drifting angler —
one last shiver
on the fishing rod
Sheikha A., Dubai, United Arab Emirates
under the pier—
barnacles closing
on a ripple
Nalini Shetty, Mumbai, India
silver-gray spots
a seal pup shares
a surfer’s board
AJ Johnson, Stephens City, VA USA
jellyfish sting
still reeling from the venom
in his words
Kim Klugh, Lancaster, PA
beluga song
the rise of ocean
in every click
Joanna Ashwell, UK
lunchbox
seagull pries open
the mussel shell
Margaret Anderson, Vancouver
sunlit ripples dancing in place a sea anemone
Lisa Billa, San Jose, CA
green sea turtles
the ticking
of the climate clock
Wilda Morris, Bolingbrook, Illinois
empty crab shell —
the tide
through it
Jacek Margolak, Poland
years in exile
a Pacific seashell
held to my ear
Chen-ou Liu, Ajax, Ontario, Canada
Michele’s Musings
Hello friends!
The weeks since the contest winners were announced have just flown by as Frithjof and I spent some time with our grandson near Vancouver, who has just turned eight! I will be contacting the winners this week to arrange delivery of their prize money 😊 Our graphic designer is not available until June but at that time we will have brochures again to celebrate the winners and honourable mentions!
Our visit with our grandson included a trip to Maan Farm in Abbotsford. What a delight to see the world again through the eyes of a child. The cherry blossoms and tulips were just finishing up and there were so many different farm animals to pet and feed. Plus of course a giant playground and a magical ice cream tree treat rounded off the birthday celebration. I was inspired to write a number of haiku, many of which included the child’s viewpoint displayed by our grandson.
Today’s issue contains another column by our excellent commentator, Sean B. Wright. You may not know that Sean writes several other columns on Substack. You can read a very interesting one about the boundaries of English haiku and senryu here.
Enjoy the spring weather and keep on writing!
In the Whitespace with Sean
years in exile
a Pacific seashell
held to my ear
Chen-ou Liu, Ajax, Ontario, Canada
This is a resonant, memory-laden haiku that uses a familiar sensory gesture to evoke distance, identity, and longing. The opening line, “years in exile,” establishes a wide temporal and emotional horizon, suggesting separation from homeland, endurance over time, and a life shaped by displacement. It is a heavy and somewhat abstract beginning, but it clearly sets the stakes and frames how the reader approaches the image that follows.
The phrase “a Pacific seashell” grounds the poem in something tangible while also expanding its scope. The specificity of “Pacific” is important—it evokes not just a place, but an entire ocean, compressing vast geography into a small, handheld object. The shell becomes more than an object; it carries with it the weight of memory, origin, and possibly the speaker’s lost or distant home.
The final line, “held to my ear,” completes the image with a simple, familiar gesture. This act of listening to a seashell is almost universal, often associated with childhood curiosity, but here it takes on a more poignant dimension. It becomes an attempt to recover something distant, to hear again what has been left behind. The sensory immediacy of this action contrasts effectively with the abstraction of exile in the opening line.
What gives the haiku its strength is the juxtaposition between the abstract condition of exile and the concrete, intimate act of holding the shell to the ear. The seashell functions as a bridge between past and present, between homeland and current place, and between memory and physical sensation. The implied “sound” of the ocean—whether real or imagined—becomes a stand-in for what has been lost, or at least what cannot be directly accessed.
The tone throughout is reflective and gently elegiac. There is a quiet ache present, but it is restrained; the poem does not state its emotion outright, instead allowing it to resonate through the image. Sonically, the poem is unobtrusive, the sibilant s sounds in Pacific and seashells echo the sea’s quieter movements.
Overall, this is a thoughtful and evocative haiku in which a simple, tactile action carries deep emotional resonance. The seashell becomes a conduit for memory and belonging, compressing vast distance into a quiet, intimate moment. While the opening leans toward abstraction, the image that follows sustains and deepens the poem effectively.
Member News
Joanna Ashwell writes us:
I’ve had a poem accepted by the Haiku Shack, thanks to your newsletter with the details.
Awesome, Joanna!
