Swimming in Lines of Haiku

2012 'River of Stones' Anthology: submissions wanted

2012-02-17T11:39:00.000+13:00

Fiona and Kaspa will be putting together an anthology of small stones from this year's river. They'd love to have a submission from everyone who took part, so do send them your small stones whether or not you think they'll be included in the book. As last time this collection will be edited by the pair and they'll choose the small stones that resonate most with them.

Submission details: Email up to FIVE small stones and your name as you'd like to be included in the book to this address with the subject 'river book'. Submissions will close on Sunday the 19th of February. All contributors will receive a free PDF of the finished book as a thank you.

Fiona and Kaspa won't be acknowledging receipt, but they'll let you know whether your small stone will be included or not by the end of March. If you haven't heard from them either way by then do let them know and resend your submission.

2011 'River of Stones' Anthology

I didn't officially participate in the January River of Stones: I didn't blog about it or write one each day. But I did still spent time during the month, when I could, noticing moments and writing them down, usually in my preferred style of haiku. I asked Fiona if I should submit to the anthology or not and she said yes! So I'll be sending in a few of my observations from last month.

I look forward to reading all of the stones in the book when it comes out in a few months time, and hope I'll see some of my favourites from the regular bloggers I read who took part.

DailyHaiku call for submissions for Cycle 13

2012-02-15T14:06:00.000+13:00

I've had an amazing time being a contributor for DailyHaiku Cycle 12: it was one of my 2011 haiku highlights, for sure. I encourage my readers to make a submission to this excellent journal as there is nothing to lose and much to gain from the experience! My time is almost at an end: I have one more week-long set to appear, and then I hope to see your work there.

cutting

the last rose stem...

woodsmoke

By Kirsten Cliff

DailyHaiku, November, 2011

Dear Readers, Friends, and Past Contributors,

We are thrilled to announce that submissions are open for DailyHaiku's thirteenth publishing cycle! This represents the start of our seventh year of publishing as an online daily periodical.

We now invite you to submit some of your best work for consideration. Your submission, if selected, will grant you one of six spots on our roster of Cycle 13 contributors. It will also become your first set of haiku that will appear on the site. At the end of the 6 month publishing period, each contributor will have four weeks of published haiku, and will receive a copy of our yearly print addition that features their work.

If you are interested in becoming a contributor, please read our submission criteria detailed on this webpage:http://www.dailyhaiku.org/info/#contribute

Feel free to forward this call to any other haiku enthusiasts that may be interested in participating.

Thank you for helping to make DailyHaiku a lively and dynamic environment to showcase contemporary short form poetry!

All the best,

Patrick and Nicole

Editors---DailyHaiku

Goals Or Poetic Leanings?

2012-02-09T17:00:00.000+13:00

I'm loathe to make any solid goals poetry-wise this year. I wore myself out in 2011 with my personal challenge "to submit poetry to a publication or competition every week for the whole year". I'm going to write an article about it for the New Zealand Poetry Society magazine, a fine line, so that others might learn from my madness. I think I'll call it: My Year of Submission :)

This year I'm more about leaning in certain directions with my poetry. I want to experiment more, play more with the writing, with the poetry and it's different and wonderful forms. Not that 2011 didn't see me do the most amount of poetry writing I'd ever done in one year. Just the four PAD (poetry-a-day) challenges I participated in alone (all for the first time) produced many haiku, tanka, small stones and longer poems, many of which have since found homes outside of my computer, and my head!

But I definitely need to deal less with submitting in 2012, and so far I've done just one submission a month, letting several "deadlines" pass me by. I'm just not that into it this year. Call it submitter's burn out. And a "so-slow-that-it-might-as-well-be-going-backwards" Internet connection :(

So here's my poetic leanings (not goals!) for 2012, and beyond:

To make haiku and tanka more a part of my everyday life by putting poems in cards, for example: I've done this in hubby's Christmas and birthday cards, and my parents wedding anniversary card, so far. As I enjoy making my own cards, this practice just adds to the uniqueness of the gift and is always appreciated by those who receive them.
To write more linked haiku and tanka verses: I did my first solo linked haiku verse as part of hubby's Christmas present, which I framed for the wall. I've also written three tanka sonnets this year, which I really enjoyed and will send off for hopeful publication at some stage. The tanka sonnets in particular really sparked my imagination, and I know I will write more soon.
To write more haibun and tanka prose: I've written a few of these over the past few years but really want to write more seriously in this area (as I keep promising myself I will!). You see, I have an idea for a poetic memior, which I would write as my thesis for a Master's in Creative Writing. I figure I have a few years to get really good at haibun, or kiss that little "goal" goodbye. I'll be taking two haibun workshops at the Haiku Festival Aotearoa in June, which will give me the inspirational boost that I'm bound to need mid-year.

That's all I've got for now. Feel free to lean along with me...

Avoiding

2012-02-04T13:37:00.000+13:00

          avoiding
          my old doctor
          at the Cancer Centre
          afraid to meet her
          as a person not a patient

Presence #45 (January, 2012)

Tanka & photograph © Kirsten Cliff

Saying Hello, Saying Goodbye

2012-02-01T17:36:00.000+13:00

Today marks the beginning of NaHaiWriMo which will see poets all over the globe writing a haiku a day for the month of February. You can find all the information here. I've written two today while out (using the pen and post-it notes I keep in my handbag) and think I might have gotten hubby on board, too :)

To welcome in the new month, here is the February page from my haiga calendar. The haiku placed Highly Commended in the 2008 NZPS International Haiku Contest and was published in the NZPS anthology, Before the Sirocco. The photograph was taken near my parents house in Kihikihi, Te Awamutu, and is very similar to the view I now get to see every day from my hill in Hobbiton, Matamata. (You can click on the photo to see a larger version.)

February 2012 - Kirsten's Calendar of Haiku & Photography

February 1st was also a day to say goodbye: The Grandfather of haiku in New Zealand, Cyril Childs, passed away on 27 January and his funeral was today in Dunedin.

I had the opportunity to meet and talk with Cyril at my first Haiku Conference in Christchurch in 2008. I remember his kind eyes and warm smile, the encouragement he gave me, and his passion for haiku. My condolences to his family and friends, and his haiku family and friends in New Zealand and around the world.

You can read some of Cyril's haiku on his Haiku NewZ Showcase page here and read the tributes to this wonderful haijin here. May he rest in peace.

When A Poem Finds Its Home

2012-01-29T20:16:00.001+13:00

I'm beginning to believe more and more that every poem has a home, which will be found eventually. Prune Juice is a place where senryu of mine (some written back when I began in 2007) are finally finding their kin and I'm so pleased that these poems, which I was starting to think just didn't fit anywhere, are now being enjoyed by an audience who can appreciate my humour.

          at the lookout
          we view pics
          on his camera

                    valentine's day
                    buying tampons
                    on special

                                        the size of this bathroom
                                        with me in it
                                        as well as the fly

This third senryu is relatively new having been written during NaHaiWriMo last year. But even so, it was still rejected its fair share of times before finding a place in Prune Juice's pages. NaHaiWriMo 2012 starts in just a few days, where people all over the world will be writing a haiku a day for the month of February. Check out all the information here. And who knows what place your haiku will eventually call its home...

Simply Haiku, Simply Tanka, Simply Svetlana

2012-01-26T18:56:00.003+13:00

When I first heard the news that Svetlana Marisova was to be the new tanka editor at Simply Haiku it gave me courage; I knew I should try sending some of my work there for the first time.

Unfortunately, our dear Svetlana passed away before she could fully embrace this role. In honour of her, I sent in my submission anyway, knowing that she wouldn't be there to receive it.

