Deborah P. Kolodji

April 8, 2024

“Hubris” by Mariko Kitakubo & Deborah P. KolodjiPosted by

Mariko Kitakubo & Deborah P. Kolodji

HUBRIS

through
the distorted
glass
he smiles to me
from the white limousine
 
 
blue green shimmers
a peacock struts
his stuff
 

—from Rattle #83, Spring 2024
Tribute to Collaboration

__________

Mariko Kitakubo & Deborah P. Kolodji: “We started writing ‘tan-ku’ sequences and sets during the pandemic when neither of us could travel. Mariko is a tanka poet and I am a haiku poet. We started having poetic conversations via Facebook Messenger where Mariko would write a tanka and I would respond with a haiku and vice versa, often at odd hours due to the time zone differences between Tokyo and Los Angeles. Some of these poems are only two verses, but others are six, and sometimes more. We were born the same year and have common experiences, but also cultural differences which has been a learning experience for both of us. We have found that sometimes our poems take unexpected turns.”

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March 8, 2019

Four Haiku by Deborah P. KolodjiPosted by

Deborah P. Kolodji

FOUR HAIKU

 

 

sandblasted
by your words
petroglyphs

 

 

 

 

line of herons on the beach grunion

 

 

 

 

lemonade
that moment we know
the feeling is gone

 

 

 

 

power outage
the spread of neighborhood
quiet

—from Rattle #62, Winter 2018

__________

Deborah P. Kolodji: “Haiku is part of my daily existence. Each poem is like a word snapshot, but captures far more than a mere photo—it records how I am feeling at the time, whether I am trying to walk up a hill in fierce wind at the Petroglyph National Monument near Albuquerque or standing on the beach by the Cabrillo Marine Museum during a grunion run. I can read these poems later, close my eyes, and I feel like I am there again.” (web)

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August 5, 2016

Four Haiku by Deborah P. KolodjiPosted by

Deborah P. Kolodji

FOUR HAIKU

sharp words
her holiday collection
of cookie cutters
 
 
 
 
 
 
cosine of an angle
he changes political
parties
 
 
 
 
 
 
lottery tickets
with the wrong numbers
terns
 
 
 
 
 
 
Gone with the Wind
an empty pillow
on the window seat

—from Rattle #52, Summer 2016
Tribute to Angelenos

[download audio]

__________

Deborah P. Kolodji: “I’m a native Southern Californian, born in Long Beach, a graduate of USC and a USC football season ticket holder. With a lifetime of snowless winters, I rarely write of snow, but instead feed my muse by walking the beaches and botanical gardens of Los Angeles County.” (website)

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December 7, 2015

Haiku by Deborah P. KolodjiPosted by

Deborah P. Kolodji

HAIKU

 

 

potted poinsettias
at the holiday party
bullets

 

 

—Poets Respond
December 7, 2015

[download audio]

__________

Deborah P. Kolodji: “I was sitting in Urth Caffe writing stream of consciousness haiku about potted poinsettias and this haiku came out as a response to the shootings in San Bernardino, California.” (website)

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May 26, 2015

“Four Haiku” by Deborah P. KolodjiPosted by

Deborah P. Kolodji

FOUR HAIKU

icicles
the mortgage
paid off early

 

 

 

highway
of sleeping towns
the Milky Way

 

 

 

winter solitude
the company
of unshelved books

 

 

 

horse calendar
Grandmother dreams
she’s bareback

 

 

 

Oldflute Shakuhachi by Rick Wilson

—from Rattle #47, Spring 2015
Tribute to Japanese Forms

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Deborah P. Kolodji: “Yellow grass waves in the summer sun. Monuments to the fallen dot the battlefield as I walk alone on my first visit to Gettysburg. The words of Bashō pop into my head—translated by Lucien Stryk, ‘summer grasses/ all that remains/ of a warrior’s dreams’—and I start to cry. The sadness of the earth, the memories of the fallen, and the words of a seventeenth century poet in Japan all come together in a moment of connection. Separated by centuries and thousands of miles, Basho and I are in the same place. This is why I love haiku.” (web)

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July 13, 2013

“Basho After Cinderella” by Deborah P. KolodjiPosted by

Deborah P. Kolodji

BASHO AFTER CINDERELLA

(i)

a glass slipper
in the middle of the road
spring rain

(ii)

thistles in bloom
village gossip
after the ball

(iii)

pumpkin vine
a mouse remembers
how to neigh

(iv)

fairy dust snow
perfectly-sized boots
for her bare feet

—from Rattle #38, Winter 2012
Tribute to Speculative Poetry

[download audio]

__________

Deborah P. Kolodji: “At some point in my poetry career, I decided my poems were too wordy and discovered haiku. Writing haiku soon became a way of life, and I have learned to appreciate small moments of my day and write them into snapshot poems. Because I also enjoy speculative literature, it’s fun to imagine the landscape around an imaginary or literary event, such as the evening of Cinderella’s ball, or the moment Arthur discovers the Sword in the Stone, and wondering what Basho, the seventeenth century haiku master, would write if he was there to see it.”

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