3LIGHTS Winter 2010

3LIGHTS Journal of Haiku & Related Forms

Issue 1 : Winter 2010 ISSN 2042-910X

Edited by

Liam & Diane Wilkinson

3LIGHTS Journal of Haiku & Related Forms Issue 1 : Winter 2010 ISSN 2042-910X

Copyright © Liam Wilkinson 2010

All rights reserved. If you wish to reproduce any part of this journal, please contact the editor/publisher in writing.

Reviewers and scholars may quote up to six poems.

3LIGHTS is dedicated to promoting modern English haiku and related forms. It is edited by Liam Wilkinson and Diane Wilkinson. Please send all submissions

and correspondence to [email protected].

3LIGHTS Editions www.3lights.wordpress.com

Editor’s Note And so the 3LIGHTS Gallery closes its doors. After three years and twenty five successful online exhibitions of haiku, senryu, tanka, kyoka and haiga from some of the world’s finest writers and artists, it’s with a mixture of sadness and pride that my wife Diane and I lock the old back door and slip quietly away. Well, not so quietly. When I announced that 3LIGHTS would return in 2010 in the guise of a free online quarterly journal, the response was staggering. The names of old friends began appearing in my inbox daily, and with them, new names and shiny new poems. Before the end of September 2009, the top drawer of my desk was brimming with some of the finest haiku I’ve had the pleasure of reading, let alone editing for a brand new journal. This first edition of 3LIGHTS is nothing short of a feast of new work. Like Launch, the 3LIGHTS Gallery’s first exhibition three years ago, this edition presents a selection of haiku and related forms without a running theme, arranged with particular attention to the visual presentation of the short forms. It has, and always will be, our intention to ‘exhibit’ poetry rather than simply dishing it out. And, from our spring edition onwards, we will reintroduce ‘themed editions’ to 3LIGHTS – the first of which being music. Each issue of the 3LIGHTS Journal will also include a work from a featured poet. We’re delighted that our debut edition features new work from master of his craft, Michael Dylan Welch.

Our sincere thanks go to the poets who helped make this new venture happen, not to mention those who have maintained the high quality of work exhibited at the 3LIGHTS Gallery since 2007. I’d also like to thank all those people who have taken the time to let us know how we’re doing here at 3LIGHTS – it’s always a joy to receive your messages. Here’s to another three years of 3LIGHTS. I hope you’ll come along for the ride. All the best, Liam Wilkinson York, Winter 2010

out of the mist at first light – questions, questions PAUL SMITH

out of the fog the silence of fence posts

MARK MILLER

January days: the fragrance of pine still with each vacuuming

CLAIRE KNIGHT

first snow the cold not deep enough to hide my sorrow JANE SCOTT

the silence of the snow, the shuffling of the cards M. KEI

first snowfall-- damp rainbow-colored mittens adorn the hearth G.R. LeBLANC

frosted glass

a breakfast full

of silence

SUSAN CONSTABLE

AM jazz the phone line rocking with crows LAURENCE STACEY winter gales the faltering flight of a crow CLAIRE KNIGHT road kill all the orange of the sun in the crow's eye MARK MILLER

cold sunshine- the stray orange cat tucked into itself ADELAIDE B. SHAW

last stitch of my crocheted bedspread... the cat’s claws CYNTHIA ROWE

christmas tree above the stretch of the cat all the ornaments ALTHEA ROWE WATSON

silly name for a cat— Happy but when it's gone the neighbor calls past dark each time breaking my heart

PETER NEWTON

midday heat the old collie laps the shade MARK MILLER

CCTV-- where once we sat on the fence HELEN BUCKINGHAM

hayshed rafters a chorus of chirping from the mud nest GAVIN AUSTIN

indian summer - a young maple ablaze over your headstone NATALIA KUZNETSOVA alone in the churchyard the hearse driver inhales a smoke ring JOHN PARSONS

on a spring day, the crane lifts the church's new steeple into place M. KEI balanced on the point of a church steeple the full moon BOB BRILL

