Ikebana

                                                                   

                                                                                                      jhhymas

This is Carol Steele. She has been President and Geppo editor 

of Yuki Teikei Haiku Society 

and helpful in more ways than we can count.

She also studies and practices Ikebana.

Here, she presides over one of our Spring Teahouse Haiku Readings

standing next to one of her arrangements.

fluting the pie-crust

Mother's hands-no my hands-

autumn approaches

the Buddha rests

in purple campanula-

light autumn rain

Carol Steele

Group Picture

                                                                                                   jhhymas

This is Garry Gay; he's a  professional photographer 

You can see some of his work at this link.

Above, he has us lining up for a group photo at Asilomar.

Migrating whales-- 

from the harpoon boat

taking pictures

Garry Gay

from The Long Way Home

Brooks Books © 1999 Garry Gay

What fish feel . . .

I wanted to spend all day photographing the koi in transparent green waters

at Hakone Gardens in Saratoga! What marvelous and lovely times 

our group has spent there!        jhhymas

What fish feel

birds feel, I don't know---

the year ending

Basho

The Essential Haiku; versions of Basho, Buson and Issa,

edited  by Robert Hass, ECCO, 1994, page 40

Tulips for Kiyoko

jhhymas

This was taken at Kiyoko's birthday party. I think she was 71, but it may have been her 70th.

Her only grandson, Jason, is on her lap, as he often was.

ten takashi ko taibo no onoko ete

Towering sky--

my daughter has the son

she long wished for

Kiyoko Tokutomi

from Kiyoko's Sky;

the haiku of Kiyoko Tokutomi,

trans. by Fay Aoyagi and Patricia Machmiller, 

Brooks Books, 2000, page 66.

Teruo Yamagata, a sad farewell

From Japan, the very, very sad news that Mr. Teruo Yamagata has died. 

He was involved with Yuki Teikei Haiku Society from our very beginnings 

when we were an offshoot of the Yukuharu Haiku Society in Japan to which he belonged.

He visited us whenever he traveled to California; we were thrilled

when he came to the celebrations for our Twenty-fifth Anniversary in 2000.

   

no sooner swept

than on the same street

scattered acorns

each new grain of rice

seems to stand with the others

in the straw bag

for children to play

a game of hide-and-seek

a field of haystacks

no more

western films

summer house

Christmas card

which should I choose

Mt. Fuji or Ukiyoe

looking taller

than a cathedral

bare trees

Teruo Yamagata

These haiku appeared in the 2014 Member's Anthology,

which was titled Scattered Acorns after his haiku.

a morning-glory

   

Emiko Miyashita has been a longtime friend of Yuki Teikei

 and has come all the way from Japan for many of our Haiku Retreats at Asilomar.

Here she is at one of them, in seaside light, sharing her expertise.

She has translated haiku into English, including fine books 

by Masajo Suzuki and Dr. Akito Arima

now available on Amazon.

a morning-glory

blue to its throat:

I refill my fountain pen

Emiko Miyashita

 from Simply Haiku: 

A Quarterly Journal of Japanese Short Form Poetry 

Vol. 3 No. 3, Autumn, 2005

Japanese Friendship Garden

                                                                                                                                         jhhymas

There goes Pat Shelley in her elegant raincoat! 

We were at the Japanese Friendship Garden in San Jose 

for one of the Yuki Teikei springtime Haiku Readings in the Tea House

in the Garden, quite a few years ago now. You can even see from here

the pretty color of her hair; she told me once that

the tint was a special recipe for her, made by her colorist

by adding "a capful of Red Fox" to a blonder shade.

JAPANESE FRIENDSHIP GARDEN

Cherry blossoms. Voices of people

lifted quietly into the air

Fins extended like wings or feet, the koi

walking on water

my sandaled feet on a path

deep in pebbles. The faraway sound

of a bamboo flute, one note
without a name. The ranger
offers us food for the koi

Near the Tea House
the cryptic
stepping stones.

Pat Shelley

from The Rice Papers, Saratoga Trunk, 1992, page 65.

Haiku Companions

This is Jean Hale. It would be hard to praise her enough for 

all the wonderful and cheerful help and support 

she has been to Yuki Teikei Haiku Society 

over many, many years. She served two long sessions 

as editor of our periodical GEPPO. 

I don't know how we would have managed 

many times to keep it coming out without her.

She did all this without wanting to show off

or make herself stand out in any way.

Her warm and gracious friendship

is treasured by all the members.
This picture was taken outside the Markham House
in San Jose's History Park after our meeting
there in February 2006.

Basho's friend, pupil and companion on some journeys, including the one to the far north, Oku no Hosomichi, was Sora (1648-1710.) His manuscript diary of the journey was rediscovered in 1943. Sora's record gives more details about that famous trip. Here are two of Sora's haiku which appear in Basho's account.

To and fro, to and fro,

Between the lines of barley,

The butterfly.
    

Sora

The stars on the pond;

Again the winter shower

Ruffles the water.
  

