Journal Of African Haiku

Issue 5 March 2018 i   ”The Mamba“ Journal Of Africa Haiku Network

“The Mamba” Journal of Africa Haiku Network

Edited by: Adjei Agyei-Baah Emmanuel Jessie Kalusian

ii   iii The Mamba” Editors’ Noe“ Journal Of Africa Haiku Network

All works published in “The Mamba” Issue 5, 2018 remain the Editors’ Note copyright of each individual poet featured in this issue.

Published by Africa Haiku Network Mamba 5 is another pleasurable compilation featuring first-time P.O. Box KJ703 haijins from Uganda, Tunisia and Morocco and far-off India. It Kumasi, Ghana +233 0202576868 features three haiban, coming from Ghana, Nigeria and Malawi +2348088672475 exploring the themes on wildebeest migration, a past Africa Cup of nations, and an unfulfilled dream of a homeless madwoman. Founding Editors: It further captures the first-time haiku workshop in Kano State, Adjei Agyei-Baah (Ghana) Nigeria organized by young poets and students from the Kano Emmanuel Jessie Kalusian (Nigeria) State Polytechnic under the direction of Africa Haiku Network Assistant Editor: and facilitated by Usman Karofi. The issue also features a haiku Celestine Nudanu (Ghana) essay “Thirteen Ways of Reading Haiku” by Michael Dylan Welch, a seasoned international haikuist of Graceguts fame. Research Editor: Justice Joseph Prah (Ghana) Readers will as well find the review of “Ghana 21” a comic haiku collection by Adjei Agyei-Baah by Ama Ata Aidoo, a Secretary: retired professor from University of Cape Coast, Ghana. And Akor Emmanuel Oche (Nigeria) to break the monotony of text flow, the entire assemblage is Layout Artist: interspersed with the finest haiga/photo haiku selected from Augustine Tetteh (Ghana) Africa Haiku Network’s 2017/2018 Harmattan Haiku Series mostly come from of first time haiku submitters. We hope this Cover Artist: compilation will super-delight you and tickles you to share with Adekola Kevin Odukoya (Nigeria) other haiku lovers and aficionados within your circles. Friends of Mamba: JICA/ Japan Embassy Ghana Adjei Agyei-Baah Emmanuel Jessie Kalusian E-mail: March, 2018 [email protected]

iv  Editors’ Note v The Mamba” Editors’ Noe“ Journal Of Africa Haiku Network

Contents Adjei Agyei-Baah Celestine Nudana (Ghana) (Ghana) hamattan...... 12 antelope hunting...... 17 New Year’s Day...... 12 island mirage...... 17 Editors’ Note harsh winds…...... 12 Anthony Itopa Obaro childhood river—...... 12 (Nigeria) first weeding...... 12 a hawk on the prowl...... 18 Haiku From Africa open savannah...... 12 Odu Ode Patrick Wafula Wanyama Harriet Hedoti Wiafe Akor Emmanuel Oche (Nigeria) (Ghana) (Nigeria) (Kenya) flood...... 19 dead flies and termites ....13 jiggling waist beads...... 2 dawn alarm...... 6 hot afternoon...... 19 Abdelkader Jamoussi Ingrid Baluch (Uganda) Soweto Market--...... 13 a slug’s trail ...... 13 Nureni Ibrahim (Nigeria) (Morocco) equatorial dusk ...... 7 itchy droppings ...... 13 Lagos traffic...... 20 old kimono...... 3 calling their kids...... 7 thunderclap...... 20 the wind’s murmur...... 3 down to the Nile...... 7 Fred Kweku Forson (Ghana) house cleaning...... 20 no leaves ...... 3 Blessed Ayeyame morning jog...... 14 Matthew Caretti Mercy Ikuri (Nigeria) (Malawi) (Kenya) fog merging...... 14 hamattan morning...... 8 Africa Cup...... 21 star-filled sky...... 4 farm murder...... 8 Ali Znaidi Precious Oboh (Nigeria) in the glade—...... 4 after the war...... 8 (Tunisia) lifting gently ...... 23 the muezzin’s call...... 4 Meryem Lahlou (Tunisia) in the field...... 15 pond moon…...... 15 summer heat...... 23 Kwaku Feni Adow axe blow...... 10 lingering boredom…...... 15 Sarra Masmoudi (Ghana) leaf falls—...... 10 spring stillness…...... 15 (Tunisia) new arrival ...... 5 Abderrahim Bensaid Blessmond Alebna Ayinbire new year dawn...... 24 solar eclipse ...... 5 (Tunisia) (Ghana) new year’s morning—.....24 a statue sweats from...... 5 glacial cold...... 11 bushfire...... 16 morning rush hour—...... 24 passport in my hand...... 11 confetti… ...... 16 hill trail—...... 24 harmattan morning...... 16

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Ahmad Holderness Wisdom C. Nwoga Prah Justice Joseph Gillena Cox (Trinidad & (Nigeria) (Nigeria) (Ghana) Tobago) village uproar…...... 25 harmattan breeze...... 32 empty home...... 42 brightening...... 51 elephant grass— ...... 25 Temitope Aina (Nigeria) before reaching...... 43 a grackle hops in...... 51 breaking the silence ...... 25 Valentine...... 34 Emmanuel Jessie Angela Giordano (Italy) Theophilus Femi valentine gift...... 34 Kalusian (Nigeria) amid frogs and fishes...... 52 Alawonde (Nigeria) valentine song...... 34 lover’s day ...... 44 National zoo...... 52 harmattan...... 26 harmattan dust...... 44 Afiah Obenewaa (Ghana) wild grass—...... 52 Fumane Ntlhabane evening walk...... 46 Stoianka Boianova harmattan cold—...... 35 morning walk ...... 46 (South Africa) (Bulgaria) dry harmattan...... 27 Barnabas Ìkéolúwa Dynamic Rahman O. returning to South Africa..27 Adélékè (Nigeria) Jimoh (Nigeria) full moon night...... 53 Okpanachi Attah almost ...... 36 dry well...... 47 Angiola Inglese (Italy) (Nigeria) September rain…...... 36 Ugwu Erochukwu a butterfly’s wing...... 54 moonlight conversation..28 Arnie Naa Dromo Annan Shedrach (Nigeria) Julia Guzmán Raphael d’Abdon (Ghana) the steady headlight ...... 48 (Argentina) (South Africa) sea’s song...... 37 Kokuu Andy McLellan autumn dusk...... 55 broken eggshells—...... 29 Pamela Kuadegbeku (United Kingdom) full moon ...... 55 (Ghana) Usman Karofi (Nigeria) elephant skull...... 48 Praniti Gulyani (India) silent blue sea...... 38 Ramadan...... 30 Mark Gilbert (United winter evening...... 56 Ingrid Baluch (Uganda) rain starts ...... 30 Kingdom) geography lesson...... 56 fish stall ...... 39 Isaac Ofori Okyere and all is still—...... 49 Srinivasa Rao Sambangi goat droppings...... 39 (Ghana) Eufemia Griffo (Italy) (India) Makarios Wakoko nectar—...... 31 old djembé...... 50 the lion ...... 57 (Kenya) firewood on fire...... 31 lunar eclipse...... 50 Pasquale Asprea harmattan winds...... 41 Adedoyin Luqman Harmattan fury—...... 50 (Italy) (Nigeria) equatorial dawn...... 58 journeying home...... 32

viii Editors’ Note Editors’ Note ix The Mamba” Editors’ Note“ Journal Of Africa Haiku Network

Maria Laura Valente casual walk—...... 66 Debbie Strange (Canada) Slobodan Pupovac (Italy) Beer Day—...... 66 blended family ...... 75 (Croatia) palm tree canopy—...... 59 Antonio Mangiameli fickle winds...... 75 jeeps...... 84 harmattan night—...... 59 (Italy) Mohammad Azim Khan deep jungle...... 84 sub-Saharan sunset -...... 59 harmattan wind...... 67 (Pakistan) Nikolay Grankin (Russia) folktales at dusk —...... 59 Basantkumar Das Harmattan ...... 76 savannah...... 85 Keith A. Simmonds Bhubaneswar (India) hazy savannah ...... 76 unwary tourist...... 85 (France) war of thorns...... 68 Mara river ...... 76 dry river...... 85 sweltering heat...... 60 Hansha Teki (New Antonio Mangiameli Goran Gatalica (Croatia) trees wilting...... 60 Zealand) (Italy) harmattan night...... 86 waterfall...... 60 far away...... 69 speaking to the flowers....77 power outage...... 86 Garry Eaton savannah dusk—...... 69 Angelo B. Ancheta early harvesting...... 86 (British Colombia) Sudebi Singha (India) (Philippines) Sandra Simpson a Maasai leans on...... 61 (New Zealand) abandoned house...... 70 blood moon...... 78 Florin Golban (Romania) dusty plains...... 78 wrestling match—...... 89 Pravat Kumar Padhy late summer...... 62 photo safari—...... 89 (India) Lavana Kray (Romania) wild cornflowers...... 62 Essay & Workshop boundary wall—...... 71 child pushed ashore...... 79 Robin Smith croaking frog...... 79 »» Thirteen Ways of (USA) Krzysztof Kokot (Poland) Corine Timmer Reading Haiku Stone Town* alleys –...... 72 harem of zebras...... 63 (Portugal) by Michael Dylan Welch Giovanna Restuccia Marina Bellini (Italy) distant thunder ...... 80 »» Kano State Haiku (Italy) conservational park...... 64 stampede—...... 80 Workshop Report by African sunset —...... 73 Usman Karofi (Nigeria) old painting...... 64 tented safari...... 81 Tim Gardiner (United »» Book Review back home...... 64 Jan Dobb Kingdom) Minko Tanev (Bulgaria) (Australia) »» A Call for Assistance For love grass...... 74 evening clouds—...... 65 frogs...... 83 Mamba Journal tyre tracks...... 74 Gowtham Ganni (India) market day...... 83 Index Palm Sunday—...... 66

x Editors’ Note Editors’ Note xi The Mamba” Editors’ Note“ Journal Of Africa Haiku Network

xii Editors’ Note Editors’ Note 1 “The Mamba” old kimono Journal Of Africa Haiku Network

