Fireflies' Light-Issue 30

Fireflies’ Light

A Magazine of Short Poems

Issue 30 October 2024

Missouri Baptist University

Fireflies’ Light A Magazine of Short Poems

Co-Editors: Mason Arledge, John J. Han

Associate Editor: Michael Shoemaker

Editorial Assistants: Dylan Chastain, Terrie Jacks

Editorial Consultants: Ben Gaa, C. Clark Triplett

Front Cover Art: Terrie Jacks

Back Cover Art: Donald W. Horstman

Webmaster: Jenna Gulick

Fireflies’ Light is an online magazine showcasing short poems, essays on poetry and poetics, and book reviews. It is published twice a year by the Department of English at Missouri Baptist University, One College Park Dr., St. Louis, MO 63141. Interested poets may submit manuscripts to john.han@mobap.edu. We consider up to ten poems (including collaborative ones), up to two essays on poetry and poetics (150-1,000 words), and up to two book reviews (500-1,000 words) during a reading period. Write “FL - your name” in the subject line (example: “FL - Erin Smith”). Paste your poems, book reviews, and essays into the body of an email. Submit haiga and other artworks as email attachments. Along with your work, we need a 100-word author bio written in the third person and complete sentences. (No sentence fragments or listing, please.) Begin the bio with your name. Below are the reading periods and target publication dates:

Reading Period

Target Publication Date

March April 15

September

October 15

Submissions received outside the reading periods will be neither acknowledged nor considered. Short poetic forms include but are not limited to haiku, senryu, tanka, kyoka, sedoka, sijo, somonka, haibun, gembun, lanterne, ABC, cinqku, cinquain, couplet, Etheree, fibonacci (fib), free verse, limerick, lune, octet, quatrain, and triolet. A poem should follow the rules for the chosen form, and the author must identify the form used in the poem parenthetically after the title.

Missouri Baptist University reserves the right to publish accepted submissions in Fireflies’ Light; upon publication, copyrights revert to the authors. By submitting, authors certify that the work is their own. All submissions are subject to editing for clarity, grammar, usage, and Christian propriety. The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of Missouri Baptist University.

Issue 30, October 2024

© 2024 Missouri Baptist University

The fireflies’ light. How easily it goes on How easily it goes out again.

Chine-jo (late 17th century) [Trans. Kenneth Rexroth]

* though wrapped in tissue paper… a firefly’s light

Kobayashi Issa (1763-1828) [Trans. David G. Lanoue]

* what on the other shore tugs at its heart so? in the evening dusk over the Mogami River a lone firefly

Mokichi Saitō (1882–1953) [Trans. Makoto Ueda]

Table of Contents

46

R. Suresh Babu

47 Joseph P. Wechselberger

48 Chen-ou Liu

49 Susan Burch

Tanka

50 Randy Brooks

51 Neena Singh

52 Keitha Keyes

53 Chen-ou Liu

54 Oana Maria Cercel

55 Isabella Mori

Tanka Prose

56 Susan Burch

Tanka Art

58 Debbie Strange

Kyoka

61 Randy Brooks 62 Keitha Keyes

63 Curt Pawlisch

Rengay

64

Wilda Morris & Jerome Berglund

65 Nicholas Klacsanzky & Jerome Berglund

66

Wilda Morris & Jo Balistreri

Haiga (including Photoku)

67 Lavana Kray

71 Michael Shoemaker

72 Christina Chin

75 Christina Chin and Randall Vemer

76 C.X. Turner

77 Rupa Anand

78 Oana Maria Cercel

Sedoka

79 Louis Faber

80 Susan Burch

Free Verse 81 Ann Howells 83 Leisel Brex 84 Anna Roberts Wells 86 Jean Janicke 88 Galen Steele

91 Ben Nardolilli

92 John Grey

94 Terrie Jacks

95 Georgie Herz

96 Nathaniel Lachenmeyer Split Sequences

97 Joanna Ashwell Cherita

99 Todd Sukany

100 Joanna Ashwell Boketto

101 MarthaMaggie Miller Strombotto Tuscano

102 MarthaMaggie Miller Lanterne

103 MarthaMaggie Miller Sijo

104 Wilda Morris Tercet

105 Timothy Daly Gembun

106 Todd Sukany

107 Pitt Büerken

108 Susan Burch Limericks

109 Thomas Smith Acrostic

110 Terrie Jacks

Essays on Poetry and Poetics

112 Review of Goran Gatalica’s Night Jasmine (Zagreb: Stajer Graf, 2022) By C. Clark Triplett

118 Review of Geethanjali Rajan’s Longing for Sun Longing for Rain (New Delhi: Red River Publication, 2023) By Vikas Kadam

121 Review of Susan Burch’s The Alchemy of Love: Tanka (Taylorville,

IL: Brooks Books, 2024)

By Jerome Berglund

124 Literary Wanderings: Exploring Tokyo’s Storied Streets (A Photo Essay)

By John J. Han

144 Brief Guide to Short Poetic Forms

152 Notes on Contributors

Goran Gatalica

under the poplar

my dad and I scattered our dog’s ashes

after mother's death every rivulet keeping me alive

Maurizio Brancaleoni

summer afternoon the train car aisle full of sand

C.X. Turner

babbling brook she wonders if he feels it too

snowfall

I sense your hand finding mine

Joshua St. Claire

glinting in the eye of a snowy egret

Aladfar

Daniel Birnbaum

the dog and the white stick walking together with the same urge

a chickadee flies by the only blue of this morning

Ram Chandran red rose blooming again in this tribal girl’s braid

Gareth Nurden

rumbling thunder a kettle switch clicks resting on the hills spring mist and i

M. R. Pelletier

Autumn rain the orchard keeper burns a rotting tree

Hassane Zemmouri

mourning a cousin consoles the child with a chocolate bar

Gary Hotham

falling in with us cherry blossoms

Vishal Prabhu

on my knees my first ladybug in the wild

Richard L. Matta

stirring alphabet soup until it cools to the prompt

street corner blues the long sax notes scatter snowflakes

dementia his dusty chalkboard in a fragile frame

Bryan Rickert

slow summer day again, the fish steals my bait through the mist through the trees sound of the falls

winter begins the emptiness of acorn caps

morning frost the bus stop full of silence

Mary Ann Conley

peeking through prairie grass

black-eyed Susans

stained glass a fly buzzes from color to color

Jennifer

Gurney

dense fog not even the mountains can see the sun

Joseph P. Wechselberger

shoveling manure the breeze-borne scent of apple blossoms

Van Do buzzing bees in the flower bed a single red tulip

Tuyet

Tsanka Shishkova

cold moon

leafless tree shadows on the sidewalk

Neena Singh

long day... a green chameleon flicks its tongue

John Pappas

new year’s visit carrying the blizzard in his beard

old horse the road’s familiar song but slower

Ben Gaa lap cat the soft purr of summer rain window seat the foot traffic of squirrels park breeze humming along with the children’s song going over my haiku notebook two tiny ants

Keith Evetts

late summer sunset uncut raindrops on a copper beech

wrought-iron arch the crescent moon caught by a spider

never seeing their own children fireflies

Todd Sukany

(lune)

clouds crack at midnight Claire de Loon

what is in a name

Keitha Keyes

winter evening

Grandma’s knitting needles dance in the firelight

Chen-ou Liu

foodbank closed a stray dog scratching at its shadow

Maria Cercel

in my room awakening before me twilight moon

Oana

John Zheng

April Morning

for Theodore Haddin’s 91st birthday

Make a cup of oolong and sip it to energize your heart for a cheerful beat in the tune of your violin fluttering over Alabama’s hills and rivers rolling and flowing with the up and down of sun and moon for a state of nothingness to fulfill your day.

For a Good Time

after Eudora Welty’s photograph Confederate Veterans Meeting in the Park / Jackson

Two Confederate veterans in black suits, black leather shoes and black

fedoras sit straight on the park bench in the shade of an oak tree. One holds a walking cane, and the other turns his head to raise his voice because a train comes rumbling not too far from them. What are they talking about? Their days of fighting shoulder-to-shoulder in the Battle of Corinth or a quip about the acute loss of memory? This warm Sunday afternoon they come to meet in the park. It may be their last meeting since time flies too fast for their shaking legs. The train is fading into the distance, its horn like a bugle call saluting the dead.

Couple

1. marriage a mingled yarn of yin and yang

2. after yardwork

mom and dad rest by the paperbark maple their smile soft as a scroll of a peeling bark

3. 70th birthday forgetting to flush after pee the little grandson reports to his granny cooking in the kitchen

4. golden anniversary the couple writes a haibun together one composes a prose the other adds a haiku

5. walking in rain to the hospital he slants the umbrella over his wife

6. the true meaning of married is that you must be an admirer for your beloved 7. diamond anniversary mom and dad’s smile a dovetail of tenon and mortise

8. Thanksgiving Day a moment of silence before mom and dad’s double headstone

Tan Renga___________________

Morris & Sharon Martina

graffiti art under the viaduct a homeless man’s cart

star-studded night looking for Orion

Wilda

Haibun______________________

Isabella Mori

Reaching, Wobbling, Testing, Caressing

Snuggled into a crack, white under the hard August sun, lives a dry dab of moss. From it, a reedy branch, a twig really, extends a skeleton of a tree hand. Four, five, six small leaves grow on it, hard, olive green. There must be roots somewhere, reaching into the rock, there must be some water. In the complete dark of dense limestone, maybe one thin thread has found moisture in a hair fissure.

wobbling through the jungle of the cosmos a mote of dust

Meanwhile, the sun shines on. The surface of those tough little leaves is shiny and their stems look brittle but probably they are not. I won’t test it. This stubborn dwarf of a plant what a crime it would be for my giant fingers to break off a leaf, just for curiosity’s sake.

tender caress on tiptoes in astronaut boots

Senryu______________________

Michael Shoemaker

Wall Street hurricane stalled by talk of impenetrable ice

Jay Friedenberg never good enough another request for password reset wedding party generations dancing cheek to cheek texting face to face on the mango vendor’s makeshift sign: We Take Venmo

Gary Hittmeyer

hyphenation friendship turns into family

David Oates curry powder from the Indian shop no shaker top a box of assorted chocolates haiku anthology

Maria Tosti

my fridge so empty if you talk to it inside the echo answers

R. Suresh Babu

kitty party the ooch and ouch of high-heeled grannies

Joseph P. Wechselberger

sudden rain a man hurries along the sidewalk avoiding all cracks

contentious divorce each seeks custody of the prize-winning roses

Chen-ou Liu

my old dog spreadeagled in the sunny spot me, too office gossip these familiar strangers at the bus stop

Susan Burch

crab moon scuttling back to bed

Randy Brooks

first time back after her funeral the widower’s smile for a couple in their pew

Neena Singh

a peacock cries relentlessly its deep longing since you have gone the earth lies parched

Keitha Keyes

nothing so cold as an empty fireplace why do I keep waiting for you to come home? a crab can shed its shell ready to move on why can’t I leave you?

