Haiku Bindii

Five members of the Bindii Group gathered for a Zoom meeting at 3pm Australian Central Standard Time: Steve Wigg, Julia Wakefield, Stella Damarjati, Maureen Sexton and Lynette Arden. An apology was received from Maeve Archibald. We had set the theme of ‘celebrations’ for our haiku critiques, but that was not the only theme of our submissions. We are considering setting some topics for one or more members to prepare at future meetings. One topic we could begin with is the concept of ‘concrete’ poems. Another one is the idea of rhythm in haiku and tanka, as discussed in this article: https://haikupresence.org/essays/haiku-rhythm-and-the-arches-of-makudo However, our first meeting in 2024 will be a ginko, in the Botanic Gardens in Adelaide. Two dates are suggested: the 14 th or 28 th of January, depending on the weather. We plan to meet at 2pm, take a walk around the gardens and meet up at the café by the pond, to share our haiku. Please let us know which date(s) you can attend. ...

Report on the Bindii Meeting of 15 October 2023 Four members of the Bindii Group gathered for a Zoom meeting at approximately 2pm Australian Central Standard Time: Steve Wigg, Julia Wakefield, Stella Damarjati and Lynette Arden. Apologies were received from Maureen Sexton and Maeve Archibald. We had arranged to bring some haiku on the theme of ageing or time passing, but all of us had been over busy – how often people seem to say that these days! – so we had very little to show each other.  Stella, Lynette and Julia submitted their haiku that had already been accepted for Echidna Tracks, so there were no improvements offered, but the topics sparked a lively discussion about the images that were evoked. We hope that more of our members will be able to attend the next meeting, which is scheduled for Sunday November 19 at 3pm. The theme for our haiku will be Celebrations. We also discussed the idea of having a member prepare and present a topic at each meeting, starting next year. ...

Report on the Bindii Meeting of 6 August 2023 Four members of the Bindii Group gathered for a Zoom meeting at 3 pm Australian Central Standard Time: Steve Wigg, Julia Wakefield, Stella Damarjati and Lynette Arden. Apologies were received from Maureen Sexton and Maeve Archibald. Julia reported that she had had discussions with three other AHS groups about possible future collaborations. The three groups are: Bombora – represented by Gayle Sweeper  Illawong Haiku Group - Carol Reynolds, convenor Portarlington Haiku Society - Jenny Macauly, convenor   Stella was happy to report that one of her haiku was published in the latest Echidna Tracks. Maeve Archibald also had a haiku in the same issue. We spent the rest of the meeting critiquing each other’s haiku via the chat window on the theme of ‘Winter Walk’ as well as some haiku on other topics.  We took into account the definition of haiku that was proposed in the article by Robert D Wilson https://...

  Four members of the Bindii Group gathered for a Zoom meeting at 3 pm Australian Central Standard Time: Steve Wigg, Maureen Sexton, Maeve Archibald and Lynette Arden. Apologies were received from Julia Wakefield, Stella Damarjati, Kaarin Wilkinson and Subha Goonaratne. After exchanging greetings and comments about the wintry weather in Adelaide and Perth, we discussed some ideas about haiku structure. Although the Matsuyama Declaration freed Western haiku from the constraints of season words and kireji (break in the haiku), most Western haiku still use a break in the structure rather than consist of a single sentence. The more radical haiku sometimes only contain a single word. Members felt that the haiku idea needed to resonate with the reader, which was the most essential element of the haiku. Each member then pasted some of their haiku in the chat area, and we talked about each haiku and what it meant to the author and the reader. Some senryu were immediately greeted wi...

On 15 April at 3 pm, Stella, Lynette, Steve, Subha, Maeve and I met for our usual Zoom meeting. We received apologies from Maureen and Kaarin. We workshopped a few of our own haiku both for the AHS meeting on 17 April and on the topic of childhood. Lyn drew our attention to the ‘movie technique’ in haiku, which moves the reader from a long shot in the first line to a close-up in the third line. Some of us were able to attend the AHS meeting, and there was a discussion at the end on the idea of different groups meeting up on Zoom. We said we were open as a group to having visitors from other groups at our meetings. The next Zoom meeting will be on Saturday, June 17 at 3pm.  We will bring some haiku of our own for workshopping, perhaps with some experiments in movie technique. Lyn will give us a short presentation about the grammatical structure of haiku and how you can understand what you have written and also look at ways to improve the strength of the haiku.   Jul...

Stella, Lynette, Steve, Maeve and I met for our usual Zoom meeting. We received apologies from Maureen, Kaarin and Subha. Steve had undertaken to give us a fascinating introduction to Zen Buddhist teachings, in the context of wabi sabi . As a trained Buddhist teacher himself, he is amply qualified to speak on the subject. We all said afterwards that it would be wonderful if he could produce a webinar on the subject that could be broadcast to other members of the Australian Haiku Society and/or to the general public. Steve connected the Buddhist precepts of impermanence, suffering and removal of the concept of self with the principles of wabi sabi. He added that the reality modes in Buddhism: emptiness, fullness and interconnectedness, also directly relate to wabi sabi . The moment of enlightenment, Steve said, can itself be a manifestation of wabi sabi , in the sense that it is not a dramatic experience; it is more like a moment of intimacy with an everyday natural event. Steve ...

Stella, Lynette, Maureen and I met for our usual Zoom meeting. We received apologies from Steve, Kaarin and Maeve. Some of us had attempted haiku using the ideas promoted in Michael Dylan Welch’s Haiku on Steroids paper that was published online during the 2022 Haiku down Under online conference. After discussing the merits of radical experimentation, we tried writing a spontaneous haiku sequence, taking turns to write each line. The result was certainly entertaining, but perhaps not a work of literary merit. It was, however, a useful way of generating ideas. The next Zoom meeting will be on Saturday, Feb 11 at 3pm. We welcome a new member, Subha, who belongs to a Sri Lankan online haiku group and is based in Sydney. The topic will be wabi sabi, and Steve will give us a presentation on the concept.   Julia Wakefield