a mbrosia€¦ · a mbrosia journal of fine haiku issue 3 spring 2009 issn 1943-829x [print] issn...

AMBROSIAJournal of Fine Haiku

Issue 3 Spring 2009

ISSN 1943-829X [Print] ISSN 1945-8797 [Digital]

Edited by

Denis M. Garrison

MODERN ENGLISH TANKA PRESSPost Office Box 43717

Baltimore, Maryland 21236 USA www.modernenglishtankapress.com www.themetpress.com

[email protected]

Ambrosia: Journal of Fine Haiku

Issue 3 - Spring 2009

Copyright © 2009 by Modern English Tanka Press.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may bereproduced in any form or by any electronic or

mechanical means including information storageand retrieval systems without permission in writing

from the publisher, except by reviewers andscholars who may quote up to six poems.

Front cover artwork Copyright © 2009 by Denis M. Garrison.

Ambrosia: Journal of Fine Haiku, a quarterly print anddigital journal, is dedicated to publishing and

promoting the finest of traditional haiku in English.Send all submissions and editorial correspondence

to: [email protected]

Ambrosia: Journal of Fine HaikuIssue 3 - Spring 2009

Published byMODERN ENGLISH TANKA PRESS

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 2009.

Print Edition ISSN 1943-829XDigital Edition ISSN 1945-8797 [PDF & HTML versions]

www.ambrosiahaiku.com

Editor’s Note. In this Issue 3 of Ambrosia: Journal of

Fine Haiku, we are pleased to present another 100 finehaiku from twenty-nine outstanding poets. All thesepoets, while writing in English, respect the formalvalues of traditional Japanese haiku.

When you read through this issue, please take time tonotice, besides what these haiku are, also, what theyare not. They are not faux-Japanese. They are notformulaic. They are not humorlessly philosophical.They are not all about the classically lovely naturalsubjects. The “first person” is not totally absent. Theyare not all grammatically fragmentary— some read assentences. None of them are senryu although peoplefigure largely in several. These haiku demonstrate thevery broad range possible in English poems thatrespect traditional haiku values while not fearing toinnovate, fully using the riches of English. As haikushould be in any language, these haiku are resonant farout of proportion to their brevity.

Ambrosia wants powerful haiku in tercets, in a natural,modern English idiom. Please submit senryu to PruneJuice (Alexis Rotella, Editor) and not to Ambrosia. (Wereceived some brilliant senryu we had to turn down!)Please send us some of your very best haiku!—Denis M. Garrison, editor

plane crash site— nothing here now but acresof tender sumacs

Denis M. GarrisonBaltimore, Maryland, USA

Issue 3, Spring 2009

first robin

on the second day

of spring

Fran Witham

Wrentham, Massachusetts, USA

1


the space in time

a rose blossom

makes beautiful

Michael McClintock

Fresno, California, USA

2


Old homestead—

all that’s left

are the lilacs.

Alexis Rotella

Arnold, Maryland, USA

3


upside down

sickle moon—

a cricket

Marje A. Dyck

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

4


pregnant

in her mother’s dress . . .

camellia buds

Jo McInerney

Boolarra, Victoria, Australia

5


clear blue sky—

a yellow glider

leaves the dust

Althea Rowe Watson

Skokie, Illinois, USA

6


wooded bridge . . .

