Haiku Laughter

This happy picture was taken at a Yuki Teikei Haiku

Retreat at Asilomar in the early 1990s.    jhhphoto

tell me

how to grow old

winter moon  

Ebba Story

from Ebba's reading at HPNC's Two Autumns in 2010

*****

a fish jumps

from it, into it...

evening stillness

Christopher Herold

A Path in the Garden, Christopher Herold,

Katsura Press, 2000, unpaginated.

Laurabell revisited and remembered

 Here she is at the Yuki Teikei Haiku Retreat at Asilomar

featuring Robert Hass (blue shirt)

many years ago. You can see how full of life and joy she is.

I am away from my archive and will need help identifying the man in the orange shirt

(is this her Bob?) and the year that Retreat was held.

photos by June Hopper Hymas

The Belle of Haiku

Here is the message from Carolyn Hall to let us know
of the passing of that wonderful bright haiku spirit and sprite,
Laurabell Hawbecker. Good night, dear friend. . . jhh

From: Carolyn Hall
Sent: Saturday, December 10, 2016 6:09 PM
To: Carolyn HALL
Subject: Laura Bell (Laurabell Hawbecker) 1925-2016

Dear HPNC members,

I just received this notice from Judyth Greenburgh, a friend of Laura Bell:

"Our dear friend Laura Bell peacefully passed away November 30, 2016 at home with her teddy bear and rabbit in her arms and her faithful friend Ruth by her side. She had wanted to be home where she didn’t have to wear any stupid hospital gowns and could go the same way she came into this world.

She will be missed by her family and all her friends. She can now freely tap dance on her houseboat with Bob playing the jug."

I am particularly sad to hear of her passing. Not only was Laurabell the spriteliest person I ever met, but she was my haiku mentor. Back in 1999 and the early 2000's she taught me all she knew about haiku, and introduced me to the Haiku Poets of Northern California . . . for which I am eternally grateful. She was an active, and adored, member of HPNC until approximately 2003 when she and Bob moved from their Sausalito houseboat to the desert in Inyokern CA (which was better suited to Bob's health). We've missed her ever since.

Laurabell was a senryu master, always able to make us laugh! But she wrote heartfelt haiku as well.

Here are a few of her poems from Mariposa:


between showers
hanging the clothes out
hanging the clothes out

#1 1999


greeting my sick friend
the apology
in her eyes

#1 1999


sun-baked desert
the breeze I waited for
hotter still

#4 2001


desert quiet
a click of the camera
moves the burro’s ears

#4 2001


fall sale
women’s skirts half off
at the mall

#5 2001

spring flood
the scrubbed face
of a river rock

#6 2002


darkening mountain
red in the warmth
of the setting sun

#8 2003


Last, but not least, here is a link to a film Judyth made 

of Laurabell. We are so fortunate to have this!

https://vimeo.com/29986041

Golden Waters, Memory

So many times I have visited the 

Japanese Friendship Garden

in San Jose with haiku friends.

This was taken on the most recent outing on a flying visit home.

Since this garden was established after World War II,

as a symbol of friendly relations with Japan

and the Japanese people.

I thought it would be a good image for today. jhh

over time

my own footprints

make a path

Hilary Tann

Upstate Dim Sum;

2016/B, page 5.

This is a link to a

wonderful and inexpensive haiku periodical

which is well worth subscribing to!

Or inquire: John Stevenson

P.O. Box 122, Nassau, NY, 12123.

Haiku Gathering a quarter century ago!

I must have forgotten to have them say "cheese!"

Left to right: Patricia J. Machmiller, 

Margaret Chula, James Hackett!

All of these people have written books that are worth looking up!

This is a candid moment from the haiku past.

I took it at Haiku North America 1993.

father-in-law
who taught me how to sail
now asks me the word
for the place
where horses sleep

Margaret Chula
Ash Moon Press Anthology, 2008

on the patio

the afternoon drifts along

with the butterfly

Patricia Machmiller

Haiku World; an international poetry almanac, 

William J. Higginson, Kodansha International, 1996, page 80.

An abandoned book . . .
skimming through its pages,
breezes from the sea.

James Hackett

http://shapingwords.blogspot.com/2012/01/haiku-of-james-hackett.html

NOTE: Thanks to Michael Dylan Welch for the corrected date of 1993, which was the
HNA that Mr. Hackett attended.  jhh

Kiyoko's Hands

There is a proper way to do everything, and it is important to do everything properly!

