Over the Monterey Bay

Does it still sometimes surprise you that the earth turns

and hides the sun, when it looks so much like the great ball of the sun

is sinking into the sea?

su no tori no kuchi aku hô ya kure no kane

toward the open mouth

of the nesting bird...

the sunset bell tolls

Issa

Translated by David Lanoue

on his splendid website:

haikuguy,com

Like Small Umbrellas

Above the surf-line at Asilomar, where the beach plants grow,

one of the special treats is the SAND VERBENA!

The sand verbena is a creeper on sandy beaches and dunes that dies back in winter and extends  itself in voluptuous abundance in the summer. The flowers grow in heads like small umbrellas. Latifolia, the yellow verbena, has a more succulent leaf than the pink beach verbena, umbellata. The leaves are shaped like tiny lily pads. 

Patricia J. Machmiller

yellow verbena

poking through the boardwalk

getaway weekend

D. Claire Gallagher

Claire Gallagher was a long-time member and support of the Yuki Teikei Haiku Society. Her loss was deeply sad for the members.

San Francisco Bay Area Nature Guide and Saijiki, Anne M. Homan, Patrick Gallagher and Patricia J. Machmiller, Yuki Teikei Haiku Society, 2010, page 50.

Sand, Sea and Fog

Look up, look down, look around, Asilomar!

Summer fog

somewhere the beach

somewhere me

  

Roger Abe

Summer fog

young women gossiping

about boyfriends

  

Jerry Ball

San Francisco Bay Area Nature Guide and Saijiki,

Anne M. Homan, Patrick Gallagher, Patricia J, Machmiller,

Yuki Teikei Haiku Society, 2010, page 33.

Sakura, and a wave

Minako Noma, haiku guardian extraordinaire, with Mr. Noma on their home turf

in Matsuyama when they took us to Matsuyama Castle during Cherry Blossom Time, 2007.

Matsuyama--

on split log benches

pale petaldrift

June Hopper Hymas

Gathering

This is another view of San Francisco Bay from the festive meal at the restaurant there

before one of the wonderful meetings of the Haiku Poets of Northern California.

They just had their annual Two Autumns Reading

and I am extremely sorry to have missed it this year.

mononofu no daikon nigaki hanashi kana

Samurai gathering

Their chat has the pungent taste

Of horse radish

Matsuo Basho

Matsuo Basho by Makoto Ueda,

Kodansha, 1970, 1982, page 63.

Incoming Waves

At Asilomar, there is the beach AND there is the rocky coast!

disturbed ocean

looming, the incoming waves

speak of whales beneath . . .

Patricia J. Machmiller

Blush of Winter Moon

Jacaranda Press, 2001

Bicycle Lane

I was impressed with the communication power of this graphic on our second visit to Japan. jhh

Viata la oras--

de cand nu am vazut

o stea cazotoare?

Life in the city--

when did I last see

a falling star?

Radu Patrichi

(Romania)

from William J. Higginson, 

Haiku World; AN INTERNATIONAL POETRY ALMANAC,

Kodansha America, 1996, page 187.

This wonderful haiku book by the late master of haiku

has an emphasis on poems illustrating 

the use of season words (kigo) in haiku.

Just a Hand . . .

More fun at a Renku Party, the traditional last evening of the YT Haiku Retreat at Asilomar.

I was going to crop this, but I have grown fond of the hand at the left, which reminds me

of Patricia Machmiller's gestures. Carol Steele is here again, with Billie Dee 

and Judith Schallberger, with her beautiful white hair behind them.

Outside, one of the distinctive streetlamps of Asilomar!

jhh

taniai ni kuruma suteari aki takashi

In a deep ravine

a car has been abandoned--

autumn sky so high

Kiyoko Tokutomi

translated by Fay Aoyagi and P. J. Machmiller

Kiyoko's Sky; Brooks Books, 2002, page 43.

Although this is not a verse from a renku,

it is a reminder that a good group poem should include

many types of subjects. An abandoned car

in a ravine is just the ticket! jhh