Buoyant blog of septuagenarian Kanadian poet and haikuist Chris Faiers/cricket. People's Poetry in the tradition of Milton Acorn, haiku/haibun, progressive politikal rants, engaged Buddhism and meditation, revitalizing of Callaghan's Rapids Conservation Area, memories of ZenRiver Gardens and annual Purdy Country LitFests (PurdyFests), events literary and politikal, and pics, amid swirling currents of earth magick and shamanism. Read in 119 countries last week - 22,924 readers in June.
Now, just one doggone minute. Did Anita Anand, Canada’s minister of Foreign Affairs, really say that Canada shipped 180,000- 0.68 calibre “paintball style projectiles” to Israel? Really? What fun those boy-gamers must have enjoyed!! Actually it’s more like in excess of 350,000 “paintballs” but who’s counting? The advertisement in Amazon.ca claims they are “eco-friendly, water soluble, easy to wash and biodegradable”. I hate to say it, but the grand total for the order of 350,000 would have cost only about $42,000 –as 1000 paintballs per box costs $118.00, for each of about 350 boxes. But Anand’s statement was dissembling at the minimum and an out-and-out lie at worst.
Paintballs or 155mm shells
What the Canadian government has allowed to be shipped to Israel are hundreds of thousands of 155 mm shell propellants —made by General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems – Canada (GD-OTS-Canada) in Valleyfield, Quebec. Previous orders were “held in large volumes” in the US’s War Reserve Stockpile Allies-Israel (WRSA-1). This order for the propellants from fall 2024 was worth $55.1 million US ($78.8 million Canadian). As of January 2025, Melanie Joly, our former minister of Foreign Affairs promised no arms would be shipped to Israel—not exactly true. Since the new year, Canadian-made weapons were shipped to the US who then dispatched them to Israel.
Below: 1.5 minute video of 155 mm shells blasted from Israeli tanks in Gaza– courtesy of The Sun, a right-wing rag in the UK.
Project Ploughshares, a Waterloo, Ont.-based research centre, is concerned that Canadian-made military weapons have been supplied through routine US procurement channels and stored in the US ‘War Reserve Stockpile Allies-Israel WRSA-I’. From there, they get shipped to the IDF. Some have labelled the 155 mm artillery shells the “primary driver of civilian harm events”. Watch this Youtube video. Canada also sent $100 million worth of Canadian-made parts for the F-35 fighter jets to the US, bound for Israel.
Did our shells kill Anas al-Sharif or any of the other three Al Jazeera reporters and two freelancers in the media tent in Gaza City on Sunday?
Israel’s slaughter of journalists
Has there been another “war” in which so many journalists from one nation were the targets of the imperializing power? I can’t think of one. Viet Nam, nope. The Falklands, nope. The US invasion of Grenada, no. The war in Afghanistan- from 2000 to 2021 –there were 30 journalists of several nationalities killed—over 21 years. The Iraq War, the Syrian Civil War, the takeover of Libya? Not many. Hell, there have only been four Ukrainian journalists killed during the Russian invasion of Ukraine – since 2023.
The Al Jazeera correspondent Anas Al-Sharif, age 28, was killed with colleagues in Gaza by a targeted Israeli airstrike. (credit: Karim Jaafar/AFP/Getty Images)
Israel killed 200 journalists in Gaza– that is as if an army killed 31,000 journalists in the US
Most western media agree that Israel has deliberately killed 200-250 journalists in Gaza since October 2023. A similar slaughter of journalists if applied to the US population would result in 31,000 deaths. A parallel massacre in Canada would wipe out a third of all journalists in Canada—or pretty much the journalists/reporters who work at every TV network in Canada.
Imagine that – but only now is there an outrage. There wasn’t one before because all the journalists killed were Palestinians who lived in Gaza. Expendable according to Israel and all its western allies. But now anyone can see that Israel’s deliberate targeting of journalists is not only a war crime, but also the pinnacle of Israel’s campaign to silence voices against its Genocide. Only now are some of the western media timidly asking Israel to be “let into Gaza” – with no ceasefire in place. Israel’s not kidding when it says it won’t guarantee journalists’ safety. I wonder how many Canadian journalists will actually volunteer to go and see for themselves?
