Roswila's Dream & Poetry Realm

SEE ALSO: TRYING TO HOLD A BOX OF LIGHT (photos, realistic to abstract)

Saturday, August 12, 2006

REVIEW OF "ANCIENT SKIES," A SCIFAIKU COLLECTION BY OINO SAKAI


"A haiku is a captured moment in time.
A scifaiku is a captured moment in a possible future."


by Oino Sakai
Illustrator: Andrea Gradidge; Editor: Teri Santitoro
Web site: Sam's Dot Publishing
Email: samsdot@samsdotpublishing.com
P.O. Box 782
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52406-0782 USA


This book was a special joy to read as it shares a form of poetry I am extremely fond of and write in myself: scifaiku. In one of the scifaiku, the author expresses exactly what I experienced as I read through his collection:

imagination         bigger on the inside


I'd re-read a poem to savor it and something more would open up. Sometimes a deepening of feeling:

written in frost
inside the visor --
death poem

...in this instance, connecting a future scene to an ancient classic haiku tradition of writing a poem near one's death.


Other times, an entire futuristic story would unfold from three short lines:

holed starship
table set for forty
frost covered


And at other times, a light touch of humor would spread:

happy smile --
four teeth
8 tentacles


I also found myself seeing through alien eyes:

eyes cast down
as is only proper
they shake our earstalks

...and reveling in the wonderful haibun (scifaiku with prose) about a generous-spirited, star-ship towing squid race.

This collection also includes touching, entertaining and thought provoking futuristic writing in other poetry forms such as tanka, kanshi, acrostika, fibonacci, and stellarenga. It is nicely highlighted with artwork. The cover haiga (illustrated scifaiku) is especially moving -- the graphic at the top of this post does not do it justice.

The over-all effect of these poems is of a deep yearning. A yearning for that which the imagination insists is possible, if only for now in poetry. Treat yourself to a feast of imagination, both this author's and your own, and buy this book. You will also be supporting the free and small indie presses by doing so. These presses are where imagination and its sibling, experimentation, can still roam free.

* * * *

‘til next time, keep dreaming,

Roswila

[aka: Patricia Kelly]

****If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or poems, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”)****My other blog: ROSWILA’S TAROT GALLERY & JOURNAL.

Thursday, August 10, 2006

OF BIRDS & NAMES (A Haiku, A Scifaiku Series & A Dream Haiku)

[digital art by Jonathan Cummings on webshots.com]


live cam:
the osprey looks all around
from her nest

Click here to see the live cam of osprey on the nest.
It's been an eery exprience every time I've visited the site. I always have the odd sense the bird knows I am watching and is looking right back at me whenever it turns my way. (Yes, there may be activity around the cam, but still...:-D) Now, take that feeling further into positing a sentient and psychic bird-like race, and you have the source of the below scifaiku series I wrote in July of this year:


THE NAMING

turn wrestle turn
the hardness cracks
the world rocks open

exhausted mind-search
where is The Keeper

wet wings
tremble in a rush of wind
The Keeper lands

open mouth
greets His bright beauty

The Keeper fills
all emptiness with song
I dream my name


Lastly, here's a haiku about a dream I had a few days after writing "The Naming:"


reconciliation
will be your name
last words heard


* * * *

Resource: Ten Penny Players, Inc., an arts in education program, is a resourceful site for writing educators, but that's not all that's here -- e.g., be sure to check out "Hello World" to hear some New York City poets read their work.

‘til next time, keep dreaming,

Roswila

[aka: Patricia Kelly]

****If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or poems, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”)****My other blog: ROSWILA’S TAROT GALLERY & JOURNAL.