Harriet Hedoti Wiafe Abdelkader Jamoussi (Ghana) (Morocco)

jiggling waist beads old kimono the African man’s call birds still to duty flying

the wind’s murmur in the pine tree— mother’s lullaby

no leaves for the wind to swirl this underground cemetery

2 Harriet Hedoti Wiafe (Ghana) Abdelkader Jamoussi (Morocco) 3 “The Mamba” new arrival Journal Of Africa Haiku Network

Mercy Ikuri Kwaku Feni Adow (Kenya) (Ghana)

star-filled sky new arrival all the dreams in the word— the broadening community scholarship of the cemetery

in the glade— solar eclipse . . . an African weaver bird for a moment rotten in peace a crescent sun

the muezzin’s call... all day standing… I twiddle a statue sweats from with my rosary ring noon drizzle

4 Mercy Ikuri (Kenya) Kwaku Feni Adow (Ghana) 5 “The Mamba” equatorial dusk . . . Journal Of Africa Haiku Network

Akor Emmanuel Oche Ingrid Baluch (Nigeria) (Uganda)

dawn alarm equatorial dusk . . . roosters taking turns the bleat of anxious mothers to crow calling their kids

hotel laundry the weight the maid carries down to the Nile

6 Akor Emmanuel Oche (Nigeria) Ingrid Baluch (Uganda) 7 “The Mamba” same bare trees Journal Of Africa Haiku Network

Blessed Ayeyame Blessed Ayeyame (Nigeria) (Nigeria)

farm murder a tilling hoe divides an earthworm

after the war migrant birds return to same bare trees

8 Blessed Ayeyame (Nigeria) Blessed Ayeyame (Nigeria) 9 “The Mamba” glacial cold Journal Of Africa Haiku Network

Meryem Lahlou Abderrahim (Morocco) Bensaid (Morocco)

axe blow glacial cold a tree falls— the unrepaired window then its shade takes its toll on household

leaf falls— passport in my hand the shadow my tears heavier of a sparrow jumps than my luggage

Translated from Arabic by Asmae Ech-chahdi El Ouazani

10 Meryem Lahlou (Morocco) Abderrahim Bensaid (Morocco) 11 “The Mamba” than my luggage Journal Of Africa Haiku Network

Agyei-Baah Adjei Agyei-Baah (Ghana) (Ghana)

New Year’s Day the old rooster’s voice replaced by another

harsh winds… slowly a roll call of mangoes

childhood river— counting the times a dragonfly dips its tail

first weeding a dropping necklace of green mamba

open savannah a cheetah come to terms in a gazelle’s twist and turn

12 Agyei-Baah (Ghana) Adjei Agyei-Baah (Ghana) 13 “The Mamba” morning jog holding my breath Journal Of Africa Haiku Network

Patrick Wafula Fred Kweku Forson Wanyama (Ghana) (Kenya)

dead flies and termites morning jog dangling in a spider’s web-- holding my breath rugged toilet wall in the fumes of passing cars

Soweto Market-- fog merging with clouds discarded bananas squashed my wife’s children by pedestrians’ shoes and mine

a slug’s trail on my hanging coat— night rain

itchy droppings of a stork on my neck— a nest in acacia

14 Patrick Wafula Wanyama (Kenya) Fred Kweku Forson (Ghana) 15 “The Mamba” bushfire dying embers re-ignite other bushes Journal Of Africa Haiku Network

Ali Znaidi Blessmond Alebna (Tunisia) Ayinbire (Ghana)

in the field bushfire exchanging kisses… dying embers re-ignite ears of wheat other bushes

pond moon… confetti… a world swims my dog dances in the beams in falling leaves

lingering boredom… harmattan morning sucking the marrow out caking mud holds of a matchstick my footsteps

spring stillness… the snail goes back inside its shell

16 Ali Znaidi (Tunisia) Blessmond Alebna Ayinbire (Ghana) 17 “The Mamba” a hawk on the prowl... Journal Of Africa Haiku Network

Celestine Nudana Anthony Itopa Obaro (Ghana) (Nigeria)

antelope hunting a hawk on the prowl... the hunter shoots the shadows of fowls at the wind tumbling

island mirage beads of dew dot the coconut leaf

18 Celestine Nudana (Ghana) Anthony Itopa Obaro (Nigeria) 19 “The Mamba” Lagos traffic Journal Of Africa Haiku Network

Odu Ode Nureni Ibrahim (Nigeria) (Nigeria)

flood Lagos traffic river passes behind the roaring engine my door a dozing driver

hot afternoon thunderclap under the bridge the hand of Sango beggar’s home lights the sky

house cleaning the hideout of cockroaches

20 Odu Ode (Nigeria) Nureni Ibrahim (Nigeria) 21 “The Mamba” lifting gently Journal Of Africa Haiku Network

Matthew Caretti Precious Oboh (Malawi) (Nigeria)

Africa Cup lifting gently a black nylon— A roadside trading post. harmattan breeze Remnants of a radio. The old man connects a faulty wire. Tunes to some distant pitch. summer heat in the shade of an oak tree resting shadows market day the tinkerer’s shop springs to life

play-by-play the static after a missed PK

extra time a crowd stares into the loudspeaker

22 Matthew Caretti (Malawi) Precious Oboh (Nigeria) 23 “The Mamba” village uproar… Journal Of Africa Haiku Network

Sarra Masmoudi Ahmad Holderness (Tunisia) (Nigeria)

new year dawn village uproar… the resounding cry two men wrestle of a muezzin for the princess’s hand

new year’s morning— elephant grass— on her lips the red a hunter crouches of the night before against the wind

morning rush hour— breaking the silence . . . a spiral of birds tightens the echoes of toads and loosens their flight

hill trail— my shadow’s weight on the young poppies

24 Sarra Masmoudi (Tunisia) Ahmad Holderness (Nigeria) 25 “The Mamba” dry harmattan Journal Of Africa Haiku Network

Theophilus Femi Fumane Ntlhabane Alawonde (South Africa) (Nigeria)

harmattan dry harmattan tree branches drops of rain sharing fire turn dust into pebbles

returning to South Africa— the scent of sunflower fields

26 Theophilus Femi Alawonde (Nigeria) Fumane Ntlhabane (South Africa) 27 “The Mamba” broken eggshells— Journal Of Africa Haiku Network

Okpanachi Attah Raphael d’Abdon (Nigeria) (South Africa)

moonlight conversation. . . broken eggshells— fused shadows share black mambas sneak from a bottle of wine a hole

28 Okpanachi Attah (Nigeria) Raphael d’Abdon (South Africa) 29 “The Mamba” nectar— Journal Of Africa Haiku Network

Usman Karofi Isaac Ofori Okyere (Nigeria) (Ghana)

Ramadan nectar— gunshots at the sighting a bonding ground for of a new moon two allies

rain starts . . . firewood on fire a bricklayer leaves escaping ants the construction site out of line

30 Usman Karofi (Nigeria) Isaac Ofori Okyere (Ghana) 31 “The Mamba” a harmattan leaf Journal Of Africa Haiku Network

Adedoyin Luqman Wisdom C. Nwoga (Nigeria) (Nigeria)

journeying home on the untarred road— a harmattan leaf

32 Adedoyin Luqman (Nigeria) Wisdom C. Nwoga (Nigeria) 33 “The Mamba” harmattan cold— Journal Of Africa Haiku Network

Temitope Aina Afiah Obenewaa (Nigeria) (Ghana)

Valentine harmattan cold— remembering all my lovers our love forgotten sweet heartbeats chills to nothingness

valentine gift the rich softness of a lover’s skin

valentine song the guitar strings twinge old time tunes

34 Temitope Aina (Nigeria) Afiah Obenewaa (Ghana) 35 “The Mamba” sea’s song the breaking waves back my harmonica Journal Of Africa Haiku Network

Barnabas Ìkéolúwa Arnie Naa Dromo Adélékè (Nigeria) Annan (Ghana)

almost sea’s song saluting a mannequin the breaking waves back Christmas fair my harmonica

September rain… the sacred river floods its shrine

36 Barnabas Ìkéolúwa Adélékè (Nigeria) Arnie Naa Dromo Annan (Ghana) 37 “The Mamba” fish stall . . . Journal Of Africa Haiku Network

