Wednesday updates - November 3

Penny Harter sends news that she has come through her surgery (for a hysterectomy) very well and is now home recuperating at her daughter's. She thanks everyone for their loving support and prayers during this challenging time. Pathology results indicate that she now is, and will continue to be, just fine.

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The Robert Spiess Memorial 2011 Haiku Awards

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Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival 2010
Haiku Invitational Winners

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A new issue of Sketchbook is online:

Sketchbook

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New poems have been posted on the Dead Mule School of Southern Literature web site:

Dead Mule School of Southern Literature

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And here is Dead Mule School of Southern Literature editor, Helen Losse, reading one of her poems:

Wednesday updates - October 27

Penny Harter sent the following message:

I am having a hysterectomy on Thursday morning, October 28th. Please send light and prayers for a successful surgery my way. When I'm able, from my daughter's house I'll let Curtis know how I'm doing after surgery. And if you want to be in touch, e-mail me and I'll get back to you via my netbook, while recuperating at my daughter's, after the first foggy couple of days there.

Love,
Penny

We love you too, Penny. The poetry community will inundate you with prayers and healing thoughts.

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Here's a message from Scott Metz:

Dear Roadrunner Reader,

Issue X:3 (October 2010) is now up:

http://www.roadrunnerjournal.net/

Featuring:

—The Scorpion Prize #21 by Tom Raworth

—ku

—"Peggy Willis Lyles: A Celebration"

—"Tada Chimako's Haiku" by Hiroaki Sato

&

—Tom Raworth: An Interview

Thanks for reading, and please do pass this email on to others.

Scott Metz

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Sasa Vazic sent this sad news about Slavko Sedlar:

It is with great regret that I inform you that the great Serbian poet, Slavko Sedlar, passed away.

http://www.thehaikufoundation.org/resources/poet-details/?IDclient=137
(7 July 1932-24 October 2010)

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Merrill Gonzales sent this sad news about H.F. (Tom) Noyes:

Dear Curtis,

vincent tripi called to let me know that he's been advised that H.F.(Tom) Noyes passed away last April. Tom was 92 and loved by many people...he surely loved life. He loved the country of Greece...and the happy accident that led him to live there.

vincent has 25 copies of Tom's last book: still here 110 pages, letterpress. and a stack of what vincent considers Tom's death poem: "Basho's death poem/ my grandson asks/ for mine"...letterpress. vincent can be reached at 413-772-2354.

Here's is a review of still here:

http://www.modernhaiku.org/bookreviews/noyes2002.html

Here are a few haiku by H. F. Noyes:

http://www.terebess.hu/english/usa/noyes.html

Wednesday updates -4/7/2010

I received this wonderful message from Angelee Deodhar:

Dear Curtis,

Here's wishing you,your dear family and the readers of Tobacco Road a very Happy Easter. May you have a wonderful day.

You will be happy to know that my husband,Shridhar, is much better now and able to walk with the help of a walker. He is also able to examine his patients.We are very grateful to all our friends worldwide who have been keeping him in their prayers.

With lots of love,
angelee

white Easter lilies
along the churchyard path
-fragrance of her hair

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Dave Russo sent this:

Haiku Holiday: Sat April 24

Don't miss Haiku Holiday, our biggest event of the year! I just posted the schedule. Details on our Web site.

Miscellany

We now have a Facebook Fan page for the NCHS. This will be a modest effort for a while, but for those of you on Facebook, become a fan!

I've just posted a gallery of the Haiku Canada 10th Anniversary Holographic Anthology from 1987.

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Pamela A. Babusci sent this:

Moonbathing:  a journal of women's tanka is now open for submissions for Issue two. Deadline May, 1, 2010

The second issue of Moonbathing will be a larger issue including more tanka poets from around the world. You can submit up to 10 tanka for consideration.

Some premier issues of Moonbathing are still available, please contact the editor for details at:  moongate44(at)gmail(dot)com or if you have any questions or concerns.