Chen-ou Liu

billiard balls knocked from one side of the table to another...

my migrant friend sighs, my life here, there and everywhere

Oana Maria Cercel

each ordinary day we hurt browsing heavy pages in a paper boat the briny soul fondles its storm

Isabella Mori

widower ... when it rains and the tide is out the sea is his alone

* in this man-made world how gracefully the old cherry tree opens her heart to the power lines

Tanka Prose __________________

Susan Burch

Signing Off

On a zoom for self-publishing the speaker says how authors need a social media presence, a blog, and to give readings to promote their book. The days of being a recluse are over. a hermit crab curled inside its shell are introverts like me doomed to fail

My Vote Doesn’t Count

It’s all the electoral vote, so why bother? State representatives can vote however they want.

acorns in a pile the popular vote just one for the history books

Tanka Art ____________________

Debbie Strange

Randy Brooks

the basketball coach adores high heels a legend in her own height

Keitha Keyes

Christmas morning the floor littered with children and wrapping paper parents ready for a nap

Curt Pawlisch

nonviolence flapping her wing on water as if wounded the hen distracts the dog as her ducklings escape

Rengay______________________

Wilda Morris & Jerome Berglund

All the Way Through

morning fog just one duck on the pond

wisp of smoke from chimney

bells ring across the valley baby wakens

green finally returning general store

a cup of coffee on the balcony

looking down looking up seeing each other

Nicholas Klacsanzky & Jerome Berglund

Antiqua

icicle droplets in my mouth unspoken ancestors

pines enshroud the farmhouse

fog . . . a few moths pollinate the dusk

sternutation of sparrows gesundheit

wild sneezeweed . . . wind murmurs the river’s name

blotched emerald until I stop enjoying the mirage

Wilda Morris & Jo Balistreri

Shell Game

two snapping turtles on a log silhouettes against sun-sparkled water

a shell of her former self

morning argument sharp white flecks in the scrambled eggs

prying the pods open milkweed seeds for tomorrow

gulls dropping clams a rush to the feast

falling acorns in that certain slant of light the crunch underfoot

Haiga_______________________

Lavana Kray

Michael Shoemaker

Christina Chin

Christina Chin and Randall Vemer

C.X. Turner

Rupa Anand

Maria Cercel

Oana

Sedoka

Louis Faber

The stream slows its flow past the park bench, now unused awaiting the first snowflakes. The trout swims downstream for the lake, where the water gently yields its fading warmth.

Susan Burch

getting lost in vintage wallpaper instead of my disabilities… the Ashford seasons of a Victorian life

* even though we’ve never been… I think you would love Switzerland the greenery and me

Free Verse ___________________

Ann Howells

winter funeral

no somber funeral garb we huddle inside heavy coats gloves, hats, scarves grass crunches beneath boots ushers pass umbrellas against sleet but the little church is filled islanders come to honor their own casket: sturdy little boat to carry her home

Water

I am the ocean, half the earth; I teem with unimaginable life.

My surface shimmer beguiles. My muscular tides prevail. When you hear me roar, beware: I too hunger.

Leisel Brex

Frog Pond

Frozen fingers in fuzzy mittens a day to skate her soul she thanks you for your presence in her creature’s wool

The scarf around your voice

Nested giggles, squeals of glee slicing ice with figure eights A cozy day for me

Anna Roberts Wells

Nature out of Whack

The wide grassy lawn greens early this year. A February heat waves that brings smiles to many should give us pause, should make us shudder when we recall the lesson learned so long ago that there is a time for every purpose under heaven.

The purpose of February was thwarted this year, and the season is twisted to give advantage to a nemesis. So, though the two-fold locust is to arrive a planned, and the sun’s path will darken as predicted long ago, the ticks and fleas will raise a threat that will make a stroll in your own backyard a minefield of those blood-sucking, disease-bearing foul creatures whose numbers should have been kept under some control by lovely, prolonged February frost.

Housework

There is something that is soothed by the turning back of sheets, the hanging up of towels, the dusting of tables. Though not a thought is required. The mind can drift, can plan, can pray in the midst of ordinary tasks. Today, I’ll call my friend who’s sick. I’ll cook a stew for this partner here. I’ll write a verse or maybe two. I’ll pray for all those things that break my heart and God’s as well. Oh, yes, my house can profit from the mechanics of these tasks, and perhaps my soul as well.

Jean Janicke

The Weed Where You’d Least Expect It

There is safety in being unseen. When the light turns green, backpack shells on student snails pass without a glance at the stem at the edge of crosswalk stripes. Just past the tips of my grey Mary Janes, a weed rises in a strip of dry leaves, crumpled receipts, and a white stick of straw wrapper. Its spiral symmetry stretches, turns six leaves to cast a shadow on the curb.

Spring Planting in Sperryville

saplings balance on root balls slanted sideways over red clay closed umbrellas of tied taut branches wait to make haze with blue breath brushing upward as ribs unfurl

Galen Steele

I Inhabit the Margins

Not unlike my childhood affinity for playing underneath coffee tables near the conversation but wholly removed.

Not unlike my dad disappearing into dementia comprehending the words and entirely baffled by the sentence.

Not unlike the truth so ubiquitous it is no longer seen, so familiar it is not sought after.

Combustion

Lightning bugs in the willow branches set trees on fire at dusk.

Where the milkweed is trampled near the trail, monarchs melt the ground a roiling cauldron of orange and black.

Ladybugs light flares on the stems of wild dill.

While cicadas and crickets conspire to rub ribs and legs to kindle a flame to burn up the night.

Crime and Punishment

They accused me of stealing candy from a baby, but that was out of context.

She stole it from me first. I just had the self-respect not to cry about it, and the wherewithal to exact my revenge.

Ben Nardolilli

Transept at Cruising Altitude

Writing lines in turbulence With no idea how fast I'm going

Or how high either, but It's good For the shaking to be outside me

It's a freeing sensation, This inner stillness as I write

John Grey

The Year 2104

The world’s last hard copy magazine subscription expires.

Six months later, the renewal notices stop coming.

April

I’m looking forward to a windswept, rainy, Greyhound bus ride across flatter than flat Nebraska.

That should tell you a lot about where I’m coming from.

Terrie Jacks

Georgie Herz

Good Dog Speaks

I’m a great dog, I went to obedience school. I can sit, heel, and stay. I’m pretty cool. Could you say, “Good dog”? I don’t understand. Do you see me here? What’s that in your hand?

* Royality Escapes, Spring 2024

Here in the center of cicada activity, their constant noise and dive-bombing feel creepy. Proudly emerging, the royal escape strutting iridescent wings like a cape. They are patient and have tenacity, but those orange eyes are gruesome to me. They disappear for years on end. I’m young enough to see them again.

Nathaniel Lachenmeyer

Small Change

Down these tracks every goal is a hobo

nickel cut and carved to fashion something new out of something old and familiar, like regret, like the view from a remembered window.

Down these tracks loss is the ticket and small change changes.

Poet’s Note:

Hobo nickels were a popular art form in the early part of the 20th century involving the creative modification of smalldenomination coins, so-called because the pastime was popular among hoboes.

Split Sequences________________

Joanna Ashwell

Stepping Away

no reference

a ship’s stern the ocean pulling towards exploration for forever this new template finding a way to thread air lost seedlings folding in and out this dance in moonlight

Invisible

winter dawn nowhere to go just the slide of rain on glass

the moored bulk of a grey sky across our silence lightning strikes an anchor the river rounding the shore back to forest

Cherita______________________

Todd Sukany

just forgiven a wicked servant falls down to worship he leaves the lord’s presence with a great debt an unchanged heart

Joanna Ashwell

horse and cart

the country lane in a fairy tale

where every leaf holds diamond dew of wonder

Boketto_____________________

MarthaMaggie Miller

Winter Moon

A hazy halo surrounds as the moon hangs high above in a midnight velvet sky. A single star, trailing as if leashed, shines brightly as it follows the lunar path in the cold winter air.

Strombotto Tuscano____________

MarthaMaggie Miller

Leaves of Autumn

Leaves captured in a spider's web, dangling, more silks being spun so the spinner gets fed. The sumac and burning bush wrangling, annual rivals for the most vibrant red.

Leaves in tangerine, salmon and gold, tangling, swept along where early autumn breezes tread, flirting and dancing as they bump and bustle, a susurrus rustle precedes the hustle.

Lanterne____________________

MarthaMaggie Miller

Wolves dancing among trees to music their own.

Eerie Singing

Sijo________________________

Wilda Morris

Love Story

He tells me with great feeling he loves me to the moon and back. I don’t know exactly what that means to him. I’m wondering is it true he’s an astronaut? I never guessed that of him.

Timothy Daly

Long-distance

rain hammering down she’s at home waiting for me when tomorrow’s tears flow she won’t be there to dry them

Todd Sukany

I, like a tree, at the mountaintop trunk twisted by gale forces roots grown deep

* coloring a picture with a diverse box of sixty-four crayons one is fancied

Pitt Büerken

cleansing the house after that the spiders weave new cobwebs

* wishing well a lot of coins at the bottom much unfulfilled

Susan Burch

I said I would try them and I did.

twice baked potatoes once is enough for me

Limericks ____________________

Thomas Smith

A guy that I knew from Pompei

Was always unsure what to say

His girlfriend would smile

Pucker up with great style

He found that words got in the way

Acrostic_____________________

Terrie Jacks

Travel

Taking a trip

Rest and relaxation

Arrive at airport

Very busy

Everyone is escaping

Long lines at security

* Plane

Place seat back up

Luggage in overhead space

Announcement about safety

No leg room

Everyone packed in like a sardine

Delayed Flight

Disheartened

Eager to get home

Long day, made longer

Always waiting, time ticks on

Yawning

Eyelids drooping

Didn’t anticipate this

Essays on Poetry and Poetics______

Book Review

Gatalica, Goran. Night Jasmine. Zagreb: Stajer Graf, 2022. 180 pages. ISBN: ISBN 978-953-8195-27-2.

Reviewed by C. Clark Triplett

The night jasmine is a plant known for its flowers, which bloom at night with a captivating, sweet fragrance. Its many branches extend outward, laden with numerous blossoms. This title is fitting for a collection of multilingual poems by Croatian poet Goran Gatalica, reminding a global audience that there are still “sweet fragrances” of hope, even amidst “urbanization, depletion of natural resources, climate change, war, and everything that irrevocably takes us away from nature” (12). Despite the brokenness and chaos in war-torn countries, nature offers the promise of renewal and restoration.