Photograph copyright © Allan Wilkinson

swine flu alert... the bride and the groom wearing their masks KEITH SIMMONDS morning sun— frost turns to dew as we make up ASHLEY RODMAN

river crossing tyres drum across wooden planks GAVIN AUSTIN

rowing the fog into the fog _KALA

breaking waves the photographer lines up his shot CYNTHIA ROWE

a moonbather sings love songs by the sea, soon the waves swell with mermaid voices JOYCE S. GREENE

pelican coasting inches above waves - so, too, this day AYAZ DARYL NIELSEN

seagulls settle as a flock between waves how precious the time from hello to goodbye SUSAN CONSTABLE

a turtle climbs out autumn leaves drift into empty clam shells ALTHEA ROWE WATSON

lightning … the beach torn away QUENDRYTH YOUNG

lying on the beach three barnacles attached to a lightbulb BOB BRILL

beach storm shift to the shorter didgeridoo BILL COOPER

sore feet stopping to admire rust-colored lichen BOB LUCKY

a still pond serene reflections, at ninety-two she does not mind sitting alone JOYCE S. GREENE

bikingbikingbikingbiking

into the woodsinto the woodsinto the woodsinto the woods

out of myselfout of myselfout of myselfout of myself

CLAUDECLAUDECLAUDECLAUDETTE RUSSELLTTE RUSSELLTTE RUSSELLTTE RUSSELL

drizzle and mud –

sparrows sinking deeper

into drab

LORIN FORD

forest of pines -

I inhale the air

they've breathed

QUENDRYTH YOUNG

a cold wind

bends the towering fir -

the familiar sound

of rusty hinges on a gate,

these early-morning knees

SUSAN CONSTABLE

between grounded apple boughs the remains of a jay

JOHN BARLOW

fallen blossom

cold, white sun

these silent cyclists

IRENE BROWN

winter dusk wing upon wing the rooky wood darkens

ANDRÉ SURRIDGE

bare branches

today the old recluse

wears his clothes

NATHALIE BUCKLAND

late fall –

letting the last leaves

lie

FRANCIS MASAT

in the breeze

shadows move silently

across the wall –

if only I could tell you

how much I really care

PAUL SMITH

quaking aspen

a love letter

in autumn

CHERIE HUNTER DAY

just the scent

of burning leaves—

autumn shiver

ASHLEY RODMAN

gusting wind

in the beak of my hand

a persimmon branch

OLD PYJAMAS

trail's endtrail's endtrail's endtrail's end

winding intowinding intowinding intowinding into

satisfactionsatisfactionsatisfactionsatisfaction

CLAUDETTE RUSSELLCLAUDETTE RUSSELLCLAUDETTE RUSSELLCLAUDETTE RUSSELL

mild breeze . . . the breadth of the wheat field's whisper _KALA

the same sky as in the city but vaster here above this pastureland, my thoughts given their space JANET LYNN DAVIS

away from the city I wake to the traffic noise of dawn birds LIAM WILKINSON

high clouds swallow’s eggs swaddled in gull feathers CHERIE HUNTER DAY

joiningthegeesealmostjoiningskeinsofthousands

JOHN BARLOW

heavy shower stopping at the storm drain a soggy letter ADELAIDE B. SHAW

constant rain parrots on verandah rail quiet LORNE HENRY

on the windowsill raindrops fill out their inscriptions PATRICIA PRIME

rain . . . above and below her wet sari _KALA

sleety rain– the café window steamed with laughter ADELAIDE B. SHAW

women weaving all the rings in the coffee mugs NATHALIE BUCKLAND

early bus-- catching my reflection in the police van window HELEN BUCKINGHAM

spring fashions in the store window my old reflection JO McINERNEY

entering the greenhouse the faint sound of tearing webs JOHN PARSONS

election speech the drainpipe frog croaks louder NATHALIE BUCKLAND

last night in my narrow bed on these mats, for two years did I not fill energetic days? find myself wading through tangled memories this morning of departure suitcase in hand I close my door on a life behind eyes opening wide to well-wishers at the train I form a finger as in a dike and get through where were the tears, the tears under blue skies? this, Sanford, is your sixth departure from the Rising Sun deep in a pocket my folded white cotton handkerchief, not once even in readiness did I pull it out

Japanese Departure A Tanka String by Sanford Goldstein

nothing on the Tokyo train to nibble on, Japanese kids in joy big rice balls in hand the usual video for adults in my Tokyo hotel I write cards of gratitude I spill a batch of five-liners a gift in white paper bound by a red string the expected student English turned out to be yen notes long ago my wife at my side for support, again I find myself in a daze of mourning rain-swept the Tokyo sky that day thirty-seven years ago I recall a Japanese cliche that the heavens weep in sadness SAN FORD GOLDSTEIN

