Poet Profile

Cindy Zackowitz

Alaska poet and photographer Cindy Zackowitz kept a low profile but made a significant impact on the worldwide haiku community. Born in Fairbanks, she was a life-long Alaskan, and graduated from the University of Alaska with a BA in Journalism/Photography. Her interest in haiku began in 1997 and her special gift for that genre became immediately evident. Cindy was a long-time member of the Haiku Society of America, serving three terms as Regional Coordinator for the Alaska Region and co-founding the Alaska Haiku Society. She was one of the early members of the Shiki Internet Haiku Salon. Her haiku began appearing in leading haiku journals and have been specially featured on the temps libre/free times website [http://www.tempslibres.org/]. Many of her haiku received special honors and were selected for anthologies. She was also a highly-skilled photographer and spent most of her free time outdoors. Her photographs won several awards and have been highlighted on more than 50 national and international websites, and she was a frequent contributor to the Sierra Club’s ‘Daily Ray of Hope’ website. Some of her photographs and haiga may be viewed at http://www.flickr.com/photos/glaciergirl/page1/. Most of Cindy’s fellow haiku poets and her friends at Fotolog knew her only through her work, but almost all who talked with her through e-mail felt as though she lived next door. As tributes come from her fellow haiku poets, it is clear that her kind and uplifting nature were evident to all. It seems fitting that the following haiku was chosen by her family for her memorial service in Anchorage:

snowing again—
a stranger
calls me sunshine

Cindy Zackowitz
The Heron’s Nest XIV:3 (2012)

Awards and Other Honors: Cindy won many awards for her poetry and photography. Some of the haiku awards include several Editors' Choice Awards from The Heron’s Nest (issues II:5, 2000; III:2 and III:10, 2001; IV:12, 2002). She was awarded a Special Mention in the 2004 Heron’s Nest Valentine Awards (a Readers' Choice selection). Her haiku often placed well in the Shiki Internet Kukai, including a First Place in the March 3, 1999 kukai. A significant amount of her work was selected for prestigious anthologies, including A Loose Thread: Selected poems from 10 years of Acorn (Acorn Supplement #5, 2008); and many editions of the best-of-year Red Moon Anthology of English-Language Haiku, including Snow on the Water (Red Moon Press, 1998); A Glimpse of Red (Red Moon Press, 2000); The Loose Thread (Red Moon Press, 2001); Pegging the Wind (Red Moon Press, 2002); Tug of the Current (Red Moon Press, 2004); Inside the Mirror (Red Moon Press, 2005); and Dust of Summers (Red Moon Press, 2008).

through my earmuffs
the sound
of a spring bird

spawning salmon
even their bones
point upstream

first warm day—
torn caution tape
at the trailhead

autumn chill—
a butterfly swept up
with the leaves

folding the tripod—
the cloud I photographed
drifts apart

biting cold—
moonlight on the nail heads
of the old fence

unseasonable heat—
a woodpecker
in the lightning scar

deep winter—
a seal skin tacked
to my neighbor’s door

rest stop—
sparrows pick the insects
from a semi’s grill

fresh snow
the last of the milk
saved for morning tea

Credits: "through my earmuffs" - The Heron’s Nest VII:2 (2005); "first warm day" - The Heron’s Nest VII:3 (2005); Inside the Mirror: The Red Moon Anthology of English-Language Haiku (Red Moon Press, 2005); The Heron’s Nest IX:2 (2007); "folding the tripod" - The Heron’s Nest IV:6 (2002); "unseasonable heat" - The Heron’s Nest III:5 (2001); The Loose Thread: Red Moon Anthology of English-Language Haiku (Red Moon Press, 2001); Frogpond 26:1 (2003) (review); "rest stop" - The Heron’s Nest VIII:4 (2006); "spawning salmon" - Tundra 1 (July 1999); "autumn chill" - The Heron’s Nest V:12 (2003); Special Mention, The Heron’s Nest Valentine Awards (Readers' Choice, 2004); Tug of the Current: The Red Moon Anthology of English-Language Haiku (2004); "biting cold" - The Heron’s Nest IX:3 (2007); Dust of Summers: The Red Moon Anthology of English-Language Haiku (Red Moon Press, 2007); "deep winter" - The Heron's Nest XIII:3 (2011); "fresh snow" - Cricket Internet news list; Frogpond 23:2 (2000); A Glimpse of Red: The Red Moon Anthology of English-Language Haiku (2000); World Haiku Association Web site (October 2002).

Sources Biography: Cindy's family.