Wednesday 14 September 2022
The birds, the blossoms and new spring sunshine—the perfect backdrop as we came together for Haiku @ The Oaks. It was a mini-meeting this time, as three of us found themselves unable to attend. We missed Hazel Hall, Marietta McGregor and Kathy Kituai. With them much in mind, the remaining three—Glenys Ferguson, Gregory Piko and Jan Dobb—enjoyed a relaxed exchange of things haiku and literary.
Greg was congratulated on the continuing quality of his haiku website with its information, inspiration, and food for thought. We discussed aspects of book reviews and the approaches that might be taken. Greg has also posted details of the forthcoming ‘Haiku Down Under’, an innovation we are anticipating with much interest. https://gregorypiko.com
Submissions to various journals was a passing topic of conversation, noting some different responses from various editors. All in all, part of the haiku diversity.
Perhaps our most nitty-gritty talk centred around the choices we have when constructing a haiku. Three-liner? Two-liner? One-liner? Or . . .? With the example of a recently published two-liner, we debated and experimented with other ways it might have been presented, although finally agreeing that the two-line form won the day. A fascinating exercise!
As we shared our haiku reflections and aspects of our lives, the shadows had begun to move across, and our sunny spot was growing cool. Birds were now descending on the pickings at empty tables beneath the trees. Time to go.
Till next time . . .
Jan Dobb
Australian Haiku Society 