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Autumn 2008, vol 6 no 3
 

SENRYU
Edited by Alan Pizzarelli

 

 

an empty elevator
opens
closes

Jack Cain

 

empty escalators
go up
and down

so what?!

Alan Pizzarelli

 

      ♦

 

It can't be helped;
   My old robe
Is rotting away.

Taneda Santōka

 

it can't be helped
my old man
is rotting away

Roberta Beary

 

      ♦

 

Parody of a Parody:

the gas station man
     points the way
with a gas nozzle

Alan Pizzarelli

 

new translation
the farmer gestures
with a rutabaga

Carlos Colón

 

      ♦

 

Azaleas in a bucket
and in their shade, a woman
tearing up a dried codfish.

Matsuo Bashō

 

Hibiscus in a pot
and in its shade, a boy and girl
playing doctor.

Alexis Rotella

 

      ♦

 

What a long spring day!
catching yawns from one another
we go each our way

Natsume Sōseki

 

What a freezing day!
catching colds from one another
we each go home to bed

Cor van den Heuvel

 

      ♦

 

séance
a white
moth

Raymond Roseliep

 

séance
a white
lie

Alan Pizzarelli

 

      ♦

 

The old rooster crows…
     Out of the mist come the rocks
         And the twisted pine

O. Mabson Southard

 

old Kong beats his chest
out of clouds zoom the biplanes
and the sputtering guns

Michael McClintock

 

      ♦

 

cedar shadows
her whisper guides me
to the squirrel

Laryalee Fraser

 

sexy shadows
her whisper guides me
to her bedroom

Gautam Nadkarni

 

      ♦

 

Sometimes the oddest thing,
  like this orange pip,
    begs not to be thrown away.

J.W. Hackett

 

Sometimes the oddest thing,
  like this bad poem,
    begs not to be thrown away.

Alan Pizzarelli

 


Credits:

Houdini at the Orpheum Poster 1918, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. Parody of Houdini Poster Graphic by Donna Foulke.

"the gas station man" from City Beat, Islet Books, copyright 1991 by Alan Pizzarelli; by permission of the author.

"it can't be helped" from Mountain Tasting Zen Haiku by Taneda Santōka, translated and introduced by John Stevens (Weatherhill 1980).

"an empty elevator" from Haiku Magazine, copyright © 1969 by Jack Cain.

"new translation" from Lynx X:2, as part of "A Lizard's Footsteps" renga with Alexis K. Rotella, copyright © 1995 by Carlos Colón; by permission of the author.

"Azaleas in a bucket", translation by Makoto Ueda, from The Master Haiku Poet Matsuo Bashō, Kodansha Int. Limited, copyright © 1970 by M. Ueda.

"Hibiscus in a pot" first appeared in the Senryu Series no. XI, edited by Alan Pizzarelli, Haiku Canada Newsletter, copyright © 1991 by Alexis Rotella; by permission of the author.

"What a long spring day!", translation by K. Yasuda, from Japanese Haiku, C.E. Tuttle, copyright © 1957 by K. Yasuda.

"What a freezing day!" first appeared in the Senryu Series no. XI, edited by Alan Pizzarelli, Haiku Canada Newsletter, copyright © 1991 by Cor van den Heuvel; by permission of the author.

"séance" from Rabbit in the Moon, Alembic Press, copyright © by Raymond Roseliep.

"The old rooster crows…" from Marsh-grasses, AHP, Platteville, WI, copyright © 1967 by O. Southard.

"old Kong beats his chest" from THEATRICAL FUN WITH O. SOUTHARD, copyright © 2008 by Michael McClintock; by permission of the author.

"cedar shadows" from Simply Haiku (Haiku) winter 2007; copyright © 2007 by Laryalee Fraser; by permission of the author.

"Sometimes the oddest thing" from Haiku Poetry vol 1, Japan Publications, Inc., Tokyo, copyright © by J.W. Hackett.


 

 

sunrise
in the quaint little village
     the cry of a lunatic

Alan Pizzarelli

 

feeding the dog
my neighbor's kidney,
night deepens . . . .

