There is an American stand-up comedian named 'Atsugiri Jason' (Thick Cut Jason) in Tokyo. He is unique in many ways. He was educated at the University of Illinois and works as an executive at an IT company in addition to his comedy gigs. In one of his acts I saw on YouTube, he told the audience he didn't understand why the Japanese traffic 'Go' sign was called 青信号('ao shingo' - 'blue light') in spite of its green color. If he reads a Japanese saijiki, he may have the same reaction because some summer kigo contain 青 (blue), instead of 緑 (green) and he will shout his trade-mark ending words 'Why? Japanese people!!!"

 

One of my favorite summer kigo is 青嵐 ('aoarashi' - 'blue gale'). According to my dictionary, the word 'ao' (blue) is a prefix meaning 'premature' or 'young.' Though it ismy personal opinion, I believe that ancient Japanese might have chosen the word 'ao' because it would make a 5 onji kigo to fit the 5-7-5 format. Of course, there are summer kigo using緑 ('green') such as 新緑 ('shinryoku' - 'new green') or万緑 ('banryoku' - 'tens of thousands of greens').  The kigo 'aoarashi'' could have been 'ryokuran' ('green gale'), a4-onji kigo that may work perfectly with a 'ya' - 'kireji' ('cutting word'). But this does not have a poetically beautiful sound.   I may be biased because my name is 青柳 ('aoyagi'' - 'blue willow').  

 

Many haiku groups sponsor haiku contests; in fact the 2016 HSA contests for not just haiku, but also senryu and haibun, are now accepting entries through the end of July. I have to confess that I have not sent my work to contests for a very long time. Like Jason, an American comedian, who uses his 'foreigner's' face for his act, I may be using my name as the fourth line of my haiku-and, of course, this fourth line would be invisible to any contest judge, for whom all entries must remain anonymous. I know my adopted country, the United States of America, is a country of immigrants. People here have parents, grandparents, great-grandparents who immigrated from all over the world. My Japanese name may not add anything.   But when I write haiku, I try to include where I came from, what I am and who I am...I am not telling you that a 'subjective' haiku is better than an 'objective' one.   However, like a painter, a photographer, a potter, or whatever..., you, the poet, are a very essential element in haiku. You are a director or a playwright or an actor or a lighting technician or a costume designer or an usher or the person smiling in the shadow.

 

blue summer gale-

I shed

one of my skins

fay.hsa.president@gmail.com

hsa.treasurer@yahoo.com

Issue 39:1 was mailed out the last week of April, so it will start appearing in your mailboxes soon. Note that, with bulk and media mailing, there may be delays in some regions. We thank you for your patience during this transition.

As a reminder, April 15th was the submissions deadline for the Spring/Summer issue, and those who submitted are expected to receive a response in six weeks after the deadline. Please do not inquire before then.

In the meantime, consider following Frogpond on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram for regular updates.

Aubrie Cox

back -  Scott Galasso, Kirk Kolodji, Deborah P Kolodji, Sean Carlton front -  Mary Torregrossa, Genie Nakano, Beki Reese

____________________________________

Workshop at the 

USC Pacific Asia Museum

April 16, 2016 

 

YTHS April 2016 Meeting

Remember to register for the August 12th-14th Regional conference in Portland, Or. See the HSA Oregon Website for details:  http://www.hsa-haiku.org/meetings.htm or contact Shelley Baker-Gard at sbakergard@msn.com    

April was a busy month for Haiku poets in Oregon. Margaret Chula taught a Haibun workshop entitled - Haibun: The Dance of Prose and Haiku. The workshop was held at the Lan Su Chinese Garden in downtown Portland (a great spot to visit this August if you are coming to the conference). It was a beautiful setting and well attended. For several people it was their first exposure to Haibun, and some attendees were very interested in continuing to practice the form at the local HSA & Portland Haiku group meetings.

On April 17th, Johnny Baranski read from several of his Haiku publications at the Mt Angel Abbey Bookstore. After each reading, Jim Rodriguez provided an impromptu flute interpretation of each poem. After Johnny's reading, several of the haiku poets in the audience also recited many of their own their haiku. The event was well attended and we were provided with fabulous Japanese appetizers. Johnny   also has a newly published free E Book available online. Here's the link:   

Artifacts Gallery, 6327 N Guilford Ave, Indianapolis, Indiana  will be hosting an exhibit of my Haiga, Sticks and Stones. The exhibit opens Friday, May 13,

from 6:30 to 9:00, and will be on display until June 13. Please come and share an evening of sculpture and poetry.

submitted by Robert Sorrels

 

 

Haiku Northwest's February meeting featured Tanya McDonald reading from her work in progress Young Adult novel at 3rd Place Books on February 25th. Following her reading, we discussed plans for HNW activities during 2016, and members present shared haiku they had brought to discuss with the group.

 

On February 28th, the Bagley Wright Lecture Series brought poet Judy Halebsky to Hugo House to talk about haiku and her own poems in conjunction with her study and travels in Japan, and her interest in Basho and Butoh and the connection of these forms to time, landscape and tradition. She prepared a paper entitled "From Haiku to Collage, A Body Based Poetics" and incorporated readings from her new book, Tree Line. A number of HNW members attended the presentation, and as President of Haiku Northwest, Angela Terry was asked by Hugo House to lead the Q&A session.

 

The March meeting on the 24th was held in the Stadler Room at 3rd Place Commons in Lake Forest Park. Members shared haiku, and then Angela led a writing exercise which involved writing haiku from a sheet of single lines taken from individual haiku published in the Fall, 1998 issue of Modern Haiku. After people had written as many haiku as they could, using the line prompts, we went through each line, with people sharing what they had written and then Angela read the actual published haiku along with identifying the author.

 

In April, instead of our regular 4th Thursday monthly meeting, HNW joined with the Seattle Japanese Garden in sponsoring International Haiku Poetry Day on Sunday, April 17th. Michael Dylan Welch (on crutches) and Tanya McDonald provided introductory haiku workshops. Members of the Rainier Gensha, our sister Seattle Japanese language haiku group who have been meeting for over 80 years, read some of their haiku in Japanese and then with English translations. Members of HNW and the Commencement Bay haiku groups then read a selection of their spring themed haiku. There was a haiku walk through the garden and a crafts table with activities for children which included a "How to Haiku" handout for kids prepared by Sarah Welch, age 10. Haiku on Sticks was set up along the main garden path. And most importantly (and amazingly for Seattle in April) we had a warm sunny day on which to celebrate.

 

submitted by Angela Terry