Image at the top: Paintballs with fake gun, as advertised on Amazon.ca
cold moon on the seashore rock a painter’s brush --Tsanka Shishkova (Sofia, Bulgaria)
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Glass ceiling Harris hopes to break “Yes, she can” --Satoru Kanematsu (Nagoya)
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summer night the bear claw sky overwhelms me --Jerome Berglund (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
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Observed at sunset a shimmering filament thread radio waves --Philip Davison (Dublin, Ireland)
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flashpoint the moment we realised we weren’t alone --Joanna Ashwell (Durham, England)
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shooting stars shooting dreams year after year --Mario Massimo Zontini (Parma, Italy)
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shooting star-- calling again the days of forgiveness --Giuliana Ravaglia (Bologna, Italy)
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ever stronger the voice of vengeance-- falling stars --Maria Teresa Sisti (Massa Carrara, Italy)
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piercing the silence a meteor falls into the earth’s atmosphere --John Paul Caponigro (Cushing, Maine)
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State Fair with my girl amid death-defying rides... mom in hospice --Carl Brennan (North Syracuse, New York)
------------------------------ FROM THE NOTEBOOK ------------------------------
in the sky, glowing light far away, rising in height fast, fading from sight --Cheng Wei Fong (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)
The haikuist is patiently waiting to see a comet tail tonight. The Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) announced that the icy dirtball, Comet Tsuchinshan, will put on a show after sunset.
In this column, star-gazing haikuists share their out-of-this-world celestial experiences watching comets, meteor showers, UFOs, constellations, supermoons, blue moons and the northern lights. Improved camera technology and forecasting tools has increased the number of photo-haikuists who peruse the skies each night. Luciana Moretto often enjoyed star-gazing during this spectacular year of the dragon in Treviso, Italy. Shishkova was enthralled by meteors. Aaron Ozment couldn’t see them, but seemed to know that tears were falling in Kagoshima.
Dragon’s head lost in the stars tail of a comet
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late at night ecstatic woman’s voice Perseids
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From pampas grass homes Crying to the moon unseen Crickets in the mist
Natalia Kuznetsova recalled sitting beside her story-telling father under dreamy night skies overhead Moscow, Russia. Nazarena Rampini recalled her dad’s heartwarming response to seeing a comet flash by Pogliano Milanese, Italy.
dad’s UFOs tales and my flights of fantasy... comet’s tail
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Halley’s comet the rare hug of my father
Sheila Barksdale said she held her breath “at the tail-end of summer here in England,” when night-time fishermen from Cornwall, England, “extinguished their boat lights and threw a ring net onto the ocean’s surface and a shoal of sardines--so plentiful that the chute swinging around depositing them in buckets on deck was a shimmering sight to see.”
haul of pilchards streaming crazy down the chute: comet’s tail
Donna Fleischer visited a farm in Bloomfield, Connecticut, where birds have been known to occasionally escape and show-off their colorful tail feathers to the neighbors. Ivan Georgiev chased after a dog down the street in Gottingen, Germany.
the comet’s tail in a peacock’s dream, end of August
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dog days in line for ice cream a runaway pet
James Penha watched over children watching over farms in Bali, Indonesia.
Bali kids make noise and a little pay scaring birds from rice fields
Eugeniusz Zacharski visited a dairy farm in Darlowo, Poland. Teiichi Suzuki nervously stirred his morning coffee in Osaka.
bright summer night drinking milk straight from the cow’s teats
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Flow of milk in the black coffee-- typhoon comes
David Cox danced indoors to the tune of Typhoon Yagi in Hanoi, Vietnam.
corrugated iron the rap and ripping… typhoon’s last song
Angela Giordano attended a wedding in Avigliano, Italy.
in the darkness-- the comet’s tail bridal train
Aljosa Vukovic enjoyed a showtime at dinner in Sibenik, Croatia. Ken Sawitri enjoyed last night’s show in Blora, Indonesia. Zelyko Funda stayed in bed in Varazdin, Croatia.
comet tails-- the shrimps tossed on my plate
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comet tails an orchestra ended with the delayed audience clapping
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sleepless night in the ceiling window a comet trail show
Tuyet Van Do enjoyed a wide-angle view from Melbourne, Australia.
great expanse through the Outback a comet’s tail
Ashoka Weerakkody was a fan of the de Havilland Comet 4 jetliner. Looking skyward from Colombo, Sri Lanka, the haikuist was delighted by the “jet trails of the Comet that crisscrossed the Indian subcontinent linking England and Australia” until 1981.
crisscrossing my childhood skies that Comet’s t(r)ails
Tomislav Maretic recalled jogging down the street in 1997 when a bright comet with a shining tail caught his eye. Henryk Czempiel likes the comet knot and comet bun hairstyles that are trendy this year in Strzelce Opolskie, Poland.
