Embedded Files
April was national poetry month, but it was quieter for me on Graceguts, maybe because I was busy with a lot of poetry events. Lo and behold, here’s what I added to the site in April 2026:
My big news is the publication of a new book, which I’ll share more about soon, but for now, check out my Introductions page. I’ve added “The Value of Cherry Blossoms,” my opening words for Blossoms in the Breeze, an anthology I edited that celebrates twenty years of the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival’s Haiku Invitational. I also include my poems used in the book, together with book images that showcase the sumptuous full-colour layout and design by Anne Dunnett. The Blossoms in the Breeze book also includes my previously published “Jump into Haiku” essay, where I’ve added images of this essay from the book.
On Poems by Others, look for an informative poem titled “Czeslaw Milosz” by Leszek Chudzinski, as well as Wendy Cope’s “An Argument with Wordsworth.” Speaking of Wendy Cope, I’ve added a photo of the poet and the missing publication credit for her naughty poem, “The Reading.”
On Poems About Haiku, look for Sanford Goldstein’s tanka, “sick of pretty haiku,” with my commentary about the poem. And check out Brian Bilston’s newly added “Poem” and “The Parking Meter Poetry Scheme.”
On the Commentary page, a short new addition is “True Colours,” with thoughts on a solo rengay of mine offered by Joan C. Fingon and Lee Hudspeth, recently published in Frogpond.
I’ve added three new postscripts to two essays and one poem, as follows:
A fourth postscript added to “Buson or Shiki: The True Authorship of the ‘Two Autumns’ Poem,” quoting Earl Trotter’s 2024 translation, plus a companion autumn farewell poem.
Added “Postscript: Entering Time” (quoting T. S. Eliot) to my “Ringing the Bell: Learning Haiku from Mary Ruefle” essay.
Added a postscript about Wallace Stevens, quoting from “An Ordinary Evening in New Haven,” to my “Seventeen Ways of Looking at a Haiku” poem.
On the Appearances page, I’ve added the 31 May 2026 deadline for the inaugural George Klacsanzky Memorial Haiku Contest, sponsored by Haiku Commentary, which I’m judging. Also look for summer and fall dates for the Morioka International Haiku Contest, which I’m judging again, and other events, such as the 34th Rengay Birthday Reading on 9 August 2026.
On the Haiku and Senryu page, I’ve belatedly added one haiku and two rengay to my “From Seabeck Anthologies” page, from the 2021 Seabeck anthology, Counting Stars. Here’s the haiku:
retirement day—
a fallen maple leaf
escaping the eddy
On the Digressions page, check out the following poem (and a photo) added to “My Haiku in the Queue” page, which I’ve also added to the “Hiway Haiku” section of “Haiku in the Queue” on Haiku Northwest website.
morning birdsong
my paddle slips
into its reflection
Not quite done here. Three other miscellaneous additions:
On “Your Thoughts,” I’ve added a generous quotation from Michael Garofalo.
On the Venues page, I’ve added the University of Washington Bothell Campus Library and University of Washington, Bothell, Washington, plus the Fairwinds Redmond Senior Living Center.
And on “Interactive Reading,” available through the Essays page, I’ve added the following irresistible quotation by Jane Austen: “I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading.”
I’ve also updated my Rengay website, as follows:
On the City Rengay page, look for “This Is the Place,” written with Richard Tice about Salt Lake City.
On the Two-Person Rengay page, check out “Rainbow,” written with Lakshman Bulusu.
On the Six-Person Rengay page, please find “Work in Progress” and “Grocery Store,” both published in Counting Stars, the 2021 Seabeck Haiku Getaway anthology.
On the “True Colours” rengay, I’ve added commentary by Joan C. Fingon and Lee Hudspeth, recently published in Frogpond.
And, in celebration of rengay’s 34th anniversary on 9 August 2026, I’ve added an event link on the home page, and check out the details (where you’re invited to register your attendance). Will you join us?
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