WHCshowcase: HAIKU TOKUSEN
(Haiku of Special Merit)
- From the Past Selections -
WHCshowcase started its life on 13 November 2004 to display the choicest works in haiku and haiku-related literary genres in order to create a centre of excellence for people to enjoy and use as a reference point.
Out of many works shown already, sixteen haiku poems have been selected as works deserving special attention. We employ a celebrated Japanese haiku term for those works thus selected, TOKUSEN, which means 'especially chosen' literally but we translate it as 'poems of special merit'. Tokusen poems can be said to be some of the finest examples of contemporary haiku.
*
(In the order of appearance. Numbers are unique to
the works in WHCshowcase)
1
storm swept beach -
inside an empty shell,
empty barnacles . . .
Carole MacRury (USA)
3
a cat watches me
across the still pond,
across our difference
Paul O. Williams (USA)
4
spring shower -
even communists took shelter
within church walls
Tomislav Maretic (Croatia)
7
mountain journey
clouds and temple bells
between the peaks
Carol Raisfeld (USA)
9
spring in the air
earth smelling of
earth again
Gabi Greve (Japan)
14
a deep breath
of mountain air
I choke on snowflakes
Marlene Egger (USA)
18
poppies in the field -
the old soldier picks one
for his buttonhole
Adelaide Shaw (USA)
23
spring scents
the dog and I walk
through different worlds
Kirsty Karkow (USA)
33
scattered blossoms...
two umbrellas go chatting
in the rain
Carol Raisfeld (USA)
45
graveside -
echo of gravel
against the coffin
Allen M. Terdiman, USA
47
mid-summer -
wishing your breasts
were melons
Robert Wilson (USA)
63
glacier in the lake -
a splash is seen
before it is heard
Vaughn Seward, Canada
64
autumn lawn...
more leaf-mulching
than grass-cutting
Vaughn Seward, Canada
65
dripping mist
pulls the sky
into the valley
Kala Ramesh, India
67
crowded bus
every passenger breathes
the same autumn
Israel López Balan, Mexico
81
first snow—
my child's footprints no longer
fit into mine
an'ya, USA