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The AHS invites you to share with us your original, previously unpublished haiku or senryu.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 Please contribute up to three of your best previously unpublished haiku or senryu.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).

this life
of a photographer
blowflies
summer solstice
the washer women wash
their faces again
lake in summer
the elongated net
of a fisherman
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Christmas break—
so much depending
on a negative result
the promise
of better things…
winter solstice
third load of laundry
at least the evenings
are getting lighter
Marion Clarke
Warrenpoint, Northern Ireland
(Btw I don’t really mind the extra laundry—I’m just happy to have our children back for a few days! )
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free fireflies
the empty jar is filling
again with darkness
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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
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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
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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
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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
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