Guess who is pictured in Contemporary Haibun Online? That’s right, me. There’s a distinct danger that I might become a bit full of myself if I’m not careful. However, I will try to moderate my smugness and act in a professional manner. Here is the link.
For those of you who are reading this more than a month after I post it, you will need this link for the poem. The photograph will have gone at the end of the month and my crumbling pixels will have been dispersed in the cyber winds. This thought on the transitory nature of my minor triumph should serve to keep my ego in line.
Meanwhile, we had a Gatekeeper in the garden yesterday. I say garden, but I mean 10 x 20 feet of concrete slabs and weeds. It’s a miracle that anything grows, and an even bigger miracle that insects find it. I don’t think we’ve had a Gatekeeper in the garden before.
Today we had a Large White when I got home and, as I unlocked the front door, it was joined by a Red Admiral. It doesn’t mark an upturn in butterfly fortunes, as three butterflies in two days is not going to change the world, but at least it feels like our attempts at wildlife gardening are doing a little good.
Tonight I browsed Julia’s new cookery book (it’s crammed with low carb recipes) and worked out a menu for the week, before ordering groceries from ASDA. Looks like we will be eating more salad.
I am wearing a jumper with a kintsugi style repair. At least that is what Mrs Tootlepedal says. It may be that she just didn’t have wool of the right colour to hand. You were well worth featuring in my view.
Thank you.
The thing I like about the Japanese is that they formed a philosophy of mending instead of nurturing a vague suspicion that there was no wool of the right colour. 🙂
Here is my comment on the poems site: “Wonderfully Simon”
Thank you Derrick.
Is there a simple explanation of what a Haibun actually is?
A haibun is a mix of prose and haiku. A tanka prose is similar but with a tanka, and slightly different style. A haiku is a short poem, usually 3 lines, with a multiplicity of rules and pretension. A tanka is five lines and is much simpler.
Does that make sense? It’s a very short explanation of centuries of poetic history. 🙂
Congratulations on getting published again, Quercus, and on the butterfly visitors. I enjoyed both poems, both powerful in different ways.
Thank you. 🙂
We had more butterflies today, and a grasshopper – which is amazing for a patch of slabs in the middle of town.