Notes from the Gean No.2, September 2009 Page 2
Welcome to Notes from the Gean the haiku journal
Brought to you by Gean Tree Press
featuring haiku, tanka, haiga, & more.
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within haiku and its related genres. We believe this is best
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cover artwork Grum Robertson
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Notes from the Gean No.2, September 2009 Page 3
contents
haiku pp.4-27
Editor: Lorin Ford - Australia
tanka pp.28-34
Editor: H. Gene Murtha - USA
haiga pp.35-44
Editor: Melinda B. Hipple - USA
reviews pp.45-49
back page p.50
Editor-in-Chief / Resources: Colin Stewart Jones - Scotland
Notes from the Gean No.2, September 2009 Page 4
the rattle of a bamboo grove— rising moon
Dawn Bruce - Australia
the old Venetian recounts her life story . . . shadow embroidery
Dawn Bruce - Australia
first light touches the hilltop . . . breathless
Dawn Bruce – Australia
morning glory I tell her everything will be all right
Bill Kenney - USA
gone before it's written dragonfly
Bill Kenney - USA
Notes from the Gean No.2, September 2009 Page 5
hot wind the crow's shadow darker than the crow
Bill Kenney - USA
maiden aunt she keeps the secret of her preserves
Bill Kenney - USA
jacaranda petals from here to the corner I step lightly
Bill Kenney - USA
sunlight dappling the silence of a forest trail
Terry O' Connor - Ireland
blank document— staring the clouds into shapes
Terry O' Connor - Ireland
Notes from the Gean No.2, September 2009 Page 6
neap tide— loggerhead hatchlings spill down the beach
Nora Wood - USA
bathed in blue dusk the blue heron
Nora Wood - USA
false dawn the lie I pretend not to catch you in
Nora Wood - USA
quavering heat cicadas cry in tempo
Nora Wood - USA
sunflower the day passing slowly
William Sorlien - USA
Notes from the Gean No.2, September 2009 Page 7
garage sale— neighbors meet for the first time
William Sorlien - USA county fair— corn fields awash in neon
William Sorlien - USA evening thunder a homeless man comforts his dog
William Sorlien - USA storm's passed a butcherbird sings from the fallen pine
Quendryth Young, Australia
cocktail hour a spider drops to the hub of its web
Quendryth Young, Australia
Notes from the Gean No.2, September 2009 Page 8
spring morning a maggot crossing my path
Quendryth Young - Australia
first blowfly— my Airedale concentrates
Genevieve Osborne - Australia
a robin's song— her interest in me reawakens
Joseph Mueller - USA
birdsong arguing over what it is
Helen Buckingham - UK
downtown shoot— watching them mask the legend over the library door
Helen Buckingham - UK
Notes from the Gean No.2, September 2009 Page 9
Ladies Room— locked inside a euphemism
Helen Buckingham - UK
400-year-old windows thicker at the bottom all the female cousins
Sandra Simpson - New Zealand
alpine meadow— your words become cow bells
Sandra Simpson - New Zealand
flensing wind— a rattle of coins in the try-pot
Sandra Simpson - New Zealand
midwinter— the grain running down the oak tallboy
Sandra Simpson - New Zealand
Notes from the Gean No.2, September 2009 Page 10
well-worn argument— every logging truck hauls its own rain cloud
Sandra Simpson - New Zealand
shooting star— we speculate briefly on the unknown
Garry Eaton - Canada night fishing my bobber wanders across the galaxy
Alan S. Bridges - USA
gray day a heron turns into a wave
Alan S. Bridges - USA
deep winter an arc of snow sits in the swing
Alan S. Bridges - USA
Notes from the Gean No.2, September 2009 Page 11
dead of winter snow angels fill with snow
Alan S. Bridges - USA
white out the sound of wind shaping the mountain
Melissa Spurr - USA
shortest day snow drifting higher on the sundial
Melissa Spurr - USA
foreclosure an empty nest in the mailbox
Melissa Spurr - USA
long distance bus I sleep away the dusty plains
Melissa Spurr - USA
Notes from the Gean No.2, September 2009 Page 12
hum of blowflies blood from the kangaroo's ear yet to dry
Kevin Gillam - Australia Remembrance Day— Grandpa in white singlet with medals
Kevin Gillam - Australia ebb shoal a stranded canoe points at the moon
Catherine J.S. Lee - USA
first hot night the crescent moon holding water
Catherine J.S. Lee - USA
tourist traffic two crows pick through porcupine quills
Catherine J.S. Lee - USA
Notes from the Gean No.2, September 2009 Page 13
mist rising from the valley lake a loon's cry
Catherine J.S. Lee - USA
