HAIKU BANDIT SOCIETY

winter carnival 2012

2012-01-30T05:56:00.004-06:00

spoiled leaves
in January's thaw-
Winter Carnival

the winter sparrows
have all gone silent-
sunlight's wayward creep

snow and weeds
all along the terrace-
how pale your eyes

empty stalks
gather close by the wall-
winter wind

empty stalks
shiver on the wind-
my errant heart

a cold wind
tugging at my sleeves-
daylight's retreat

behaviors

2012-01-17T20:08:00.001-06:00

I read a description of crow behavior today by a far flung friend of mine. Well, an acquaintance, maybe, though I wish she were a friend. Some of my interests and behavior may appear a little dodgy, in fact, as I tend to squawk without warning sometimes, often chasing after moon beams and lost causes, which can put some people off.

She was right about the crow's varying dialects, though - south of the Mississipi {at St. Paul, i.e.), I can detect a different inflection in their voice and language. And the city crows compared to the country ones, too. More raucous, though not what I would find entirely disagreeable.

In the day, family members and neighbors would complain about the crow's early rising habits, but I welcome anything that harmonizes so well with the trains in this town built from the rails, often on the cusp of dawn in the quiet solitude before a brazen world wakes from its slumber. Maybe their calls are a greeting, though more likely a warning, or perhaps they call to one another in an attempt to spur some confidence and strength to face another day. And I usually take heed when another loner bird speaks to me, which quite mysteriously happens from time to time - well, most times, I do.

once, the old crow
gave me a sign;
I should have listened

;;;

2012-01-16T20:31:00.002-06:00

the crow's calls
falling only on the dusk
a new year

no labels

2012-01-16T05:38:00.000-06:00

4 in the morning
walking a dog
she never notices
the 3 quarter moon

all their backs turned
no one can see
stealing cigarettes
from a child

so angry inside
deep in the gut
muttering under the breath
at a blank screen

no form
no function
two clocks ticking
out of sync

ink and sky

2012-01-14T16:19:00.000-06:00

an unlikely fragrance
art gum and printer ink
through sheer frost
bind a waning vision
of dark crows on winter sky

hour upon hour
a veil of simple snow
falling without reason
I feel an urgency
to risk everything I know

;;;

January 2012 Dottie Dot Awards

2012-01-11T23:41:00.000-06:00

Dottie, the mascot and editor-in-chief of the Haiku Bandit Society, has determined the three best Moon Viewing Party poems for the month of January, 2012.

Forthwith, here, in order of their appearance, are the recipients of this month's Dottie Dot Awards!

To view previous month's winners click here.

deep sea sky
the half moon boat
laden with fish

Rick Daddario

wolf moon…
the troops withdraw

Barbara A. Taylor

veiled full moon
I pretend to be
someone else

Adelaide

January 2012 Moon Viewing Party

2012-01-04T06:48:00.001-06:00

bald-faced
the crystal moon belies
flowers on the wind

****************************************************************************

You are cordially invited to our first moon viewing party of 2012!
The full moon rises Monday, January 9th, GMT.

To submit a poem (each submission remains the property of its author)
you may email us here: HAIKU BANDIT SOCIETY or post in comments.

Please include your pen name so we might accredit your poem properly. Happy moon gazing!

To see previous month's moon poems click here.

****************************************************************************

harvesting lies
a paper moon splits
open

stella pierides

deep sea sky
the half moon boat
laden with fish

Rick Daddario

Forsyth Park:
Spanish moss drapes
the limbless moon

Vida

waning crescent
she turns to his side
basking in the sun

alegria imperial

decades of war
the moon
stares back

pat nelson

wolf moon…
the troops withdraw

Barbara A. Taylor

blackbirds on the moon
the frustration
of wings

melissa allen

veiled full moon
I pretend to be
someone else

Adelaide

face to face
night drenched clouds
bright round moon

Donna Fleischer

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T11:05:00.002-06:00

speaking to tomorrow
the disciple, already there
winter wind

Happy New Year from Minnesota!

&

Straight, No Chaser

2011-12-24T23:18:00.000-06:00

a rhythm in every movement in time with the universe is there no god?

nueropathy in my fingers and toes

a bag of small stones at the dollar store i settle on goofy eyes and crooked teeth

huddling close with three small dogs

this love affair on again off again a closet full of hats

millions of sites on the internet can't find my keys

;;;;;

December 2011 Dottie Dot Awards

2011-12-12T09:43:00.000-06:00

Dottie, the mascot and editor-in-chief of the Haiku Bandit Society, has determined the three best Moon Viewing Party poems for the month of December, 2011.

Forthwith, here, in order of their appearance, are the recipients of this month's Dottie Dot Awards!

To view previous month's winners click here.

Medicine Buddha...
the moonlight steps
on colored sand

Vida

Orion, the hunter
Had better mind his head:
A rotten orange moon

Tito

words, tears
and sleet in the wind
this winter moon

Paul Conneally

December 2011 Moon Viewing Party

2011-12-05T06:14:00.001-06:00

brittle moonlight
self-immolations
drawn on a map

****************************************************************************

You are cordially invited to our eleventh moon viewing party of 2011!
The full moon rises Saturday, December 10th, GMT.

To submit a poem (each submission remains the property of its author)
you may email us here: HAIKU BANDIT SOCIETY or post in comments.

Please include your pen name so we might accredit your poem properly. Happy moon gazing!

To see previous month's moon poems click here.

