Summer 2020 Showcase

These are extraordinary times, and there doesn’t seem to be any sign that they are letting up. the zen space is not a political journal, but it does exist in the polis – in the virtual polis at least. Do the poet and the haijin remain aloof, or engaged? Does engagement necessarily dictate what we will write about?

The last words of my editorial in the Winter 2020 Showcase in January were, “I hope last year’s water won’t poison this year’s well. If only I had known! What of the next Showcase here, then? We have no idea that the world will look like three months hence, and perhaps it is wrong to speculate. Better, perhaps, each should look inward to see what can be changed about self… and then carry that into the polis.

Annunciation

In this Showcase we have some new names, which I am always glad to see. I have also picked some of our resident artist Marie Taylor’s mandalas to feature.

In considering layout, I have become aware that the platform inserts advertisements not only at the end of the showcase, but into it as well, including adverts for an online casino. This did not use to be the case. Adverts have proliferated and now spoil the layout – I wasn’t aware of this, because while I am logged in as editor they do not show up. If adverts spoil the layout for you please let me know. I will have to consider purchasing a subscription; as the zen space does not generate income this will be a burden, but not a great one. However, do not hold back your opinion – if you think that the adverts are disruptive, let me know.

Oh, by the way, this Showcase includes words written by the President of the Haiku Society of America. Ooh! With that, I’ll let you read on.

Marie Marshall

editor

the zen space

__________

Kiersta Rechtenwald

…night symphony

beyond a forgetting

…howling coyotes

: 

…wide open bog

geodesic dwelling

…pride of place

: 

…still quiet in brush

foregoing philosophy

…cottontail

:

noon’s short         dawn’s long            twilight uncertain

: 

…roofs up close

under sulking clouds

…hugging in rain

Chuang-tsu

__________

Angiola Inglese

shorter days
in the crock pot
last lemon

:

roses on the wall –
smell of mixture
in the moist air

:

wind blow –
the notes of a song
sweeping leaves

:

moon evening –
every leaf falls
in its own way

:

old garden –
a wisteria seed
jumps far

:

the cold wind –
let’s breathe
the last rose

:

cicada song –
deep roots
of the bindweed

forbidden city

__________

Margherita Petriccione

long sunset …
finally vanished
my shadow

:

simply I am …
the sea has no voice
no silence

:

the pulse
of my heart –
galaxies

:

homecoming –
the clouds
and the river

:

drool and rain
drool and rain
snails go

:

unrepeatable
on my forehead
this ray

:

a breath …
and I’m combing
white hair

heavenly

__________

Jay Friedenberg

those bits and pieces
of a distant past
random access memory

:

looking down
on a girl looking down
from her terrace

:

lonely night
high above the skyline…
Venus

:

facemask
my iPhone
doesn’t recognize me

:

leaf litter
autumn’s brief but colorful
half-life

honor

__________

Doug Lanzo

Bereft of people
Devoid of laughter and mirth
Pointless city streets

:

A dying ember
Whisked gently by the current
Flares its spirit high.

:

Frozen ice crystal
Suspending time and motion
Prism of our world

:

Blue-eyed snow leopards
Stalking prey from cliffs above
Ghosts of the mountains

:

Agile dragonflies
Darting low across the pond
Mesmerize rapt eyes.

:

Ingesting water
Toxic marine pufferfish
Save two lives at once.

middle way

__________

Bob Redmond

tall firs     falling up

:

:

towards the rushing river tree branches an elk

:

:

waves climbing halfway up the mountain over and over

:

doing nothing—
a billion years of beach sand
through my fingers

:

in buddha’s hands a birch leaf

:

À LA TOMBÉE

quelle neige

qui chante

si lentement

INTERMENT

such snow

which sings

so slow

mosque at night

__________

The tail end…

Don’t forget the Shot Glass Journal over at Muse-Pie Press. If you get in touch with them, please mention that you heard about them here.

There is a new edition of the cherita just out, themed from my window. Please visit, and if you get in touch with them, please mention that you heard about them here.

Thank you.

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The next Showcase at the zen space will be Autumn 2020 which will be released, subject to karma, on 1st October 2020.

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.

_________

Ojai

[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.]