Carpe Diem Modern Times Haiku #2 Margaret Chula's "following my footprints"

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

It's Tuesday again and so it's time to discover another wonderful haiku poetess of the modern time. This time I love to introduce Margaret Chula to you all. She has a wonderful website and she is a well known haiku and tanka poetess.

Margaret Chula (born in 1947) lived in Japan for twelve years where she taught English and creative writing at universities in Kyoto. Her books include Grinding my ink (Haiku Society of America Book Award); This Moment; Shadow Lines (with Rich Youmans); Always Filling, Always Full; and The Smell of Rust. Her newest collection, What Remains: Japanese Americans in Internment Camps, a seven-year collaboration with quilt artist Cathy Erickson, includes poems in the voices of Japanese Americans interned during World War II. She has published poems in Prairie Schooner, Kyoto Journal, Poet Lore, America’s Review, and Runes, as well as in numerous haiku journals around the world. One of her haiku appears on Itoen tea bottles sold in stores and vending machines throughout Japan. Her one-woman performance of Japanese women poets (“Three Women Who Loved Love”), premiered in Krakow, Poland in 2003 and toured to Canada, Japan, and the U.S.

Margaret Chula

Margaret lives in Portland, Oregon, where she continues to teach and give work- shops at universities, poetry societies and Zen centers. Grants from Oregon Literary Arts and the Regional Arts & Culture Council have supported collaborations with artists, musicians, photographers and dancers.

following my footprints
of fifty years ago
those endless summers

this early heat
a carp arches
into the raindrops

in strawmat raincoats
farmers plant rice
their boots croaking

returning
the borrowed umbrella
splattered with blossoms

© Margaret Chula (1947 - )

All wonderful haiku. Margaret writes in a nice way, from the depth of her heart, as we know so well from our ancient masters like Chiyo-Ni and Basho.

she holds her hands
filled with the fragile beauty
of Cherry blossoms

© Chèvrefeuille

cherry blossoms © Chèvrefeuille  

I hope you did like this new episode of our Modern Times Haiku in which we explore the beauty written by Modern haiku poets (say from 1900 until now) to become inspired. Have fun!

This episode is open for your submissions at noon (CET) and will remain open until August 25th at noon (CET).

!! I am busy with creating the anonymous list of our third kukai "juxtaposition" I will publish it this week !!