Each haiku in this collection is translated for readers from seven countries: the USA, France, Italy, Czech Republic, India, Japan, and Croatia. These translations reflect Gatalica’s global perspective and the importance of connection in a diverse world: “The experience that connects us to the humanity of the very soul that brings water to [the] refugee can be likened to the opening of the night jasmine” (13). Bringing together multiple translators from different parts of the world was a monumental task, yet it demonstrates how creative collaboration can transcend cultural and linguistic boundaries.

This work rises above the cruelty and devastation of war, which leaves countless victims in its wake. The poet emphasizes humanity’s deep connection with nature and the mysteries surrounding us if only we take the time to observe. Haiku poetry serves as a medium to express striking images, distilling “the bare essence of nature and the universe” (Ibid.). Each poem captures a fleeting moment, a flash of insight, hinting at meaning far beyond the words on the page.

Gatalica’s unique ability to juxtapose contrasting metaphors—such as the butterfly and barbed wire reveals a reality that is difficult to articulate. In his words, “Each and every haiku poem is actually a moment of revealing a secret. We can uncover it when we let go of our usual, rational, and socalled scientific view of the world, which offers us only rigid tangibility and explainability” (154). The poet’s work offers a gift: a new way to experience the world. His use of haiku to express what often feels unexplainable in human life provides a lens through which we can find meaning amidst tragedy. The images in Gatalica’s poetry evoke multiple interpretations, despite capturing only a fleeting moment in time. “Haiku is, therefore, above all a sensibility, a feeling condensed into a flash of thought, from which emerges the world of our close connections to nature, to the seasons, to people, things, sounds, smells, and words to the insignificant trifles of everyday life” (155).

Gatalica’s poems often intertwine symbols of destruction war, climate change, pandemics, and disasters with serene images of nature. These poems reflect the poet’s experiences, capturing individual moments that blend horror and sadness with the beauty of life, while occasionally offering glimpses of the eternal. Some examples of this symbolic contrast are:

thinking of war trapped in barbed wire a butterfly (45)

city cannon mother’s hyacinths tremble in the flowerpots (44)

sundial shadow on the edge of a grave a butterfly (43)

These images are presented without explanation, simply existing side by side. This is the genius of haiku: it embodies thoughts of transience and death while allowing space for both hope and anguish. The butterfly, in particular, suggests fragility but also evokes the possibility of renewal. As with many haiku, multiple interpretations are possible. For example, the “city cannon” might not signify war but instead could represent the signal of a new day. Nonetheless, it disrupts the tranquility of everyday life: “mother’s hyacinths tremble/in the flowerpots.”

The author addresses climate change directly, likely due to its immediate and long-term effects on nature, portraying it as another devastating outcome of human activity. Climate change, linked to global warming and the rise of greenhouse gases, triggers intense droughts, water scarcity, fires, catastrophic storms, and severe flooding. Gatalica integrates the theme of climate change into everyday scenes from nature:

climate change the wild rice bends heavy under the blackbird (55)

searing heat a spotted dove drinks without raising its head (74)

summer drought in a snapping dog’s teeth moonlight (75)

lingering heat the pace of flies on the cow’s tail (76)

long drought among the corn stalks an anthill grows (77)

There is a subtle escalation of stress on nature's ability to flourish. At first, climate change is merely present alongside the blackbird's activity in the rice fields. However, the language evokes a sense of burden, as “wild rice bends heavy” suggests the weight of simply existing. As the sequence unfolds, the intensity increases: searing heat lingers, and a summer drought evolves into a long drought. The imagery of the “dove drinking without raising its head,” the “snapping dog’s teeth,” and the “pace of flies on the cow’s tail” reflects the growing struggle for survival in these altered conditions.

Despite the destructive forces that threaten to deplete resources, end human life, and ravage the ecosystem, the poet finds hope and healing in the gifts of nature and the kindness of humanity:

amid the pandemic on our little balcony the cardinal’s song (48)

full bloom... a boatman inhales his lost childhood (40) after mother’s death I find true happiness in cherry blossoms (39) night jasmine her bloomed soul brings water to a refugee (86)

There is a sense that nature brings out the best in humanity. This connection restores balance in life, helping to heal what has been lost. The poet suggests the possibility of renewal even in the most difficult of experiences. There is even a glimpse of the eternal in this relationship:

in the churchyard sharing a birdsong only with God (36)

Perhaps the most significant focus in this collection of poems is the appreciation of nature and enjoyment of the simple things in life.

The remaining poems in this collection focus on traditional Japanese haiku themes celebrating the beauty of nature and the simple pleasures of everyday life. This is where the author truly captures the essence of the moment, allowing sensory experiences to convey deep feelings about the surrounding world through haiku verse. There is a sense of communion between the poet and nature, expressed through vivid imagery. These moments of wonder reflect the poet's connection to the heart of life, as seen in the following verses:

morning light the wild larkspur grows through our fence (62)

winter garden the unbroken silence of bonsai (125)

October wind a maple leaf repeats its acrobatics (113)

Many nature poems highlight the interaction between humanity and the natural world:

mother’s death

I fold the first autumn rain in my handkerchief (110)

such tranquility encircled by photographers the peak of Mt. Fuji (124)

blizzard a well-stocked bookstore full of children (145)

At times, the poems reflect the simple joys of life:

alone at the beach… the pinot noir from Chile full of starlight (69)

seaside promenade

I look forward to a cup of espresso (65)

These are simple moments, yet they draw the reader into a world rich with imagination. They evoke deep emotions and engage multiple senses—sight, sound, smell, and touch—inviting the reader to participate in the poet’s most intimate experiences.

Goran Gatalica is clearly an accomplished haiku poet. This collection not only reveals intimate moments from the poet’s life but also addresses global concerns, touching on the fragility of the world as we know it. Some cultures have faced the threats of war, climate change, and the depletion of natural resources more intensely than others, and these verses confront readers with the realities experienced by refugees and victims from these regions. At the same time, these haiku offer a breath of fresh air for those seeking to reconnect with nature in new and meaningful ways. These poems deserve a broad readership, especially since they have been translated into multiple languages. Readers will find the work both inspiring and well worth their time. As noted in the collection’s “Afterword,” “Goran Gatalica’s book of poetry, like all suggestively lived and written books of haiku, teaches us the beauty of life, every moment in it, whatever it may be. And for a haiku poet, every moment is beautiful” (156).

Book Review

Rajan, Geethanjali. Longing for Sun Longing for Rain: Haiku, Senryu, Haibun, & Tanka Prose. New Delhi: Red River Publication, 2023. 126 pages, ₹349.00. ISBN: 97893-92494-72-7.

Reviewed by Vikas Kadam

In her poetry collection Longing for Sun Longing for Rain, Geethanjali Rajan encapsulates her life experiences by portraying nature, culture, and traditions in two distinct cultures: India and Japan. In this book of seven sections, Rajan employs traditional Japanese forms such as haiku, tanka prose, and haibun, giving readers glimpses of her twenty years of observations, realizations, and contemplations on landscapes, people, and religious traditions.

The poet portrays vibrant and culturally infused images of Indian festivals, the daily activities of common middle-class people, and nature, often seen through the innocent lens of childhood. Rajan gracefully depicts moments from her childhood in an Indian Hindu family that lived in a rural town. The landscape she evokes a typical semi-urban countryside is alive with imagery such as “the rhythm of women threshing grain,” “the color of payasam [a traditional sweet],” and “a light drizzle of mango flowers.” The

following haiku reflects the child’s innocence as the poet captures her attachment to daily rural activities, such as women threshing grain and finding joy in the rhythmic patterns of their work:

childhood song ~ the rhythm of women threshing grain

The phrase “childhood song” adds a nostalgic tone, portraying how simple, everyday labor is joyful and rhythmic to the poet’s young eyes.

Another haiku reflects the poet’s joyful childhood moments, such as a young girl’s pony ride. The poet presents visual and auditory images to capture this moment of unfiltered childhood happiness, not just for a young girl but also for the parents watching their child cherish this momentary yet fun-filled experience:

pony ride

pink-ribboned pigtails follow her squeals

The metaphor of “pink-ribboned pigtails” vividly depicts a young girl at an age when her mother still does her hair. This image highlights the close bond between mother and daughter in a typical rural setting, where simple hairstyles with colorful ribbons are a common sight.

In the second and third sections, “River of Stars” and “On the Buddha Trail,” Rajan portrays connections between people, places, and cultures, offering vivid descriptions of her travels. The tanka prose “For Some Adam’s Ale” juxtaposes human longing in two contrasting seasons. Though Rajan doesn’t explicitly name the city, the imagery strongly suggests Chennai, a city in Tamil Nadu known for its extreme weather. The poem’s title, which also forms the book’s title, encapsulates the human struggle with the dual forces of nature both the desire for and the destruction caused by water:

longing for sun longing for rain this unquenched city

This haiku encapsulates the central paradox of the tanka prose, personifying the city as “unquenched” eternally thirsty and unsatisfied.

Rajan’s travels to various parts of India, both South and North, are also reflected in her poetry. In “Through Stained Glass,” the poet captures the sight of Jaipur, a city in Rajasthan, offering a South Indian perspective on the cultural diversity within India. A striking moment occurs when the poet and her daughter are asked to show their passports within their own country, highlighting the depth of cultural differences.

Religious references form another key theme in this collection. Rajan’s allusions range from the Ashvatha (the sacred fig tree from the Bhagavad Gita) to Buddha’s Padmasana (the meditative pose of the Buddha) and Dhyana Mudra (the symbolic hand gesture of meditation):

the teacher speaks of balancing the elements

Dhyana Mudra

Rajan’s poetry is filled with powerful, vivid imagery, exploring profound themes of culture, religion, worship, and the interplay between nature and humanity. Her work juxtaposes the spiritual and the mundane, imbuing both with deep symbolic meaning. Longing for Sun Longing for Rain is a remarkable work of art that unfolds the poet’s life journey with simplicity and profound insight. It offers readers a window into the poet’s intimate reflections on nature, tradition, and her experiences across cultures.

Book Review

Burch, Susan. The Alchemy of Love: Tanka. Taylorville, IL: Brooks Books, 2024. 48 pages, $15.00. ISBN: 978-1929820-31-3.

