Daryl Nielsen & Elizabeth Crocket: Wednesday Haiku, #224

 Illustration by Helen Stratton

evening image                    
on the lake’s surface
boy that still is

        Daryl Nielsen

Photo by G. dallorto

 
their headstone
whispering out loud
the news they'd want to hear

        Elizabeth Crocket

Photo by Virginia State Park Staff

the lake is slowly
lost in mist...
evening falls

Issa
trans. by David G. Lanoue

best,
Don

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Chen-ou Liu & Daryl Nielsen: Wednesday Haiku, #215

Photo by April Schultz

 
the river
swollen with spring ...
her stretchmarks

Chen-ou Liu

Photo by Willrad von Doomenstein

honeysuckle
through an open window
mother’s last breath

Daryl Nielsen

high noon--
the reed thrush sings
to a silent river

Issa
trans. by David G. Lanoue

best,
Don

PS  Click to learn how to contribute to Wednesday Haiku

Daryl Nielsen & Susan Constable: Wednesday Haiku, #208

Listen here

first thought
best thought
nothing in-between

Daryl Nielsen

Photo by Tuncy

winter solstice     
I watch my shadow
climb the wall

Susan Constable

Photo by Stefan Ramsaier

speaking
this day's deepest thoughts...
poppies

Issa
trans. by David G. Lanoue

best,
Don

PS  Click to learn how to contribute to Wednesday Haiku 

Daryl Nielsen & Ramesh Anand: Wednesday Haiku, #191

Photo by victoryismine

just stuff people do
'tween cherry blossoms
and snowfall

Daryl Nielsen

 Photo by Sarah Elzas



sound of the conch
stirs the autumn dusk
last rites

Ramesh Anand

 Photo by Wendy Cutler

deutzia blossoms--
the children play
funeral

Issa
translated by David G. Lanoue

best,
Don

PS  Click to learn how to contribute to Wednesday Haiku.

Patrick Sweeney & Daryl Nielsen: Wednesday Haiku, #188

Photo by Arjun Gopalratnam

bone yellow moon
my father's teeth
outlived him

Patrick Sweeney

Artwork by Elizabeth Shippen Green

your living room
the hundred thousand miles
forgotten

Daryl Nielsen

Photo by Ari Moore via foter

imitating others
hardening their teeth...
tofu for me

Issa
translated by David G. Lanoue

best,
Don

PS  Click to learn how to contribute to Wednesday Haiku

Lynne Rees & Daryl Nielsen: Wednesday Haiku, #186

Photo by sunchild57 via foter

country churchyard
the grass no greener
on the other side
of the wall

Lynne Rees

 

Photo by Priyambada Nath via foter

dawn comes again
in the ten thousand byways
spring rain

Daryl Nielsen

Photo by Alden Jewell via foter

at dawn
deep in the rain
a lark is singing

Issa
translated by David G. Lanoue

best,
Don

PS  Click to learn how to contribute to Wednesday Haiku

ayaz daryl nielsen: tumbleweeds still tumbling: Small Press Friday

Ayaz Daryl Nielsen is a poet and long time editor of bear creek haiku (20 plus years, 100 issues and counting). He has but recently entered the electronic publication game with a very promising bear creek haiku blog.

In addition, he has also published his first book of haiku, pictured above: haiku: tumbleweeds still tumbling. With over 80 poems packed into this modest little volume, the reader has a nice cross-section of Daryl's approach and sensibility. I've selected a handful to give you a feel for what he's about - a couple of these originally appeared in Lilliput Review, if my memory is to be trusted. 

alone dusk
  enters my living room
      forgets to leave

Like a guest who overstays his welcome, dusk drops in with its own sensibility, one which feels rather foreboding. Of course, others might disagree. And then there is Emily What's-Her-Name.

garter snake
   on my front porch -
       what news, friend

In the haiku tradition, this poem splits into two parts. Many a poet might have written the first two lines, but how many would have come up with the last? The compassion of Master Issa seems to be smiling through. Of course, there is also her nibs again.

their red door
of correct feng shui
always closed

Though this at first seems less than generous, one must consider the poet might have written "of incorrect feng shui"; as is, it feels to me more a poem of observation than judgment, as it should be.