Comet Hale-Bopp-- will any of my descendants see it again?
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watching a comet her blond ponytail on my shoulder
Tony Williams worried that children would be looking up when they should have been looking out for potholes in Glasgow, Scotland. Jean-Hughes Chevy won’t lose his pet French poodle.
long, hot summer kids falling through cracks in the pavement
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summer in Paris a hydrant keeps the dog on a leash
Florian Munteanu aimed his telescope at one of the brightest objects in the sky tonight.
step by step a cosmic waltz night-- sights on Mars
Emil Karla’s family stayed up late watching the skies over Paris, France.
Fallen from the bed... A new constellation on my son’s back
Elizabeth Fanto didn’t use a flashlight in Baltimore, Maryland. Glowworms rely on their own light source to attract mates. But street lights and light pollution caused by non-natural white light makes the green glow from the creatures weaker and less visible.
harvest moon dims the flash of a last glowworm
Gazing at yesterday’s spinning baseball moon, Kanematsu relived the speeding pitches, fly balls and stolen bases that excited thousands of cheering high school fans at Koshien Stadium this season.
No more cheers rise from the ballpark cooler moon
Rising at five in the morning, Murasaki Sagano closely followed Shohei Ohtani’s back number 17. She dropped everything when the Dodgers player became Major League Baseball’s first player with 50 homers and 50 stolen bases in a season. The haikuist hopes to compose another earth-shattering haiku during the designated batter’s debut in the playoff season.
September breakfast his 50/50 spilled my miso soup
Rob Goss is “starting to feel the first anticipatory twangs of empty nest syndrome.” The Tokyo-based travel writer’s son plans to study overseas, so “little things… stir memories of early parenthood. That includes the moon ducking in and out of the cover of passing clouds, like the games of peekaboo we used to play.”
billowing clouds the moon playing peekaboo
Cox positioned himself behind a stone lantern at moonrise.
memorial stone-- tonight’s space carved out for the moon
Foteini Georgakopoulou turned off her satellite television and went outside to play hide-and-seek in Athens, Greece.
in the summer sky peeking from behind a dish the moon
In Tokyo, Junko Saeki suggested a way for mothers to remember how happy they were with children running about and to keep them going after the house empties. Stephen J. DeGuire described a ghost town.
scarecrows, scarecrows in my children’s clothes-- empty nest
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greying town-- scarecrows outnumber real people
Refika Dedic contemplated a starry-eyed path in Bihac, Bosnia and Herzegovina. A way through the forest awaits Pamela A. Babusci in Rochester, New York.
next to the scarecrow quixotic goes its own way
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harvest moon illuminating the path that nobody takes
Thankful for his late-night dinner in Los Angeles, Stephen J. DeGuire reminded us that farmers sometimes have to work all night long.
harvest time the weight of moonlight on farmers’ backs
Masumi Orihara rolled onto her side in Atsugi, Kanagawa Prefecture. Helga Stania purred in Ettiswil, Switzerland.
lingering heat bedroom window wide open buckmoon viewing
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harvest moon the old cat opens her eyes
Urszula Marciniak nonchalantly described the heat in Lodz, Poland. The heat roused Georgakopoulou from a fitful sleep.
such a hot day his nurse undoes one button of her uniform
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I woke up from the heat to find that the moon had made its way in front of my bed
Murasaki Sagano consented to an overpowering moon in Tokyo.
Willing or not owing to this full moon I’m Juliet
Stania, opened a door to her liberation. Suzuki opened an old door.
shooting stars I wish to remain wishless
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Mackerel sky to stumble on an unknown world used book shop
Zontini in Italy, Lilia Racheva in Bulgaria and Isabella Kramer in Germany, respectively, were mesmerized by the same moon.
the blue moon lights up the stubble: gold in the fields
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white moon crickets chirping mantras
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rose moon drunken by scent the cockchafer
Anne-Marie McHarg sketched black on black in London, England.