Michael McClintock

 

alone in a forest
the campfire dwindles –
a twig snaps

Aurelio Rico Lopez III

 

In the dark woods
  the glowing eyes of Bigfoot
    ends the weenie roast

Alan Pizzarelli

 

horror movie
my sister screams
between her fingers

Kala Ramesh

 

werewolf movie
at the commercial
letting the dog out

w.f. owen

 

faint light from above
as I mount the stairs alone –
fingers touch my face

Bob Brill

 

zombie in the graveyard
hello and a smile
from the ex

Jennifer Gomoll Popolis

 

the Egyptian tomb guide
proudly immortalized
in National Geographic

LeRoy Gorman

 

Halloween –
Count Dracula in the Superstore
shrink wrapping steaks.

Alexis Rotella

 

meeting the vampire
in the supermarket, touching
the tomato she touched

Michael McClintock

 

serving my dinner
at Jekyll & Hyde restaurant
the waitress with a wart

Mykel Board

 

Company coming
Uri Geller unbends
the spoons

Carlos Colón

 

masquerade ball ~
behind a monster's mask
a bigger monster

Gautam Nadkarni

 


Credits:

"sunrise in the quaint little village" from Senryu Magazine - out to lunch, River Willow Publications, copyright 2001 by Alan Pizzarelli; by permission of the author.

"Feeding the dog" from Poems of Mayhem and Horror, copyright © 2008 by Michael McClintock.

"in the dark woods" from Long Shot Vol. 25, copyright © 2002 by Alan Pizzarelli; by permission of the author.

"werewolf movie" from Frogpond, copyright © 2001 by W.F. Owen; by permission of the author.

"the Egyptian tomb guide" from nothing personal, proof press, copyright © 2001 by LeRoy Gorman; by permission of the author.

"Halloween" from OUCH: Senryu That Bite, Modern English Tanka Press, copyright 2007 by Alexis Rotella; by permission of the author.

"serving my dinner" from Pink Bulldozer, Spring Street Haiku Group, copyright © 1999 by Mykel Board; by permission of the author.

"Company coming" from Sunday at Four VI:3 (1997) as part of "First Date" renga with Alexis K. Rotella, copyright © 1997 by Carlos Colon; by permission of the author.


 

 

the wife who neglected him
makes elaborate plans
for his funeral

Anita Virgil

 

day of the obit
inside his wallet
me at eleven

Roberta Beary

 

funeral home
here too
she straightens his tie

Roberta Beary

 

cremation ground ~
a child smiling with
a lollipop

Narayanan Raghunathan

 

after the funeral
the widow shops
an adult bookstore

Francis Masat

 

At Uncle's grave,
only the cleaning lady
sobs.

Alexis Rotella

 

my father's grave,
on vacations
and holiday weekends

John Stevenson

 

boyhood friends –
side by side in trenches
still together row by row

Carol Raisfeld

 

funeral procession
the last car
picks up a hitchhiker

Ed Markowski

 

In the guest room
where my mother slept
I look for comfort.

Alexis Rotella

 

a little matter
in the end
what I
urn
*

LeRoy Gorman

 


Credits:

Photograph of Edgar Allan Poe's gravesite in Baltimore, MD, copyright © 2007 by Alan Pizzarelli.

"day of the obit" from Moonset 4:1, copyright © 2008 by Roberta Beary; by permission of the author.

"Funeral home" from The Unworn Necklace, Snapshot Press, copyright © 2007 by Roberta Beary; by permission of the author.

"At Uncle's grave" OUCH: Senryu That Bite, Modern English Tanka Press, copyright 2007 by Alexis Rotella; by permission of the author.

"my father's grave"from Upstate Dim Sum, copyright © 2006 by John Stevenson; by permission of the author.

"funeral procession" from raw nervz X:3, copyright © 2005 by Ed Markowski; by permission of the author.

"In the guest room" from On a White Bud, Merging Media, copyright 1983 by Alexis Rotella; by permission of the author.


 

EDITOR'S NOTE
Regarding Parody and Fair Use:

Fair use is the right, in some circumstances, to quote copyrighted material without asking permission or paying for it. It is a crucial feature of copyright law and what keeps copyright from being censorship. You can invoke fair use when the value to the public of what you are saying outweighs the cost to the private owner of the copyright.

Please note that the SENRYU e-mail address has been changed
FROM: PoetryA@peoplepc.com
TO: PoetryA@comcast.net