Sora

These translations appeared in

Simply Haiku: A Quarterly Journal of Japanese Short Form Poetry
Summer 2005, vol 3 no 2

Every time I look . . .

This shows one reason we love to come to Asilomar for our Haiku Retreats.                    jhhymas

It was Jerry Ball's idea, many years ago; it was a good one.

naki haha ya

umi miru tabi ni

miru tabi ni

my lost mother

every time I look at the sea

every time I look . . .

  

Issa

(1812)

  

The Art of Haiku, by Stephen Addiss, Shambala, 2012, page 221.

  

Issa is one of the great voices in classical Japanese haiku. 
His story is a sad one; his mother died when he was two years old.

Picnic Table

After the ginko at Hakone Gardens, June 6, 2006, 

we got together around the picnic table to share haiku. 

Closest is Ed Grossmith, and Linda Papanicolaou is in the center.

at the June wedding

the pianist is playing

only the white notes

Ed Grossmith

  

school bell--

teacher shuts the door

on spring

   

Linda Papanicoloau

Both these haiku are from this year's membership

anthology, Scattered Acorns.

The Bamboo Gate at Hakone

This is the bamboo gate at Hakone Gardens in Saratoga, California, 

the day we had our early summer ginko there on June 10, 2006.

It was a beautiful day, and we shared some fine haiku.

in the rapid flutter

of another language

the words "ham sandwich"

      

June Hopper Hymas

This is our list of summer kigo from that day, 

still in my computer files.:Summer Kigo  

(Hymas and Bendixen worked on these)

zinnia

yucca

June

early summer

short night

green bamboo

green plum

scented breeze

wild iris, Japanese iris

heat, hot, smoldering

summer sky

deep tree shade

waterfall

mosquito

summer butterfly

toad

weeding

sundress

leaf quivers (check)

near the garden gate

Japanese-American's greeting

"Haiku? Oh, that seven stuff"

   

June Hopper Hymas

Then this is what happened

Of course he is blurred; now he's on the move!

This great egret was in the garden when we had one of our annual spring readings

in the Teahouse in San Jose's Japanese Friendship Garden/

butterflies and birds

restlessly they rise up

a cloud of flowers

Basho

translated by Jane Reichhold

Pewter and Moonlight

jhhymas  

As the day moved towards evening during the YT Haiku Retreat at Asilomar in 2006, 

I fell in love all over again with the structures of pines against the sea.

The golden day

fades to pewter and moonlight

your messenger, 

Death, reminds me

I'm not necessarily right

Joan Zimmerman

in Scattered Acorns; 

the Yuki Teikei Membership Anthology 2014, page 55.

Yuki Teikei Members have also been studying tanka, 

the ancient Japanese poetic form of five lines. 

Joan Zimmerman has been a tireless proponent of this form.

Lavished with sunlight

                                                                                   jhhymas

Patricia Machmiller and Kiyoko Tokutomi giving instruction during a session at 

a YT Haiku Retreat at Asilomar. You can see the beauty of the light there

and the young Monterey Pines and other dune vegetation.

July---

the trees are lavished

with sunlight

Kiyoko Tokutomi

from Kiyoko's Sky

summer sea--mint-green

there's something in its sound of . . .

remoteness, of . . . calm

Patricia Machmiller

from Blush of Winter Moon

Blue Lupine with Ladybugs

                                                                                           jhhymas

April 19, 2009. A group of us are at Monterey Dunes to study and write together.

The sun is bright enough to leach some color from the lupines blooming on the dunes.

And there are ladybugs everywhere! It is wonderful!

this world of dew

is yes, a world of dew

and yet . . .

Issa Kobayashi

from Patricia Donegan's

Haiku Mind; 108 poems to

Cultivate Awareness &

Open Your Heart,

Shambala, 2008

page 21.

Tsukiji Fish Market

Trip to Japan, 2007. Kiyoko said we must see the great fish market

while we are here. So off we went; it was wonderful!
The Tsukiji Fish Market is on the Sumida River;
on this great river Basho lived and, beside it, planted his banana tree.

Jerry Ball has some Japanese, so he was able to speak to this couple

who gave is a such a great welcome. Smiles!

heat of afternoon

scrape of a workman's shovel

against the pavement

  

Jerry Ball

* * *

spring peace--

a mouse licking up

Sumida River

   

Issa

A School Visit

One event of our trip to Japan in 2007 was a visit to a school!

This is the class I went to, and that is me, June Hymas, in the center

wearing my green silk blouse and my pearls that I just got on a shopping trip.

These students were terrific, so lively and so polite!

You can tell from this picture how much fun I had with them.

"tired of children"

for those who say that

there are no flowers

Basho

Basho; the Complete Haiku

translated by Jane Reichhold, 

Kodansha USA, 2013, page 209.

Dressing up for The Renku Party

Longtime members Janis Lukstein and Patrick Gallagher in festive garb donned 

for the Renku Party held on the final evening of the YT Retreat at Asilomar in 2009.