Pamela Kuadegbeku Ingrid Baluch (Ghana) (Uganda)

silent blue sea fish stall . . . so loud the stillness sprays of silver glitter here each scrape of his blade

goat droppings threaded together with plastic waste

38 Pamela Kuadegbeku (Ghana) Ingrid Baluch (Uganda) 39 “The Mamba” hazy afternoon Journal Of Africa Haiku Network

Ugwu Erochukwu Makarios Wakoko Shedrach (Kenya) (Nigeria)

the steady headlight from moving vehicles . . . hazy afternoon

40 Ugwu Erochukwu Shedrach (Nigeria) Makarios Wakoko (Kenya) 41 “The Mamba” seizes an empty cobweb Journal Of Africa Haiku Network

Prah Justice Joseph Before Reaching the Other Side... (Ghana) By Justice Joseph Prah

Thousand by thousand, the hairy figures drift in empty home bringing from the crowded rear a smog of brown cloud the harmattan dust that wraps and unwraps around them. They ooze out seizes an empty cobweb of it gingerly as the whole clot meanders toward the surging Mara River. Their hoofs pound the already sun-beaten ground and one could hardly tell how long they have been milling toward the other side which lies danger range away from them. Above them, the smelting sun has long been following them from its cradle and now its kissing breath at their backs no longer deter them - the other side, yes, the other side looks unreachable. It is not for the webs of those thorny rocks that defiantly flange the other bank of the river and it is equally not for the hidden deeper depths that literally swallows and spits the threshing water as it runs steadily down the patched lands. It is for the paralyzing fear for those dark and scaly debris taxing at the less violent side of the river. The floating jetsam seem to come alive as the hairy figures approach rolling stripes of water. Crowd after crowd, the hairy figures send their whole heap stomping into the river like avalanches of rain-soaked hill giving way

42 Prah Justice Joseph (Ghana) Before Reaching the Other Side... By Justice Joseph Prah 43 “The Mamba” seizes an empty cobweb Journal Of Africa Haiku Network

beneath downhill. They splash here and there mapping Emmanuel Jessie for their narrow escape to steal behind death as they Kalusian collide with the scaly jetsam. As expected, the brutal struggle increases up and quick as hairier figures dive (Nigeria) into the bubble-brewed water, their fates set ahead at the other bank of the river. Minutes dissolve into time and some of the wildebeests have successfully waded Lover’s Day through to the other side but another feet-bleeding a red leaf follows journey to meet the rains begins for the lucky ones the speeding van who have frantically swim out of the raving river and now gearing to trade way out of dens of flesh-thirsty hyenas, lions and cheetahs which have started stalking harmattan dust them on. Meanwhile, the running river bleeds on as a sanctuary cleaner wipes the mammoth crocodiles; the scaly debris, tear apart the pews the drown wildebeests: for these ones, the migratory season looks too narrow a crossover for them; they simply might be too aware of the end they have met evening walk and done for the rest of the flock to reach the other side. my hand on her waist Could this ironically be an altruistic death? for the first time

harmattan bonfire firewood draws deeper— woodworm

44 Before Reaching the Other Side...By Justice Joseph Prah Emmanuel Jessie Kalusian (Nigeria) 45 “The Mamba” seizes an empty cobweb Journal Of Africa Haiku Network

Morning Walk Dynamic Rahman O. Jimoh By Emmanuel Jessie Kalusian (Nigeria)

She wanted many things. A car. A house of her own. A trip to Dubai, and another trip to Tanzania— to the city of Arusha, precisely. Under the popular Rumuola Bridge, was where she lived. Every morning, there was a sparkling empty plate in front of her. No matter how much money goes into it, there will still be another fresh plate the next morning. That morning, as I walked pass. With a hundred-naira bill in my pajamas pocket to give to her. A group of pedestrians were talking about her. The deranged beggar woman. “She’s dead,” one man said, “yes, the insane woman. Who keeps talking about her trip to Arusha.”

morning mass a grocery list in the prayer book

46 Morning Walk By Emmanuel Jessie Kalusian Dynamic Rahman O. Jimoh (Nigeria) 47 “The Mamba” elephant skull Journal Of Africa Haiku Network

HAIKU FROM Kokuu Andy McLellan EUROPE & OTHER (United Kingdom) PLACES

elephant skull the looming shadow of Kilimanjaro

48 Dynamic Rahman O. Jimoh (Nigeria) Kokuu Andy McLellan (United Kingdom) 49 “The Mamba” old djembé Journal Of Africa Haiku Network

Mark Gilbert Eufemia Griffo (United Kingdom) (Italy)

and all is still— old djembé the last beat a drum beats of the elephant’s heart together with my heart

lunar eclipse the farewell of an old Masai Warrior

Harmattan fury— ants cling to an ancient *Marula

* djembé— drum by percussion * Marula Tree (Sclerocarya birrea) is one of the great African native plants. Belonging to the family of the Anacardiacee as the mango, the pistachio and the cashew, has always been part of the life of the inhabitants of the southern area of the black continent.

50 Mark Gilbert (United Kingdom) Eufemia Griffo (Italy) 51 “The Mamba” amid frogs and fishes Journal Of Africa Haiku Network

Gillena Cox Angela Giordano (Trinidad & Tobago) (Italy)

brightening amid frogs and fishes with each twitter the kingfisher azure morning sky dive into the water

a grackle hops in National zoo smell of freshly cut grass two baboons pose one then another on a dry branch

wild grass— the moon in the reeds so close

52 Gillena Cox (Trinidad & Tobago) Angela Giordano (Italy) 53 “The Mamba” a butterfly’s wing Journal Of Africa Haiku Network

Stoianka Boianova Angiola Inglese (Bulgaria) (Italy)

full moon night a butterfly’s wing a spotted leopard swaying in the sky jumps over the fence high afternoon

54 Stoianka Boianova (Bulgaria) Angiola Inglese (Italy) 55 “The Mamba” winter evening... Journal Of Africa Haiku Network

Julia Guzmán Praniti Gulyani (Argentina) (India)

autumn dusk winter evening... the flight of geese the sunset shapes reflected in the lake into ostrich beak

full moon geography lesson... the echo of a guitar she blows the Sahara in the silence of the night off her fingers

56 Julia Guzmán (Argentina) Praniti Gulyani (India) 57 “The Mamba” equatorial dawn Journal Of Africa Haiku Network

Srinivasa Rao Pasquale Asprea Sambangi (India) (Italy)

the lion chasing the deer equatorial dawn chasing the moment flamingos return to the big lake

58 Srinivasa Rao Sambangi (India) Pasquale Asprea (Italy) 59 “The Mamba” sweltering heat Journal Of Africa Haiku Network

Maria Laura Keith A. Simmonds Valente (Italy) (France)

palm tree canopy— sweltering heat from the understory a cow’s shadow grazing a snake warns in the pasture

harmattan night— trees wilting the new moon rises on denuded hills … invisible the scent of fire

sub-Saharan sunset - waterfall the trembling silhouette pouring sunlight down of a lone topi the mountain side

folktales at dusk — first stars light up unnoticed

60 Maria Laura Valente (Italy) Keith A. Simmonds (France) 61 “The Mamba” late summer Journal Of Africa Haiku Network

Garry Eaton Florin Golban (British Colombia) (Romania)

a Maasai leans on his staff late summer remembering . . . one orange bathes *Ngorongoro in the waves

Read about Ngorongoro from here. wild cornflowers blooming in the field — summer rain

62 Garry Eaton (British Colombia) Florin Golban (Romania) 63 “The Mamba” conservational park Journal Of Africa Haiku Network

Robin Smith Marina Bellini (USA) (Italy)

harem of zebras conservational park one mass of stripes below the big cat playing lone acacia tree kitty

old painting in orange and red a village life

back home a bit of desert on our Jeep

64 Robin Smith (USA) Marina Bellini (Italy) 65 “The Mamba” Palm Sunday— Journal Of Africa Haiku Network

Minko Tanev Gowtham Ganni (Bulgaria) (India)

evening clouds— Palm Sunday— a moment of meditation the winged ant as birds return at last landed

casual walk— he steps on the ant

Beer Day— my wallet opens for the policeman

66 Minko Tanev (Bulgaria) Gowtham Ganni (India) 67 “The Mamba” war of thorns Journal Of Africa Haiku Network

Antonio Mangiameli Basantkumar Das (Italy) Bhubaneswar (India)

harmattan wind war of thorns a leaf comes and goes cactus and comes and goes cacti

68 Antonio Mangiameli (Italy) Basantkumar Das Bhubaneswar (India) 69 “The Mamba” abandoned house Journal Of Africa Haiku Network

Hansha Teki (New Sudebi Singha Zealand) (India)

far away abandoned house handfuls of dust termite mud tubes on whisper of origins the parquet floor

savannah dusk— baobab trees stride time with up-raised arms

70 Hansha Teki (New Zealand) Sudebi Singha (India) 71 “The Mamba” Stone Town* alleys – Journal Of Africa Haiku Network

Pravat Kumar Krzysztof Kokot Padhy (India) (Poland)

boundary wall— Stone Town* alleys – fruits bearing branches the people mix on either side with shadow

