field of Poppies, Photographer Unknown
2.
“Snow” by gookingsword (Pixabay)
deep in winter
abandoned nests
and forgotten songs
3.
waking from a dream
the night winds
unsettle the moon
Photo by Kenrick Mills on Unsplash
It is always an honor to appear in Pamela A. Babusci’s Moonbathing, a Journal of Women’s Tanka. The high level of quality tanka in this bi-annual journal by some of the best women writers of tanka make it a journal to read again and again.
Moonbathing, a journal of women’s tanka, Issue 17, November 2017
your dark self—
that side
hidden
away like
a new moon
One of my very favorite poetry journals, hedgerow, a journal of small poems, published this haiku in their print issue #122. Isn’t the cover picture gorgeous?
new year moon—
looking backward
looking forward
My thanks to Caroline Skanne, the poet/editor behind this lovely journal.
This is #3 of the three photo haiga published in the March issue of faileD haikU, a Journal of English Senryu, Volume 1, Issue 3, edited by Michael Rehling. A bit of nursery rhyme whimsy in this one.
Note: this beautiful photo is in the public domain free use category. The senryu is by Mary Kendall.
Starry Sky (c) Kayaga
how could the moon
show its face
without light
…how could the stars
sing us songs?
Full Moon of the Winter Solstice (c) 2010 Martin Liebermann
As I post this, it is the morning of the winter solstice of 2015. Where I live in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, the winter solstice officially happens tonight at 11:49 pm, EST. Wherever YOU are, it will happen at a different hour or perhaps the same. Readers of this blog come from all over the world–one of the joys in blogging is seeing the list of countries of readers–and I love imagining the moon going through its magical phases for each of you. Tonight, the solstice. Later this week, a full moon. What more could we want?
These are some of my earliest haiku:
WINTER MOON HAIKU
First published on Poets Online (c) Mary Kendall
Later used as lyrics in “Winter Moon” by Paul Carey, a piece for women’s chorus in (c) 2011.
night snow
boughs dreaming
of first blossoms
Fog filled woods~
even the winter moon
has lost its way
a winter walk
footprints
tell no tales
the blue moon
silently closes the door
upon the year
In the past five months I have been studying my much beloved tanka, haiku and small poems in order to become a better writer. Writers–and poets–need to keep growing as they go. As part of my interest in these lovely small poem forms, I have joined a number of exception online groups of poets who post their own writing. On several of the sites, “prompts” are given and sometimes a picture is given. People respond as they wish or not. Often comments are given. I can’t tell you what a thrill it is to get a “like” or even a comment by one of these poets who are so gifted and accomplished tanka and/or haiku poets, but even without the ‘likes,’ it feels wonderful to be a little more confident about sharing poems publicly. This morning, I’m posting several tanka I wrote this week to specific prompts.
~
1 [prompt: celebration of color]
Photograph (c) Kristin Sanderson
scribbles
of scarlet red
in the shrubs—
two cardinals
take flight
~
Photography (c) by Cab Treadway
cloud masquerade
tonight—
the moon is hidden
from your
wanton gaze
~
3 [prompt: how you share your journey]
old cobblestones
so hard to cross—
without speaking
I take your arm
and we walk on
~
4 [prompt: flutes..music…]
sweet song
hidden in the plum tree–
a nightengale
gives itself
away
~
