The Journal of Japanese Form Poetry No. 8, March 2011 featuring Haiku, Tanka, Haiga & More. Welcome to Notes from the Gean the haiku journal Brought to you by Gean Tree Press featuring haiku, tanka, haiga, & more. Mission Statement: We seek to encourage excellence, experimentation and education within haiku and its related genres. We believe this is best accomplished by example and not imitation. Our aim is for authenticity above all else. We therefore solicit your finest examples of haiku, tanka, haiga, haibun and renga/renku so that we may "hear" your voices speak. The Editors For details on how to submit to Notes from the Gean please check our SUBMISSIONS page. cover artwork Melinda B. Hipple Magazine content copyright © 2011 Gean Tree Press. All Rights Reserved. Individual works copyright © the artist/artists. Notes from the Gean No.8, March 2011 Page 2 contents haiku pp.4-32 tanka pp.33-46 haiga pp.47-77 haibun pp.78-94 renga/renku pp.95-122 special feature pp.123-126 reviews pp.127-128 Editor-in-Chief / Resources: Colin Stewart Jones - Scotland Notes from the Gean No.8, March 2011 Page 3 spring moon from the tarot deck the fool Nika - Canada brilliant dawn the nuthatch brings out a new song Allan Burns - U.S.A. Whitsuntide a bundle of goslings shifts with the breeze Matthew Paul - U.K. Pentecost — flames shoot up from the oven Mary Davila - U.S.A. ancient temple the monk swirls incense my way Berenice Mortimer - Canada Notes from the Gean No.8, March 2011 Page 4 beach wedding the Mexican wave of seagulls Berenice Mortimer - Canada news of a grandchild I touch a furled bud in spring rain Beverley George - Australia four-leafed clovers... my grandson finds the one I lost years ago Maya Lyubenova - Bulgaria bitter spring — not all ducks are paired Svetlana Marisova - New Zealand the wind chimes restrung already spring gusts Ann K. Schwader - U.S.A. Notes from the Gean No.8, March 2011 Page 5 hawthorns in bloom — her crayon trees all the same shape Adelaide B. Shaw - U.S.A. three weeks late — something scratching inside the wall Melissa Spurr - U.S.A. the newborn with her arm in a sling hard spring frost Melissa Spurr - U.S.A. flu epidemic the city smells of thyme Vladislav Hristov - Bulgaria (translator - Maya Lyubenova) stone fort dizzy with history... the fizzing sea Susan Richardson - U.K. Notes from the Gean No.8, March 2011 Page 6 battlefield soldiers sharing the gene pool Dietmar Tauchner – Austria dense fog we built up a world of words Dietmar Tauchner - Austria endless conversation the river runs through my fingers Aubrie Cox - U.S.A. watching SBS... a possum pauses at the French doors Cynthia Rowe - Australia hazy moon all the shapes of a hangover Polona Oblak – Slovenia Notes from the Gean No.8, March 2011 Page 7 river's edge — buildings a century old anchor the town Jan Dobb - Australia cloud breaks — the door ajar to the glassblower's studio Alan S. Bridges - USA day's end — the old-timer closes his pocket watch Alan S. Bridges - USA birch bark... nothing at all like toilet paper Alan S. Bridges - USA roadkill a simple cardboard box Alan S. Bridges - USA great plains rails bend to the curve of the planet Alan S. Bridges - USA Notes from the Gean No.8, March 2011 Page 8 the crest of this hill the sea Rodney Williams - Australia streams converging... beside the riverbank a python slides Rodney Williams - Australia dense woods a stone wall snakes into it Michele L. Harvey - USA the rutted road between two gentle slopes flitting fox sparrows Neal Whitman - U.S.A a score of starlings on the telegraph wires the wind's song Claire Everett - U.K. Notes from the Gean No.8, March 2011 Page 9 screech owl the first violinist tunes up Joanna M. Weston - Canada sycamore branches swaying the wind's mirror Bill Wolak - U.S.A. in the wild night weeping willow branches knocking at the gate Beverly Acuff Momoi - U.S.A. helicopter seeds my life spiraling out of control Aubrie Cox - U.S.A. summer winds in the sound of leaves a lizard Violette Rose-Jones - Australia Notes from the Gean No.8, March 2011 Page 10 evening star the ping of a micro bat Violette Rose-Jones - Australia falling star the quiet sound of quicksilver L. Costa - Brazil the sound of my own voice wild honey Brendan Slater - The Netherlands empty boat adrift without oars a loon's laugh Ted van Zutphen – USA leather shoes on the pebbled path — the sound of ducks David Ash - U.S.A. Notes from the Gean No.8, March 2011 Page 11 summer sunset... drongo voices weave weird melodies Petrus Heyligers - Australia Cactus