#Haikai Challenge 124 (2/2/20): Martha Magenta Tribute #haiku #senryu #haibun #tanka #haiga #renga

Hope you enjoyed the twittering, haijin! Congratulations to last week’s contributors:

Haikai Challenge Participants

1. Jane Dougherty
2. Eugenia
3. Jade Li/Lisa

Ultreya!

Last week, we learned that we lost haijin Martha Magenta:

Martha Magenta lived in Bristol, UK. Her haiku, haibun, senryu, and tanka have appeared in many journals and anthologies. She was awarded Honorable Mentions in contests for haiku, tanka and haibun in 2017/2018. She is listed on The European Top 100 haiku authors, 2017.
Martha was in a hospice for the last week of her life and was well looked after – her son was with her at the end. She passed away on January 14, 2020.
from her Haiku Registry profile

As many of you know, I often reblogged her work:

One Man’s Maple Moon: Shimmer Tanka
English Original

sometimes
a shimmer on the stair
a trace of your scent
lingers in my memory
and fills the air I breathe
First published: The Bamboo Hut, Autumn 2016
frosty night. . .
the horse’s breath
melts a star

Honourable Mention, The Harold G. Henderson Haiku Contest 2019
The Haiku Society of America
curved river
a mother of many
children
Haiku Dialogue: ambiguity

Trouthswirl, The Haiku Foundation Blog, 4 September 2019
https://www.thehaikufoundation.org/2019/09/04/haiku-dialogue-poets-choice-ambiguity/?fbclid=IwAR3gDjH2U7bYnWizUTi8Q_5gv8jB8psYF6eD-m-S8Guup7BTO16D8SiOB6o

Here are two of her haiku from her Haiku Registry profile:

lunar eclipse
a rabbit thumps
the hawk’s shadow

starry night
the draught horse’s shoes
spark on concrete

Just over a year ago, we lost Rachel Sutcliffe. As we honored her then, let’s honor Martha Magenta now.

This week, Choose your favorite haikai by Martha (haiku, senryu, haibun, haiga, tanka, renga, etc.). Then, write a comparable haikai poem in the style of your choice that honors the spirit of the favorite that you chose.

For example:

laughing gulls
the wind pushes me
into the sea

river moon
the silent lights
of a narrow boat

moth dust
a smudge of moon
through drifting clouds

Blithe Spirit vol 29 number 3 August 2019 ISSN 1353-3320

You can find more of her work at her website, Martha Magenta.

As always:

Here’s how the challenge works:

1. write the haikai poem of your choice.
2. post the link of your post to Mister Linky.
3. pingback by posting the link to the challenge on your site.
4. read and comment on other contributors’ posts.