These are the hands of Kiyoko Tokutomi slicing green onions 

that will be part of the meal she is preparing for us at the Machmiller beach house 

when Mr. Masahisa Fukuda, the scholar and renku expert (His haiku name was Shinku!) 

visited during the Yuki Teikei Haiku Retreat at Asilomar. It was in 1998, I think.

Kiyoko also knew there was a proper way to write haiku; she continued to write

haiku in Japanese, although she lived in America for most of her adult life.

The haiku in the book below were originally written in Japanese and published in

a haiku journal there. They were translated by Patricia Machmiller and Fay Aoyagi;

the book was published shortly before she died, and she was able to read from it 

at the Yuki Teikei holiday party in late 2002.

Autumn in the air--

from morning on, pieces of cloud

tear off and scatter

In a deep ravine

a car has been abandoned--

autumn sky so high

Kiyoko Tokutomi

from Kiyoko's Sky,

Brooks Books, 2002,

pages 79 and 43.

Editor's Note: I have plans to keep

adding content to this blog.

Plans are just plans, but better

than nothing...

Remembering Jane Reichhold (1973-2016)

This is not a very sharp or well-composed picture that I took at a

Yuki Teikei Haiku Retreat at Asilomar in the early 1990s.

But it clearly shows the intensity and involvement with each other

of Jane and Werner Reichhold--when they were discussing

matters of art and aesthetics.

Since they were BOTH artists as well as writers,

they brought a great deal of background to their discussions.

At the Retreats, we never did get to know Werner that well, because he most often

preferred to walk on Asilomar Beach to attending every indoor session. . .

but we saw enough to know that he was a person serious about art!

And about literature!

We are all thankful to Jane for her service to the arts of haiku and tanka;

and we are deeply sad that she has gone from us.

Annual Reading in the Teahouse: Japanese Friendship Garden, San Jose

Featured Reader Elaine Whitman at the Yuki Teikei Annual Reading in the Teahouse!

Yes, that IS a soft pile of Hermes scarves! 

Photo by Clysta Seney.

Last Saturday, there was a series of haiku events, culminating in this reading.

Elaine was the final reader, and read an astonishing series of haiku

using the silk scarves as the art for a haiga-like pairing.

Her husband and long-time Yuki Teikei member, Neil Whitman held up

each scarf as she read the corresponding verse.

She is shown here delivering the final part of her reading

and before she folded up the scarves.

Hopefully, there will be another reading here

at the Japanese Friendship Garden next May.

It is always a wonderful event!

jhhymas

Our Haiku Walk at Filoli

On last Saturday, April 9, despite a predicted rainstorm, 

members of Yuki Teikei enjoyed a spring blossom

outing to the Filoli Gardens in Woodside, south of San Francisco.

Patricia Machmiller, still in the "halo" after her accident

(but hopefully for only a week or two more)

was able to come. Here she is in The Garden House, 

backed by the white tulips that are featured at this time of year.

This portrait was taken by Mimi Ahern.

Some of us spent some time writing and thinking about SPRINGTIME!

in the garden house, others walked about in the house and gardens.

This is the entrance to the Garden House. It was heated in the winter!

The Swan Table in the entry court 

sported a spectacular arrangement! 

White tulips in pots were everywhere!

 The weather was moist, but it wasn't

actually raining most of the time.

To me, it felt more like walking about inside cloud.

 White wistaria was in full bloom! There was pale purple, too.

The garden is carefully laid out 

with pleasing walkways and places to sit.

Before we began, we lunched together in Filoli's cafe, 

where the pre-prepared food was fresh and very tasty.

Afterwards we met there again to share haiku.

Some of our haiku will appear in Geppo 
with another account of this fine day,

which will also appear in the HSA Newsletter.

Here are two of mine:

people taking photos
of the people they came with
--fallen camellias

pale gray-white sky
it's like living
inside cloud

JHHymas, Filoli, 2016

A Full Afternoon of Remembrance

This is an infrared photograph I took of the Markham House,

a few years ago, before the new paint job 

covered the beautiful yellow.

The poet Edwin Markham lived in this house 

near downtown San Jose. Later, the house was moved 

to the History Park because of its historical value.

The San Jose Poetry Center and the Yuki Teikei Haiku Society

have an agreement with the San Jose Parks Department 

to hold scheduled poetry-related events 

and literary open houses for the public here.

In the upstairs bedrooms our volunteers maintain 

select libraries on American Poetry and on Haiku. 