*old part of the city of Zanzibar

72 Pravat Kumar Padhy (India) Krzysztof Kokot (Poland) 73 “The Mamba” love grass Journal Of Africa Haiku Network

Giovanna Restuccia Tim Gardiner (Italy) (United Kingdom)

African sunset — love grass my steps on the seashore clinging to the edge scare away the crabs of the precipice

tyre tracks soon swept clean by the breeze

74 Giovanna Restuccia (Italy) Tim Gardiner (United Kingdom) 75 “The Mamba” Harmattan ... Journal Of Africa Haiku Network

Debbie Strange Mohammad Azim (Canada) Khan (Pakistan)

blended family . . . Harmattan ... snow in the Sahara the white cow this year changes colour

fickle winds hazy savannah ... the migration of dunes the periscope and humans of a giraffe

Mara river crocs lie in wait wildebeest feast

76 Debbie Strange (Canada) Mohammad Azim Khan (Pakistan) 77 “The Mamba” blood moon Journal Of Africa Haiku Network

Antonio Mangiameli Angelo B. Ancheta (Italy) (Philippines)

speaking to the flowers blood moon one by one — a pair of eyes in the dark solitude stares back at me

dusty plains a lone camel basking in safari sun

78 Antonio Mangiameli (Italy) Angelo B. Ancheta (Philippines) 79 “The Mamba” in safari sun Journal Of Africa Haiku Network

Lavana Kray Lavana Kray (Romania) (Romania)

80 Lavana Kray (Romania) Lavana Kray (Romania) 81 “The Mamba” distant thunder . . . Journal Of Africa Haiku Network

Corine Timmer Corine Timmer (Portugal) (Portugal)

distant thunder . . . the elephant cow keeps her calf nearer

stampede— the cheetah barely touches the ground

82 Corine Timmer (Portugal) Corine Timmer (Portugal) 83 “The Mamba” jeeps Journal Of Africa Haiku Network

Jan Dobb Slobodan Pupovac (Australia) (Croatia)

frogs jeeps only their voices armed visible with the cameras

market day baskets ride the chatter deep jungle of heads heart follows the strong rhythm, of African drums

84 Jan Dobb (Australia) Slobodan Pupovac (Croatia) 85 “The Mamba” harmattan night Journal Of Africa Haiku Network

Nikolay Grankin Goran Gatalica (Russia) (Croatia)

savannah harmattan night over the drumming the neck of a giraffe a cloud of dust touches the moon

unwary tourist a reclining lion bucked up

dry river in the print of bare foot a frogling

86 Nikolay Grankin (Russia) Goran Gatalica (Croatia) 87 “The Mamba” touches the moon Journal Of Africa Haiku Network

Goran Gatalica Goran Gatalica (Croatia) (Croatia)

88 Goran Gatalica (Croatia) Goran Gatalica (Croatia) 89 “The Mamba” wrestling match— Journal Of Africa Haiku Network

Sandra Simpson ESSAY, WORKSHOP & (New Zealand) BOOK REVIEW

wrestling match— we take a seat near the exit

photo safari— the lionesses yawn at us

90 Sandra Simpson (New Zealand) Essay, Workshop & book review 91 “The Mamba” yawn at us Journal Of Africa Haiku Network

Thirteen Ways of Reading Haiku 1. Form by Michael Dylan Welch Sammamish, Washington Although presumptions about 5-7-5 syllables produce [email protected] widespread distractions in both reading and writing haiku, form is the first aspect we notice about these poems when we see them on the page. In Japan, traditional haiku follows a 5-7-5 rhythm (written in a What do you look for when you read haiku? Many single vertical line). But they are not counting syllables, people who are new to haiku look for the syllable and it’s been a misunderstanding outside Japan, count, without realizing that this takes them out of the such as in English, to presume that 5-7-5 syllables is poem and turns them into adjudicators looking to see equivalent. Much has been written elsewhere about if the poet “did it right.” In the process, such readers why this is problematic, and how it obscures other might too easily miss the images and emotions of the more important aspects of the poem, so it’s important poem. There’s much else to look for in reading a haiku. to look beyond form to focus on content. But form may The Japanese haiku master Seisensui has referred to be the natural place to start. How does the poem appear haiku as an “unfinished” poem. This means that the on the page? Most haiku in English appear in three reader finishes the poem by engaging with it. The art lines, and one-liners are also common, but the poem of reading haiku amounts to finishing the poem that could appear in a variety of other forms. Consider how the poet started. But what does the reader engage with the form, whatever it is, might help or hinder the poem. beyond the trivialities of the syllable count? When you For example, do indents give a sense of movement, read haiku, it helps to know what to look for so that and does that sense complement the poem’s meaning? you may “finish” the poem as finely as possible. These Does centering each line give the poem a feeling of strategies may also help you write haiku, but the focus formality? If the poem is 5-7-5, are the lines padded or here is on reading them. As with Wallace Stevens’ chopped artificially just to cater to that form? Are the poem, “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird,” line breaks natural, or does an unnatural break cause there may well be at least thirteen ways to read haiku. a useful emphasis on a particular word or line? Does the symmetry of a short-long-short line pattern help the haiku, married with the asymmetry of a two-part

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structure? Ultimately, has the poem found its best These two early haiku pioneers take different organic form to present the content? Similarly, as an approaches to form. Wright’s poem is 5-7-5, and extension of form, consider how the poem handles fortunately it reads naturally, but presents more capitalization and punctuation. Often these are matters information than a typical Japanese haiku. Wright’s of personal style, such as whether a poet chooses indents follow the practice used by translator R. H. to mark the poem’s “cut” with a dash or an ellipsis, Blyth, who was Wright’s only influence during or whether the poet omits punctuation, trusting the the brief period when he wrote haiku. Both poems grammatical shift to make a two-part structure clear. have natural line breaks and use their chosen forms Starting the poem with a lowercase letter can signal appropriately. Other haiku may appear in a single line, that the poem is fragmentary, as haiku so often is, or have words scattered down the page. Or they may rather than a complete sentence, but some poets prefer take other creative approaches. It’s worth considering to start with a capital, even if they don’t end with a how the form helps the meaning, and to enjoy varying period. Such style choices may not make a difference forms as well as the content. to the meaning of some poems, but sometimes they will, so pay attention. 2. Feeling While form is the first characteristic we might notice about haiku, it’s good to move toward content as soon as possible, and to dwell in the effects of that content. Evening coming— First, how does the poem make you feel? William J. the office girl Higginson has written that the purpose of haiku is to unloosing her scarf share them. We share haiku to convey experience and feeling, and a haiku succeeds if the reader has the same Jack Kerouac feeling that the writer had. Does a haiku make you sad, Coming from the woods, happy, joyful, melancholy, puzzled, fulfilled? Or do A bull has a lilac sprig you feel any other emotion? Does the poem suggest a Dangling from a horn. story that engages you to wonder what happened? Does the poem convey an appreciation for youthfulness or Richard Wright

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aging, and an acceptance of these changes through These two haiku convey a feeling of melancholy. Cor the seasons of life? You may feel whatever you like van den Heuvel has observed the city scene closely, in response to haiku poems, but it’s worthwhile to noticing an increased darkness in parked cars that are notice your feelings in reaction to a haiku, because covered with snow. Perhaps the snow seems whiter those feelings are what the poem is trying to stir. You in contrast to the darkness inside the cars. And in can also become a better haiku reader and writer by Virgilio’s poem, we get a profound sense of ending, figuring out what the poem is doing to cause those even of death, when the barber pole is shut off—or feelings—and in the best haiku, the poem will create turns off for some other reason (power failure?). The feelings rather than naming or explaining them. As a day too is ending, as night falls, and the year’s seasons reader, you have the burden to reach the emotion that are drawing to a close with autumn. The elements the poet has pointed you toward. And bear in mind work together to create a feeling of sadness. It’s always that some poems may speak to you and others won’t, advisable, when reading a haiku, to ask how the poem depending on your own background and experiences. makes you feel. It’s okay to resonate strongly with some poems, and not with others. Just read more. 3. Two-Part Structure Another characteristic to look for in haiku is a two- city street part structure. It doesn’t appear in every haiku, but the darkness inside usually does, where one part of the poem (typically the the snow-covered cars first or third line) is grammatically independent from Cor van den Heuvel the rest of the poem. But the shift is more than just grammatical—the juxtaposed part should be a change town barber pole of images as well, and not just a restatement of the stops turning: previous part. More importantly, it’s the interaction of autumn nightfall these two parts that matters most, as the leap between Nick Virgilio them may create a mystery (what does one part have to do with the other?) that the reader may resolve, either logically or emotionally. The resonance between the

