by Yu Chang
Tom Painting is our guest this time. He has been a notable presence in English-language haiku for a couple of decades, appearing in the recent major anthologies Haiku 21 (Modern Haiku Press) and Haiku in English – The First Hundred Years (W. W. Norton). While we have long been impressed with his personal accomplishments as a poet, we are perhaps even more impressed with his ability to foster a haiku consciousness in young people. The work of his students, first at the Rochester, NY School of the Arts and more recently at the Paideia School of Atlanta, GA, has figured prominently in annual student haiku contests sponsored by The Nick Virgilio Haiku Society and the United Nations International School.
Tom Clausen and I have each had recent book publications. His book is titled Smiling to Myself (Free Food Press) and mine is d(ark) (Red Moon Press). Here is a small sample of haiku from Tom’s book and tanka from mine.
Smiling to Myself
long wait alone
in the parking lot . . .
a dog in the next car
lunch alone
without a book
I read my mind
the way
the light bulb rests
in the rest of the trash
d(ark)
outside
the cinema
a line
of people waiting
to be shot
both families
have their pariahs
the visible
and invisible
sides of the aisle
the strange smell
of someone else’s
apartment
it smells like
coming home alone
We will continue to remind everyone in each of the coming issues of Upstate Dim Sum that the next Haiku North America conference will be held at Union College in Schenectady. The dates are Wednesday, October 14 to Sunday, October 18, 2015.
js
Sample Poems
winter passing
she makes a patch work
of his ties
Tom Painting
white skin healed with a difference
js
in the place
of old groceries
new groceries
tc
december solstice
the cats curl
into themselves
ht
between 1 & 0
a hermit crab
goes back to sleep
yc
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