What joy! An eclectic mix of fascinating critters populate the haiku pages of haijinx IV:1. There are groundhogs, snouts of anteaters, butterfly wings, toads, plastic flamingoes, bed bugs, mice, a cicada’s face, luminous dung worms, hummingbirds, paper cranes, a crawdaddy, beehives, a crushed snail, a firefly, teddy bears, the ghost donkey, and cats. All this creativity is joined by excellently crafted haibun and haiga sections, and includes a wide-range of kris moon’s artwork and haiga.
Look for the tiny "no 5-7-5 signs" under some of the haiku; this logo stands for NaHaiWriMo. These haiku were previously written for the popular February 2011 event, NaHaiWriMo organized by Michael Dylan Welch.
Now that we have Roberta Beary as haibun editor, kris moon as artist-in-residence, and Melissa Allen as news editor to join Mark Brooks, Alan Summers and me, our crew is growing. We would like to thank Tom Clausen for being a “guest editor” for this issue!
Mark reminded me that it is the ten-year anniversary of our first issue of haijinx in March 2001. Though we had an eight-year hiatus, the online publication of our 2010 issue plus this one prove the initial vision for haijinx is going strong. We welcome your feedback and future submissions!
What sadness! Our hearts go out to the Japanese people at this time of the triple tragedy of earthquakes, tsunami and radiation. We hope and pray for restoration and renewal of lives and homes in the Far North of Honshu, as well as the cessation of any radiation in the atmosphere, water and soil near in and around Fukushima Daiichi plant. We believe in the resilience, stoicism and ability of the Japanese to overcome the odds. This issue is dedicated to the Japanese people.
