re:Virals 12
Welcome to re:Virals, The Haiku Foundation’s weekly poem commentary feature on some of the finest haiku ever written in English. This week’s poem was
lough sunlight
this desire to walk
on water
— Marion Clarke, Under the Basho
Carousel Summer Haiku Competition (First Prize, 2014)
This retelling of the miracle story in personal and poetic terms prompted Ellen Olinger to write:
Congratulations to Marion for her lovely poem. I remembered a Bible story: “And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea” (from the account in Matthew 14: 22-33 KJV). A favorite book by Madeleine L’Engle is Walking On Water (1980, Harold Shaw; Wheaton, IL). So while Marion’s poem is specific to place, it then moves to a reference that will carry personal meanings for many.
As this week’s winner, Ellen gets to choose next week’s poem, which you’ll find below. We invite you to write a commentary to it. It may be as long or short, academic or spontaneous, serious or silly, public or personal as you like. We will select out-takes from the best of these. And the very best will be reproduced in its entirety and take its place as part of the THF Archives. Best of all, the winning commentator gets to choose the next poem for commentary.
Anyone can participate. A new poem will appear each Friday morning. Simply put your commentary in the Contact box by the following Tuesday midnight (Eastern US Time Zone). Please use the subject header “re:Virals” so we know what we’re looking at. We look forward to seeing some of your favorite poems — and finding out why!
re:Virals 12:
pain fading the days back to wilderness
— Jim Kacian, Roadrunner VII:3 (2007)
Please consider making a donation to The Haiku Foundation during our Fundraising Drive, November 26 – December 6, and help the Foundation continue its important work. And visit our Gift Shop to get cool haiku gifts in return for making your donation. Thank you.
2015 Fundraiser Schedule
- November 26: In Memoriam, a tribute to haiku poets who have left the community in the past 2 years; the release of Raymond Roseliep: Man of Art who Loved the Rose, a biography of the pioneering haiku poet by Donna Bauerly.
- November 27: The Haiku Foundation’s Black Friday Gift Shop promo; re:Virals 11.
- November 28: Linda Papanicolaou gives a final accounting of Renku Sessions 3: “A Bowl of Cherries”; a new Old Pond Comics cartoon “Goose Neck”.
- November 29: THF Reports: “Our Frogpond Journey,” Francine Banwarth and Michele Root-Bernstein’s discussion of their editorship of Frogpond; THF Social Media Day highlights of our social outreach from the Foundation’s social media director Stella Pierides.
- November 30: THF Interviews: Gayle Bull; a new Book of the Week: small town by vincent tripi.
- December 1: THF Galleries: “Haiga of Stephen Addiss”; the new World of Haiku country for December: Australia.
- December 2: “Librarian’s Cache”, selections from the Foundation’s holdings by Digital Librarian Garry Eaton; results from the annual THF assessment survey.
- December 3: THF Readings: Tom Clausen; a challenging haiku crypto-quiz from Anita Krumins.
- December 4: THF Lectures: Zinovy Vayman on “Humor in Haiku”; re:Virals 12.
- December 5: “Touchstone Gardens” around the world, where winners of the Foundation’s prestigious Touchstone Awards have displayed their award stones; a new Old Pond Comics cartoon “Jamming Crabs”.
- December 6: THF Lectures: Ruth Yarrow entertains and instructs us in “Haiku with Feathers,” from Haiku North America 2015; a report on the Foundation’s Grant Proposal to the National Endowment for the Arts in 2015.
- December 7: The summary report from our THF Fundraiser 2015; a new Book of the Week: jazztronaut by Geert Verbecke.