The premier issue of Moonbathing has already had two very favorable reviews in Blithe Spirit Journal from the UK and in Kokako Journal from NZ.

Thank you for supporting Moonbathing with your tanka, your encouraging words and your subscriptions/donations. They are greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Pamela A. Babusci, Editor of Moonbathing

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M. Kei sent this:

Catzilla! Cat Tanka open for submissions April 1 - June 30, 2010

A reminder to poets: Catzilla! an anthology of cat tanka is now open for submissions. Submissions will close on June 30. Guidelines can be found at: http://groups.google.com/group/Keibooks-Announce/browse_thread/thread/e517bf0ed149e34b

Please be sure and include 'Catzilla submission' on the subject line.

Reprints and originals may be submitted, as long as reprints are accompanied by prior publishing information. No simultaneous submissions.

~K~

M. Kei
Catzilla! Editor

--
M. Kei
Editor-in-chief
Take Five : Best Contemporary Tanka
P O Box 1118
Elkton, MD 21922-1118
take5tanka (at) gmail (dot) com

Also from M. Kei:

If you have been planning to buy a copy of Atlas Poetica : A Journal of Poetry of Place in Contemporary Tanka (AtlasPoetica.org), or my new novel Pirates of the Narrow Seas (NarrowSeas.blogspot.com), or one of my previous titles, such as Fire Pearls : Short Masterpieces of the Human Heart or Heron Sea, Short Poems of the Chesapeake Bay, April is the month to do it!

Lulu.com, home to Keibooks, is offering a special coupon for a discount of 10% off the cover price of one purchase. Visit http://stores.Lulu.com/Keibooks and at check out, enter the code 'SHOWERS'. You may use it once during the month of April for a single purchase. Discount applies to book cover price, and does not include the cost of shipping and handling. The coupon can only be used for a single purchase, but you can buy as many books or journals as you wish in that purchase.

Happy reading!

~K~

--
Keibooks
publisher of literature for discerning readers

P O Box 1118, Elkton, MD, 21922 USA
http://Lulu.com/Keibooks
Keibooks (at) gmail (dot) com

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Haiku Reality/stvarnost has a new web address:

http://haikureality.webs.com/

Friday updates

Great news! Carlos Colón is feeling better, back at work, and continuing to promote short poems via The Electronic Poetry Network. I received this from Carlos:

Howdy, folks. Just so, you'll know, I am feeling much better. Been back at work for a couple of weeks now. For those of you who don't know, I had fever for over a month, and the doctors could not figure out why, although they figured it was bacteria in my bad right lung. I also had a touch of pneumonia, and, of course, was really sick because the mystery illness caused me to miss HNA in Ottawa.

Continued good health to you, Carlos! So nice to hear that you're feeling better.

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Merrill Gonzales sent this:

TOM PAINTING: On September 26 Tom will be presenting to Parents and Students at a Writer's Retreat Center called Gell House, Naples, NY.

On October 11 Tom will be presenting photos of his trip to India last April where he met Angelee Deodhar at Rochester Area Haiku Group.

Tom is waiting to hear from the Virgilio Haiku Association regarding a teacher's workshop he would conduct on November 14th in Camden NJ.

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This just in from Deborah P Kolodji:

Naia has posted a nice write up (with photos) from our recent haiku reading and launch of the 2009 Southern California Haiku Study Group anthology, "shell gathering":

http://socalhaiku.blogspot.com/2009/09/2009-anthology-reading-shell-gathering.html

Order info for "shell gathering" and more information about the anthology (including the cover art, back cover blurbs, table of contents, introduction & editor's note) can be found here:

http://www.naia01.com/shellgathering

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Saša Važić sent this:

SUBMISSION CALL: 3LIGHTS GALLERY

3YEARS/3LIGHTS: An Anniversary Celebration

To celebrate three years of 3lights in January 2010 we are hosting a bumper edition of our popular open-submission exhibitions. 3years/3lights will present the best in haiku, senryu, tanka and kyoka being written in English today.