Clapham Junction the gleam of its tracks off my apple juice can ALAN SUMMERS

like Kerouac's open road trip the jazz musician plays an endless stream of consciousness

PAMELA A. BABUSCI

Burns' Night still feeling it HELEN BUCKINGHAM

from Mt Ruapehu I suck in as much of the view as possible breathing it deeply and never exhaling it PATRICIA PRIME

Mother— I see your skin on my hands FRANCIS MASAT

birthday girl— rubbing Dad's feet with Mum's hands HELEN BUCKINGHAM

learning a heart can survive many breaks i pluck bloodroot to stain my soul

PAMELA A. BABUSCI

falling to sleep in the next room I hear the single voice of you and your mother

LIAM WILKINSON

garage show – our son bows and clutches his purse FRANCIS MASAT

trying to recall what was beyond the frame... childhood photograph JO McINERNEY

ah! maturity like all good malts well worth the wait BARBARA A. TAYLOR

unsettling my wife's face exercises in the train carriage ALAN SUMMERS

picky she squeezes each chocolate bonbon CARMEL WESTERMAN

bees in the basil she does division problems with a mechanical pencil CAROLYN HALL

small children crowding round suddenly I become the moth expert DAVID SERJEANT

at one time she mistook me for an angel but now says I can go to hell PAUL SMITH

Religion, simplified: he doesn't believe in Gosh, so he dies and goes to Heck M. KEI

buried deep in my Catholicism the atheist

PETER NEWTON

water cooler conversation lull – does she hear the sound of my heart crumple like a paper cup BOB LUCKY

long distance love ending badly I return my phone plan to the cheaper rate LAURENCE STACEY

taking Mum the long route back to the hospice the heather in bloom DAVID SERJEANT

the nun’s voice on cassette tape— early spring CHERIE HUNTER DAY

waiting for the tube to fill the phlebotomist and I share a smile DAVID SERJEANT

hush, hush sweet darling time out – and the game ends in a lopsided score EARL MOORE

whereabouts

known

neon buddha

admiring

his narcissism

neon buddha

neon buddha

I switch my wipers

to intermittent

neon buddha

she swears at me

in Norwegian

filling the pothole

perfectly

neon buddha

the televangelist

reaches for my forehead

neon buddha

CD on repeat

the neon buddha

asks for a condom

the children ask

where babies come from

neon buddha

neon

buddha

Michael Dylan Welch

3LIGHTS Feature : Winter 2010

rapture

the neon buddha

has nothing to declare

the neon buddha

conjugates a verb

well I’ll be

not for sale

at Home Depot

neon buddha

a little too proud

of his lobotomy scar

neon buddha

denied

for a payday loan

neon buddha

convicted

for tax evasion

neon buddha

the Eiffel Tower

stuck in his eye

neon buddha

to see what it’s like

the neon buddha

licks the Taj Mahal

denying

that he’s had Botox

neon buddha

overtaken

by a Smart Car

neon buddha

the neon buddha

gets a tattoo

removed

playing ping pong

with his bare hands

neon buddha

flipping the book

to his favourite painting

neon buddha

neon buddha

the bar piano

locked shut

life after death

the neon buddha

toying with his porridge

out of charm’s way

neon

buddha

ten minutes

till the end of the world

the neon buddha yawns

the neon buddha

couldn’t care less

about stock prices

the flip chart

shows the sales growth

of neon buddhas

landslide

no more

neon buddha

Old house creaks at night; My joints creak in the morning. Both of us have ghosts GEOFFREY A. LANDIS

All Saint’s Eve the green witch complains of a tummy ache LORIN FORD

through the corridor the sound of my footsteps changing strangely IRENE BROWN

beneath the chandelier a gathering of silences unseen scuffs of this house’s history coat the air LIAM WILKINSON

the ancestors mutter their grievances. . . whiskey moon LORIN FORD

the dark hollows of his sleeping face— moonrise ASHLEY RODMAN

you turned away the last time we met is it rain etching fissures upon this crescent moon? CYNTHIA ROWE