I'm grateful that two of my tanka were chosen in the end to be part of this latest issue of Simply Haiku, which is in loving memory of Svetlana. You can read an in depth piece on her and her poetry by Robert D. Wilson here.

on the morning

of her death, I sit

searching

for the small differences

between these wild finches

why couldn't I

have let myself love her?

the sun's warmth

as I sit in the graveyard

this spring morning

A posthumous book, Be Still and Know: a journey through love in Japanese short form poetry, by Svetlana Marisova, and her dear friend Ted van Zutphen, is out on-line now. You can read it free here. Print copies with be available for purchase soon.

Having been given the honour of reading a preview of the book, I can say that I've never read or seen anything like it before. It's a beautiful conversation between two haiku poets across the page, across time zones, across seasons, genders, age groups... It works extremely well as their voices balance and blend throughout the book.

I look forward to holding a copy in my hands very soon and savouring the unique voices of these two haijin.

Tanka and photograph © Kirsten Cliff

Tanka appeared in Simply Haiku (Autumn/Winter 2011) here

Book cover © Ted van Zutphen

Chinese New Year

2012-01-24T19:16:00.000+13:00

January 2012 - Kirsten's Calendar of Haiku & Photography

Regular followers of this blog might remember that I actually set myself a second goal last year: to make a calendar of haiku and photography to be given as Christmas presents to my family.

Well, I did it, and everybody loved it! :)

With the Chinese New Year celebrations upon us, I thought it was about time I showed my readers some of what my calendar turned out like. Above is my January page: a shot I took near my old home of Papamoa Beach, from one of my favourite spots, and the haiku is one that was published in the NZPS Anthology in 2008, Before the Sirocco.

It's probably one of my favourite haiku by me: it was my first play around with form in haiku, and I still think of it every summer when I stretch out my toes and feel that first rush of cool breeze.

I hope the sunny scene warms those of you in the Northern parts of our Earth. And Happy New Year once again!

High Risk

2012-01-22T11:09:00.000+13:00

she advises

I'm at high risk

of a relapse...

I breathe in air heavy

with crushed dreams

Moonbathing #5 (January, 2012)

Tanka & photograph © Kirsten Cliff

Daydream

2012-01-17T18:44:00.000+13:00

daydream...

will you share yours with me?

red dragonfly

Haiku by Kirsten Cliff - Photo by Cameron Elliot

News From Haiku News

2012-01-16T16:45:00.000+13:00

Greetings Friends!

We would like to announce that after a several month hiatus, Haiku News will be returning in January. As often happens, life got in the way and forced us to prioritize other things. However, we are ready to begin 2012 with a new vision and commitment to publishing excellent poetry that reflects the social and political events of our world.

On January 15^th, we will begin accepting submissions. Please email your tanka, senryu, and haiku to our new address, the4shades@gmail.com.

We would like to thank all of our readers for being patient and supporting our journal through word of mouth and quality poetry. Please be on the lookout for news about site updates, including a new interview project headed by Laurence.

Thanks!

The Haiku News Staff

The One That Got Away

2012-01-12T18:25:00.001+13:00

My tanka that didn't make it into Aubrie Cox's The Language of Dragons...

I place on his finger

the wedding band

we chose together

ringed with Celtic dragons

my spirit fire roars

Tanka by Kirsten Cliff - Photo by Cameron Elliot

Haiku Festival Aotearoa 2012

2012-01-09T17:36:00.000+13:00

Don't forget about the Haiku Festival Aotearoa happening in Tauranga this June, being organised by Sandra Simpson and Margaret Beverland. These gatherings don't happen that often in New Zealand so if you're curious but not sure then I recommend you go for it!

There will be Haiku and Haibun Master Classes by US haijin Jim Kacian, and workshops by Owen Bullock (Haiku as Performance), Dr Lawrence Marceau (Haiku, Haibun & Everyday Things), Tony Beyer (Better English Haiku & Tanka) and Sandra Simpson (Introduction to Renku).

Also on the programme is a trip to the Haiku Pathway in Katikati and the prize-giving of the bi-annual Katikati Haiku Contest.

You can find all the information at the HFA 2012 website here.

New Year's Dragonfest

2012-01-03T15:41:00.000+13:00

A big THANK YOU to Aubrie Cox for sparking my imagination with her call for dragon/water/fire haiku, tanka, haiga and such like!

the water dragon

swimming through

my lines of haiku

flicks a tail at the sight

of his lover's name

dragon fire...

the way he moves me

this night

black robes dance

around the ritual circle

earth - air - water - fire

I draw in a dragon's breath

to lead the chant

dragon daydream

the streaks of fire

in her hair

The New Year's Day blog post celebrating the beginning of 2012 (which is the Year of the Dragon) can be downloaded from Yay Words! I'm sure you'll enjoy this magical mix of artwork and short form poetry that has become The Language of Dragons.

December Round-Up - Week 52: TICK!

2011-12-31T22:00:00.000+13:00

Here's how I'm doing on my 2011 goal of submitting poetry to a publication or competition every week:

week forty-nine - submitted two haiku for the 2011 Touchstone Awards for Individual Poems
AND I submitted my third set of ten haiku for DailyHaiku
week fifty - submitted three tanka and two haiku to Aubrie Cox's New Year's Dragon blog post at Yay Words!, two haiku and two tanka accepted!
AND submitted six haiku to The Heron's Nest, awaiting outcome
week fifty-one - submitted one haiku to the Fujisan Haiku Competition (closes 20 January 2012)
week fifty-two - submitted one haiga to the WHA Haiga Contest (first time submitting here)

And that's it. I've done it! For every week of 2011 I submitted a poem of some kind, some where :) Phew!

It's been a very rewarding year poetry-wise: not just because I reaped the benefits of so many submissions by being published much more, and much more widely, but because I also meet heaps of great haiku-folk through blogging and on Facebook, and through participating in a few PAD (poetry-a-day) challenges (small stones x2, NaHaiWriMo, NaPoWriMo) so that I'm now happily part of the on-line haiku community - a great place to be and to be part of :)

Thank YOU for being part of it with me through Swimming in Lines of Haiku. I'll be back next year with more poetry, and, knowing me, another challenge to be working towards...

Have safe and happy New Year's celebrations!

Christmas Mall

2011-12-24T18:00:00.000+13:00

      Christmas mall...
      clouds move slowly
      across the skylight

Notes From the Gean, December 2011 (3:3)

Merry Christmas to all my friends, readers and fellow writers!

May you find some space to move slowly

this busy holiday season :)

Bedbound...

2011-12-22T17:51:00.000+13:00

          bedbound...
          three finches take turns
          in the bird bath

a handful of stones, Friday, 16 December 2011

There are still a lot of finches flitting around at our new home, but none of these ones are showing any interest in the bird bath. Luckily, in our rural setting, we don't need such an item to attract all the bird life, and we are happily enjoying watching them where ever they may nest, rest, play, fly and feed.

To all my Facebook friends: Although very exhausted from the move, etc., I'm not bed bound just now, thank God! I know you've been leaving me messages of support and I thank you all :)

Unfortunately, between needing to rest and my dial-up connection, I haven't been able to get back on Facebook. The good news is that I've reached another milestone: only six-months of treatment to go, and the start of my latest 3-month cycle and bone marrow aspirate is being held-off until after Christmas and New Year. Phew!

A very happy Summer Solstice to those in my part of the world :) It's been a rainy summer here so far and I'm loving it as it's filling up our water tank! A happy Winter Solstice to the bulk of my readers over in the Northern Hemisphere. I hope everyone is writing some Solstice haiku...

