The naming of these Showcases always strikes me as being a little ironic. The idea of four equal seasons is something that sprang out of temperate Europe. Not only is the concept reversed in the temperate zone of the Southern Hemisphere, there are so many parts of the world where such seasons are unknown in any equivalent form. Rains or winds or droughts mark the changes of the year, and some parts don’t seem to change at all.
And then there are periods that transgress the seasons’ expectations. Here in Scotland we have passed the spring equinox and the clocks are now registering ‘British Summer Time’. This week we will have snow. Enough said. The Clerk of the Weather is having trouble with his spreadsheet.
I know how he feels.
We have some interesting material for you this time. Contrasting visual images – Larry and Debbie Strange’s vividly-coloured haiga, for example. The featured illustrations in this Showcase are different again. They are from Angie Stevens, whose daily cartoons of her domestic life in Wales, under the nom-de-brosse of Doodlemum, have been delighting her fans for several years. We have been watching her family growing up, her eldest daughter on the cusp of being a teenager, her second daughter following fast, her son no longer a baby, her hens laying, Bonnie their dog constantly bewildered by life, Arnie their cat (totally zen!) now fighting diabetes. The illustrations I have picked are from amongst her earlier work – there is an ‘instant’ quality to them, they are doodles, very much of the moment that they capture. Please visit her blog for more up-to-date images.
And of course we have words. Why wouldn’t we. We have some new ‘names’ – keep them coming, wordwainers and picturewainers!
Marie Marshall,
editor,
the zen space.
__________
Marietta McGregor
:
on the nest’s edge
a bit of shell
graduation day
:
children in line
jump off a jetty
holiday heatwave
:
clove-pinks
scenting a park
baby strollers
:
cold butter
on Norwegian biscuits
thawing pond
:
blooms
on a white sasanqua
early moonset
__________
:
Peter Jastermsky
:
breaking dawn
the silver streak
of a snail
:
old songs
a wrinkle disappears
with each line
:
mourning dove
a last flight
over the house
:
winter night
the depth of
an empty cup
:
first light
a pillow tells
of its travels
:
classroom window
before the bell
one more dream
__________
:
Joe Dean
:
Palms open fingers spread
Serenity offered
The mind now awake
:
Palms open fingers spread
Movement mirrors stillness
Reflections of now
__________
Debbie Strange
:
:
:
:
__________
Tiffany Shaw-Diaz
:
lonely
the road
most travelled
:
zazen
letting go
of the dream
:
Bodhi Tree
my breath
takes root
:
chamomile
a hint of sun
lights the earth
:
reborn
before I finish
this haiku
__________
:
Diarmuid Fitzgerald
:
seagull relieves itself
on a car bonnet
no longer black
:
floating
a white dandelion seed
on its mission
:
weeks after
mowing the lawn
a surprise of bluebells
:
on the hill
a tree bright with sun —
translucent leaves
:
vigorous sounds
from the young couple next door —
wind stirs this night
__________
:
Matthew Caretti
:
African spring
the hotel pool
half full
:
jacaranda blooms
the purpling of
my shadow
__________
Howie
:
Milk Without Honey
:
1
Do Cows
get excited?
Their knees
don’t look
like they can
handle all
the jumping.
:
2
People also ask:
Do ants eat each other?
Do ants make a sound?
:
3
They weren’t cows
inside. They were
waiting to be, but
they forgot. Now
they see sky, and
they remember
what they are.
__________
:
Joyce Lorenson
:
apple blossoms
again the bubbling oracle
of an orchard oriole
:
pond thaw
cattails bent
with blackbirds
:
spring’s fragrance
on tension wire
phoebes face off
:
uncharted clouds
the sparrow hawk appears
and disappears
:
sunny pastures
far from the sea
a killdeer feigning
:
territorial margins
audaciously red
cardinals collide
__________
NEWS
Whenever you get in touch with any of the people or publications in the news, please mention that you were alerted to them by the zen space. Thank you.
Publications:
Don’t forget to visit the cherita – the site is updated regularly with new delights, thanks to editor ai li.
Here at the zen space we’re well aware that we are out-of-phase with so many good web-based publications (such as Shot Glass Journal at Muse-Pie Press), which makes this ‘NEWS’ section sometimes a celebration of ‘old news’. However, please keep us informed by email of anything that’s happening in the world of rapid-fire, short-burst poetry, and we’ll gladly pass it on.
__________
The next Showcase at the zen space will be Summer 2018 which will be released, subject to karma, on 1st July 2018.
Please note that the copyright of all written work and images used in this Showcase and elsewhere in the zen space is held by the creating author/artist, even when not explicitly stated, and may not be used elsewhere without permission.
the zen space 
[…] Spring 2018 Showcase […]