The Haiku Foundation is indeed a year old, and troutswirl is about 8 months old (does that mean it’s still in the womb)?
In any case, during the last 8 months, a tremendous amount of haiku have been shared through troutswirl‘s main sections (Virals, Envoys, Periplum, Sails, Headsets, Fluences, with more to come), Allan Burns’ Montage series, various other blogposts, and also, most importantly, through the comments you, as readers, have left to further and deepen the conversation (1,250 and counting).
The diversity of the haiku shared during 2009 was quite staggering, the range high and wide. All of which can now be viewed at THF Haiku Archives.
As a way to both reflect and celebrate this achievement, I thought it would be exciting to invite troutswirl readers to revisit this large collection of work and share a favorite from it.
What particular poem from the 2009 archive resonated with you most?
In addition, I thought it would be fun to ask you this: what was your very favorite haiku published in 2009?
Pull out those print-journal issues, reclick those e-zines, and share something that really stuck out for you.
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My favorite published haiku during 2009 was by Bruce Ross in Modern Haiku (Vol 40.3):
Memorial Day
the shadows of tourists
on the wet sand
The above haiku inspired another haiku written in a workshop:
V-J Day
eating frog legs
by the old pond
Bill C
Since the beginning of time the human being has pondered it’s situation in a world of “the other”… Each new encounter gave rise to thoughts and feelings not only about the world but about him/herself in stories, myths and poetry. When I enter a haiku that enters nature in that way I feel I have entered a way of being, of knowing, that is boundless and I am grateful.
This week I received “Wing Beats” through the kindness of paul m. and John Barlow. I have read John’s poetry from afar for decades and have always felt a privileged knowledge and so you can imagine my pleasure at receiving this book!
burst river
the grebe’s reappearnace
somewhere out of sight
-Matthew Paul
This wonderful haiku encompases not only knowledge of the natural world but of the mythical as well. In this country the grebe is sometimes known as the “Hell Diver” or the “Water Witch” as it has stirred the imaginations of generations in it’s ability to submerge itself and resurface “somewhere out of sight”. In these times, how we all sometimes wish we could
surface “somewhere” else…as our river bursts destroying much of our lives.
The piercing blue
of a young jackdaw’s eyes …
morning chill
-John Barlow
How often have we looked into the eyes of “the other” – to cold blue eyes and received that very chill. How can that be that someone’s or something’s eyes can have that affect on us? You don’t even have to know the species to understand this haiku, and yet knowing the species adds that much more to its depth as the connection is made between all things.
And knowledge of the world can be passed along…
stooping
through the half-light
hoby snatches a bat
-Keith J. Coleman
I had no idea that hawks ate bats! Now I have something to invistigate. Very interesting.
And here’s one of my all time favorites by John Crook…(Oh, how we all miss his haiku!)
high tide
oystercatchers follow
the curve of the bay
-John Crook
A haiku written as his will was bent by the illness that finally took his life.
There’s Martin Lucas here too and Matt Morden. There’s Caroiline Gourlay,Matthew Paul, and Steven Moss.
And there’s this wonderful haiku:
through the colony
of mute swans – voice
of the barnacle goose
-Mark Rutter.
I know I am a late comer to this volume of haiku. But I certainly recommend anyone who has not read it to find a copy and follow some of the “Wing Beats” that can lead to some amazing places. I am deeply in the debt of those who made this possible for me. In Gratitude, Merrill
This started out as a response to the latest ‘Sails’ discussion (haiku I admire that are quite different from my own) but it ended up being more about 2009 favorites. Except for the first one, these are Heron’s Nest poems because they happen to be fresh in my mind after doing a top ten list.
sun on the horizon
who first
picked up a stone
Whether or not this is considered gendai (having won a Roadrunner Scorpion Prize), it more than holds its own compared with other work in an experimental vein, and somehow does so while remaining true to the same aesthetic and easy reach that characterizes all of Paul M’s work.
honeysuckle
where you first hear
the river
Burnell Lippy
The subtleties of this one took awhile to add up and work their magic, which I find to be true of many poems that have a long shelf life.
fishbowl
telling a child
about death
Collin Barber
It’s still perceiving the extraordinary in the ordinary and the eternal in the ephemeral that account for most of the haiku I admire. The picture here is so commonplace I nearly missed the layered allusions altogether. The choice to omit pronouns is nicely effective in this instance, creating an objective distance.
roaring wind—
my little thoughts
for tomorrow
Tom Clausen
I often identify with Tom Clausen’s just off-center observations, and marvel that his voice remains so distinguishable in a poetic form of so few words.
I note that all of these poems strike a head/heart balance, which characterizes art that I’m most drawn to, but which is difficult to achieve. I can easily get wrapped up in abstract ideas, or conversely, slip into sentimentality.
Ha, Willie
…nice!
William,
crescent moon
struck by a boomerang
from outer space
That’s one hell of a good haiku! It put a smile on my face and made me chuckle as its wit slowly dawned on me.
The very best haiku provide the best commentary on other haiku as awell as the haiku scene in general.
Best,
Bill C
Well, Lorin, I was feelin’ kind of down after reading some of the commentsts here. I’ve put a lot of time into perfecting my writing skill in this form, knowing full well there was a long way to go.
“How daunting”, I thought to myself, “Have I been just wasting my time?”
I almost wanted to hang it up right then and there…but then it hit me,
crescent moon
struck by a boomerang
from outer space
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