tracing the constellations of our ancestors in the northern sky

JOHN BARLOW

bats swirling across the prairie - ink-stained desk CHEN-OU LIU

September chill- my hot water bottle’s perished neck IRENE BROWN

an extra pillow the difference between pain and pleasure BARBARA A. TAYLOR

alone in evening's shadows- a radio play repeat CLAIRE KNIGHT

stage door captain hook palms a cigarette ANDRÉ SURRIDGE

unlit moon World AIDS Day SUSAN DIRIDONI

full moon I swipe my credit card CAROLYN HALL

wearing the watch that stopped months ago— my quiet protest PETER NEWTON

rejection notice my arthritic knee worse than usual STEPHEN A. PETERS

winter's end… the spots of powder on her dressing table JACEK MARGOLAK

reading Whitman after years of neglect I sing in a weary voice of middle-aged horniness BOB LUCKY

melting snow one less thing to worry about STEPHEN A. PETERS

All dreams return to the library unfinished NANCY LAZAR

BIOGRAPHIES GAVIN AUSTIN Gavin Austin, a Writing Fellow of FAW NSW Inc, writes short fiction and poetry. Gavin’s work has appeared in various Australian journals and anthologies, been broadcast on National Community Radio [Aus], and has been successful in numerous literary competitions. Gavin has also been published in the USA and UK . PAMELA A. BABUSCI Pamela A. Babusci is an internationally award winning haiku/tanka & haiga artist. Some of her awards include: Museum of Haiku Literature Award, International Tanka Splendor Awards, First Place Yellow Moon Competition (tanka category), First Place Kokako Tanka Competition, Basho Festival Haiku Contest (Japan) and Honorable Mention Suruga Baika Literary Festival (Japan). Pamela has illustrated several books, including: Full Moon Tide: The Best of Tanka Splendor Awards and Taboo Haiku. She was the logo artist for Haiku North America in NYC in 2003 and HNA in Winston-Salem, NC in 2007. In her spare time she presses flowers, ferns & leaves to make cards & framings, abstract watercolor/oil painting, sumi-e painting, Chinese calligraphy, makes collages & jewelry. She has a deep desire to be creative on a daily basis, which feeds her spirit & soul & gives meaning to her life. Poetry & art have been an integral part of her existence since her early teen age years & will continue to be a driving force until she meets her creator. Pamela’s latest collection of tanka is entitled A Thousand Reasons. JOHN BARLOW John Barlow’s haiku have received awards in the United States , United Kingdom , Ireland , Australia , New Zealand , and Japan , while works he has edited have been honoured by the Haiku Society of America and the Poetry Society of America. His books include The New Haiku (2002) (co-edited with Martin Lucas), Waiting for the Seventh Wave (2006), and (with Matthew Paul) Wing Beats: British Birds in Haiku (2008). He recently contributed a paper on “Traditional and modern haiku responses to birds” at a symposium on Birds, Culture and Conservation at the University of Oxford . BOB BRILL Bob Brill is a retired computer programmer now devoting his energies to writing fiction, memoir and poetry. He has published fiction in Lunarosity, Bewildering Stories, Flashquake, M-Brane SF and other journals, as well as short memoir pieces in Flashquake. His poems have appeared in Simply Haiku, Prune Juice, 3lights Gallery and Aphelion. He is the featured senryu poet in the Autumn 2009 issue of Simply Haiku. He also has had haiku and senryu poetry accepted (awaiting publication) at The Battered Suitcase and haiku at Frogpond. IRENE BROWN To date, my haiku has been published in Football Haiku; the British Haiku Society’s magazine, Blithe Spirit, plus 2 of their anthologies, Path and River; the haiku magazine, Presence, Shamrock Haiku , 3Lights Gallery and regularly in Haiku Scotland where I won their Spring Haiku

