thunder
I slide a kigo
into the gun

 

31 Responses

  1. Gregory Longenecker Says:

    Alan, I love that image of sliding a kigo into the gun. Wonderful!

  2. Alan Summers Says:

    Wow, thanks Gregory! I continue to be fascinated by kigo, and how we might catch just a little bit in our haiku when we are not Japanese! :-)

    warm regards,
    Alan

  3. Guy Stephenson Says:

    Wonderful, so evocative. And the brevity!

  4. Alan Summers Says:

    Thank you Guy!

    I didn't know if this would work but I felt it captured how a Japanese haiku writer or renku writer might feel and act. Although we cannot get close to kigo in our non-Japanese haiku and renku, we can at least attempt the flavor, and see that happens!

    warm regards,
    Alan

  5. MaryJo Says:

    It does work, Alan. Wonderfully! Thank you for this very creative take on kigo

  6. Alan Summers Says:

    Thanks Jo! :-)

    I wasn't sure but your words are helping! :-)

    warm regards,
    Alan

  7. Marion Clarke Says:

    Brilliant! This one made me ?

    marion

  8. Alan Summers Says:

    Wow, thanks Marion!!!

    Now make my day too, and submit some work to Blo?o Outlier Journal before the next wonderful tinywords submission window opens up again! :-)

    warm regards,
    Alan

  9. seaviewwarrenpoint Says:

    Shooting with poetry, Alan! ?

    I will do my best. I have a few deadlines coming up over the next few weeks, so I’d better put my creative head on!

    marion

  10. Alan Summers Says:

    Great! But don't worry if you can't, as writers/poets/artists have daily deadlines and we can't make them all.

    I have enough accepted work already for a fantastic first issue, though it'd be lovely to see your name there.

    No worries if it doesn't happen, but if you can it's a MAXIMUM of THREE HAIKU, and only a single haiku may be accepted. So no one has more poems in an issue than another person.

    Blo?o Outlier Journal
    Alan Summers, Editor
    email: bloooutlierpress@gmail.com

  11. Marion Clarke Says:

    Oh I’d love to make the first issue—hate to miss a party, Alan! :)

  12. Alan Summers Says:

    Fantastic!

    Don't overthink, the voice and tone is a mix of upbeat, uplifting, easily accessible haiku for people new to haiku. But it can have an edge too!

    Alan

  13. Helen Buckingham Says:

    Keep firing, Alan! Great ku.

  14. Alan Summers Says:

    Thanks Helen!

    Over the moon that it's working for a number of people, great comments on Facebook too!

    warm regards,
    Alan

  15. snakypoet Says:

    LOL

  16. Alan Summers Says:

    Wow, LOL aka League of Legends Support. Not sure I'm a legend, but thanks for the thought!
    lol ;-)

    warm regards,
    Alan

  17. Hemapriya Chellappan Says:

    Hands down the best poem I have read in a while. Breathtaking (pun intended) The image this one conjures for me is a gunmetal sky on the backdrop of a Clint Eastwood movie!

    *Shots fired*

  18. Alan Summers Says:

    Thank you Hemapriya!

    I love what you said:
    "Hands down the best poem I have read in a while. Breathtaking (pun intended)."

    thunder
    I slide a kigo
    into the gun

    —ALAN SUMMERS

    Yep, I guess so! Thunder (? Kaminari) is a Summer kigo:

    "thunder" by itself is a kigo for all Summer, and Eastwood's Spaghetti movies seemed to be all Summer and heatwaves mostly, with a hint of thunder.

    I'm still stunned how this has gone down so well, and even received an email extolling how brilliant I was, and honestly, I was blushing. But over the moon that a lot of people love it!

    warm regards,
    Alan

  19. martin1223 Says:

    As you know, I am simple. Like it but do not fully understand. Here is my shot:

    chrysanthemum

    the

    slowness

    of

    dusk

  20. Alan Summers Says:

    Hi Martin,

    Well your verse is pretty complex you know!

    But I do like it!

    You should consider sending to this journal! ;-)

    Blo?o Outlier Journal
    Please send up to THREE haiku.
    DEADLINE: Sunday 6th December ALL MIDNIGHT ZONES
    Editor, Alan Summers
    email: bloooutlierpress@gmail.com

  21. Alan Summers Says:

    My Area 17 blog article might help?

    If you search for:
    "More than one fold in the paper: Kire, kigo, and the vertical axis of meaning in haiku by Alan Summers"

    I'll see if I can get Karen to reply to you, but probably next week now, as she has M.E. and we are super busy with Call of the Page until next Monday, for a day or two! :-)

    warm regards,
    Alan

  22. martin1223 Says:

    Thanks!

  23. Alan Summers Says:

    Thanks for sending your incredible work to my new journal, I love having a haiku by you in there!

    Alan

  24. martin1223 Says:

    Thank You Alansama!

    my face turns
    sundown

  25. Alan Summers Says:

    cheers!

  26. NancyAJensen Says:

    I love the brilliance of this haiku and the wonderful imagery of loading the gun with a kigo – such inspiration and beauty!

  27. Alan Summers Says:

    Wow, thank you so much, it's deeply appreciated.

    I am still stunned that this haiku has connected to so many people.

    warmest regards,
    Alan

  28. Aparna Pathak Says:

    Kigo into the gun.. Wow !! What a brilliant haiku !! Bullseye ! :)

  29. Alan Summers Says:

    Thank you! :-)

    Alan

  30. Alan Summers Says:

    Delighted to find out that this haiku was selected for re:Virals 283 (February 2021)!
    "The Haiku Foundation’s weekly poem commentary feature on some of the finest haiku ever written in English."

    Wow!

  31. Alan Summers Says:

    And now taken for a very prestigious haiku anthology! Wow! Thanks tinywords!

    Many thanks for all the comments!

    Alan

Leave a Reply