****************************************************************************

lullaby
milk dripping
from the moon

melissa allen

surreal moon
you really are
where it’s at

pat nelson

a quarter on the sidewalk
a three quarter moon in the sky
one world

Rick Daddario

sifting
through your inconstancies
wafer moon

alegria imperial

Medicine Buddha...
the moonlight steps
on colored sand

Vida

drizzle, drizzle
where are you
shadowy moon?

barbara a. taylor

distant moon -
we give each other
the cold shoulder

sanjuktaa

Orion, the hunter
Had better mind his head:
A rotten orange moon

Taking a leaf
From the Book of Maples -
Autumn lunar eclipse

Tito

words, tears
and sleet in the wind
this winter moon

Paul Conneally

an ocean
a prairie, the frozen lake
thirteenth night

slow-is-fast

Bristlecone: a nouveau renku

2011-11-15T11:02:00.001-06:00

Bristlecone

bristlecone pines,
they straddle two dimensions
- mountain wind

... gendai

opening the stone,
a sapling sprung forth

... shasei

a red wheelbarrow
leans against the fence,
its tyre deflating

... cultural: literature

how many tassels has
a cardinal's galero?

... cultural: religion

la bella luna
shares a doorway
with the mourning dove

... cultural: music

planting daisies
how pale my hands!

... shasei

disturbed
beneath the wrack and mire,
turtles all the way down

... gendai

only Poseidon’s trident
was found washed ashore

... cultural: art

so auspicious!
her three-faced Buddha
recovered from the storm

... shasei

in the eyes of a stranger
an old lover's gaze

... shasei

at first I laugh
and then I cry
watching the city lights

... cultural: film

from the executive suite
tents in Zucotti

... cultural: politics

pigeons in pinstripes
scatting across
the canvas squares

... gendai

does it shine, also
on the Sea of Tranquility?

... cultural: music

a Psychic sign
in the palm reader's window
only half-lit

... cultural: religion

the station agent
fresh out of tickets to sell

... cultural: film

high up above
an Escher-like grid
of powerlines

... cultural: art

a radio voice
talks about the blue jay sky

... cultural: politics

crackle, crackle . . .
araucana eggs sizzle
away the day

... shasei

the scent of cilantro
from my old umbrella

... gendai

inside the volume
of Van Gogh's letters,
one pressed flower

... literature

we vow to meet again
for the next Draconids display

... shasei

willie, willie, sandra, vida, pat, sandra, willie, vida, p.a., pat, vida, pat, barbara, sandra, pat, willie, ashley, pat, barbara, vida, sandra, vida

Categories of Topics

(4x) - gendai
(6x) - shasei
(2x) - literature
(2x) - art
(2x) - religion
(2x) - music
(2x) - politics
(2x) - film

;;;

2011-11-14T06:51:00.001-06:00

waking up
in Kawamura's dream
a cold dawn

Self-Immolations In Tibet

2011-11-10T20:47:00.001-06:00

There will be no Moon Viewing Party this November
in light of the recent events in Tibet.

Please take notice.

10 November, 2011

Tibetan self-immolations spread to Kathmandu

4 November, 2011

Tibetan nun self-immolates in Kardze: continued resistance despite Chinese crackdown

3 November, 2011

Washington Post - "Chinese Repression . . ."

31 October, 2011

European Parliament resolution on Tibet . . .

From time to time
The clouds give rest
To the moon beholders

......Basho / trans. R.H. Blyth

The Fall Of Guge

2011-11-04T21:25:00.002-05:00

within view
of the sacred snow mountain
denied burial in the sky
prideful spring flowers
flung from the ramparts

::: :::

calling out the toads

2011-10-30T15:40:00.001-05:00

afraid of the dark,
afraid of the lightning -
calling out the toads

tonnis

21st Century Blues

2011-10-30T10:50:00.001-05:00

self-immolation -
unable to look away,
unable to speak
the match's flare
the fine whisp of smoke

as the clock tolls
morning and afternoon
stupid clouds
they rise from the east
shadows on the temple doors

with poison wings
they cover their mouths
above a city of urns
no rank or substance
in internet eyes

the sun sets
the sun rises
mute silence
preoccupied
with a strange light

slogans dripping
from all the banners
a crowd gathers
singing the songs
twenty-first century blues

2011-10-30T08:49:00.000-05:00

through autumn's dusk
the computer wanes and hums
one hundred crows

2011-10-28T22:52:00.000-05:00

Were their lives prearranged in some not so distant past? I don't fear it so; actually, I don't feel much of anything at all anymore.
Maybe their fate was sealed eons ago, to await the turn of some monolithic, cosmic wheel. Then again, what's the point of dawdling in such metaphysical claptrap?
I saw it the minute I first looked at her face, into those blue, crystalline eyes, so young and innocent in appearance, mirrored in the little boy's perfect features. But - something beyond its years - the clever deceit, an awful wisdom of knowing. It was then I was certain.

autumn crow
languidly inspecting
the old school ground

;;;

2011-10-27T20:59:00.004-05:00

the closest
I'll ever be
to sentimental
a room full of hats

;;;

2011-10-25T08:46:00.003-05:00

down a balmy lane
one cricket chirping
Indian Summer

from the east window
the crow's slow glide
clear autumn

first to view
the pallid sun
East Side

;;;

Tito on Mt. Ogura

2011-10-24T14:19:00.001-05:00

Jane Singer Photos

From the Japan Times:

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/fl20111022a1.html

". . . man's a force of nature . . . literally" - Melissa Allen

:::

2011-10-18T18:27:00.000-05:00

a veil of dew
obscures the east window
autumn dusk

truck farm

2011-10-16T09:35:00.002-05:00

boots on still

fallen between the rows -

the truck farm's glory

grateful to return

to most honorable dust

# 600

October 2011 Dottie Dot Awards

2011-10-15T03:42:00.002-05:00

Dottie, the mascot and editor-in-chief of the Haiku Bandit Society, has determined the three best Moon Viewing Party poems for the month of October, 2011.

Forthwith, here, in order of their appearance, are the recipients of this month's Dottie Dot Awards!