competition in 2007. I have a chapbook out entitled Glass Slippers published by Calderwood Press http://www.calderwoodpress.com/. HELEN BUCKINGHAM Helen Buckingham was born in London, 1960, and presently lives in Bristol. NATHALIE BUCKLAND Nathalie Buckland has had her haiku published extensively both in Australia and internationally. Born in Wales, she now lives in Nimbin Australia where she writes, sings and drums with a women's band. SUSAN CONSTABLE Susan Constable's haiku and haiga have appeared in numerous print and on-line journals in the past four years. More recently, she has been exploring both haibun and tanka. A selection of her work is featured in New Resonance 6, released in July 2009. Retired from dual careers - education and business - she lives with her husband on the west coast of Canada. BILL COOPER Bill Cooper serves as Distinguished University Professor and President Emeritus at the University of Richmond in Richmond , Virginia USA . Recent books include Flashpoint China, Buchanan’s Reach, and Wisdom of the Grottoes. JANET LYNN DAVIS Janet Lynn Davis is a writer/editor from Texas (USA). She and her husband have been transitioning from life in the big city of Houston to life in a rustic, secluded community. Her poems have appeared in numerous print and online venues over the past several years. SUSAN DIRIDONI Susan Diridoni lives in Kensington, California, right across the Bay from San Francisco. She is a psychotherapist in private practice. Over the last few years, her work has appeared in various haiku and tanka publications, in print as well as online. MICHAEL DYLAN WELCH Michael Dylan Welch is currently serving as vice president of the Haiku Society of America, and in 2010 is a fellow in Seattle's Jack Straw Writers Program, for which he is writing and developing more of his neon buddha poems. He curates two monthly poetry reading series, and is a board member of the Washington Poets Association. He edited the haiku journal Woodnotes from 1989 to 1997, and currently edits Tundra: The Journal of the Short Poem, and publishes haiku and tanka books with his award-winning press, Press Here. He cofounded the Haiku North America conference in 1991, and the American Haiku Archives in 1996. In 2000, he founded the Tanka Society of America, serving as its president for five years. Michael's haiku and longer poems, essays, and book reviews have appeared in hundreds of journal and anthologies in more than a dozen languages. He has won first place in each of the Henderson, Brady, Drevniok, and Tokutomi contests, among others, and has also won a Museum of Haiku Literature Award and Merit Book Awards from the Haiku Society of America. Recent books include Noh (Tokyo: PIE Books, 2010), For a Moment (Pointe Claire, Quebec: King's Road Press, 2009) and 100 Poets: Passions of the Imperial Court (Tokyo: PIE Books, 2008). A longtime photographer (his photographs appear with his poems here), for many years he was a judge for the Northern California Council of Camera Clubs, and his photographs have appeared in several calendars and books and on magazine covers. Michael now lives in Sammamish, Washington, with his wife

and two perfect children. He agrees with Roland Barthes, who said "Haiku has this rather fantasmagorical property: that we always suppose we ourselves can write such things easily." LORIN FORD Lorin's haiku have been widely published in journals and anthologies. She was awarded 1st prize in the 6th and 7th paper wasp Jack Stamm awards, in 2005 and 2006. Her first haiku collection, a wattle seedpod, was awarded first place in the Haiku Society of America Mildred Kanterman Memorial Merit Book Awards, 2009. It is available through the publishers, PostPressed, at http://www.postpressed.com.au/. SANFORD GOLDSTEIN Sanford Goldstein has been writing tanka for more than forty years. He has translated several Japanese tanka poets in co-authorship with Professor Seishi Shinoda. Goldstein lives in Shibata, Japan. JOYCE S. GREENE Joyce lives in the state of New York in the United States and began writing poetry in March, 2008. She has contributed to two on-line poetry sites and has recently been published in Simply Haiku. She works as an accountant/bookkeeper by day and writes by night. CAROLYN HALL Carolyn Hall moved from Minnesota to San Francisco 45 years ago and has so far found no compelling reason to leave. (Though she does spend much of her time in Sonoma County.) She discovered haiku in 1999, and since then her haiku have been widely published, translated and anthologized in the U.S. and abroad. She has received numerous awards, including both "Poem of the Year" and "Poet of the Year" in The Heron's Nest Readers Choice awards, and twice was awarded the Museum of Haiku Literature Award. She was co-editor of Mariposa (the journal of the Haiku Poets of Northern California) and served on the Red Moon Anthology editorial board. She is currently editor of Acorn, a journal of contemporary haiku (www.acornhaiku.com). Water Lines, her award-winning individual collection of haiku and senryu, was published in 2006 by Snapshot Press. As winner of the True Vine Press Autumn Chapbook Contest, her chapbook In and Out of Shadow was published in 2008. Carolyn is an officer of the Haiku Poets of Northern California (www.hpnc.org). LORNE HENRY Retired and writing haiku and tanka whenever the moment takes me. Have had haiku printed in Kokako, Shreve Library/Tiny Words and Asahi with tanka in Eucalypt, Modern English Tanka and Kokako with one short-listed for Take Five that was originally printed in Eucalypt’s Earth Hour. CHERIE HUNTER DAY Cherie Hunter Day lives in Cupertino, California. Her haiku appears regularly in Modern Haiku, Frogpond, and The Heron’s Nest. Her first collection of haiku, The Horse with One Blue Eye, was published by Snapshot Press in December 2006. Her most recent tanka book, Kindle of Green, is a collaboration with David Rice. It was published in September 2008. _KALA _Kala, an exponent of North Indian Classical music, took a sudden liking to haiku in 2005. Her work, consisting of haiku, tanka, senryu, haibun and renku, has appeared in leading e-zines and

