Barbara Strang
Born 1944, Invercargill, New Zealand
Lives at Christchurch, New Zealand
Barbara Strang has been writing haiku for nearly thirty years. Her work has been placed and published in New Zealand and overseas. She has appeared in the last three NZ haiku anthologies, and has produced two long-form poetry books. She’s the leader of the Small White Teapot Haiku Group.
homecoming
the potatoes burst
into flower
Highly Commended, New Zealand Poetry Society Haiku Competition 1994.
Published as Barbara Williamson in The Old Moon and So On (New Zealand Poetry Society Anthology, 1994)
wedding day—
the pear tree
sheds petals
The Ordinary Magic (New Zealand Poetry Society anthology 1997)
1st prize in New Zealand Poetry Society’s International Haiku Competition.
you speak of divorce
the morning sun
in your face
Commended in NZPS Haiku Competition
Catching the Rainbow (NZPS anthology 1996)
summer heat—
a small cloud rests
on the hill-top
Highly Commended in NZPS Haiku Competition
Catching the Rainbow (NZPS anthology 1996)
waiting for her birth
one last peach
on the tree
frogpond 25:3, 2002
where you were
the chill
of the upholstery
frogpond 34:1, 2011
hospice window
fragments of tree
and sky
Kokako 7, September 2007
walking over pebbles
her pocket
grows heavy
Kokako 7, September 2007
children’s voices
the ducks
swim closer
tiny gaps (NZPS anthology 2006)
old pines
each one leans
apart
learning a language (NZPS anthology 2005)
2nd placed in NZPS Haiku Competition 2005
the binoculars
shake in my hands . . .
Jupiter’s moons
Kokako 20 March 2014
nor’west arch
the bones of
a ruined house
scattered feathers (NZPS anthology 2015).
2nd placed in NZPS Haiku Competition 2015
aftershock
cherry petals
float down
Honourable Mention Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival 2012,
published in Leaving the Red Zone – poems from the Canterbury earthquakes” (Clerestory Press, Christchurch NZ, 2016)
red stickered—
by the front porch
wind chimes ting
Kokako 15, September 2011
ghost suburb
our headlights catch
a broken pane
Highly Commended NZPS Haiku Competition
After the Cyclone (NZPS anthology 2017)
bonfire
the wavering flight
of a monarch
After the Cyclone (NZPS anthology 2017)
westerly gale
the moth’s feelers
ripple
Merit Award Ito En Oi Ocha New Haiku Contest,
appeared in Jiyu-Katari (Free-Talking), anthology of the contest, 2016
lingering drought
the toddler stares
at rain
Kokako 24, April 2016
beached boat
the lake
inside it
A Savage Gathering
(New Zealand Poetry Society anthology 2002)
listening to her—
the wind finds a way
down my neck
A Savage Gathering
(New Zealand Poetry Society anthology 2002)
they’re no longer
cutting the grass
wildflowers
Commended in NZPS Haiku Competition 2019.
The Perfect Weight of Blankets at Night (New Zealand Poetry Society anthology 2019)
not speaking
the cherry on the fence line
in full bloom
Kokako 30, April 2019
antique mirror
in the basement . . .
my mother’s smile
Haumi ē! Huiē Taikiē! Stay Well Here (NZPS anthology 2020)
twilit garden—
the gauzy wings
of a mosquito