To view previous month's winners click here.

evening tryst…
who invited the man
in the moon

melissa allen

drunken lorikeets
falling about
the mango moon

Barbara A. Taylor

birthday moon
as on his first day
the naked truth

sprite

;;;

October 2011 Moon Viewing Party

2011-10-07T10:08:00.005-05:00

no tattoos,
nothing, really, to believe -
the next full moon

****************************************************************************

You are cordially invited to our ninth moon viewing party of 2011!
The full moon rises Wednesday, October 12th, GMT.

To submit a poem (each submission remains the property of its author)
you may email us here: HAIKU BANDIT SOCIETY or post in comments.

Please include your pen name so we might accredit your poem properly. Happy moon gazing!

To see previous month's moon poems click here.

****************************************************************************

witches moon--
someone in the next room
talking to cats

pat nelson

evening tryst…
who invited the man
in the moon

melissa allen

drunken lorikeets
falling about
the mango moon

Barbara A. Taylor

bright blood moon
fattened deer
fall

Angie Werren

a swirl of moon
in the glass...
weighing the possibilities

Sanjuktaa

A big gluey eye
stares down from the sky
and can't see

AltadenaHiker

we listen to the rain
and browse through pictures-
moon viewing party

Vida

birthday moon
as on his first day
the naked truth

sprite

dripping mist
it rises from the sea--
birth moon

Linda P.

although it's raining
I imagine your shining face
hidden moon

Tomislav

October moon
without a camera
I watch

Rick Daddario

farmer's almanac

2011-09-30T08:49:00.001-05:00

How swiftly it slips
away, the autumn sun
reflected, east
to west and back
again - another day
passing, these plaster walls
warm to the touch,
soon rendered cold,
insentient colors
fading brown to white

.;.

breaking glass

2011-09-20T12:39:00.000-05:00

Surveying this urban landscape, I never cease to be amazed at the amount of detrius we reap with each flailing attempt made to bring a touch of nature to this brick and block world. The land we've exposed and retaken from the creeping bituminous casts forth a history of the people who came before, their fragile lives molded in varying shades of glass revealed with each turn of a calloused hand. Dumped over decades, bottles, tumblers and empty flasks of liquor, their hope and promise gulped and then cast away, emerge shattered, regurgitated from coarse, shallow earth. Reluctantly polished by progress, they reappear to decorate my garden of dreams, only to belie an uncertain sheen.

autumn deepens
we gather the few
remaining seeds

paper fan

2011-09-18T21:43:00.000-05:00

.

paper flutters
in an oscillating fan
tentatively
I look out the window
at the slightest of sounds

.

2011-09-16T01:17:00.004-05:00

.

in a vortex stream
the monarch slipped away
Highway 61

;;;

.

2011-09-15T08:26:00.003-05:00

.

the first true frost
when were these apples
ever so sweet?

.

haiqua

2011-09-14T23:30:00.004-05:00

.

close to the ground
a crispness holds the air
the pungent fragrance
of green tomatoes

.

September 2011 Dottie Dot Awards

2011-09-14T21:40:00.001-05:00

Dottie, the mascot and editor-in-chief of the Haiku Bandit Society, has determined the three best Moon Viewing Party poems for the month of September, 2011.

Forthwith, here, in order of their appearance, are the recipients of this month's Dottie Dot Awards!

To view previous month's winners click here.

moonviewing
nobody shows up
but the moon

Pamela A. Babusci

under a waxing harvest moon
in a field of crickets
a man talking to himself

Tito

somehow
our shrinking shadows touch--
harvest moon

Alegria Imperial

.

Best Wishes

2011-09-13T21:36:00.006-05:00

A birthday wish to our dear Anthony.

May you have many happy returns, you dissident bastard!

.

September 2011 Moon Viewing Party

2011-09-08T07:28:00.047-05:00

breaking glass -
quietly mounting
the moonlit stair

****************************************************************************

You are cordially invited to our ninth moon viewing party of 2011!
The full moon rises Monday, September 12th, GMT.

To submit a poem (each submission remains the property of its author)
you may email us here: HAIKU BANDIT SOCIETY or post in comments.

Please include your pen name so we might accredit your poem properly. Happy moon gazing!

To see previous month's moon poems click here.

****************************************************************************

moonviewing
nobody shows up
but the moon

Pamela A. Babusci

another full moon
the same old
love affair

pat nelson

under a waxing harvest moon
in a field of crickets
a man talking to himself

Tito

harvest moon --
wishing for it to fall
butter side up

Melissa Allen

harvest moon
I knead the bread on
grandma’s board

Vida

this pumpkin
as full as that, harvest
moon

Angie Werren

resilient moon
beams of hope and strength
on two blue columns

Barbara A. Taylor

silver moon
through autumn leaves
wallpaper

rick daddario

US Open
auntie sam wants you…
powering Pisces moon

Barbara A. Taylor

match point
the distance between
this moon and that

sanjuktaa

The full moon sets
as the last warm sun rises
facing north
I follow this highway
a line in the earth
dividing the seasons

maikindazen

a correspondence
to the end of my days
with she, the one
whom with I'm quite smitten
O', this harvest moon

slow-is-fast

Full moon
Blowing past
In the gale

Brian Pike

somehow
our shrinking shadows touch--
harvest moon

Alegria Imperial

full September moon
shining into my room
love dreams

Adelaide B. Shaw

.

River Town

2011-08-27T18:19:00.010-05:00

.

I was raised by my Dad, a disciplined, sometimes brilliant type-A personality and silver-tongued ad man who nonetheless suffered occasional bouts of alcoholism. Consequently, what with household duties, school, and covering for my father, I hadn't much opportunity to be rebellious early on.