anthologies. Kala comes from an artistic and culturally rich South Indian family. She believes, as her father is fond of saying, that “the soil needs to be fertile for the plant to bloom” and feels that she owes this poetic streak to her mother. A proud mother of two young adults, Kala lives with her husband in Pune, India. NATALIA KUZNETSOVA Natalia Kuznetsova(Moscow,Russia), is a university assistant professor of English and a freelance conference interpreter. She mostly writes poetry in Russian and has a book of lyrical poems published, having participated in several poetry projects. She recently "discovered" the world of Japanese poetry and started to write tanka, haiku and senryu in English. Natalia has contributed to several international competitions and won a third prize at the 12th Kusamakura haiku competition aswell as gaining an "Honourable Mention" at the Vancouver 2008 Haiku Invitational competition. She also won a prize at the 2008 "Genkissau! Spirits up! Hekinan Haiku Contest". Natalia has participated in several 3LIGHTS haiku exhibitions. M. KEI M. Kei crews aboard a skipjack, a traditional wooden sailboat used to dredge for oysters in the Chesapeake Bay, the last vessel in North America to fish commercially under sail. Sadly, it is not a profitable way to make a living anymore. The vessel serves as a museum on the water and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Kei has published over 1100 tanka and 300 other short poems during the last few years. His first book was the anthology Fire Pearls: Short Masterpieces of the Human Heart (2006), which he edited. An instant classic, it was followed by Heron Sea, Short Poems of the Chesapeake (2007) and Slow Motion: The Log of a Chesapeake Bay Skipjack (2008), the log he kept in poetic form while making extended cruises aboard a skipjack. He is the editor-in-chief of Take Five: Best Contemporary Tanka and Atlas Poetica. CLAIRE KNIGHT I am a Reflexologist and Teacher, have a son and daughter and two delightful young grandchildren.Living on the south coast of Kent I draw much inspiration for the sea, as well as the beautiful countryside nearby. Haiku has become a rewarding passion, contributing to various publications in the UK and overseas, and I find great satisfaction in being part of the global haiku family. GEOFFREY A. LANDIS Geoffrey Landis is mostly known as a science fiction writer, except to those who know him as a rocket scientist. But he's won a handful of awards for poetry, and his first collection of poems, Iron Angels, came out in 2009. Ramdom information about him that you probably didn't ever want to know can be found on his website, www.geoffreylandis.com NANCY LAZAR After retiring from eighteen years as a wood worker in her own business, Lazar found work as a stringer for a local branch of Morning Call in Allentown, Pennsylvania for several years. She left that position to concentrate creative writing, and on living within her means in her home in the foothills of the Pocono Mountains. G.R. LeBLANC G.R. LeBlanc resides in Atlantic Canada with her husband and son. When not writing poetry, she enjoys reading, spending quiet evenings at home with her family, and bird watching in her backyard.

