triveni spotlight
A FEATURE EVERY ALTERNATE DAY!
hosts: Teji Sethi and Kala Ramesh
guest editor: Stanford M. Forrester/sekiro
Theme: The Editor's Best Haiku from bottle rockets
first snow . . .
shoveling the leaves
I never raked
Lily O'Hare (br40/20:2)
Triveni Haikai India
Walking through some of the back issues of bottle rocket a collection of short verse
bottle rockets is a haiku literary magazine that has been in print for 23 years. At the invitation of Kala Ramesh, I have gone through ten or so back issues and have chosen some haiku, senryu, and short poems that I feel have contributed to the magazine's overall feel. I'm happy to share these poems with the readers of Triveni Haikai India. My only wish is that you will enjoy reading them as much as I have.
—Stanford M. Forrester/sekiro, editor of bottle rockets press
How I wish Stanford to give his views on the reason he selected this poem.
Knock, knock!!
I can relate to this one from having lived in the NorthEast. Raking leaves in the fall can be onerous, because they keep falling and if you have oak trees, they drop their leaves long after the beautiful days of autumn are past. Even if you do rake and think you're done, the wind will bring more and when snow comes, your snow shovel will hit an impenetrable, sodden layer of leaves that you never raked. You find yourself wishing that you had gone out with that rake one more time...
Grin. I see it as a poem about penitence.
nice ku, made me smile.
Brilliant ku, 'never' is a strong word, and it makes me wonder because the haijin says 'raked' and not 'rake'...
A beautiful, multi-layered ku - thank you so much for sharing!