YTHS holds several meetings a year at Markham House, 

sometimes to walk about the park and write haiku; 

sometimes for other topics. This afternoon 

we held a meeting in memory of our members 

who have passed away. Since YTHS has

now been in existence for more than forty years

many of the newer members were never acquainted with

the work of earlier members.

Before the meeting, Roger Abe and Clysta Seney 

(our haiku librarian) worked to list those members,

and locate examples of their poems in the library's holdings.

Each of thirteen members was introduced by one of us.

 

The presenter (and others present) also shared other memories

as appropriate. Roger had done Internet searches and brought

several obituaries. In preparation, I had my photos of most

of these members printed 8x10. These photos were held up

during the discussion of each person, 

and will now be kept in the Haiku Library.

All this preparation resulted in a truly memorable 

(and deeply moving) meeting.

We heard excellent haiku, some tanka and haibun, and got to

remember our dear friends. I might have taken better notes

(and copied down some haiku)

if I had thought I would be posting here about this meeting.

I was deeply moved by the fellowship and sharing,

and decided to post about this meeting on my drive home.

Here is a list of the people we remembered, together

with the name of the person who presented the remembrance. 

I am still wrapt in tender memories tonight.

Pat Shelley (1997)  ---June Hopper Hymas

Mary Hill  ---Ann Bendixen

Emile Waldteufel (2000) & Eugenie Walteufel ---Carolyn Fitz

Hank Dunlap (2005)  ---Alison Woolpert

Jerry Kilbride (2005)  ---Carol Steele

David Priebe  (2006)  ---Eleanor Carolan

Kay F. Anderson  (2007)   ---Ann Bendixen

Jim "Ouzel" Arnold   (2007)   ---Bill Peckham

Paul O. Williams   (2009)   ---Clysta Seney

D. Claire Gallagher   (2009)   ---Carolyn Fitz

Beth Stevenson Brewster   (2011)   ---Roger Abe

Tei Matsushita-Scott   (2013)   ---Carol Steele

John Schipper   ---Roger Abe

The entire afternoon was devoted to loving remembrance of the

haiku poets who are no longer here. I did not expect that this would be such a powerful and moving afternoon. Thank you, Roger and Clysta for all your work!!

Editor's note about this blog: Facebook keeps reminding me that  people (just not as many people) are still looking at the haiku memories that were posted here last year. So I have decided to continue making intermittent posts, like this one. JHH

End of Session One

We will end as we began, on January 11, 2006, 

with Dr. Akito Arima, on a visit

from Japan, writing haiku 

by the Golden Gate Bridge, only this time 

he is looking away from the bridge 

and toward the rest of the Marin Headlands.

This brings to an end my commitment 

to post every day in 2015

as a celebration of the 40th anniversary

of the Yuki Teikei Haiku Society.

It has been great fun!

I didn't manage every day, but. . .

284 posts, each with a photograph!

6112 views from many places in the world!

Lots and lots of lovely praise!

Possibilities for the future:

Just say goodbye. Sob. . .

Lest frequent, or irregular posts.

Posts on different topics, 

by different members, to help you improve your writing,

Posts by guest editors from Yuki Teikei Haiku Society.

Closer coordination with our

publication, GEPPO: perhaps 

reprinting the haiku chosen by menbers' votes

or challenge kigo haiku

or the selected haiku and remarks of our dojin.

I will be discussing these, and any other ideas

with the membership and officers.

Many thanks to Yukiko Tokutomi Northon for creating

an official Facebook page for

Yuki Teikei Haiku Society!

Thank you so much for you attention and praise! jhh

In a White Dress

Towards the end of her life, Kiyoko became tinier. Here she is in a white dress 

when she gave a reading at Fort Mason for the Haiku Poets of Northern California. 

The reflected light off the ocean through the windows of the old fort is often

very beautiful there. Her quiet decline was very sad to witness.

after surgery

Dreaming of sushi to eat

but my daughter says no--

winter sunshine

Kiyoko Tokutomi

Chemotherapy

in a comfortable chair

two hours of winter

Kiyoko Tokutomi

Kiyoko's Sky; The Haiku of Kiyoko Tokutomi,

Brooks Books, 2002.

Kiyoko's Calligraphy

 These photographs are from 

the Japanese festival at Hakone Gardens.

Kiyoko was asked to demonstrate calligraphy. 

Hakone gardens—

a clump of hydrangea

bursts across a fence

wisteria pods

float, a koi tries one

and rejects it

June Hopper Hymas

Kiyoko's Birthday

This photo of Kiyoko with her grandson, Jason, was taken

(as I recall) at the celebration for her 70th birthday,

held at her home in Ben Lomond.

