Volume 41, Issue 2
Spring 2018

Star*Line 41.2 cover
Cover: Strumming to Moon and Cloud
© 2018 Likhain
likhain.net
Dragons & Rayguns

Greetings, specpo people! It’s April, which makes it National Poetry Month in the US and actually in many star systems in the quadrant.

This year marks the 15th anniversary of the HAY(NA)KU, a poetic form invented by Filipino American poet Eileen R. Tabios: a tercet with one word in the first line, two in the second, and three in the third. Eileen wanted to call it the Philippine Haiku, but I suggested “hay(na)ku,” a pun on the Filipino expression hay naku—untranslatable directly but meaning something on the order of oh my gosh in surprise or exasperation—and haiku, with na (meaning “already” in Filipino) splitting the hay and ku.

Variants of the hay(na)ku include the reverse hay(na)ku (3-2-1), chained hay(na)ku (longer poems constructed of hay(na)ku stanzas), and my own invention, the hay(na)ku sonnet (5 hay(na)ku stanzas with the last compressed into a couplet of 3 words per line in order to total 14 lines).

Apropos for us here on Planet Star*Line is the SF hay(na)ku called a sci(na)ku. You’ll find several sci(na)ku as well as fantasy and horror hay(na)ku in this issue by Kathleen A. Lawrence, Katrina Archer, Lauren McBride (even one co-authored with her son Jacob McBride), and Roxanne Barbour. In fact, Roxanne has just invented a new variant, the hay(na)ku tanka, with 5 lines of 1 word, 2 words, 3, 2, then 1. Of course—because specpo—she gives us sci(na)ku tanka, two examples of which are below; the poem on the right is even a reverse one! (5 lines of 3 words, 2 words, then 1, 2, 3.) I hope you enjoy these sci(na)ku / hay(na)ku poems.

The poems here also include a list poem by Arjun Rajendran, a fib and cheritas by David C. Kopaska-Merkel, a ghazal by Joshua Gage, and another rondeau redoublé by Mindy Watson. Eileen R. Tabios is also here with a robot tanka. We’re happy to honor Asian American Heritage Month (May in the US) with cover art by Likhain, continuing Star*Line’s 40th SFPA anniversary celebration with art by poets. She gives us a genderbending re-vision of Heinlein’s blind poet Rhysling and a space dog for the Chinese Year of the Dog. Now go write some sci(na)ku!

—Vince Gotera, Star*Line Editor


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Star*Line Staff:

Editor: Vince Gotera
Layout: Vince Gotera
Editorial Assistant: Mary Chipman
Production Manager: Vince Gotera

Star*Line Reviews
Star*Line Archives
Star*Line History

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Table of Contents

Departments

  • Dragons & Rayguns • Vince Gotera
  • President’s Message • Bryan Thao Worra
  • From the Small Press • Herb Kauderer
  • Stealth SF * Flying Blind * Denise Dumars
  • XenoPoetry: Japanese Scifaiku and Tanka • Shouko Izuo (translated by Natsumi Ando)

