Recommended reading:
A cicada in the cosmos, tankas by Angela Leuck
(Inkling Press, 2010, 99 p. ISBN 978-0-9810725-4-8)
daring me
to be bold –
the giant
red dahlia
at your door
in front of the church
apple blossoms
like confetti
I daydream of weddings
until the hearse pulls up
in a vase
on the table
as I wait for his call
those pale green roses
called Limbo
burdundy-coloured
poppies –
so predictable
my attraction
to the exotic
From: A cicada in the cosmos: tankas by Angela Leuck
Monthly Archives: September 2010
Old Pond Comics – 100 haiku about frogs
Basho said it first…
Old Pond comics – Ah, Matsushima!
List of Haiku Contests 2010
Here is a list of Haiku Contests and Submission calls for September-Octobre 2010. The complete list is available on Old Pond.
September
September 13: 14th Kusamakura Haiku Competition Send two pieces of Haiku (only unpublished works) Foreigners can apply online, no entry free. First prize: a trip to Japan.
September 15: 2010 Haiku International Association Calls for HAIKU for The 12th Lecture Meeting and the Haiku Contest. Entry by e-mail. No fee. Winner announced Nov 26.
October
October 1 (to verify): The Jerry Kilbride Memorial 2010 English-Language Haibun Contest
October 15 (in-hand by): Haikumuse.com Haiku Contest. Submissions: $5 (one time) entry fee. Maximum of 3 haiku. Make check or International Money Order payable to: Single Island Press. Haiku must be printed one per page (8 1/2² x 11²). Include name and address on each page. Winning haiku will be announced on December 1, 2010 on our website blog (haikumuse.com) Mail to: Single Island Press, 379 State Street, Portsmouth, NH 03801 USA. Awards: $200 First Prize, $150 Second Prize, $100 Third Prize. Info: madeleine.findlay@comcast.net
October 15 (in hand by): Single Island Press. $5 (one time) entry fee. Maximum of 3 haiku
October 15 (in-hand by): The Shoreless River Haiku Contest. No entry fee but to qualify you need to register. Maximum submissions 5.
October 31: Submission call for ZEN-INSPIRED POETRY by Matrix Magazine Send us your Zen-inspired poems in forms that are related such as haiku, tanka, haibun, and renku. One poem per page except for haiku to: matrixzenpoetry@gmail.com , attention, the issue editors: Mary di Michele & Susan Gillis.
October 31: The Irish Haiku Society International Haiku Competition for unpublished haiku/senryu in English or in Irish Gaelic (with an English translation) about Ireland in the changing world + up to 3 Highly Commended haiku/senryu in this category. This category is only open for participants born or residing on the island of Ireland. No e-mail submissions, please!
October 31 (in hand by): 2010 San Francisco International Competition Haiku, Senryu, Tanka Sponsored by: Haiku Poets of Northern California The entry fee is $1.00 per poem.
October 31 (in hand by): Haiku Presence Award 2010 Entry fee: £5 for up to 5 haiku. Additional haiku at £1 per haiku.
October 31 (in hand by): IHS International Haiku Competition 2010 Fee of € 3 or £2.50 sterling or ¥ 500, or USA $4. Or with each seven haiku: € 20 or£15 sterling or ¥ 3000 or $25.
October 31 (in hand by): Haiku Pix, a new paper review, seeks brief poems employing “word-pictures” to evoke emotion. Submit 1-10 poems. Your name, address, email on each page. Bio required. Submissions: Haiku Pix Review, 11F, No.489, Tian-fu Rd., Hsinchu 30058, Taiwan.
Japadog # 2 – Okonomi
Japadog – Okonomi (on the left)
If you are a gendai (non-Japanese) like me, ordering at Japadog, the new Japanese hot dog sensation on Robson street in Vancouver, is always fun (and terrifying too!): you’re never sure what you are going to get!
The menu is written in Japanese (Terimaki, Okonomi…) except for a brief description which always includes Japanese words, usually for condiments, flavors or vegetables that are typically Japanese and can not be translated into English.
On my second visit to Japadog I ordered Japadog #2 Okonomi. The description was: pork sausage, mayo and bonito flakes. What exactly are bonito flakes? Is this going to taste good on a hotdog? I was going to find out soon…
The waitress put a pork sausage in a bun, sprayed a zigzag of Japanese mayo, and added flakes that looked like very thinly sliced dried bacon. However, I knew right away this was not bacon, but most likely fish.
As I bit the hotdog, my assumptions were confirmed. It definitely smelled and tasted like fish. I resisted the urge to remove the flakes. After all, I paid $7 for a Japanese hotdog, not a regular hot dog!
When I took a second bite, it was hard to ignore the smell: the bonito flakes were right on top, right under my nose. Euw. I forced myself to a third and fourth bite.
As the steam from the hotdog escaped, the fish flakes started to wiggle and contort because of the heat. They moved like real fish! That did it for me. I removed all the flakes and enjoyed the rest of the hotdog “au naturel”. What an experience!
The weird thing is… I can’t wait to go back again and try Japadog #3 as part of my challenge to try all Japanese hot dogs on their menu. So, stay tuna!
Update: I googled Okonomi and found out it means “what you like”. As for bonito, it’s a word used to describe various fish similar to from the tuna. Fish hotdog anyone?
Old Pond comics – Matsushima #6
Old Pond comics – Episode Matsushima #6.
Mu is a term in Zen that is used to describe “emptiness ” or “nothingness”.
Read a new Old Pond comics every Monday.
Blooming Tea
Instructions (What to do)
1. Pour a minimum of 4 cups of boiling water in a glass teapot.
2. Throw the little blooming tea directly in the boiling water.
3. Don’t close your eyes.
Source: 12 Zodiac Bloom purchased at my cup of tea in Montreal’s Chinatown (1057 St-Laurent street).
The Unworn Necklace
A song based on Roberta Beary’s haiku was named Best Original Song at the 2010 MidAtlantic Harmony Sweepstakes.
Roberta Beary’s haiku, “rainy season/ again he tells me/ she means nothing” with music by Sarah Kenan Shunk, was named Best Original Song at the 2010 MidAtlantic Harmony Sweepstakes. The haiku song, sung a cappella by quartet Fleur de Lisa, is on their newest CD “The Unworn Necklace”.
To find out more about haiku songs, including those inspired by Roberta Beary’s haiku from her collection The Unworn Necklace (Snapshot Press 2007/2010), visit http://www.haikusongs.com/home.html
Source: Haiku Canada Newsflash
Haiku World Club – Haiku Competition 2010 results
Congratulations to Huguette Ducharme and other winners of the The World Haiku Club Haiku Competition on the Theme of “The Death of One’s Beloved”
The Diana Award
snowy Sunday
the light is beautiful
his last words
Huguette Ducharme
The Toshiko Award
above
the funeral pyre
a falling starRohini Gupta, India
Two Runners Up
missing
the beautiful wrinkles
of her face
Richard Krawiec
“I’ll be gone in a minute!”
Mom pulls off the oxygen mask —
moon in the windowHoward Lee Kilby, USA