I began keeping a journal in high school, a requirement for my sophomore English class. I wrote the required entries, then wrote more, then wrote as a junior and senior, and so on. Only in graduate school, when a well-meaning friend suggested I stop dwelling on the morbid past, did I stop my daily writing and toss my journals away. I have regretted it ever since.
This blog is my literary journal . . . poems–mine and others, my ideas, my stories, my pictures, art and photos. It is a collection for remembering and reliving joys and sorrows, beauty and ugliness, life and death . . . everything . These are my memories, my poem-coded secrets, the glimpses of me.
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“shiteki na usagi” means poetic rabbit or personal/private rabbit . . . depending on the kanji used. I love both, so I used romaji in the title.
Most recent appearance: prompt writer for We Write Poems.
Interviews: Stories Without Words interview and Roxie’s Blog.
Online Publications:
Red Wolf WWP 2013 Prompted Poem Anthology
Yay Words Sea Bandits, Fool’s Paradise, Fox Dreams, Winged Moon
The Zen Space Summer 2012 Showcase
Here’s a link with a little info on the zodiac rabbit.
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If you have a question, request, or just a desire to chat, use the form below to contact me.
Shiteki Na Usagi 
Sadly it was also a friend’s comments that stopped me continuing to write the diary about my first daughter and I so regret it. It would have been a wonderful gift for her.
aliciasunday,
One can always start again, perhaps write it even better. Parts are lost, but not the heart. That’s what I’ve had to learn. Thank you for reading and commenting on this page.
Yousei – I have no idea how I got here (to your about) but now that I have read it I wish that I had done so before. I really enjoyed reading about you. You are a treasure. I am also sorry about your journals. (((hugs))) Liz
Liz,
Happy accident, apparently. It feels good that someone enjoys getting to know a bit more about one. Your encouragement and friendship across our blogs are precious to me as well. As to the journals, lesson learned. I’m trying to live now so I have few if no regrets. 🙂
I enjoy how you weave Japanese words through some of your poetry! You have an outstanding blog with fantastic content, that I’ve been enjoying for quite awhile now !!!
Thanks for visiting my blog !! and for your comments also !!
cloudfactor5,
I enjoy visiting your blog as well. I really appreciate your comments regarding mine. Let us continue to visit and encourage one another in our writing.
Sounds good to me !!
heya I’m barbara I’m such a silly girl but I still particularly admired your posts
CoyLowber,
Glad you enjoy them. Stop by anytime.
love your blog! wanted to share it! added you to my blogroll
http://justanotherwakeupcall.wordpress.com/
justanotherwakeupcall,
I’m so glad you enjoy the blog. I hope to be back to writing and posting soon. Thank you for adding me to your blogroll. I look forward to your visits.
🙂
Hello,
It is so great to find another aspiring writer. You have done great things with your posts here, so keep penning and keep inspiring! I am sure the door will open for you one day. 🙂
I have a joyful ride in your blog, and now I’d like to invite you to visit mine. Thank you and have a wonderful day, my friend! 🙂
Subhan Zein
Subhan Zein,
Thank you and I’d be delighted to visit again.
This is a seriously cool about page! Lots of good comments here….I read too late that you don’t generally accept awards, so let me just post this and clarify I don’t expect any response! You are a great blogger & I just really appreciate your friendship with Shawna plus your kind comments at my humble little blog!
Yousei Hime
You are a very talented writer. The proof is all written in your blog!!!
nonoymanga,
Thank you for the encouragement. I’ve enjoyed my visits to your blog.
Yousei, because of the well-deserved interest in “Samurai’s Pleasure” I know you may not get to this right away. In error, I sent you an email about an award I passed along to you, instead of commenting here, and I’m concerned that the email with its link might look like spam. Anyway, I’ve passed to you The ABC Award (The Awesome Blog Content Award). Take this link to see the post, and feel free to deal with it as you wish, in your quiet way:
http://christianfantasyforwomen.com/2012/03/13/abc-award-awesome-blog-content/
Maria,
I don’t generally accept awards. I did my first year, and when award overtook writing, I decided it was time to quit. However, I think I’ll add this one to the end of this post, because I’m particularly proud of this poem. Thank you very much for the honor and opportunity to share my writing with you.
Yousei, I understand what you’re saying, so thank you for kindly connecting to the award post. Mostly, thank you for providing a place where I can find poetry that is excellent, beautiful, sometimes whimsical.
Maria
Yousei Hime,
Thank you for liking my post, and so gracing it with your rabbit gravatar!
