Senses
the taste
of bitter melon
father’s dementia
C. K. Crawford, Texas
tiny icicles
on the palm
your hand in mine
Christiana Doucette
with my finger
tracing his name
on the gravestone
Kim Klugh, Pennsylvania
After dinner
the cool wind wanders
on their tongues.
Cendrine Marrouat, Manitoba
blue dusk—
the bitter trace
of last night’s gin
C.X. Turner, United Kingdom
a splash
of birdsong
between showers
Melissa Dennison, United Kingdom
perigee moon
almost touching…the warmth
of your breath
Wanda Amos, Australia
a crowded train
the mingling scents
of shower gels
Tony Williams, Scotland, UK
Message from the Editors
Hello Daisy friends!
Sally is recovering from a nasty flu and Michele is a bit off from a treatment she gets occasionally, so this issue is on the lean side. Our apologies.
The haiku that came in for this issue’s prompt of a sense you don’t usually use have been delightful – full of sounds and smells, tastes and touch. What a talented bunch you are! Made our job particularly difficult!
The second annual Solitary Daisy Haiku Contest will begin on March 1st and submissions will be accepted until March 28th at midnight, Pacific Daylight Savings Time. This year we only accepting two haiku per person. If you send more, we will only look at the first two. The theme is open and Sally and Michele will be judging. Submissions will be made through a form on the Solitary Daisy home page. There will be first, second and third place winners plus three honourable mentions. The cash prizes are sponsored by Sourdough.Guide this year (our webmaster’s company). First place is $25, second is $15, and third is $10. The winning haiku will be announced in the April 5th issue. We are so excited to see what you send in to us!
Member News
Congratulations to Marjolein Rotsteeg, Michele Rule, and Eavonka Ettinger for being featured in the Haiku Poet Word Search. What a great project by Kelly Sauvage!
Found this lovely haiku by Tracy Davidson on Pure Haiku:
silently swooping
across field farm and forest
heavenly hunter
Jerome Bergland had this haiku longlisted on The Haiku Foundation:
all the old stars
are still alive
here
From Roberta Beach Jacobson, these two haiku in Heliosparrow Poetry Journal:
every Saturday
she dusts her dolls…
except one
microcosm of a zipped hoodie
From Charlotte Digregorio’s Blog:
whiff of sandalwood . . .
a ghee lamp on the Ganges
welcoming the stars
Monica Kakkar (India/USA)
Here is the haiku by David Brydges featured in Sense & Sensibility
another winter
Ukrainian war
peace bloom
Speaking of Sense & Sensibility, Joanna Ashwell has had a haiku accepted for an upcoming issue. And we are thrilled to hear one of her haiku has been selected for the Red Moon Press Annual Anthology. Congratulations, Joanna!
And finally, Carla Swartz send us this link to her haibun “Nobody Won” in Autumn Sky Poetry Daily. Enjoy!
Upcoming Deadlines, Openings, and Readings
Poem in a Bottle
This project is too much fun! Get your one or two line poem into a tiny bottle and have it placed somewhere around India to surprise an unsuspecting reader! No deadline given but I wouldn’t wait.
Tinywords
Congratulations to Tinywords as they enter their 25th year! Be part of the first issue of their 25th year by sending in your small poem before February 28th. They also have a fun photo prompt up for you to try your hand at!
Enchanted Garden
The theme for issue 11 is Blossom! I love that this journal translates in Romanian. Also accepting tanka and haiga. Deadline is February 15th.
Thank you Monica Kakkar for these next two submission opportunities!
Atlanta Haiku Festival Competition, Feb 28th. Submissions are free and open to anyone in the US.
Herrman and Herrman’s Haiku Contest, Feb 10th Submissions are free and open to anyone in the US.
Poetry Pea
Submissions for scifi-ku, or as most poets refer to it, scifaiku.
Deadline is February 15th.
Some examples from Poetry Pea Podcast S5E12:
planetarium
she reaches across space
to find my hand
John Hawkhead
running late
I blame
time dilation
CX Turner
time machine
narrowly avoiding
my mother’s womb
Ram Chandran
Nicholas Virgilio Haiku and Senryu Competition for Grades 7-12
Time to enter the 36th Annual Nicholas Virgilio Haiku and Senryu Competition for Grades 7-12. Each of six winners selected in a blind judging will receive a $250 scholarship prize. Deadline is March 30th.
We were saddened to hear of the recent passing of David H. Rosen. Here is an interview by Jacob D. Salzer on Haiku Poet Interviews.
This Week’s Prompt
A photo prompt of a Northern Flicker in Michele’s garden yesterday – let your haiku tell us what happens next! See submission guidelines here.
Meaning lies as much in the mind of the reader as in the Haiku.
-Douglas Hofstadter
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
Thank you for featuring my haiku! I enjoyed reading all the ones you selected!
Dear Ms. Rule and Ms. Quon,
Greetings for Arabian Horse Day in the Berry Fresh Month! Congratulations to participating poets!
Thank you for sharing the haiku contests. I appreciate your reprinting my haiku published in Enchanted Garden Haiku Journal Issue 10: Luminaria. It was crafted in response to the theme: celebrating lights provided by Ms. Steliana Voicu, Editor, Enchanted Garden Haiku Journal.
My haiku includes the following:
Early autumn season word, kigo 季語: welcoming the stars, hoshi mukae 星迎 (ほしむかえ)
Seasonless topic, muki 無季:
— sandalwood, byakudan 白檀 びゃくだん
— ghee (held to be the greatest of all flavors), the ultimate truth of Buddhism, nirvana, daigo 醍醐 (だいご). *Ghee is a semifluid clarified butter made especially in India. In Hinduism, ghee prepared from cow milk is a sacred requirement for worship and fire rituals, including offering of ghee lamps. The lamps have cotton wicks that are drenched in ghee.
— lamp, lamps, ranpu ランプ
— Ganges, river Ganges, Mother Gaṅgā, Gaṅgā (Gangetic)
The World Kigo Database by Dr. Gabi Greve, Daruma Museum, Japan, is my primary almanac (saijiki) for kigo and muki, footnotes about kigo, and for translation of kigo and muki into English.
Thank you for your consideration. Best wishes.
Sincerely,
Monica Kakkar (she/her/hers)
https://www.linkedin.com/in/monicakakkar/