 

shifting wind

the coyote's raised foreleg

motionless

In my world, the world of a poet, everyday I seem to run into the perfect poem, only it's always written by someone else. Nature, intelligence, sensation, life, death ... and a chilling still life of a different sort. A lot to pack into 3 lines.

my old dog sprawls
across the open doorway
neither in nor out

Revealed here is the core mystery of all existence - can you see it? Can anyone see it? It's there, to be sure, as it is all around us. But do we see it?


Not so much, not as such.


haiku tumbleweeds still tumbling is available in a number of ways - from amazon, for the low price of $5.38, or directly from the author, who I'm sure will be happy to sign it for you. You can contact him at darylayaz AT me DOT com (reading AT for @ and DOT for .).


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

in this world you're a snake--
enter the hole
toward Buddha's West!

Issa
translated by David G. Lanoue

best,
Don 

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Ayaz Daryl Nielsen: Monday Twitter Poem

Photo by Andreas Trepte

kestrel, hovering ..
so, too,
the moment

Ayaz Daryl Nielsen 

       from Lilliput Review, #175

evening--
a bird of prey flies home
into blossoms

Issa
translated by David G. Lanoue

best,

Don

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A Certain Romance: Issa's Sunday Service, #85

Photo by Johann "nojhan" Dréo

The songs that comprise the Issa's Sunday Service list need to contain a direct reference to some element which most people would agree is literary in nature.  Some bands, whose subject matter is literary in tone or style, don't necessarily base their work on a literary precursor or make direct allusion to something literary and so don't make the list.  On occasion decidedly un-artsy bands make the list because of a specific allusion to some well-known literary fact.


Today's entry is at once literate and un-artsy.  Among recent bands, Arctic Monkeys definitely have a way with words and, if not strictly literary in tone, they are most definitely sharp.  They manage to be smart and pop-ish at the same time, no mean feat.  Today's song,"A Certain Romance," contains a simple name drop: Sherlock Holmes, one my favorite literary characters.  So the song's in.  Enjoy.

And, oh, yeah, as a live band they bring it.  Watch.

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

This week two poems come from Lilliput Review, #131 (an issue featured twice previously), which shared the same page since they riffed on a particular image or, more precisely, a particular portion of the visible spectrum.  Ah-hem.

Issa, too, has something to say about it. Enjoy.

behind the
shack-up
joint
leaves
reddened

Scott Watson

their red door
    of correct feng shui
       always locked

Ayaz Daryl Nielsen

downstream, the gate
to knowledge...
evening's red leaves

Issa
translated by David G. Lanoue

best,
Don

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Rabbit Run: Issa's Sunday Service, #82

Let me say right off the bat that today's song does not refer to John Updike's novel, Rabbit Run, which took its title from a 1930s song.

I believe that is, and may well be, the one and only time Mr. Updike's name gets mentioned here.

So, what does this lovely little song by Britain's legendary folksinger, Bert Jansch, refer to?  Well, here's a hint or two: Ratty, Mr. Toad, and the Badger, anyone?  Yes, it's the children's tale The Wind in the Willows and, of course, because it is out of copyright you can now get it for free from the new google e-book store, one of 3 million plus free books available there.  Load it to your e-book device of choice or simply read it on your computer.  Me?  I'll be reading a lovely non-virtual copy from the library, one of many illustrated versions also available for the very reasonable price of free.  And, when I'm done, I can bring it back to share with others, one of the many lessons which Mr. Grahame has provided his readers for over a hundred years: the lesson of sharing.

Of course, that's just me.

Here's a great version of one of Jansch's classic tunes, "Blackwater Side," which highlights his strengths in guitar and vocals:







[Note: this week's choice is prompted by the fact that I was very fortunate to see Bert Jansch in concert here in Pittsburgh Friday night, a spectacular show to an audience of around 300 of the faithful, dutifully aligned in pews, in the beautiful local First Unitarian Church.]

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This week's featured poem from the Lilliput Review archive comes from issue #127, November 2002, and is a very late autumn poem if ever there was one:

shifting wind
   the coyote's raised foreleg
      motionless

Ayaz Daryl Nielsen

the first snowfall
caps it...
the piss pot

Issa
translated by David G. Lanoue

best,
Don

PS  Get 2 free issues     Get 2 more free issues     Lillie poem archive

Go to the LitRock web site for a list of all 82 songs
Hear all 82 (or so) at once on the the LitRock Jukebox

Subscribe to Lilliput Review