Tanka
all those months
had I only known
you were falling
I would have held out my arms
to catch you
Kim Klugh
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
skinny dipping
in the pond—
even the frogs
are surprised
by a full moon
Jenny Mattern
USA
how many times
will you tell me
you’re fine . . .
the lies you keep
stacking up
Julie Bloss Kelsey
Germantown, Maryland
somewhere
a surgeon is sharpening
his blade
preparing for the day
of our certain convergence
Ruth Holzer
USA
the farmer’s wife
believe me, is a farmer
not an appendage
the sunrise of her acreage
reflected on her sweat-soaked brow
Isabella Mori
Vancouver, British Columbia
keys clenched in fists
walking home at night
on swift feet
proof if proof were needed
it’s still not a woman’s world
Tracy Davidson
Warwickshire, UK
knocking down
a cicada husk
I mourn
my grandma
while she still lives
Kimberly Kuchar
Austin, Texas
window shopping
beneath coloured neon
after closing time
our shadows mingle
amongst shifting shadows
Marilyn Humbert
Australia
a mountain peak
of summer sky
this taste of blue . . .
when did our love
become a whisper
Joanna Ashwell
UK
blizzard warning
first I fill the suet holders
then spill a generous
portion of sunflower seeds
along the driveway
Roberta Beach Jacobson
Indianola, Iowa
Michele’s Musings
Welcome to the tanka issue of the Solitary Daisy! Many thanks to Michael Dylan Welch for choosing the tanka for this issue from the many wonderful submissions that we received!
June is upon us and with that many people are thinking about summer holidays! For our next issue we would like you all to explore the idea of haibun. The original haibun come from the prose of travel journals accompanied by a haiku. The haiku is not a summary of the prose, but rather moves the narrative forward. You will see a wonderful example of modern haibun by Sally in her “Diary” section. For some guidelines on how to write a haibun, check out this info from the Haiku Society of America by Margaret Chula. There is a good discussion also available on GraceGuts. Have fun with this – we look forward to reading what you have written! Specific details on submission will be at the end of the newsletter.
Member News
The Asahi Haikuist Network publishes a new set of haiku and commentary every two weeks. Judging from the number of member names found in just the last two weeks, most of you know that. But for those of you who don’t please check it out. Congratulations to all the selected haijin.
Keep an out for the June 20th edition where one of Michele Rule’s haiku will be included.
Found on Charlotte Digregorio’s blog:
the call to prayers—
in the din of Diwali
a ghee lamp glistens
Monica Kakkar (India/USA)
tinywords, Issue, 25.1, April 14, 2025
And from tinywords:
refugee train
small hands starfished
against the glass
(haiga)
-Debbie Strange
https://tinywords.com/2025/05/30/43158/
moment of silence—
dry ice fog
drifting to the end zone
-Michael Dylan Welch
https://tinywords.com/2025/05/19/42981/
Sally’s Notebook
There is a project I’ve had stewing for a while on the back burner. After a few months of telling myself I am not a writer, I feel as though I’ve turned a corner, and I’m ready to pick up where I left off. So, instead of my usual ramble this week, I’d like to share with you a piece of that project. This piece was published by Haiku Canada. I hope you enjoy.
Lost
I don’t want to tell you how I knew it was wrong. I knew I was in trouble, and I couldn’t find my way. I don’t want to tell you how weak I was, how I played with fire, not out of carelessness, but because I was led to it. I don’t want to tell you how guilt and anxiety drove me, until I learned how to turn it off. I don’t want to tell you how turning it off opened the door to others being hurt in my stead, how it was my fault, how I should have done something. I don’t want to tell you how I’m able to forgive him but cannot forgive myself. I don’t want to tell you how sometimes, still, I am consumed by anger at what was taken from me, what was lost. I don’t want to tell you about the nights I wake up, hearing him call my name. I don’t want to tell you how I wasted my life, disappointed my family, broke my own heart. I don’t want to tell you how easy it was for me to walk away from who I am; to be lost.
barefoot in the sand-
following the tracks
leading back to myself
Places to submit
Presence Haiku Journal out of Britain is open for submissions now through May 31st for their July issue.
Haiku Girl Summer begins on June 1st, so submissions will open on May 15th and run through August 15th.
The Peggy Willis Lyles Haiku Awards for 2025 by Heron’s Nest are open now until June 1st . There are some great cash prizes up for grabs and first place also wins the coveted miniature crystal turtle!
Send in 3 haiku, senryū, duostich or monoku to Shadow Pond Journal on the theme of love. Deadline for submission is June 10th.
Hexapod Haiku Challenge! is open! Along with regular hexapod haiku there is a special topic award this year for the best haiku featuring ground-dwelling arthropods. Have fun with that! Submissions close on June 15th.
Femku Magazine’s Marlene Mountain Memorial Contest is open from June 1st until June 15th. Be sure to read the guidelines carefully.
The International EJCA Spring Haiku Contest 2025 is now accepting submissions! Make sure to give your haiku a SPRING theme by using a spring season word. Deadline to enter is June 21st.
Wales Haiku Journal is open from June 1st until June 30th. Works that embody the nature tradition of haiku are particularly keenly sought.
Yavanika Press is currently reading for chapbooks. They are looking for collections of minis (poems under 10 lines), Japanese short-forms, short prose/hybrids/haibun, or mixed-genre. Submissions are due by June 30th.
Triveni Haikai Review is open from June 1st to July 1st. There is no theme and they will accept two haiku or senryu.
Seashores Haiku Journal out of Ireland is accepting up to eight haiku for their November issue. Eight haiku is a lot so I’m giving you lots of time to work on it. Deadline is July 31st.
Last chance for the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival Haiku Invitational, with submissions closing on June 1st. Haiku for this contest must be on the subject of cherry blossoms.
Save the date! Saturday, June 21st at 2 pm PST, Michele will be doing a haiku workshop for the Central Okanagan Writers Group. We hope to make it hybrid so you can join in. Details to follow.
This Week’s Prompt
For our next issue, write us one haibun up to 250 words in length. The theme is travel, so tell us about a journey you have had, either big or small. Send your submissions to kelownalady@hotmail.com or sally_quon@yahoo.com by June 10th at midnight PST.
Please see our submission guidelines
“My task which I am trying to achieve is, by the power of the written word, to make you hear, to make you feel—it is, before all, to make you see.”
–Joseph Conrad
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!