I remember when we moved to St. Paul, to my grandparent's home, after my father's failed attempt at a partnership in a small newspaper in Denver. My Dad finagled a newspaper delivery route for me - two, in fact - right in that old neighborhood of glorious mansions gone to seed.

The former "Gold Coast" of the city, it had been converted to cheap rooming houses for the derelict lower classes of the late '60's before urban renewal could drive those less fortunate to other decaying sections of town, or, to take to the road, often along the railways that had first made this city rich in its glory days.

It being the coldest month of the year, I was poorly equipped for a Minnesota winter, having arrived from the relatively mild climate of the mountains with just a kid's normal articles of clothing, but sorely lacking the protection of heavy thermal weaves or woolen threads. The first day on the job I went out before dawn, right behind one of the heaviest snows of the season, and an arctic jetstream had just blown in frigid air from somewhere near the North Pole. I remember it well -
it was 37 degrees below zero.

I kept that route for two years, contributing to the household, not giving it up until high school, sometime after I'd learned the art of incorrigibility from the other local urchins. Both my grandparents passed on in that time, while my father never worked again.

Someone once said St. Paul was a city of thieves, and others, the most boring town in America. Both those currents run deep, tributary to the Mississippi, and I suppose they always have, and always will.

harvest moon
halcyon days
in rivertown

.

Hard Times (redux)

2011-08-20T19:26:00.036-05:00

The grocery store's parking lot is only partially full, cars and trucks clustered nearest the entrance, mostly rusty older models, some on their last legs before a final journey to the scrapyard. They disgorge single mothers with scads of flustered children amidst the litter and detrius accumulated there, too daunting for an apathetic staff to keep up with. Heat shimmer rises from the pitted asphalt in waves, causing me to blink, making me slightly dizzy -
I begin to imagine myself as some sort of ominous bird soaring high above this scene, looking down on the checkerboard of white stripes and streetlamps, over the hot tar roofs, empty lots, the gas stations and rubble of defunct factories, land become idle, until the entire image takes on the orderliness of a handsewn quilt thrown across the somnolent form of a once great prairie, its amber grasses bent by breaths of wind that would sweep an entire continent clean.

hard times
crows worrying
roadkill

;;;

.

Golden Years

2011-08-18T17:50:00.001-05:00

.

“Cabin fever come to its fruition – almost lost my head to the Empress this morning – the sky is falling down as rain, the snow has melted, and the Mississippi is about to consume the town, if not the entire world.

References to ‘magic lanterns’, ‘floating worlds’ and ‘backwards tintypes’ are applaudable, in my skewed view. Yet, should we go out on a ‘celebratory note’? Nothing but gut to go on from here of late, mate."

golden years
loose change in a jar
on top of the 'fridge

.

Lottie Trude

2011-08-18T16:32:00.009-05:00

.

My Dad didn’t dowse water - clients for advertising in that Clay County weekly maybe - but that old lady from Texas who helped raise me might have. She made folk art from that clay, and carved faces from fallen apples that wrinkled and aged as they dried, so human, almost alive, and kept a black widow in a jar for us to recognize, explained what the katydids were, that sound they made . . .and she did wield a fly swatter very well ‘cross my backside when I was bad . . .

an aroma
of green walnuts
summer dusk

.

2011-08-18T11:17:00.007-05:00

closing time
this silence gives
the flower thief pause

.

August 2011 Dottie Dot Awards

2011-08-16T23:26:00.008-05:00

Dottie, the mascot and editor-in-chief of the Haiku Bandit Society, has determined the three best Moon Viewing Party poems for the month of August, 2011.

Forthwith, here, in order of their appearance, are the recipients of this month's Dottie Dot Awards!

To view previous month's winners click here.

moon rabbit
among the summer stars
my birth year tattoo

rick daddario

wet behind the ears still the moon tonight

sanjuktaa

sleepy in the morning
the moon-viewer
and the grass where he was

Vida

.

2011-08-15T16:27:00.008-05:00

Tibetan Monk Dies of Self-Immolation In Protest

.

2011-08-14T16:06:00.002-05:00

.

a different shadow
with each turn of the lantern
bon dance

.

August 2011 Moon Viewing Party

2011-08-09T10:06:00.036-05:00

moonglow
as through rings of straw
my cluttered life

****************************************************************************

You are cordially invited to our eighth moon viewing party of 2011!
The full moon rises Saturday, August 13th, GMT.

To submit a poem (each submission remains the property of its author)
you may email us here: HAIKU BANDIT SOCIETY or post in comments.

Please include your pen name so we might accredit your poem properly. Happy moon gazing!

To see previous month's moon poems click here.

****************************************************************************

the waxing moon-
a hole
in my underwear

Aditya

from the beginning --
the moon &
love note after love note

Patricia Nelson

my net cast
into murky waters
phishing the moon

he files his tax return
under a rock

for those golden years
loose change in a jar
on top of the 'fridge

a mounted pheasant
just about to call

basho's bastard / the truculent toad . . .

fog drifts over the moon over the boat

Melissa Allen

lanterns flicker
on the thirteenth night
tsukuba moon

slow-is-fast

moon rabbit
among the summer stars
my birth year tattoo

broken water moon
a kaleidoscope of white
butterflies

rick daddario

wet behind the ears still the moon tonight

sanjuktaa

policemen
their faces unflinching
as an asian girl cries
rain clouds swirl and rumble
around the cool summer moon

maikindazen

again moonrise
yet still searching
for the right words

Barbara A. Taylor

sleepy in the morning
the moon-viewer
and the grass where he was

Vida

.

2011-08-08T11:13:00.003-05:00

so daunting
this stream of consciousness -
forgotten to breathe

.

2011-08-01T13:47:00.003-05:00

.

daytime thunder
the flowers, close to death
then it rains

.

