Poet Profile

Carl Seguiban

Carl's native tongue is Chavacano, spoken by less than half a million people and dwindling. A trained architect, haiku appeals to his modernist leanings. 'Less is more', ‘Form follows function’- these dicta for modernism also guide his haiku. His poems have been published or are forthcoming in Modern Haiku, Frogpond, Bottle Rockets, A Hundred Gourds, Moongarlic, Presence, and Under the Basho, among others. He hopes to publish a haiku book in Chavacano before he or the language disappears.

Awards and Other Honors: First Prize & Third Prize, Betty Drevniok Award (2015); First Prize, Creatrix Haiku Prize (2015); First Prize, The 10th Pumpkin Festival Haiku (2014); First Prize, RL Poetry Award Haiku Section (2014); Honorable Mention, Wild Plum Haiku Contest (2015); Second Place, Revista (Senryu) (2015); Second Prize, Diogen Spring Haiku (2014); Third Prize, 19th Kusamakura International Haiku Competition (2014); Commendation, 10th Klostar Ivanic Haiku Competition (2014).

the weight of an ocean a whirr on fishing lines

surely the river dragging winter to the sea

on spiderweb dew beads where daybreak waits

Ulysses shooting morphemes to my brains

aurora borealis—
her grip
tightens

the river
changing its tune—
snowmelt

Credits: "the weight" - Under the Basho (2014); "on spiderweb dew" - Under the Basho (2014); "aurora borealis" - Moongarlic 2 (May 2014); "surely the river" - Moongarlic 2 (May 2014); "Ulysses" - A Handful of Stones (April 11, 2014); "the river" - Under the Basho (2014).