visual artists Kayla Drouilhet and William Zote enter the MahMight Zone

sheet music 

between sheets of rain 

we laugh 

Kayla Drouilhet 

Artwork by Kayla Drouilhet:

Kayla says:

The best haiku have a story behind them. Though this was inspired by Mira Rehm after suggesting a haiku revision. A friend played a guitar rift for me a couple months ago, and I still remember laughing afterwards as the rain made standing puddles at our feet.

We had fun!

Kayla's favorite haiku 

somewhere 

between sunset and nightfall 

the colour of parting

William Zote

Photograph and artwork©William Zote

Kayla’s thoughts on William Zote previously unpublished poem 

(permission granted by the author)

William Zote is a haiku poet from India that has been inspiring me since I started out writing haiku poems. His work is the most saved in my phone! He is one of the best, and he should get recognition more for it. I chose this particular poem because the colour of parting both reminds me of going through my divorce and the hard road to discovering new love in the future ahead of me.  

Favorite Quotes 

Waiting for Godot 

“For me it’s over and done with, no matter what happens.”

Withnail and I 

“What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason! How infinite in faculties! How like an angel in apprehension! How like a god!”

Alan notes:

Kayla Drouilhet 

eChapbook:

The Give and Take of Waves 

Kayla Drouilhet

Cover and interior artwork: Lori A Minor

First Published in 2019 by Title IX Press Virginia, USA

Copyright © 2019 Kayla Drouilhet

Title IX  

A Press for Underrepresented voices

https://titleixpress.wixsite.com/home/library 

Blush Fire Poetry 

https://blushfirepoetry.blogspot.com

Utsukushii Haiku Photography

https://www.facebook.com/Utsukushii-Haiku-Photography-111512811080148/

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/kayladrouilhet/?hl=en

William Zote

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/william_zote/?hl=en

Haiga Gallery: William Zote

https://contemporaryhaibunonline.com/cho-16-2/william-zote-haiga-gallery/

Grix takes a millipede marching and Craig Kittner decides on a long lunch with butterflies.

marching with its shadow the millipede casts doubt

GRIX

Statement:

The millipede may be small but it can create quite the illusion of grandeur! My haiku was inspired by this video: https://youtu.be/z3RcAzBA6QE. 

This ku is also a metaphor for when we humans have to puff ourselves up to feel less intimidated . . . to hide within our protective shadows.

Once I had what I had to say written down, I played with the word choices and arrangement to allow for many readings:

marching / with its shadow / the millipede casts doubt  

marching / with its shadow the millipede / casts doubt

marching with its shadow / the millipede casts doubt   

marching with its shadow / the millipede / casts doubt

marching with its shadow / the millipede casts / doubt    

A fave haiku:

long lunch

walking with butterflies

the ways I can't be shamed

Craig Kittner

Human/Kind 2.1

http://humanhaikujournal.weebly.com/uploads/1/1/6/7/116792551/finalhk2.1.pdf

Statement from Grix:

I had the pleasure of publishing this haiku and it has always stuck with me. 

There is such a gentleness to how this poem was crafted – a sense of innocence (e.g. the rhythm in L3 evokes the feeling of skipping). But there is also a palpable sense of self-preservation (e.g. the way each line is gradually longer than the first). 

I appreciate the alliteration of the repeated L's and S's, which are noticeable as they roll off the tongue, but not in-your-face. I love that this poem makes me feel so many things at once and has so many potential readings, depending on the interpretation. 

Withnail and I: 

"My heart's beating like a fucked clock!"  

Waiting for Godot: 

"And I resumed the struggle."

Grix says: So appropriate for me! 😜

Alan note:

More about Grix:

https://www.grixartistix.com/about.html 

See also:

Haiku Society of America Conference - Signature Style: How Identity Informs Voice in Haiku

and

Interview with Julie Bloss Kelsey at The Haiku Foundation's New to Haiku: Advice for Beginners

The links to these features:

https://www.grixartistix.com/presentations.html

About Craig Kittner:

https://twitter.com/craigkittner?lang=en

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/craigkittner/ 

The Heron's Nest

Volume XXI, Number 4: December 2019

https://www.theheronsnest.com/December2019/haiku-p9.html

Nicholas Klacsanzky discovers forsythia while walking with Santōka Taneda

the suns  

we haven’t discovered...  

forsythia

Nicholas Klacsanzky

“I am keen on science and physics in particular. I think there is a vast universe out there that we have barely understood and touched. Yet, on our small planet, there is a huge world of the unknown and undiscovered, even on our block. The beauty of forsythia blossoms, in their yellow hue, is something that people may overlook on their walk to work, for example. The macro and micro are always interacting in various ways.”

