triveni spotlight A FEATURE EVERY ALTERNATE DAY! hosts: Teji Sethi and Kala Ramesh GUEST EDITOR: Michael Dylan Welch
sound of shading . . .
the edge of his palm darkens
with the sketch
Ebba Story Woodnotes #14, Autumn 1992
About the poem:
Ebba’s poem demonstrates a fine awareness, seeing how the artist’s palm darkens as the artwork unfolds. This could be charcoal or pencil shading, or perhaps something else. Either way, the empathy in this poem points to a small consequence tied to an aesthetic endeavor. It’s a minor occupational hazard, but haiku notices just such “minor” details. The poem is about visual art, but is keenly aware of sound, too.
Note by the Editor
Woodnotes triveni spotlight
by Michael Dylan Welch
From 1989 to 1997, in various capacities, I edited or helped to edit Woodnotes, the quarterly journal of the Haiku Poets of Northern California, and in 1996 I took on the journal independently before replacing it with my new journal Tundra. I lived in the San Francisco area for more than a dozen years and was active with HPNC from its first year in 1989 until I moved north to Seattle in 2002. Working on Woodnotes with such coeditors as vincent tripi, Ebba Story, Christopher Herold, and Paul O. Williams was a fine education in the art of haiku. The following are selections of favourite haiku and senryu from the journal’s 31 issues, with brief commentary. These poems are expressions of wonder, or as Billy Collins once described haiku, they exhibit “existential gratitude.” In return, I am deeply grateful for the thousands of poems published in Woodnotes over the years, and the hundreds of poets who contributed to the journal’s success. * * * * * This month is going to be a treat for our members. _()_ Thank you so much, Michael.