Moonlit night A bat embraces Its shadow
David Brydges, the poet emissary of The Ontario Poetry Society, confirmed “poetry is everywhere” even “while putting out the garbage” in front of his home in Cobalt, Ontario.
moody moon hazy evening after the rain
Sherry Reniker enjoyed the conversations of birds in East Hill Kent, Washington.
kittiwakes off the cliffs harvest moon
Leon Tefft gave the shirt off his back in Greenville, South Carolina. Anne Marie McHarg spruced up a gentleman farmer in London, England. Nani Mariani gave away the shirt off her back in Melbourne, Australia. Marilyn Monroe’s legendary skirt flew in a subway breeze, but Babusci witnessed what windspeeds of 70 kph can do.
still feeling good vibes the beggar’s aloha shirt
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A child’s posy In the buttonhole Of a scarecrow
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scarecrow waving my old red t-shirt scares the birds
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autumn storm the scarecrow naked
Urszula Marciniak yelped in Lodz, Poland.
night walk I keep forgetting there’s a scarecrow there
John Hawkhead muttered about the madness of believing in imaginary enemies as he made his way around a cemetery in Bradford on Avon, U.K.
tilting windmills following a circular path through war graves
These two haiku about the war in Ukraine were penned by Myron Lysenko from Woodend, Australia.
open field the invading soldier becomes a scarecrow
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sunflower stalks… a farmer in his tractor tows away a tank
R. Suresh Babu gave ministrations as flames swept cornstalks and burned a strawman at the stake in Thiruvalla, India. Kanchan Chatterjee returned home with a co-worker in Jamshedpur, India.
stubble burning the last rites of a scarecrow
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end of the harvest… the farmer takes his scarecrow back home
Arvinder Kaur has no friends in Chandigarh, India.
back from war my only friend, the fragrance of night jasmine
Rosemarie Schuldes composed this haiku with a silver lining in Mattsee, Austria.
harvest moon even the rubble silvery
Mike Fainzilber sold memories once thought to be worth their weight in silver in Rehovot, Israel.
wartime economy trying to pawn grandpa’s old medals
In St. Louis Park, Minnesota, Archie G. Carlos glared at an image of war.
missiles again a war orphan stares at the comet’s tail
Chen-ou Liu looked up hopefully from Ajax, Ontario.
harvest moon behind the barbed wire fence a migrant’s dream
During what must have seemed like just a moment of a lifetime, Ravaglia was distracted by the thought of a speeding bullet in the autumn wind.
The next issues of the Asahi Haikuist Network appear on Nov. 1, 15, and 29. Readers are invited to send haiku about toys, games, or numbers on a postcard to David McMurray at the International University of Kagoshima, Sakanoue 8-34-1, Kagoshima, 891-0197, Japan, or by e-mail to mcmurray@fka.att.ne.jp.
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David McMurray
David McMurray has been writing the Asahi Haikuist Network column since April 1995, first for the Asahi Evening News. He is on the editorial board of the Red Moon Anthology of English-Language Haiku, columnist for the Haiku International Association, and is editor of Teaching Assistance, a column in The Language Teacher of the Japan Association for Language Teaching (JALT).
McMurray is professor of intercultural studies at The International University of Kagoshima where he lectures on international haiku. At the Graduate School he supervises students who research haiku. He is a correspondent school teacher of Haiku in English for the Asahi Culture Center in Tokyo.
McMurray judges haiku contests organized by The International University of Kagoshima, Ito En Oi Ocha, Asahi Culture Center, Matsuyama City, Polish Haiku Association, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Seinan Jo Gakuin University, and Only One Tree.
McMurray’s award-winning books include: “Teaching and Learning Haiku in English” (2022); “Only One Tree Haiku, Music & Metaphor” (2015); “Canada Project Collected Essays & Poems” Vols. 1-8 (2013); and “Haiku in English as a Japanese Language” (2003).
photo of Hiroshima a few days after the dropping of the atomic bomb
Mitsumi Kishiga, courtesy Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum
Christopher: Flash and fire consumed Hiroshima’s streets when the United States dropped an atomic bomb 80 years ago this morning. Days later, Nagasaki would also be engulfed in flames. Upwards of 120,000 people were instantly killed, and many more would suffer and die in the fallout.