Reviewed by Jerome Berglund

the red bark of a dogwood tree it too wears its heart on its sleeve

In her role as a vital advocate, esteemed pioneer of the Western tanka community, and prolific publishing exemplar on the English short-form landscape, Susan Burch’s impact and presence are frequently felt and always deeply appreciated by those paying attention. It's no exaggeration (a literal truth, as a matter of fact!) to say she wrote the book on angry tanka and has been instrumental in showcasing the strengths and potent capabilities of that more robust five-line tradition (stretching comfortably into kyōka and tanshi). She argues persuasively for their thoughtful

consideration and admiration in a modern realm more dominated by haikai and senryu, less substantial monostich, and more impersonal and objective tercet.

spring day

the bluejay’s whisper song makes me pause… don’t we all want someone to love

In earlier volumes collecting Burch’s writing, she has demonstrated boldly, with riveting aptitude, the most innovative and avant-garde applications of this practice, both formally and in unique and inimitable content. With her latest extraordinary release, the poet circles back unexpectedly and meaningfully to the waka tradition’s roots in poignant, sweeping romance. She testifies time and time again on extensive subjects spanning love’s full gamut and many eclectic formulations romantic, internal, and planetary that she is every bit as capable in orthodox modes. The author further illustrates how work can be just as interesting and, in some senses, particularly impressive for an author when excelling in more regimented and naturalistic approaches, which represent a much more challenging feat. The stunning selections and attractive design make this collection a wonderfully compatible partnership with the reliably outstanding Brooks Books Press, where the manuscript deservingly won one of the five coveted 2024 HIGH/COO competition chapbook prize publishing slots. Additionally, the collection offers a treasured glimpse into what Susan describes as her “softer side,” a true privilege and a rare, exciting opportunity for both longtime and new fans to behold.

a shooting star on our anniversary I wish for you to be mine in every lifetime

This exploration serves as a marvelous introduction to the intriguing possibilities and attractions this form presents to contemporary poets. It cements the author as a talent of broad and impressive range, capable of harnessing both upper and lower phrases for a variety of diverse purposes, each of which is a distinct delight to behold. By extension, the

acknowledgment page is of much scholarly interest, highlighting a plethora of wonderful platforms that exhibit quintuple-tier pieces, ranging from the highly classical to the courageously experimental, along with everything flourishing in between. Burch’s stated goal of supporting the tanka form by “attracting new readers and writers” to this style of poetry is highly inspiring. The monumental contribution this publication makes toward those objectives is significant.

I highly encourage aficionados of this school to spend some pleasurable time immersed in this title. It serves as an excellent bridge for introducing friends, colleagues, family, and loved ones to the charms and utility of this storied tool for eloquent and evocative versification. Burch irrefutably proves that it remains as sharp and effective for communicating and making sense of affecting experiences today as it was centuries ago when lovers originally used it to transmit sweet nothings and heartfelt sentiments. The Alchemy of Love conjures this spirit back into micropoetics, and amidst such an overwhelmingly bleak period of human history, the warmth and levity radiated throughout are especially crucial and appreciated!

what lifetime achievement need I have except to love and be loved

Photo Essay

Literary Wanderings: Exploring Tokyo’s Storied Streets

John J. Han

This essay features photos taken in Tokyo during my trip to Japan in May 2024, which also included visits to Osaka, Nagasaki, and UnzenAmakusa National Park. My trips to Japan almost always begin in Tokyo, known as Edo during the Tokugawa period (1603-1868). The capital city is rich in cultural sites, including those connected to the haiku master Matsuo Bashō (1644-94) and the novelist Natsume Sōseki (1867-1916), who also wrote haiku.

In past visits, I explored many Bashō and Sōseki sites, documented in On the Road Again: Photo Essays on Famous Literary Sites in Japan (Cyberwit, 2020) and in the 2024 edition of Cantos: A Literary and Arts Journal. In 2024, I revisited some Bashō locations near the Sumida River before touring the Sekiguchi Bashō-an (Bashō Hermitage) along the Kanda River in Bunkyō Ward. I also visited the Natsume Sōseki Memorial Museum in Shinjuku Ward, as well as the nearby campus of Waseda University in Shinjuku Ward. My Tokyo tour began at Tokyo Station, which is easily accessible by bus or bullet train from Narita International Airport.

In and Around Tokyo Station, Chiyoda Ward

The Marunouchi Station Building is designated as an important cultural property of Japan. This Western-style construction stands on Tokyo Station’ s west side and a few blocks east of the Imperial Palace. Rob Urban’s narrative poem “Slouching Toward the Monsoon” opens with the following stanza:

Lost in the dim streets of the Marunouchi district

I describe this wounded city in an unending internal monologue as I follow the signs to Tokyo Station and descend into the underground passages of the metro, seeking life and anything bright in this half-lit, humid midnight.

HePo, June 2012, https://hellopoetry.com/poem/209215/slouchingtoward-the-monsoon/. Accessed 13 Oct. 2024.

Meanwhile, in Chapter 2 of Natsume Sōseki’s novel Sanshirō (1908), the title character is overwhelmed by the rapid urbanization of Tokyo as a megacity:

Tokyo was full of things that startled Sanshirō. First, the ringing of the streetcar bells startled him, and then the huge numbers of people that got on and off between rings. Next to startle him was Marunouchi, the busy commercial center of the city. What startled him most of all was Tokyo itself, for no matter how far he went, it never ended. (Trans. Jay Rubin, Penguin Books, 2009, p. 17)

Sanshirō comes to Tokyo to attend a university as a “country boy” (p. 23) from Kyushu, a remote island in southwestern Japan. His initial sense of trepidation is replaced by a sense of awe, which eventually gives way to embarrassment about his rural background.

Note: The Marunouchi Station Building is different from the Marunouchi Building (丸の内ビルディング), a 37-story skyscraper on the way to the Imperial Palace.

A map of Tokyo Station and the Imperial Palace. Credit: Google Maps.

Signs of Tokyo Station in Chinese and English (top left) and in Chinese (top right). Tokyo Station is a setting for many fictional stories. In Out of the Blue (만세전, Mansejeon, 1924), a short novel by the Korean novelist Yeom Sang-seop, a Korean student attending a university in Tokyo (“W. University,” possibly Waseda University) hears the news of his wife’s impending death in his home country. Excused from his final exam, he hurries to Tokyo Station to depart for Korea. Meanwhile, for his 2002 novel, Martin Cruz Smith uses Tokyo Station as its title for the UK edition. (The other version is titled December 6, which alludes to Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor.) However, the story has little to do with the railroad station.

(Bottom) A statue of Yeom Sang-seop (염상섭, 1897-1963) in central Seoul, Korea, 21 May 2018. A native of Seoul, he entered Keio University in Tokyo in 1915 but dropped out after one semester due to illness. After becoming involved in the Korean national liberation movement in Osaka, he was imprisoned for littering (with political leaflets) but later released on appeal. He returned to Korea in 1920 and worked as a journalist, novelist, and dean of the Seorabeol College of Arts in Seoul.

Part of the Imperial Palace west of Tokyo Station.

Part of a stone wall in the outer garden of the Imperial Palace displays moss, a symbol of ageless tranquility. The scene is reminiscent of the 10thcentury tanka “Kimigayo” (“His Imperial Majesty’s Reign”), which serves as the national anthem of Japan:

Japanese:

君が代は 千代に八千代に 細石の 巌となりて 苔の生すまで

English:

Thousands of years of happy reign be thine; Rule on, my lord, until what are pebbles now By ages united to mighty rocks shall grow Whose venerable sides the moss doth line.

Translated by Basil Hall Chamberlain (1850-1935)

The Natsume Soseki Memorial Museum, Shinjuku Ward

The Natsume Soseki Memorial Museum is located southeast of Waseda University (早稲田大学), within the Waseda area of Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo.

(Top) The street hosting the Natsume Sōseki Memorial Museum is Sōseki Mountain House Street (Sōseki Sanbo-dori), commonly translated as Sōseki House Street.

(Bottom) The Natsume Sōseki Memorial Museum stands where the author’s one-story house used to be.

The entrance to the Natsume Soseki Memorial Museum.

Paper-cut cats decorate the museum. A cat serves as the narrator of I Am a Cat, Soseki’s celebrated novel that satirizes Meiji-era Japan. The cat opens the novel with the following paragraph:

I am a cat; but as yet I have no name. Where I was born is entirely unknown to me. But this still dimly lives in my memory. I was mewing in a gloomy damp place, where I got the first sight of a creature called man. This human being, as I afterwards learned, belonged to the most brutal class of his race, known by the name of “students,” who, as it is said, will not unfrequently [sic] seize, boil and devour us. But knowing at that time little of what he was like, I felt no fear in particular. […] (Trans. K. Ando, Rev. K. Natsume, Tokyo: Hattori Shoten, 1906, p. 1.)

In the words of Yajima Yukihiko, “You might say that the blossoming of modern Japanese literature began with Natsume Soseki’s pet cat” (“Natsume Soseki’s Cat,” Discuss Japan: Japan Foreign Policy Forum, no.

40, 19 June 2017, https://www.japanpolicyforum.jp/society/pt201706190200066900.html. Accessed 31 Oct. 2023). Meanwhile, Professor John Nathan at the University of California, Santa Barbara, praises I Am a Cat as follows:

Stylistically, I Am a Cat is a gallimaufry of elements. […] Among the pleasures of the work is the repeated yoking together in any given passage of an assortment of allusions from Du Fu, the English poet Gray, Beowolf [sic], and a contemporary play on words reminiscent of Cockney rhyming slang. Elsewhere, we find references to Rabelais, Robert Louis Stevenson, Victor Hugo, Chinese learning, Aristotle, Izumi Kyōka, Tsubouchi Shōyō, Shakespeare, Henry James, Meredith, and many others. (para. 11)

For more information, see Nathan’s article “On Soseki’s Bitingly Critical Novel, I Am a Cat,” 16 May 2018, https://lithub.com/on-sosekis-bitinglycritical-novel-i-am-a-cat/. Accessed 27 Oct. 2023.

(Left) Sōseki’s writing room and library.

(Right) An indoor statue honors Sōseki, one of Japan’s most eminent modern novelists. The novelist lived in this area from 1907 until he died in 1916. During this period, he published some of his well-known novels: The Miner (1908), Sanshirō (1908), And Then (1909), The Gate (1910), To the Spring Equinox and Beyond (1912), The Wayfarer (1912-1913), Kokoro (1914), Grass on the Wayside (1915), and Light and Darkness (1916). Sanshirō, a coming-of-age novel, is often taught in Japan’s high schools and universities.

(Top) Soseki Park on the premises of the Natsume Soseki Memorial Museum.

(Bottom left) The grave of the cat that served as the narrator of I Am a Cat. (Bottom right) A bronze statue of Soseki inside the park.

Sekiguchi Bashō-an (top) is a historic site located along the Kanda River (bottom). Sekiguchi (関口) is a scenic district in Bunkyo Ward.

Sekiguchi Bashō-an, Bunkyo Ward

The brick wall and wooden entrance of Sekiguchi Bashō-an. The three Chinese characters atop the door, 芭蕉庵, translate to “the hermitage of Bashō.”

Bashō’s old residence in Sekiguchi.

Bashō’s most famous haiku is posted in the garden of his Sekiguchi residence:

古池や

蛙飛びこむ

水の音 English: old pond a frog jumps into the sound of the water

Translated by Jane Reichhold

(Left): The pond in the garden of Sekiguchi Bashō-an.

