Dandelion Wind

The 2007 Haiku North America conference took place at the Hawthorne Inn and Conference Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. From the introduction: “This book’s title comes from Garry Gay’s poem, and it is to Garry that we dedicate the 2007 Haiku North America conference anthology. It was his idea back in 1990 to start the conference, with the first one taking place in California in the summer of 1991. It immediately became the major gathering of haiku tribes in North America, and has been held around the continent every two years since then. . . . The wish in this book’s title poem drifts away like a dandelion seed, as fleeting and ephemeral as the moment that haiku reveres. Unlike that wish, the wish that Garry had for Haiku North America has not drifted away. Instead, it has seeded and taken root. The anthology you hold in your hand, the ninth in the series, is evidence of the continued growth and vibrancy of the haiku community in North America.” See the Press Here page for this book. Here are twenty-one sample poems from the book.

First day of fishing—

his wife catches

the larger trout.

                Alexis Rotella

                Arnold, Maryland

teakettle whistle

on the way to the stove

she touches his knee

                Bob Moyer

                Winston-Salem, North Carolina

       Central Park

a juggler upside down

  in my watch crystal

                Carl Patrick

                Brooklyn, New York

extra innings

the setting sun lights the underside

of a high fly ball

                Cor van den Heuvel

                New York, New York

spitting for distance—

a watermelon seed

clings to her nose

                Curtis Dunlap

                Mayodan, North Carolina

camera obscura

   clouds across

      her bare shoulders

                Dave Russo

                Cary, North Carolina

chewing their gum

in rhythm

old couple

                David Lanoue

                New Orleans, Louisiana

summer stars

a hint of clover

in the bull’s breath

                Ferris Gilli

                Marietta, Georgia

Dandelion wind

another wish

drifts away

                Garry Gay

                Santa Rosa, California

the pale undersides

of purple sandpipers . . .

waxing moon

                John Barlow

                Liverpool, England

summer evening

coarseness of gingham prints

in the quilt

                Lenard D. Moore

                Raleigh, North Carolina

this rainbow day:

the baby in a sling

begins to fret

                Matthew Paul

                London, England

fading sunset—

still the shine

on high-tension wires

                Michael Dylan Welch

                Sammamish, Washington

sunset

        colors sink and rise

                at the koi pond

                Michael Rehling

                Livonia, Michigan

country churchyard

folding chairs

on new sod

                Paul MacNeil

                Ocala, Florida

far desert mountains—

their secrets shrouded

in hazy blue

                Paul O. Williams

                Hayward, California

twilight

deepening

the space between the goalposts

painted on a wall

                Philip Rowland

                Tokyo, Japan

someone

       already here

peonies on Mama’s grave

                Randy M. Brooks

                Decatur, Illinois

returning bones

a stone unwinds

in the breeze

                Richard Gilbert

                Kumamoto, Japan

we set sail

in tall grass

no air stirs

                Sonia Sanchez

                Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

from an upstairs balcony

arms thrust a potted begonia

into the rain

                Susan Broili

                Durham, North Carolina

after the Leonids

a falling leaf sets

the grassblade quivering

                William J. Higginson

                Summit, New Jersey

Endorsements on the back cover of Dandelion Wind:

“Of the small handful of regular occasions that nurture the English-language haiku community, Haiku North America is certainly preeminent: intellectually diverse, socially expansive, emotionally gratifying, it provides more than any other single experience the sense that haiku is a literary force to be reckoned with and capable of work that matters in the rest of the world.” —Jim Kacian, owner, Red Moon Press

“Every two years, at some interesting location in the United States or Canada, the organizers of Haiku North America put together exciting and innovative programs involving leading poets, scholars, editors, and teachers, as well as practitioners of arts that have a kinship with haiku. The result is that HNA is the most eagerly awaited conference on the haiku calendar.” —George Swede, cofounder of Haiku Canada

“Haiku North America offers haiku poets worldwide the opportunity to renew our spirit of community. The Haiku North America conference is a remarkable setting for innovative workshops and spellbinding readings. This unique celebration, known to its devotees as HNA, is the place to experience not only the art but also the heart of haiku.” —Roberta Beary, author The Unworn Necklace