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parts matters more than the mere placement of one before the last line. In this case the poem’s moment is image with another—like making one plus one equal long—an entire night. It’s not just the snow that might three. The relationship of the poem’s two parts is be keeping shoppers away but the long hours of night intended to imply something that’s deliberately left out, when the store is closed. This poem extends empathy or to give the reader a feeling. to the mannequins and their seeming loneliness in this situation. Every night is surely the same, but this Midwinter gloom— particular night feels even longer because of the snow. she turns on the lights in her doll’s house 4. Seasonal Reference Lorraine Ellis Harr Yet another technique to look for in haiku is seasonal reference. Naming the season is the most obvious the long night way haiku poets will do this, but haiku often uses of the mannequins— subtler methods. These could be as direct as snow snow falling for winter or blossoms for spring, but look for less Martin Shea obvious indications as well. The value of these seasonal references is that they anchor each poem In Harr’s poem, a pause occurs after the first line. in time, evoke seasonal metaphors for the unfolding With “Midwinter gloom,” we are given an emotional of human life, and allude, especially in the Japanese context, as well as a seasonal setting, for the rest of tradition, to other poems that use the same season the poem. The effect here is a kind of zooming in as words. Japanese culture is highly sensitive to the we tighten our focus on the doll house, and even more seasons, and this sensitivity manifests itself in haiku closely on its lights being turned on. The moment is and many other Japanese arts. While it is not necessary quick—just when the lights flick on—but it’s in the merely to imitate Japan with haiku poetry, those who context of a much longer season of gloom. Indeed, write haiku in English or other languages frequently this small action is a protest against the dreariness of honour the seasons where they live in a way that is winter, and this unspoken feeling of protest lies at the common in Japanese haiku. Remember, too, that heart of this poem. In Shea’s haiku, the pause occurs haiku is not strictly a “nature” poem, but focuses

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on the seasons instead. This means that human and is night time, so we know it must be late if it’s during pure-nature subjects are both appropriate for haiku the summer. And surely it’s been a long dry summer, (human presence does not necessarily make the poem too, if rain is enough of a novelty to warrant the putting a senryu). You might want to consider each haiku in out of lights to hear it better. The poem presents a terms of how much human or nature content appears in moment of celebration. So too does Rotella’s poem, the poem and notice which poems you tend to prefer. expressing love in sharing the garden’s bounties. And Either is fine—or both. note how this sharing must have been spontaneous, too. The poet did not go out to the garden with a basket, but summer night: just went out to look, or perhaps to do some weeding. we turn out all the lights Upon seeing the garden’s late-August yield, the poet to hear the rain can’t help but collect some of this bounty, using the Peggy Willis Lyles only means available, her skirt, to carry it indoors. In both poems we find rich evocations of the season. Late August— 5. Five Senses and Objectivity I bring him the garden in my skirt. Another trait to pay attention to in haiku is how Alexis Rotella objectively the poem presents its images and experiences. Yet this objective portrayal can produce The first of these two poems names the season, a subjective effect, where the facts of the five senses whereas the second one shows the season through the can produce a feeling in the reader. The haiku poem image of the bountiful garden. The word “August” uses chiefly objective means to produce a subjective is not necessarily a season word for summer, except end. But the subjectivity is usually added by the reader in the Northern Hemisphere, because the seasons are in interpreting the poem—part of how the reader opposite in the southern half of the world. Both ways finishes the “unfinished” poem. It takes practice for of indicating the season can work in haiku. When the Western writers to control their use of subjectivity season is named, as in Lyles’ “summer night,” we can and objectivity in haiku. As a reader of haiku, it can expect the rest of the poem to build on that context. It be rewarding to notice which parts of the poem are

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objective or subjective. Touches of subjectivity can of an argument, but we can inhabit that moment for sometimes work very well if the majority of the poem what it is. It might even be a moment of contentedness, remains objective and concrete. Objectivity enables the with no need to talk, but something in the tension of poet to show rather than to tell, and when the reader unsettled sediments suggests that the relationship sees the image (or feels the experience through other is unsettled also. In Avis’s poem, the denial of senses), he or she can have a unique emotional reaction, communication and the mystery of why the phone whereas a haiku that presents too much subjective would ring only once finds solace in an awareness interpretation does the reader’s job, and risks reducing of the rain, the sound of which the poet might not engagement with the poem. have noticed were it not for the phone’s ring. Avis’s poem feels melancholy, and we are invited to join that her silence at dinner melancholy instant—and this despondence (or perhaps sediment bitter sweetness) is heightened by the suitability of this hanging in the wine being an autumn rain. In both poems, the scenes are Scott Montgomery depicted with utter objectivity (showing, not telling— just the facts), yet what emotional overtones these the telephone images convey. When haiku poets rely on their five rings only once senses to show what they experienced, we as readers autumn rain can feel what they felt. Nick Avis 6. Sound and Rhythm

Both of these poems focus on the sense of sound—in It also helps to think of sound in haiku—not sound as the dinner silence and the telephone’s ring, but also, a subject, but how the words themselves sound. Try in the second poem, the sound of the rain. Yet visual saying each poem aloud when you encounter it, or at elements arise, too, especially in Montgomery’s image least try hearing it in your head. Rhyme is typically of sediments hanging in the wine, a precarious sort of too overpowering in a poem as short as haiku, but suspension that extends the tension in “her” silence. assonance, consonance, slant rhymes, and other We don’t know the reason for this silence, perhaps part sound techniques may enhance the poem. Don’t let

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the poem’s sounds pass you by. And pay attention to clams that seem silent at the river’s bottom—and the rhythm of each line. Are the line breaks natural notice how the river is rolling too). But the poem and unobtrusive, or is a useful effect produced by an uses sound as well, as with the similar “tt” sounds of unexpected line break? Look for the poem’s music and “mutter” and “scatter,” repeated again in “bottom.” let it sing in you. Additional sounds repeat in the last syllables of “mutter,” “thunder,” “river,” and “scatter,” and Listening . . . recurring “m,” “r,” and “s” sounds add to the poem’s After a while, sonorous tightness. The poem’s pleasing rhythm I take up my axe again also contributes to its music. And although the word Rod Willmot “clams” finds no sound connection with any other words, this difference gives the word emphasis, Muttering thunder . . . sharpening our focus. the bottom of the river 7. Wordplay and Allusion scattered with clams Robert Spiess And there’s more. What about wordplay and allusion? Good haiku may well employ double meanings or turns The first of these two poems is about sound, but the of phrases. And it’s common in Japanese haiku—and point here is to think about the sounds of the words increasingly in English—for haiku to allude to other themselves. In Willmot’s poem, a strong moment of literature (not just poems), or to take advantage of the silence occurs after the first line. We don’t know what overtones of place names or other cultural references. In the poet is listening to, perhaps the call of a far-off English, we can’t write a lily or elevator haiku without bird, but it is enough to attract his attention, and we bringing to mind prominent poems that have handled dwell in that appreciation for a moment of listening these subjects before us. These techniques help to before he takes up his axe again. And we surely also compress more meaning and poetic effect into such a hear the poet’s next swing of the axe—that thwack short poem, as do season words. Allusion may be a more of steel into cedar. Spiess’s poem, meanwhile, is also advanced target to look for, but noticing it will come about sound (the rolling of thunder, contrasted with naturally as you gain more haiku reading experience.

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foghorns . . . sense the wordplay, in this case a double meaning, we lower a kayak in the word “sound.” He means not just a “sound” as into the sound in a large ocean inlet (the poet lives on Puget Sound in Washington State) but the sensory “sound” of Christopher Herold the foghorns. The discovery of this simultaneous meaning gives the poem a sense of completeness and standing in the middle of now here resolution, and we can enjoy the pleasure of kayaking Peter Newton despite the warning of fog. We see another kind of wordplay in Newton’s play on “nowhere” and “now body bag here” to the point that it does not matter where in the not asking world he might be—all that matters is that he’s now not telling here rather than “nowhere.” In Kilbride’s poem, we Jerry Kilbride most likely know that “body bag” refers to a casualty of war, and that the last two lines refer to what was gone from the woods then an American military policy of “don’t ask, don’t the bird I knew tell” regarding the sexual orientation of its soldiers. by song alone It may help to know that Kilbride himself fought in Paul O. Williams the Korean war despite being a gay man—at a time when the veiled tolerance of “don’t ask, don’t tell” had on his youth in Japan not even come into practice. But even without this my neighbor falls silent . . . information, the cultural allusions in this poem, though the clear summer sky not literary, are still strong. The gestalt of the poem is that surely the dead soldier was gay, and how sad it is Chuck Brickley that even this sense of identity is lost along with the soldier’s life—he was, in a way, already “killed” before It’s worth talking about several poems here, so we he died. A similar sort of meta-information informs the might thoroughly explore the practices of wordplay and poem by Paul O. Williams. On one level anyone can allusion in haiku. In Herold’s haiku we immediately

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relate to knowing a bird that he or she had only heard longer speak to you, and others will come alive. Or in the woods, but is no longer there. But this poem was perhaps all will work for you at another time, or none written as a memorial for the late Nick Virgilio, whose of them. This too is an extension of how the reader “song” Williams had “heard” only in various haiku completes the poem—set yourself free in enjoying journals over a long period of time—and now the song each poem, and move on from poems that might puzzle was gone. He had never met Nick in person. This is you. With more experience with haiku, perhaps certain a contextual allusion, thus different from literary or poems might no longer puzzle you, but remember that place-name allusions that poets can also use in haiku, some puzzling poems might simply be poorly written. but it’s useful to know that this is possible. And as for However, don’t expect all poems to “come to you.” Brickley’s poem, here an allusion to place—such as That is, it can be valuable for you to “go to the poem.” the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki—is obvious. Make at least some effort to figure out a puzzling The reference to a clear sky makes a sharp contrast poem. Perhaps there’s a cultural context that initially to the chaos of a mushroom cloud, so this is why eludes you. Don’t expect each poet to spoon-feed his or Hiroshima and Nagasaki will come to mind for many her poem to you. Some haiku may take risks, and when readers. This allusion deepens the poem, yet it’s worth you “get” the poem, you will get it more strongly than noting that the poem can still work on other levels even if the poem had spelled things out more obviously. It’s without this understanding. Allusion and wordplay can also perfectly fine sometimes to just feel something help to condense and deepen haiku poetry. from the poem, whether you “get it” or not.