(Right): Bashō’s “tombstone.” The five Chinese characters in the photo, 芭蕉翁之墓, translate to “the grave of the elderly Bashō.” Tokyo may claim Bashō as one of its own, but he died in Osaka and is buried at Daitoku Temple (大徳寺) in Kyoto.

Brief Guide to Short Poetic Forms

Acrostic: A poem in which the first letter of each line forms a word or phrase when read vertically. A fine example is Edgar Allan Poe’s “Elizabeth” (c. 1829), a 16-line poem written for his cousin Elizabeth Rebecca Herring. The first letters of the respective lines are E, L, I, Z, A, B, E, T, H, R, E, B, E C, C, and A.

Boketto: A Japanese-style poem consisting of two stanzas. The first stanza contains five lines with a syllabic pattern of 7-7-7-4-5 (30 syllables in total). The second stanza is three lines with a syllabic pattern of 7-7-3 (17 syllables altogether). Variations of this form exist.

Cento: An original poem comprising lines borrowed from the works of other authors. After arranging the lines in a coherent way, the poet identifies the source of each line. The cento is somewhat different from found poetry, which also uses outside texts.

Cheriga: A cherita combined with a simple visual art.

Cherita: A six-line narrative poem that usually consists of a single line, a couplet, and a tercet (3 lines). A cherita terbalik (inverted cherita) takes the form of 3–2–1, 2–1–3, 1–3–2, 2–3–1, or 3–1–2 lines. The cherita is an unrhymed, freestyle form and, similar to the tanka, is not titled.

Cinqku: A 17-syllable poem that has five lines of 2-3-4-6-2 syllables, respectively.

Cinquain: An unrhymed, five-line poetic poem that has a 2-4-6-8-2 syllable count. Some poets use iambic feet (an unaccented syllable followed by an accented one) in a cinquain. A related form is the didactic cinquain, which aims mainly to teach schoolchildren parts of speech. Below is the structure:

Line 1: a one-word noun (the subject of the poem)

Line 2: two adjectives that describe Line 1

Line 3: a three-word verbal phrase that further describes Line 1

Line 4: a four-word phrase that shows a feeling toward Line 1

Line 5: a one-word noun synonymous with or relate to Line 1.

The word cinquain is pronounced sing-kayne.

Couplet: A two-line poem that has an end rhyme scheme and usually has the same meter for both lines.

Didactic cinquain: See Cinquain.

Ekphrastic poetry: Poetry inspired by visual art. Ekphrastic poems began in classical times as a tool for describing artwork. Ekphrastic poetry as written today is not merely a verbal representation of a visual art. Rather, it is a critical, subjective response to it. Regardless of the artist’s supposed intention, poets may come up with their own understanding of a work of visual art based on their life experiences, perspectives on life, and preoccupations. As in reader response literary criticism, ekphrastic poetry approaches the same work from different but equally valid angles.

Epitaph: An epigrammatic poem commemorating or epitomizing a dead person and short enough to fit a headstone. Epitaphs can be either serious or humorous. Humorous epitaphs, which are available as Google images, include “I Told You I Was Sick” and “Here Lies Clyde / His Life Was Full / Until He Tried to Milk a Bull.” Some poets and writers compose their own epitaphs prior to their deaths. The word epitaph comes from the Greek word epitaphios (ἐπιτάφιος, “funeral oration”).

Etheree: The Etheree consists of ten unrhymed lines of 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-910 syllables. Etheree can also be reversed and written 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1. It is attributed to an American poet, Etheree Taylor Armstrong of Arkansas. The Etheree is a highly flexible poetry form and lends itself to the writer's creativity. An Etheree should focus on one idea or subject. Double Etheree is two Etherees that make up one poem; the syllable count is 1-23-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1.

Fibonacci (or Fib):A math-based poem that follows the Fibonacci sequence (1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, etc.); most fib poems today are written in six lines of 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, and 8 syllables each. It can also be written in reverse order: 8, 5, 3, 2, 1, and 1.

Found poetry: A type of poetry that creates something new and meaningful out of borrowed texts. Unlike the cento, it does not list the sources used.

Free verse: A poem written without meter or an external rhyme. Many free verse poems, however, use internal rhymes and other rhythmic devices.

Gembun: A poetic form created by ai li in 1997. The gembun (pronounced gem boon) consists of either a one-word first link or anything up to one sentence, to be capped by a haiku of up to four lines. A gembun poem must include an element of suggestion in the opening sentence, in the haiku, or both.

Haiku: A Japanese poetic form from the 17th century, the haiku portrays the beauty and wonders of nature and human emotions as reflected in nature. It used to be written in a 5-7-5 syllable structure, but nowadays, it generally consists of three short lines in which the poet uses up to 17 syllables altogether. The plural of haiku is haiku, not haikus.

Haiga: A haiku combined with a simple visual art (traditionally brush painting but currently any type of painting, drawing, or photography). A photo haiga is sometimes called a photoku.

Haibun (“haiku writings”): A form that combines prose and haiku. Instead of being a mere summary of the prose, the haiku must be fresh and insightful enough to stand alone as a poem. Among the best-known haibun writers is Matsuo Bashō (1644-94), who wrote the travelogue Oku no Hosomichi (Narrow Road to the Interior).

Imayo: A Japanese poetic form consisting of four lines, each with 12 syllables. A caesura (pause) separates the first seven syllables from the final five syllables in each line.

Joseph’s Star: An eight-line poem consists of 1-3-5-7-7-5-3-1 syllables each and is generally center-aligned. It can have either a single stanza or a set of stanzas.

Jueju (Chinese quatrain): A Chinese poetic type that flourished in the Tang Dynasty (618-907), it was used by the literati not only in China but also those in Korea, Japan, and Vietnam for thousands of years. A jueju

poem consists of couplets, each of which has either five characters (wujue) or seven characters (qijue).

Kyoka (“mad poem”) is to tanka what senryu is to haiku. Kyoka is identical to tanka in form but is comic and parodic in tone. Contemporary tanka and kyoka are written in free style, without exceeding 31 syllables altogether.

Lanterne (also spelled lanturne): A five-line poem that uses 1-2-3-4-1 syllables in five respective lines. Rhyming is optional, and a title may or may not be used in a lanterne.

Limerick: A nonsense poem based on wordplay. It usually consists of five lines and has the end rhyme scheme of a-a-b-b-a. The first line typically includes a person and a place name. Some limericks have the syllabic pattern of 8-8-5-5-8. Other patterns include 8-8-6-6-8 and 9-9-6-6-9. An 8-8-6-6-8 limerick follows the stress pattern of da DUM da da DUM da da DUM da DUM da da DUM da da DUM da DUM da da DUM da DUM da da DUM da DUM da da DUM da da DUM.

The first line usually serves as the title of a limerick.

Loop poem: A four-line, titled poem in which the last word of the first line becomes the first word of line two, the last word of line 2 becomes the first word of line 3, and the last word of line 3 becomes the first word of line 4. The rhyme scheme is a-b-c-b. A loop poem can have either a single stanza or a set of stanzas, and there are no restrictions on the number of syllables for each line.

Lune: An American-style haiku that has three lines of 5-3-5 syllables, respectively.

Nonet: A titled poem consisting of nine lines of 9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 syllables, respectively. Rhyming is optional.

Photoku: See Haiga.

Pirouette: A 10-line poem without meter or rhyme. In addition to having six syllables in each line, lines 5 and 6 have the same words and, combined, constitute a turnaround.

Quatrain: A four-line stanza or complete poem that rhymes. There are more than a dozen possible rhyme schemes, including a-b-a-c and a-b-c-b. A quatrain usually has a regular rhythm to the lines. Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is a well-known ballad quatrain. The second stanza of the poem reads,

The Bridegroom’s doors are opened wide, And I am next of kin; The guests are met, the feast is set: May’st hear the merry din.”

Here, the rhyme scheme is a-b-c-b, and iambic tetrameter (an 8-syllable line) alternates with iambic trimer (a six-syllable line).

Rengay: A six-verse sequence of collaborative poems in which three-line and two-line haiku alternate. Composed by two or more poets, a rengay has a controlling theme.

Rondeau: A medieval French poetic form that consists of a rhyming quintet (a five-line stanza), quatrain (a four-line stanza), and sestet (a sixline stanza). Altogether, a rondeau poem has 15 lines, each of which contains 8-10 syllables. The rhyme scheme is AABBA AABR AABBAR. (“R” represents the refrain.) The plural form of rondeau is rondeaux.

Sedoka: An ancient Japanese poetic form that consists of two three-line katauta (5-7-7, 5-7-7 syllables, respectively). The two sets of the 5-7-7 katauta constitute a conversation in Japanese sedoka. (The 5-7-5 katauta constitutes the first three lines of a traditional tanka.) The Manyoshu (“Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves”), an anthology compiled around 759, includes 62 sedoka poems.

Senryu: A three-line unrhymed Japanese poetic form structurally similar to the haiku but dealing satirically and humorously with human foibles. It arose as part of Edo (Tokyo) culture in the eighteenth century.

Septolet: A seven-line, 14-word poem that consists of three lines, a line break, and four lines.

Shape poem: A poem in which the lines are arranged in a way that represents the subject of the poem. It is also called a visual poem or concrete poem.

Sijo: A vernacular Korean poetic form whose basic structure requires approximately forty-five Korean characters (syllabic blocks) arranged in three unrhymed lines. Similar to contemporary haiku and other Japanesestyle short-form poems, Korean sijo are now written in freestyle.

Somonka: An ancient Japanese poetic form consisting of two love tanka, each representing one of the two respective lovers. A somonka can be written by two poets or by a single poet who adopts two voices. Below is John J. Han’s somonka that appeared in Elder Mountain: A Journal of Ozarks Studies, 9 (2019), p. 85:

Ghost Hollow, Fayetteville, AR

how much I desired an embrace in your strong arms that cold wedding night the fire that caught my dress, alas, reduced me to char how much I miss you! at night people run away when they hear you scream come and scream at me, my love, for not saving you in time

Note: This poem is based on the legend of a young bride who was burned to death on her wedding night. The story can be found in Ozark Tales and Superstitions (by Phillip W. Steele, Pelican, 2003), “Arkansas History’s Mysteries Ghost Hollow” (http://arkansasstatearchives.blogspot.com/2015/10/arkansashistorys-mysteries-ghost-hollow.html), and other sources.

Sonnet: A 14-line poem with a variable rhyme scheme originating in Italy and brought to England by Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard, earl of Surrey, in the 16th century. Traditionally, the sonnet (a “little song”) reflects upon a single sentiment, with a clarification or “turn” of thought (volta) in its concluding lines.

The Petrarchan (Italian) sonnet, perfected by the Italian poet Petrarch, divides the 14 lines into two sections: an eight-line stanza (octave) rhyming ABBAABBA, and a six-line stanza (sestet) rhyming CDCDCD or CDEEDE. John Milton’s “When I Consider How my Light Is Spent” and Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s “How Do I Love Thee” employ this form.

