Adjei Agyei-Baah: Scaring Crow

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Adjei Agyei-Baah ~
Scaring Crow Haiku

Gregory Piko

Adjei Agyei-Baah is a widely published poet from Ghana. He has written several books including Afriku (Red Moon Press, 2016) and is co-founder of the Africa Haiku Network and The Mamba (Africa’s premiere haiku journal). Adjei is currently pursuing his PhD studies in New Zealand.

Earlier in 2022, Buttonhook Press released Adjei’s new haiku chapbook: Scaring Crow. With a Foreword by Hiroaki Sato, the collection comprises 102 haiku about scarecrows. You can read the entire book for free by clicking this link to the Buttonhook Press website. Here are some of Adjei’s haiku:

parting mist . . .
the open arms
of a scarecrow

ghost story —
a scarecrow vanishes
from the pole

Throughout the book, Adjei presents strong images and finds fresh ways of relating the scarecrow’s interaction with birds, the farmer and the seasons:

midnight banter
the drunken farmer
and a scarecrow

Harmattan —
even the scarecrow

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#FathersDay2022. Please join Christina Chin and I in speaking of this day. I will feature your published/unpublished poetry/short prose/artworks about Dads. Please include a short third person bio.

~ Christina Chin ~ 1 Comment

Father’s Day Feature by The Wombwell Rainbow. Thanks Paul Brookes.

The Wombwell Rainbow

Fathers Day by Christina Chin

-Christina Chin (She says: June is Father’s Day month and I’m pleased to have a haiga published. Thank you Marie Marshall. The next Showcase at the zen space will be Summer 2022 https://thezenspace.wordpress.com/experience/spring-2022-showcase/

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Haiku by Chen Xiaoou in China (13)

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Beautiful Haiku by Chen Xiaoou.
Translations by Hiruta.

Akita International Haiku Network

Ten English Haiku

Ten English haiku, the firstfourof which are on the theme oftheAncient World, and the fifth based upona Folk Tale from Japan

in his field
he leaves some grain
for poor women        
 
(Ancient Hebrews)

畑に
彼はいくつかの穀物を残す
貧しい女性のために
 
Mesopotamia
I visit the birthplace
of civilization        
 
(Ancient Mesopotamia)

メソポタミア
私は発祥の地を訪ねる
文明の
 
almost buried
Sphinx in the sands
long millennia        
 
(Ancient Egypt)

ほとんど埋もれている
砂の中のスフィンクス
長い数千年

weak children
left on hillside to die
Spartan education      
 
(Ancient Greece)

弱い子供たち
丘の中腹に残されて亡くなった
スパルタ教育

Sea Princess
keeps Urashima’s age
in a little box 

海の乙姫
浦島の年齢を保つ
小さな箱に

Year of Hu
tiger on front door         
kirigami          

寅年
正面玄関の虎
切り紙

pond-side
cherry petals falling to
join their reflection

池のわき
桜の花びらが落ちる
影に加わるために     
 
streets and houses
drowned in the floods
of blossoms
 
(first published in Sakura Haiku Challenge)

通りや家
一杯に浸された
花で
 
water lily
all over the old pond
no moon reflected
 
(first published in Japan Society)

睡蓮
古い池中に
月が映らない
 
sand castle…

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World Haiku Series 2021 (76) Haiku by Chen-ou Liu

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Sharing Haiku by Chen-ou Liu.
Translations by Hiruta.

Akita International Haiku Network

harvesting done
the pumpkin carriage
in a migrant's dream

収穫が終わった
カボチャの馬車
移民の夢の中

city hallway
behind the mayor
shadows gather

市の廊下
市長の背後に
影が集まる

green shoots
emerge from the stump
smell of sunshine

緑の芽
切り株から出てくる
太陽の匂い

grandpa's chair
rocking the silence
foreclosure

おじいちゃんの椅子
沈黙を揺さぶる
質流れ

day of release
a blue butterfly lifts
from its shadow

解放の日
青い蝶が浮き上がる
その影から

all night rain ...
listening to the voice 
of a wrong call

一晩中雨
間違い電話の呼び出しの
声を聞く

home from work 
my father's steps slower
to enter

仕事から家へ
父の歩みがいつもよりのろい
入るのに

dawn held in this dewdrop
on a bent blade of grass

この露のしずくに含まれている夜明け
曲がった草の葉の上

a row of tents on the sidewalk 
puddles brim with winter stars

歩道に一列に並んだテント
冬の星でいっぱいの水たまり

rose petals falling in love again with love

再び愛に恋するバラの花びら

― Translated into Japanese by Hidenori Hiruta

Bio:

Chen-ou Liu lives in Ajax, Ontario, Canada.

