January 2021 Meeting

Post date: Jan 29, 2021 9:6:15 PM

Haiku Northwest held its first quarterly meeting of the new year on January 9, 2021, via Zoom, welcoming 26 participants from the Northwest and beyond, including Sherry Grant from New Zealand. Other attendees were Cynthia Anderson, David Berger, Terran Campbell, Anette Chaney, Daphne Clifton, Janice Doppler, Gary Evans, Ida Freilinger, Connie Hutchison, Emily Kane, Deborah P Kolodji, Jill Lee, Curtis Manley, Tanya McDonald, Jacob Salzer, Michelle Schaefer, Carmen Sterba, Ron Swanson, Angela Terry, Kathleen Tice, Richard Tice, Diane Wallihan, Kim Weers, Michael Dylan Welch, and Garry Wilson. After brief announcements, folks socialized for a few minutes in breakout rooms. Michael Dylan Welch gave a presentation on Bashō’s poem, “even in Kyoto, hearing the cuckoo, I long for Kyoto” (Robert Hass, translator), including lots of parodies and allusions to it. Folks got to write their own versions and share with the group (Michael collected poems sent to him after the meeting and shared them with everyone in a PDF). Then Michael led an exploration of published poems by other people that people found puzzling, with much discussion. Finally, the meeting featured its usual round of haiku workshopping, led by Haiku Northwest president, Michelle Schaefer. Here are four haiku from Michael’s presentation that riff on Bashō’s “even in Kyoto” poem:

Even in New York,

sunlight on the brownstones,

I long for New York

—Robert Hass

foghorns . . .

longing for San Francisco

in San Francisco

—Lane Parker

When in Rome

we long for Rome—

mist in the pines

—Tom D’Evelyn

at Seabeck

hearing the dinner bell

I long for Seabeck

—Michael Dylan Welch