We compose linked verse in a classic form every year.

  

flute music

from the temple

we cannot enter 

Patrick Gallagher

* * * * * *

. . .  every chill  . . .

brings deeper autumn

                empty nest

Janis Albright Lukstein

Reading her brother's letters

At the YT Asilomar Retreat in October, 2009, we had a special event celebrating

the publication of Autumn Loneliness, the volume of letters between Kiyoshi and Kiyoko 

(translated by Tei Matsushita Scott and Patricia Machmiller)

during the months he was in Japan for some experimental, and unsuccessful, 

treatments to restore his hearing. Many family members were able to attend.

This is Mitsuye Tokutomi Hoshino, elder sister of Kiyoshi Tokutomi, 

reading from that volume at Asilomar.

Up, up heavenward

riding its own melody

the unseen skylark

Kiyoshi Tokutomi

The sea darkens

Here is the various and beautiful sea at Asilomar during our YT Haiku Retreat in 2006.       jhh

the sea darkens —
the voices of the wild ducks

are faintly white

   

Basho

clattering cobbles —

on tide-wet sand, a feather

half black and half white

     

June Hopper Hymas

Matsuyama Castle

In 2007, a group of us went to Japan for haiku meetings there. 

We were treated especially well in Matsuyama

where the cherries were in bloom

at Matsuyama Castle.

avenue of cherries

shall we wait until they light

the paper lanterns?

June Hopper Hymas

Sketching Lesson

                             Several times at the YT Asilomar Haiku Retreat,                 jhhymas

Carolyn Fitz has given us lessons 

in sketching with the Pilot Parallel Pen. 

I think this was the first one. 

Look at how we are paying attention!

Since then, many of us delight in using this sketching tool.

Here, I  was trying the experiment of photographing a group using a fisheye lens;

I did manage to include a lot of dear friends, some of them now gone.

a real summer downpour

the writing brush never drying

for a thousand words

Buson

a hundred day summer training period

my mind is steady

my inkstone does not hesitate

Buson

Copying sutras in my summer retreat

I use my writing brushes

to count the days

Buson

The classic Japanese haiku poet Buson (1716-1783) 

was also renowned as a painter and calligrapher. 

Here are some of his haiku on that topic from 

Collected Haiku of Yosa Buson; 

translated by W. S. Merwin and Takako Lento, 

Copper Canyon Press, 2013.

Footprints

    On a day of haiku writing and sharing on the shores of the Monterey Bay; April  2010      jhhymas    

a gust of wind

whitens 

    the water birds   

Buson

the short night--

shallow footprints

on the beach at Yui

Buson

Translations by Robert Hass from 
The Essential Haiku, Ecco, 1994

A Bird Into Clouds

This gull was there during the 2007 YT Haiku Retreat at Asilomar!          jhhymasphoto

autumn sea--

the gull on his rock island

looks at me on mine

Roger Abe

Scattered Acorns; 

Yuki Teikei Membership Anthology 2014, page 9

  

*****

  

this autumn

why getting older is like

a bird into clouds

Basho

from Basho; the complete haiku,

Jane Reichhold

Kodansha, 2013, page 239

Margaret, or Maggie!

This is the redoubtable Maggie Chula in all her blonde glory.

Go to her website (below) and find out about the contributions 

she has made to the world of Japanese-form poetry in English.

Plus, she is a lot of fun!

wiping lipstick

from the rim of my tea cup

I gaze out at flocks

of Siberian cranes—

their bright red patches

Margaret Chula

from her website

margaretchula.com

Robert Hass and Garry Gay

This was the YT Retreat at Asilomar that had Robert Hass as the featured guest. He is shown signing a copy of his book The Essential Haiku for Garry Gay. Garry is well known in haiku circles, having been active in (or a founder and/or president of) Haiku Poets of Northern California, Haiku Society of America, American Haiku Archive (California State Library) and Haiku North America.

A light mist

we skip to the playground

my daughter and I

Garry Gay

from The Long Way Home

*****

Children imitating cormorants

are even more wonderful

than cormorants

  

Kobayashi Issa

translated by Robert Hass

The Essential Haiku, ECCO, 1994, page 155

Asilomar at Sunset

Often, at the YT Haiku Retreat, the sunset over Monterey Bay is spectacular! 

Several times, over the years, we have seen the Dining Hall empty as people rushed outside

to get a better view. This is my favorite of the sunset pictures I took there.

from out of nowhere

a tern falls into the sea--

beginning of autumn

Patricia J. Machmiller

  

from Blush of Winter Moon

That Benedict Smile!

This is Alex Benedict at the Yuki Teikei Haiku Retreat at Asilomar the year

James Hackett was the featured poet. Alex is a Past President of Yuki Teikei, 

and also an artist with recent exhibits at the Kala Art Institute and elsewhere.

today the sea 

as quiet as the wind 

among the grasses

Alex Benedict

(on Twitter)