When you hear the word "stone", what adjectives come up in your mind? Giant, round, cold, chipped . . . there are many ways to describe stones. Also, there are different kinds of stones: a mountain rock, river stones, a stone statue. . . . Similarly, haiku can be in many different shapes and various colors.
I have never met most of the poets in this project. I am not familiar with their backgrounds. But I am glad to show you their words through haiku.
For me, haiku is the most suitable form of poetry to write about who I am, what I see and how I feel. I am glad to be included in this group's first issue and thank the poets for giving me the inspiration to write my own stone haiku.
Fay Aoyagi
spring rain
the soft click of marbles
on the kitchen floor
-CLR
arguing about politics
dad feeds the dog
under the table
-RS
the longing
I can not shake-
autumn equinox
-JSB
old stone god
i fix it
with my eyes
-SM
batteries recharging the clunk of ice in whiskey
-RS
the feel of
writing in pencil-
receding light
-JSB
big decision thinking in my father's voice
-CLR
Dia de los Muertos
she folds and unfolds
her arms
-JSB
reading the news
his fan slowly
becomes still
-SM
autumn leaves
I become
a drifter
-CLR
draining the bottle
the blazing log
collapses
-RS
migrating mynas
just one tree
to make a shrine
-SM
to the crow,
every wind
is bitter
-CLR
i thought
i'd turned it off. . .
moonglow
-RS
low tide
the stars and
I burn
-JSB
flowers cut,
she arranges
the earth
-SM
soft rain
poking holes
for new seeds
-RS
swan in flight-
where are the words
to greet her?
-JSB
family album:
the family
before I was born
-CLR
wolf moon-
I palm
a cold stone
-JSB
kick by kick the stone's shadow evolving
-CLR
summer solstice
the sky gives way slowly
to the moon
-RS
wind sifted
through rock
through me
-JSB
full moon
the glassblower blows
smoke rings
-RS
starry night
the glow
of my body
-CLR
winter's end-
just the head
of a nail
-SM
thud!
the moon drops
a mango
-RS
horsescent-
I begin to understand
my father
-JSB
hot hose water-
the taste of plastic
and childhood
-SM
writer's block
the wind blows
my notepad shut
-RS
day moon-
I search for
the word
-JSB
thunder
she refolds
the paper frog
-SM
summer haze
dried beer foam
in my empty glass
-RS
settling my affairs-
a snake slips into
the underbrush
-JSB
autumn twilight-
one end of the seesaw
touches its shadow
-CLR
river stones
they remember the salmon
from the year before
migrating robins
I return a pebble
to the ocean
spring twilight
the stone
inside a stone
Hiroshima Day
I lean into the heat
of the stone wall
a stone bridge
my old name whispered
in the north wind
CLR
bits of leaves
in the rake's teeth
autumn sunset
JSB
vanishing point
a rock
in my shoe
RS
half moon
the first night
alone
SM
building
the fire
between us
The authors are grateful to the editors of the following journals in which some of the these poems first appeared.
Frogpond: The Journal of the Haiku Society of America (Jason Sanford Brown, Scott Metz, Rob Scott)
Acorn: a journal of contemporary haiku (Chad Lee Robinson, Jason Sanford Brown)
Paper Wasp: a Journal of Haiku (Scott Metz, Rob Scott)
NOON: journal of the short poem (Chad Lee Robinson)
Presence (Rob Scott)
Haiku Harvest: Journal of Haiku in English (Scott Metz)
The Heron's Nest (Chad Lee Robinson)
Hermitage: A Haiku Journal (Chad Lee Robinson, Rob Scott)
The Skipping Stones thank you for taking the time to read our poetry. We hope something has touched you in such a way that it draws you back for rereadings and future issues. Some haiku that were chosen by the guest editor have not been included presently because they are awaiting publication. Please visit us again for updates. We hope to bring you #2 sometime in autumn 2006. For friendly correspondence please contact us at:
theskippingstones [aaatttt] gmail[dot!]com