Tanka in a bottle

Yesterday — a sunny, warm Saturday in autumn — I installed my “tanka-in-a-bottle” project in a local woodland park! (If you’re thinking “Tanka… Wait. What?”, please see my post for July 25th. ;- )

In the end, I decided to not hang each little bottle from a tree branch, which was my original plan. Instead, I made a small sign (to be clear that they are free to take and are not contraband of some sort) and hung them all on a trail signpost. I’m hopeful that my installation will catch the eye of passersby, despite the distractions of smartphones and earbuds.

 

The materials in hand: tanka bottles, the sign, a piece of string, and two pushpins.

 

Pinning up the sign…

 

…hanging the bottles on the string…

 

…and voila!

 

Poet and poems.  :- )

 

Many thanks to U.K. poet Caroline Skanne for providing some tanka of her own to pair with mine!  _/|\_

I’ll go back to that signpost in a few days to see how my project is faring. I don’t expect much if any traffic this rainy Sunday, but the weather is predicted to brighten up in a day or two.

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Cubist moon

just cold enough

for puddles to freeze . . .

cubist moon

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Published in Acorn: A Journal of Contemporary Haiku, fall 2017.

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Three in German

zerspritzendes Licht
der kleine Spatz
im Vogelbad

splashing light
the little bird
in the birdbath

Regenunterbrechung . . .
über dem gefrorenen Teich dieser
schwere Nebel

a break in the rain . . .
over the frozen pond
this heavy mist

sie wachsen
auf unserem Fenster:
Frostfarne

they grow
on our window:
frost ferns

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Published in (and translated by) the German/English e-zine Chrysanthemum, issue 22, pages 59 and 61, on 10/18/17.

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This red dirt road, redux

The Mamba: Issue 4, page 60. (Haiku by Bill Waters; Haiga by Africa Haiku Network.)

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Published in The Mamba: Journal of African Haiku (issue 4), October 15, 2017.

Also, posted on 8/3/17 on Facebook by the Africa Haiku Network as a part of its “Throwback Haiku Series” and on this blog.

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Getting schooled

One Sunday long, long ago, I went to religious school and got roped into an impromptu play. One more person was needed to fill the ranks, and that person – despite my protests – turned out to be me.

It wasn’t much of a play, really, which was good since I wasn’t much of an actor. We said our lines from sheets of paper – a staged reading of sorts – and as for costumes, it was strictly ‘come as you are’. For me that meant a favorite albeit somewhat old pair of trousers, a button-down shirt, and shoes that were only a little in need of polishing.

Being thrust headlong into a play was disconcerting, but once the play was over, I felt vaguely euphoric. It was done, and I hadn’t made a total fool of myself in front of my classmates!

When I got home, filled with the glow of accomplishment, I ran inside to spread the news. “Mom,” I shouted, “I was in a play!”

My mother spun around from in front of the kitchen sink, looked me up and down, and said, “You were in a play in those pants?”

“cut!”
the tragicomedy
of childhood

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Published in Contemporary Haibun Online (http://contemporaryhaibunonline.com/pages133/Waters_Getting.html), 10/2/17.

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Reblogged: In times of trouble, by Annette Makino

My “virtual guest-blogger” today is the outstanding artist / poet Annette Makino, who expresses a positive way forward in these trouble-laden times with a heartfelt haibun.  _/|\_

The news has been so tough these past few weeks. Wildfires, hurricanes, flooding, earthquakes. Reckless taunts between nuclear-armed leaders. And Monday in Las Vegas, one of the worst mass shootings in US history.

aftermath
a pair of cowboy boots
lying on their side

In such dark times, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. And just as easy to go numb. Facing an unending stream of suffering and horror, how do we maintain our humanity without losing our minds?

There are…

Source: http://makinostudios.com/in-times-of-trouble/

Body haiku

hitchhiker:

this ladybug

on my hand

 

pointing —

the little girl follows

her finger

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Published in Brass Bell: A Haiku Journal (http://brassbellhaiku.blogspot.com/2017/10/body-haiku.html), 10/1/17.

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