14th & 15th Haiku poetry showcase by Alan Summers at Cornell University USA

A month of haiku poems by Alan Summers at Cornell University, Mann Library, USA

Cornell University, Mann Library
Supporting learning and research in the life sciences, agriculture, human ecology and applied social sciences: http://haiku.mannlib.cornell.edu/category/author/alam-summers/

 

Brocken Inaglory : http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Refraction_of_Golden_Gate_Bridge_in_rain_droplets_1.jpg

drifting rain
my hundred autumn rooms
to be alone


Alan Summers
Publication Credit: Mainichi Shimbun (Japan, 2012) Selected by Isamu Hashimoto

Östersund, Sweden. Credit and copyright- Göran Strand

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

full snow moon
the slowness of shadows
caught in branches


Alan Summers
Publications credits: Ryōan-ji sequence (Presence #47 2012)

Snow Moon: http://www.universetoday.com/100283/astrophotos-the-full-snow-moon/

 

The full Moon as seen in Japan on Feb. 25, 2013. Credit and copyright- Masashi Ito

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ryōan-ji

these rocks
I too float among clouds
looking for something

white gravel
each day the monks
rake ripples in time

pure pebble sound
I only know what is
and that is enough

silhouettes of bamboo
at the edge of the garden
we swap stories*

our sharp mysteries
the percussion of sand
over rocks**

falling snow moon
the slowness of shadows
caught in branches


 

* after the classic scenes of Ryōan-ji in Yasujirō Ozu’s film Late Spring,1949
** after John Cage

 

Alan Summers
Publications credits: Presence #47 (2012)

 

 

n.b. The full snow moon haiku at Cornell University's showcase is an edited version to the one that appeared in the sequence.

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Alan Summers Honourable Mentions for haiku in the Best of Mainichi Shimbun, Japan

I didn't get round to submitting often to Mainichi Shimbun aka Mainichi Daily News in 2011 so it was a delightful surprise when I received two Honourable Mentions selected by the (Tokyo) Museum of Haiku Literature's Isamu Hashimoto:


April 30, 2011


rain clouds
conversations shift around
the train carriage

— Alan Summers (Bradford-on-Avon, England)


Isamu Hashimoto:
All the passengers must be afraid of a delay. The train continues to run along the steep precipices under the rain clouds.



May 28, 2011


netsuke...
the hare with amber eyes
jumps back in again

— Alan Summers (Bradford-on-Avon, England)


Isamu Hashimoto: 
Netsuke (small Japanese art sculptures) are attached to purses as stoppers. They are valuable and are often made of ivory or chased gold.