Alan S. Bridges began writing haiku in 2008 after a chance meeting with poet John Stevenson, Managing Editor of The Heron's Nest, on a cross-America train trip. Alan especially likes train and fishing haiku, and is assembling haiku for a book.
Alan's haiku have been published widely and he won the 2013 Irish Haiku Society International Haiku Competition. In 2014 he was named a judge of the Haiku Society of America Gerald Brady Senryu Contest and won an honorable mention for the 25th ITO EN Oi Ocha New Haiku Contest-- His haiku will appear on ITO EN bottles of green tea later in 2015. Also in 2015, Alan won first prize for the Kaji Aso Studio International Haiku Contest.
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14 thoughts on “”
For me, this catches both an experience and the feeling that goes with it. Well done. Bill K
more dead-end streets
than I remembered . . .
my home town
Alan, this is topical here in North Texas.
Lots of news footage and year-after survival stories on the 12 plus tornadoes that hit.
Biggest was an F4 and on the ground in Rowlett four more than 4 minutes. Several have rebuilt or patched together their lives, more have not.
Effective use of form, and that dangle-behind “e”.
Jan
Recognised this as a concrete poem but tornadoes didn’t come to mind. I saw the ku as a plume of rising smoke and the name of Aleppo. No doubt a sign of a good poem is its capacity for differing interpretations.
I like the way the juxt of this ku sits between its linear information content and unorthodox shape. I felt compelled to read a cut/juxt after ‘here’ despite there being no obvious indicator. Was this meant deliberately as a way of illustrating the narrator’s sense of disbelief at seeing the disruption or destruction of the world as they know it?
How interesting, Alan – perhaps it's because we don't get tornadoes here in Ireland, but I read this as the narrator walking down an old, familiar path that eventually disappears because it is now overgrown. It worked for me with that reading, but I like the fact that it's tornado-shaped even more! :)
For me, this catches both an experience and the feeling that goes with it. Well done. Bill K
more dead-end streets
than I remembered . . .
my home town
Lovely! Yes . . .
Very nice.
Wow!
Truly a lovely haiku, Alan
Congratulations!
Love this, and I love chief276's haiku in response.
Very, very nice indeed.
I like both typographic displays, but my first choice is the one on the website here with the final "e" a space back.
Alan, this is topical here in North Texas.
Lots of news footage and year-after survival stories on the 12 plus tornadoes that hit.
Biggest was an F4 and on the ground in Rowlett four more than 4 minutes. Several have rebuilt or patched together their lives, more have not.
Effective use of form, and that dangle-behind “e”.
Jan
Terrific …
It took a second before I realized it was a tornado-shaped poem.
An elegant concrete haiku, Alan.
I think Carlos Colon would have appreciated this one.
Did you know he was a fan of your work?
Thanks. I was lucky enough to meet Carlos as we checked out of the hotel at the HSA meeting in Schenectady last year.
Recognised this as a concrete poem but tornadoes didn’t come to mind. I saw the ku as a plume of rising smoke and the name of Aleppo. No doubt a sign of a good poem is its capacity for differing interpretations.
I like the way the juxt of this ku sits between its linear information content and unorthodox shape. I felt compelled to read a cut/juxt after ‘here’ despite there being no obvious indicator. Was this meant deliberately as a way of illustrating the narrator’s sense of disbelief at seeing the disruption or destruction of the world as they know it?
Nice haiku, Se?or Bridges.
How interesting, Alan – perhaps it's because we don't get tornadoes here in Ireland, but I read this as the narrator walking down an old, familiar path that eventually disappears because it is now overgrown. It worked for me with that reading, but I like the fact that it's tornado-shaped even more! :)
marion
I love!…I think Carlos Colon would have appreciated this one.