ducks in flight— bread bobs along the grey pond
Ashley Capes - Australia
dreary sky the blossom-spangled branches of a swamp gum
Leonie Bingham - Australia
wet season the cattle dog's bed littered with mouse tails
Leonie Bingham - Australia
rattling echoes in the empty stock trailer . . . sky full of stars
Bett Angel-Stawarz - Australia
Notes from the Gean No.2, September 2009 Page 14
farm country the different colors of an old truck
Chad Lee Robinson - USA
heat lightning the empty drums under the gas station
Chad Lee Robinson - USA
pile of leaves a clear path for that one big jump
Chad Lee Robinson - USA
first birthday her hand forgets the yellow balloon
Chad Lee Robinson - USA
morning snow the weightlifter resets his feet
Chad Lee Robinson - USA
Notes from the Gean No.2, September 2009 Page 15
frosty morning my dog coughs to be let in
Jo McInerney - Australia
a slow fly circling late autumn
Jo McInerney - Australia
the distant tinkle of an ice-cream van early spring
Jo McInerney - Australia
autumn dusk the jazz saxophonist hits the blues
Gautam Nadkarni - India
lunar eclipse the rag-pickers' cries for salvation
Gautam Nadkarni - India
Notes from the Gean No.2, September 2009 Page 16
New Year's Eve the sole greeting card on my pillow
Gautam Nadkarni - India
New Year's Eve way out across the moors silent fireworks
David Serjeant - UK
the passing streetlights— slipping from her fingers teddy sleeps too
David Serjeant - UK
injured moth my presence startles the cat
David Serjeant - UK
racing
across all my hands a
spider
David Serjeant - UK
Notes from the Gean No.2, September 2009 Page 17
finally home glimpsed between the houses a wave of starlings
David Serjeant - UK
in the still of night the sound of weary leaves: a full moon
Keith Simmonds - West Indies deep in the night a shiver in my spine: barking owl
Keith Simmonds - West Indies
winter sun her amber necklace warms my skin
Nathalie Buckland - Australia
fluttering moth on each side of the glass door a snapping dog
Nathalie Buckland - Australia
Notes from the Gean No.2, September 2009 Page 18
lush grass the caterpillar stretched between two beaks
Nathalie Buckland - Australia
funeral flowers: rain blurs my message
Nathalie Buckland - Australia
deserted playground a trickle of water comes down the slide
Nathalie Buckland - Australia
shooting stars across a child's sky— rangoon creeper
_kala - India
spring meet . . . a discus thrower's cry rips the air
_kala - India
Notes from the Gean No.2, September 2009 Page 19
Gurbani temple music the rhythm of heaven joins in as thunder
_kala – India
summer storm the microwave beeps that it's back
Paul MacNeil - USA
Christmas Muzak in the chemo room Naugahyde recliners
Paul MacNeil - USA
wan sun I skim clamshells into the wind
Paul MacNeil - USA
winter rain a wizened chrysalis under the eaves
Paul MacNeil – USA
Notes from the Gean No.2, September 2009 Page 20
on the roof tiles of the maternity hospital cats in love
Vasile Moldovan - Romania
summer dawn a cricket drinks the last dewdrop
Vasile Moldovan - Romania
honeymoon night— untying the umpteen knots of love
Sunil Uniyal - India last of winter the wattles' gold crackles underfoot
Karen Phillips - Australia
sparrows beside an empty birdbath bathe in dust
Karen Phillips - Australia
Notes from the Gean No.2, September 2009 Page 21
sudden shower— his newspaper hat illegible
John Bird - Australia crescent moon the neighbour's dog dying slowly
John Bird - Australia kangaroo grass a wind gust flushes two rosellas
John Bird - Australia cemetery kiosk— attending to the taste of herbal tea
John Bird - Australia mountain ash Jack loves Bernie beyond his reach
John Bird - Australia
Notes from the Gean No.2, September 2009 Page 22
son up north . . . his father borrows an atlas
Rodney Williams - Australia
silo spillage— native pigeons and galahs crest to crest
Rodney Williams - Australia
mother's hoarding . . . a letter from a stranger signed by me
Rodney Williams - Australia
low tide in the mangroves a spoonbill's poise
Rodney Williams - Australia batter up— my eyes follow an osprey
Susan Constable - Canada
Notes from the Gean No.2, September 2009 Page 23
first raspberries the scolding I get from a crow
Susan Constable - Canada waning moon . . . she counts the segments of her orange
Susan Constable - Canada how you waved goodbye . . . the brittleness of autumn leaves
Susan Constable - Canada backlit clouds . . . is there a synonym for holy?