CHEN-OU LIU Chen-ou Liu was born in Taipei, Taiwan, and settled in Canada in 2002. He lives in Ajax, a suburb of Toronto, where he has been struggling with a life in transition and translation. His poems have appeared in Ribbons, Modern English Tanka, Gusts, American Tanka, Magnapoets, Haiku News, Haibun Today, and Concise Delight. BOB LUCKY Bob Lucky lives in Hangzhou, China, where he teaches history. His work has appeared in various journals. JO McINERNEY Jo McInerney is a Australian poet who has been writing haiku and tanka for about three years. Her work can be read online at Modern English Tanka, The Heron's Nest, Simply Haiku, Ambrosia, Stylus and Famous Reporter. JACEK MARGOLAK Jacek Margolak was born in Rzeszów, in 1964. He lives in Kielce (Poland) with his wife and two sons. He works as a print technologist. He has been interested in haiku and haiga since 2000 and now he is a member of two poetic groups writing haiku - "Haiku po polsku" and "Orient", and his poems have been published on the internet at The Heron's Nest, Mainichi Daily News, Haiku Harvest, Asahi Haikuist Network, Tinywords, Frogpond, Wisteria and anthologies (Big sky: The 2006 Red Moon Anthology of English-Language Haiku, Dust of summers: The 2007 Red Moon Anthology of English-Language Haiku, Crickets and Chrysanthemums) and haiga at World Haiku Association, Simply Haiku, Modern Haiga and Haigaonline. FRANCIS MASAT Masat's poetry appears in many magazines, ezines, and anthologies. His most recent books are Lilacs After Winter (haibun, MET Press) and A Taste of Key West (poetry, Pudding House Press). He lives with his wife in tropical Key West, FL, USA. MARK MILLER Mark Miller has been writing haiku for many years, the first appearing in his book, Conversing With Stones, which won the Fellowship of Australian Writers Anne Elder Award for the best first book of poetry published in Australia in 1989. His second book, This Winter Beach, was published in 1999 and his haiku have been published widely on-line and in journals and newspapers, including Acorn, Chrysanthemum, Frogpond, Notes From the Gean, paper wasp, Shamrock and The Mainichi Daily News. He currently lives on the south coast of New South Wales, Australia. EARL MOORE I am still learning and attempting to write tanka and desire to write tanka that pushes the mind and forces the heart. These are a few of the latest ones I have written. Only been writing poetry for a couple of years at age 60 but I love it. Thanks for the opportunity to submit these tanka. PETER NEWTON Peter Newton lives in rural Massachusetts. He works as a full-time stained glass artist out of his 1883 barn studio. His poems have been published in many journals and on-line, most recently in Frogpond, Modern Haiku, Ribbons and as a runner-up in The Lilliput Review's 2nd Annual Basho Challenge. Other work has appeared in Take Five; Best Contemorary Tanka of 2008. In 2009, he won 2nd Place in the Tanka Society of America's International Competition.

AYAZ DARYL NIELSEN Ayaz Daryl Nielsen is a poet/father/husband/veteran and a hospice nurse - he is editor/custodian of bear creek haiku. OLD PYJAMAS Old Pyjamas lives with his wife, Barbara, and three children, Tommy, Rebecca, and Little Ray. JOHN PARSONS Artist sculptor, taught in major London Art Schools. Co edited Trigram Press with Asa Benveniste (seminal poetry press, beat and others) also typographer, designer. Co editor, designer printer for Advent Books, with Brian Coffey (contemporary of Beckett) I've written short poetry all my life, first attempted haiku in sixties.Seven books of poetry published, last two by Hub Publications, both haiku. Work published in Blithe Spirit, Presence, Kokako, Ko, Red Moon, Canada Review. Grand Prix in Kikakuza International Haibun contest, highly commended in Nobuyuki Yuasa International haibun contest,runner up in Hackett award, third in this years Klostar Ivanic Haiku competition. STEPHEN A. PETERS Stephen A. Peters lives in the Pacific Northwest, Bellingham, Wa. USA. PATRICIA PRIME Patricia is co-editor of the New Zealand haiku magazine Kokako and reviews editor of the Australian online magazine Stylus. Besides writing poetry, she writes articles and reviews. Patricia enjoys interviewing poets and editors and has had several of her interviews published in Takahe (NZ), and online in Simply Haiku and Stylus. Patricia recently judged the Junior Section of the NZPS International Haiku Competition. Future work includes an essay on African poetry and an essay on haiku by Indian poets. ASHLEY RODMAN Ashley Rodman is a systems analyst who resides in Champaign, IL. His work has been published online in Roadrunner Haiku Journal and The Heron’s Nest, and in print in Moonset and Paper Wasp. CYNTHIA ROWE Cynthia Rowe has a degree in French and English from the University of Melbourne . Her haiku, haibun, tanka and related forms have appeared in journals such as Contemporary Haibun Online, The Heron’s Nest, Haibun Today, MET, Simply Haiku, Yellow Moon, Eucalypt, Stylus, FreeXpresSion, paper wasp, Famous Reporter, Shamrock, Chrysanthemum, Kokako, Atlas Poetica and moonset. She is currently president of the Eastern Suburbs [Bondi Writers] Region of the Fellowship of Australian Writers NSW and, from January 2010, will assume the role of Editor, Haiku Xpressions. ALTHEA ROWE WATSON Althea Rowe Watson's writing has been produced for theatrical events and recordings. Some of her haiku has been included in: Lighten Up an exhibition of senryu; Way Back Home Haiku & Tanka of Home & Belonging; Snow Days Haiku & Tanka for Winter presented by the 3Lights Gallery; the third and fourth edition of, Ambrosia A Journal of Fine Haiku; and Haikuworld. Currently, Roses Wheat Free Bakery & Café in Evanston, Illinois, is exhibiting Althea’s photography and designs.

