EDITORIAL

Happy Anniversary, Readers!

 

If you’ve been with us from the beginning, then you know that we’ve been here for over twenty stan’ars now (that’s twenty Earth years for you Terrans), and that we love marking our anniversaries with the best poetry, articles and illustrations we have to offer. So sit back, relax and come along on another Scifaikuest!

 

Scifaikuest finally has its own ISBN!!! Please inform your local bookstores and library that they are now able to ORDER SCIFAIKUEST!!!You can always find us here, at Hiraeth Books at:https://www.hiraethsffh.com/

 

If you don’t have a subscription to our PRINT edition, they are available at: https://www.hiraethsffh.com/product-page/scifaikuest

 

And, if you would like to join the select group of contributors by submitting your poetry, artwork or article, you can find our guidelines at: https://www.hiraethsffh.com/scifaikuest

 

Pssst! Looking for something NEW to read? You can get t.santitoro’s latest book, The Telempath, and her other recent novel, The Red Foil, an SF mystery. If you’d like something shorter, you can find her novella, Those Who Die, or her novella, Adopted Child. You can still get a copy of her vampire novelette, The Legend of Trey Valentine.

 

Here’s a huge Scifaikuest WELCOME to our newest contributors: Mark Hendrickson and Kelly Sauvage Moyer

​

star gazing

our anniversary

on Io

 

-sakyu-

 

***

 

SCIFAIKU

 

flowers of vendora

best visited early spring

before they get hungry

 

Richard E Schell

 

***

 

don’t be alarmed

produce on Tridorn

squirms when eaten

 

Richard E Schell

 

***

 

alien garden

fingers fully in flower

lettuce growing heads

 

Guy Belleranti

 

***

 

burned into

muscle memory

a hidden curriculum

 

ROM, by John Granville

 

***

 

doing PT

after the war

phantom limbic system

 

PT, by John Granville

 

***

 

in the depths of programs

cyber-serpent slithers free

binary codes getting alive

 

Yuliia Vereta

 

***

 

viral venom drips

from the fangs of cyber-snake

data corruption

 

Yuliia Vereta

 

***

 

a concertina keening

in the autumn dusk

proton decay

 

Joshua St. Claire

 

***

 

SENRYU

 

robot refit

bin full of obsolete parts

rust bucket

 

Mark Hendrickson

 

***

 

promise ring

a circle built to save us

harvesting the sun

 

Mark Hendrickson

 

***

 

space pirate

girl in every sector

star cruiser

 

Mark Hendrickson

 

***

 

finding water

on the new planet

wet dream

 

Mark Hendrickson

 

***

 

new celebrity

on the galactic stage

star power

 

Mark Hendrickson

 

***

 

learning to endure

never-ending winter

ice-planet survey crew

 

Lauren McBride

 

***

 

learning the alien's dance

if only I had

multiple legs

 

Lauren McBride

 

***

 

shaving himself

Bigfoot gets ready

for the office

 

DJ Tyrer

 

***

 

HORRORKU

 

voicemail

a message from my lover

recently buried

 

Ngo Binh Anh Khoa

 

***

 

out of our minds

lost in thought

nomads on the astral plane

 

steppes to Enlightenment, by Benjamin Whitney Norris

 

***

 

drowned Tuscan sailor

climbing up the anchor chain

blood grooves in his teeth

 

off Elba, by Benjamin Whitney Norris

 

***

 

Mom’s photos of my dissection

the first thing I saw

upon revival

 

inversion, by Benjamin Whitney Norris

 

***

 

the day after

nuclear disarmament:

Venusians de Milo

 

peacemaker, by Benjamin Whitney Norris

 

***

 

harvesting organs

around the clock

time for kidney pie

 

break room, by Benjamin Whitney Norris

 

***

 

moonshimmer

how white my skull

under the flesh

 

Joshua St. Claire

 

***

 

upon landing

we change from

predator to prey

 

Richard E Schell

 

***

 

TANKA

 

pilgrimage

millions of robots

heading toward

the remnants of

Silicon Valley

 

Ngo Binh Anh Khoa

 

***

 

HAIBUN

 

DRABBUN

 

A Love Offering by Debby Feo

 

Gia had so much trouble with the Liquid Breather that Phio bought her one of her own, even though they were not betrothed. He loved her that much.

Gia went thru so many blue strips every time they went to the well-disguised, rental Dample Zone (Human eyes could not see past the rough “wall”.) that her credit had been used up. The blue strips kept the breathing prongs inside the mouth.

Once in place, the Liquid Breather allowed the wearer to breathe under the water-like substance of the Dample Zone.