2011-07-31T21:59:00.001-05:00

waking up
during a summer night's storm
blossoms dripping
never having noticed
the flower thief's stealthy hand

.

The Buddha Surfs!

2011-07-30T20:52:00.001-05:00

click on Surfers For Compassion

.

2011-07-24T15:07:00.002-05:00

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-22/default-now-or-suffer-a-more-expensive-crisis-later-ron-paul.html

.

2011-07-22T17:33:00.007-05:00

2011-07-20T22:02:00.008-05:00

the dull glow
of this morning's heat
taller than the corn

.

2011-07-20T08:08:00.011-05:00

a sweat bee rises
above the morning moon
burdock's thistles

.

2011-07-17T16:42:00.003-05:00

a dozen crows
dally over the corn
heat indices

.

July 2011 Dottie Dot Awards

2011-07-16T16:27:00.000-05:00

Dottie, the mascot and editor-in-chief of the Haiku Bandit Society, has determined the three best Moon Viewing Party poems for the month of July, 2011.

Forthwith, here are the recipients of this month's Dottie Dot Awards!

To view previous month's winners click here.

muggy night
spitting watermelon seeds
at the full moon

pat nelson

cloud-smudged moon -
a breath
on the mirror

sanjuktaa

another day of rain
through the full moon
another night of rain

sprite

.

2011-07-15T16:59:00.007-05:00

A flash of orange light, and then the explosion.

"That was close." We'd both started when the lightning struck. "Did you see where it hit?"

"Naw, I can't see anything." K.C. just smiled, amused at how we'd jumped at the enormous sound of the lightning strike so close.

We drove on through the downpour. Litter floated in currents along the gutters, collecting in eddys over clogged storm drains. Water was streaming down the streaked facades of the late nineteenth century storefronts, many of them vacant, boarded over and posted by the city. The old bar on the corner stood with its door ajar. A passing glance in revealed a few haggard looking regulars seated on stools in the middle of the morning.

Minutes later we had left the confines of the city. Our vision was soon filled with row upon row of young cornstalks shining in the prairie rain.

a weathered barn
nestled in the windbreak
someplace to call home

.

July 2011 Moon Viewing Party

2011-07-11T07:57:00.015-05:00

****************************************************************************

You are cordially invited to our seventh moon viewing party of 2011!
The full moon rises Friday, July 15th, GMT.

To submit a poem (each submission remains the property of its author)
you may email us here: HAIKU BANDIT SOCIETY or post in comments.

Please include your pen name so we might accredit your poem properly. Happy moon gazing!

To see previous month's moon poems click here.

****************************************************************************

showing
my old dog the moon
he licks my face

Rhonda Poholke (c)

full moon
one plate missing
from the setting

Melissa Allen

muggy night
spitting watermelon seeds
at the full moon

pat nelson

journeying home
only the full moon
through skeletal trees

Barbara A. Taylor

cloud-smudged moon -
a breath
on the mirror

sanjuktaa

just another full moon
without a doubt
a pre-classical paratax-es

Ed Baker

so silent
is her beauty-
full moon

El Coyote

beyond the storm
the full moon's shining bright
she has to be

another day of rain
through the full moon
another night of rain

sprite

.

yotsumono

2011-07-09T00:17:00.006-05:00

No. 4

heat wave
reading a classic novel
that bores me

a little family
fashioned from clay

this is the last time
I’ll give in to your request
for fried eggs

she takes a drag
off my last Pall Mall

melissa, willie, melissa, willie

.

yotsumono

2011-07-07T08:38:00.002-05:00

No. 3

summer moon
coaxing from memory
the shape of her face

a Cubist painting
hanging crooked

only to discover
a stain
on his old school tie

the flame shared
between pieces of kindling

willie, melissa, willie, melissa

.

yotsumono

2011-07-05T10:42:00.007-05:00

No. 2

drifting clouds
all day drinking
from one tall glass

on a dare, naked,
into the lake

train whistles -
I can't reveal
my true motivation

the hobo's sign
etched in packed snow

melissa, willie, melissa, willie

.

2011-07-04T23:14:00.007-05:00

a single flower
blossoms
the stars come out

.

yotsumono

2011-07-03T10:26:00.009-05:00

No. 1

tendrils of ivy -
I think I'll paint
my mailbox blue

she moves the snake away
from the garden hose

an uninvited guest
is knocking
at the door

one last question
before the storm begins

willie, melissa, willie, melissa

Thanks to Melissa Allen

' The Yotsumono is a four verse sequence for two voices.'

.

2011-06-25T10:58:00.001-05:00

the longest day
having yet to be drunk
on this summer's wine

.

2011-06-17T17:30:00.002-05:00

Ivy's new tendrils-
I think I'll paint my mail box
blue

.

June 2011 Dottie Dot Awards

2011-06-17T13:59:00.011-05:00

Dottie, the mascot and editor-in-chief of the Haiku Bandit Society, has determined the three best Moon Viewing Party poems for the month of June, 2011.

Forthwith, here are the recipients of this month's Dottie Dot Awards!

To view previous month's winners click here.

moonlit
the silence
of fishermen

comrade harps

grandmother moon
I can’t help wishing
for a gold tooth like hers

Melissa Allen

the ball kicked
higher and higher -
muddy moon

sanjuktaa

.

June 2011 Moon Viewing Party

2011-06-11T15:10:00.025-05:00

.

squinting at the moon
through a piece of green glass
branches in the breeze

****************************************************************************

You are cordially invited to our sixth moon viewing party of 2011!
The full moon rises Wednesday, June 15th, GMT.

To submit a poem (each submission remains the property of its author)
you may email us here: HAIKU BANDIT SOCIETY or post in comments.

Please include your pen name so we might accredit your poem properly. Happy moon gazing!

