When f/k/a pushed off from its wharf in May 2004, dagosan promised
himself he would write “one haiku a day that I wouldn’t be embarrassed
to share with the entire Internet.” That seemed like folly for a neophyte
haiku poet, but his lawyer training had left dagosan unable to produce
without deadlines. So far, he’s met his schedule and Your Editor hasn’t
died of embarrassment.
All the while, the rest of the f/k/a Gang has been wondering why other
haijin haven’t jumped on the weblog and poem-a-day bandwagon. It’s
so darn easy to set up a weblog and they’re free. All you need is a little
faith in yourself, your muse, and your webmaster.
Well, at the end of November 2005, I’ve got something else to be
thankful about — I’ve found a half-dozen daily weblogs featuring
haiku and senryu (plus, photography and other paired images). Let me
remind you of places you should bookmark for perusal (after finishing
your daily visit here):
haikupoet.com has the haiku of paul david mena and the photography
of mary melodee mena. It’s first post was Oct. 14, 2004. We featured
Thanksgiving night –
everyone thanks me
for walking the dog
our Honored Guests. As we said back in October, Matt also presents
both haiku and photos.
Here are a pair of haiku from this past week that
demonstrate Matt’s verbal skill and art; click the
link to see the paired images:
early frost
my daughter asks me to
turn the music down
“mattmorden”
tough enough to hold
the weight of this world
bramble leaves
to my attention this week thanks to my Referer Page. (thanks for the link,
Eric). His poem for today should make you want to visit and his other
offerings will bring you back again:
grandma’s
first winter alone
hilltop cemetery
yet, but it’s quite promising and I hope Dustin will keep it up. His
Thanksgiving senryu rang a bell for me:
thanksgiving day
prayer
without thanks
(also proprietor of the writing group weblog Cabbage Soup and her university
librarian weblog ML 107). I hope she continues to offer her unique perspective.
E.g.:
heroic statues bound
with strings
of Christmas lights
Tangent: a brief stop at Alison’s ML107
site left me wanting to know more about the book
the chapter headings here.
paintings and renku of Sakuo Nakamura, and the haiku of Kobayashi Issa. Sakuo
has been doing a painting a day to go along with David Lanoue’s translations of
Master Issa’s haiku since February 2005, then he adds a linked verse of his own.
It’s not easy to keep a weblog going. But, I’m hoping that the new
haijin webloggers will stick with their intentions to post a haiku or senryu every day.
(I also wish Bret Wooldridge would revive his Wanton Tree.) If a worn out old guy
like dagosan can do it (while churning out breathless punditry), all you younguns
ought to be able to keep it up without breaking a sweat. And, a few more should
join the weblog parade.
p.s. It’s not a daily and not a weblog, but I want to tip a hat to Jason 
months ago.
update (Nov. 27, 2005): T.A. Thompson wrote today, saying that this post
inspired him to start a daily haiku weblog of his own — coffee.tea.haiku — which
has now been serving “A little dose of haiku each day with your morning coffee
afterthought (Nov. 28, 2005): I want to specifically nag the prolific and ubiquitous
Ed Markowski about starting a weblog. Hey, Eddie, you know how to use email,
so you already know how to operate a weblog. Really. Your public awaits. I say
this, even though your efforts will surely make mine look meagre and sorry. Also,
existing-but-lapsed weblog. Until then, click on his name to see a selection of
his published haiku. Finally (for now), it’s great to see Denis Garrison has been
digital age
aging digits
at the keyboard