Nicholas chooses Santōka Taneda:

Wordlessly I put on today's straw sandals

Taneda Santoka

translated by Hiroaki Sato

Nicholas says:

“This haiku brings me into meditation and the life of Santoka immediately. It also gives me a sense of reverence for the straw that is fitted to be used as sandals. This in turn gives me a sense of respect for everything around that I use and is given by way of nature.”

Favorite quote from Waiting for Godot:

“To every man his little cross. Till he dies. And is forgotten.”

Favorite quote from Withnail and I:

Danny: "I don't advise a haircut, man. All hairdressers are in the employment of the government. Hairs are your aerials. They pick up signals from the cosmos, and transmit them directly into your brain! This is the reason bald-headed men are uptight."

Alan note:

Santōka Taneda (1882-1940) 

One of the most famous and influential haiku poets of twentieth century Japan:

https://www.chzc.org/Nonin.htm

種田 山頭火 Taneda Santōka, December 3, 1882 - October 11, 1940

Birth name: Taneda Shōichi (種田 正一)

Buddhist monk name: Kōho (耕畝)

Straw sandals wear out quickly, and pilgrims generally carry several pairs with them. Santōka pondered various kōans as he walked along, and on this particular occasion he felt especially resolute as he put on a fresh pair of sandals.

From Robin D. Gill

http://paraverse.org/robin.htm

http://www.paraverse.org/newyear.htm

http://www.paraverse.org/fifthdescription.htm

http://www.paraverse.org/fifthcoverback.htm

http://www.paraverse.org/orders.htm

https://www.amazon.com/Fifth-Season-Poems-Re-create-World/dp/0974261890

Santoka :: Grass and Tree Cairn

translations: Hiroaki Sato illustrations: Stephen Addiss

Back Cover Illustration by Kuniharu Shimizu

https://www.thehaikufoundation.org/omeka/files/original/e329a1f18efa6d99f4742f75c263348e.pdf 

More about:

Nicholas Klacsanzky

https://livinghaikuanthology.com/index-of-poets/alphabetic-index/376-k-poets/klacsanzky,-nicholas.html

https://www.pw.org/directory/writers/nicholas_klacsanzky

https://haikucommentary.wordpress.com/about/

The MahMight Zone with Philip Whitley & Alfred Booth with guest singer Jacques Brel

 

in tongues

a flatfish speaks with the lisp of twin rusted tuna cans

a two line (duostich) haiku by:

Philip Whitley

Philip says:

A good fish salad requires fresh fish from an elite school plus something with a crunch to make it salad, which an unhinged tongue could provide on its own. A taut string between two cans can transform them, if not overly rusted, into a communication device between otherwise disjunctive individuals.

QUOTES

Waiting for Godot [ late in the first day ]

ESTRAGON:

Yes. And they crucified quick.

Silence.

Withnail and I

Danny: It is impossible to roll a Camberwell carrot with anything less [ than 12 papers ].

[ note to the editor: does a Camberwell carrot relate in some way to Camberwell, the site of Marmite’s second factory? ]

Philip says:

Sometimes I experience the emotion of a haiku before understanding the author’s intent. I often find I’ve memorized the poem without realizing it and I know it will continue to resonate for as long as my short-term memory allows. 

Such is the case with Alfred Booth’s plaintive poem:

Alan insert:

Please play this song as you read the following haiku: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_bq5mStroM

wandering

in Paris cemeteries

ne me quitte pas

Alfred Booth

Philip continues:

Spirits plead with the living to stay. The living implore the dead not to go. Both share the supplication that their faculties should remain at least a little longer. The haunting third line, ne me quitte pas, a song by Jacques Brel, sums up the human condition: the incomprehensible finality of death, whether of relationships or one’s own passing.

The music, the assonance and consonance, of Alfred Booth’s haiku is no surprise. He is a professional musician, and an American ex-pat who has lived and taught piano in Paris for more than half his life.

Alan notes:

Jacques Brel

Ne me quitte pas [English subtitles]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_bq5mStroM

The Camberwell question answered:

https://www.marmitemuseum.co.uk/marmite-history/