To see previous month's moon poems click here.

****************************************************************************

moonlit
the silence
of fishermen

a waitress leans
and eyes rise
to the passage of the moon

comrade harps

as the lights go out
umbra complete…
where am I?

Barbara A. Taylor

an albino rat
runs the rafter
- full moon

El Coyote

jade rabbit
smelting copper ore -
lunar eclipse

maikindazen

grandmother moon
I can’t help wishing
for a gold tooth like hers

Melissa Allen

the ball kicked
higher and higher -
muddy moon

sanjuktaa

the space
a tulip holds
full moon

John Merryfield

.

2011-06-08T23:54:00.000-05:00

.

100 degree heat
country-western music
from the asian bar

.

2011-05-30T09:36:00.008-05:00

.

carried off
on a late spring gust -
black poppies

.

Cities of Green Leaves Ginko No Kukai

2011-05-29T02:35:00.016-05:00

.

while sparrow's dance,
their wings flash on new leaves -
Aoba Festival

Here are the results for the Cities of Green Leaves Ginko No Kukai

A good turnout was had, and votes were well dispersed across the board. I'm not certain of the amount we raised for tsunami relief, although many pledged to contribute funds or their own personal time. Here are those charitable sites again:

Architecture for Humanity

Japanese Red Cross Society

Ngo Jen Official Website

Salvation Army in Japan

Thanks to our many friends in the global haijin community for sharing your poetry with us and helping to make this event a success.

9 points:

Under this bridge
weeds grow from the walls
an old flame

Paul Conneally / England

Spring’s beginning
a violet
the first to know

Lorin Ford / Australia

8 points

kite weather
the wind’s new music
on strings of light

Lorin Ford / Australia

6 points

After the tsunami
a dog comes home
from the sea

Rhonda Poholke / Australia

wide blue sky-
a lone swift traces
the curve of a cloud

Diana Webb / England

visiting each inlet
a monk’s sutra to the sea- -
bird’s return to north

Eiko Yachimoto / Japan

5 points

Suburban ginko
on every mailbox
a tree-cutting brochure

Tzetzka Ilieva

No more leaves
reflected in this pond
the moon

Rhonda Poholke / Australia

green river –
a sparrow flits
from leaf to leaf

Diana Webb / England

4 points

The sacred camphor tree –
The stream glares in the evening sun
Time and place all blur

Masako Fujie / Japan

the spring thaw
awakens primroses
valley dawn

Hidenori Hiruta / Japan

Spring evening
the moon
is my Yoko Ono

John Merryfield / USA

Writing the word
“haiku”
on a haricot bean

Tito / Japan

a breeze -
on the water
sky appearing . . .
under purple irises

Keiko Yurugi / Japan

3 points

spring walk –
four, five, six patches
on my dog’s back

Valeria Simonova-Cecon / Italy

Out of muddy water
iris in thick profusion –
see, the kami smiles!

John Dougill / Japan

Call it an iris or flag,
Elegance blooming
By the pond of singing frogs

Kyoko Norma Nozaki / Japan

Morning sunlight –
the first new leaves ;
on the pollarded Plane

Diana Webb / England

2 points

Thousand prayers drift down
Kashima grows stronger—
each sakura petal

Yousei Hime / USA

Imitating frog croaks
soon, they imitate me:
Green Festival Eve

Mari Kawaguchi / Japan

four bright planets
pulsing in the eastern sky . . .
solo ginko

Barbara A. Taylor / Australia

The rise of full moon –
the May darkness
of my mulberry tree

Eiko Yachimoto / Japan

Portable shrine
beneath a verdurous tree –
the roof decorated
with copper flying swallows

Keiko Yurugi / Japan

1 point

At Ota Shrine
iris bow their pretty heads
while frogs croak prayers

John Dougill / Japan

Rosanjin’s hometown
new green upon the mountains
celadon color

Sharnice Eaton / Japan

seasonal mood swings –
young tea-leaves
in Fukushima

Lorin Ford / Australia

Like a stranger to life :: who will not be renewed :: my green shall be split in two

Grant Hackett / USA

catfish ripples –
one turtle plunges,
one endures

Yousei Hime / USA

Peering through new maple,
sunlight falls on purple flags;
their green blades shake

Michael Lambe / Japan

old ginko tree-
tiny new leaves
a mountain welcome

shanna / USA

In Ota Shrine’s brooklet
tago-frogs welcoming visitors;
“comf, comf, comf!”

Hisashi Miyazaki / Japan

from my land
I walk with you
Japan

Rhonda Poholke / Australia

A single teacup -
winter’s icy breath
through skeletal trees

Barbara A. Taylor / Australia

.

2011-05-27T09:11:00.009-05:00

.

secret poetry
in the hidden garden;
i am the voyeur
peering over the walls
that surround your heart

.

2011-05-23T08:01:00.001-05:00

.

the fool gone techie,
they say "confusing the computer" -
now they're taking sides

.

2011-05-22T11:29:00.004-05:00

.

green wind
from out of the east-
the patterns of clouds

.

Cities of Green Leaves Ginko no Kukai

2011-05-20T07:11:00.012-05:00

.

a bounty gathered
in the grocery sack
new green leaves

Tonight is our deadline for submissions to Cities of Green Leaves Ginko no Kukai. You may send your poems HERE, and then expect a return mailing of the page of all participants numbered and anonymous offers to vote on.
Choose your three favorites: 3 points for first, 2 for second, and 1 for third. We'll post the results when we have received all your responses.
In addition, I'll attempt to post a reader's poll of the verse's to vote on. Good luck!
Thank you for your kind-hearted consideration for your contributions to our charitable sites in aid of the people of the Tohoku region of Japan. I've posted the list again below.