We invite you to send up to ten unpublished haiku/senryu/tanka/kyoka on any theme in the body of an email, along with a brief biography, to threelightsgallery [at] yahoo [dot] co [dot] uk.

The deadline for submissions is December 15th 2009. The exhibition will open on January 15th 2010.

For further submission details, and for submission guidelines, please visit http://www.threelightsgallery.com/submissions.html.


Best wishes,
Liam Wilkinson
Editor, 3lights gallery

Sad news - D. Claire Gallagher

Deborah P Kolodji notified me of this very sad news:

"I don't know if you heard that haiku poet D. Claire Gallagher passed away yesterday afternoon."

Here are a few poems from this remarkable lady and poet:

blowing out
one birthday candle:
the whole family

Second Place 1998 Gerald Brady Memorial Award Collection

Mars watch
the seeded star
of a cross-cut apple

The Heron's Nest - Volume VI, Number 1: January 2004

A-bomb day—
I fill my mesh bag
with onions

Modern Haiku - Volume 36.2, Summer 2005

autumn breakers
the laughter of old friends
with new hips

The Virgil Hutton Haiku Memorial Award Chapbook Contest Winner 2001 – 2002

Please join me in extending our sincere condolences to the family and friends of D. Claire Gallagher.

[Photo by Carolyn Hall]

Pamela A. Babusci - update

This just in from Pamela A. Babusci:

I wish to thank all of my haiku poet friends for their prayers, healing thoughts & good karma for my neck surgery. Dr. Paul Maurer, neuro-surgeon, did not need to fuse my neck and the operation was a success. I believe all the prayers, healing thoughts, good karma and going to a Healing Mass gave me a miracle. Your kindness and love will not be forgotten.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Love & God Bless! Pamela A. Babusci

A message from Angelee Deodhar

Dear All,

Please forgive the common mail. I am writing from Chandigarh.

My husband, Dr. Deodhar, had an external fixation operation of the left knee on Tuesday, 16th June at Fortis Hospital Vasant Kunj, New Delhi. His operating surgeon was Dr. Rajgopal.

He received 5 bottles of blood and was kept in the Intensive Care Unit till last night when he was transferred to the room...Room 105. He is on intravenous antibiotics.

His left leg has now become straight, as there is no knee joint, and the bones of the leg have been fused together. The external fixators will remain in place for 3 months, at the end of which they will be removed.

It has been a very long, painful, tedious, and frustrating three and a half years since his first bilateral knee surgery. I am grateful to all of you for your kind messages of support and for your prayers, which have given us the strength to carry on.

Right now his brother, Vasu, is looking after him in the hospital. We hope we can bring him to Chandigarh in a week's time.

We know you are all with us in thought and prayer. I will keep you informed,

With loving prayers for you and your loved ones,

angelee

Pamela A. Babusci needs our prayers

Dear Poet Friends,

I am having cervical neck fusion surgery next Tues. June 16th, due to herniations, stenosis and spinal cord compression. I welcome any prayers, healing thoughts and good karma for my surgery and speedy recovery.

Thank you so much!

With A Thankful Heart,

Pamela A. Babusci

Sad news - Paul O. Williams

I have some very sad news for you today. Paul O. Williams passed away on Tuesday, June 2nd. Please keep the Williams family in your thoughts and prayers. All I know at this time is that he had an aortic dissection.

I had the pleasure of meeting Paul at Haiku North America 2007 in Winston-Salem. We composed a rengay during a workshop conducted by Garry Gay. I had never written in the form and was a little nervous. I mentioned my apprehension to Paul MacNeil who said, "You've got Paul as a partner; you're in good hands." He was right.

Paul O. Williams put my mind at ease and, before the workshop was over, we penned our rengay. I offer it here as a tribute to my partner and friend.


