Welcome to the zen space in 2024! I have managed to produce the Spring Showcase!
An apology to some of my regular, faithful contributors:
What with one thing and another, I have become very disorganised. I was unable to bring out the previous Showcase, and here I am starting the current one with an apology. My regular contributors – you all know who you are – are in the position of having given me a lot of material. For my part I have made vague promises about holding on to their work for a future Showcase. And still you bless me with more contributions. The net result is I am no longer sure what I have promised to whom! I wonder if this stalwart band of supporters would do me the infinite favour of checking their records, seeing what they have sent me, deciding what they would like to go forward with, and re-submitting to me. I know this is an awful faff and I do apologise most profusely.
Perhaps I will give over a whole Showcase to you in recompense.
I am, of course, still on the look-out for new “names,” and there are several in this current Showcase.
The stand-alone art work in this Showcase is largely from the Shin-hanga (jp. “new woodcut” or “new print”) movement, a 20c style of Japanese art that revitalised or rediscovered the principles of ukiyo-e art. Because it belongs to a controversial period in Japanese history, it is not as well-known or as appreciated as it might be. But when I came across prints from that period I was struck by their freshness.
As you may have gathered, I have not yet found a candidate to take over at the zen space as editor. I stumble on regardless, as frogs plop into pools to my left and right!
Marie Marshall
editor
the zen space
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Gareth Nurden
moonglade
makes a path
between two coasts
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december rain
hangs from the gutter
a little longer
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soft sounds of winter
radiators hiss
at window raindrops
::
waves in search of rest
collapse at my feet
deafening
::
look and sound
of an old leaf
like a log fire
::
setting sun
stretching shadows
of crocus
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Mike McLaren
Enso
I
Clouds roll across the coast,
blustering with spring rain.
Soil, seed, water—
life begins in the ground,
that void of darkness
between death and birth.
II
Storms subside,
light coaxes the sleeping
from the ground;
roots take hold
to support yellow blossoms
that bulge and emerge as…
III
… pumpkins on a vine,
connected one to the other,
each a single universe,
each universe an infinite expression
of clouds rolling across the coast,
blustering with spring rain.
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Mountain Moment
Celebration. Loss. Dance. Warmth
Sometime between the myth that was yesterday and the moment that happened just before this one, I looked to the West and caught just the wink of a star as it disappeared behind the Rocky Mountain peaks that seemed to taunt me with the loss I had just witnessed. The lack of warmth from a sky that would not return the star to me offered up a celebration of snow instead, a dance of white crystals that fell without promises and no commitment for the future. I looked once more toward the vanquished sun, then turned my gaze inward to remind myself that the sky is only the reflection of myself when I look up.
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Roberta Beach Jacobson
Celebrating
pink cherry blossoms
bamboo flute
::
all that’s left
of my childhood
treehouse
::
in a dream
lotus bud begins
to open
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Twisted
strands of our past
macramé
::
dusted off
by evening rain
jumbled thoughts
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Tom Merrill
Saying It Eastern-Style
Nature traps its prey
with lures contrived to conceal
a murderous heart.
::
It never could harm
if its offerings repelled.
A strong stink could save.
::
Wish it a foul smell—
hope its baits turn repugnant
enough to starve it.
::
It aims to excite.
Its object in arousing
is always new prey.
::
Nature would be fed.
Its driving will is to launch
all food-bearing seed.
::
All will be devoured
by a ravenous charmer.
No spawn will be spared.
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Jerome Berglund
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Partha Sarkar
Turns artist the clodhopper.
Nothing wrong in it
If the politician turns saint.
::
Wrong decision
As I have caste
My own vote.
::
Neither right nor left
I walk straight.
Though take a turn inevitable.
::
Births peak in poverty
Deaths
During pandemic.
::
We shall overcome
When nothing
To conquer.
::
A strong passion
In love may cause
Death and birth.
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John Hawkhead
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Tom Lagasse
who needs riches?
silver and bronze needles shine
the warm golden sunlight
::
the new year brook roars
even the boulders are moved
one inch at a time.
::
the still April pond
enlightenment is possible
Basho and the frog
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The Haiku Foundation – The Touchstone Award for Individual Poems
The above award is always worth keeping an eye on. Please go here for more information.
Afterword:
As always, I am looking out for new “names” who can write haiku, senryu, and/or any short-burst in-the-moment poetry. Also original artwork. Please get in touch.
The next Showcase at the zen space will be Summer 2024 which will be released, subject to karma, on 1st July 2024.
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.
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[Any advertisements etc. below this line, or inserted elsewhere in the zen space, are an unfortunate feature of the hosting platform, and are not the responsibility of the editor of the zen space. They should not be considered to have been endorsed by the zen space or by the editor personally.]
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the zen space 