Welcome 2025
first sun
a puppy arranges herself
into a patch of light
-Madeleine Kavanagh, CA
winter fog
a lighthouse guides
the first dawn
-Gordon Gearheart, Cape May, NJ
first afternoon
the snow on the yew
is gone
-Emil Karl, France
new year’s greeting card-
a whiff of her perfume
precedes the words
-Paul Callus, Malta
the first flurries
of a resolution
lost in snow
-Joanna Ashwell, UK
year of the snake
how thoughtful to name it
after my ex
-Tracy Davidson, UK
new year’s shower
soap foam slips from my hand
to her breast
-Chen-ou Liu
gently snoring
photo album on her knee-
that one new year
-Anna Dean, Australia
Michele’s Musings
Hello and welcome to 2025! I hope you had a wonderful holiday period however you celebrated and that it included time for rest and haiku.
We are getting more and more submissions to the Solitary Daisy fortnightly newsletter/journal! It’s so exciting! To this end we thought it was time to create submission guidelines. These will also be available on the website and we will add a link to each newsletter.
The Solitary Daisy Journal runs on a fortnightly schedule (every two weeks). In each issue there is a prompt. Haiku written to the prompt will be considered for the next issue.
We accept up to two haiku (one or three lines). We accept haiku in the traditional 5-7-5 syllable form but lean towards shorter haiku with a sweet spot between 7 and 12 syllables. We are happy to take submissions in languages other than English, but please provide a translation to go along with them. Please send your haiku in the body of the email to sally_quon@yahoo.com or kelownalady@hotmail.com (that’s me, Michele). We would love to know where you are writing from and please share your social media handles!
If you don’t remember the prompt or didn’t receive the newsletter you can find the latest issue here.
We take submissions that you have shared on your own social media or blog, but not ones that have been previously published by another journal.
Please, no simultaneous submissions.
We don’t accept anything that is racist, homophobic, misogynistic or encourages hate or violence if any kind. I hate to put this in because it should go without saying, but every once in a while, something like that does come in.
We regret we cannot offer any payment for the submissions we publish, being 100% volunteer and also ad-free, but we will try to promote you through our social media. You retain the rights to your haiku but we would sure love it if you gave us credit as first publisher.
Submissions are due three days (the Wednesday) before the next issue to give us time to read them over and make our decision. We normally publish eight haiku but reserve the right to include more or less depending on circumstances.
We love how many of you are submitting to us and the quality of your haiku are always improving (a side effect of writing more and more haiku!). Thanks for being on this journey with us!
Member News
Kim Klugh had this haiku appear in Tiny Words:
summer blues
the drooping mopheads
of the hydrangea
Debbie Strange, is thrilled to announce the publication of her book-length haiku collection:
Random Blue Sparks, haiku by Debbie Strange (Snapshot Press, United Kingdom, 2024), winner of the 2020 Snapshot Press Book Award. Available for purchase from the publisher at https://www.snapshotpress.co.uk/books/random_blue_sparks.htm, or contact the author at lstrange@mymts.net for signed author copies when they become available.
One of Debbie’s prize-winning haiku appeared on Charlotte Digregorio’s blog:
refugee train
small hands starfished
against the glass
-Debbie Strange (Canada)
First Place
Triveni Awards, 2024
And this news from Joanna Ashwell!
“One of my haibun has been put forward from the Pan Haiku Review for consideration for a Touchstone Award and a haiku too from haikuKATHA. I have just had the honour of being featured as the Poet in Focus in Presence Journal in the UK, a good way to end the year.”
Joanna also had this haiku republished on Charlotte Digregorio’s blog:
whiskers
in a pocket
of moonlight
Nancy Brady sent us this haiku, inspired by our visit to Spotted Lake last year.
yellow-breasted chat
that terrible off-key song
of mine
C.X. Turner was also featured on Tiny Words since our last issue
turn of the year
my d w i n d l i n g
address book
-C.X.Turner
Congratulations to the following poets whose work has been nominated for a Touchstone Award by Haiku Girl Summer:
Barbara Anna Gaiardoni, C.X. Turner, Eavonka Ettinger, Joanna Ashwell, Kelly Sargent, Ruth Holzer, and Valentina Ranaldi-Adams.
Sally and Michele are looking for a few haiku enthusiasts in the Okanagan to join us for quarterly meetings and ginko. Send us a message if you’re interested.
Thank you to everyone who sent me their news – it makes my job so much easier!
Sally’s Notebook
I think of every new day as a fresh start – a blank page, waiting to be written upon. Each sunrise offers us a chance to start again, to be better, to right our wrongs, and look ahead with hope. But then there’s the big one – the New Year.
What is it about the New Year that makes it so special? Calendars are, after all, a construct of man. If anything, one would think we would celebrate the Winter Solstice as the new year, given it’s the turning point of light.
The thing is, New Year’s is universal. Think about that for a second…Regardless of race or religion, we all celebrate the New Year. Is that not reason enough to hope for a better future?
My oldest child and I had this thing we did whenever we went to the mall. We’d stop at this one store and spend a couple of dollars on a surprise bag, which is how they disposed of their old stock. New Year’s is more than a blank page, it’s a surprise box. We have no way of knowing what’s inside, but there are sure to be some good things.
I love the New Year, and while I am resolute in not making resolutions, I do like to spend the few days between Christmas and New Years looking back at the past year, owning where I’ve gone wrong and celebrating the special moments.