Kimberly Horning writes us:
One of my poems was selected for inclusion in folk ‘ku King River Press ed. Jodie Hawthorne.
Way to go, Kimberly!
Don’t forget to send us your news so we can spread the word and join the celebration.
Just For Fun
The Wee Sparrow Haiku Nook is open for submissions every month until the 15th of the month. Marc is looking for originality and skill. Haiku submitted do not necessarily have to follow 5/7/5 and poets may also submit monoku. Consider the month that you are writing in and include seasonal kigo in your haiku, as well as kireji.
Enchanted Garden Haiku Journal is open for submissions until May 15th. This issue’s theme is Summer Nights. I adore the Enchanted Garden because Steliana lovingly translates each haiku into Romanian.
The Pakistan Japan Cultural Association (PJCA), Islamabad, in collaboration with the Embassy of Japan in Pakistan invites poets from around the world to submit their original haiku for the 1st International Haiku Anthology 2026. They look forward to celebrating your creativity and sharing it with a global audience. Deadline for submissions is May 15th and the theme is cherry blossoms.
The Haiku Society of America Rengay Award is taking submissions until May 31st. You can find last year’s winners here. Rengay was invented as a form by Garry Gay in 1992. You can find out how to write rengay in Daisy friend Michael Dylan Welch’s excellent website.
The Japan Fair is holding a free online workshop on May 14th at 6 pm called Haiku Targets. This is a highly recommended workshop for all levels of haiku poets and is lead by Daisy friend, Michael Dylan Welch. This workshop leads up to their International Haiku Contest which closes on May 24th. Winners will be announced at the Japan Fair in Bellevue, WA, USA on June 27th and 28th.
Natalie Goldberg will be hosting a Haiku Saturday workshop on May 23rd at 2 pm EDT. Registration is open here.
From May 1st to 31st, Haiku Commentary will host the George Klacsanzky Memorial Haiku Contest. Congratulations to Haiku Commentary on their tenth anniversary!
The Peggy Willis Lyles Haiku Awards, presented by Heron’s Nest, is open until June 1st.
The Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival Haiku Invitational is an international online contest that attracts submissions from all over the world. Submissions on the theme of cherry blossoms close on June 1st.
The Haiku Shack Anthology is a new series curated and edited by Cendrine Marrouat and Sherri J Moye-Dombrosky. Each volume will contain a maximum of 50 haiku selected from contributors living around the world. Submissions for the upcoming issue must be in by September 30th.
Check out this new YouTube channel called Ginkō: Walk, Write, Repeat hosted by P.H. Fischer. A ginkō walk is a special outing that will inspire you to write haiku and other Japanese short forms and this channel promises to delight!
Hexapod Haiku Challenge is now open! In addition to the usual age-related award categories, they will offer a special topic award this year for the best haiku featuring arthropod recyclers. Deadline for submissions is June 15th.
This Week’s Prompt
Write a haiku or two inspired by a child (your own or someone else’s). How does the world look different from their viewpoint? How do you see the world in a new and fresh way? Deadline for submissions is May 17th.
Send one or two haiku to sally_quon@yahoo.com or to Michele at kelownalady@hotmail.com. Find our full submission info here. Don’t forget to tell us where you are writing from!
“Seize the time... Live now! Make now always the most precious time. Now will never come again.”― Jean-Luc Picard
SB Wright (Seàn Wright) is a disabled poet living in the South Australian Mid-North. Born in Nhulunbuy in Arnhem Land, he spent most of his life in Alice Springs before relocating south. A graduate of NTU, his working life has ranged widely, including roles as a security guard, martial arts instructor, trainer for an international gaming company, teacher librarian, and primary school teacher. In 2024, he became disabled due to AL Amyloidosis.
Japan and Japanese culture have been lifelong interests. While his poetry ranges from formal to free verse within the Western tradition, Japanese poetry and its English-language offshoots hold a special place in his work. His poems have been published in Verity La, Tincture Journal, Eureka Street, A Hundred Gourdes, INDaily Adelaide, Folk Ku Journal, and the anthologies The Stars Like Sand and 50 Haikus. His first collection of poetry (including Haiku and Haibun is Magpie Tales through Close-Up Books.
h.
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