The Shakespearean (English) Sonnet: A sonnet with 14 lines consisting of three quatrains and a couplet, with a rhyme scheme of ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. George Herbert’s “Love (II),” Claude McKay’s “America,” and Molly Peacock’s “Altruism” are Shakespearean sonnets.

Most sonnets are about love and romance, and the tone of a sonnet can be either serious or humorous.

The Split Sequence: A twelve-line linked haiku form, plus title, written solo or collaboratively. A sequence is started by the poet splitting the 3-line haiku into 3 separate lines. Next, the poet writes a haiku for each line –first, second, and third, making it a 1-3-1-3-1-3 format. If it is a collaborative sequence, each poet alternates in writing the haiku. This form was invented by Peter Jastermsky in 2017. (Definition by Christine L. Villa, 5 March 2022)

Strombotto Tuscano: An eight-line Italian poetic form characterized by an ABABABCC rhyme scheme, where the first six lines alternate rhymes followed by a rhymed couplet. Each line contains 10 syllables, adhering to iambic pentameter, which comprises five metrical feet with an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.

Tan Renga (“short linked verse”): A collaborative tanka written by two poets. Typically, one poet composes three lines, and the other poet adds two lines. A solo tan renga, written by a single poet, leaves a blank

line space between the first three lines and the two capping lines to distinguish the poem from a tanka.

Tanka: An aristocratic poetic form from ancient Japan, it is popular in both Japan and the English-speaking world. The traditional tanka consists of five lines of 5-7-5-7-7 syllables, respectively; the most common themes of traditional tanka are love (especially unrequited love) and nature. Most contemporary English-language tanka poets tend to use five short lines of various syllable counts without exceeding 31 syllables altogether.

Tanka art: Illustrated tanka. It is akin to a haiga except that it generally has five short lines.

Tanka prose: A form that combines prose and tanka. Instead of being a mere summary of the prose, the tanka must be fresh and insightful enough to stand alone as a poem.

Terce: A three-line poem in which the lines can vary in length. A tercet may follow a specific meter and rhyme scheme or be written in free verse.

Triptych: A poem of three stanzas, the second of which tends to be longer than stanzas 1 and 3. In visual art, a triptych (“three-fold”) means a threesectioned painting or carving. Similar to the three panels that constitute a thematic whole, the three stanzas in a triptych poem should work together to create a theme.

J.J.H.

Notes on Contributors

Rupa Anand is a spiritual seeker turned poet. Her work is regularly featured in national and international journals and anthologies. A cancer survivor (2020), she finds strength in Japanese micro poetry. Her debut book, To the Edgeless Sky and Back, which chronicles her cancer journey, was published in July 2024 and became a runaway success. Anand is a Pushcart Prize and twice Touchstone Award-nominated poet. She lives in New Delhi with her beloved cats, aspiring to garden more, travel light, and tune in to birdsong more often.

Joanna Ashwell is a writer from the north-east of England. Her published collections of poetry include a collection of contemporary poetry (Flarestack Publishing), one haiku collection (Hub Editions), one tanka collection (Every Star, available on Amazon), and two Cherita collections (River Lanterns and Moonset Song, available on Amazon). She has won second prize in the Haiku Presence Award, received an honorable mention in The Golden Haiku Awards, won The British Haiku Society Award, and garnered various other mentions in international contests such as Autumn Moon and the San Francisco Contest. Ashwell has also been on the Touchstone Award shortlist for individual haiku. Her short-form poetry, including haiku, tanka, haibun, and Cherita, appears widely in both print and online journals. She is a member of the selection team for the Canadian Tanka journal Gusts.

R. Suresh Babu is a schoolteacher from India, writing in forms such as haiku, senryu, haiga, cherita, gembun, tanka, and haibun. His work has been published in many anthologies and journals. His haiku was shortlisted for the Touchstone Awards in 2022, and he won the World Online Kukai and the Kyoto Haiku Project in 2021. He also received an honorable mention in the 75th Bashō Memorial English Haiku Contest. Additionally, he created artwork for the haiku anthology Bull-Headed, edited by Corine Timmer.

Jo Balistreri began her creative life as a pianist and harpsichordist. In 2005, she began writing free verse after losing her hearing and ability to play music, and in 2015, she registered for a mentoring program through the Haiku Society of America. She has since published widely and was

included in A New Resonance 12 in 2019. More information can be found at her website: maryjobalistreripoet.com.

Jerome Berglund has worked in various roles, including dishwasher, paralegal, night watchman, and heart valve assembler. His haiku, haiga, and haibun have been exhibited or are forthcoming both online and in print, with recent publications in bottle rockets, Frogpond, Kingfisher, and Presence. His first full-length poetry collections have been published by Setu, Meat For Tea, and Mōtus Audāx Press. Additionally, a mixed-media chapbook featuring his fine art photography is available from Yavanika.

Daniel Birnbaum, a recently retired molecular biologist and MD, lives in Provence, France. He has written around 35 books of poems, short novels, and haiku/tanka. His work has appeared in several journals and reviews in French, English, or both, including The Colour of Shadow/La couleur de l’ombre (Alba Publishing, 2019) and Wandering Roots/Racines errantes (Pippa, 2023).

Maurizio Brancaleoni lives near Rome, Italy. He holds a master’s degree in Language and Translation Studies from Sapienza University. His haiku and senryu have appeared in Synchronized Chaos, Dadakuku, Lothlorien Poetry Journal, Under the Basho, Horror Senryu Journal, Cold Moon Journal, Scarlet Dragonfly, Memorie di una geisha, Rakuen, Haiku Corner, Pure Haiku, Five Fleas, Shadow Pond Journal, Haikuniverse, Asahi Haikuist, Plum Tree Tavern, and Wales Haiku Journal. In 2023, one of his micropoems was nominated for a Touchstone Award, and a horror ku originally featured in the Halloween-themed issue of Scarlet Dragonfly was re-published in this year's Dwarf Stars anthology.

Leisel Brex hopes that her writing fosters creativity in others and shows that we are all poets living within poetry.

Dr. Randy Brooks is Professor of English Emeritus at Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois, where he teaches courses on haiku, tanka, and Japanese poetics. He and his wife, Shirley Brooks, are publishers of Brooks Books and co-editors of Mayfly haiku magazine. His most recent books include Walking the Fence: Selected Tanka and The Art of Reading and Writing Haiku: A Reader Response Approach.

Pitt Büerken is retired and lives with his wife in Münster, the City of the Westphalian Peace in 1648. He writes poems and short stories, focusing on haiku, senryu, tanka, kyoka, haibun, and tanka prose. His recent works also include cherita and gembun. He enjoys biking with his wife in the countryside. In addition to numerous publications in international journals, he has published two haiku and senryu books.

Susan Burch is a writer of short Japanese forms. She is the former Vice President of the Tanka Society of America and writes mostly from the comfort of her couch. When not writing, she likes to read, do jigsaw puzzles, watch TV, and listen to music. She loves coca cola ices and birdwatching. If you ask her, she will send you her terrible pictures of the birds that come to her yard. Frequent visitors are crows, bluejays, mockingbirds, robins, finches, sparrows, hummingbirds, and woodpeckers. Occasionally she sees hawks, wrens, bluebirds, nuthatches, chickadees, cardinals, robins, grackles, cowbirds, starlings, and tufted titmice.

Oana Maria Cercel is everything and nothing. She lives in Italy, for now.

Ram Chandran is a corporate lawyer by profession. He has been writing English poetry since his college days and Japanese short-form poetry since 2020. His English-language haiku and other Japanese short-form poems around 500 have been published internationally in various prestigious print and digital Journals. His collection of his tanka poems titled The flight of a dragonfly was published in April 2023 by Southern Arizona Press (SAP). ramlawyer75@gmail.com.

Christina Chin is a painter and haiku poet from Malaysia. She is a fourtime recipient of top 100 in the mDAC Summit Contests, exhibited at the Palo Alto Art Center, California. She is 1st prize winner of the 34th Annual Cherry Blossom Sakura Festival 2020 Haiku Contest and 1st prize winner in the 8th Setouchi Matsuyama 2019 Photohaiku Contest. She has been published in numerous journals, multilingual journals, and anthologies, including Japan's prestigious monthly Haikukai Magazine.

Mary Ann Conley lived most of her life in the Baltimore-Washington area, where she ran an independent piano studio and operated a business called Quiet Glimpse Colored Pencil Drawings. She currently resides in the Midwest and has been writing haiku for almost two years. Her poems have appeared in Acorn, Autumn Moon, Blithe Spirit, Bottle Rockets, Failed

Haiku, Fireflies’ Light, first frost, The Heron’s Nest, Modern Haiku, Presence, Prune Juice, Tsuri-dōrō, and Wales Haiku Journal. Her work was also featured in a New Writer’s Project, which produced a collection of haiku titled Off the Main Road (Alba Publishing, Spring 2024).

Dr. Timothy Daly lives to write, research, and remember. He can be found on X at @PhilAlz.

Tuyet Van Do lives in Australia. She loves poetry and writes whenever inspiration strikes. Her work has appeared in various publications both online and in print. She was nominated for the Touchstone Award for Individual Poems in 2022.

Keith Evetts is a retired diplomat with a scientific education who lives by the Thames. He writes both long and short-form poetry, with approximately 800 haiku and related short forms published in various journals; some of these have been nominated for awards, while others have been anthologized. Evetts hosts the Haiku Foundation’s weekly haiku commentary feature and serves as an administrator for Facebook’s largest haiku group. Additionally, he is a member of the editorial team for the annual Red Moon Anthology of haiku and haibun. He is married and has five children, a grey parrot, a cottage garden, and a sense of humor.

Louis Faber is a poet and writer living in Florida with his wife, a fellow poet, and their cat, who serves as their editor. His work has appeared widely in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and India, including in Cantos, The Poet (U.K.), Alchemy Spoon, Dreich (Scotland), Tomorrow and Tomorrow, Defenestration, Atlanta Review, Glimpse, Rattle, Pearl, The South Carolina Review, and Worcester Review, among others. Faber’s work has also been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

Jay Friedenberg is a former president of the Haiku Society of America and served for two years as Associate Editor of the organization's journal, Frogpond. He is a regular attendee and presenter at the New York Metro HSA organization and a member of the Spring Street Haiku Group, which meets monthly in New York City. Friedenberg’s poetry has been published in numerous U.S. and international journals, and he has released several collections of his work. He has also won multiple U.S. and international haiku contests.