He is the author of five books, including Following the Moon to the Maple Land (First…

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World Haiku Series 2021 (74) Haiku by Charlotte Digregorio

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Beautiful haiku!

Akita International Haiku Network

caregiving ends . . .
silence in
my childhood homeHonorable Mention, Illinois State Poetry Society Annual Contest, 2021

介護が終る
沈黙
私の子供の頃の家に

advancing age . . .
the ebb tide
sculpts my feetVisiting The Wind, Haiku Society of America Members’ Anthology, 2021

加齢
引き潮が
私の足の形をととのえる

pond in the park
homeless woman pockets
the penniesbottle rockets, Issue #44, February, 2021

公園の池
ホームレスの女性がポケットに入れる
ペニーを

dawn breaks
on the commuter train . . .
yesterday’s dusty windowsEast on Central, 2021 Edition

夜明け
通勤電車で
昨日のほこりっぽい窓

notice of his death . . .
water cascades
over jagged rocksFrogpond, Vol. 44:1, Winter 2021

彼の死の通知
水が滝のように落ちる
ギザギザの岩の上に

away at college . . .
the dog naps in his room
at home
Haiku Canada Review, Fall 2021

大学から離れて
犬が彼の部屋で昼寝する
家で

honeymoon . . .
steady across the stream’s stones
we pause for the stars
Pushcart Prize Nomination, 2021
Quill…

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Haiku Competitions in Japan

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Gregory Piko

Many organisations in Japan conduct haiku competitions and, given the world-wide popularity of the genre, several competitions invite haiku written in the English language (several links to these competitions are provided at the end of this post).

I was fortunate to have two haiku recognised in recent Japanese contests: the Basho-an International English Haiku Competition and the Soka Matsubara International Haiku Competition.

The famous Japanese haiku poet, Matsuo Basho (1644-1694), moved to Fukagawa on the outskirts of Tokyo in 1680, where he lived in a rustic hut built by his disciples. From that time, Basho took his name from the Japanese banana tree, or ‘basho’, planted in the yard. It was here that Basho wrote many of his most famous works including his ‘old pond’ haiku.

The Basho-an competition is sponsored by the Koto City Basho Museum which is located on the banks of the Sumida River in the…

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World Haiku Series 2021 (67) Haiku by Kala Ramesh

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Kala Ramesh featured in Akita International Haiku Network by Hidenori Hiruta.

Akita International Haiku Network

artists retreat —
what moonlight does
to a lotus budPresence Haiku Journal- issue #69  March 2021

アーティストの隠遁
月明かりは何だろう
蓮のつぼみに

tinkling bells
cows bring home
the twilight hourThe Heron’s Nest – December 2021

チリンチリンと鳴る鈴
牛が家に持ち帰る
たそがれの時間を

mountain trek
my steps ringed
with birdsong Wales Haiku Journal: Autumn 2021

マウンテントレッキング
私の足音が響いた
小鳥のさえずりと共に

chapati dough ...
tiny fingers modelling
a castle

Golden Triangle Haiku Contest 2021

チャパティの錬り粉
小さな指が模型を作る
城

at day's end the moon waxing eloquent
Wales Haiku Journal: Winter issue, Jan 2021

一日の終わりに月が表情豊かに満ちている

vultures
around a dead elephant -
tusks missing
Modern Haiku: issue 52.1, February 2021

ハゲワシ
死んだ象の周り
牙がない

Modern Haiku – issue 52:3 fall 2021

the river dancing with moonlight 
    a loneliness in the boatman's song

Modern Haiku – issue 52:3 fall 2021

月明かりの下で踊る川
    船頭の歌の寂しさ

mother’s wheeze ...
through her window
the night-long rainindianKUKAI, September 2021

母の喘鳴
窓から
一晩中雨

again the wood-deep…

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