CLAUDETTE RUSSELL Claudette Russell is a retired high school English teacher who lives with her husband in rural Connecticut. Her poetry has been published in various print and online journals. JANE SCOTT Jane is a Filipina who lives in Kent, England with husband John and their lovely German shepherd dog Tjukken. Her creative writing life embraces other forms of poetry as well as fiction and non-fiction but she can never get away from the mesmerizing pull of haiku, senryu and tanka. She is simply fascinated with these Japanese gems. Some of her works had been included in past exhibitions of the 3Lights Gallery and more recently, her haiku got honourable mention in the International Section of the 12th Mainichi Daily News Haiku Contest 2008. DAVID SERJEANT David Serjeant lives in Derbyshire UK where he works as a local government officer. His haiku have been published in various journals, both in print and online. His haiku blog "distant lightning" is at http://distantlightning.blogspot.com ADELAIDE B. SHAW Adelaide B. Shaw lives in a rural area in upstate New York with her husband. Her haiku, tanka and haibun have appeared in several journals, both in print and on-line, in the United States and abroad. Her collection of haiku, An Unknown Road, is available at www.modernenglishtankapress.com/. KEITH SIMMONDS Keith Simmonds was born in Barbados. He likes walking, travel, nature, reading, teaching French, and writing poetry which is an integral part of him now. He has won several awards for his writings, especially for verse. PAUL SMITH Paul Smith lives in the city of Worcester in the UK with his wife and children. Alongside poetry he has recently discovered a passion for Longbow archery. His poems have been published in numerous print and online journals. LAURENCE STACEY Laurence Stacey is a 24 year old college student in Powder Springs, Georgia. He works for his father as a network engineer and also as a technical writer/editor for Kennesaw State University. Laurence recently graduated with his B.A in English from Kennesaw State and is continuing his education there as a graduate student. In his spare time, he studies martial arts and Japanese poetry with equal enthusiasm. Laurence's poetry has been featured in Simply Haiku, AHA Poetry, Heron's Nest, 3Lights, and Two Dragonflies. Laurence is also the co-editor of Haiku News. ALAN SUMMERS Alan Summers was one of Antony Gormley's Fourth Plinth living statues in Trafalgar Square, London, Monday 27th July 2009. Alan is the current Embassy of Japan roving "Japan-UK 150" haiku & renga poet-in-residence. He is also the founder of With Words which promotes the love of words through a variety of literacy and literature events. www.withwords.org.uk

ANDRÉ SURRIDGE Born in Hull, England, André lives in the city of Hamilton, New Zealand. He is the winner of several national and international writing awards and his writing has been widely published and anthologised. BARBARA A. TAYLOR Barbara lives in northern NSW, Australia. Her poems appear in journals and anthologies including Landfall, Atlas Poetica, Haiku Scotland, Lynx, Presence, Haiku News, Sketchbook, Mainichi Daily News, Asahi, Ribbons, Frogpond, Wisteria, Shamrock, Tiny Words, Simply Haiku, Kokako, Moonset, Magnapoets, Eucalypt, and elsewhere. Poetry with audio is at http://batsword.tripod.com CARMEL WESTERMAN Carmel Lively Westerman, Yuma, Arizona. Member of Haiku Society of America. I have been writing haiku since 2000. LIAM WILKINSON Liam Wilkinson’s poetry has appeared widely online and in print. He is the editor of 3LIGHTS and Prune Juice. His website is at http://ldwilkinson.wordpress.com. QUENDRYTH YOUNG Quendryth Young, a retired cytologist, born in Sydney, coordinates the haiku group ‘Cloudcatchers’, on the Far North Coast of NSW. Her work has been published in twelve countries and translated into six other languages. Quendryth’s haiku collection, The Whole Body Singing’, received an award from The Haiku Society of America 2008, ‘for excellence in published haiku’.