Poetry

  • [spewing] • Roxanne Barbour
  • [spray of rocks] • Roxanne Barbour
  • Workshop Exercise 21/08/2337: My Earliest Memories • David Jalajel
  • UFO • David Barber
  • [multiple moons] • David J Kelly
  • [life sentence] • David C. Kopaska-Merkel
  • [their drone ship came to Earth] • Lauren McBride
  • The Fallen Angel’s Ace of Wands • Mindy Watson
  • Why aliens shun India • Arjun Rajendran
  • [huckster moon] • Greer Woodward
  • Never Trust a Vampiress • James Dorr
  • [that] • David C. Kopaska-Merkel
  • It’s Universal • Marsheila Rockwell
  • Transported by Song • Herb Kauderer
  • [easy mole removal?] • F. J. Bergmann
  • A Cinephile Steps On-Screen • Alberto Sveum
  • Symbiosis • Chris Galford
  • [Striped gaiters, breather] • Denise Dumars
  • Stone Clutched to Chest • Laura Madeline Wiseman & Andrea Blythe
  • The Holy Firmament of Venus • Mary Soon Lee
  • Measure • Banks Miller
  • [alien worm—] • Susan Burch
  • Widening Gyroscope • F. J. Bergmann
  • [rising] • Roxanne Barbour
  • Cost-Benefits Analysis of Being a Zombie • James Reinebold
  • Till Death Do Us Part • Kathleen A. Lawrence
  • [a GoFundMe account] • Beth Cato
  • If Only I Could Sleep • G. O. Clark
  • Hermes • Jonel Abellanosa
  • Friends of Traitors • Matthew Wilson
  • [bottle trees on Mars] • Sandra J. Lindow
  • When Semi-Benevolent Aliens Conquer Earth • R. Mac Jones
  • Cosmic Roshambo • John Richard Trtek
  • [we’re leaving] • Robin Wyatt Dunn
  • Oh No She Didn’t? • James Dorr
  • [revealing] • Roxanne Barbour
  • Archaeopteryx • Robert Borski
  • [Terrans scooping gravel] • Lauren McBride
  • Wolf Moon • Susan McLean
  • [FTL propulsion achieved] • Lauren McBride & Jacob McBride
  • [cosmology] • Katrina Archer
  • Flight of Fantasy • crystalwizard
  • [no need] • Susan Burch
  • [we buried] • ayaz daryl nielsen
  • alien sea beams • David J Kelly
  • A Leaf Fairy Feels Under-Appreciated • Sharon Cote
  • The Return • Ken Poyner
  • The Cold Spot • Kimberly Nugent
  • From the Zombie Hunters Field Guide: Tracking the Zombie • James Dorr
  • [summer waits for him] • Holly Lyn Walrath
  • [vampire job fair] • William Landis
  • Data Value • Patricia Gomes
  • [close encounter] • Susan Burch
  • [Irresistible panhandling] • F. J. Bergmann
  • From Antartican Vibranium Tankas • Eileen R. Tabios
  • Ghazal • Joshua Gage
  • Elixir Stores Open for Business! • Ronald A. Busse
  • [the sound of black holes] • Alzo David-West
  • Lost in the House of Hair • John W. Sexton
  • [end of the road] • Greg Schwartz
  • The Music of the Spheres • Mikal Trimm
  • Come Embrace Space • Lauren McBride
  • E pur si muoveDeborah L. Davitt
  • [nothing’s so beautiful] • Alzo David-West
  • [red shift] • David J Kelly
  • [alien pool shark] • F. J. Bergmann
  • Second Life • Davian Aw
  • [eruption] • Roxanne Barbour
  • [for sale: sweet cottage] • F. J. Bergmann
  • Illiteracy • Scott E. Green & Herb Kauderer
  • [outside the greenhouse] • Greg Schwartz
  • The Young Transylvanian’s Guide to Dating: Taking Your Date Home • James Dorr
  • [alien teenagers] • Susan Burch
  • [prohibited] • Roxanne Barbour
  • The Ghost Diet • Robert Borski
  • Everything started with the Big Bang, they say • Juanjo Bazán
  • [held to my ear] • F. J. Bergmann
  • Red in the Morning • James B. Nicola
  • [the prospect recedes] • David C. Kopaska-Merkel
  • [heat death of a universe] • F. J. Bergmann
  • Missouri City, Texas, in a Far Tomorrow • José Chapa
  • Intruders • Cindy O’Quinn
  • [Looking at each star] • William Landis
  • The Plague • Matthew Wilson
  • Mermaid Warrior • Darrell Lindsey
  • [star party] • Lauren McBride
  • [Stiff with chill] • Denise Dumars
  • Exfil • WC Roberts
  • [class four body dies] • Holly Lyn Walrath
  • [guys on a float trip] • William Landis
  • Shapeshifter Taxonomy • A. C. Spahn

Illustrations

  • Low Rounders • Denny E. Marshall
  • First Time on a Swing • Christina Sng
  • Squirm • Denny E. Marshall

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