Today, 17th April 2026, we are celebrating International Haiku Poetry Day by holding a String on the theme of ‘Connections’. Connecting and sharing seem especially important these days, when peace often feels like a distant dream. By sharing our haiku, we can connect with each other, even in these days of international disruption, warfare and all the consequent turmoil that extends far beyond the zones of conflict. May harmony and peace reign internationally, and hatreds be displaced by cooperation and love. Entries to this haiku string have now closed. Please enjoy the haiku.
Connections is a broad theme. Connection can take many forms and be between or to different kinds of entities. Connections might be between people or other living things, to nature or spirit, to place, history or culture. The Australian Haiku Society invites you to share your original, previously unpublished haiku or senryu on the theme of Connections. We invite you to explore varied connections in your own life and the wider world we all inhabit, without necessarily using the word ‘connections’.
We welcome contributions from haiku poets worldwide. The String will remain open for a week, starting in the early hours of 17th April 2026 and finishing in the early hours of 24th April 2026 AEST. Please post your work in good time so you are included.
The haiku should be linked by the subject of Connections. It is not necessary for each haiku to relate to the one before it.
Haiku String – Instructions
- Please contribute up to three of your best previously unpublished haiku or senryu.
- Haiku should be posted in the comments at the end of the post.
- Each poem posted must be original work by the poet making the post. Please include your name below each haiku as you wish it to appear.
Posting your work in the AHS International Haiku String 2020 assumes the following:
Copyright of each haiku remains with the author. We request nonexclusive permission to publish your work on the Australian Haiku Society website and to republish it in any future online collections on the Australian Haiku Society website.
Theme: Connections
wading through Tunnel Creek echoes of Jandamarra
Leanne Mumford
first published AHS Haiku String Winter Solstice 2017
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Australian Haiku Society 
the open pine cone
on gran’s mantelpiece
seeds long gone
.
viola thrums
below lively violin –
heartstrings
.
tail starts to wag
before we hear the car –
Dad’s home
.
Penny Szentkuti
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kings, czars and earthworms—
the shortage of commonsense
leading to chaos
wanda amos
Australia
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incoming tide
washes away traces
we leave behind
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forget-me-nots
on her grave
scent of rain
Alvin B. Cruz
.
a love letter
with no attachments
falling blossoms
Alvin B. Cruz
.
day moon
holding your hand
till it slips away
Alvin B. Cruz
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closing my eyes to war raw sunset
Robert Kingston
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sunrise blackbird
our poetry day opens
with a song
Robert Kingston, UK
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.
winter wakening
the rising moon so huge
our love so fierce
Nick O’Connor
.
every moment
our connection makes
torvill and dean weep
Nick O’Connor
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under the doona
too hot together
too cold apart
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old address book
a lifetime of connections
and disconnections
.
Clarence River
mangroves managing
the ebb and flow
.
Clean Up Australia
mangroves responsible
for the waterways
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memories of the past
people, parties and places
photo album
Jenny Pyatt
.
he weeds his bins
freezer full of fruit
the garden gives
Jenny Pyatt
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the same table
at our favourite corner cafe –
sharing a cuppa
the haunting cry
of a seagull in flight –
walking the clifftop
a dead weta
left on my doorstep –
neighbourhood stray
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