Onion Tears

2011-12-16T12:23:00.000+13:00

          blue moon...
          I hide behind these
          onion tears

Notes From the Gean, December 2011, 3:3

My new rural home is proving to be perfect for moon-viewing: what with no neighbours, being on a hill, panoramic views and no city lights, we really are getting some of the best night skies that New Zealand has to offer. Bring on the first New Year full moon!

Away With the Birds

2011-12-13T18:50:00.000+13:00

          rushing thoughts...
          the speckled breast
          of this thrush

Notes From the Gean, December 2011, volume 3, issue 3

I haven't seen any thrushes here at my new home in Hobbiton, but many, many other birds that will stop me in my tracks; mind and body. Some I saw daily in suburbia, like blackbirds (a favourite of mine and hubby's), finches (partial to these wee ones, too) and sparrows (of course!).

Then there are the beautiful array of new birds for my viewing palette, like the ever loud and proud peacock, the majestic pair of hawks, the magpie's with a nest in our gum tree, the native pukeko that drink from the cow troughs, beautiful swallows, cheeky minors, and various brightly coloured parrots. It's a busy place!

Needless to say, much haiku is being written about the birds and our amazing rural views. I just sent in a new batch of ten haiku for my third set on DailyHaiku Cycle 12. My second week-long set is running now and looking great :) I'm also getting a submission ready to send in to The Heron's Nest by 15 December.

And to my surprise, I had a great session over the weekend writing dragon haiku and tanka for Aubrie Cox's New Year's Day post over at her blog, Yay Words! I'd never written about dragons before, but once I got going I had heaps of fun. Check out the submission info here. It's going to be fantastic!

Experimental Tanka

2011-12-11T17:30:00.000+13:00

outside:
a war, inside:
a death,
and you want me
to choose...

I considered this my 'experimental tanka'. Hubby had no idea what I was on about - although he's not versed in the ways of tanka. (Happy to report that he's been writing haiku and senryu again since our move to the country though:). I knew it was different and submitted it once without success.

When I submitted it again, it was not with much hope, but I thought I'd give it one more go (having learned over the years that editors all have there own tastes and that just because one rejects it, it doesn't mean that that poem should be binned. I now trust in myself and my poetry much more - something that comes with time and experience.)

So, I put my 'experimental tanka' in as number ten of a set of ten tanka. And was surprised and pleased when Notes From the Gean Tanka Editor Michael McClintock chose it (and none of the others!) for the December 2011 Issue.

This was the type of tanka that arrived pretty much fully formed word-wise, but getting the line breaks and punctuation right took a fair bit of fiddling. And I wasn't in a good space when writing it, but these things are better out than in (which I find poetry perfect for). I'm grateful to have it picked up by Notes From the Gean. Who knows where tanka will take me next...

Editing

2011-12-09T10:32:00.001+13:00

          editing
          in my mind's eye
          this new tanka...
          the tinker tinker tinker
          of teaspoon against mug

Eucalypt: a tanka journal, issue 11, 2011

November Round-Up - The Hills Are Alive With Haiku

2011-12-06T00:00:00.000+13:00

Gosh, so much happened in November that I don't know where to begin! Definitely the busiest month this year, jam-packed with good things. It started with a short honeymoon after my partner and I were wed on 31 October. A week after getting back we bought a house. Then about two weeks after that we moved!

We've been in our new home a week now and are enjoying the quiet and quirks that come with a life lived in the country. One change that we weren't expecting was the downscale to dial-up Internet. Although it is kinda cool to be so rural that we can't get broadband. It means you have to slow down. Perfect!

Here's how I'm doing on my 2011 goal of submitting poetry to a publication or competition every week:

week four-four - submitted ten haiku to Notes From the Gean, three haiku accepted!
week forty-five - submitted ten tanka to Ribbons, one tanka accepted!
week forty-six - submitted five haiku to the Thom Williams Memorial Contest (first time submitting here)
week forty-seven - submitted five haiku and five tanka to paper wasp (awaiting outcome)
week forty-eight - submitted five haiku and five tanka to Kokako (awaiting outcome)

November saw my poetry appear in a handful of stones twice, and my first week of haiku published on DailyHaiku, which you can read here. I was very pleased to see that the 'bride-to-be' haiku went on-line the day before I got married!

Only four weeks left now of submitting each week and I would have achieved the goal I set for myself in the first week of January. I won't be keeping it up in 2012 (especially not with dial-up!) but I'm sure I'll find another challenge to excite my senses. There is certainly a lot of haiku to be found around these parts :)

By The Light

2011-12-04T17:00:00.000+13:00

          the day after chemo
          he reads by the light
          of his cellphone

a handful of stones, Thursday, 24 November 2011

NZPS Special Call For Submissions

2011-11-21T17:30:00.000+13:00

Call for submissions for a special edition of haikai café to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the 2011 earthquakes in Christchurch (22 February) and Japan (11 March).

This will appear in the March 2012 issue of a fine line - The Magazine of the New Zealand Poetry Society.

Please send up to five haiku and/or tanka for consideration to Kirsten Cliff with 'HAIKAI CAFE' in the subject line. (NZPS members only)

Unpublished poetry is preferred, but previously published works will be considered (if credit supplied).

Deadline: 31 January 2012

(Note: a fine line is always looking for Feature Articles "to encourage informed debate, and to assist readers to improve their understanding of poetry." See the submission guidelines here.)

What We Can Learn From Cows

2011-11-18T18:00:00.000+13:00

drought

the cows

still chew their cud

Haiku News (November 28th, 2010)

Haiku and photograph© Kirsten Cliff 2011

My 2011 Christmas Picks

2011-11-16T10:30:00.001+13:00

Here's my picks for you and your creative peeps this Christmas:

Haiku Mind: 108 Poems to Cultivate Awareness & Open Your Heart by Patricia Donegan
Stepping Stones: a way into haiku by Martin Lucas
Memories of Our Lost Hands: Searching for Feminine Spirituality and Creaivity (Carolyn & Ernest Fay Series in Analytical Psychology) by Sonoko Toyoda
And for the second year running, the Mslexia Writer's Diary

(Please note: some links direct you to the book on my favorite New Zealand on-line bookshop Fishpond, but these books can also be found on Amazon.) Additionally, you might find some Barnes & Noble savings here.

The Poetry of Your Soul

2011-11-14T12:00:00.000+13:00

I know not
all the details of your life
and your death,
but am blessed to have read
the poetry of your soul

~for Svetlana

A Small Stone of Love

2011-11-11T15:24:00.001+13:00

     at the door
     with muddy gumboots
     he offers me his love &
     a freshly pulled carrot

a handful of stones Thursday, 10 November 2011

Tears in Ice Diver

2011-11-09T15:28:00.000+13:00

            tears
            the doctor shifts
            in his seat

Commended, New Zealand Poetry Society International Haiku Contest 2011
Appeared in Ice diver, New Zealand Poetry Society Anthology 2011

October Round-Up - A Surprise Or Two Or Three...

2011-11-07T00:00:00.000+13:00

I had a couple of great surprises this month: I was excited to receive a contributor's copy of paper wasp and to find that four of my haiku and four of my tanka were published inside! And I was absolutely ecstatic to be accepted as a contributor for Cycle 12 of DailyHaiku where 28 of my haiku will appear over the next six months. My first week of haiku started on 30 October and can be read here.

