The Haiku Foundation Forums

Take a moment. Listen to Jim Kacian reading his own haiku. Then take a moment and record your voice reading a few of the poems that you have listed with the LHA.

Here's Jim Kacian:
https://livinghaikuanthology.com/readings/haiku-readings/2742-jim-kacian-reads-a-selection-of-his-haiku.html

Hey folks,

My latest haiku book is "the Poetry of God." It is a book of Bible poetry (passages), resonant haiku, prayer, and mini-sermons. It is now released and ready to go, finally. :)

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=4639686559389467&set=a.368729816485184

If anyone is interested in acquiring one (or more), please PM me here or on Facebook for orders.

Very sad news!

Don

Hey Poets!!! A Call For Submissions!

Visit this link to read about an anthology I am developing for digital publication -- to be archived at the Living Haiku Anthology!

https://www.facebook.com/DonBairdSr/media_set?set=a.1644425705582249.1073741843.100000445075562&type=3&uploaded=11

The following is the description of the project:

Faces and Places -- Huntington Gardens

A few years back I created a book of photos and haiku (haiga) titled, "Faces and Places." The photos are of Los Angeles (situations and nature); the haiku are from poets around the world. I matched haiku with photos to create inspired, surprising haiga through the pairings. Poets did not write for anyone photo specifically as I wanted some creative license to see where it all leads. The book can be found here:

http://www.calameo.com/books/001095372ef63fa75cb78

... and it is on permanent display at the Living Haiku Anthology.

Today, I'm making an open call to haiku/haiga poets from around the world to submit up to five haiku for this anthology. The photos here are actual examples of photos in the collection. Hopefully, they get you in the mood of gardens and nature and inspire you to write (blindly) for this book. Do not write for any specific photo here. Thank you.

Send you submission to mediacitypress@aol.com and put "Faces and Places" in the subject line. Include your names as you want it in print as well as the country you are from. Offer a statement of permission and release so that we have the right to publish your poem, if chosen.

Email me if you have any questions. Please, do not post haiku to these photos on Facebook -- they are not prompts in this venue.

Join in! Submit some haiku. Look over our last one, "Faces and Places," and see how beautiful it worked out.

Deadline for submitting is September 30.

Don

Hey poets!

Under the Basho 2017 is open for submissions! Please send in your best, unpublished work! We have several divisions of style -- something for nearly everyone!

http://www.underthebasho.com

Join in!

Peace and Blessings,

Don

Hey poets! We are within a day of our submission deadline for Under the Basho haiku journal. Send in your great haiku and let us take a look. Submissions are here:

http://www.underthebasho.com

Join in! Give it a try. From traditional to creative-edge, we look at it all.

blessings . . .

An Invitation!

The Living Haiku Anthology is presenting a haiku contest for you to enter your best work(s). The winners and honorable mentions will be archived at the LHA for future reading and study. Join us by clicking the following link:

http://livinghaikuanthology.com/submittolha/lha-contest.html

When you have a moment, click the link below and take a look at the most recent additions to Jim Kacian's portfolio at the Living Haiku Anthology. He has an unparalleled sense of nuance nurtured by his keen ability to notice and observe what's around him.

http://livinghaikuanthology.com/poet-portfolios/89-k-poets/jim-kacian.html

Enjoy!

Don

Introducing a new section of the LHA that is referenced, "Defining Haiku." This has become and incredibly interesting section of the LHA with offerings many fine haiku poets, both traditional and modern. Drop by and read, ponder, and enjoy. Each person has their own take. I find something in them all to learn from. They will widen your eyes or confirm that you are on a track that makes sense to you – through agreement or disagreement, we learn.

http://www.livinghaikuanthology.com/lha/defining-haiku.html

Thanks for joining in.

