Delighted to have a haiku on a signboard that is being displayed in the Golden Triangle area of Washington DC until early May. The recent contest drew more than 2,900 haiku with 200 selected to go on signboards. See the winning haiku and, if you want, all the signboards at the website. The theme of this year’s contest was ‘Reboot and Rebloom’.
The results of the 2021 Morioka Haiku Contest (Japan) were announced this year and I was fortunate enough to receive an Honourable Mention.
rolling the pebbles
around in my hand –
magpie song
Sandra Simpson
The winning haiku and their commentaries are here or go to the last two pages here to see all the selected English haiku.
I’ve clearly had magpies and their song on my mind as the following haiku appeared in the summer edition of a fine line, the magazine of the New Zealand Poetry Society.
still no rain –
a magpie lands on the fence
and quardles
Sandra Simpson
If you’re a New Zealander reading this, you might well spot where my inspiration for this second haiku came from – The Magpies by Denis Glover. The Australian magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen) is widespread in New Zealand, a thuggish bird with a beady eye!
A new edition of The Heron’s Nest was released on March 1, and contains one of my haiku.
weeding the garlic
still time
to put things right
Sandra Simpson
I very much like the Editor’s Choice for this quarter, click on this link to read the commentary:
autumn unfolding a plaid shirt in the country store
Barrie Levine
And today the latest Red Moon Anthology, string theory, arrived from the US, not long after it was posted. The international mail service seems to have at long last ungummed, hurrah! A copy is $US20, plus postage.
The anthology, which surveys the best English-language haiku published in 2021, is always a good read and also contains haibun, linked forms and some essays (disclaimer: I am one of the nominating editors). I’m also the proofreader and mention it only because of this clever haiku by Roland Packer of Canada – take your time with it, it’s not an error!
srokte raehb …
teh cregaveir fwolols
hre maennig
The Australian online journal Echidna Tracks 8 has been unfolding by the day from December 1 until March 18. I had two haiku included in this open theme edition, here’s the one that appeared on March 12.
abandoned station –
a jaunty tail
on the dust-drawn cat
Sandra Simpson
breath, a collection of haiku 