Guest Poet: Ruth Yarrow
The third issue of Upstate Dim Sum features the work of guest poet, Ruth Yarrow, who has written some of our all-time favorite haiku. Ruth is an environmental educator and peace activist, presently working on nuclear waste issues in the state of Washington, where she and her husband enjoy the backpacking. She has written haiku since the early 1970’s, often inspired by nature and her children.
We continue to be pleased and grateful for the wonderful response to Upstate Dim Sum. To subscriber Susan A. Brailove, we are indebted for reassurance that the single error we corrected from our first issue did not amount to “errata,” as we indicated in issue number two. Of course, with that error, we have moved cumulatively from erratum to errata.
It seems we’ve become very efficient in our monthly meetings. During one recent session we considered the poems of guest poet, Ruth Yarrow, plus fourteen to nineteen new poems from each of the three of us. Such efficiency results from a developing sense of shared values plus group-specific modes of communication. Sometimes we will read a poem and simply comment, “That’s Yu.” which indicates that the poem is a good example of something we have previously noted the author does well. Recently, one of my new poems earned a simultaneous “Aw!” from Hilary and Yu, indicating it was perilously close to precious. No further comment required. We do take time to discuss any poems that present unusual features and we take time with poems that are promising but not quite working. Several poems in this issue, while attributed to the poet who brought them, represent collaborations of the group. We doubt you can spot them but please let us know if you think you have!
js
Sample Poems
lift off:
in my belly the pull
of earth
Ruth Yarrow
November sun
the curve of the hill
beneath the tree
ht
personal kigo
the same pain
as last year
js
falling leaves—
wish I had the time
to unwind
yc
Upstate Dim Sum 