a maple leaf settles

into its reflection

_kala

Pune, India

7


the scarecrow

up to his ears in corn

hazy afternoon

Gina

Tasmania, Australia

8


a gull

holds to the masthead

turning in the wind

Brenda Bechtel

Cape Elizabeth, Maine, USA

9


the weeping beech

over two centuries old

takes its last sigh

Barbara A. Taylor

Mountain Top, NSW, Australia

10


from branch to branch

summer spiderwebs

shimmer

Robert Moyer

Winston Salem, North Carolina, USA

11


moonlight chill

a sudden memory

of humid nights

Dawn Bruce

St. Leonards, NSW, Australia

12


hard freeze

the knot I’ve twisted

in my beard

Bob Lucky

Hangzhou, China

13


after the windstorm,

pinecones everywhere—

except the pines

M. Kei

Perryville, Maryland, USA

14


a koi pond

my attention required

by a dragonfly

Francis Masat

Key West, Florida, USA

15


sunrise

last night’s things

left to soak

Helen Buckingham

Bristol, England

16


burning sun—

the glint of jelly jars

at the fruit stand

Tish Davis

Dublin, Ohio, USA

17


plowing rice fields,

behind the tractor

flocks of crows

Vasile Moldovan

Bucharest City, Romania

18


taking the combs

out of her hair—

Spring wind

Carol Bleichert

Ontario, Canada

19


spring moon

she re-threads my dead

nana’s pearls

Dick Whyte

Aro Valley, Wellington, New Zealand

20


green aphids—

the first blush

of a plum

Susan Constable

Nanoose Bay, British Columbia, Canada

21


touching this crocus

as if it were the first

as if it were the last

Michele L. Harvey

Hamilton, New York, USA

22


first light

rising from the waves

a rainbow

Elaine Riddell

Hamilton, New Zealand

23


open sky . . .

in a field of wildflowers

I look for words

Bill Kenney

Queens, New York USA

24


early blossoms

the light in your eyes

as you point

Paul Smith

Worcester, United Kingdom

25


a dandelion stem

in each bottle of wine

summer dust

Chad Lee Robinson

Pierre, South Dakota, USA

26


suppertime sun

the dwindling drone

of a distant plane

Doug Kutney

Cranford, New Jersey, USA

27


old jetty

the smallest feather falling

through my blouse

Emma Dalloway

Sydney, NSW, Australia

28


in a gutter

choked by bottles,

daffodils bloom

Dave Moore

Levittown, Pennsylvania, USA

29


bathing sparrows

flutter in puddles

of spring rain

Fran Witham

Wrentham, Massachusetts, USA

30


they leave us,

they come back to us—

summer swallows

Michael McClintock


31


silence

descending—

first snow

Marje A. Dyck


32


morning star

among the frangipani

moth wings close

Jo McInerney


33


white light—

a pulse in the sound

of the darkness

Althea Rowe Watson


34


morning prayers

the rising sun between

my hands

_kala

Pune, India

35


a rush

of leaves fall—

sparrows

Gina

Tasmania, Australia

36


two coyotes

trotting into mist,

dissolving

Brenda Bechtel


37


supper time

a sky of fruit bats

streaks the moon

Barbara A. Taylor


38


November drizzle

this year his steps slower

into the barn dark

Robert Moyer


39


a sparrow

flits through cage wire

and out again

Dawn Bruce


40


summer mist

hanging in the air

the bent umbrella

Bob Lucky

Hangzhou, China

41


morning breeze

blossoms spread

below my hammock

Francis Masat


42


lodestar

the pain returning

its pull

Helen Buckingham

Bristol, England

43


outside the high-rise

the steady song

of a straw broom

Tish Davis

Dublin, Ohio, USA

44


cherry blossoms—

some blackbird nestlings

drunken with fragrances

Vasile Moldovan


45


making faces

in the fence—

knotty pine

Carol Bleichert

Ontario, Canada

46


four moths

dead in the lampshade—

summer moon

Dick Whyte


47


this year too

the forecast calls for rain—

summer holiday

Susan Constable


48


little league . . .

the robins stroll through

deepening green

Michele L. Harvey


49


orion

high in the western sky—

surf breaking

Elaine Riddell


50


spring flowers

that pretty girl singing

a song I used to know

Bill Kenney


51


turning my back

on a world of dreams—

moonlit snow

Paul Smith


52


first snow

the tight tuck

of the bed sheets

Chad Lee Robinson

Pierre, South Dakota, USA

53


backseat window

a gibbous moon

along for the ride

Doug Kutney


54


after the rain

to each berry

a universe

Emma Dalloway


55


morning sun

awakens springing grass

in frozen puddles

Dave Moore


56


morning star . . .

better than I, the horse knows

the way home

Michael McClintock


57


dusk

deer disappear

between brown hills

Marje A. Dyck


58


sea mist

silver gulls dreaming

over land

Jo McInerney


59


a cool breeze

over the warm flow

of the hot springs

Althea Rowe Watson


60


temple hill . . .

