Unexpected delightfulness!

• - post of unexpected delights -

so cool, unexpected, and I shall drum my own shillala a bit - thought I had the wrong word, but, perfect!  Shillala is a town in Ireland!  Beautimous name!  Received notice a senryu of mine, published in a 2012 issue of Shamrock Haiku Journal (the international Irish Haiku Society), has been selected by members/contributors as best of year 2012...

old iron bed frame

the lover my pillows

gossip about

I have to/want to create a post about Shamrock soon, embarrassed I haven’t - for now, just go there - http://shamrockhaiku.webs.com/currentissue.htm - 

editor Anthony Kudryavitsky, writing as Anatoly Kudryavitsky, has a bio and ongoing creative endeavors of international import, most worthy and fascinating - his website is http://kudryavitsky.webs.com 

Candi Cooper-Towler, haiku poet/mad sock scientist, one of two poets featured in the last bear creek post, has writing endeavors beyond anything I’ve approached - 

http://reddragonfly.deviantart.com/ - had no idea (‘til now) of her extensive publishing/editing endeavors - 

from Anne Curran, Hamiltonian and fine New Zealand poet (also in last post), a cornucopia of NZ poets, including a favorite of Anne's, Adrienne Jansen - from Adrienne Jansen’s bio: ‘poet and teacher, she writes both fiction and non-fiction. She has worked extensively with immigrants to New Zealand, and many of her books reflect this experience. Jansen's first book, Having a Baby in New Zealand (1985), is published in Samoan, Cantonese, Vietnamese and Khmer as well as English. Her first novel, Spirit Writing (1999), followed the publication of her poetry and shorter fiction. Her first collection of poetry, a stone seat and a shadow tree, was published in 2001’.  Am jealous - who wouldn't love to have poems published in Samoan and Khmer?

• also, mention of a NZ journal publishing Japanese verse forms, 'Kokako NZ' (Kokako, an endangered native bird of New Zealand), editor Patricia Prime, widely published/so well known
• and other NZ poets I’ve yet to investigate/appreciate - 

this, a somewhat scattered/unfocused post - so much, so uplifting!  several future (focused) posts just barely mentioned - and 

see you in a moment 

ayaz daryl nielsen

Aroha! two fine poets - Anne Curran (Hamiltonian) and Candi Cooper-Towler (Coloradan)

This post just makes me feel better (and I fully expect your day to be a bit more uplifted, also):  I’ve the honor of presenting exceedingly fine poems from two poets, one who lives in the same city I do- Candi Cooper-Towler (we live in Boulder County, Colorado, USA, the Longmont-Boulder area), coupled with the creative endeavors of another fine poet, a Hamiltonian, Anne Curran, who lives in Hamilton, New Zealand.   And!    

These poems (and these two poets) embody ‘aroha’! - 

aroha  ‘ɑːrɒhə’  noun New Zealand  

love; affection.

• sympathy.

ORIGIN Maori

Poets from (almost) geographically opposite (and equally lovely) homes upon our planet!  

...ok, yes, I’ll hush up, let us read of poets and their poetry...

a stillness

after the rain...

my cat beneath camellias

winter evening

a neighbor's 

lighted window

a flurry of 

neighborly conversations

- nor'wester blowing

Anne’s bio (and more of her poetry):

I am a Hamiltonian. While I have been a teacher for

 most of my professional life, I am currently doing

 home help work. While teaching I have taken time to

 write a poetry collection titled, 'Birds of Paradise'.

 I have been writing haiku for about three years now.

 I have enjoyed some fantastic mentoring along the way,

 and remain in admiration of many haiku poets, in

 particular New Zealand poets.

 Another leisure activity I enjoy is visiting local art

 galleries and the Waikato museum in Hamilton.

 My family is important to me. I am especially

 grateful for the love and mentoring of my parents, Kevin

 and Nina. I have come to an appreciation in life for good

 friends, food, health, and of course, good haiku.

whirling leaves ...

the conversations

in my head

summer drive

we turn right

into the graveyard

poetry forum

building nests

from twigs

saying good-night...

seven stars

in constellation

the moon's light..

full lips pout

from a billboard

shorter days…

wizened grapes

cling to the vine                     'A Hundred Gourds', June 2012

a man alone

on a porch …

smoke unfurling                          Bones Journal, Dec 2012

sunset drives

a lone swimmer

towards a Norfolk pine               ‘A Fine Line’, September 2011

as she turns to leave

my mother’s

girlish smile                            Valley Micropress, June, 2010

counting the minutes …

husband and wife

leave hand in hand                       A Fine Line Dec 2011

(this is my most favorite:)

voices of India

from a kitchen window

smell of curry                        MicroValley Press, October 2010

From Anne Curran:  ‘I really look forward to reading the blog post including the work of Candi Cooper-Towler. It is exciting news.’

And!  Candi Cooper-Towler!  (it just doesn’t get any better than this!)  (Well, possibly with ice cream) -

herd of 

dry leaves

clattering by

having bought the tombstone

we sit in the car-

a dragonfly hovers

my father's grave-

black branches reach up

frosted with moonlight

Candi Cooper-Towler was born in Boulder City, Nevada and now lives in Boulder County, Colorado.  She shares her life with her novelist husband, two black cats, a dog and a horse.  Hobbies beyond haiku include hiking, horseback archery, dog agility, and video gaming.  Her main goals in life are to own a house with a turret, and get daydreaming accepted as an Olympic sport.

Hangover

just before dawn

the hunchbacked moon

limps home 

Onomea Bay

locals climb the fence-

we are content

with the rocky beach

a cat's balance-

if you stop petting me

I'll fall

cats in the hall

shifting to find

last afternoon light

along the driveway

brown puffed doves

decorate bare branches

bloody knuckles

but the toilet works

cat inside 

a paper bag

cat on top

shopping

none of my scribbles

match the wine labels

(I’ve two most favorites:)

I want to tell you

this year

I kept my roses alive

I don’t want to go anywhere

well maybe

ice cream

ice cream - am now on the better side of a so-called ‘crud’ that’s in our area (sinus/respiratory stuff) - it’s almost time to choose which ice cream flavor is appropriate for a well-being celebration (might possibly be necessary to experiment with at least three flavors) 

You know what?  The above poetry has helped!  Thank you, Anne, thank you, Candi!

questions, concerns, corrections, and, especially, your own most favorite poems you would choose to send for consideration in this blog (poetry in this blog also finds a home in print pub bear creek haiku, poems should be under 11 +/- lines and fit on a 3 x 11 inch page - darylayaz@me.com  or  darylayaz@gmail.com  
and/or

bear creek haiku    

po box 3787   

boulder  co  

80307   usa

have thoroughly appreciated working with/creating this post because of the contents -  

and! -

see you in a moment 

ayaz daryl nielsen