Here's how I'm doing on my 2011 goal of submitting poetry to a publication or competition every week:

week forty - submitted one haiku to the Polish International Haiku Competition (first time submitting here)
week forty-one - submitted ten tanka (+1 for the contest) to Moonbathing (first time submitting here), one tanka accepted!
AND submitted ten tanka to Notes from the Gean, one tanka accepted!
AND submitted one haiga to Yay Words!, which appeared in Aubrie Cox's Tea with Trolls post
week forty-two - submitted two haiku, two tanka and one haiga to tinywords (first time submitting here)
AND submitted six small stones to a handful of stones, three accepted!
week forty-three - submitted two haiku to the Sketchbook Sep/Oct 2011 "cemetery" Haiku Thread
AND I submitted my second set of ten haiku for Daily Haiku

During the month, my haiku, tanka and haiga appeared online at DailyHaiku, Notes from the Gean, Issa's Untidy Hut, Chrysanthemum, Yay Words! and in paper wasp (print). And there's much more to come this November and December as all my diligence in submitting each week, and trying so many new journals, pays off. Only eight weeks left!

But wait, there's more...

I've left the biggest surprise 'til last...

Cameron and I eloped last week and were married at 2pm on 31 October in Auckland (NZ). Here's our favourite photo from the day, which was taken just after our first kiss as a married couple!

all hallow's eve haiga

2011-11-04T10:16:00.000+13:00

Appeared in Aubrie Cox's Tea with Trolls Halloween blog post at Yay Words!

(click image to view larger)

Gravity

2011-10-31T00:00:00.000+13:00

the gravity of her words wailing moon

die Anziehungskraft ihrer Worte Klagemond

Chrysanthemum 10, Oktober/October 2011

Haiku © Kirsten Cliff 2011

German translation by Chrysanthemum editors

Covered

2011-10-29T00:00:00.000+13:00

          I lie still
          covered in pain & exhaustion
          busyness all around
          and in my mind
          poetry happens

paper wasp, volume seventeen, number 3, winter 2011

Tanka © Kirsten Cliff 2011

My Body

2011-10-27T00:00:00.000+13:00

          so many ideas
          that'll never be realised
          my body
          always fighting
          with itself

paper wasp, volume seventeen, number 3, winter 2011

Tanka © Kirsten Cliff 2011

brush strokes haiga

2011-10-25T00:00:00.001+13:00

Issa's Untidy Hut, Wednesday Haiku #40
Wednesday, October 19, 2011

(click image to view larger)

This Small Piece

2011-10-23T00:00:00.001+13:00

          i give you
          this small piece
          of myself -
          anymore & i
          should fall apart

Notes from the Gean, volume 3, issue 2

Tanka and photograph © Kirsten Cliff 2011

Under the Rain

2011-10-21T00:00:00.001+13:00

under the rain

of cherry blossoms

a rusting pickup

Notes from the Gean, volume 3, issue 2

Haiku and photograph © Kirsten Cliff 2011

With Good News

2011-10-19T00:00:00.001+13:00

each time

with good news

seems to come bad

the wind snatches thoughts

of our future

paper wasp, volume seventeen, number 3, winter 2011

Tanka © Kirsten Cliff 2011

Photograph by Cameron Elliot

Re-negotiating

2011-10-17T00:00:00.002+13:00

          re-negotiating
          my drug regime
          with the doctors
          I tell them that today
          they may see me cry

paper wasp, volume seventeen, number 3, winter 2011

Tanka © Kirsten Cliff 2011

Photograph by Cameron Elliot

For Greer - In Memoriam, Richard Burt

2011-10-15T00:00:00.012+13:00

Notes from the Gean, volume 3, issue 2

(click image to view larger)

spring sunlight haiga

2011-10-13T00:00:00.003+13:00

Notes from the Gean, volume 3, issue 2

(click on image to view larger)

Thinking Twice

2011-10-11T00:00:00.020+13:00

          winter sun
          I think twice about
          destroying this web

paper wasp, volume seventeen, number 3, winter 2011

Haiku and photograph © Kirsten Cliff 2011

New Neighbour

2011-10-09T00:00:00.002+13:00

new neighbour

a peony blooms

through the fence

paper wasp, volume seventeen, number 3, winter 2011

Haiku and photograph © Kirsten Cliff 2011

Extinguished

2011-10-07T00:00:00.001+13:00

          extinguished
          after love-making
          a single candle

paper wasp, volume seventeen, number 3, winter 2011

Haiku © Kirsten Cliff 2011

Photograph by Cameron Elliot

Hoping

2011-10-05T13:00:00.001+13:00

               hoping
               my head will clear
               hazy moon

paper wasp, volume seventeen, number 3, winter 2011

Haiku © Kirsten Cliff 2011

Photograph by Cameron Elliot

September Round-Up - An Inspiration of Cherry Blossoms

2011-10-01T17:15:00.002+13:00

Two activities hit my personal poetry Refresh button in September: an afternoon with my local poetry group 'Pacific Poets' in Papamoa and a brief spot of cherry blossom viewing in Greerton Village. I came back reinvigorated from both with a steady flow of poetry for days afterwards. It always amazes me how a small change in my routine or environment can make such a positive difference to my writing. I'm grateful to have been well enough to appreciate the experience.

Here's how I'm doing on my 2011 goal of submitting poetry to a publication or competition every week:

week thirty-five - submitted ten haiku to The Heron's Nest, awaiting outcome
week thirty-six - submitted ten tanka to Notes from the Gean, one tanka accepted!
week thirty-seven - submitted ten haiku to Notes from the Gean, one haiku accepted!
AND submitted six tanka to Simply Haiku (first time submitting here), two tanka accepted!
week thirty-eight - submitted two haiku to the HIA Contest
week thirty-nine - submitted ten haiku to DailyHaiku (first time submitting here), awaiting outcome

Lots of submitting this month, but not much coming out as Notes from the Gean and haijinx are still working on getting their respective issues out. I look forward to seeing my poetry in these journals, both for the first time, in a matter of days; and in Chrysanthemum and Simply Haiku in mid October, also both for the first time.

At the beginning of September I had one haiku appear in The Heron's Nest, an image feature as cover art on Kokako and my first haikai column in a fine line. I've been working on my second column throughout September and am almost ready to put it to bed. Happy October 1st all and a warm welcome to my new readers!

Greerton Village Square - September 27, 2011
Both photos by Kirsten Cliff

The Ink Fading

2011-09-28T00:00:00.008+13:00

a new thought
my gaze shifts
from the page

*

the ink fading
as I print a haiku
about spring's end

Excellent Writing (July, 2011)

Senryu and photograph © Kirsten Cliff 2011

In Memoriam, Svetlana Marisova

2011-09-26T00:00:00.050+13:00

Haiku written for friend and fellow haiku poet Svetlana Marisova,

during her illness, and on her passing 7/9/2011

winter sun...
my thoughts again
turn to you

winter breeze...

your haiku song in

these wind chimes

winter's end...

the world through this

blackbird's song

Please do take the time to read some of Svetlana's haiku on her website here and as Featured Poet in Simply Haiku here.

Crafty with a K

2011-09-23T00:00:00.001+12:00

Here's my latest crafty piece: turning the wooden 'k' from my childhood (the front surface of which had been defaced with stickers - yes I loved sticking stuff to other stuff even then:) into an item of interest once again that I'm happy to display on my writing desk.

It's a project I'd had in mind for some time but wasn't sure what to cover it with. Then I remembered a page I'd marked in one of the old children's books I keep for collage and knew it would be perfect! You'll see I've kept that sense of childhood about it - I think we all need things around us to remind us to play.