Ben Gaa is your friendly neighborhood haiku poet and host of Haiku Talk on YouTube. He’s the author of two full-length collections of haiku & senryu, One Breath (Spartan Press 2020) and the Touchstone Awardwinning Wishbones (Folded Word 2018), as well as three chapbooks, the Pushcart nominated Wasp Shadows (Folded Word 2014), Blowing on a Hot Soup Spoon (Poor Metaphor Design 2014), and Fiddle in the Floorboards (Yavanika Press 2018). With over 1,000 haiku and senryu published in journals and anthologies around the globe, he enjoys both giving and attending poetry readings, conducting haiku workshops, and being a part of the literary conversation. Learn more about Ben at www.Ben-Gaa.com.

Goran Gatalica was born in Virovitica, Croatia, in 1982 and currently resides in Zagreb, Croatia. He completed degrees in both physics and chemistry at the University of Zagreb and proceeded directly to a PhD program after graduation. Gatalica has published poetry, haiku, and prose in literary journals and anthologies. He has received numerous honors for his poetry and haiku, including the Dragutin Tadijanović Award from the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts for his poetry book Kozmolom (2017), the title “Haiku Master of the Month” (Rikugien Gardens and Biei, NHK WORLD TV, Japan, 2016 and 2017), and the Basho-an Award (Japan, 2018, 2019, and 2023). He is a member of the Croatian Writers' Association.

John Grey is an Australian poet and U.S. resident, recently published in New World Writing, North Dakota Quarterly, and Tenth Muse. His latest books, Between Two Fires, Covert, and Memory Outside the Head, are available on Amazon. His work is forthcoming in Haight-Ashbury Literary Journal, Birmingham Arts Journal, La Presa, and Shot Glass Journal.

Jennifer Gurney lives in Colorado, where she teaches, paints, writes, and hikes. Her poetry has appeared internationally in a wide variety of journals; two of her poems have won international contests, and one was recently turned into a choral piece for a concert. Jennifer’s first book of poetry, My Eyes Adjusting, has recently been published.

John J. Han, Ph.D., is Professor of English and Creative Writing and Associate Dean of the School of Humanities and Theology at Missouri Baptist University. He is the author, editor, co-editor, or translator of 35 books. Among his recent books are Certainty and Ambiguity in Global

Mystery Fiction: Essays on the Moral Imagination (Bloomsbury Academic, 2024) and Passing Thoughts: Haiku, Senryu, and Other Poems (Cyberwit, 2024). Han has also published more than 2,500 poems in periodicals and anthologies, such as Cave Region Review (featured poet of the year 2012), Failed Haiku, Frogpond, Modern Haiku, Simply Haiku (chosen as the world’s sixth-finest English-language haiku poet for 2011), Valley Voices (Pushcart-nominated), and Wales Haiku Journal (nominated for the Touchstone Award).

Georgie Herz is a retired P.E. teacher. She refuses to let arthritis keep her from a daily walk. Rhyming poems are her favorite, and she loves sharing them at open mics. She is skilled in watercolor and has illustrated three books. Children, nature, and facing obstacles of aging are her inspirations. She lives in Ballwin, MO, where she feeds the birds and loves to see the sunrise.

Gary Hittmeyer was born in Brooklyn, NY, during the fabulous fifties and was fortunate enough to attend the 1964 World’s Fair in Queens. He currently lives quietly in the beautiful Hudson River Valley of New York State. In his free time, he enjoys NY Mets baseball, sumo wrestling, BBC crime dramas, classic rock, the sound of a mandolin, 75-degree sunny days, and writing short-form poetry. Hittmeyer is a Touchstone shortlisted poet for Individual Poem of the Year and has been published in a variety of journals and anthologies, including Haiku 2021 and The Best of Paper Lanterns Vol. 2.

Gary Hotham was recently named the 2022-2023 Honorary Curator of the American Haiku Archives at California State University, Sacramento. He started writing and publishing haiku in 1966, and since then, his haiku have appeared in many journals and anthologies. In 1976, his first chapbook collection was published, and over 20 chapbooks and larger collections of haiku have followed. Soft Serve: Haiku Remains is his most recent work and received an honorable mention in the Haiku Canada Marianne Bluger Book Awards for 2024. He is currently serving as the first vice president of the Haiku Society of America.

Ann Howells edited Illya’s Honey for eighteen years. Her recent books include So Long As We Speak Their Names (Kelsay Books, 2019) and Painting the Pinwheel Sky (Assure Press, 2020). Her chapbooks, Black Crow in Flight and Softly Beating Wings, were published through contests.

Howells’s work has appeared in Nimrod, Magma, Crannog, and other publications.

Terrie Jacks is the new president of the Missouri State Poetry Society. She graduated from the University of Missouri with a B.S. in Education. Having lived in several different states and spent several years in England, Jacks has had her poems published in Cantos, Fireflies’ Light, The Oasis Journal, Spare Mule, Grist, Cattails, Failed Haiku, Tanka Origins, and Galaxy of Verse. Some of her stories have appeared in The Right Words and Flash. For several years, she illustrated Korean folktales retold by John Han, which were published in the Korean-American Journal and later in the book Spousal Competition and Other Tales from Korea (2021) by Han. Jacks continues to write and illustrate poems and has occasionally entered them in local art exhibits.

Jean Janicke lives in Washington, D.C. She works as an economist and finds her creative outlet through poetry. She enjoys strong coffee and long walks. Her work has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies.

Dr. Vikas Kadam is a Visiting English Professor at Mississippi Valley State University in Itta Bena, MS, USA. He was a Fulbright Scholar at MVSU during the academic year 2022-23. His research areas include Teaching English as a Second Language (ESL), Academic Writing, Second Language Assessment, Task-Based Language Teaching, Translanguaging, and Teacher Education. Kadam holds a doctorate in English Language Education from The English and Foreign Languages University in Hyderabad, India. In addition to his academic work, he writes image poetry in free verse and enjoys reading Japanese haiku. He also writes critical essays on contemporary poetry that focus on the underprivileged strata of society.

Keitha Keyes lives in a tiny house in Sydney, filled with her husband’s model ships and her many antique irons and trivets. She enjoys writing haiku, senryu, gembun, tanka, kyoka, cherita, sequences and tanka prose. Her work is published in many print and online journals in Australia and overseas.

Nicholas Klacsanzky has had poems and essays published in a wide range of journals, books, and websites. He has collaborated on books such as Zen and Son and How Many Become One. His solo haiku book,

Transported, was released in 2022 by Red Moon Press. Currently, he serves as the haiku and senryu editor for Frogpond journal and is also an editor for the blog Haiku Commentary. A teacher by profession, he seeks to continue the legacy of his father, George Klacsanzky, a pioneer in the American haiku scene and founder of Haiku Zasshi Zo, one of the first haiku journals in the Pacific Northwest. Nicholas resides in Burien, Washington, USA.

Lavana Kray lives in Romania. Her work has appeared in many print and online publications, as well as in haiga exhibitions organized by the World Haiku Association in Japan and Italy. In 2015, this Association awarded her the title of Master Haiga Artist. The Laval Literary Society from Canada awarded her the André-Jacob-Entrevous Prize 2023, for a literary text (haiku) combined with an artistic visual. She currently serves as editor of Haiga at Cattails (UHTS). See more of her work at https://photohaikuforyou.blogspot.com.

Nathaniel Lachenmeyer is an award-winning author based in Marietta, GA. His first book, The Outsider, which takes as its subject his late father’s experiences with schizophrenia and homelessness, was published by Broadway Books. Nathaniel has recently published, or has forthcoming, stories and poems in Epiphany, Permafrost, Kestrel, Berkeley Poetry Review, Hawaii Pacific Review, Breakwater Review, Full Bleed, and DIAGRAM. For more information, visit www.NathanielLachenmeyer.com.

Chen-ou Liu lives in Ajax, Ontario, Canada. He is the author of five books, including Following the Moon to the Maple Land (First Prize, 2011 Haiku Pix Chapbook Contest) and A Life in Transition and Translation (Honorable Mention, 2014 Turtle Light Press Biennial Haiku Chapbook Competition). His tanka and haiku have been honored with many awards.

Sharon Martina is a retired teacher living her best life in Illinois when not traveling the world. Reading and writing haiku became her therapy during her father’s year-long hospice care in 2021. Her newfound passion allows her to meld her love of nature, people, and photography into moments of startling clarity. She attributes her membership in the Haiku Society of America, along with several amazing mentors and a handful of talented fellow poets, for her success as a budding haiku poet.

Richard L. Matta is originally from New York’s Hudson Valley and now lives in San Diego, California. He has a background in forensic science and enjoys spending his retirement sailing or cruising on the ocean, walking through botanical parks, and volunteering at Balboa Park Theatre. Matta writes in many poetic forms and was a Pushcart nominee (long-form) and a Touchstone Award nominee (haiku) in 2023. Over the years, his poems have been honored in various international contests, appeared in anthologies, and been published in journals including Healing Muse, New Verse News, Hole in the Head Review, Modern Haiku, Heron’s Nest, and Blithe Spirit, among others.

MarthaMaggie Miller, born in Springfield, Illinois, holds a BA in Biology and English Literature. She works as an Environmental Professional for the Army after retiring from service. Miller published Heartfelt Snippets with Moments of Magic in December 2022 and has been featured in Shadow of the Soul, The Endeavor: Maiden Voyage Vol. I, Smooth Sailing Vol. II, Stormy Weather Vol. III, A Poetic Field Filled with Wildwood Flowers, the 2024 Cantos Vol. 30, and the 2024 Fireflies’ Light #29. She views poetry as a combination of words with musical components woven around a mystically hidden meaning, which can be discovered, interpreted, and enjoyed individually. Poetry serves as an outlet for emotions of all colors. Find her on Facebook at facebook.com/heartfeltsnippetsbymarthamaggiemiller and on Instagram at instagram.com/marthamaggiemiller.

Isabella Mori lives on the unceded, traditional, ancestral lands of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh people, also known as Vancouver, BC. They are the author of three books of and about poetry, including Not So Pretty Haiku. In addition to poetry, Mori writes fiction and nonfiction and is the founder of the Muriel’s Journey Poetry Prize, which celebrates socially engaged poetry. Their publications include works in State of Matter, Kingfisher, Signs of Life, Presence, and The Group of Seven Reimagined. In 2021, Isabella was a writer-in-residence at the Historic Joy Kogawa House. A book about mental health and addiction is forthcoming in 2025.

Wilda Morris has won awards for both free verse and formal poetry, including haiku, and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2009. She has led poetry workshops for children and adults in three states, including at the Green Lake Conference Center in Wisconsin. Her book, Szechwan

Shrimp and Fortune Cookies: Poems from a Chinese Restaurant, was published by Rockford Writers' Guild Press. Her poems have appeared in numerous publications, including the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets’ Calendar, Christian Science Monitor, Chaffin Journal, Frogpond, and The Kerf. She also hosts Wilda Morris’s Poetry Challenge at wildamorris.blogspot.com and writes a monthly blog, “Walking with Nature,” for The Bolingbrook Patch.

