haiku by Kent Mannis

Summer, Fall, Winter

Like Costco toilet paper 

Bulk products run low

My husband Kent wrote the occasional poem. In this case it’s the very American version of haiku, the 5-7-5 syllable count what makes it haiku. Kent does refer to the seasons, which is considered another requirement of Japanese haiku. The Japanese want a haiku to evoke the feeling of a particular time of year. Does Kent’s? Perhaps the poem means to evoke winter -- the “bulk products” of nature are abundant in summer, but gradually peter out in fall, winter offering the smallest amounts. 

Kent appends a note, “3 season Haiku.” Was that was the challenge? Write a poem that includes three of the four seasons?

Every so often I sort a pile of papers and today I found the haiku on a crumpled square of paper from a logo notepad. It is undated.

one-line haiku in five fleas

A one-line haiku appears in the January 22 issue of five fleas.

four haiku in Trash Panda

Trash Panda, vol. 3, summer 2022, contains four of my haiku. The magazine is hard copy subscription only, and the editor does not sell individual copies — and is already out of the issue anyway. Too bad. It’s a handsome magazine, and it was a good read. 

haiku at brass bell

The theme for this issue of brass bell haiku is “kitchen.”

The poems are organized alphabetically, by the first name of the poet, so scroll down for “Glenn Ingersoll.”

haiku in brass bell

A one-line haiku appears in the issue of brass bell: a haiku journal that posted on Feb 1st. 

Editor Zee Zehava runs the haiku alphabetically by the poet’s first name, so scroll down to the Gs for Glenn Ingersoll.

haiku in haiku kontinuum

A haiku about peanuts appears in haiku kontinuum, a haiku ezine out of Hungary.

My haiku appears in issue #2 on page 27 (they number the pages).

haiku at Spillwords

Follow the link to a haiku about serving coffee. 

I discovered Spillwords when a friend published there. When I looked at the submission guidelines I saw that they would consider a single haiku. I’m not sure why that appealed to me so much. Anyway, I'm glad they liked the one I offered.

“Renga of Haiga” at Arteidiolia

Alan Bern, Rebecca Radner, and I collaborated on a photo/poetry piece. We’ve collaborated before on renga, but this is the first time we included (and responded to) photographs. The editor of Arteidiolia wanted to publish our “Renga of Haiga” (renga being a haiku chain; haiga being a combination of haiku and image), but he only wanted excerpts. Alan, Rebecca, and I decided we were okay with that. Just one of the photos is mine. The accompanying words are more of a mix of contributions. 

“Renga of Haiga”

It turned out well, I think. 

four haiku at Heliosparrow

Four haiku posted on 14 November at Heliosparrow.

This one, among them:

a breeze 

shades and unshades

the leaf litter

haiku in brass bell

The theme for October’s brass bell was “numbers,” specifically editor Zee Zahava wanted Arabic numerals, that is, 1, 2, 3, etc.

This is the one of mine she chose:

on the porch
3 peanut shells
wet with squirrel spit
    Glenn Ingersoll

check out the whole issue.

haiku in brass bell

Editor Zee Zahava requested new haiku for this issue of brass bell, that is, poems written from 8/26 to 8/29. I felt some inspiration so had several to send. She chose:

chasing the last berry

around the bowl

morning fog

Many good ones in the issue. Look for those by Al Peat, Brad Bennett, Bryan Rickert, Joe Sebastian, Kathleen Kramer … Sunflowers! Shadows! A laundry disaster! Plus both a shooting star and a meteor. 

one haiku in brass bell

The theme for the June 2021 issue of brass bell haiku is “sounds.”

The editor runs the poems in alphabetical order by the first name of the poet.

So scroll down to “Glenn” to find a honeybee.

two haiku in brass bell

The theme for the May 2021 issue of brass bell haiku is “edible haiku.”

The editor runs the poems in alphabetical order by the first name of the poet.

So scroll down to “Glenn” to find this haiku

before the trip

finishing the berries

in expired yogurt

and one more.

I wrote a batch of haiku to the theme just before we went on our Belize trip, and these were the two editor Zee Zahava picked.

haiku in bottle rockets #44

bottle rockets #44, 2021

haiku in bottle rockets #43

One of my haiku is in the August 2020 bottle rockets, issue #43. 

Glenn Ingersoll page at Living Senryu Anthology

There is now a page of Glenn Ingersoll poems at the Living Senryu Anthology. 

If you are familiar with haiku, you’ve got a start on senryu. In fact, much of what we think of haiku in the West is, according to anthology’s editors, actually senryu. Do visit the page at the anthology that both describes senryu and distinguishes it from haiku. 

I first discovered the Living Haiku Anthology and a couple of months ago I applied to be included. Editor Don Baird wrote back to say many of the poems struck him as senryu, though he did say that there is overlap in the two forms. I followed the link he provided to the Living Senryu Anthology and enjoyed browsing the poems collected there. Today I am happy to learn that my work has been included in it. 

My thanks to Bryan Rickert and the rest of the editorial board.  

At present I have the “I” section of the index all to myself. 

two one-line haiku at Bones

Two one-line haiku in the March 15, 2020 issue of Bones: journal for the short verse (no. 19).

In issue 19 the poems are arranged by each poet's first name; mine appear on p. 59 & 60.

This is the second time my haiku have appeared in Bones. I never posted a link to the first, so I'll do that now. Back then it was called Bones: journal for contemporary haiku:

Bones no. 10, July 15, 2016

The poems appear on pages 3 and 38. They are rather weirder than the newer poems. It’s pretty cool that Bones remains open to poems that are rather weird. 

renga in Berkeley Times, August 15, 2019

The Berkeley Times publishes an annual poetry issue. This year’s issue (August 15, 2019, vol. 9, no. 19) includes excerpts from the renga Alan Bern, Rebecca Radner, and I composed last fall/winter. 

The renga, Bay Area Generations reading

Here is the renga Rebecca Radner, Alan Bern, and I performed for Bay Area Generations on August 26.

Bay Area Generations reading, August 26

Alan Bern and Rebecca Radner and I will be reading a renga (a haiku conversation) as part of the Bay Area Generations series. 

Bay Area Generations Show #72

Monday, August 26, 2019

7:00-9:00 pm

at Joyce Gordon Gallery

406 14th Ave, Oakland, CA

requested donation $10, includes a program reproducing all the performed works.

A literary salon featuring curated works of San Francisco Bay Area poets, writers and storytellers.

The full line up:

Guy Biederman + Tony Aldarondo

Lyra Halprin + Julia Jackson

Sam Delaune + Erica Peck

Alan Bern + Glenn Ingersoll + Rebecca Radner

Natasha Dennerstein + RFS 

The three of us read with Bay Area Generations a year ago. It was great! Hope to see you there.