New Year advent

new year advent
thinking of what ifs
and what might have beens

Wishing everybody a year of love and peace. Happy New Year!

Grandpa's lost pipe

A bit of news. I was blessed with three early Christmas gifts this month. First, I was a featured guest in Curtis Dunlap's blog, Blogging Along Tobacco Road, with my three favorite haiku.

Second, I learned that my haiku, below, garnered Honorable Mention in the recently concluded 13th International Annual haiku contest of Mainichi (Japan) Daily News for 2009.

My third Christmas gift came from Don Wentworth, editor of Lilliput Review, who informed me that my haiku was chosen as one of the 56 selected from among 500 poems submitted which will be included in the 2nd Annual Basho Haiku Challenge chapbook. It will be published the middle of next year and I will upload it once it is published. I am so blessed and deeply honored.

winter eve
on top of the fireplace
grandpa’s lost pipe

Honorable Mention
13th Annual Mainichi (Japan)
Haiku Contest, 2009

Unread Card

an unopened
Christmas card dangles
from the trashed tree

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! May we all share love, peace and good-will with everybody, in and out of our family. May the coming year give us more love and less hate, a smile instead of a frown, and kindness without expecting anything in return. Good health and happiness to all!

Snow storm

snow storm
I forgot the dire news
of global warming

Women shopping

after the holiday
I vow not to join
women shopping again

Kindness

In the spirit of Christmas, here's a quotation from my collection for all my loyal readers.



Here is a link to Friendship Quotes which a kind reader gave me.
FRIENDSHIP QUOTES

a sliver of light
slices through
the icy landscape
beneath the snow
a dormant seed awaits

Modern English Tanka
Vol. 3, No. 3, Spring 2009

among the thistles
a molted snake's skin
she turns sixteen

Notes from the Gean
Vol. 1, Issue 3, Dec. 2009

Christmas advent

Prince of Peace advent
He brings joy, love and hope
to a troubled world

Hospice

autumn twilight
they left her
at the hospice

Mainichi (Japan) Daily News,
Dec. 2, 2009

Friend's Death

a hummingbird
follows the falling leaf
my friend’s untimely death

The Heron’s Nest
Vol. XI, No. 4, December 2009

Writer's travail

In one of those sleepless nights when I am so occupied in writing, it kind of startles me to see the onset of the early dawn.

Here's the Tagalog version which might be hard to read in the image.

buhay manunulat
naghihintay nang pagdating
ng umaga

Note about my haiga or picture poems: I relish the challenge of fitting my poems with graphics such that the two becomes one, a harmonious fusion of arts.

Thanksgiving prayer

Thank you
my Lord and God
for gift of life and health
remembering our lost loved ones
once more.

Heed not
our weaknesses,
teach us how to forgive
and live in harmony with all
others.

So that
once more this world
of hate will be again
a place of love and peacefulness,
Amen.

© 25 November 2004-2009

Hospice

raindrops roll down
the golden leaf
first day in hospice


Mainichi (Japan) Daily News
Nov.2, 2002, (No. 641)

Also in my book, Rustle of bamboo leaves

Newly-wed daughter

an empty nest
rides the autumn wind
newly-wed daughter

Another collaboration with my friend Ashe from England. Published in my book, Rustle of bamboo leaves.

All Souls Day

their room
fills with silence
this All Souls day
even her unrocking
rocking chair

World in grief

To the victims of the natural calamities which hit the Philippines and other parts of the world, I offer my haiga above as I join the world in prayer and hope for a better tomorrow and return to normalcy. The artwork was done by Ashe Wood of England, my haiga collaborator and taken from my book, RUSTLE OF BAMBOO LEAVES. The one in the book, however, is in black and white which did not do enough justice to the intent and spirit of the poem and the art work.

coming home
the roar of a distant
waterfall

Mainichi (Japan) Daily News
October 10, 2009

I dread
the dark demons
that chase my dreams away
your touch is so real,
am I in love again?

I know now
why our embrace
was so tight
your last farewell
to fleeting life

shell gathering

On August 30, the Southern California Haiku Study Group (SCHSG), of which I am a member, held a reading of its 2009 Haiku Anthology at the Pacific Asia Museum, in Pasadena, California. Titled "shell gathering," I have five of my haiku included in the anthology.

Here is one of them:

hospice window
she gazes at the birds
flying to sunset

More information could be found in the SCHSG blogsite:
SCHSG BLOG

my neighbor mows
the grassy edges
of my unkempt lawn
in the shade I try to write
this friendship poem

Sketchbook: a Journal for Eastern and Western Short Forms,
Vol. 4, No. 4, July/August 2009

Second love

Bewitched
by her charms,
can I ignore
the lure of second love
this time?

non-stop rain
the constant nagging
of her mother

Football

football fever
she hugs his pillow
for company

First day in school

raindrops sparkle
on the mushroom's top
first day in school

From my book, Rustle of bamboo leaves

Grandfather's day

my first
granddaughter Jasmine
calls me last night
to share her love
on Grandfather’s day

Black Day of September

by Victor P. Gendrano

(Dedicated to the victims of the
September 11, 2001 tragedy)

I see many faces in New York:
face of hate of the perpetrators
face of death from workers and passengers
face of death of facing death
face of despair for unuttered love
face of panic not knowing where to hide
and what to expect

but also
face of faith calmy accepting death
face of love comforting each other
face of compassion from the public
face of caring for the wounded
face of grief of kins of those who perished

the face of death is everywhere
death of lives
death of hopes and dreams
and
death of peace


- From my book, Rustle of bamboo leaves

My Haiku Way

Some comments from fellow writers, September 4, 2009:

nora said...
Poignant, Victor. Think of the radical change in the world if everyone followed your haiku way!

