On Sunday 17th April, the Australian Haiku Society marked International Haiku Poetry Day by hosting a national haiku reading for all haiku groups around the country.
In an event coordinated by President of the AHS, Rob Scott, every haiku group around the country was contacted and invited to share haiku to celebrate the day.
The response was extremely positive given the awkward timing (coinciding with Easter and the school holidays as it did) with several groups meeting on the day itself while others met and shared haiku prior to the day and even conducted solo ginkos to mark the occasion.
All groups were invited to attend a special national haiku reading on Zoom in the evening, across three different time zones, during which haiku written by members of each of the groups was read out, some of which is shared below. The haiku reading was very warmly received and poets were keen to keep chatting afterwards.
The event was a very positive experience and a great opportunity to bring haiku poets around the country together. The AHS is encouraged by the response and looks forward to hosting similar events in the future.
Happy International Haiku Poetry Day to all those who celebrate!
late night drive –
the sky congested
with stars…
Leanne Jaeger (TAS – Watersmeet Haiku Group)
sun bleached
but who left them
these small bones
Jane Williams (TAS – Watersmeet Haiku Group)
Botanic gardens
I search for trees
of my childhood
Coral Carter (WA – Paperbark Haiku Group)
antique mirror
my age spots slowly
catching up
Maureen Sexton (WA – Paperbark Haiku Group)
bare branches
the sparseness
of winter birdsong
Julia Wakefield (SA – Bindii Haiku Group)
cataract surgery
I see the cat
beneath the purr
Lynette Arden (SA – Bindii Haiku Group)
the missile lands in an armchair invasion
Myron Lysenko (VIC – Fringe Myrtles)
wind chasing leaves chasing ducks into the pond
Jennifer Sutherland (VIC – Fringe Myrtles)
after the ringers
still humming
the church bells
Gayle Sweeper (QLD – Bombora Haiku Group)
glorious red leaves
with autumn’s onset become
a rustling carpet
Dawn Toomey (QLD – Bombora Haiku Group)
rural dawn
every long shadow
ends at a cow
Jan Dobb (ACT – Haiku @ the Oaks)
sale-yard
herds of cattle
stand in their shadow
Hazel Hall (ACT – Haiku @ the Oaks)
Australian Haiku Society 