Peace,

Don

"But I think it's extremely healthy for people to go for extreme juxtaposition, just for a while, perhaps at least a few months, and then pull back just a little, so everything balances out.  It's a way of shaking not just the cobwebs out, but the near cause and effect process, the factoid even, that the Western version of the Japanese version of the Western technique of sketching from nature aka shasei (in Japan) can be, if we are not careful." Alan Summers

I agree with you, Alan. Stretching disjunction to the near absurd does help one hone personal skills of juxtaposition used in more connective haiku. It opens the mind to greater possibilities but one should be careful they don't end up writing simple nonsense while playing word games that, in the end, are not haiku and most likely not poetry.

Interesting subject.

An interesting thread.  8)

A couple of links below regarding two of my photoku books:

http://en.calameo.com/read/001095372ef63fa75cb78   (Faces and Places - Los Angeles)

http://en.calameo.com/read/0010953728bd16e6aab8e  (L.A. Thru A Lens)

peace and blessings,

Don

ps ... as a side note, headnotes for haiku were common -- especially by Basho. Readers wouldn't have a clue as to what he was talking about if he did not include some headnotes with his haiku. He travelled extensively to places most readers hadn't seen. We'd be lost today without them.

Dr. Richard Gilbert's and Grandmaster Don Baird's book "Ink Zero" is now available at Amazon.com. For info and ordering click here:

http://www.amazon.com/Ink-Zero-Don-Baird/dp/0578161397/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1435176533&sr=1-1&keywords=Ink+Zero+Don+Baird

***

For those of you in California, there will be a reading/signing coming up shortly to present the book. I will have copies there. For those of you around the country and globe, order from Amazon and let us know how you like it. We look forward to your readings and reactions! Enjoy!

From sumi-e ink paintings to a "Bamboo Slam," the book weaves the reader down an interesting path of haiku that often retain the DNA of an older era while at the same time, pushing the normative boundaries beyond a reader's wildest dream! While the book came together quickly (as a book form), it is the culmination of over a year's worth of combined efforts and work by Richard and Don -- including live performances of many of the haiku within its covers.

After a tremendous amount of hard work, creative passions, commiserating, and live readings, Richard and I have completed "Ink Zero," a book of a wide variety of haiku for the broad-palate reader. "Ink Zero" will show up in the data-bases of Barnes and Noble, Amazon etc. in the next few weeks. A reading will be scheduled soon -- so watch for the news!

While Dr. Richard Gilbert is one of the leading and most widely published haiku theorists/scholars/translators, "Ink Zero" is the first book to present his personal haiku as a collection. It has been quite a journey and treat to work with him in developing this book! We are both passionate, to say the least, and the creative fire between us is synergistic -- often profound. Our haiku weave in and out of each other, guiding the reader on a journey of the micro and macro of what is and what isn't --- and nudging "what-could-be." The final chapter is a kind of haiku slam where one haiku is presented and another placed as a response. Sometimes profound, occasionally humorous, and other times almost non-sensical the subtle linking of the poems is fresh, interesting ... and, frankly, fun!

This has been a very exciting adventure culminating from almost two years of development which includes several live performances -- Richard and I reading our haiku together, accompanied by music and a photo slide-show. Hopefully, Richard will be able to visit again soon (possibly early fall) in order for us to do an "Ink Zero" reading together. In the meantime, we are not hesitating to "get the book out there." We are excited about it and hope folks of all levels of haiku interest will enjoy it for years to come.

Peace and Blessings,

Don
to see the cover(s), click the following link to FB
https://www.facebook.com/GrandmasterBaird

Another Year! Under the Basho 2015!

We are now open for Haiku submissions to our organic haiku journal Under the Basho! Submissions opened as of March 1st, 2015 and the journal will be considered to be published on December 1st, 2015. Submit all year long!

For submission:

http://www.underthebasho.com/submissions/submission-guidelines.html

Please read the categories we offer and submit accordingly.

Join in. Bring us your best haiku!

Thank you!

Don
Editors of the journal are allowed to submit as well. Please send your submissions, of any category, directly to me. Thank you.

Bravo! Nice work, Lorin and team! Clean presentation as always. Excellent poetry as well.

Peace and Blessings,

Don