 

a love offering

gift of Liquid Breather

Phio much credit

 

***

 

DRABBUN

 

The Dawn by Randall Andrews

 

Clawed feet pad softly through the cold forest as the wolf, the master of the dark, of the eternal night that is the world that followed the war, strides with stealth along the trail of his next meal.

 

Suddenly, the darkness is shattered as the clouds overhead break apart, releasing the light of the sun for the first time in centuries. The wolf howls in terror as his eyes are blinded, his fur afire with unfamiliar warmth. The light penetrates his body and spirit, blunting his teeth and stretching his limbs.

 

shapeshifter's surprise

new light begetting new life

becoming human

 

***

 

ARTICLE

 

Odd little beauties or why you should give horrorku, fantastiku and scifaiku a try

by Deborah Karl-Brandt

 

In one of the last issues of Sommergras, the quarterly journal of the German Haiku Society, the question was raised as to why some German-language authors also write and publish in English. I would like to answer that.

 

Firstly, the exchange with a very broad haiku community is important to me. Secondly, I can fall back on creative forms such as fantastiku, horroku or scifaiku if necessary and, with a bit of luck, see them published. Until today, that will most likely not happen in German Journals.

 

I do not regard these poetry forms as abstractly created desktop poetry, the supposedly inferior quality of which is still discussed in German haiku circles. On the contrary, they are often based on experiences of everyday life, which can be brought out particularly well in this way. Fantastiku, horroku and scifaiku are interesting variants that offer other creative possibilities beyond those of the familiar haiku.

 

I would now like to look more closely why I choose to use horroku, scifaiku and fantastiku as for my writings. I would like to give some examples.

 

1) horroku

 

grandma tells me

I´m blessed with brown hair

…burning of witches

 

(Otoroshi Journal. Autumn/winter 2022/2023)

 

My grandmother absorbed the dangers of exclusion and discrimination during her childhood in the Third Reich. Although she was not Jewish and did not suffer any other persecution, it was deeply ingrained in her that it was best to blend in with the masses in order to avoid being a target and thus ensure her survival.

 

The chosen poetry form best expresses the horror of suddenly finding your entire existence threatened because of irrelevant distinguishing features.

 

no salt -

the voices behind the wall

whisper

 

(Otoroshi Journal. Winter 2021)

 

This horror poem was written after a friend of mine was diagnosed with schizophrenia. The horror of suddenly being confronted with such a different perception of the world is reflected in this poem.

 

2) scifaiku

 

This poem deals with the fear of the unknown and the limits of our own minds.

 

hibernation...

deep inside the cocoons

little aliens

 

(Scifaikuest November 2022)

 

What's better than a few aliens to get the reader to leave their comfort zone?

 

Another one deals with the possible psychological reasons for a phenomenon known as messietum or hoarding.

 

cluttered home...

in the centre of the galaxy

a black hole

 

(Haiku Dialogue 22.12.2021)

 

3) fantastiku

 

Created during the pandemic, this particular fantastiku became one of my favorite poems.

 

laughter

her imaginary friend

tells his best joke

 

(Cold Moon Journal August 2022)

 

And another one of my absolute favorites is quite self-explanatory:

 

old diary

my late aunt tells me

how to be happy

 

(Haiku Dialogue 08.12.2021)

 

I think that these examples would lose their impact in the form of the haiku poem. I argue that the chosen poem form should not only fit the content of the work, but also enrich the poem as a whole. I have tried to use these examples to show how incredibly well suited fantastiku, horroku and scifaiku are to expressing feelings and emotions, and how much they can teach us about what it means to be human.

 

Hopefully, in the future more jurors and editors in German-speaking countries will recognize the possibilities and potential of fantastiku, horroku and scifaiku and that they will receive more attention. Until then, I will continue to write my odd little beauties and share them with the English-speaking haiku community.

 

***

 

FAVORITE POEM by editor, t.santitoro

 

Let’s discuss what makes a great scifaiku or tanka. Not only should the correct form be observed, but you also need a wallop of an ah-ha moment. The following poems all have that wonderful last line. What’s left? It comes down to the Reader’s opinion of what they like. I liked all five of these little gems, and chose them to appear in our Anniversary issue. What’s your favorite?

 

finding water

on the new planet

wet dream

 

Mark Hendrickson

 

*

 

learning the alien's dance

if only I had

multiple legs

 

Lauren McBride

 

*

 

moonshimmer

how white my skull

under the flesh

 

Joshua St. Claire

 

*

 

upon landing

we change from

predator to prey

 

Richard E Schell

 

*

 

pilgrimage

millions of robots

heading toward

the remnants of

Silicon Valley

 

Ngo Binh Anh Khoa

​​

​