Ben Nardolilli is an MFA candidate at Long Island University. His work has appeared in Perigee Magazine, Door Is a Jar, The Delmarva Review, Red Fez, The Oklahoma Review, Quail Bell Magazine, and Slab. Follow his publishing journey at www.mirrorsponge.blogspot.com.

Gareth Nurden was born in Wales, UK, in 1988 and has been writing poetry since his teenage years. After twenty years of writing poetry, he has recently discovered a newfound love for writing haiku and senryu, with many of his works published in haiku and senryu journals and websites worldwide, including in countries such as Wales, New Zealand, the USA, Romania, and more.

David Oates is a writer and teacher. He’s the host and producer of Wordland, a radio program of poetry, stories, and comedy, and the former host of Great Apes (comedy), both on WUGA, public radio for Athens, GA. He ran the Athens poetry slam and was editor and publisher of Monkey Magazine (mostly slam poetry and satire). He’s published four books of haiku: Shifting with My Sandwich Hand, Drunken Robins, The Deer’s Bandanna, and only thunder: a family journey. His poems have appeared in many journals. Oates wrote for the comic strip Shoe in the ’80s.

John Pappas is a poet and teacher whose work has appeared in numerous poetry journals and anthologies. His haiku have garnered several awards, including a Touchstone Award from The Haiku Foundation, a 2023 Trailblazer Award, a silver medal in the 2023 Ito En New Haiku Grand Prix, Best in the United States in the 2023 Vancouver Invitational, and honorable mention in the 2024 Heliosparrow Frontier Awards, among others. His work is featured in the recently published haiku anthology off the main road: six contemporary haiku poets (Alba Publishing, 2024), and his longer poetry has been selected twice for the Mayor of Boston's Poetry Contest (2016 and 2020). His chapbook dimes of light is forthcoming from Yavanika Press. As the drummer and lyricist of the punk rock band Heather

Hates You, he has recorded two albums and toured extensively. Pappas lives in Boston, MA, with his wife and two daughters and has taught literature and general semantics in the Boston area for over 25 years.

Curt Pawlisch began to read and write poetry in high school. In retirement from his legal career, he has returned to his “first love.”

Influenced by a talk given by haiku master Lee Gurga, Pawlisch has never looked back. He has been published numerous times in various journals for his haiku, senryu, tanka, haibun, and haiga. He lives with his wife in Madison, Wisconsin, and they have two adult children.

M. R. Pelletier lives in Kansas, but his haiku poetry travels the world. He has published in multiple journals, including Creatrix, Chrysanthemum, Presence, Cold Moon Journal, and Failed Haiku, among others.

Vishal Prabhu, educated as a chemical engineer at Bombay, Cleveland, and for a time at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, has since tried to escape writing a biography. He currently lives several fathoms up in the Himalayas, attempting to string together the song of his heart.

Bryan Rickert, current President of the Haiku Society of America, has been published in many fine journals. He is a former editor of Failed Haiku: A Journal of English Senryu and edits The Living Senryu Anthology. Bryan has two books: Fish Kite (Cyberwit Publishing) and Dust and Stone (Velvet Dusk Publishing), co-written with Peter Jastermsky. His work was selected for inclusion in A New Resonance, Volume 12. He was also the recipient of the Touchstone award for individual poems in 2023.

Joshua St. Claire is an accountant from a small town in Pennsylvania works as a financial director for a large non-profit. His haiku and related poetry have been published broadly including in Fireflies’ Light, Modern Haiku, The Heron’s Nest, and Mayfly and have been recognized in several contests and awards.

Tsanka Shishkova holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science. She has published haiku, senryu, and haiga in various literary journals, including The Asahi Shimbun, THF, The Mainichi Shimbun, ESUJ-H English Haiku, Failed Haiku, Time Haiku, NHK - Haiku Master, Stardust Haiku, The Mamba Journal, Under the Basho, Urban Fantasist, Wild Lilacs, Wild Plum, World Haiku Association, Haiku in Action, and Daily Haiga. She has been

selected for the Euro Top 100 Most Creative Haiku Authors for seven consecutive years. Additionally, Shishkova is a member of the Bulgarian Haiku Union.

Michael Shoemaker is a poet, photographer, and writer from Magna, Utah, where he lives with his wife and son and enjoys looking out on the Great Salt Lake every day. He is the author of a poetry/photography collection Rocky Mountain Reflections and Grasshoppers in the Field. His poetry has appeared in Blue Lake Review, The High Window, Seashores Haiku Journal, and The Penwood Review. His haiku appeared in the anthology Petals of Haiku which was a #1 Amazon bestseller release. He has been nominated for the Best of the Net anthology in 2025.

Neena Singh is a banker turned poet who was shortlisted for a Touchstone Award for Individual Poems in 2021. Her haiku and other short forms of poetry are regularly featured in international journals. Neena’ s haiku have received Honorable Mention in popular contests and were selected by the Society of Classical Poets as among the 23 Best Haiku of 2023. Her collaborative rengay with Billie Dee, titled “Weavings,” won the HSA’s second prize in 2021, while “Thirst” won Third Place in 2023. Neena has published two books: Whispers of the Soul and One Breath Poetry. Additionally, she runs a non-profit organization for underprivileged children in Chandigarh, India.

Thomas Smith spent 18 years in academia and has authored over 65 articles and book chapters in the scientific literature. COVID changed his creative focus, leading to the publication of his verse book, The Search for King: A Fable, in 2022. He has published and has had accepted for publication various forms of poetry, including rhymed poems, free verse, haiku, and limericks, in numerous literary journals. Smith lives in Austin, Texas, with his family.

Galen Steele wrote two poems in the fourth grade. One was read at a performance in the mall. The other earned him a trip to the psychologist. No malls or mental health professionals were required for the production of this year’s poems, just the love of his lovely wife Shell, and the joy of sharing with friends.

Debbie Strange (Canada) is a chronically ill short-form poet, haiga artist, and photographer whose creative passions connect her more closely to the

world, to others, and to herself. Thousands of Strange's poems and artworks have been published in leading journals worldwide. Her most recent book, The Language of Loss: Haiku & Tanka Conversations (Sable Books, 2020), won Haiku Canada's 2022 Marianne Bluger Chapbook Award. Debbie maintains a publications and awards archive at https://debbiemstrange.blogspot.com/ and is active on Twitter/X @Debbie_Strange and Instagram @debbiemstrange.

Todd Sukany, a Pushcart nominee, lives in Pleasant Hope, Missouri, with his wife of over forty years. His work has appeared in Ancient Paths, Cantos: A Literary and Arts Journal, Cave Region Review, The Christian Century, Intégrité: A Faith and Learning Journal, and The Ekphrastic Review. He and Raymond Kirk have co-authored several books of poetry, including Book of Mirrors (1st through 5th). Sukany’s latest book, Frisco Trail and Tales, chronicles a decade of running experiences. A native of Michigan, Sukany stays busy running, playing guitar, doting on six grandchildren, and caring for two rescued dogs and four rescued cats.

Maria Tosti is an Italian author from Perugia. Her literary debut was a multilingual poetry book published in 2014. She enjoys various forms of poetry, but she is particularly interested in short poems. Additionally, she has a passion for photography and drawing, which inspires her to create visual poems. Many of her literary and artistic works have appeared in national and international literary journals, magazines, blogs, websites, and anthologies around the world. For more information, visit her website: mariatosti.wixsite.com/mariatosti.

C. Clark Triplett is Emeritus Dean of Graduate Studies and Professor of Psychology at Missouri Baptist University. He served as co-editor of The Final Crossing: Death and Dying in Literature (Peter Lang, 2015), a coeditor of Worlds Gone Awry: Essays on Dystopian Fiction (McFarland, 2018), and a co-editor of Certainty and Ambiguity in Global Mystery Fiction: Essays on the Moral Imagination (Bloomsbury Academic, 2024). Triplett’s poems have appeared in Cantos, Fireflies’ Light, and the Asahi Haikuist Network. He earned a B.A. from Southwest Baptist University, an M.Div. from Covenant Theological Seminary, an M.S.Ed. from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, and a Ph.D. from Saint Louis University.

C.X. Turner is a social worker, manager, and writer living and working in the UK. She enjoys experimenting with Japanese short forms and

collaborating with other poets. Her poetry and artwork have been widely published in a range of international journals and anthologies. Co-Editor of the Wales Haiku Journal, Turner is the author of evergreen: a collection of haiku, senryū, and tanka (Alba Publishing) and anemones: a mini haiku chapbook (Yavanika Press). She is also the co-author of Building Sandcastles: a book of short poems (Literary Revelations). You can find her on social media @lover__poetic.

Randall Vemer was Principal Viola of the Oregon Symphony in Portland for 20 years. He describes the transition from classical music to classical painting as a natural progression, noting that both art forms require years of serious training and analysis. After initially working in Alla Prima (direct painting), Vemer became interested in the classical method of constructing a painting in layers. This process involves several steps: after the design stage with multiple drawings, an underpainting in monochromatic tones is created, over which layers of color glazes and impasto in the lights are applied. This technique allows him to achieve the desired luminosity and rich effects. Vemer enjoys applying the Old Master approach to contemporary subjects he finds interesting.

Joseph P. Wechselberger lives in Browns Mills, NJ, USA, and has been retired since March 2007. A member of the Haiku Society of America, his work has been Touchstone-nominated in 2021, 2022, and 2023 (longlisted) and has appeared in 45 haiku journals. His poetry is featured in Haiku 2022; jar of rain: The Red Moon Anthology of English-Language Haiku (2020); skipping stones: The Red Moon Anthology of EnglishLanguage Haiku (2022); upside down: The Red Moon Anthology of English-Language Haiku (2020); and Sea Change: An Anthology of Single-Line Poems, selections from whiptail: journal of the single-line poem, issues 1-7 (2024), among others.

Anna Roberts Wells was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, and grew up in a nearby farming community. She attended Little Rock Central High School, graduating the year the school was embroiled in the integration crisis. She graduated from Hendrix College with a degree in English and taught junior high English and speech for one year. She left the teaching field and became a social worker in the foster care system. After attending graduate school at the University of Tennessee, she lived in several states before settling in St. Louis. Anna is married and has four grown children, seven grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. She is retired and living in Festus, Missouri,

where she does volunteer work and writes. She is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) and On the Edge chapter of the Missouri State Poetry Society.

Hassane Zemmouri is from Algiers, Algeria. He was diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy in his childhood and has been writing haiku and senryu since September 2017. He started creating haiga in 2020. His works have been published or are forthcoming in many French and English language anthologies and journals.

John Zheng is the author of The Dog Years of Reeducation (Madville, 2023) and recipient of the 2024 poetry fellowship from the Mississippi Arts Commission. He teaches at Mississippi Valley State University where he edits Valley Voices. His poetry is forthcoming in Another Chicago Magazine, Intégrité, and New Verse Review.