8. Personal Taste bearing down Poets around the world write many millions of haiku on a borrowed pen every year. Because they are such personal poems, you do not resuscitate may respond to some poems but not others. This too is Yu Chang part of how you read haiku—let poems speak to you if they will, and don’t worry too much about others that don’t. Years later you may read the same poems and ones that meant so much to you before might no

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mountain wind particular in their focus, and because they require the the stillness of a lamb reader to “finish” each poem, these poems are highly gathering crows personal. So if a poem happens not to appeal to you or me, but appeals to someone else, this selectiveness is Matt Morden worth celebrating, not bemoaning. Moreover, it’s worth paying attention to why you like or don’t like a poem. These are two poems I happen to like, even though If you figure out the reasons, then you can cultivate they’re dark. You may like them, too, but it’s okay poems written in the way you like, yet also challenge if you don’t. In fact, the second one is particularly yourself to try writing poems in ways that you hadn’t morbid, which may not appeal to some readers at all. liked previously. However, for the sake of reading Yet both carry a sense of suchness, of life as it is. haiku (as opposed to writing them), knowing why you As James W. Hackett once wrote, “lifefulness, not like certain poems can help you better understand beauty, is the real quality of haiku.” Although these haiku that you don’t. two poems may be readily accessible to you, there might be other haiku I like that completely puzzle 9. The Fourth Line you. Or that you like but that puzzle me. For example, With experience, too, you may find that the name of the I’m baffled by a lot of avant-garden gendai (modern) poet provides a deeper context for the poem. The name haiku out of Japan, and by the recent rise (though that appears after each haiku may be considered as the more recently decline) of similar poems in English. poem’s “fourth line” (even if the poem isn’t always Although these poems produce an immediate “reader in three lines). The name can offer information about resistance” in me, I also recognize that that’s their the poet’s gender, nationality, location, biography, or point—to challenge stereotypes and narrow visions even his or her style or brand of haiku if you know that for what haiku “should” be. Quite aside from whether poet’s work. A haiku might have a very different effect a poem “puzzles” you, though, taste is a matter of if you know the writer to be male rather than female, whether you happen to like or dislike even poems that or vice versa—or even transgender. If you know the don’t puzzle you. Indeed, you need not feel you have poet lives in Greenland or Gambia, that too may make to like what other people like. Because haiku are so a difference in how the poem comes across. Poets

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might also deliberately write against expectations for the poet notices that instant where the rider’s hand their usual style—perhaps writing a pure-nature poem opens to the sky, as if open to whatever happens while when they normally focus on human relationships, or riding the bull to the best of his ability. A similar vice versa, and this choice may make the poem stand influence of the fourth line, the name under the poem, out. For readers who are new to haiku, many of these is true for Major’s poem, if we know that he himself details won’t be obvious until you encounter particular was a Quaker, a Christian religion whose formal title poets repeatedly, or meet them in person, but you can is the “Society of Friends” or the “Religious Society of still pay attention to whatever clues the name might Friends.” Many Quaker meetings are held in silence, provide. and yet not without awareness, perhaps similar to Zen meditation in this regard. We find great warmth in the 8 seconds . . . action of moving chairs to enlarge a circle, a gathering the bull rider opens of welcoming acceptance. In other poems, the gender a hand to the sky of the poet might completely change how we read a Chad Lee Robinson poem, or knowing that a poet lives in Botswana or Brazil might have an effect too. Whatever information silent Friends meeting . . . we know, or can gather, about the poem’s “fourth the sound of chairs being moved line” can help to deepen the poem. Some observers to enlarge the circle may feel that the poem has to stand on its own, and yes, that’s a worthwhile goal, but we might easily Robert Major welcome whatever additional information is available to us through the name after the poem to deepen our As with the Kilbride and Williams poems mentioned appreciation even further. previously, where it may help to know something about the poet or the poem’s context, here it helps to 10. Intuitional Interpretation know that Robinson lives in South Dakota, part of American cowboy country, where rodeos are common Another step to take when reading haiku is to welcome occurrences. Knowing this about Robinson helps to your own interpretations. Yet look for clues that help validate the poem. In the intense frenzy of bull-riding, you discount misinterpretations. A good haiku might

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entertain some degree of ambiguity, hopefully to generational moment of fishing together, whether for suggest more than one meaning—although it should be food or for sport. Likewise, what does Ken Jones mean careful to avoid excess ambiguity that merely confuses in his poem? What are the hills saying? And how are rather than engages. But ultimately, you are the judge the hills “saying” anything? There’s a Zen sense of just of each poem. Trust your intuition. How does the poem being, here, and that may well be the point. As the poet make you feel? Where does the poem take you? What H. D. once said, “I shall be here after the wave passes do you picture? That is the best any of us can offer to by.” Something about the poem speaks of permanence, each poem, even if we become highly experienced of utter acceptance. Or at least it does to me. That’s my readers and writers of haiku. intuition. Perhaps your intuition is different, and that’s fine too. Remember, of course, that not every poem two lines in the water . . . will speak to you, and it’s worth welcoming this fact, not a word between contentedly leaving aside any poems that happen not to father and son click for you. Randy M. Brooks 11. Noticing Moments These hills Much has been written about the so-called “haiku have nothing to say moment.” This might be the poet’s original experience, and go on saying it or it might be the experience recreated in the poem. Ken Jones Or it might be the moment when the reader “gets” the poem, if something is implied or left out. Whatever How do you interpret the poem by Randy Brooks? the case, haiku can vary greatly in the length of the Why are the father and son silent? Are they upset “moment” depicted. Many are very short, but not all with each other? I suspect not, that they are simply (I have a poem about light from a window crossing content instead. But the poem leaves that up to readers a room in a nursing home—the poem takes all day). to decide. You can take haiku wherever you want, and The seasonal reference helps to narrow the focus, or at almost any interpretation is probably reasonable. In least provide a context, but usually a verb in the poem this poem, the point is the shared experience, the cross- sharpens our attention. Yet some haiku have no verb

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at all, instead presenting a state of being. Look for the can feel this shame. And this moment is crystallized verbs in haiku (usually just one is best) or the lack of in that fleeting action of scraping off moss. In contrast, verbs. the Evetts poem has no verb. The birds just exist in the unsold trees. Nevertheless, the word “after” slave cemetery gives us a moment in time. We don’t know how long i scrape the moss to find after Christmas it is, but the leftover Christmas trees no name commonly sold in European or North American William M. Ramsey countries and elsewhere have not yet been carted away. And for that brief time, the trees are decorated not after Christmas with Christmas baubles but with birds. Instead of a a flock of sparrows verb such as the sparrows “sheltering” in the trees, we in the unsold trees are given just the preposition “in”—and that’s all we need to know, that the birds are “in” the unsold trees. Dee Evetts And a third type of “moment” occurs in the Dickson poem. This haiku gives us a verb, “grow,” but it’s not rain-swept parking lot a quick action this time. Instead, it’s a slow change as headlights of a locked car the light dims while the car’s battery drains. We can grow dim easily imagine the owner out shopping or perhaps at Charles B. Dickson work, busy with some other task that makes him or her forget the car. A feeling of sadness is deepened by In the Ramsey poem, a single verb centers our the parking-lot setting being rain-swept. Whatever the attention on that intimate moment of physically moment’s length, it’s worth paying attention to how it’s scraping moss from a grave marker. We are presented, and how long that moment is. presumably saddened to find that a dead slave was robbed not only of his or her freedom but even of his 12. Playing Favourites or her name. And notice how the poet seems to feel culpable in this injustice, because he refers to himself One more recommendation is to mark favourite poems with a diminished lowercase “i.” We too, as readers, when you read haiku in a book or journal, and perhaps

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even write notes as to why you like particular poems. after the garden party the garden This practice can help you read more conscientiously (I like to call it interactive reading). Writing out your Ruth Yarrow reasons—or at least thinking them through—can help you understand the complex achievements of even the spring sunshine simplest-seeming poems. And if you like a particular my dead wife’s handprints poem, take a few minutes to write to the poet to on the window pane say so. It will help you deepen your understanding David Cobb to articulate why you like the poem, and the act of connecting and building social relationships will help a skull no bigger you understand the poem’s “fourth line” by knowing than my thumbnail poets better. It can also be helpful to think about ways jasmine in bloom you might revise the poem if it were yours, such as Cherie Hunter Day changing a word (saying “maple” instead of just “tree”) or reversing the order of lines—and you may well jackknifed rig discover that the poem can’t be improved. a trooper waves us into wildflowers pregnant again . . . Robert Gilliland the fluttering of moths against the window out of the haze Janice Bostok the dog brings back the wrong stick at the height Max Verhart of the argument the old couple pour each other tea George Swede

