May 21, 2007 - San Jose Teahouse Reading

Wendy Wright, Deborah Kolodji, Jerry Ball
and Janis, Japanese Friendship Garden, San Jose, CA
May 21, 2007

Southern California Haiku Study Group members Wendy Wright, Deborah Kolodji, and Janis drove to San Jose for the annual Yuki Teikei Teahouse Reading in San Jose. SCHSG founder, Jerry Ball, was one of the featured haiku poets for the reading.

It was a satisfying day of haiku. We met at the Japanese Friendship Garden in Kelley Park at 10:00 for a workship led by Anne Homan. Other workshop attendees, in addition to the four SCHSG members above, included Alison Woolpert, Ed Grossman, Carol Steele, Roger Abe, Maxine, Eric, Christine, and Bill.

Participants were given the following kigo for inspiration before strolling the gardens for a ginko:

ducklings, end of springtime, Mother's Day, new leaves/young leaves, waterfall, spring tranquility

Some of us visited Heritage Park, also in Kelley Park, for lunch before returning for the haiku reading where we were joined by Ann Bendixen, donnalynn chase, and Maxine . In addition to Jerry Ball, the other featured poets were Betty and Jim Arnold, all of who read haiku from their recent trip to Japan for Haiku Pacific Rim.

Afterwards, some of us had dinner at Gombei in Japantown, a restaurant known for home-style Japanese dishes. We all vowed to attend the Asilomar retreat in September to learn more about haiku and spend time with our Yuki Teikei friends