Maria
Maria,
My pleasure. I loved the picture on that post, and will have to come back and read the other parts accompanying that post. As to my adorable gravatar, you should visit http://lesliepaints.wordpress.com/ . She’s the responsible and delightful artist who created the gravatar and banner on my site. Thanks for your visits and likes as well.
You’re welcome! And thank you for leading me to http://lesliepaints.wordpress.com/
No problem. I’m so grateful to her for doing the art. I just love it. She’s a good artist and her blog is so fun. Enjoy.
Love your haiku – have clicked to follow (should have done it long ago – sorry)
Eric,
Not to worry. I’m delighted you enjoy them and understand the delay. If you’re like me, you’re following so many blogs already, it’s a bit hard to convince yourself you need to add another. Glad we got past that and look forward to sharing more with you.
I’m looking forward to seeing more. I do like “usagi”. Thanks so much for visiting and following my blog. Much appreciated!
Fergiemoto,
Delighted you came by. I look forward to all we share.
WordPress has introduced me to another talented, gifted and creative human being, Yousei Hime.
thank you for liking “Sun, Moon & Stars” http://poeticlicensee.wordpress.com. Bunny rabbits are dear little creatures…
Lindy Lee,
I return the thanks, especially for the follow. It’s hard not to like someone who has nice things to say about rabbits. 😉
Ethel and I have nominated you for a Kreativ Blogger Award. You’ll have to go to fourwindowspress if you don’t know about it, and if you follow the instructions you’re a winner. We are mainly trying to let you know how much we honor you and your work, so you may or may not chose to accept the award. That’s up to you, but we certainly think you are worthy of more than this one gesture of thanks for you and your poetry.
Ethel and Thomas,
Thank you very much for your kind words. I haven’t done awards since the first year I started my blog, but I think I will this time. I appreciate your consideration and encouragement, every bit of which is needed at this time. I’ll visit your site shortly and will continue to improve my writing.
Glad I stumbled upon your blog! Looking forward to reading more. 🙂
Eve Redwater,
Very happy you stumbled here too. I look forward to your visits.
I was so happy to get to read your interview on the other blog…it’s a gift to get to know one another better and share all the richness not only of our writing but of our lives. The superpower you wish for tells me volumes.
Victoria,
Welcome back. I hadn’t read that interview in some time, so I didn’t remember what my answer to the superpower question was. I appreciate your reading it and commenting on it. When I find a new blog in which I’m interested, the About section is the first place I head. I look forward to exchanging writing and richness across our blogs.
genki desu ka? 🙂 hiya.. thanks for visiting my site… i was blogging in tagalog, well thanks anyway since you still visited even though you can’t understand. thanks! you might like my other blog, thats where i keep all my lit pieces.. hope you can visit it too.. 🙂
http://mytheleniwrites.wordpress.com
ki o tsukete, yousei hime! 🙂
mytheleni,
I’m good. How are you? I will definitely visit your other site. You take care too.
Hi Yousei Hemi!
This is my first time visiting your blog and reading your wonderful poems.
I personally like the “Dad” poem.
I also like your pseudonym – “fairy princess” – it fits you!
faith,
Thank you for your visit and comment. I like the Dad poem best, I think. It means a lot to me and my family liked it as well. We write for many different audiences, don’t we. Sometimes an audience of one. Sometimes intimate ones. Sometimes the world. Thanks for stopping by. Come by anytime.
i like your header. lovely bunnies!
hames1977,
😀 Glad you like the header. Check the artists site out–Leslie White on my blogroll. I’m partial to rabbits too.
kon ni chiwa!
i love your posts. i hope you don’t mind adding you to my blog roll 🙂
keep up the good work 🙂
mytheleni,
Welcome! Glad you’ve enjoyed what you’ve read. I’m honored that you added me to your blogroll. I’ll stop by to visit soon. 🙂
Hi Yousei Hime, I want to thank you for stopping by Billy’s public blog and reading some of my poems. That was very kind and nice of you. I am looking around yours now. Thanks again,
Viola
Viola,
Thank you for returning the visit and leaving such a nice comment. I appreciate you taking the time to look around my blog. I do hope you’ll come by and visit often.
Hi, Yousei:
I always thought that u r a man, u r a lady, now I know.
Thank U for being kind friend in blogging.
Best!