Paul said...
Long may you walk that beautiful way Victor.

Alan said...
I agree with Nora and Paul. ;-)

My reply:
Thank you very much Nora, Paul and Alan. To elaborate a little about what I was trying to say. I welcome and embrace any and all moments handed to me be it from nature or fellow humans. I am dealt a card and I go from there, either try to improve it or enjoy and soak on its presence. And maybe write a poem or two about the experience.

Sign of the times

((a haiku sequence) 


        again, she tidies
        the almost empty desk
        another lay-off


        job fair 
        the line keeps growing
        longer and longer

 
        foreclosed house
        the children’s swing
        stops swinging

 
        tent city
        they welcome
        the newcomers


World Haiku Review
Vol. 7, Issue 2, August 2009

Cory Aquino

Roses
and rosaries
stopped the tanks and soldiers;
people power tested and won
that day.
Today
yellow flowers adorn her grave
first lady president,
a mere housewife,
she said.

Baseball Freeway Series

wearing an Angel cap
and a Dodger's t-shirt
ready for Freeway series

a gentle breeze
nudges the golden leaf
her grandma's death

I fall in love
with her picture
in my computer screen
starved-for-love syndrome
strikes again

Independence day

July 4th
a wounded soldier
returns home

For K. Malden and the three others before him

a series of shocks
rocks Tinsel town, death again
of another one

graduation day
his friends keep asking
for my missing son

Missing son

a shred of kite
flaps in the wind
their missing son

My birthday

surrounded
and overwhelmed with love
of family members
on my birthday
wish she's still here today

Mother's day

mulling beside
her empty chair
Mother's day

Death of a friend

no bees or butterflies hover
on her orchids garden
in the silence of this gloomy day
they also mourn the death
of their green-thumbed owner

Friend's Death

the swallows
failed to return
to Capistrano
my dear friend Marivie
joins her Creator

Vic Gendrano
May you rest in peace! I will always treasure your memory. My love, thoughts and prayers to you, Grace, Dina and the family!

cherry blossoms
scatter in the wild wind
senseless shootings

Italy's earthquake

let our prayers unite
with the world's concerns
of Italy's earthquake victims

    spring sunshine                                                                                         
    the toothless smile                                                                                   
    of a homeless girl   

World Haiku Review
Vol 7, Issue 1, March 2009

Gobal warming

First, the disappearing lotus flowers at the annual Lotus Festival in Echo Park, Los Angeles. Then, the swallows not returning to Capistrano. At least, there still are the ubiquitous wildflowers to watch and enjoy viewing alongside highways and freeways of California this time of the year.

lotus flowers disappearing
and the swallows not returning
is global warming here?

Aloness

dining alone
the piped-in music plays
our love song

still in bloom
California flowers dance
to winter song

Publication News

I just received the good news that my poem about the new US President Obama, YES WE CAN, was published in the latest issue of Sketchbook: A Journal of Eastern & Western Short Forms, Vol. 4, Issue 1, February 28, 2009.

Job hunting

hundreds line
the snowy ground
to the job fair

Spring coming

pear blossoms sway
with the winter wind
glimpse of spring

Vic Gendrano

Ashes

Ashes
we are, so to
ashes we shall return;
the irrefutable law of
nature.

From my book:
Rustle of bamboo leaves

Valentine's day

scrawled
on her grocery bag
i LUV YU mama

Friday the 13th

Friday the 13th
I shoo a black cat
from my driveway

Japanese Garden Ginku Walk

Today, Sunday, February 1, 2009, I attended the Southern California Haiku Study Group (SCHSG) for a Ginku walk and haiku workshop at the Japanese Garden in California State University, Long Beach. Since I was late, Chizuru (above) graciously guided me where the meeting was.

Her smile is so captivating that I took her picture and wrote haiku poems for her. Maybe next time, I can request her to remove her sunglasses before I take her picture, that is, if there’s another chance.

end of winter
the glimpse of spring
in her smile

Victor P. Gendrano

Yes we can

Dedicated to Barack Obama
New President of the United States

I have witnessed a new era
when people of all races
and creeds can dare to dream
in a color blind America

where hard work
and perseverance in an
atmosphere of peace,
friendship and civility
are earned and rewarded.

And where we can look
at our children's eyes
and say there is hope
for humankind...

in concert we will vow
yes, we can!


Sketchbook: a Journal for Eastern &
Western Short Forms
Vol. 4, Issue 1, Feb. 29, 2009

You can

You can
dare to dream big
if you but persevere,
the clear message from Obama
today.

Layoff Notice

harsh winter day
she tidies again
her almost empty desk
where earlier she received
her layoff notice

midnight chill
I wait for New Year
alone

From my book, Rustle of bamboo leaves