Submissions are open for DailyHaiku Cycle 12‏

2011-09-21T00:00:00.005+12:00

Patrick M. Pilarski and Nicole Pakan
Editors --- DailyHaiku
http://www.dailyhaiku.org

DailyHaiku is a print and daily online serial publication that publishes the work of Canadian and international haiku poets, blending contemporary, experimental, and traditional styles to explore the boundaries of English-language haiku. Through our special features section, we also aim to chronicle the diverse and ever-changing landscape of contemporary haiku-related forms. We're now looking for a new roster of six talented haiku poets for our upcoming cycle (Volume 6, Cycle 12, Fall 2011/Winter 2012). If selected as a contributor, you will be responsible for providing a total of 28 haiku over a six-month period.

Submission Period: Sept. 1st--30th, 2011 (closes 11:59 pm Mountain Standard Time)

How to Submit: Email submissions to desk@dailyhaiku.org

What to Submit: Ten unpublished haiku---no more, no less---your contact information, a 75 word publication-ready biographical note, and a digital author photo. We do not accept work published or under consideration by other journals or websites.

Payment: One contributor copy of the print volume featuring your work.

For specific submission guidelines and more information about this publication, please visit: http://www.dailyhaiku.org

One Day You're In, The Next Day You're Out

2011-09-19T00:00:00.003+12:00

This is one of my haiku and photo combinations that hasn't made it into my calendar. I love the image (taken at the entrance to Tauranga's Mission Cemetery in June this year) and the haiku - but found the pairing to be over illustrated, with not enough for the mind and eye to ponder.

Haiku first published in Presence #40 (Jan, 2010)

This haiku is now matched with another of my images taken around a similar time (just at the end of autumn). It still features a gate but it doesn't dominate the shot leaving room for the haiku to breath and the senses to expand. (Please click on the photo to see a larger image.)

Cicada Song

2011-09-16T00:00:00.001+12:00

cicada song

replaces the heavy traffic

of home

Haiku and photographs © Kirsten Cliff 2011

From Spider's Strand in Lynx: A Journal for Linking Poets

(scroll down to find Spider's Strand: a linked haiku verse with Patricia Prime, Catherine Mair, Margaret Beverland, Steve Cordery, Owen Bullock, Sandra Simpson, George Swede and myself)

Size Nine

2011-09-14T00:00:00.003+12:00

he creates

a new centrepiece
for the dining table
a size nine shoebox
full of medications

Presence #44 (June, 2011)

Tanka and photograph © Kirsten Cliff 2011

While I Have Chemo

2011-09-12T00:00:00.001+12:00

planning our wedding

          in the hospital chapel
          while I have chemo
          I am not dying
          but a part of me is

Presence #44 (June, 2011)

Tanka and photograph © Kirsten Cliff 2011

First Winter's Day

2011-09-08T14:00:00.000+12:00

          first winter's day
          I slip into
          his gumboots

The Heron's Nest, Volume XIII, Number 3: September, 2011

Haiku and photograph © Kirsten Cliff 2011

An Update on the 2011 NZPS Anthology

2011-09-07T16:44:00.000+12:00

I just found this information on The New Zealand Poetry Society website, regarding poems submitted to The 2011 Annual International Poetry Competition:

"We regret that due to circumstances beyond our control notification of poems selected for our anthology were not made before the end of August. We apologise for the delay, and request that entrants wait a little longer before submitting their poems elsewhere. We are sorry for the inconvenience."

So, you could still have a haiku chosen for the 2011 NZPS anthology edited by Linzy Forbes. Watch this space :)

My Half

2011-09-06T07:00:00.001+12:00

one side of the rose
has no petals:
hoping he'll return,
I keep to my half
of the bed

Kokako 13 (September, 2010)

Tanka and photograph © Kirsten Cliff 2011

August Round-Up - It Was All In The Cards

2011-09-05T07:00:00.006+12:00

August saw me getting crafty making birthday cards for family members: see my mum's one here and the ones for my niece and nephew in Canada here. I also began on a card project of a different kind: thinking about a collage I could make with all the cards I received while in hospital. You can read my post about that here, and I will keep you updated on my (very slow) progress.

I had a haiku appear in Melissa Allen's Red Dragonfly blog post about dragonflies: see my contribution here and the full post in all it's glory here. A recommended read, for sure! And speaking of reading: I'm doing a daily one from Martin Lucas' Stepping Stones: a way into haiku. The haiku are top drawer and I'm learning new things all the time. You can get your copy here.

Here's how I'm doing on my 2011 goal of submitting poetry to a publication or competition every week:

week thirty-one - submitted five haiku, seven tanka and one haibun to Presence, one tanka accepted!
week thirty-two - submitted ten haiku/senryu to Chrysanthemum (first time submitting here), one haiku accepted!
week thirty-three - submitted ten tanka to Ribbons (first time submitting here), awaiting outcome
week thirty-four - submitted five haiku to the Katikati Mural Festival collaborative arts project

August was a very low energy month for me so lots of resting was done.
This is a sight I saw often: the shadow of the trees and a bird ornament
with a crystal casting many shapes and rainbows on the drawn curtains.

September is already in full swing: the September issue of Kokako has come out with my paper cranes image on the cover, the new edition of The Heron's Nest has been released containing one of my haiku, and my first column as editor of the haikai section of a fine line (the Magazine of the New Zealand Poetry Society) is in NZPS members' in-boxes and mailboxes. Happy haikuing to you!

Paper Cranes & Kokako 15

2011-09-01T15:30:00.001+12:00

The September issue of Kokako arrived in my mailbox yesterday morning sporting my paper cranes image on the cover. My scan here of the print copy hasn't come out very clear so please do pop on over to my Photography page and check out the original image.

folded
next to the washing
my tired girlfriend

Cameron Elliot (my fiancé)

Don't forget about the The 6th Kokako Haiku and Senryu Competition which closes on October 31st. Entry details here.

A Small Crop of Vegetable Ku

2011-08-31T15:35:00.000+12:00

        sunday brunch
          with the in-laws
          the taste of pepperwort

          returning home
          all the lettuces
          have gone to seed

          pulling up
          the last few carrots
          chimney smoke

All haiku and photographs © Kirsten Cliff 2011
Haiku appeared in the Sketchbook Vegetables Haiku Thread, May/June, 2011.

A Vision of Birds

2011-08-30T16:38:00.000+12:00

New ideas for creative projects seem to come to me no matter what mood I'm in nor where my energy levels are sitting. Some ideas can simply never be realised and have to be let go. Others just keep bubbling back up into my conscious awareness and need to be fulfilled.

escaping

from a 2nd-hand

book

two tickets for

the bird gardens

The feeling of wanting to create something out of all the cards I was sent while in hospital last year can no longer be ignored. I have a vision of birds: of cutting each card into a bird silhouette and setting them on a background to be hung on the wall.

All the cards I was given during my time in hospital having IV
chemotherapy for leukaemia last year, from March to July, 2010.

I don't know how it's all going to work out but I'm willing to follow this vision and see where it leads! Will keep you updated :)

My Latest Follies

2011-08-29T09:50:00.001+12:00

          I confide in her
          my latest follies
          it doesn't seem to matter
          that it's ten years
          since she died

Presence #44 (June, 2011)

Tanka and photograph © Kirsten Cliff 2011

Winding Roads

2011-08-26T07:00:00.001+12:00

homeward bound

the car driven fast
round winding roads
a feeling in my stomach
that's not car sickness

Kokako 14 (March, 2011)

Tanka and photograph © Kirsten Cliff 2011

Crafty Cards for the Kids

2011-08-25T07:00:00.018+12:00

My mum is heading to Canada at the end of this month to visit the newest addition to our family: my sister's baby girl, Sadie. I always give the kids books as presents so have loaded mum up with Christmas and birthday books for both my niece and nephew. Here are the cards I've made for their birthdays: Sadie will be one year old in April and Toby will be two this November.