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These poems are among many I’ve marked as do take the poem apart to analyze it, don’t forget to favourites in Haiku in English: The First Hundred Years put it back together again—by ignoring your critical (W. W. Norton, 2013), edited by Jim Kacian, Philip mind, your inner editor, and letting the poem just be. Rowland, and Allan Burns, from which I’ve quoted As poet and critic Edward Hirsch once said, “Poems all of the poems in this essay. I know my reasons for communicate before they are understood.” Parts of liking and admiring these poems, and you may have a given poem may break so-called rules, and yet the similar reasons—or even different reasons. Or you whole poem may work together marvelously. might not care for some of these haiku. Here I like the variety or emotions, the images, the careful crafting, yesterday’s paper the sounds, the senses, and above all the feeling of in the next seat— satisfaction I get from encountering these exquisite the train picks up speed expressions. William J. Higginson wrote in the first Gary Hotham paragraph of The Haiku Handbook, as mentioned earlier, that the purpose of haiku is to share them. As in the eggshell after the chick has hatched readers, we provide the final step in sharing haiku, as Michael Segers we receive them into our ears and eyes, into our hearts and minds. By knowing what to look for as we read, we moss-hung trees can better appreciate each haiku poem. a deer moves into 13. Wholeness the hunter’s silence Winona Baker The preceding techniques and characteristics are always worth looking for in haiku—if you want to spring breeze think them through. But don’t forget to let the poem archers at their targets wash over you. Notice what you feel before you collecting arrows start to think about the poem—pay attention to your “precognitive response.” As E. E. Cummings said Jerry Ball of life, not just poetry, “feeling is first.” And if you

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pointing Postscript my way home As a supplement to the preceding essay, I offer the the starfish following responses to a set of African haiku, starting and Carlos Colón ending with buffalo poems. These poems were all first published in The Mamba. It is a particular pleasure for Roland Barthes once said that “Haiku has this rather me, after having lived in Ghana as a child, to see haiku phantasmagorical property: that we always suppose growing so well in many parts of Africa. On a continent we can write such things easily.” Yet it can be very where the seasons are sometimes subtle, seasonal words hard to write haiku to make them look utterly easy. such as “harmattan winds” are emerging as uniquely When you are reading haiku, you have the advantage African, and subjects such as elephants and mambas of not having to worry about writing haiku. But don’t carry the meaning of wild animals instead of animals in be fooled by what looks easy. Pay attention and you a zoo. Here’s to a long and inspirational future for haiku will be rewarded by noticing what looks easy but really throughout Africa, in many of its languages. isn’t. a committee Among twenty snowy mountains, gathers in celebration The only moving thing dying buffalo Was the eye of the blackbird. Nshai Waluzimba, Zambia Wallace Stevens If we take the buffalo to be a source of food or other benefit for some native tribes, it’s easy to understand why this buffalo’s death might be a celebration. The poem’s key word, however, may well be “committee,” which shows not only that this is a community event, but that mutual decisions remain to be made. What will be done with the buffalo after it dies, and who will benefit? These decisions would seem to follow community tradition,

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too, adding a sense of history to the poem. If haiku are This poem offers a switch. Of course it’s the dawn that “unfinished” poems, we can also add to this poem by awakens the cattle, but sometimes it can feel like the imagining how the buffalo was injured. What may at stirring of livestock is what awakens the dawn. They first seem sad (the death of anything) shows a uniquely go together, and we see that intrinsic relationship more African point of view by turning this particular death into clearly by the switch this poem offers. The connection a celebration. of dawn to the awakening of the cattle extends to the interdependent connection between the natives and night their livestock. We may picture a particular kind of in flames cattle, too, because of the setting in a Maasai village, fireflies where cattle are especially important as a source of Celestine Nudanu, Ghana milk and meat. The cattle are essential to the native way of life—as essential as the dawn. The detail of bells on the cattle gives this poem a pleasing Here we encounter a minimalist haiku, one that turns personality and intimacy as well. on a pivot line, “in flames.” Both the night and the fireflies are “in flames”—the night because of the light funeral speech of fireflies (I also imagine stars), the fireflies because i put down my sorrows of their luminescent glow. However, we might also in a haiku imagine an actual fire, such as the seasonal harmattan fires, which are more likely during these dry and Caleb Mutua, Kenya windy months. This poem is direct and simple, yet carries overtones that may continue to engage readers This poem presents a more introspective than outward- in other non-African locations as well. looking point of view. But what else would we expect from a funeral? In Kenya, a typical life expectancy Maasai village is about fifteen years less than in the United States, cattle bells awakening England, and many other Western countries, making the dawn funerals a more common occurrence. Yet that makes them no less sad, and here the author has nowhere to Mercy Ikuri, Kenya

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turn but haiku to handle his sorrows. We can imagine Kano State Haiku Workshop the relationship of the poet to the deceased, and Report by Usman Karofi (Nigeria) perhaps also find some impatience with the speech’s length. The poem seems not to be about the funeral speech, nor even about the person who died, as it focuses on the poet’s need to express himself. In this roundabout way, perhaps the poem is about the person who died, for the sorrow is surely profound.

roasting sun the egret’s measured steps in buffalo shadow Adjei Agyei-Baah, Ghana

In this haiku, unlike the earlier one, the buffalo remains alive. It is surely resting in the sun—a On Friday 22nd of December 2017 after prayers, I led roasting tropical sun. We may see the buffalo as being a group of eight people to a talk on haiku. It was the still and quiet, in contrast to the moving egret. The first time I had talked with people physically regarding buffalo surely has no interest in the egret as a meal haiku, who were mostly between the ages of 18-25. (even if the word “roasting” might suggest food), yet The meeting was conducted in a lecture hall of Kano still the egret is wary. Is the egret looking for shade? State Polytechnic, which the time notice was short Or is the bird being careful not to wake the buffalo and hence contributed to the low turnout. Twenty one (if it’s sleeping), so as not to cause the bigger beast people were invited but only eight showed up. to startle or roll over the egret? We can dwell in this The meeting started exactly at ten minutes past three, moment, as we can with all the best haiku, to feel a and I begin to ask them if they have known or heard moment of experience—in this case with all its heat of haiku before to which they responded negative, and and unmentioned dust. only a single person in person of Aliyu Adamu who

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said to have read about it online. Book Review I prepare an eight slide power point presentation using the Africa Haiku Network beginner guide to facilitate the process. We printed and gave to the group for them to follow what was being discussed. “Ghana 21” By Adjei Agyei-Baah The meeting lasted for forty minutes and an extra five A Haiku Collection minutes was given to the group to compose a haiku of Available from Amazon.com their own. Only Fatima Abdullahi gave a try and come Priced at €3.23 up with: GHANA 21 is unbelievably precious. After all, Kano traffic this delightful poetic form was not only exclusively makes me late for Japanese until recently, but its Ghanaian manifestation haiku meeting may not be more than half a decade old. This collection is from Adjei Agyei-Baah, the undoubtedly prolific headliner of a group of courageous, playful, yet profoundly serious poets.

This excellent volume is also a potent symbol of our times. It is a great example of a certain easy and respectful claim to all the artistic heritage of the world, by all the peoples of the world: wherever they were, and are, produced.

Meanwhile, and happily, contemporary global artistic imagination is not limited by any kind of timidity. Or maybe some from the post-colonial world possess the certainty of those who have confronted the sobering fact of having to produce poetry and other forms

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of literature in the languages of peoples of other From continents. To put it simply, if Africans have had to write in English, French, Portuguese, and other “cocoa beverage European languages, then they can challenge their the farmer only smells the aroma imagination with haiku. in Ghana”

In contemporary speak, Adjei has “added value” to this to collection in two ways. To begin with, he has provided a beautiful Asante Akan version for each haiku, and “road toll joints thereby also created a wonderful riddle for the reader. sit in potholes So of course, we are left to wonder forever which In Ghana” version came first: the English, or the Asante Akan. and Meanwhile, he has also illustrated each poem with an exquisite version of Adinkra symbols (Ghanaian “morning radio ideograms). everyone knows the way forward in Ghana” The Adinkra symbols are one of a group of the many collections of early African writings that were stopped Adjei takes a very clear look at Ghana in these poems. from developing into full orthographies by wars, the The resulting haikus are funny, disturbing and just relentless and alternating tropical rains, droughts, the brilliant. Dear Reader, enjoy. excessive dryness, and the heavy humidity. Then there was colonial intervention and its negative and heavily —Professor Ama Ata Aidoo repressive ways of looking at anything and everything Formerly of Department of English, University of Cape African. Coast, Ghana.

