buttered sweet corn—
he disappeared as did
the Cheshire cat
Patrick Gallagher
Frogpond. . .
a great silence, then
a great singing
vincent tripi
***
Paul enters my thoughts often, enough that I am surprised. He was a good friend and I miss him. One of my favorite haiku by Paul is:
a warm fall day
learning from this rock
to do nothing
A few weeks ago, during a backpacking trip in the Olympics, I shrugged off my pack to rest a while by the Skokomish River. For no apparent reason I felt Paul’s presence keenly and remembered the above poem. For a while we seemed to be sitting together. Then I got up to continue my trek towards a chosen campsite and this poem emerged:
deep woods
have I learned nothing
from this boulder?
Christopher Herold
***
the wide river
of our friend’s goodwill
the lasting currents
Susan Diridoni
quiet mountain . . .
from its lengthening shadow
an eagle rises
Naia
fragrance of friendship -
sprigs of rosemary
for remembrance
Merrill Ann Gonzales
l
a walk
around Walden Pond
tonight
a bite from the moon
-- missing
Linda Galloway
wind in the canopy
twilight doesn't silence
the grosbeak's song
Carolyn Hall
silent water—
a summer hat left
on the stepping stone
Fay Aoyagi
______________________________________________
Remembering Paul Williams
I first met Paul in 2002, when I joined HPNC. At one of the earliest meetings I attended, I volunteered a haiku for workshopping by the group. There were twenty or so attendees present. I read the poem aloud – and vigorous discussion and commentary followed. At the end of the discussion (probably after noticing the response in my face), Paul spoke up. With his typical grin, he told me not to worry – he, too, once offered a haiku for group criticism. When the group was done with it, there was only one word left in the poem!
The most recent memory I have of Paul was by email. I joined Twitter last year. I follow several other people, but don’t tweet much myself. In early May, I received a message that Paul was now following me on Twitter. The thought cheered me: I could imagine Paul being intrigued by Twitter and the similarities between the brief form of communication and haiku. I also got a little nervous. If Paul was going to read my tweets, I had better get my act together and write something worthwhile!
In addition to the memories I have of Paul, and to the wisdom he imparted and the writings he shared, he also was a model: an artist, poet and scholar in whose achievements we can all take strength from.
- David Grayson
______________________________________________
 Table of Paul's books and more at the HPNC July 20th meeting (Photo: David Grayson)
 Garry Gay reading a letter about Paul, from Vincent Tripi. Sue Antolin and Carolyn Hall are sitting to Garry's right and left, respectively. (Photo: David Grayson)
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