Charitable Donations

Architecture for Humanity

Japanese Red Cross Society

Ngo Jen Official Website

Salvation Army in Japan

.

Cities of Green Leaves Ginko no Kukai

2011-05-16T22:47:00.006-05:00

.

new green leaves
imbued with warm light-
swarms of no-see-'ums

Click HERE to enter your haiku in our contest. Submissions deadline is Friday, May 20th.

.

Cities of Green Leaves Ginko no Kukai

2011-05-16T09:19:00.009-05:00

.

a cabbage white
beckons the cross-eyed dog;
blossoming plum

Click HERE to enter your haiku in our contest. Submissions deadline is Friday, May 20th.

.

Cities of Green Leaves Ginko no Kukai

2011-05-15T11:45:00.003-05:00

.

As a blogger inspired initiative to honor
the spirit and sacrifices of the people
in Japan's stricken Tohoku region,
we welcome you to

Cities of Green Leaves Ginko-no-Kukai May 14 and 15, 2011

We encourage everyone to join us in collaborating with like-minded poets and bloggers in combining your skills and talents, enter your haiku in a peer judged contest, and take the opportunity to offer aid and support to our friends in Japan in a consensus of thought, well wishes and kinetic energies to occur simultaneously around the globe.

It's no surprise the kukai's topic will take its cue from Sendai, Japan's annual Aoba Matsuri Festival, an event held originally to honor the city's founder, Date Masamune. The date has now become an annual celebration with thousands of visitors, a parade, sparrow dance, taiko drums and tree lined streets as part of the festival each year to rejoice in the arrival of spring's new greenery and rebirth.

Choose any place in your vicinity to hold your ginko walk, as long as it holds the attributes to inspire many to compassionate action in the beauty of poetry, and the celebration of the renewing power of nature's seasons.

Click here to send and submit your poems. Submissions deadline will be Friday, May 20th, 2011.

Send up to three haiku - your submissions will remain anonymous until we post the winner's results. Participants will be be able to vote on their favorites on this site when posted.

We encourage all participants to contribute to charitable relief for the residents of the Tohoku region of Japan. We've listed some organizations below.

Please, enjoy yourselves, and we look forward to walking with you!

Share your photos of your Ginko walk!

Charitable Donations

Architecture for Humanity

Japanese Red Cross Society

Ngo Jen Official Website

Salvation Army in Japan

Participating Blogs

Area 17

ashley capes

Charlotte D's Writer's Blog

Green Tea and Bird Song

Haiku Bandit Society

Hailstone Haiku Circle Icebox

Issa's Snail

Red Dragonfly

Shiteki Na Usagi

Word Pond

please join us!

(click on highlighted text for more info)

.

Cities of Green Leaves

2011-05-10T11:58:00.002-05:00

.

.

Cities of Green Leaves

2011-05-08T23:14:00.003-05:00

.

.

Cities of Green Leaves

2011-05-07T17:09:00.005-05:00

.

a secret language
of books and birds
boy's day

.

Cities of Green Leaves

2011-05-07T17:01:00.003-05:00

.

charlie creeps
to the threshold;
choruses of frogs

.

Cities of Green Leaves Ginko no Kukai

2011-05-05T01:40:00.008-05:00

.

Poetry Park - Phalen Lake

As a blogger inspired initiative to honor
the spirit and sacrifices of the people
in Japan's stricken Tohoku region,
we are pleased to announce

Cities of Green Leaves Ginko-no-Kukai May 14 and 15, 2011

We encourage everyone
to join in an international nature walk
to be held May 14 and 15
followed by an international haiku contest.

We invite you to walk with us on those days, collaborating with like-minded poets and bloggers in combining their skills and talents, enter your haiku in a peer judged contest, and take the opportunity to offer aid and support to our friends in Japan in a consensus of thought, well wishes and kinetic energies to occur simultaneously around the globe.

It's no surprise the kukai's topic will take its cue from Sendai, Japan's annual Aoba Matsuri Festival, an event held originally to honor the city's founder, Date Masamune. The date has now become an annual celebration with thousands of visitors, a parade, sparrow dance, taiko drums and tree lined streets as part of the festival each year to rejoice in the arrival of spring's new greenery and rebirth.

You may choose any place to hold your ginko walk in your vicinity, as long as it holds the attributes to inspire many to compassionate action in the beauty of poetry, and the celebration of the renewing power of nature's seasons.

The address to submit your poems will be posted here this third weekend of May. Please return often until then for further updates and poetry. We look forward to walking with you!

Charitable Donations

Architecture for Humanity

Japanese Red Cross Society

Ngo Jen Official Website

Salvation Army in Japan

Participating Blogs

Area 17

ashley capes

Charlotte D's Writer's Blog

Green Tea and Bird Song

Haiku Bandit Society

Hailstone Haiku Circle Icebox

Issa's Snail

Red Dragonfly

Word Pond

please join us!

(click on highlighted text for more info)

Cities of Green Leaves

2011-05-02T23:26:00.003-05:00

.

yesterday
one housefly
a bumble bee and a wasp
today it rained

.

Cities of Green Leaves

2011-04-30T19:36:00.005-05:00

.

rustlings
indeterminate beneath
rust colored leaves
while sparrows dance aloft
our walk together renews

.

Cities of Green leaves

2011-04-26T02:07:00.005-05:00

.

reaching
for a new found warmth
sweet rhubarb cake

.

Cities of Green Leaves

2011-04-24T12:03:00.009-05:00

.

photo: Kinori

I dreamed
of cities of green leaves
no wonder then . . .

.

April 2011 Dottie Dot Awards

2011-04-20T01:19:00.002-05:00

.

Dottie, the mascot and editor-in-chief of the Haiku Bandit Society, has determined the three best Moon Viewing Party poems for the month of April, 2011. Forthwith, here are the recipients of this month's Dottie Dot Awards!

