|
Featured Poet: Carol Raisfeld
Carol Raisfeld wrote her
first haiku in April 2000 after discovering The Shiki Internet Haiku Salon. At that time she didn't know so much of what she was writing was senryu. Since then, Carol’s astonishing output of classic original English Language senryu has ranked her among the finest senryu poets.
From the author: "As a poetic genre in its own right, senryu is liberating for me. I enjoy exploring its boundaries. Whether it be witticism or penetrating satire, senryu provides me a platform that allows for freedom of expression within a short form, while at the same time allowing the use of poetic devices such as simile, metaphor, puns or parody. I love being able to focus on the human condition; the flaws, absurdities, defects and warts, as well as the wonderful celebration of self-absorption disallowed in haiku. The challenge of creating a scenario of human comedy or drama in three short lines is an adventure within the adventure."
Carol Raisfeld lives in Atlantic Beach, New York. Photography and poetry are an integral part of her life, as well as yoga and kickboxing. Her hobbies include sailing, tournament chess, sculpting and painting.
As an inventor, Carol holds US and foreign design patents in the field of interactive soft toy design. While living in California, Carol started a toy company specifically to produce her own designs and inventions in the toy field and market them nationwide. One of the very successful interactive product lines, called "Huggits", consisted of soft trucks and stuffed animals [kittens, lions and tigers, and more] that used a Polaroid flat battery in a pressure sensitive battery operated mechanism. When the toys were hugged they purred, growled, and hugged you back. They were promoted by Polaroid and sold in department stores coast to coast.
Carol also owned a sailing school and charter business in Marina Del Rey, California, where she taught sailing and navigation. Graduation consisted of students sailing to Catalina for the weekend and showing her their skills en route, including man overboard and survival skills. Sometimes the weekend would require surprise heavy weather sailing, racing across shipping lanes before the huge tankers roared through.
Carol serves as Director of
WHChaikumultimedia, Multimedia Editor for World Haiku Review, Associate
Editor for Simply Haiku and as a moderator for WHClovehaiku.
She contributes to the World Tempos Journal, Beacons, and holds
membership in The Haiku Society of America, The World Haiku Association, The
Academy of American Poets, WHCInternational Kigo Project. Her poetry and
photography have appeared in The Poetry Protocol, Photo-Haiku
Anthology, Frogfest, PhotoHaiku.net, The Green Leaf Files,
tinywords.com, Temps Libres-Free Times, The World Haiku Review, HSA
Members' Anthology, haigaonline, Wild Flowers, New Leaves-Collection of World
Haiku, Charnwood Arts, Ku Nouveau, Haiku Pacific Rim, Canon
Photo-Haiku World, The Daily Yomiuri, Frogpond, Amaze:The
Cinquain Journal, The Heron's Nest, Simply Haiku, Autumn
Leaves, loose change: HSA 2005 Member's Anthology, The Printed World
Haiku Review 2005, Full Moon Magazine, as well as many online
interactive Photo-Haiku galleries. Her work can also be seen on her website: www.HaikuBuds.com.
From the author: "I must thank Anita Virgil who taught me so much about senryu, and encouraged me to send my work to Al Pizzarelli. Al has inspired me beyond words and showed me the "way of senryu," what senryu is and is not . . . and I'm still learning. Understanding the difference made a difference in how I see my days, and how I write about them."
SENRYU
gossip column —
only the ink remains
unsmeared
just married...
eating the oysters
he used to hate
honeymoon tiff
she has the last word,
he bangs the screen door
the quarrel over
her voice drops
two octaves
breakfast together —
the silence about things
that matter
anniversary gift —
filling her old sweater
with new cleavage
the palmist gasps...
then asks to be paid
in advance
at the wake
she adds more blush
to her cheeks
pushy as ever —
at the séance they hear
from Aunt Maggie
single's bar —
her face too unlined
to have a past
garage sale —
the flowered couch on which
I became a woman
Credits:
"gossip column" from World Haiku Review: v5n1, copyright © 2005 by Carol Raisfeld; by permission of the author.
"breakfast together" from tinywords.com, 1 May, edge of light: The Red Moon Anthology of English-Language Haiku 2003, and in World Haiku Review, v5, n1, 2005; copyright 2003 by Carol Raisfeld; used by permission of the author
SENRYU
SNAPSHOTS
"Photography has been part of my life since I discovered an old Brownie camera on a shelf in the attic when I was eight years old. I've always taken photos and learned a lot from my father who used to pose the family for 'candid' shots." Carol Raisfeld.
|