Decades later, the world has failed to learn the lessons. Today, nine countries — several of which are already at, or terrifyingly close to, war — possess the destructive power of 135,000 Hiroshima bombs.[1]
And just last week, Trump ratcheted up tensions further, ordering two U.S. nuclear submarines near Russia.[2]
It’s a chilling reminder that, at any minute, the U.S. President can single-handedly launch a weapon capable of horrific destruction. No approval from, not even notification to, the Defense Secretary or Congress is required.
The system is designed for speed, not clear-headed, democratic decision making. That’s why we need policies like “No First Use” in place immediately.
The Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act (S.192 and H.R.669), would create the guardrails necessary to stop Trump — or any president — from unilaterally pushing us down the path to nuclear catastrophe, and it needs your urgent support.
Even a “small” nuclear war, where just three percent of the world’s nuclear arsenal is deployed, would have apocalyptic effects. Millions would be killed on impact, followed by environmental destruction, famine, and more deaths in the fallout.
The problem? Too many world leaders and decision-makers are failing to reckon with the consequences.
That includes too many members of Congress who have yet to cosponsor the Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act, a commonsense approach to ensuring Congress’s vital and constitutional authority to declare war is fulfilled by requiring the president to obtain congressional approval before using nuclear weapons.
People created nuclear weapons and designed the systems governing their use. Christopher, that means people can change the system — and work to rid the world of this threat entirely.
As the only nation to have used nuclear weapons in conflict, the U.S. government has a unique responsibility to enact policies that build a safer and more secure future. It’s activists like us who will push decision-makers to be the leaders we need. Will you speak out now?
Eliminating the threat of nuclear war has been a huge part of Win Without War’s work since our founding. This week, as we remember the hundreds of thousands of lives lost in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and honor the work of the survivors — the hibakusha — we thank you for joining us.
Thank you for working for peace, The Win Without War team
I've met this woman and I believe her to be sincere. A year or so after I met her I experienced an extremely powerful visitation and blessing from Sky Goddess Mary. Take what you will from this. Here's the poem I posted about this experience last year.
The flood of abundance, That is inherently yours, Is about to reach you.
If you allow yourself To receive.
And so it is, Beloved One.
Blessed be.
~Sophia
Lion’s Gate Portal: A Sophia Christ Transmission
Date: August 8, 2025 Location: Online, via Zoom Time: 7:30 p.m. EST
Beloved One,
This coming Friday is the 8/8 Portal - the Lion’s Gate!
The Lion’s Gate is a Sacred alignment. A gateway of solar fire, Sirius light, & cosmic codes pouring into our world. This is a moment where the veils thin, where timelines open, & where we are invited to step beyond survival into Sovereign Creation.
I am holding a field - a living Temple - for those called to gather in reverence & remembrance.
Together, we will: ✨ Enter a Christic Sophia frequency field of pure radiance ✨ Receive a transmission of quantum codes to awaken your Sovereign blueprint ✨ Anchor the currents of new creation into your body & reality
This is not a ritual of striving - it is a reclamation of who you already are. If you feel the pulse of this invitation in your bones, you are meant to be here.
Full Moon in Aquarius (August 9); Freedom, innovation, & awakening at a cellular level
Journaling Prompts for August 3 - 9
Sacred Courage | Cosmic Awakening | Harmony Without Compromise
Integrate Last Week’s Energies (July 27 - August 2):
Chiron retrograde pulled you inward. Venus in Cancer softened your edges. Mercury Cazimi offered clarity.
Journaling Prompt: What Truth about my heart, my needs, or my healing became clear last week, & how does that change what I will allow moving forward?
Prepare for the Week Ahead (August 3 - 9):
Mars enters Libra. The Lion’s Gate opens. These energies ask for balance without self-abandonment, & boldness without force.
Journaling Prompt: Where am I being called to move differently in relationships so that harmony does not cost me my Sovereignty?
Master the Coming Energies:
The Aquarius Full Moon + Lion’s Gate portal = liberation & illumination. You are stepping into your cosmic blueprint. This is about embodying freedom in form.
Journaling Prompt: What would it feel like to live as the clearest, most liberated version of myself? And what is the first action that aligns me with that frequency now?
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