autumn heat the swelling of a fresh tattoo

w. f. owen

Indian summer the theatre's sticky floor

w. f. owen

October sun the flight of the baseball

w. f. owen

autumn light the folds in my eyelids

w. f. owen

John Lennon, 70, RIP . . .

in remission she pulls tubers from the garden

w. f. owen

first rain i turn over a new leaf

w. f. owen

Sale on my two ebooks during October!
Go to Smashwords.com and enter these codes
to get Haiku Notebook and Small Events (my haibun
book) for $3.99 (regularly $5.99):
Haiku Notebook (code: BG34V)
Small Events (code: RX98T)
Both are in the second edition.


Happy Haiku!
Bill

autumn heat pith clings to the orange

w. f. owen

end of summer the hot wind without sound

w. f. owen

sitting with full bellies we tell tall tales

w. f. owen

late summer sunburn tomato skin between my teeth

w. f. owen

burnt grass the papery sound of dragonfly wings

w. f. owen

late summer heat we climb above the tree line

w. f. owen

we pause by the river debris in an eddy

w. f. owen

summer's end my flip-flopped heel scrapes the ground

w. f. owen

heat wave the white left by a fallen scab

w. f. owen

distant lightning tree roots hang from the cliff

w. f. owen

day's end farmers talk across the pickup bed

w. f. owen

tree canopy the dogface butterfly floats

w. f. owen

summer evening the clink of a horseshoe

w. f. owen

summer dusk a dried flower in my flip-flop

w. f. owen

mixed family blackened hot dogs on the grill

w. f. owen

new moon she comes darkly

w. f. owen

recession from the edge of the porch he spits

w. f. owen

midsummer morning the uneven hum of the pool pump

w. f. owen

July afternoon wind from the boy on a bike

w. f. owen

Small Events: Haibun by W. F. Owen (Expanded 2nd Ed.)

Hi All,

My haibun book now is available as an ebook (all major formats)
by clicking on the title above. Here is the description:

Awarded Best Haibun book by the Haiku Society of America in 2008, 
this expanded second edition offers sixty haibun. A haibun links brief, 
imagistic and poetic prose with one or more haiku. Traced to Basho’s 
17th century travel writings, these English-language haibun involve 
concrete stories (small events) where the everyday becomes remarkable. 
Come join the author in reliving these epiphanies. 


You can check out a free sample of 25% of the book there.


Thanks! Soon, I will resume posting new material here.

Bill

Haiku Notebook (2nd Ed.) on sale!

As an introductory offer, my ebook is on sale (50% off) this month.
I also have my sci-fi novel on sale at Smashwords.com as well.

By the way, I am preparing a 2nd Expanded Ed. of my haibun book
(Small Events) and it should be available in all ebook formats by
the end of the month. Some of you may know that book was awarded
Best Haibun book by the Haiku Society of America in 2008.
I'll let you know when it's available. Thanks!

summer morning they hold the Tai Chi pose

w. f. owen

Second Edition of Haiku Notebook

Haiku Notebook (second edition) is available
now as an ebook on smashwords.com. Soon, it
should be available on Apple's iBooks.
Click the title above for the link.

summer solstice i let dad talk and talk

w. f. owen

flowers arranged she fluffs her hair

w. f. owen

garbage heap flies laying eggs in the eggshells

w. f. owen

the limb i planned to prune whips in the wind

w. f. owen

the yellow school bus still comes out this far
with only a handful of kids most are grown and
gone to the cities where jobs might be some hit
the high seas with dixie cups on their heads some
packed a weapon in the dusty towns in a war far
from that bus and from the yellow ribbons they'll
never see

walking his property the call to supper

w. f. owen

May morning dueling mowers and motorcycles

w. f. owen

In my opinion, one of the best guides for beginning haiku poets
is by Lee Gurga (Haiku: A Poet's Guide). I mention that because he describes nuances between
haiku, senryu and poems not quite fitting either type, such as
the one he used of mine: "removing her sweater/the spark/no longer there"
(p.57). Perhaps my recent post of "blossoming sky" also is not exactly haiku. Check it out.
Over the summer, in preparation for revising haiku notebook as an ebook, I'll be rereading other haiku books such as Gurga's and may post some missives here.

