Turtlesong

The flowers appear on the earth;
the time of the singing of birds is come,
and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land.
—from “The Song of Solomon”

When I was a child, I yearned to hear the voice of the turtle. Would it warble like a miniature French horn? Would it growl like a tiny tuba?

My mother, who knew something of the Bible, told me the turtle of the poem is actually a turtledove, yet still I wondered whether turtles — always silent (in my presence, at least) — ever make a sound.

daybreak by the pond . . .
listening
listening

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Published in Miriam’s Well: Poetry, Land Art, and Beyond (https://miriamswell.wordpress.com/2017/08/10/haibun-by-bill-waters/), 8/10/17.

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Ancient rhythm

A Rengay by Bill Waters & Sandi Pray

morning mist
pale sunbeams
fanning through the trees

our footsteps find
their ancient rhythm

the girth
of these oaks!
old-growth forest

water sounds
the everything of
falling leaves

from somewhere
the knocking of a woodpecker

the way words
become unnecessary
heading home

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Published in Haiku Presence, issue 58, July 2017.

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HNA ’17: freebies

With the Haiku North America 2017 conference fast approaching, Jessica Tremblay — author of Old Pond Comics and official cartoonist-in-residence at HNA ’15 — has been blogging about freebies:

A freebie is a promotional item you give to attendees at a conference. A freebie can take different forms: bookmarks, leaflets, postcards, 3D objects.

Whether you want to promote a book, a blog, a website, etc. or simply share some of your poems with like-minded enthusiasts, a freebie is a great way to do it.  :- )

A few years ago, I designed and printed up a postcard and a pair of “business cards” online at Vistaprint.com to raise awareness of my haiku Twitter stream, Twitter.com/Bill312:

Haiku freebies: a postcard and two “business cards”.

I’ve never been to a haiku conference, so I’ve given the postcard to people generally as a thank you for their interest in my work, while I’ve used the biz cards to direct people to my Twitter stream — either in person or as a leave-behind.

My “Tanka in a Bottle” project could easily be adapted for use as a freebie, too.  :- )

One day I may attend Haiku North America…and if I do, I’ll be sure to bring along some freebies!  ;- )

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For more on haiku freebies, please take a look at these posts by Jessica Tremblay:

“Freebie: an introduction“; “Bookmarks: design tips and examples for haiku poets“; “Choose your conference freebie carefully“; “Promote your poetry with a beautiful postcard“; and “Why trifolds are one of the best freebies to give away at haiku conferences“.

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This red dirt road

Africa Haiku Network “Throwback Haiku Series”, Haiga #36. (Haiku by Bill Waters; Haiga by Africa Haiku Network.)

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Published by the Africa Haiku Network as a part of its “Throwback Haiku Series”, 8/3/17.

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“Tanka in a Bottle” at?…

Earlier this year I completed my first installation of Haiku in the Wild, two dozen wooden haiku mobiles hung on trees and shrubs at a Pennsylvania alpaca and llama farm. This was my first attempt to bring poetry into a (semi-)public place to intrigue people who are accustomed to seeing poems only in books. (For photos, check out my previous post “Haiku in the Wild” at Llamapaloosa 2017.)

In an effort to bring a little bit more poetry to people in public places, I’m currently working on what I call my Tanka in a Bottle project. Each little bottle will contain a pair of tanka — one by me, and one by my friend and talented U.K. poet Caroline Skanne — and a blurb about the Poetry in Public Places Project, a Facebook / real-world group I started in 2016 to create and promote poetry placed in urban and natural landscapes. In total, each batch of 10 bottles will showcase 20 different tanka.

Here’s what these tanka bottles look like:

Tanka in a Bottle (prototype 2): components.

Tanka in a Bottle (prototype 2): assembled.

I’m thinking of hanging these bottles in trees at a local park for people to discover and take with them. (Will they be noticeable enough? Will they withstand wind and weather? Will wildlife disturb them?)

Where else should I place “bottled tanka”? I’d love to hear your thoughts!  :- D

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The multitalented Caroline Skanne is a poet (@CarolineSkanne), the founding editor of Hedgerow: A Journal of Small Poems (@hedgerowpoems & hedgerowpoems.wordpress.com), and the founding publisher of Wildflower Poetry Press (@wildflowerpoems & wildflowerpoetrypress.wordpress.com).

To learn more about the Poetry in Public Places Project, please stop by www.facebook.com/groups/PoetryInPublicPlacesProject/.

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Two ekphrastic poems

A pair of new ekphrastic poems at Bill Waters ~~ NOT Haiku.

I hope you’ll give them a look!  :- )

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Violets

they disregard

the No Trespassing sign!

violets

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Two senryu

school days . . .

no romance

in straight-As

 

turn of the tide . . .

pulled by the current

of my thoughts

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Published in Prune Juice: A Journal of Senryu, Kyoka, Haibun, and Haiga (no. 22), page 122 (https://prunejuice.files.wordpress.com/2017/07/pj-22-pdf1.pdf), 7/1/17.

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Cicada

subsiding

into the heat of summer:

cicada

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Published in Modern Haiku, June 2017.

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Two on summer

first one

and then another —

cicadas

 

dutch door —

the dog noses open

the bottom half

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Published in Akitsu Quarterly: Summer 2016 (http://www.wildgraces.com/Akitsu-Quarterly.html), 6/16/16.

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