Flats our conversation dries up Melissa Spurr - U.S.A. a rattler yet to grow its rattle rising desert sun Melissa Spurr - U.S.A. windswept... all the dust in one corner of my eye Greg Hopkins - U.S.A. winding down after a long day... dust on the fan blades Tanya McDonald - U.S.A. Notes from the Gean No.8, March 2011 Page 12 a cross traced in the dust summer rain Mary Davila - U.S.A. sudden impact the heightened pitch of a cricket Mary Davila - U.S.A. watching parched trees walk out of the water — heat haze Liz Rule - Australia after the rain cleansed from summer heat the scent of flowers Petrus Heyligers – Australia the smooth flow of the Similkameen... peaches ripen Susan Constable - Canada Notes from the Gean No.8, March 2011 Page 13 mountain trek — her laughter echoes the tinkling stream Geethanjali Rajan - India the echo of a waterfall... shimmering sunlight Keith Simmonds - Trinidad and Tobago silky sunlight... from bloom to bloom a butterfly Keith Simmonds - Trinidad and Tobago the full moon glides down a plantain leaf: heavy rainfall Keith Simmonds - Trinidad and Tobago storm clouds seagulls leave the cricket pitch Cynthia Rowe - Australia Notes from the Gean No.8, March 2011 Page 14 rising beyond the muck... lotus viewing Kala Ramesh - India my monsoon sale bargains — all through the year his critique Kala Ramesh - India thunder, as if to emphasize his point Michele L. Harvey - USA fireflies a few stars twinkle between the pines Don Baird - U.S.A. Good Friday — a dragonfly splayed across the web Quendryth Young - Australia Notes from the Gean No.8, March 2011 Page 15 morning glories a slight hesitation in my step Michael Lindenhofer - Austria Indian Summer — pretending we're in love Melissa Allen - U.S.A dawn breaks between her excuses... ash in my coffee Brendan Slater - The Netherlands Indian summer — all his love letters signed in pencil Michele L. Harvey - USA new coolness a bicycle with a buckled wheel Brendan Slater - The Netherlands Notes from the Gean No.8, March 2011 Page 16 our differing points of view — blackberry vines Joanna M. Weston - Canada first day of fall a hint of blue in the raven's eye Susan Constable - Canada my old hometown... a sudden chill when I hear her name Susan Constable - Canada harvest moon... beneath your balcony the sleeping town Jo McInerney – Australia the moon turns red as it enters Earth's shadow all that love making J. Zimmerman - U.S.A. Notes from the Gean No.8, March 2011 Page 17 into autumn distance the blindman's blue eyes Allan Burns - U.S.A. the moon in my dog's eye watches me Don Baird - U.S.A. rain... toadstools dribbling down the hill Quendryth Young - Australia life-drawing the bottle-shaped space between his legs Quendryth Young - Australia Yellow leaves — learning to do without things I don't really need Jack Galmitz - U.S.A. Notes from the Gean No.8, March 2011 Page 18 silver maple letting the kayak drift awhile Bill Cooper - U.S.A. deep ravine brown leaves just as welcome Bill Cooper - U.S.A. crimson leaves fall he packs away the unused crib Garrett Derman & Tyler Lamensky - U.S.A. falling maple leaves... she picks up her needlework Susan Constable – Canada fiery sunset the curling leaves of a liquidamber Gavin Austin - Australia Notes from the Gean No.8, March 2011 Page 19 autumn webbed in brent geese feet... dazzle of fireweed Susan Richardson - U.K. the rusted teeth of a two-man saw autumn equinox Melissa Spurr - U.S.A. stalled behind a log truck... I count the rings Jo McInerney - Australia fresh stump a spider scurries across aeons Polona Oblak - Slovenia my wife asleep on my pillow - my dreams still not hers Bob Lucky - Ethiopia Notes from the Gean No.8, March 2011 Page 20 full moon — unable to distinguish her shadow from mine P. K. Padhy - India every day less certain — brilliance of the moon Ruth Holzer - USA rest home — slumped on the porch a stuffed scarecrow Ruth Holzer - USA I forget his name the neighbor with Alzheimer's checks the mail again Bob Lucky – Ethiopia my newborn taken to the camp orphanage — tule fog years (written in response to a World War II Internment Exhibit at the Japanese Cultural Museum, San Jose, California) Judith Schallberger - U.S.A. Notes from the Gean No.8, March 2011 Page 21 winter twilight — homing mynahs over my backstroke Ramesh Anand - Malaysia the first snow — in the late night quiet mice in the attic Adelaide B. Shaw - U.S.A. Watching snow fall I settle into myself a little bit more Jack Galmitz - U.S.A. first snow — a childish wish to be invisible Michele L.