MITSUAKI KOJIMA

　A lot of haiku were composed in the 10 seconds it took to countdown the start of 2008.

　In Kita-Kyushu, Utako Ezumi sipped rice wine; in Vancouver, Angelika Kolompar slurped sparkling.

　An off-duty jester passed Satoru Kanematsu by, and itinerant poet Patrick Sullivan unclasped the locks on his luggage in Pusan.

Chilly night
a cup of sake
small pleasure

Dancing with her shadow
a glass of clicquot
the New Year

New Year's Eve
with a shopping bag
clown goes home

Unpack the luggage
we're staying a month
until spring falls

　In Kagoshima, Risa Furuichi penned a poem in French about bidding farewell and giving flowers to a friend: Le depart/des fleurs d'au revoir/au printemps. In Ohio, Nancy Brady kissed her friend for the first time. Aira Sakulich originally submitted a poem encompassing three seasons in Calgary, Alberta. Haiku is best when it centers on one season. German poet Angelika Wienert effectively takes her reader to summer and back in a flash.

Crimson trees
amid boughs of green
a first kiss

Spring close to my heart
metamorphosis of earth
miracles in life

At year end
my fading tan
in the shower

　Noriko Yoshida may have listened to rock music all night in Tokyo, but she still woke up in the right key. Irina Chudnova sent her first poem from China.

Chilly morn
humming Chinese rock
feel so good

Autumn
rustles under my feet
your first day

　The first light of the year was golden in Magdalena Dale's kitchen in Romania. Charles B. Rodning admired bright colored mums in Alabama. Charlie Smith pays his respects in North Carolina.

New Year's dawn
a chrysanthemum
in the vase

Grandma's apple crate--
overflowing
yellow chrysanthemums

Spinning tops
dad's favorite one
rests on grave

　Sosuke Kanda put brush to fresh canvas in Saitama. Shayna Giles kept undercover in Memphis, Tennessee.

Fine winter
at home alone the whole day
drawing pictures

Winter's my season
cocoa and quilts to stay warm
snow falls

　Barbara Casterline went to the Nagoya city zoo. Zackary Glenn has baseball on his mind in Illinois.

On the fence between
the parking lot and zoo
a little red shoe

On the porch
old rusted hook
a new baseball cap

Want to try composing haiku ?

Back numbers

Winter blues and love songs will appear in the Feb. 2 and 16 issues of the Asahi Haikuist Network. Send to David McMurray at the International Herald Tribune/Asahi Shimbun, 5-3-2 Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-8011, fax 03-5541-8539, or e-mail <is@asahi.com>.