sound of the bronze bell

brightens my morning

_kala

Pune, India

61


on the glacier

a lone wolf pauses,

looks back

Brenda Bechtel


62


spreading guilt

this sea of sticky webs

on unmown lawns

Barbara A. Taylor


63


at the surf’s edge

a cormorant and I

waiting

Robert Moyer


64


a cloud caught

in the rock pool

ebb tide

Dawn Bruce


65


blizzard

the old kettle’s

shrill whistle

Bob Lucky

Hangzhou, China

66


June sun

in the shade of its parent

a new tree

Francis Masat


67


cliff-top guest house . . .

an assortment of rocks

on the sill

Helen Buckingham

Bristol, England

68


from wind to water;

a mother hides the scent

of her spotted fawn

Tish Davis

Dublin, Ohio, USA

69


spring dust—

the dandelions’ seed

carried by the breeze

Vasile Moldovan


70


where soldiers

once slept and died—

a spider’s home

Dick Whyte


71


open gate

a deer steps out

of the fog

Susan Constable


72


woodcutter’s yard

the tallest tree selected

by the orioles

Michele L. Harvey


73


broken cloud

a pool of brilliant light

far out at sea

Elaine Riddell


74


early spring

bird feeders in the yard

of an abandoned house

Bill Kenney


75


spring sun

drops on camellia leaves

fill with light

Paul Smith


76


dragging its tail

the full moon sets

over the sea

Doug Kutney


77


a moth leaves

a young girl’s grave—

only moonlight now

Emma Dalloway


78


crushed stone path

was quiet this morning

now the sun’s out

Dave Moore


79


whales . . .

passing down a coast

where no one lives

Michael McClintock


80


in the park

motionless swings

moonlit

Marje A. Dyck


81


late call . . .

his voice and the moon

a long way off

Jo McInerney


82


leaves to my feet

bird song to my ear

fall breeze

Robert Moyer


83


open gate

the snail climbs up

the post

Bob Lucky

Hangzhou, China

84


a child

ignores a koi

to pick mulberries

Francis Masat


85


low tide

the makings

of a raft

Helen Buckingham

Bristol, England

86


child in the river

emptying a cup

filling it again

Tish Davis

Dublin, Ohio, USA

87


snowed in—

the household chores

we’ve been ignoring

Susan Constable


88


spring laundry—

the sun-washed snake

on the cellar steps

Michele L. Harvey


89


laughing child

the ocean froths

at his feet

Bill Kenney


90


overnight thaw—

where the snowman stood

a carrot

Paul Smith


91


summer rain—

high-rise falls

into the mist

Emma Dalloway


92


raven

shredding

the silence

Marje A. Dyck


93


cold dawn

the neighbour’s cat

back at my door

Jo McInerney


94


New Year’s Eve

granny’s whistling kettle

runs dry

Susan Constable


95


daydream . . .

the drift of bluebells

where the snowbank was

Michele L. Harvey


96


dandelions

I run to catch up

with the toddler

Bill Kenney


97


tall dill’s

lacy head

a hovering wasp

Marje A. Dyck


98


a silver birch

in the morning light

her fringed chemise

Jo McInerney


99


storm clouds

another acorn hits

the bus shelter

Bill Kenney


100

Index

Bechtel, Brenda J., 9, 37, 62.

Bleichert, Carol, 19, 46.

Bruce, Dawn, 12, 40, 65.

Buckingham, Helen, 16, 43, 68, 86.

Constable, Susan, 21, 48, 72, 88, 95.

Dalloway, Emma, 28, 55, 78, 92.

Davis, Tish, 17, 44, 69, 87.

Dyck, Marje A., 4, 32, 58, 81, 93, 98.

Gina, 8, 36.

Harvey, Michele L., 22, 49, 73, 89, 96.

_kala, 7, 35, 61.

Kei, M., 14.

Kenney, Bill, 24, 51, 75, 90, 97, 100.

Kutney, Doug, 27, 54, 77.

Lucky, Bob, 13, 41, 66, 84.

