Poets Salon: Lost and Found

POETS SALON

– 10/02/19

Hosted by Kath Abela Wilson

She had built there a gallery of her works.
She chose from what the ocean left her:
color and form, branch and stone.
She moved them in her tableau,
and then the ocean moved them.
Now it had taken them back

~ Kath Abela

*Kath Abela’s introduction is an excerpt from her new book ‘Figures of Humor and Strange Beauty,’ published by Glass Lyre Press, 2019.

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Bunny drawing by Corine Timmer

Corine Timmer

Summer’s end

My bunny was my best friend. I didn’t go anywhere without it. That summer was no exception. We drove to Italy every summer for a three week holiday. Five of us plus bunny. The journey was 1,294km. Too far for one day so we spent one night in a hotel in Germany—on the way there and back. That summer, on the way home, I realized I had forgotten bunny in the hotel room. I don’t remember how far we had driven before I said it was missing. I do remember tears. The kind of tears that just keep flowing, for weeks. To this day my heart still aches. I remember exactly what bunny looked like, felt like, and smelled like. My mother made me a new bunny but it wasn’t the same.

somewhere
in a hotel room
my plush bunny, alone—
a storm surges
in my belly

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“The Ocean Took Them Back” by Kath Abela Wilson

Norman Wm. Muise

spring sunset
sinking into the lake
a toy sailboat
a child’s anguish echoes
across the still waters

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Bob’s Rabbi (Photo – Susan Rogers)

Susan Rogers

his favorite toy
the dancing rabbi
who sings Hava Nagila
rescued
from the Goodwill pile

*for Bob my elderly friend who passed in January

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In the sand (Photo – Kath Abela Wilson)

Joyce Futa

crackerjack toy
tiny disappointment
but the child loves
the moment
of finding it

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Lost by Kath Abela Wilson

Lost and Found: Quotes and Credits

Corine Timmer is an interior designer, animal lover, award-winning haiku poet, visual artist, and a self-published author. She lives in the countryside in the south of Portugal with 10 street dogs and other animals, including her beloved donkey, Lolita. Corine’s haiku have been published in various print and web haiku journals and anthologies. She is a member of the British and American haiku societies. She is currently working on an anthology of pig haiku in celebration of the Year of the Pig.

Norman Wm. Muise (Norman Bill Muise) has been writing haiku/senryū for over twenty years. Raised in southern Ontario he loves nature and is usually found sitting outside even in a Canadian winter: “This piece was inspired by a movie called ‘What Dreams May Come’. At the end of the movie two toy sailboats collide and sink. This movie had a profound effect on me as it deals with death and the afterlife. The movie’s portrayal of heaven left me thinking, yes, this is what it would be.”

Susan Rogers: “My dear one-of-a kind friend Bob, who lived in Santa Monica, California, passed away this January. He was in his early eighties and was full of mystical and esoteric information but he had the heart of a mischievous child. He loved to make people laugh. One of his favorite ways to entertain friends was by sharing with them his goofy toys. One of his favorites was a foot-tall smiling rabbi doll that looked a little bit like a grinning Hassidic leprechaun. It was Bob’s great pleasure to press the button on this rabbi’s hand whenever a new friend came to visit and watch the rabbi shimmy, moving his head and body as it raised his eyebrows up and down, dancing and singing to the tune of Hava Nagila. Several times I have gone to throw this rabbi away or put him in a bag of items for Goodwill, but I think of Bob’s face and then I don’t have the heart to get rid of him. I tell myself Bob would want me to keep the rabbi, but maybe Bob is actually singing and dancing to Hava Nagila somewhere in the spirit realm and it is really I who cannot let go.” Susan, a Los Angeles poet, artist and practitioner of Sukyo Mahikari, welcomes the blessing of divinity in all things. She considers poetry a vehicle for light and a tool for the exchange of positive energy. She greets her world with an open heart and the spirit of Yokattane, giving a handshake and smile to all those she meets, wishing each soul a seed of something wonderful. Her poetry is included in numerous anthologies and journals including, Altadena Poetry Review, California Quarterly, Kyoto Journal, Saint Julian’s Press, San Diego Poetry Annual: The Best Poems of San Diego, and Tiferet. Watch “The Origin is One,” She was interviewed on KPFK by Lois P. Jones and nominated for a Pushcart in 2013 and 2017. Listen to her poetry here.

Joyce Futa: “The child would shake the box to hear it rattle, to make sure it was somewhat fresh and not all stuck together. Most of its parts were only somewhat satisfactory – the too sweet popcorn which she ate only because of the sugar, the little wrapped surprise which commonly turned out to be a tiny plastic top, and if she was lucky, more than two candied nuts. But as a whole, the box was a miniature Christmas, full of hidden sweet surprises.Now in my seventies, if I find it again, I will stop to shake it and remember.” Joyce Futa lives in beautiful Altadena and walks daily looking at trees and mountains. Her book “Lit Windows: A Book of Haibun and Tanka Prose” was published by Blue Light Press. 2017 is available on Amazon.

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Found by Kath Abela Wilson

♣ A note from Kath Abela:

> Corrine Timmer’s poem is in the form of Tanka Prose. Here is an interesting short discussion on Tanka and Tanka Prose, by Alan Summers, in the UK.  > On such an emotional topic as Lost and Found, tanka and tanka prose, with their lyrical intensity and expressive possibilities work especially well. > An excellent selection of Tanka Prose and Haibun (prose combinied with haiku) can be found in the well respected journal Haibun Today where you also can submit your own. I recommend reading selections from issues of Haibun Today to get a wonderful overview.  >  My favorite rich storehouse of knowledge about world tanka and related forms can be found at the Atlas Poetica, created and edited by scholarly and experimental poet editor, M. Kei. Here are Guidelines for submitting your own work.

> Some upcoming “Calls for Sumbmission” short free verse poems, very short prose poems, cherita, tanka, tanka prose haibun, to the Poets Salon: 1- Animal families you have known. 2- What we learn from animals (a fable)? 3- Cultural connections and richness. 4- Preserving environment for well being. 5- Creating peaceful solutions. 6- Or your own theme! Send small bio related to the theme and or a prose comment. Any photos by you or artworks that could accompany. no attachments except photos. Send to poetsonsite[at]gmail.com

> This week, you can send some short poems, little stories, and a short bio with comments on the upcoming theme “Lost Toys” to Kath Abela “poetsonsite [at] gmail.com”. You may also suggest a theme and send a few short poems for a possible future feature.

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