They may not fully appreciate these but the fun was in the making :)

Alone

2011-08-24T07:00:00.002+12:00

at the sheltered end

          of the bay
          two gulls preening
          watching makes it easier
          for me to be alone

Kokako 13 (September, 2010)

Tanka and photograph © Kirsten Cliff 2011

Simply Haiku Calls For Submissions

2011-08-23T07:00:00.001+12:00

Simply Haiku is now accepting submissions of "Quality Traditional English Language Haiku, Tanka, Haibun, Haiga, Renga, Book reviews, Interviews and Feature articles."

Submission deadline: September 15, 2011. Please read carefully the Submission Guidelines before submitting.

On behalf of: Robert D. Wilson & Sasa Vazic
Co-Owners, Co-Publishers, Co-Editors in Chief

Dragonfly

2011-08-22T07:00:00.000+12:00

          within his armful
          of raked leaves
          this lifeless dragonfly

Red Dragonfly, August 19, 2011

Haiku and photograph © Kirsten Cliff 2011

This haiku was part of Mellisa Allen's illustrated Dragonfly Dreams post on her blog Red Dragonfly last week: a stunning collection of haiku, haiga, tanka and images. Much more than a blog post and one that won't be forgotten in a hurry.

This One Wish

2011-08-19T12:05:00.001+12:00

for today

I have this one wish
not to feel
like I'll always carry
that scared little girl

Presence #44 (June, 2011)

Tanka and photograph © Kirsten Cliff 2011

Riding My Creativity Waves

2011-08-18T12:20:00.001+12:00

The poetry is slow in coming at the moment, which seems to happen after I do any month-long poetry challenge. But I've found what I do write during these times of recuperation is quality. I'm learning to ride my own creativity waves and no longer get concerned during these down times. Instead I focus my creative energy on other more hands-on crafts.

Monday night saw me finally finish the collage haiga that had been sadly sitting on my art table for over two months. It's a great feeling to have this one complete and looking so good now standing proudly on my easel (where all new artworks stand for a spell). Then last night, I made a card for my Mum's upcoming birthday, which features the colours she likes and an origami crane.

The card I made for my Mum's birthday 2011

I've done some more work on my haiga calendar as I decided I wasn't happy with two of the photographs and two of the haiku in my first printing. Now it is closer to fabulous. And I also did some baking over the weekend, which counts as creativity in my book! Black Doris Plum Crumble and a Date and Walnut Loaf - both wheat and dairy free, and super yummy! :)

Enjoy riding your creativity wave today, wherever it may take you.

Pegs

2011-08-17T10:40:00.001+12:00

the weight
of this peg bucket
waning moon

Presence #44 (June, 2011)

Haiku and photograph © Kirsten Cliff 2011

One Hundred Times

2011-08-15T16:40:00.000+12:00

open casket

          her hair still soft
          she used to brush it
          one hundred times
          before bed

Kokako 13 (September, 2010)

The First Polish Haiku Contest in English

2011-08-12T07:00:00.001+12:00

Entrants: competition open to anyone
Submission Period: 1 August 2011 — 16 October 2011
Number of Haiku: 1 (one)
Language: English
Theme: free
Style: contemporary: three lines within the 5-7-5 syllable pattern;
         no strict syllable count
Fee: none
Entry form: here

Jury: Jane Reichhold - Final Judge;
        Rafał Zabratyński - Pre-Selector

Results: 11 November 2011
            (Jury’s decision is definitive and irrevocable)

Prizes: diplomas and souvenirs for:
          1st Place (one haiku)
          2nd Place (one haiku)
          3rd Place (one haiku)
          Commendations (ten haiku)

Coordinator: Grzegorz Sionkowski
Originator: Krzysztof Kokot

The Kiss

2011-08-11T07:00:00.001+12:00

walking to work
they kiss
before parting:
the nurse turns left
the doctor turns right

Kokako 13 (September, 2010)

Tanka and photograph © Kirsten Cliff 2011

Pin-ku: The Wearable Short Form Poetry Project

2011-08-10T07:00:00.002+12:00

Pin-ku is an exciting new experimental zine/journal created by the multi-talented Melissa Hill who proposes making short poems into wearable pin-back buttons (badges). Each issue will feature five poems, each on a badge, with a broadside containing author info.

Pin-ku is now calling for submissions for its first publication, September 2011. Send one short poem (it must fit in a circle 1.25″ in diameter and still be readable), previously published is okay, to pinku.editor@gmail.com by August 20. This was my submission for week 30 of 2011 and I look forward to seeing this project grow.

Dandelions

2011-08-09T07:00:00.002+12:00

she asked to have

her photo taken

at twelve tomorrow

the dandelions

will reach her knees

Kokako 13 (September, 2010)

July Round-Up - A Month Of Gratitude

2011-08-08T08:00:00.018+12:00

July: the second River of Stones month for 2011, where people all over the world took time out each day to pay attention to something fully and write it down. My practise of this observational exercise was enhanced by adding gratitude to the process: it made me more grateful of the things in my life as I looked around, listened, touched, tasted, photographed, read and rested. Why small stones of gratitude? See here.

As part of my practise of gratitude and abundance, and as July was my birthday month and the 2nd anniversary of my engagement, I decided to have a draw to give away two haiku books. The post about that here and the winners here. It's cool to have so many new people join me on Swimming in Lines of Haiku and great to be sending out two New Zealand haiku books to readers and writers in America. I think I'll run a haiku competition for my 2012 birthday so stay tuned!

Here's how I'm doing on my 2011 goal of submitting poetry to a publication or competition every week:

week twenty-seven - submitted one haiku to Wednesday Haiku @ Issa's Untidy Hut - accepted!
week twenty-eight - submitted seven tanka and seven haiku to paper wasp, awaiting outcome
AND submitted a tanka to Red Dragonfly (Melissa Allen's blog) mushroom feature post - accepted!
week twenty-nine - submitted ten senryu to Prune Juice, three accepted!
week thirty - submitted one previously published haiku to Pin-ku, awaiting outcome
AND resubmitted three haiga to Notes from the Gean (due to change in editor)

Me with my haiku on the Papamoa Poetry Walk
for New Zealand's National Poetry Day 22/7/2011

July was a fruitful month as I reaped the rewards of my past poetry and prose labours -

Four of my haiku appeared in 'poetry walks' around parts of Tauranga as part of National Poetry Day on Friday 22nd July
Prune Juice (Issue 6, Summer 2011) came out with two of my senryu
a fine line, The Magazine of the New Zealand Poetry Society, came out with my feature article A Haiku Journey
Melissa Allen's Mushroom Harvest post came out with my tanka
Excellent Writing (July Issue) came out with two of my senryu and the final of three Quick Tips For Freelance Writers
Three of my haiku appeared in the May/June Sketchbook “vegetable(s)” haiku thread (#07, #40, #48). “sunday brunch” was named "Editor's Choice" by John Daleiden, and “sunday brunch” and “pulling up” were named "Guest Editor's Choice" by Bernard Gieske, and "returning home" and "sunday brunch" were named "Editor's Choice" by Karina Klesko. This means all three of my entries were highlighted in the judging process; not bad for my first time participating.

