The Haiku Society of America’s NYC Metro chapter hosted the Society’s National Meeting. Held in a modest community room of a local West Village Arts center, perhaps 22 people gathered in the space. Forty chairs had been set in a twin series of rows flanking an aisle. Track lighting illuminated a performance space at the head of the chairs. A small kitchenette lay at the back of the room. Across from it, spread out on tables, were multiple haiku journals.
David Lanoue, that year’s President, gave a presentation, and led a discussion, on his new book about Issa and animals. Miriam performed three flamenco dances, and then led a Q&A about her art. We wrote haiku, competed for three prizes. I shook NYC poet and famed haiku editor Cor Van den Heuvel’s hand.
How can I describe an afternoon spend with other haijin? It was a homecoming, a reunion with a tribe of poets whom I had never met.
Indian Summer reading Van den Heuvel’s haibun
Photo by Vitor Pinto
first published in Image Curve, July 23, 2020
for dVerse Poets’ Open Link Night #270 (pubtended by Mish)
The Pub is open! Come join us!
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Categories: haikai, haiku community
Frank J. Tassone 
Very interesting and impressive…yet was this event real or imagined? In this new and sad Covid world, such gatherings can be contagion-ridden, darkly dangerous. I feel like a Puritan, shaking my hypocritical finger at sinners; I’m just saying.
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Not to worry. While I write in the present, these meeting happened six years ago.
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Frank, I was wondering the same question! Thanks for clearing up.
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Time spent with kindred souls is such a treasure….and one of which we’re pretty much denied at the present. Zoom suffices, but is not the same!
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I like the sentiment here – sparingly done – but precise and powerful at the same time. I envy you that Frank…
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Thank you, Scott! 😀
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A climatic event before fall arrives. It sound like you enjoyed the warmth of poetic magic.
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A most wonderful glimpse into the unforgettable event, Frank! It must have been amazing ❤️❤️
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What a treat to meet David, Cor and other fellow haijin Frank! I can imagine it feeling like a homecoming, a gathering of souls who’d met before. A beautiful haibun 💜
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quality not quantity
in the setting sun
he lays his carving down
Sounds like a wonderfully intimate and rich experience, imagine if haiku was popular?!?
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What an incredible experience it must have been. The details you shared really transported me into the event and this line….”a homecoming, a reunion with a tribe of poets whom I had never met” really captures the feeling. Kindred spirits indeed.
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Being in the smaller Louisiana city of Lafayette, going to an HSA meeting in NYC is only a dream. But you have filled out my image so well. Thanks so much for a delightful Saturday read!
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My pleasure! 😇
The HSA has regions throughout the country, including areas in the south. The national meeting rotated through the regions. Checkout their website if you’re interested: http://hsa-haiku.org
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Thanks
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