Untitled

by: Curtis Dunlap & Paul O. Williams

(Composed on August 18, 2007 at Haiku North America 2007 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.)

river sand sifting
under our feet—
summer begins

election day soon
his district not at all sure

the days grow shorter—
sunlight undulating
under the bridge

deadheading day lilies
each morning
new ones bloom

from hand-to-hand sharing
an ice cream cone

new generation
of fruit flies
in the compost heap


Paul and I corresponded two or three times a month. He was a frequent visitor to Tobacco Road, occasionally offering suggestions. Paul is the reason that you now see a picture of the poet along with Haiku - Three Questions. He enjoyed seeing the people he was reading about.

We will miss you, Paul.

A message from Penny Harter

Penny Harter has asked me to post the following:

Thank you all so much for your loving support during these months following my loss. From your phone calls, e-mails, and condolence cards, to haiku honoring Bill on various web sites, and the special tributes and poems in the journals--you have been so generous, and your caring has meant much to me. I know he would feel both honored and moved (and perhaps he does). I'm doing reasonably well, considering that it's the holiday season. This past Wednesday would have been Bill's 70th birthday, and he had hoped to really celebrate that day. I ate a simple meal at home, raising a glass of white wine in his honor.

I'll be spending Christmas with my family, then madly packing boxes as I prepare to move during the third week in January to a small condo in Mays Landing, NJ, (a little ways inland from Atlantic City), where I'll be only about fifteen minutes from my daughter and her husband--love those grandkids (Courtney aged 8 and Conor, 5)! Bill's daughter Beth, her husband, and their two boys (ages 15 and 20) live in north-central Pennsylvania but have other family near Philadelphia, so I'll hope to see them fairly often as well. There is an active poetry community down in South Jersey, many of whom I already know, and I'll be near two colleges that are quite active culturally. I'll also be very near the Atlantic County Main Library. I can't yet tell you my new phone number or exact address; however, postal mail will be forwarded from my Summit P. O. box for a while. When I have my specific new contact information, I'll send it to Curtis for posting. Meanwhile, my e-mail will probably stay the same for some time: penhart@2hweb.net.

In closing, I'm pasting below an account of the first dream I had of Bill since his death. I wrote the introduction to the dream prior to sharing it at a reading I was invited to give at Overlook Hospital--for the palliative care community, the doctors and nurses who worked with us during Bill's weeks there, and the public. I was grateful for the opportunity to give back to them. I read from my new book of longer poems, The Night Marsh, a few poems I'd written since Bill's death, and a haibun Bill wrote eight days before he died (which will be in Frogpond). I closed that reading by sharing the dream--a pre-dawn gift to me that same morning--and my waking interpretation of it. May it bless you as it did me. I'm not sending Christmas cards this year, but this can kind of be one, perhaps from both Bill and me. I wish you all a very happy holiday season and a fine new year!

Love,
Penny

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Whatever our faith tradition, most of us believe in God, or some kind of caring deity, and in some kind of survival of the spirit. I believe there is something beyond! And there is Love. Toward dawn this morning, I was blessed with the following dream, the first I’ve had of Bill since his death. To close this reading, I want to share it with you:

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12/11/08: First Dream of Bill after his death

It is the Christmas season. I am sitting in the dark in the middle of a large church—it looks like Crescent Avenue Church where I used to sing in the choir—and it seems to be a Christmas concert. A choir is on risers on the steps to the chancel, and they and we, the congregation, are singing “Lo, How a Rose e’er Blooming.” Though I am in the midst of the congregation, I am not really aware of them visually. Yet we are all singing together. I look up at the choir and there, standing in the top row, is Bill, looking hale and hearty. Our eyes lock, and he smiles at me as I sing directly to him, and he to me, these particular words of the carol:

It came, a floweret bright,
amid the cold of winter,
when half spent was the night.

And I feel love flowing between us.

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Given that those words, in particular, were what personally passed between us, I woke up feeling that the message of the dream was that I should be like that rose, blooming amid the cold of this winter of loss, the middle of this night. And since the “night” was already half spent—that I was already beginning to bloom, and should continue to do so. I also felt that the message was that I should celebrate the Christmas season, rather than mourn.