Susan Constable - Canada strawberry moon all night something huge romps in the attic
Carolyn Hall - USA
Notes from the Gean No.2, September 2009 Page 24
blossom wind over the moon bridge a toddler leads his mom
Carolyn Hall - USA new moon the light in her eyes
Carolyn Hall - USA summer sky a bedroom window frames the day
Carolyn Hall - USA a window seat on the tour bus autumn drizzle
Carolyn Hall - USA gift of quinces the copperplate script in mum's recipe book
Beverley George - Australia
Notes from the Gean No.2, September 2009 Page 25
breakfast news— pollen from a Peace rose stains the cloth
Beverley George - Australia
a bunch of merlot her fat brush strokes the canvas
Rhonda Poholke - Australia
hang-gliders— tandem dragonflies skim the ripples
Barbara A. Taylor - Australia
balloon clouds in the valley a bouncing sun
Adelaide B. Shaw - USA between morning chores I open the door— lilacs in the rain
Adelaide B. Shaw - USA
Notes from the Gean No.2, September 2009 Page 26
humid night— insects and I whining
Adelaide B. Shaw - USA click the abacus and cricket sing the same song
Karen Reynolds - USA
a Christmas beetle inside my slipper . . . wind in the pine
Cynthia Rowe - Australia
pre-dawn light the high-pitched whirr of a street cleaner
Cynthia Rowe - Australia
maple leaves the wind unveiling one flagstone at a time
Cynthia Rowe - Australia
Notes from the Gean No.2, September 2009 Page 27
steamed broccoli the fog across his spectacles
Cynthia Rowe - Australia
winter morning— The Rites of Spring on the radio Mike Montreuil - Canada
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moonrise katydids resound in the shadows in the small hours of morning will he stay, will I want him to?
jennie townsend - USA
remember when on that wet November night you proposed? the drumming on the roof the drumming of my heart
Adelaide B. Shaw - USA
the elderly widow prefers red instead of black her grief hidden; she has gentlemen for tea who sometimes stay the night
Adelaide B. Shaw - USA
Notes from the Gean No.2, September 2009 Page 29
daughter with my eyes looking back at me can you forgive me what I have given you
Jo McInerney - Australia
neither of us what we said we were old love letters the ink slowly fading the ribbon still tied
Jo McInerney - Australia
rocket warning . . . a million leaflets drop too late for the innocent seeking refuge
Barbara A. Taylor - Australia
Notes from the Gean No.2, September 2009 Page 30
sometimes in my dreams a life I never lived— wind rustling prairie grasses
Jeanne Emrich - USA
dusk settles softly over the mirrored lake so still this little sunfish as I take out the hook
Jeanne Emrich - USA
what shall I do with this old photo of us hugging? were you alive today we'd be strangers
Jeanne Emrich - USA
Notes from the Gean No.2, September 2009 Page 31
what small piece of you do you surrender to me each and every night my loneliness a gaping maw the part of me that's undead
C W Hawes - USA
a page ripped in two a story torn asunder nothing left but parts a world of swirling fragments searching for the other half
C W Hawes - USA
life sometimes gets too overwhelming that i just want a man to rain upon me
Pamela A. Babusci - USA
Notes from the Gean No.2, September 2009 Page 32
buy one get one free— kidnapping all the lucky bamboo plants at the garage sale
Pamela A. Babusci - USA
blood-red stilettos the power i feel in them the power i surrender when removed
Pamela A. Babusci - USA
huddled under welfare blankets he sings salvation songs for just-in-case sins
Jack Prewitt - Australia
Notes from the Gean No.2, September 2009 Page 33
drunk, I crashed in a van gogh haystack, being in love I lay there laughing— are you with me so far?