Jingle,
No harm done. All part of the fun of having a pseudonym. Thank you for your friendship as well.
thank you for dropping by my blog! i thought it was funny when i clicked on yours and found myself staring at the original theme of my writing blog (http://yichinglin.wordpress.com) (smile). cheers!
y,
Thank you for returning the visit and leaving a comment. I know what you mean about seeing the same blog theme. I haven’t been able to bring myself to change the header yet. It is just so lovely. Thanks for stopping by. Come by any time.
Hi Yousei, dropped in to look around at your blog after being curious for awhile. Will return again when I have more time to explore and enjoy. It was sad to hear about you getting rid of your earlier writing, but I understand how easy it is to do this in a moment. Just my thought, but do not ever do that again lol!
purple,
Thank you for coming by and leaving an encouraging comment. Don’t worry. I won’t be throwing any more journals away. I look forward to your visits. 🙂
hello i like you blogsite. this is my first time writing a blog. as i’ve thrown, burned, and left my journals back in my young days.
you really inspired me to start again my “poetry thing”.
🙂
p.s. how can i add your blogsite to mine?
Hi monkey girl,
Welcome and thank you for leaving a comment. Congratulations on starting your blog. If you’ve journaled before, I think you’ll love blogging. Definitely get your “poetry thing” going. There are many opportunities to make your blog and your poetry known. Several sites are listed in my blogroll. The simplest way to add my link to your blogroll is to look on the darkgray toolbar at the top of your Dashboard. You should see Blog Info. Pick “Follow this Blog” (to add me to your surflist) and/or “Add to Blogroll” (to get me on your blogroll on your site). Your blogroll will only show up if you’ve got the blogroll widget selected in the Appearance/Widget section. I’ll stop by soon. You can email if you have any other questions.
I really like your site. I love that you quote Emily on your home page. One of my favorite quotes of hers. Thank you for checking out my site and for your comment.
I have been writing poetry and keeping a journal since I was 11–a long time ago. I hope you don’t ever throw away another journal.
Arambler,
Welcome! Thank you for returning the visit and leaving a comment. I’m so glad you enjoyed my blog. That Dickinson quote has stayed with me for many years, always shaping my writing. Yeah! Another avid journal! Be certain, I will never throw away another of my journals. Thank you for the encouragement. Please visit anytime. You are most welcome.
just passing through again…just keep up your writing…with or without journal….so you dig the mountains…well we are very fortunat to be living in the Canadian Rocky Mountains…cheers from Canada
wayne,
Welcome! All the way from Canada . . . I am honored. Any pictures of the area where you live on your blog? I’ll be by to check out your blog soon. Thank you for the visit and encouragement of a mountain man.
I found your comments on my daughter’s blog about our recent trip to Japan. I found your blog and feel like we have lots in common, even though you live on a farm in Michigan and I am a school administrator on the small island of Kauai. I hope you keep up with your writing. Aloha, Erin’s Mom
Hi Erin’s Mom! (heehee)
Thank you so much for visiting my blog. I’ve really enjoyed reading Erin’s blog. I admit to reading her blog with a twinge of jealousy–I would love to travel to Japan someday, but with two teenagers and Michigan’s depressed economy, it won’t be anytime soon. A school administrator! You lead a busy often frustrating life, hmm? I come from a family of teachers, and my father was vice-principal and principal at certain points in his career. Is Kauai part of the Hawaiian islands? (Didn’t have geography when I was in school. 8O) Thank you for the encouragement. I look forward to reading more of Erin’s blog and checking out your blog. Thank you again for the visit and lovely comment.
Kauai is the northern most Hawaiian Island, known as the “Garden Island.” It’s incredibly beautiful and with only 65,000 inhabitants, feels like a small and close-knit community. I am a lucky school administrator – I’m the assistant head of a small, independent college prep school with 350 students Pre-K to 12 – so I wear many hats and I enjoy them all. Our school is on 38 acres with a 360 degree view from the ocean to the surrounding mountains. If you ever visit, you will find a haiku every where you look.
Mom,
I have never been very interested in the beach. But your description is most inviting. I love the mountains. Need a another teacher? 🙂
Love the Emily Dickinson quote on your home page and what your name means– Poetic Rabbit!
art predator,
That Dickinson quote has long been a favorite of mine and has shaped my writing since I first read it. I pondered over a name for my site for quite a while. When I discovered the poetic rabbit, I couldn’t resist. Thank you for visiting and commenting. Hope to see you again.
wow- may i add u in my blogroll?
fiveloaf,
Hi! Thank you for visiting and the invitation to join your blogroll. I am honored and would be delighted for you to add me to your blogroll. Please visit whenever you like, and your comments are welcome.