An update on the state of affairs re my various artistic projects -

I finished my haiga calendar and had one printed so I could see how it looked in the flesh. I'm really happy and excited about it so will now get several more printed out for family Christmas gifts. Sorted!
I haven't made any new collage haiga this month and I still have an unfinished one on my art table from May! Hopefully I can get that completed in August and then I will have two full albums of collage haiga that have haiku and tanka from my collection exploring my leukaemia journey.
I did manage to finish my vision board around finding a new home, and what a mammoth task that was! Now it's time to make the magic happen :)

My completed vision board!

Being Aunty Kirsten

2011-08-05T13:10:00.001+12:00

My sister came to visit today with my baby nephew so I could take some photos of them together. It's cool being Aunty Kirsten for a couple of hours and seeing the changes in my nephew each time I see him. Here's a senryu I wrote when he was still in the womb and I was a spectator at my sister's ultrasound scan.

seeing faces
in the scan
that aren't the baby's

Prune Juice, Issue 6, Summer 2011

It's a wonderfully sunny day here so we headed to the beach for a short time. The waves had come out to play and there were many surfers enjoying themselves out on the ocean. It looks like this weather might last through the weekend. I hope you have a good one where ever you are :)

Photo taken by Kirsten Cliff at Papamoa Beach 5/8/2011

Moonbathing Call For Submissions

2011-08-04T16:45:00.001+12:00

MOONBATHING: A JOURNAL OF WOMEN'S TANKA

From Editor Pamela A. Babusci -

Moonbathing Issue 5 is now accepting submissions.

Moonbathing will publish two issues a year:

(Northern) Fall/Winter and Spring/Summer.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

Moonbathing will feature only women poets.

Send a maximum of 10 tanka per submission period.

Submission deadlines:

Spring/Summer: In-hand Deadline: May 15th

spring/summer themes or non-seasonal only

Fall/Winter: In-hand deadline Dec. 15th

fall/winter themes or non-seasonal

No previously published tanka or simultaneous submissions;

no tanka that has been posted on-line on a personal website/blog.

SUBMISSION ADDRESSES:

Send your tanka IN THE BODY OF AN E-MAIL to:

Pamela A. Babusci

PLEASE NO ATTACHMENTS. E-mail submissions ONLY.

I hope that all tanka poets who have their work accepted will support Moonbathing by purchasing a copy or a subscription. If Moonbathing is to survive it will need your support and I will be most grateful for it. DONATIONS MOST WELCOME.

DISCLAIMER:

Moonbathing does not assume liability for copyright infringement or failure to acknowledge previously published tanka.

COPIES/SUBSCRIPTIONS:

Subscriptions: $12 for one year (two issues) U.S. and Canada;

$6 for single issue.

International: $16 (two issues) $8 single issue U.S. dollars;

send US cash or international M.O.—payable to Pamela A. Babusci.

Please email for address details.

The Editor of Moonbathing is looking forward

to receiving your best tanka.

If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail Pamela A. Babusci.

Mushroom Haikai Collecting

2011-08-03T11:10:00.002+12:00

Melissa Allen put a call out on her blog, Red Dragonfly, last month for mushroom haiku, tanka and haiga. She was planning to gather the haikai in an illustrated post dedicated to the humble mushroom. I answered the call with what turned out to be the only tanka -

winter cemetery:
careful to tread between
the headstones
& these small clusters
of white mushrooms

Tanka and photograph © Kirsten Cliff 2011
Read the full Mushroom Harvest post here and delight your senses!

Can I Have A Drum Roll Please...

2011-08-02T11:00:00.004+12:00

In the draw for the taste of nashi (Windrift, 2008) were twenty-two new followers, and the winner is Pamela A. Babusci!

In the draw for Before the Sirocco (NZPS, 2008) were the new followers plus five people who were already followers and had left a message on one of my posts through July, and the winner is Dawn Cagle Apanius!

Thanks to everyone who has joined me here in the past month. A wrap-up of my poetic July coming soon, as well as lots more haiku, senryu and tanka!

A New Year

2011-08-01T12:20:00.002+12:00

With my birthday mid-year, it's a time for me to take stock of where I'm at, and August 1st feels like the start of a new year for me. I've been busy this morning catching up on errands, writing in my journal, and generally feeling positive about the potential of life.

Only eleven months of my maintenance chemo to go, and thankfully, my blood tests are only once a month at the moment, but this scene plays out time and time again.

monday morning blood test

all the old men

reading women's magazines

Prune Juice, Issue 6, Summer 2011

Happy New Year! I hope you find something that makes you smile today :)

small stones of gratitude - day 31

2011-07-31T19:30:00.000+12:00

Today I'm most thankful for words: the words that allow me to express my true self through poetry; the words that mix with my crafts and photography becoming a whole other art form; the words that find me during my greatest struggles; the printed words, the spoken words, the words that float in cyberspace; the words that comfort and encourage, the words that support and inspire, the words that let me know I'm loved.

Thank you for reading my words and sharing your words with me. Here's to many more words, however they may manifest!

Me in our home library having just got back
from my birthday dinner with family last night,
& here's the haiku I wrote on the drive home:

birthday dinner -
every star a dream
that might come true

I'm sharing my birthday with you, and my practise of gratitude and abundance, by having a book give-away. I'm definitely giving away two books and will make the draw on August 2nd. So if it's still July 31st where you are then you still have time to get in the draw. Find all the details here and come join me!

small stones of gratitude - day 30

2011-07-30T16:10:00.001+12:00

Grateful that I can swap, share and talk books with my family: Mum said last week that she takes her library books back soon after finishing them (as opposed to waiting for their due date) because other people might be waiting to read them :)

(Last couple of days to get into the draw for my book give-away! Find all the details here.)

small stones of gratitude - day 29

2011-07-29T14:30:00.004+12:00

I give thanks today for the unexpected sight of a monarch butterfly flitting around the garden as I lay resting in my favourite lounge spot; the winter sun inching closer hour upon hour and the trees with their leaves and shadows swaying to the sound of the wind chimes.

(There's still time to get in the draw for the taste of nashi NZ Haiku. See here.)

small stones of gratitude - day 28

2011-07-28T18:00:00.001+12:00

Today I give thanks to the shadows in my world: the ones that dance behind these curtains pretending to be trees; the many that radiate stillness like the inanimate objects they haunt; and to my own shadow, which holds all I try to push away but doesn't ever let me forget its importance in the balance of my spirit.

Photo by Cameron Elliot.

Last few days to get into my book draw! Details here.

Creative Te Puke 2011 Photography Competition

2011-07-28T13:30:00.000+12:00

NOW OPEN FOR ENTRIES

Age group categories:

Primary Age 5-11, Secondary 12-18 & Adult 18+

Subject categories with the Special Challenge in brackets:

People at Work or Play (Rugby)

Natural Environment (Rainy Days)

Built Environment (Bridges)

Digitally Enhanced (Humour)

More details at

www.creativetepuke.co.nz

small stones of gratitude - day 27

2011-07-27T11:30:00.003+12:00

winter sun -

I show my gratitude

with this smile

(Come join me this month and go in the draw for my book give-away!)

small stones of gratitude - day 26

2011-07-26T16:00:00.001+12:00

Grateful for today's change in plans that meant laughter and coffee and hugs.

(Get in the draw for the taste of nashi New Zealand Haiku here.)

small stones of gratitude - day 25

2011-07-25T09:40:00.001+12:00

Grateful for the hope I find in his pine tree seedlings.

My partner's pine tree seedlings.
It's a joy for us both to watch them grow.

Last week to get in my book draw. Read all about it here.

small stones of gratitude - day 24

2011-07-24T09:45:00.000+12:00

Grateful to the thrush who caught my eye this morning and pulled me away from the computer screen, and all the sadness I was finding there.