blossoming sky she sits with the grownups

w. f. owen

silent treatment i negotiate the artichoke

w. f. owen

not hot not cold i share the sidewalk with a snail

w. f. owen

i save the skipping stone for the right moment

w. f. owen

clutched in his fist a swollen tree bud

w. f. owen

cataracts the bathtub ring around the lake

w. f. owen

our silence we catch and release the trout

w. f. owen

May heat the bright glare of white legs

w. f. owen

the bird with one foot first to the seeds

w. f. owen

pulling weeds the holes full of spring sun

w. f. owen

overcast the drab koi swims alone

w. f. owen

spring evening we split the last slice of pie

w. f. owen

past loves i slice the asparagus diagonally

w. f. owen

first warm day feeding the sourdough starter

w. f. owen

intermittent rain here and there a snail

w. f. owen

longer days the fruit tree begins its droop

w. f. owen

pouring the honey first signs of spring

w. f. owen

slow day a flash of minnows in the bucket

w. f. owen

backyard fishing we cast at the laundry basket

w. f. owen

spring clouds the ladybug lifts a wing

w. f. owen

years later money in her coffee can

w. f. owen

catch and release the old couple packs up

w. f. owen

intermittent rain my handshake stops his tremors

w. f. owen

after rain the silky black of a roadside crow

w. f. owen

Download our (CVHC-Central Valley Haiku Club) latest book of haibun and haiku at:

http://www.valleyhaiku.org/html/among_wildflowers.html

Recent publications from Frogpond Vol. 33, Number 1, Winter 2010:

in the half-light of morning

here in Hawaii in a room which really was a garage cleaned up just enough to be livable i survey the aches from the previous long day of diving for a living and it was a good job though no health insurance or even surety of a next meal i peer out to the tatami mats strung together to hide the grease underneath now full in spots with sand dragged in from the beach just inside the door a mouse sits up on its hind legs and i think for a moment to get up and shoo it away but no let it be it adds charm to the place so i drift back into sleep eyelids closed i see the ocean floor much like i did so often when spearing fish while free diving for hours i drift and that screen plays a movie of lava rock and fish flitting i dream . . . my long-time friend with a droopy face from Bell's palsy which lasts only a week he feels it will be forever maybe a stroke but he is only in his 30s so i try to reassure him and think better of joking about the times i shot fish through both eyes they twitched at the end of the spear but that was just reflex

in tree shade i ink one side of the fish

(page 57)


heat wave the scratch of a sun-dried towel

(page 25)

w. f. owen

where land meets sea a couple hand in hand

w. f. owen

time change we have the same old argument

w. f. owen

late frost the librarian's caked lipstick

w. f. owen

scratch scratch circling the dog lies down

w. f. owen

spring sun she finally hits the high note

w. f. owen

faucet dripping i remember the dream

w. f. owen

spring night he tries on the hand-me-down shirts

w. f. owen

Valentine's Day the bird tries his song

w. f. owen

winter sun i tear the sourdough bread

w. f. owen

patchy fog a beggar on each corner

w. f. owen

rain ends the water bill reads 10,000 gallons

w. f. owen

rain again the curled water hose captures mud

w. f. owen

winter fog a dog walks closer to the boy

w. f. owen

New Year's Eve we ate this last year

w. f. owen

cold snap a clump of matted dog hair

w. f. owen

hanging ornaments the people not here

w. f. owen

autumn wake two baking cups hold my muffin

w. f. owen

river walk a dog zigzags the trail

w. f. owen

photo album no one to ask who's who

w. f. owen

dead bird so much smaller now

w. f. owen

autumn evening we start a picture puzzle

w. f. owen

bird song the autumn fog lifting

w. f. owen

under a mottled sky the wine grapes hang

w. f. owen

brighter than the sky the blue dragonfly

w. f. owen

autumn begins a line of char from the fire

w. f. owen

summer's end strands of hair in the curry-comb

w. f. owen

last brick laid the apprentice loads the truck

w. f. owen

Labor Day the pale day moon

w. f. owen

filling the pause in traffic the fountain

w. f. owen

sunrise her hat bobs above the garden

w. f. owen

dad's hearing cold clothes in the dryer

w. f. owen

the wildfire rages he licks his chapped lips

w. f. owen

i place a pole for the red dragonfly

w. f. owen

gutting a fish i miss my dad

w. f. owen

remission a kid head-butts the air

w. f. owen

heat wave the scratch of a sun-dried towel

w. f. owen