And, perhaps, since the dream came on the eve of this night of my giving back to the Overlook Hospital community, the message affirmed that my reading this evening should especially be an opportunity for me to be that “floweret bright.” Although in the original lyrics the floweret refers to Jesus, in this dream I knew that those words were for and about me as well. So I will continue to celebrate life, to find joy in loving and giving of myself.

And may we all be reminded that both in sorrow and in joy, we should strive to celebrate the blessing of being here on this old planet, and the opportunity to share both the blessings and challenges of our lives with one another.

Penny Harter

Bill Higginson has died

Fellow Poets,

It is with a heavy heart that I make this blog post. Bill Higginson passed away today. I received the following email from Penny Harter a short while ago:

Dear Curtis,

Bill had been in the ICU since Monday early morning, and he was weakening some each day. And sadly, just after we were making plans today for Bill to go to hospice care within the hospital (his decision), his heart went crazy, suddenly beating up in the high 190s / 200s, he glazed over, his rapid labored breathing slowed dramatically to the last few breaths, and his heart beat on, slowing down, for about ten minutes until he died peacefully at 3:45 p.m. today. His daughter Beth and I were holding his hands and singing Amazing Grace to him.

He'd awakened early this morning saying he was "composed" and ready to stop fighting, then asked the nurses to call to tell Beth and me he wanted to speak to us. We came in early and though his voice was sometimes labored, we had an animated conversation much of the morning. He made it clear he wanted a straight DNR after all (no intubation, etc.), and then we talked about how he wanted to be remembered (memorial celebrations at Tenri in NYC and here in NJ in the spring), as well as personal things. And then I guess he was ready and just let go.

He knew we agreed with his decision, and though Beth and I cried, we affirmed that decision and said that though we'd miss him terribly, it was time. He'd been through enough. He will be cremated, and the only service anytime soon will be a family graveside ceremony in about two weeks or so. I have Beth with me and family coming tomorrow. I'll be going down to my daughter Nancy's for about a week to recover a bit from the strain of recent weeks, leaving on Tuesday or so. Then I'll start dealing with things here.

Bill and I both have been most grateful for all the cards and e-mails of support we've received over the past weeks. Bless you all! I won't be checking e-mail much while at my daughter's, but may do so once in a while. I'm not ready for engaging in much personal correspondence yet.

Love,
Penny


On a personal note, I'm honored to have met Bill at Haiku North America 2007. He and Penny have inspired and nurtured me through their poems and many books. (Practically every serious haiku poet has a copy of the The Haiku Handbook, right?) We have lost a friend and pioneer in English language haiku and Japanese poetic forms. Please join me in expressing our sincere condolences to Penny, family, and friends of William J. Higginson.

Due to this very sad news, the weekly Haiku - Three Questions post will be postponed until next week.

Bill and Penny need your prayers

Please keep Bill Higginson and Penny Harter in your thoughts and prayers. Bill has been hospitalized for two weeks, including having had minor surgery to get a sample of the quickly growing and inoperable tumor in the center of his chest. Today, the tumor was diagnosed as malignant but highly treatable. Since the mass has been pressing on the esophagus and, therefore, inhibiting Bill's ability to eat much, he has been getting adjunct nourishment, and will continue to do so until the tumor shrinks.

He will start chemo this Friday in the hospital, to be followed, after several chemo cycles to shrink the mass, with targeted radiation. His case was so difficult to diagnose that the hospital's tumor board, which includes several Sloan Kettering physicians, will discuss the case on Thursday. If all goes well, he may come home late next week and continue treatment on an outpatient basis. Here is Bill and Penny's address:

Penny Harter / William J. Higginson
P. O. Box 1402
Summit, NJ 07902

Penny's email address is penhart@2hweb.net

I know these two wonderful people would greatly appreciate your prayers, cards, and get well wishes.