(Want to win a book? Get in the draw here.)

Photos from the Papamoa Poetry Walk for National Poetry Day

2011-07-23T17:00:00.002+12:00

Me with my haiku at Fashion Island in Papamoa.
Photo taken by Cameron Elliot. 22/7/2011

My haiku won an Honourable Mention in the
Haiku International Association Haiku Contest (Japan) 2009

Cameron with his senryu at Fashion Island in Papamoa.
Photo taken by Kirsten Cliff. 22/7/2011

Cameron's senryu was first published in Kokako 12 (April, 2010)

Don't forget that I'm giving away the New Zealand Haiku Anthology the taste of nashi this month. Just become a follower to get in the draw. See the full details here and come join me!

small stones of gratitude - day 23

2011-07-23T09:30:00.001+12:00

Grateful for the slow start to Saturday: the traffic takes its time to wind up to its full roar, the childcare centre next door lays dormant, and my diary is free of any medical appointments.

(I'm giving away a book next week. Get in the draw here.)

small stones of gratitude - day 22

2011-07-22T17:20:00.001+12:00

My thanks today goes to the joy I find in food: the sweetness of seasonal pumpkin in a roast vegetable salad; the inky blue inside a warm blueberry muffin; that first sip of coffee on a cold winter morning, and the bitter melt of dark chocolate on my tongue.

(Get in on the draw for the taste of nashi The NZ Haiku Anthology here.)

A Haiku Journey

2011-07-22T11:30:00.000+12:00

I walked unannounced into the world of haiku. I’d never encountered it before, never been taught it at school. Even when living in Japan for six months I never crossed paths with haiku.

Haiku for me now is like an old friend: comfortable to be with, always there for me through the good times and the bad, with an honest heart which will still challenge me when I need it.

My haiku journey began when I moved to Bay of Plenty in 2005, joined Tauranga Writers' a year later and heard about the Katikati Haiku Pathway.

On New Year’s Day 2007, I was alone with a longing to begin my year with something new. I felt a need to discover the external world, yet at the same time explore the world deep within myself. So when everyone else was heading to the beach hungover, I drove forty-five minutes to the calmness of the Katikati Haiku Pathway.

I strolled, I sat, I listened, I looked, I touched, I smelled: I wrote my first haiku. I absorbed all that was on offer that day and found what I'd been searching for: a new way to express myself.

Haiku just seemed to ‘fit’ me. It was concise, to the point, I felt I knew where I stood with it. There were no long descriptions, no flowery language to get lost in. Just good honest observations, where every word and line break was important, and carried a depth that would reward the present reader.

Most of my poetry at that time stemmed from observations: moments in time that stayed with me and begged to be created into something. Sights, sounds, and sensations that enticed my body to grasp pen and paper, and then record the occasion in its rawest and truest form. Haiku allowed me the opportunity, gave me the tools to do justice to my experiences.

I read all I could about haiku in print and on-line. It wasn’t long before my first haiku were published. Then six months after my visit to the Katikati Haiku Pathway, I set myself a challenge: from my 30^th birthday on 31 July I would write one haiku, every day, for a year. It was this huge task that really taught me the craft of haiku, and elevated all my writing to the next level.

It did this in two main ways: honing my observation skills, and refining my ability to clearly convey what I wanted to say.

Writing haiku means living life using all your senses. Not just listening to what a person says, for example, but looking at the way their eyes light up over certain topics, the way the sunlight picks up different colours in their hair, the smell of their perfume, the temperature of the room, the background noises. Taking in all these aspects when interviewing someone for an article (which is what makes up half of my prose writing work) brings to life your experience of your time with that person. The reader gets a more rounded view of the interviewee, and your article is more enjoyable to read as it is richer, deeper. Working and playing with haiku has made me become more observant to the world around me, and this can’t help but enrich all of my writing.

Writing haiku involves capturing the beauty and fullness of a moment, in about 10 words or less. Working with haiku has improved my ability to convey what I want via the written word. I enjoy wordplay more since reading and writing haiku: it's taught me the value of each word and it has expanded my vocabulary as I’ve searched for the right words, in sound and in meaning, to form those few short lines. The challenge of writing haiku has lead me to an uncluttered writing style, in both my poetry and prose.

I've only been writing creatively for six years but much of that time has been spent on the art of haiku. I see so many possibilities with this form and I’m experimenting with it and extending my knowledge all the time. My latest project is developing a collection of collage-style haiga (haiku with images) about my experiences of going through treatment for leukaemia. Yes, my old friend haiku was there for me then, too.

This piece appeared as the feature article in a fine line, The Magazine of the New Zealand Poetry Society (July, 2011).

small stones of gratitude - day 21

2011-07-21T13:00:00.001+12:00

grateful today
for this winter wind
the only force
that can take away
my deepest sorrow

(Become a follower in July and go in the draw for my book give-away here.)

small stones of gratitude - day 20

2011-07-20T17:00:00.001+12:00

I give thanks for the light that is poetry, which penetrates my darkness of ill health.

(It's my birthday & I'm sharing it with readers by giving away a book. Go here.)

small stones of gratitude - day 19

2011-07-19T17:00:00.004+12:00

Grateful for the energy I was given to create today, which will nourish my body and soul: baking a wheat-free, dairy-free banana loaf with some walnuts and pumpkin seeds thrown in, and sticking the last few words and pictures to my vision board, making it my largest work of art and a powerful tool for change.

Banana loaf Kirsten style!

Check out this post to find out how to get in the draw for my book give-away this month.

small stones of gratitude - day 18

2011-07-18T17:10:00.000+12:00

a rainbow kite

above this winter sea

I give thanks

for another day

with his hand in mine

Photo taken by Kirsten Cliff at Papamoa Beach, 18 July, 2011.
Check out the kite in top right corner; click on image to enlarge.

Book give-away here on Swimming in Lines of Haiku this month: it's my birthday and I'm practising gratitude and abundance. Get in on the draw! Details here.

National Poetry Day in and around Tauranga this Friday

2011-07-18T12:15:00.001+12:00

Calling all Poets. Prepare to Pave the Way.

Come celebrate and share the beauty of poetry.

Friday 22^nd July: ‘National Poetry Day 2011’.

Take part in one or both of these organised events

Friday daytime: ‘Paved with Poetry’

Selected poems from local poets and one poet per school, will be presented on the footpaths in Tauranga, Mt Maunganui, Fashion Island Papamoa and Greerton Village.

They will be secured safely in positions allowing the general public a moment to stop and read. Make a trail of it.

Friday evening: ‘Poetry from the Atrium’

WHERE: 'The Atrium' at the Bay of Plenty Polytechnic, Windermere Campus.

WHEN: 6.30pm until 10.30pm

WHAT: This is an opportunity for poets to read their works to an audience. Our feature poet is local, Owen Bullock.

WHO: Each 15-minute bracket will begin by recognising one of our published local poets. The rest of the bracket is 3-minute opportunities for any poet to give it their best shot.

Open invitation to the public to come and hear the next big thing to come out of the Bay. Entry by gold coin donation. Organise a group to make an evening of it. There is a cash bar (coins and notes only.) BYO nibbles!

Please register interest for one or both events to

Organiser: Joanne Rye-McGregor

on 5757341 or email

small stones of gratitude - day 17

2011-07-17T18:00:00.001+12:00

Grateful today that I was only given as much pain as I could handle.

(I'm definitely giving away a book of haiku poetry this month; maybe even two! Get in the draw here.)