Some of the flowers were gifts for the occasion.

Jason's sisters, Alyssa and Nicholette were also in attendance.

It was a lovely celebration.

Kiyoko wrote wonderful haiku about children;

here are two of my favorites.  jhh

A child does not know

of life's melancholy

the loquat blossom

Kiyoko Tokutomi

In summer clothing

children have such beautiful

arms and legs

Kiyoko Tokutomi

Today, a memorial luncheon is being held for friends and family.

The Haiku Web

These webs are from my own meadow in Michigan. 

Some summer days when there is a morning mist,

one can see just how busy the spiders have been. jhh

edge of moon

a spider weaving

dewdrops

a star breathes

another, the slow swell

of a snail's world

night sky . . 

in the darkest corner

a star exhales

Paresh Tiwari

An Inch of Sky;

haiku and haibun,

20 Notebooks Press, page 56.

(Available from Amazon)

I first met Dr. Angelee Deodhar at the 

haiku conference some of our group attended

in 1997. She has written the foreword to this book

and recommended it to me.

I have rarely found a haiku book

that so impressed me. The standard of work

here is very high. I haven't been able to read

the haibun yet, but I am expecting them 

to be excellent also.

June Hopper Hymas

Reflections

Sometimes, during out visit to Japan in 1997, 

the reality of what we were seeing contrasted deeply

with the reading we had done of the times 

of the great haiku ports Buson and Basho.

Village with a thousand eaves

the sounds of the market

in the morning mist.

Buson    

The Essential Haiku; versions of Basho, 

Buson & Issa, edited by Robert Hass,

Ecco, page 123.

Pilgrimage

Somewhere on the Island of Shikoku (probably in Matsuyama) in 1997, I took this photo,

while on a trip with othe Yuki Teikei members and Kiyoko..

The white coats, walking staffs, sensible hats, footgear and trousers 

mark them as pilgrims.They are making the same sort of walking tour 

that Basho made, visiting holy sites in search of spiritual enlightenment. 

Basho might have noticed their walking shoes,

I seem to remember that he walked in straw sandals.

Not quite dark yet

and the stars shining

above the withered fields

Basho

translated by Robert Hass

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

edited by Robert Hass, Ecco, 1994, page 104.

Fanfare on Christmas Eve

Dark sea, winter sea. The view from the Cliff House in San Francisco 

on the day of Dr. Arima's visit which began this blog.   jhh

FANFARE ON CHRISTMAS EVE

ice coated
the dogwood tree twinkles
after a squirrel's leap

on starlit ice
the three-legged cat
skids home

the wonder
of old starlight
just reaching us

church bells--
the crackling passage
of expectant feet

from Star-Mapped

Geraldine Little        (1923-1997)

A Little Bouquet; 
selected works of Geraldine Clinton Little,  
Creative Arts Book Company, 2001, page 75.

Geraldine Little published works in many genres, 
including haiku. She was well known 
in haiku circles; at one point she was 
President of the Haiku Society of America.

Butterfly Wings

 At the 20015 YT Haiku Retreat, Carolyn Fitz led our art session

with a discussion and demonstration of sketching insects.

This would help us make better observations and might also

be used in making haiga (haiku and art in concert)

as many of us like to do.
I am always fascinated by the delicate way in which Carolyn
holds her drawing tool, as she moves it seems to float across the paper.

Wake! The sky is light!

let us to the road again . . .

Companion butterfly!

Basho

The haiku of Basho on the website

this haiku was borrowed from

are taken from a couple of older books

of his haiku, but the translator for

each haiku is not specified.

This version has a lot of punctuation,

which is not so commonly done now--

thus I suspect it is from the old

Peter Pauper book that introduced 

so many of us to haiku.

  

When I went to the Monarch Grove in nearby Pacific Grove, the butterflies

were flocking, but they were so high in the tall trees, that it was very hard to get a sense

of what they looked like. This one had ended his life's journey on the ground

with his wings neatly folded, He quietly posed 

for my clearest butterfly picture,

Last Days of the Year

The woman who taught us about haku came to the United States from Japan in 1954.

This is a picture of her students at the train station in Saga City, Japan.

Her example, uncomplaining hard work, and uncompromising principle

served as examples to all who knew her.

Last days of the year;

no place left to scribble

in my datebook

Kiyoko Tokutomi