Kokako 36 has arrived, looking smart with a colour photo by Tim Roberts on the cover – not sure, but it seems more natural to me when I turn it the other way up! A cry from the heart in the editorial by Margaret Beverland.
“The submission guidelines ask that you send 8 pieces only. Most subscribers adhere to this. However, there are one or two who do not, and no matter how hard I try, I cannot get 1 haiku, 7 tanka, 2 sequences and 4 collaborations to add up to 8 …” The trials of being an editor. Under-paid (ie, not at all) and under-appreciated. Read subscription details for Kokako, which is produced twice a year.
Here are some sound-value haiku I like from this edition, plus one of my own.
attuning to lockdown
a lady-bug’s wings
skim the venetians
Graham Bates
summer solstice
the song sparrow side
of the pond
Brad Bennett
still morning –
the plum blossom
loud with bees
Cathie Bullock
headland mansion –
across the estuary
a peacock’s cry
Sandra Simpson
UK journal Presence 72 – double the ‘age’ of Kokako – is another recent arrival. I’ll offer some movement haiku as a selection, plus one of my own from this edition that doesn’t fit the theme. Read subscription details for Presence, which is produced three times a year.
windless morning
dandelion seeds rise
with the big top
Richard Tindall
crows sort the river stones winter sun
Glenn G Coats
charcoal sky –
a hint of restlessness
in the mares
Hazel Hall
summer heat –
in my head I write
your death notice
Sandra Simpson
breath, a collection of haiku 