MITSUAKI KOJIMA

　This issue of the Asahi Haikuist Network celebrates the start of another year of sharing our readers' fine poetry. During the past 11 years, readers have tended to compose a lot more poems during times when temperatures significantly fluctuate. Haikuists keenly "appreciate the change in seasons" writes Yutaka Kitajima in snowbound Joetsu, Niigata, where weather can change dramatically from one day to the next during March. His succinct poem was selected from among 500 contributed by readers since the previous column.

　Haiku written at the receding edge of winter tend to be penned in black and white, while poems composed in sunnier climes burst at the seams with the colors of spring. Note the contrast in city climates from these two poems written at the same time. The first in snowbound Aomori by Tatsuko Toshima, the second by Noriko Yoshida in the more temperate Tokyo.

　Although the weather in Nagoya favored cherry blossoms, the early spring ended up being a colorless season for Satoru Kanematsu who penned these 11-syllable poems from a hospital bed.

　The greatest change in haiku submitted to the Asahi Haikuist Network during the past decade has been the shift from 5-7-5 picturesque or idiomatic-type poems to shorter 11-syllable poems that use poetic techniques such as metaphor to fuse images of humanity and nature. This trend toward shorter English verse is likely to continue in Japan, where 10- and 11-syllable haiku in English were recently awarded top prizes in the 10th International Kusamakura Haiku Competition. Richard Gilbert, one of the Kumamoto-based judges, said, "We cannot yet say what the future holds for haiku in English, however, the results of this year's contest indicated that haiku can continue to be a poetic instrument for realizing our highest inspiration." U.S. poets Roberta Beary and Timothy Russell, respectively, took the grand prize and a special prize for these entries.

　From the beginning of April, haikuists began using the full spectrum of colors to brighten their poetry. Sagami Matsuda writes about brightly colored carp banners in Osaka, and Charlie Smith writes about purple clover in North Carolina.

　Writing from India, Angelee Deodhar contributed the following haiku through the Meguro International Friendship Association.

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The next issue of the Asahi Haikuist Network appears April 22. Send poems to David McMurray at the Asahi Haikuist Network, International Herald Tribune/Asahi Shimbun 5-3-2 Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-8011 or fax 03-5541-8539.