Jack Prewitt - Australia a stranger appears in the room surely locked . . . don't be scared waking boy by the man you'll become.
Rodney Williams - Australia
laughing over old stories . . . suddenly I feel that mother is young again
_kala - India
Notes from the Gean No.2, September 2009 Page 34
coffee lounge . . . I reach for the mug wondering what on earth the others have so much to talk about?
_kala - India
midsummer darkness envelopes the orchids her green thumb will soon be missed in her untimely death . . .for Marivie
Victor P. Gendrano - USA
Notes from the Gean No.2, September 2009 Page 35
Alan D. Taylor - UK
Notes from the Gean No.2, September 2009 Page 36
Alan D. Taylor - UK
Notes from the Gean No.2, September 2009 Page 37
Alan D. Taylor - UK
Notes from the Gean No.2, September 2009 Page 38
Alan D. Taylor - UK
Notes from the Gean No.2, September 2009 Page 39
Maya Lyubenova - Bulgaria
Notes from the Gean No.2, September 2009 Page 40
Maya Lyubenova - Bulgaria
Notes from the Gean No.2, September 2009 Page 41
Maya Lyubenova - Bulgaria
Notes from the Gean No.2, September 2009 Page 42
Mike Keville - UK
Notes from the Gean No.2, September 2009 Page 43
Mike Keville - UK
Notes from the Gean No.2, September 2009 Page 44
Mike Keville - UK
Notes from the Gean No.2, September 2009 Page 45
The Onawa Poems 1999-2008, Edited by Paul W. MacNeil
A Review by Colin Stewart Jones
Contributing poets:
Yu Chang Ferris Filli Gary Hotham Kirsty Karkow Paul MacNeil Paul David Mena Paul m. John Stevenson Hilary Tann Paul Watsky
Paul MacNeil is known to many as one of the editors of The Heron's Nest. He also established The Onawa Haiku and Renku Invitational and Moosebreath Ale Festival in his 'spare time'. The Onawa Poems is a collection of the writings of ten poets who have visited MacNeil's family retreat, beside Lake Onawa, over the last ten years. After reading The Onawa Poems one is struck by the majesty of the lake environs and the camaraderie of the participants of the haiku invitational.
warm kitchen the rise and fall of friends' laughter "to us" the wine tilts that way and this
Yu Chang John Stevenson
I have never stood close enough to a moose to smell its breath but I imagine it would be strong enough to knock out a grown man — I imagine a few glasses of Moosebreath Ale does much the same. The beer is, of course, secondary yet the festival has provided its founder with many poems of strength and depth.
cool night a passing cook bends the rice steam
Paul MacNeil
Notes from the Gean No.2, September 2009 Page 46
As one would expect from a volume dedicated to a particular place there is a great deal of similarity of imagery in the collection. This is testimony to the shared experience of the poets.
