I doodle, you ku, 2013 third week

What is a doodle-ku?

It is simply writing a poem to match a doodle or sketch  and is something similar to a haiga.

And what is a haiga?

To quote Michael Dylan Welch, "HAIGA is the art of combining brush painting, haiku, and calligraphy. A traditional haiga requires all three of these elements. Just as haiku succeeds by creating space and energy in the relationship of its two juxtaposed parts, haiga energizes viewers through the “leap” or even disjunction between the poem and the paint­ing (the painting is typically not an illustration of the poem).  Modern haiga sometimes replaces one of the three requirements, such as by using a photograph instead of a painting (also known as photo-haiga, or shahai in Japanese), or by typesetting words on a computer instead of using calligraphy. Some purists do not consider these variations to be authentic haiga, but they are increasingly popular as computer technology evolves. While traditional haiga will continue to require brush painting, haiku, and calligraphy, artists and poets have explored many additional combinations with pleasing re­sults, such as using collage and other mixed-media presentations."

The above was to answer the queries of the casual readers of this blog who are sometimes confused as to what is this doodle-ku all about? And the poems here will make better sense when read in conjunction with the doodles. So in order to see the accompanying doodles, please click here.

And now to the third week of  I doodle, you ku. I am surprised that I've come this far and here's what I wrote:

 March 15

 the headphones left behind

...listening to the sounds 

of silence

March 16

missing the mark

today this freedom

to flower 

somewhere, 

anywhere

 

March 17

ten years later-

still too big for me

to fill up

 

March 18

firefly this sudden longing to see you

March 19

splash...

the bucket brimming

with shards of moon

March 20   

the way

you strum me...

wind through the bamboo

March 21

unplugged-

tv viewing

at the old age home 

 

I doodle, you ku, 2013 - second week

We are through with the second week of I doodle, you ku and Aubrie's doodles are getting better and better while I am just managing to hang on. This is what i wrote for the 2nd week of IDYK. To see the accompanying doodles for each day, go here.

March 8

etched in milk the footprints of night

milk moon-

the silence

of your steps

March 9

this wordlessness

stuck at my throat-

new moon

March 10

loneliness-

the loon's call rippling

the sky 

March 11

a conversation

between the butterfly and beetle-

spring breeze 

March 12

too early

to worry about death a storm-

I board up the windows

nevertheless,

just in case...

March 13

reaching for the snowflakes

the bare arm

of the scare crow

spring snow

on her bare arm

 a blue moth 

March 14

on the other side

of the barbed wire fence-

spring

I doodle, you ku 2013--first week

I promised (not to myself though) to stay off poetry for a while and focus on more pressing things like aadhar card, ATM card, repairs around the house, going on urgent shopping trips and last but not the least, sorting out a friend's love life. But when Aubrie Cox was back again on Yay words with her I doodle, you ku , 2013 , I knew I couldn't keep my word. Especially after listening to all  those woeful tales of a tormented soul and trying to play love guru,(which included taking a stroll at nine in the night up and down the street where the object of her affection is holed up), i I felt i could do with some counseling myself. So I plunge headlong into Aubrie's awesome doodles which never fail to brighten me up and though I know that this would mean a terrible rush by the end of the month ; for now I have made up my mind to enjoy myself without worrying about the future.Yes, that's the right attitude! And here's the first week's harvest! To see the accompanying doodles, please go here

March 1

sound

of wing flutter-

the blind cat's sigh

March 2

between the dark woods

and the dying fire-

our little white tent

March 3

your gaze

another wave reaches

the shore 

March 4

left on the table

last night and what I didn't

want to hear 

March 5

the railway track disappearing into the train's whistle

or,

the railway track the length of the train's whistle

March 6

not enough light

to read your mind-

chinese lanterns 

March 7

migrating bird-

two or three feathers left

on the window sill

He doodles you ku - (9th to 31st January)

 Before I start the post, welcome to all my four new followers! And also to the new visitors from not only neighbouring countries like China, Pakistan and Bangladesh, but also from countries like Montenegro, St Kitts and Nevis,South Korea, Lithuania and Belarus among others. I am so glad to have you visit my blog, but don't have the faintest clue as to who you are, so why don't you leave a word the next time you visit? I'd really love to hear from you once in a while and that goes for all my other regular visitors as well. Just a small comment to let me know you've been here! Not every time, but how about just once in a while? And I hope you've been enjoying my recent posts and the small stones.

Well then -  I had not been very regular with my doodleku(s), that's why i hadn't posted them here on the blog after the first week.But now that the month has drawn to an end, here's my harvest of ku...the responses to HM Yuan's doodles on Yay Words.

 Day 9

watching

my breath

the flame steadies

Day 10

last star--

the light going out

in her eyes 

Day 11

caught in the brambles-

the things I thought

I had forgotten

Day 12

from puddle to puddle my walk over the moon

 

Day 13

stoned window pane fighting the unseen

Day 14

new coolness-

slipping my hand 

through his 

Day 15

circling each other-

we search for

the right word 

Day 16

snowfall

or starry night

as long

as we have

each other 

Day 17

finger-painted clouds-

the weight of

all those lies 

Day   19

evening ennui-
finally, letting down
my hair 

or,

evening

letting down

my hair

Day 20

behind the lily pads-

a hint

of the moon 

Day 21

periwinkle-

my reply

in your mailbox 

 Day 22

her tiny hands

in mine-

moonlit path 

Day 23

night boating-

my oars stir

the milky way

daydreaming...

th boat settles 

n its reflection

Day 24

in the hibiscus

the hum

of honey bees 

Day 25

those eyes...

how do you read

the summer storm? 