Hello,
Thank you for little note on my blog. I really appreciate you nice comment. Can I add you in my blogroll?
Talk to you soon,
Jenny a.k.a. scentedsummer
scentedsummer,
Please do add me. I’m so glad you stopped by. I adore your art. Come by whenever you feel like a little poetry, usually haiku.
Oh No! Really?
Then you are my Big Sis…:)
Great!
I’ll visit your other blog, add it in my bloglist and hope to see more of you there (pics)…:)
Amity,
Lol! Yes, and you’re the Lil Sis. I hope you like the other blog. It’s very different than this one.
Well, the damage is done dear…but anyways, you married the guy and at some point in your life, you want to hate him for doing that!
But you’ve got a wonderful perspective in life…that’s great!
Thanks YOusei, I love you dear!
Amity
P.S. Call me BIg Sis, I know I am older (42).
Amity,
I have a surprise for you. You are wrong. I’m older. Last birthday (November) I was 46.
Now I am digging more about you in your profile, but I can’t get as much!
Is that all you can say about yourself? Well, all of us are entitled to some privacy, but I would be honored if you can share me more about yourself.
And I admire you keeping some journals way back in your yesteryears but I hate what you did when you throw them away…Why should you do that?
Memories are so precious and you just did some vain and foolish act.
You should have mailed me your journal, and i should have kept it for you! Nope, just kidding! Peace!!!
I wish to know more of you my blogging friend.
Amity
Amity,
Here is a link to my other blog (which I am very behind on) http://www.closerlookbmg.blogspot.com/. It has more info. As far as the journals go, I’ll just say I was a girl in love trying to please a guy. I have regretted throwing them away ever since. I married the guy (he’s great), and he’s apologized for his part in the loss. Still, it was my foolish decision. If I had a better memory, it wouldn’t be so bad. On the bright side, I’m forced to dredge through my memories, digging deep, to recall things, and I have to write new and better things. Believe me, they are better.
Hi there, I love your new avatar! May I add you to my blogroll?
mother sparrow,
I would be honored, and so would the winter bunny. I have enjoyed your poetry. Thank you for visiting, gifting me with your words, and adding me to your blogroll. Happiest days to you in the new year.
I like your style…!
😀 Thanks.
i came by from Joseph’s naming constellations.
i like what i see
will come back for more
Welcome! Thank you for coming by, and you are welcome anytime. Isn’t Joseph’s writing great! I’ll stop by your site soon and return the visit.
I love ‘poetic rabbit’…fantastic! So nice to come to your “in-sight.”
Thank you. 🙂
Hi Yousei,
Thanks for your visibility in my site and I am so happy I found another equally talented blogger-buddy in you.
And also, thanks for the wonderful greetings you accorded me in my first year of blogging.
If it’s not too much of the asking, are you a Japanese and where are you currently based? Just wanna know a little from my blogging buddies like you.
I will include you in my blog list in my site and wish you would do the same so that we can fallow each other’s post every now and then.
Yours,
Amity Me
I am so glad you stopped by my site! This blogging buddy is not Japanese. Yousei Hime is my psuedonym. I live in Michigan. If you want to know a bit more about me, visit http://www.closerlookbmg.blogspot.com. I will certainly include you in my blogroll. I look forward to reading your writing.
So you had to journal in school? So did we! My journal is my way of escape right now, and also reflection. I like how your blog posts are very simply beautifully written. Wouldn’t you love the chance just once in life to recover everything you have ever lost (or tossed away regrettably)? Have a great weekend Yousei.
I do and have many times, but this morning I caught myself digging through what I had left, instead of trying to write something new. Tricky choice. You have a good one too. Glad you stopped by. 🙂
Hi Yousei;
A friend of mine, a North American Indian, called me “Rabbit” when I was a teenager, so we have something in common.
I have very few photos of myself, maybe three not including my id. Most of my writings have been lost with time and moves.
For a while I regretted it, no more. I have my memory, and if something escapes my mind, so be it.
Even so, I too dwell in the past with my mind, sometimes it is good, sometimes not. I also know my mind is not always accurate, being influenced by time.
Just another way of looking at it I suppose, in other words I understand 🙂
Thank you for sharing this, ichabod. Most of the time, I feel the same way about what I remember and what I don’t. There are those times though, when something is just on the edge and I know I could remember it all if I could just look back at the journals I threw away. Instead, I am making new memories (and much better writing). Glad you understand. We rabbits have to stick together. 😉