To view previous month's winners click here.

phosphorescence
tide fish streak the moon

Barbara A. Taylor

hovering
in a UFO photograph
the moon

John Merryfield

full moon
her water breaks
silently

melissa allen

.

April 2011 Moon Viewing Party

2011-04-14T18:06:00.055-05:00

.

in haikai spirit
the letter from fukushima
a fleet spring moon

(photo - asian athletic association)

*****************************************************************************

You are cordially invited to our fourth moon viewing party of 2011!
The full moon rises Monday, April 18th, GMT.

To submit a poem (all submissions remain the property of its author)
you may email us here: HAIKU BANDIT SOCIETY or post in comments.

Please include your pen name so we might accredit your poem properly. Happy moon gazing!

To see previous month's moon poems click here.

*****************************************************************************

standing ghosts
waver in the moonlight
where trees used to be

kathy earsman

the thirteenth night
of the first spring moon
snow falls all around
it's then I imagine
you hold me in your arms

maikindazen

phosphorescence
tide fish streak the moon

Barbara A. Taylor

hovering
in a UFO photograph
the moon

John Merryfield

full moon
her water breaks
silently

melissa allen

April full moon
look at the square clock
over a black cloud

anonymous

the cat's tail
a perfect question mark
moon through the trees

slow-is-fast

full mooon
here seventy years
big fucking deal

Ed Baker

click on pictures to enlarge - again to zoom in

;;;

.

2011-04-13T00:56:00.002-05:00

.

even in soft spring light
I can't read the words
thinking of father

.

bunraku

2011-04-10T10:26:00.011-05:00

.

wearing the face
of a tayu
talk about the weather

.

strange light redux

2011-04-07T20:35:00.024-05:00

.

k.c.

rain clouds
snowflakes
mix with the rain
the holes through my jacket
project a strange light

their mating calls
chickadees and cardinals
a lone drake
his crest gone dull
in slanted light

the trooper's hats
display an indifferent air
one man alone
in pristine saffron robes
on the salt-stained highway

.

happy island

2011-04-03T10:58:00.007-05:00

.

blossom petals
trail across the bridge
to Happy Island
a wandering wind
carries them out to sea

.

manga

2011-04-01T23:25:00.009-05:00

.

all in black
he puffs his inhaler
gritty snow in the bus stop's shadow

never looking up
no one notices the crow

the queue come full stop
a stolen glance
at the nape of her neck

with a nod to Masago

.

2011-03-27T06:34:00.013-05:00

.

K.C. Sorlien

a world
of dirt, dust and accident
revealed
just what are the chances
of this snowflake's return?

.

2011-03-25T12:01:00.008-05:00

.

she's found the gate
in the wall of willows
sunlight of spring

.

2011-03-25T11:08:00.004-05:00

.

I give her
my last Pall Mall
blue geese in Fujisawa

;;;

.

2011-03-25T05:44:00.003-05:00

.

march snow
a few more shadows
a few less

;;;

.

2011-03-22T21:34:00.010-05:00

.

three movements of melting ice

.

2011-03-22T17:52:00.003-05:00

.

the crow's struggle
with insurmountable wind
invisible
down here on the ground
I stand out in the rain

.

March 2011 Dottie Dot Awards

2011-03-22T09:58:00.006-05:00

.

Dottie, the mascot and editor-in-chief of the Haiku Bandit Society, has determined the three best Moon Viewing Party poems for the month of March, 2011. Forthwith, here are the recipients of this month's Dottie Dot Awards!

To view previous month's winners click here.

drinking
his eyes
meet
the moon

Daniel Py,
Paris,
France

dawn drizzle,
the breakfast chemistry set -
an amber moon

comrade harps

Through the misery moon
At last united with
Those Far Towns' eyes

Tito

mouseface

.

March 2011 Moon Viewing Party

2011-03-17T08:29:00.050-05:00

.

shutting our doors
on a shining wind
moon through the window

*****************************************************************************

You are cordially invited to our third moon viewing party of 2011!
The full moon rises today, Saturday, March 19th, GMT.

To submit a poem (all submissions remain the property of its author)
you may email us here: HAIKU BANDIT SOCIETY or post in comments.

Please include your pen name so we might accredit your poem properly. Happy moon gazing!

To see previous month's moon poems click here.

*****************************************************************************

a bullet train
gliding across the sea
blank faces
behind endless windows
made pale in the moonlight

maikindazen

arroyo moon-
coyotes silenced by
howling lunatics

rich man
a pocket full
of moonbeams

el coyote

brighter than ever
the moon tries
to write haiku

melissa allen

drinking
his eyes
meet
the moon

Daniel Py,
Paris,
France

Samurai toil
under a super moon–
super men

barbara a taylor

dawn drizzle,
the breakfast chemistry set -
an amber moon

comrade harps

three dandelions
and a supermoon
march head fake

Sully

Through the misery moon
At last united with
Those Far Towns' eyes

cf. Basho: Okunohosomichi

Mirror moon,
Shine down on them
Our fellow thoughts.

Tito

the horror of it
super moon
the beauty of it

democracy moon -
UK parliament gets ready
for yet another war

flooding my pillow
last night moon
instead of tears

sprite

closeup moon
with crags bumps and scars
a beauty

T.D. Ingram

O, fool spring moon
behind the clouds... I only
imagine your face

sky and lake...
the double moon
after clouds

tomislav

exotic beauty
on the tip of my tongue
la luna llena

john merryfield

mr moon
whispered secrets
the branches bent

me

one stick of incense
the moon through a haze
now I light another

slow-is-fast

.

2011-03-13T12:34:00.015-05:00

.

when she returns
her father a fisherman
her mother the moon
she drifts in a haze
a spirit of the lake

.