Day 26

keeping one eye closed starry night

ice crystals

on the telescope lens-

sound of stars

Day 27

lost key-
the locked gate
to Neverland 

Day 28

stone curlew...

the butterfly takes

a closer look

five minutes at the bus stop-

a brief fling

with the wayward wind

Day 29

barred windows-

as if it could stop

the moon

Day 31

in his wake

my tattered dreams-

The Balloon man gone

You could see the accompanying doodles with all the ku here by clicking on that specific date.

Special doodle by Aubrie Cox

 I am the happy recipient of this special doodle by Aubrie Cox, which she gifted to me because I happened to be the 2000th commentator on her blog Yay Words.

Isn't this lovely? I love the accompanying ku also!

Love you, Aubrie!

he doodles, you ku - week 1

We  have already begun the second week of He doodles, you ku at Aubrie Cox's blog Yay Words and these are the poems I posted in response to HM Yuan's doodles, but I think they sound better and make much more sense when read alongside the doodles, so I'd suggest you take a look here or click on the corresponding day below, to see each day's doodles and read all the beautiful responses by other poets.

 My poems:

(Day 1)

this wait
for the balloon man-
summer grass growing

(Day 2)

coffee mist…
I wonder if he left
the ring back home

(Day 3)

the things you tell me,
the things you don’t…
spring sky

(Day 4)

s t r e t c h i n g s t r e t c h i n g
I return to myself

(Day 5)

recess hour
those tamarind balls
over too soon

(Day 6)

hands entwined
at the top of the Ferris wheel

(Day 7)

in your shadow-
trying out
my new wings

 or,

in your shadow-

I learn to spread 

my new wings

(Day 8)

day after
day after day-
eating alone
at the table
meant for twelve

and

 old moon carrying you in my pocket this long day

all that's been happening

Christine Villa's 2nd HMPC (Haiku My Photo Challenge) results were out this week and to my delight, I found myself among the winners once again, along with Rick Daddario (1st place) and Kirsten Kliff (3rd place). This was especially gratifying as till the last moment, i was not sure i could participate at all and also because this was done in the format of a kukai contest, that is, the winners were selected by the participants' votes. All credit goes to Chrissi, of course, for holding such contests successfully time and again. Huge thanks to you, Chrissi!

Here is my 2nd place winning haiku .

lilac dusk~
a song we are yet
to sing

Yon can read all the winning entries and everything else about this contest here on Christine Villa's blog, Blossom rain.


The Heron's Nest September issue and A Hundred Gourds issue 1.4 are out too with great stuff as always and I am happy to be a part of them with one poem in THN and three in AHG.

On Mann library daily haiku, the featured poet this month is Yu Chang and he is absolutely unmissable!So in case you've forgotten to take a peek in there lately, do so today!

Finally i am sure many of you are already participating in Rick Daddario's 30 days of haiga bash... (i wish i could, too), if not you could find out all about it here.

Last but not the least, Aubrie Cox is having another lovely doodle prompt contest on the theme of the sea and/or thieves on her blog Yay Words, the last date for which is today. Another fun contest i absolutely hated to miss. But I hope you haven't!

She doodles, we ku

I swear I had tried my best to resist! After two consecutive months of AROS and NaHaiWriMo, i felt my energy level depleting and thought i needed a break from poetry. I badly needed a hair-cut , a facial and above all, i needed to put my feet up and have a foot massage. (Though i don't know why a foot massage! I guess all that walking on talus and standing in a queue had taken their toll!) So when i read about Aubrie Cox's "I doodle, you ku" at her blog Yay Words, I firmly told myself , "NO"! But then i thought there's no harm in taking a look...just one look and that would be it! But the sketches Aubrie had done turned out to be so captivating that i went to take a second look. After that i went for a third look to read the responses to her doodles by some of my friends and fellow poets who were participating. And so it went on... Until finally i decided, what the heck, i better join in the fun, because hasn't somebody said that the best way to overcome temptation is to give in to it?

So that's how i find myself doing this "I doodle you ku" challenge this month though with this small promise to myself, that if on some days i am not able to come up with something, i won't beat myself on the head about it. I've also tried to keep it impromptu as far as possible...just write whatever comes to mind then and there without much polishing or revision. Some days i write more than one, Aubrie has been kind enough to let us do that. But I decided not to post them on this blog right now, because without the doodles perhaps they won't make much sense. And especially with my decision to do the ku impromptu, many a times i find the words taking control of me instead of the other way round.The results are sometimes such that i don't understand it myself, why i wrote them and how they came to be there! So maybe i'd wait till the challenge is over, Aubrie Cox has done whatever she intends to do with them and then post some of them here.

Meanwhile, the doodles are awesome, the ku by many of the poets i know are amazing and i am having FUN! You can find out all about it here.


P.S. I still haven't been able to get that foot massage i had set my heart upon. The beautician is absconding!