Albert Huffstickler's Soul Gallery

An early chapbook by Albert Huffstickler, entitled Soul Gallery, has appeared on Scribd, so I thought I would share it with you all since so many folks love Huff's work. Soul Gallery was originally published by Bard Press back in 1987. The first poem, "Unshed Tears," is pure Huff, reflective of many of the fine works which he would write in succeeding years.

Here is one of my favorite poems of Huff's which was published in Lilliput Review, #91 and has made an appearance or two in this blog over the years. It is seasonal and this is the season, so I once again cannot resist the beauty of its shared wisdom:

And you too shall
pass, the autumn
tells me, shaking
its leaves
in my face.

Albert Huffstickler

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In the recent Bashô Challenge update, I mentioned that Jim Kacian of red moon press was going to generously donate 5 poetry volumes to serve as additional prizes for the five runner-up poems in the Challenge. The volumes have arrived and here they are:

Ksana by john martone

john is one of the, if not the, preeminent master of haiku in America today. This volume collects scads of the small self-produced booklets of work that recipients cherish. Simply, a masterpiece.

white lies: The Red Moon Anthology of English Language Haiku, 2008, edited by Jim Kacian and the Red Moon Editorial Staff.

Divided into 3 major sections - haiku/senryu, linked forms, and essays - this annual volume features some the finest purveyors of haiku writing in English today. Included are Fay Aoyagi, Roberta Beary (last year's Bashô Challenge winner), Tom Clausen, LeRoy Gorman, Ruth Holzer, paul m., ed markowski, Tom Painting, John Stevenson, George Swede, James Tipton, Cor van den Heuvel, and many more. Not to be missed.

A New Resonance, 6: Emerging Voices in English-Language Haiku, edited by Jim Kacian and Dee Evetts

These future voices are, of course, actually the voices of now. Regular readers of Lilliput will recognize many of these names, including Andrea Grillo, Jeff Stillman, and Richard Straw.

A Future Waterfall: 100 Haiku from the Japanese by Ban'ya Natsuishi

The second revised edition by the award winning poet. Included are 5 essays plus one interview. This is unique work by a innovative purveyor of haiku: "Sucking in the blue sky / a cicada hole / disappears"

A String Untouched: Dag Hammarskjöld's Life in Haiku and Photographs by Kai Falkman

This is selection of 50 haiku with photographs by Dag Hammarskjöld, translated with exegesis and biographical details by Kai Falkman. Hammarskjöld was one of the preeminent diplomats of the 20th century and the only person to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize after his death, whose book "Markings" was a worldwide bestseller. A fascinating and unique approach to the life and work.

These 5 books will be given away in addition to the 1st prize volume, Bashō and His Interpreters: Selected Hokku with Commentary, edited by Makoto Ueda. For additional information, please see the 2nd Annual Bashô Haiku Challenge.


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This week's featured issue from the Lilliput Review archive is #157, from August 2007. Here are the 4 poems from the opening 2 pages. Enjoy.





gentle,
the wish of not to wish

Sean Perkins

half
a snail-
shell

full
of earth

John Martone

July 23, Sunday

the butterfly
a Tiger Swallowtail
pale yellow
with black stripes
scorched down her wings
nestles in between
the petals of all
the six-stalked
scarlet day-
lilies blossoming
in the garden

Robert Schuler

just squeeze into
----hollow sycamore
--------& close my eyes

John Martone

And, of course, last word to the master:

garden butterfly--
the child crawls, it flies
crawls, it flies...

Issa
translated by David G. Lanoue

best,
Don