f/k/a archives . . . real opinions & real haiku

wind and rain

the hand I reach for

in the dark

“In awe, girl!” That’s how I feel reading the haiku of Peggy Lyles.  After yesterday’s

sneak preview, today is actually Peggy’s second inaugural post at f/k/a, and it is time

for an introduction.

.

Peggy Lyles grew up in the South Carolina Lowcountry and now lives near Atlanta,

Georgia.   She’s is a writer and painter, and for five years was poetry editor of the regional

magazine Georgia Journal.  Since the late 1970’s, her work has been published regularly

in leading haiku journals in the United States and abroad, and she has both won and judged

many of the most respected haiku contests (not at the same time).  She is now an associate

editor of the The Heron’s Nest haiku journal.   Peggy is often asked to read her poetry at

festivals and workshops, and in bookstores and classrooms.

.

The best way to get to know Peggy Lyles, however, is to read her haiku.  As Christopher

Herold, the founding editor of The Heron’s Nest, explains:

“Peggy Lyles is one of our most highly regarded English language

haiku poets, and for good reason. She is finely attuned to her surroun-

dings, and when she gives expression to her experiences of the world

around her, she is utterly honest. As I read her poems I know full well

that there is no contrivance, that I have not been manipulated. Lyles

doesn’t pad her haiku with unnecessary words, nor does she strip them

down to the point of being inaccessible. She sustains her focus on the

experiences that inspire her, thereby gaining better understanding of them.

When it comes time to translate those experiences into poems, she finds

uncomplicated words and natural syntax to reveal her discoveries as

clearly as possible.”

You can learn much more about Peggy and find examples of her haiku here (a comprehensive review of To Hear the Rain: Selected Haiku of Peggy Lyles), and here (a profile at the Millikin University haiku website, including an interview).  For now, I am most honored to have Peggy Willis Lyles gracing this website, and present a handful for your enjoyment:.

into the night

we talk of human cloning

snowflakes

river baptism

another frog

with just three legs

high noon

a cat stares down

the chipmunk’s hole

Peggy Lyles, from To Hear the Rain (Brooks Books, 2002)

.

.

one-breath pundit

I listened to the Inaugural Speech, but did not watch it.  I wasn’t inspired by what I heard and wonder just which yoke of tyranny America will be attempting to lift next.   In the NYT

today, Thomas L. Friedman notes that Europe is one big Blue State, while quoting a recent visitor

to Iran, who says Iran is the “ultimate red state.” Will Iranians soon be praising our Crusader-in-

Chief?

Would mooning lawyers gets the public’s attention and help achieve tort reform?

Paul D. Winston suggests it might in his Commentary at Business Insurance magazine.  (“Making a

Case for Tort Reform,” Jan 17, 2005)   I’m not sure the tort reformers really want the public looking

closely at who has the most to gain and lose from tort reform.  (pointer from our moon-gazing — of the lunar, not legal, variety —  friend,

the RiskProf)

Ohio’s AG is seeking frivolousness sanctions against the Election Protection legal team,

which is contesting the November 2002 election in Ohio.   Read the anti-Bust side of the controversy

here.   (via Votelaw) I hope politicians don’t start giving frivolousness motions a bad name.  The

results here should be interesting, and will perhaps put an end to frivolous claims of frivolousness.

from dagosan:

.

holding her breath
’til the engine starts –
visible relief

[Jan. 20, 2005]