two hawks circling — countless breaths to get here mountain ginko all the haiku a little breathless
Paul m. John Stevenson
Stevenson's haiku is a clever take on the 'one breath' notion for haiku. The front cover features a rather attractive photograph of the lake taken by MacNeil himself. The appearance of the book is, however, let down by the layout: the pages look like they were printed by a daisy-wheel printer and the use of bold capital letters is distracting. Better use could have been made of the white space. Nevertheless, that does not spoil what is truly a great read. If there is a place where haijin can pull together in the spirit of the summer camp, then Lake Onawa seems to be it. Pack your bags, poets! — and your pint glasses! ___________________________ The Onawa Poems, 1999-2008 Edited by Paul W. MacNeil Ship Pond Press Monson ME, USA, 2009 ISBN: 978-0-615-29449-0
Notes from the Gean No.2, September 2009 Page 47
A New Resonance 6: Emerging Voices in English-Language Haiku Edited by Jim Kacian & Dee Evetts
A Review by Colin Stewart Jones
Featured poets:
Allan Burns Glenn G. Coats Susan Constable Kristen Deming David Grayson Andrea Grillo Paul Hodder Jörgen Johansson Eve Luckring Bob Lucky Scott Mason H. Gene Murtha Roland Packer Michele Root-Bernstein Jeff Stillman Richard S. Straw Tony A. Thompson
Some of the writers within A New Resonance 6: Emerging Voices in English-Language Haiku may be more well-known in haiku circles than others. Indeed, I work with one, know another personally and I am familiar with the poetry of a few others. For the purpose of this review, however, I will briefly examine the first five poets only. Nevertheless, the other twelve are all outstanding poets and each of their fifteen poems is worthy of further discussion. Burns' haiku use colour, light and shadow to great effect – he is particularly fond of the colour blue. He can, however, create a sense of sadness without stating the colour directly:
distant virga the ranch dog's eyes different colors One immediately sees a far-away-look in the dog's eyes and expects one of the eyes to be blue.
Notes from the Gean No.2, September 2009 Page 48
Coats' poems view the world from an outsider's perspective. He writes of solitude and uncomfortable silences. In the haiku below he notes: clouds in April the trespasser's reluctant "hello" Coats' use of the word 'reluctant' may at first seem like a value judgement. However, this is simply a matter of fact. Just like the April clouds are noted with complete detachment, the poet also seems ambivalent to the trespasser's presence on his land and is perhaps toying with him by forcing a "hello". Constable has a mastery over juxtaposition of the concrete image. There is an equal weight given to the phrase and fragment of each poem. She can also utilise opposites to great effect, however, and is more philosophical when she does so:
mountain air breathing deep enough to remember One usually takes to the hills to get away from it all; to forget about the cares and worries of life for a while. Yet here, on the mountain, the poet finds herself remembering. The antonym to deep is unsaid but we know mountains are high; and as the air is thin so the memory is full. As to what the memory is we can only speculate. Deming's haiku contain an almost unbearable longing yet conversely, and as is often the case in such circumstances, there is an acceptance of what already is. This dichotomy is neatly expressed in the following poem:
sleepless — waiting for the fan to turn my way again On the surface this is a simple expression of the concrete, namely, an insomniac waiting for the fan to direct its cool air towards her on a humid night. However, there is a sexually charged imagery that is clearly evident on closer reading. One sees a woman unsatisfied or perhaps hoping for an encore staring at the dark shape of a lover's shoulder in anticipation – in hope. Grayson's poems record events and occasions that happen in and around the family unit. Family life is recorded warts and all:
Halloween party — after a few drinks the masks come off
Notes from the Gean No.2, September 2009 Page 49
This wry observation hides an underlying sadness that is all too familiar. As the drinking increases the inhibitions and guards come down and people let others know what they think of them and show themselves for who they really are. NR6 has been lovingly crafted and there is not one bad poem in it. Other than having an 'emerging voice' the criteria for selection are not stated in the foreword by Kacian and Evetts. However, inclusion is a measure of the editors' expectation for a greater future for each writer. After reading NR6, I am in no doubt the editors' hopes will be fulfilled. ________________________________________ A New Resonance 6: Emerging Voices in English-Language Haiku Edited By Jim Kacian and Dee Evetts Red Moon Press, 2009 Winchester, VA, USA ISBN 978-1-893959-79-8
Notes from the Gean No.2, September 2009 Page 50
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