NOHS November 2008 Meeting Notes

The November meeting of the NOHS was well attended and quite enjoyable. We had two guests; Anya, a friend of Bob's from New Orleans via Brazil, and Rita, a publisher from Scotland. Rita treated us to a selection of poems written by Colin Stewart Jones from his book A Seal Snorts Out the Moon, published by Cauliay Publishing Company. Here are a few of the gems shared from Colin's book:

days off!
I see the world
through my toes


quayside...
fog clinging
to the smell of fish


loch laxavat-
casting a bubble float
into the day moon


scottish spring
taking my pick
of kigo


A Seal Snorts Out the Moon is a 2008 Costa Book Award Nominee. Check it out at http://www.cauliaypublishing.com/



In attendance at the meeting were Michael, Juliet, Samantha, Bob, Anya, Rita and Johnette. A sushi dinner at Kyoto Restaurant after the meeting was enjoyed by all.

Vaughn Banting Memorial Haiku Reading Notes

The NOHS Memorial Haiku Reading for our friend Vaughn Banting was filled with laughter and joy as each person shared memories of Vaughn and read poems by and in homage to Vaughn. During the event, the group participated in the following renga:

CODGERS COGITATE

codgers cogitate

frost on green grass
crunch

friends in a circles
haring stories

of the bonsai master
who pruned

toasting memories
with wine

wondering about
his cat

TAPS

soul or body

brain tumor - now with wings!

song of the butterfly
Zen garden
koto

before Katrina
long walks

now, an empty wheelchair
a sad squirrel

a sleeping branch
an open sky

waiting for tomorrow

a new bloom opens

a lost hard-on?

living with infirmities

he pours more wine
she straddles his lap

match made in heaven

last cigarette
geckos cursing at dusk

melting chocolate tales
out of school

a family crest
finds itself under his finger
she carefully tends the roots

the roots of eternity
are planted today

growing tomorrow

distorted by the wind

ashes of a friend
make their way
to the garden

dreamers all

until the stuttering cicada
wakes us!


-----by: Laura, Karel, Bob, Bill, Carolyn, Johnette, Juliet and David


Please feel free to view some photos taken during the event at: http://haikuguy.com/nov08.html


Vaughn is dearly missed and will forever be in our hearts.

Vaughn Banting Memorial Haiku Reading

The NOHS will host a Memorial Haiku Reading for our dear friend Vaughn Banting on November 22, 2008 from 2:00-4:00 p.m. at the Milton Latter Library, 5120 St. Charles Avenue, New Orleans. Vaughn's friends and family are invited to join us as poems written by, for and about Vaughn will be read in celebration of his joie de vivre.

NOHS Monthly Meeting - November 2008

The NOHS will host its monthly meeting on November 17, 2008 from 6:00-7:45 p.m. at the Milton Latter Library on St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans. The meeting is free and open to the public. Please bring some haiku to share with the group and join us for sushi dinner after the meeting at Kyoto Restaurant on Prytania Street.

Boo-Ku - Halloween Haiku Walk

The NOHS hosted a Boo-ku, a Halloween haiku walk in the French Quarter. In attendance were David, Juliet, Karel and Leo. Here are a few haiku from the event:

French Quarter Halloween
face to face
with her own ghosts

Church bells ring
Halloween night
circle of fortune tellers

Halloween
trick or treat
texting an old flame

Walking home alone
in the shadows
All Hallows Eve

White facade
cathedral
ghosts

-Juliet



Halloween madness--
the perturbed face
of a dog

six Sarah Palins
line up
for the men's room

a can of Pepsi
peddles his bike
Halloweening


-David Lanoue