Masat, Francis, 15, 42, 67, 85.

McClintock, Michael, 2, 31, 57, 80.

McInerney, Jo, 5, 33, 59, 82, 94, 99.

Moldovan, Vasile, 18, 45, 70.

Moore, Dave, 29, 56, 79.

Moyer, Robert, 11, 39, 64, 83.

Riddell, Elaine, 23, 50, 74.

Robinson, Chad Lee, 26, 53.

Rotella, Alexis, 3.

Smith, Paul, 25, 52, 76, 91.

Taylor, Barbara A., 10, 38, 63.

Watson, Althea Rowe, 6, 34, 60.

Whyte, Dick, 20, 47, 71.

Witham, Fran, 1, 30.

Also from MODERN ENGLISH TANKA PRESS

Streetlights: Poetry of Urban Life in Modern English Tanka ! anthology edited by Michael McClintock & Denis M. Garrison.

Take Five: Best Contemporary Tanka ! Anthology. M. Kei,Sanford Goldstein, Pamela A. Babusci, Patricia Prime, Bob Lucky& Kala Ramesh, Eds.

All the Horses of Heaven ! tanka by James Tipton

Blue Night & the inadequacy of long-stemmed roses with TheTemperature of Love (2nd Ed.) ! Larry Kimmel

Tanka from the Edge ! Miriam Sagan

Jack Fruit Moon ! haiku and tanka strings by Robert D. Wilson

Meals at Midnight ! Poems by Michael McClintock

Lilacs After Winter ! Francis Masat

Proposing to the Woman in the Rear View Mirror ! Haiku &Senryu by James Tipton.

Abacus: Prose poems, haibun & short poems ! Gary LeBel

Looking for a Prince: a collection of senryu and kyoka ! AlexisRotella

The Tanka Prose Anthology ! Jeffrey Woodward, Ed.

Greetings from Luna Park ! Sedoka, James Roderick Burns

In Two Minds ! Responsive Tanka by Amelia Fielden and KathyKituai

An Unknown Road ! Haiku by Adelaide B. Shaw

Slow Motion: The Log of a Chesapeake Skipjack ! M. Kei

Ash Moon Anthology: Poems on Aging in Modern English Tanka ! Alexis Rotella & Denis M. Garrison, Eds.

Fire Blossoms: The Birth of Haiku Noir ! Denis M. Garrison

Cigarette Butts and Lilacs: tokens of a heritage ! Tanka byAndrew Riutta

Sailor in the Rain and Other Poems ! Denis M. Garrison

Four Decades on My Tanka Road: Tanka Collections of SanfordGoldstein ! Sanford Goldstein. Fran Witham, Ed.

this hunger, tissue-thin: new & selected tanka 1995–2005 ! Larry Kimmel

Jun Fujita, Tanka Pioneer ! Denis M. Garrison, Ed.

Landfall: Poetry of Place in Modern English Tanka ! Denis M.Garrison and Michael McClintock, Eds.

Lip Prints: Tanka and Other Short Poems 1979-2007 ! AlexisRotella

Ouch: Senryu That Bite ! Alexis Rotella

Eavesdropping: Seasonal Haiku ! Alexis Rotella

Five Lines Down: A Landmark in English Tanka ! Denis M.Garrison, Ed.

Sixty Sunflowers: TSA Members’ Anthology 2006-2007 ! SanfordGoldstein, Ed.

The Dreaming Room: Modern English Tanka in Collage andMontage Sets ! Michael McClintock and Denis M. Garrison,Eds.

Haiku Harvest 2000-2006 ! Denis M. Garrison, Ed.

Eight Shades of Blue ! Haiku by Denis M. Garrison

The Salesman’s Shoes ! Tanka, James Roderick Burns

Hidden River ! Haiku by Denis M. Garrison

The Five-Hole Flute: Modern English Tanka in Sequences andSets ! Denis M. Garrison and Michael McClintock, Eds.

Journals

! Modern English Tanka ! Atlas Poetica ! Modern Haiga !! Ambrosia ! Prune Juice ! Modern Haibun & Tanka Prose !

! Concise Delight !

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