I make plans. I set goals. I keep a list. I’m not always successful. Last year, one of my goals was to write one haiku every day. I made it to March before life got in the way. Naturally, I was upset with myself for failing, and as a result, I’m ashamed to admit I wrote very little haiku for the remainder of the year.
But today I came across this quote:
“Do not fragment your attention but see what each moment calls for.”
-Eihei Dōgen
It reminded me, once again, that the Way of Haiku isn’t necessarily to write haiku every day, but to notice the moments, the small things that make up this one, beautiful life. My wish for you as we enter this New Year is that your life is full of small wonders, and that you continue to be amazed.
Happy New Year.
Upcoming Deadlines and Other Fun Stuff
Monica Kakkar shared this with us:
Haiku Poet Word Search: A Project by Kelly Moyer
Kelly writes:
“As we make our way through the depths of winter, I thought I’d create a word search for every haiku poet on the planet and post them at https://haikupoetwordsearch.com/. As much as I love the work, I personally think we’re all much more fascinating as human beings.
If you would, please send me 16-18 words that capture who you are–your passions, attributes, favorite foods, hobbies, interests, etc.–as well as three of your favorite ku (written by you), including place of first publication. Please also include a two-sentence summary of your existence.
Email the info above to: unfazedmoon@gmail.com
I encourage you to ask your loved ones for help as sometimes those who know us well can provide some additional insight. And, please, have fun!”
I received this call for submissions from Literary Revelations.
Dear Followers,
Literary Revelations invites you to unleash your poetic prowess and be part of our upcoming poetry collection entitled Tranquility: An Anthology of Haiku. With a cover designed by our of award-winning Japanese artists, Hikari, and possible with several photos by another Japanese artist included, please do not miss the chance to have your words grace the pages of our anthology.
Guidelines for Submission
Email 5 Haiku at literaryrevelations@pm.me and title your submission 5 HAIKU (no plural). Please note that any other title will land your submission in the wrong email folder, and your submission will not be read.
Submit your name and your haiku in the body of the email. No attachments will be open. No need to submit a bio.
By submitting to Tranquility: An Anthology of Haiku you, as a contributor, affirm that you own the rights to your pieces submitted and/or accepted for publication by Literary Revelations LLC and give Literary Revelations LLC permission to publish your work.
You attest that you are 18 years or older.
If you commit plagiarism Literary Revelations LLC is discharged from any liabilities.
You retain the right to your work. Literary Revelations LLC retains the right to the anthology, and it remains its exclusive publisher in perpetuity.
Submissions accepted for the anthology may be used by Literary Revelations LLC in whole or in part to promote the anthology. Writers and artists will be appropriately credited in all promotional materials.
Read the About section before submitting on our website. You will find the Terms and Conditions under which we operate there.
Visit Literary Revelations Here.
Here are a few more opportunities.
Sonic Boom is only open until Jan. 15
Golden Haiku is open until Jan. 19
Failed Haiku opens Jan. 10 and closes Jan. 20
You can check out the 2025 submission calendar for Poetry Pea
Pulse has a wonderful YouTube video for you to watch.
Finally, the Upaya Zen Center is offering a three-day haiku event in February. Attendance is by donation. Both Sally and Michele are planning to attend.
A new opportunity out of Australia – Wild Whispers Poetry Magazine will open for submissions from Dec. 14/24 – Feb. 14/24
This Week’s Prompt
This week we’d love to read your “food” haiku! Bonus points if your food is indicative of a season.
Please see submission guidelines here.
“If you want to conquer the anxiety of life, live in the moment, live in the breath.”
― Amit Ray
Michele Rule is a disabled writer from Kelowna BC. She is especially interested in the topics of chronic illness, relationships and nature. Michele is published in the Asahi Shimbun Haikuist, Pine Cone Review, the Enchanted Garden, Five Minute Lit, Shadow Pond, WordCityLit, and the anthologies F*ck the Patriarchy, Chicken Soup for the Soul, and To Live Here, among others. She is an associate member of the League of Canadian Poets and Haiku Canada. Michele has been awarded honourable mention twice for the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival Haiku Invitational and also for the Haiku Northwest Porad Award. Her first chapbook is Around the World in Fifteen Haiku. Michele lives in a beautiful garden surrounded by people who love her just the way she is.
Sally Quon is a disabled poet and photographer living in the Okanagan Valley of beautiful British Columbia, Canada. She is an associate member of The League of Canadian Poets and a member of Haiku Canada. Her work has been published in numerous journals including The Heron’s Nest, Modern Haiku, Frogpond, First Frost, and Time Haiku. She is currently working on her first book of haiku, haibun, and haiga, tentatively titled, “My Valley, My Home.”
Featherstone Creative
Thanks so much for the kind shoutout for “Random Blue Sparks” – much appreciated! Happy Year of the Snake to you, and may 2025 be filled with joy and creativity!
Dear Ms. Rule and Ms. Quon,
Greetings for Penguin Awareness Day! I wish you and participating poets peace and happiness in the new year!
Congratulations on the new beginnings! I appreciate your sharing Ms. Moyer’s Haiku Poet Word Search.
Thank you for your consideration. Best wishes.
Sincerely,
Monica Kakkar (she/her/hers)
https://www.linkedin.com/in/monicakakkar/