Ravi Kiran
two days after
the soldier’s funeral
his last letter
World Haiku Review 2023 Spring Honourable Mention
lifting fog
a wildflower finds
its colours
Commended 12th Polish International Haiku Contest 2022
the plaits
in sync with the ropes
double dutch
Porad Haiku Award 2022 HM
tai-chi park
the synchronised drift
of cherry petals
Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival 2022 Sakura Award
under the feet
of countless pilgrims
smoothened stones
1st Place Bulgarian Gendai 2022
Marion Clarke
Master of the Month, January 2018, NHK World Japan Haiku Masters
Cover Image of Prune Juice, Journal of Senryu, Issue 35, November 2021
Grand Prize Winner, 11th Setouchi Matsuyama International Photo Haiku Contest, 2022
HaikuKatha – A Monthly Journal from Triveni Haikai India, Issue 8, June 2022
Featured on International Page & Stage event, From Opposite Ends of the Earth 3, 10 October, 2022
Haiku
final prognosis different clouds on the horizon
tinywords Issue 16.2, January 2017
deep forest
the dance of a pine branch
after the crow
Honourable Mention, Irish Haiku Society Competition 2021
damp morning
a grey yard
before the robin
Butterfly Dream, 29 November 2014
crystal moon
I celebrate
another day
The Haiku Foundation, Haiku of the Day, 30 December 2022
missed bus . . .
I whistle down the path
of wildflowers
Judges’ Choice Selection, Golden Triangle Haiku Competition, Washington DC, 2023
Thank you for inspiring us LEAF Editors
Ravi Kiran and Marion Clarke
Ravi there is such a poignancy and deft touch here with your selection of featured haiku. They move me deeply and I have found myself returning again and again to each carefully placed line lingering a while in the present moment that you have captured so vividly and the narrative that draws me in to each one. ‘Two days after’ manages to evoke the power of an epic film and each scene plays out until the intense sorrow of that final scene and final words that perfectly accompany the final letter. ‘Tai-chi park’ is also both beautifully visual and philosophically timeless bringing together a brief synchronicity between nature and humans yet also reminding us of our own fragility through the image of the delicate drift of cherry blossom petals. Each person in the park practising their tai-chi touches briefly on a oneness with the world while knowing one day they will leave it replaced perhaps by another set of people practising their tai-chi passing on that legacy. Parks too are a place of tamed nature where humans have intervened and placed their mark but all is in fine balance, wildness waiting at every corner. Tai-chi too offers balance but requires dedication and focus – just like a haiku. So so much to explore here. Within each of your haiku there are delicious pauses where an idea is explored, caught and accompanied by language that ignites our imagination – ‘smoothened’ in your last haiku here really highlights the countless passing of pilgrims, each one bringing their own impact to the ground beneath them, the polishing movement of feet and faith. Thank you Ravi for sharing this amazing work.
Thank you Marion for your exquisite selection of haiga and haiku. The haiga are indeed a masterclass in how to approach this wonderful form where image and haiku meet. ‘Final rays’ is an absolute celebration of both nature and life. YES not just the bees but all of us must have until the last a ‘reason to hum’. Hum is such a delicately quiet yet powerfully onomatopoeiac word that animates the close-up world of that bee busy in its flower head keeping our ecosystem alive so that we can still hum. ‘Watery echoes…’ the featured image for this article is made all the more fantastic by the accompanying painting which you have done yourself highlighting your artistic talent too. The long, thin canal draws us in as does the ellipsis in the first line, the opening credits to the film noir that we are already imagining unfolding as we settle in to the narrative that is somehow familiar yet shadowy and still unknown, a famous setting we may have visited or feel we already know, a story that will offer us unsettling twists and turns… So many levels to this, meta-narratives and themes of story-telling, memories real and imagined, the temporary and commemorated where a film remains long after the making and its impact lingers after the fleeting moment of having watched each scene. I remember reading ‘missed bus’ before and absolutely loving it, that happenstance and serendipity of finding oneself on a magical adventure when the disappointment of what you thought you wanted is transformed. It is such a deeply relatable haiku, yes I am right there at the bus stop feeling the familiar frustration but then gifted that amble through a beautiful lane of flowers, perhaps high summer bursting with scent and colour. There is an unwritten reminder here to enjoy those moments, to slow down and how like writing and reading haiku and haiga that is too, the chance to luxuriate in the moment, to notice those fine details and revel in being alive in a world that is so much better when we take that time. Brava Marion your featured work here is a real delight and inspiration to us all. I think you have brought a real marionesque mark to the haiku world that will endure.
Thank you so much for your insightful reading of my work and these very kind words, Amanda. I truly appreciate it.
marion
(A marionesque mark? That has to involve paint!😄)
It is truly a pleasure reading this page showcasing the work of Leaf Editors Ravi Kiran and Marion Clark. Like many other haiku enthusiasts, I have surely read their haiku/senryu/haiga here and there, well, everywhere, and here, again, I am impressed. Ravi’s ‘synchronicity’ in “tai-chi park” and Marion’s ‘reason to hum’ in “final rays” are so delightful, my best of the best from the above excellent pieces. Well done, Editors, for producing the outstanding Leaf Issue One!
Thank you, AJ. I’m so pleased you enjoyed the issue and ‘final rays’. I can still remember the exact moment it was announced Master of the Month on the NHK World Japan programme—I might as well have won the lottery! 😄
marion