The Australian Haiku Society welcomes contributions from haiku poets worldwide to the Summer Solstice Haiku String.
We will be holding this Haiku String during the day of the Southern Hemisphere Summer Solstice, occurring in Australia this year on Wednesday, 22nd December 2021. The String will remain open for contributions until Tuesday 28th December to accommodate international poets who may wish to take part.
Contributions to the haiku string have now closed. Thank you to all the participating poets. Please enjoy the haiku.
Haiku String – Instructions
Much remains uncertain as we head into the holiday season, with a worldwide pandemic and increasing stress on the environment. Many will head towards the water to cool off in the southern hemisphere, while people will seek warmth or revel in the snow in the northern hemisphere.
This may also be a time of reflection. What can we control in our own lives and the world beyond? The relationship between humans and the rest of the natural world has never been more critical.
The AHS invites you to share with us your original, previously unpublished haiku or senryu. The haiku will be linked by subject and theme, it is not necessary for each haiku to relate to the one before it.
1. Please contribute up to three of your best previously unpublished haiku or senryu.
2. Haiku should be posted in the comment box at the end of the post.
3. Each poem posted must be original work by the poet making the post. Please include your name below as you wish it to appear.
Posting your work in the AHS Summer Solstice String 2021 assumes the following:
Copyright of each haiku remains with the author. We request nonexclusive permission to publish your work on the AHS website and to republish it online at any future time.

beach umbrella
tying down
the wind
Lynette Arden
Linocut: Lynette Arden. Haiku was published first in World Haiku Review March 2010 and subsequently anthologised including Third Australian Haiku Anthology (2011), A Vast Sky (2015).
summer solstice
morning unfolds
into day lilies
solstice warmth
after The Ashes
a chorus of crickets
Christmas comet
close on the tail
of our longings
— Marietta McGregor
LikeLiked by 2 people
fall in Chicago
vibrant and energetic
oblivious to what’s coming
arrive 4:35 pacific time
another pastel day in LA
feeling underwhelmed by its softness – I’m home
trees rustling in the wind
listen
god’s humming
LikeLiked by 1 person
summer solistice
closer to the bright side
of my life
…
solistice night
more time to dream
with open eyes
…
solistice time
a cold hand and a warm one
in the same prayer
Clara Toma
LikeLiked by 3 people
blue rowboat,
blue daisies on the riverbank . . .
blue blanket
Grandmother’s orange peonies—
to Mother . . .
today, to me
red picnic blanket in wildflowers . . .
he’s
back
—M. Shayne Bell
LikeLiked by 1 person
smoke haze
over the bay
tangled seaweed
falling asleep
to the sound of the ocean
sea eagle
sand rubs
inside my bathers
2021
LikeLiked by 2 people
alone at Christmas
reflections of sunset
on the windows
Maureen Sexton
LikeLiked by 3 people
summer solstice
the longest day
for missing you
Maureen Sexton
LikeLiked by 3 people
summer heatwave
the garden birds and I
search for water
Maureen Sexton
LikeLiked by 2 people
after proposal
waiting for her reply-
summer solstice
**
solstice
awaiting lizard’s movement
on the wall
**
summer solstice
following the longest trail of
ants
**
LikeLiked by 3 people
test station
a huddle of ibis
casual drop ins
dragonflies
a drift of gauze
river song
university grounds
a flock of pigeons
puffs of wisdom
LikeLiked by 2 people