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Index Haiku Harmattan Series 2018 »» First Published in Heron’s Patrick Wafula Wanyama Nest Vol. XXX No.4, March (Kenya) 2018 »» dead flies and termites .....14 Odu Ode »» Soweto Market—...... 14 (Nigeria) Haiku from Africa »» a slug’s trail ...... 14 »» flood...... 17 »» itchy droppings ...... 14 »» hot afternoon...... 17 Harriet Hedoti Wiafe Ingrid Baluch (Ghana) (Uganda) Fred Kweku Forson Nureni Ibrahim (Ghana) (Nigeria) »» jiggling waist beads...... 8 »» equatorial dusk ...... 10 »» hotel laundry...... 10 »» morning jog...... 14 »» Lagos traffic...... 17 Abdelkader Jamoussi »» brother’s child...... 14 »» thunderclap...... 17 (Morocco) Blessed Ayeyame Ali Znaidi »» house cleaning ...... 17 »» old kimono...... 8 (Nigeria) (Tunisia) Matthew Caretti »» the wind’s murmur...... 8 »» harmattan season...... 11 »» in the field...... 15 (Malawi) »» no leaves ...... 8 »» farmland murder...... 11 »» pond moon…...... 15 »» Harmattan morning...... 11 »» Africa Cup (Haiban)...... 18 Mercy Ikuri »» lingering boredom…...... 15 (Kenya) Meryem Lahlou »» spring stillness…...... 15 Precious Oboh (Tunisia (Nigeria) »» star-filled sky...... 9 Blessmond Alebna Ayinbire »» lifting gently ...... 18 »» in the glade—...... 9 »» axe blow...... 12 (Ghana) »» the muezzin’s call...... 9 »» leaf falls—...... 12 »» summer heat...... 18 »» bushfire...... 15 Kwaku Feni Adow Abderrahim Bensaid »» confetti… ...... 15 Sarra Masmoudi (Ghana) (Tunisia) »» harmattan morning...... 15 (Tunisia) »» new year dawn...... 19 »» new arrival ...... 9 »» glacial cold...... 12 Celestine Nudana »» new year’s morning—...... 19 »» First Published in Cattails, »» passport in my hand...... 12 (Ghana) »» morning rush hour—...... 19 October 2017 Edition Adjei Agyei-Baah »» antelope hunting...... 16 »» hill trail—...... 19 »» solar eclipse ...... 9 (Ghana) »» island mirage...... 16 »» all day standing…...... 9 Ahmad Holderness (Nigeria) » »» New Year’s Day...... 13 » First Published in Stardust »» village uproar…...... 19 Akor Emmanuel Oche »» harsh winds…...... 13 Haiku Journal, October 2017 »» elephant grass— ...... 19 (Nigeria) »» childhood river—...... 13 Anthony Itopa Obaro »» breaking the silence ...... 19 »» dawn alarm...... 10 »» first weeding...... 13 (Nigeria) »» First Published in Brevis »» dry savannah...... 13 »» a hawk on the prowl...... 16 Journal Issue one »» Harmattan (haiga)...... 13 »» Harmattan fire...... 16 »» First Published in Africa

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Theophilus Femi Alawonde Afiah Obenewaa Ugwu Erochukwu Shedrach Mark Gilbert (Nigeria) (Ghana) (Nigeria) (United Kingdom) »» Harmattan...... 20 »» harmattan cold—...... 24 »» the steady headlight ...... 27 »» and all is still—...... 32 Fumane Ntlhabane Barnabas Ìkéolúwa Adélékè Makarios Wakoko Eufemia Griffo (Italy) (South Africa) (Nigeria) (Kenya »» old djembé...... 32 »» dry harmattan...... 20 »» almost ...... 25 »» Harmattan breeze...... 27 »» lunar eclipse...... 32 »» returning to South Africa.20 »» First Published: 7th »» First Published in Africa »» Harmattan fury—...... 32 Okpanachi Attah Setouchi Matsuyama Haiku Harmattan Series Gillena Cox (Nigeria) International Photo-Haiku 2018 (Trinidad & Tobago) Contest, Japan » Prah Justice Joseph » » moonlight conversation....21 »» September rain…...... 25 » brightening...... 33 (Ghana) » Raphael d’Abdon »» Winning Haiku, Akita » a grackle hops in...... 33 » (South Africa) Chamber of Commerce » empty home...... 28 Angela Giordano »» Before Reaching the Other »» broken eggshells—...... 21 & President Award, 6th (Italy) Japan-Russia Haiku Side...(Haiban)...... 28 Usman Karofi »» amid frogs and fishes...... 33 Contest, 2017 Emmanuel Jessie Kalusian (Nigeria) »» National zoo...... 33 Arnie Naa Dromo Annan (Nigeria) »» wild grass—...... 33 »» Ramadan...... 22 (Ghana) »» Lover’s Day...... 29 Stoianka Boianova »» rain starts ...... 22 » »» sea’s song...... 25 » harmattan dust...... 29 (Bulgaria) Isaac Ofori Okyere » »» First Published: 7th » evening walk...... 29 (Ghana » »» full moon night...... 34 Setouchi Matsuyama » Morning Walk (Haiban)...30 Angiola Inglese »» nectar—...... 22 International Photo-Haiku Dynamic Rahman O. Jimoh (Italy) »» firewood on fire...... 22 Contest, Japan (Nigeria) »» a butterfly’s wing...... 34 Adedoyin Luqman (Nigeria) Pamela Kuadegbeku Image by David Bowman »» journeying home...... 23 (Ghana) »» dry well—(Haiga)...... 30 Julia Guzmán »» First Published in Africa (Argentina) Wisdom C. Nwoga (Nigeria) »» silent blue sea...... 26 » Haiku Harmattan Series »» autumn dusk...... 35 »» Harmattan breeze...... 23 » First Published: 7th Setouchi Matsuyama 2018 »» full moon ...... 35 Temitope Aina International Photo-Haiku Haiku From Europe And Praniti Gulyani (Nigeria) Contest, Japan Other Places (India) »» valentine...... 24 Ingrid Baluch Kokuu Andy McLellan »» 14-year-old...... 35 »» valentine gift...... 24 (Uganda) (United Kingdom) »» winter evening...... 35 »» valentine song...... 24 » »» fish stall ...... 26 »» elephant skull...... 31 » geography lesson...... 35 »» goat droppings...... 26

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Srinivasa Rao Sambangi Minko Tanev Tim Gardiner Slobodan Pupovac (Croatia) (India) (Bulgaria) (United Kingdom) »» jeeps...... 49 »» the lion…...... 36 »» evening clouds—...... 40 »» love grass...... 44 »» deep jungle...... 49 » Pasquale Asprea Gowtham Ganni » tyre tracks...... 44 Nikolay Grankin (Italy) (India) Debbie Strange (Russia) »» equatorial dawn...... 36 »» Palm Sunday—...... 40 (Canada) »» savannah...... 50 Maria Laura Valente »» casual walk—...... 40 »» blended family ...... 45 »» unwary tourist...... 50 (Italy) »» Beer Day—...... 40 »» fickle winds...... 45 »» dry river...... 50 »» palm tree canopy—...... 37 Antonio Mangiameli Mohammad Azim Khan Goran Gatalica »» harmattan night—...... 37 (Italy) (Pakistan) (Croatia) »» sub-Saharan sunset—...... 37 »» harmattan wind...... 41 »» Harmattan ...... 45 »» harmattan night...... 50 » » » folktales at dusk —...... 37 Basantkumar Das » hazy savannah ...... 45 Goran Gatalica (Croatia) »» Mara river ...... 45 Keith A. Simmonds Bhubaneswar (India) »» Power outage (Haiga)...... 51 (France) »» war of thorns...... 41 Antonio Mangiameli »» Early harvesting (Haiga). 51 » (Italy) » sweltering heat...... 37 Hansha Teki Sandra Simpson » » » trees wilting...... 37 (New Zealand) » speaking to the flowers.....46 (New Zealand) »» waterfall...... 37 »» far away...... 42 Angelo B. Ancheta »» wrestling match—...... 52 Garry Eaton »» savannah dusk—...... 42 (Philippines) »» photo safari—...... 52 (British Colombia) Sudebi Singha »» blood moon...... 46 »» a Maasai leans on ...... 38 (India) »» dusty plains...... 46 Essays & Workshop Florin Golban »» abandoned house...... 42 Lavana Kray Thirteen Ways of Reading (Romania) (Romania) Haiku by Michael Dylan Pravat Kumar Padhy Welch (USA) ...... 53 »» late summer...... 38 (India) »» child pushed ashore...... 47 »» wild cornflowers...... 38 »» croaking frog...... 47 »» boundary wall—...... 43 Kano State Haiku Robin Smith Corine Timmer Workshop Report by Usman (USA) Krzysztof Kokot (Portugal) Karofi (Nigeria) ...... 70 (Poland) »» harem of zebras...... 39 »» distant thunder ...... 48 A Book Review of Adjei »» Stone Town* alleys –...... 43 Marina Bellini »» stampede—...... 48 Agyei-Baah’s “Ghana 21 (Italy) Giovanna Restuccia »» tented safari (Haiban)...... 48 Haiku” By Professor Ama (Italy) Ata Aidoo...... 71 »» conservational park...... 39 Jan Dobb » »» old painting...... 39 » African sunset —...... 44 (Australia) »» back home...... 39 »» frogs...... 49 »» market day...... 49

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A Call for Assistance For Mamba Journal

We wish to inform our esteemed readers that due to a need to ensure the design and publication of issues of The Mamba journal. Which is currently distributed at no charge. We hereby solicit your financial commitment, which could come in form of donations, monthly and/or quarterly contributions. Please note donations and contributions are made cheerfully without any form of compulsion. Interested readers should contact us via e-mail and will be guided on how to make their contributions and donations. E-mail address: [email protected] or call: +233202576868/ +2348165822275.

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