Per Diem January 2013
Hi, All:
Per Diem begins the new year with an appreciation of the under-appreciated: bugs. Bugs have a long and storied history in haiku, and this month’s editor Cherie Hunter Day, a biologist by training, shares some of haiku’s best attention pertaining to these often unnoticed fellow travelers. Here’s her take, titled Insects and Arachnids, the humble and splendid creatures that take us by surprise:
“Almost every young child is captivated by insects and spiders . . . those little dramas that go on around us. Then usually by the end of grade school most of us lose interest and these creatures are no longer our playmates.
borrowing my hut
from fleas and mosquitoes
I sleep (1814)Issa (1763-1827) translated by David G. Lanoue
“Issa never lost his fascination with insects. Out of the 10,000 haiku translations by David G. Lanoue uploaded to the Haiku of Kobayashi Issa website, 52 are about fleas. And like Issa the following poets have written about all sorts of insects and spiders. This Per Diem is a chance to rediscover: click of a deathwatch beetle, the taste of hive in the honey, and the architecture of a just spun web. We again visit with water striders, praying mantises, dragonflies, crickets, and maybe even a lowly flea.”
Let me take this opportunity to thank all our editors for 2012 for their outstanding offerings, and to invite you all to submit your ideas for Per Diem for 2014. We will be accepting 12 new guest editors, one for each month of next year, and will judge entries on the basis of their originality and appeal. Send your proposals to us here. We look forward to seeing the collection you’d like to share via Per Diem, our poem each day.
Without further delay, have a look at what Cherie has found. Enjoy!
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A death watch beetle
in the wooden gate-
the time measure
forgotten
in a cobweb
a fly still buzzing
hunting day-
in the cob-web
only a moth
appreciating
beads of sweat on my forehead
summer flies
flurry of fireflies
finally in hospice
his room with a view
Spiderman’s portrait-
all around a true spider weaves
another frame
monsoon breeze flowing
ladybug perching on a
Volkswagen Beetle
long abandoned home
now buzzing with life
hornets!
sudden buzzing-
a fly recalled to life
too early
guitars play…
while spider threads
quiver in a cool riffs
transforming to dust
the magnificent palace
humble termites
gold digger wasp
feeds on solidago…
a golden opportunity
sudden downpour
I share a crawlspace
with some roaches
monsoon sun
illuminating the pond ripples
water bugs!
.
chrysalis …
what will be
will be
– The Heron’s Nest Volume XIV, Number 4: December, 2012.
– Lorin
sulphur moths flutter
white wings dust green shadows
April snow flakes
Digesting books
unbiased, all year long
silverfish
mourning cloak
flies to the edge of winter
battles for warmth
To Bart Messoten(1923-20120), Dutch haiku poet, in memoriam
face to face
twinned hummingbirds
above the clouds
All night concert
singing cicadas
glowing fireflies
first caligraphy-
here and there
snow clouds
New Year
sharing Mochi
with ants
Picnic
A butterfly pauses
on my bread
summer rain
light catches
the spider webs
childhood
catching the ants
and putting them outside
expertly climbing
so many feet on one twig
summer millipede
Strangely, this has connected with a number of people, and editors.
beads of sweat
I lose myself in
the copulation of flies
Alan Summers
Publications credits: Blithe Spirit (Vol 22 No. 3 2012); Sea Bandits ed. Aubrie Cox (2012); Does Fish-God Know (YTBN Free Press 2012); With Cherries on Top 31 Flavors from NaHaiWriMo (Press Here Sammamish, Washington 2012) ISBN 978-1-878798-34-3
So poignant to see a haiku from Cindy on Per Diem today, greatly missed by me, despite only knowing her a little from various haiku forums in the past.
a mosquito
caught in my hair—
scent of pine
— Cindy Zackowitz
Please read more of her wonderful work at THF Haiku Registry:
https://www.thehaikufoundation.org/poet-details/?IDclient=1003
.
moths
ignoring me
under the streetlight
mosquito
could you not hum
while you suck my blood?
summer night’s dream—
mosquitoes come humming
through the crack
Modern Haiku 43.2 (NH Summer) 2012
– Lorin
summer ginko
a seizure after the tick’s
pulled out
~
Happy New Year
sleeping
despite the fireworks
cocoon
2013
the rooster sounds
optimistic
transformation
turn inward to let go…
dragonfly
tiny mosquito
wont you stay, enjoy incense sticks
with me
HAPPY NEW YEAR