As we celebrate turning 5 on THE DAILY HAIKU, with a worldwide membership of almost 20000, I am thrilled to announce the publication of LEAF Issue Six, our now much loved dedicated Journal edited by the wonderful Ravi Kiran together with commentaries from our guiding lights Keith Evetts on haiku and Marion Clarke on Haiga and brought together by the design talents of Jade Wildgoose.
Enjoy reading LEAF Issue Five here, do post comments and share with your friends.
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Happy fifth birthday! Congratulations to all the team for another wonderful issue and journey!
Thank you so much for published my works among so many amazing poets!
Wish you all the best!
Steliana
Thank you for your creativity and support Steliana. Do keep a look out for submission windows for LEAF. x
I want to sincerely thank Ravi Kiran our editor at LEAF who drove this project from the start and has brought another beautiful edition into being. Issue Six marks two years of LEAF as we celebrate five years on THE DAILY HAIKU. We look forward to seeing where this creative adventure takes us next. Huge thanks too go to Keith Evetts who has been our Haiku Commentary editor at LEAF and continues to be such an inspirational force in TDH. When some of us met in person for the first time last week in Penzance at Hypatia Trust many members mentioned how encouraging and helpful Keith had been in their haiku writing journey. Another key member is Marion Clarke who has returned for Issue Six as our Haiga Commentary editor. Marion too has offered her expertise not only in haiku but crucially in creating haiga. Thank you Marion. Thank you too to Lorraine Padden who has also been a Haiga Commentary editor on issues four and five. Jade Wildgoose is our talented young designer who juggles the demands of her advertising job and three times a year patiently works with us to create the beautiful and stylish LEAF Journal. A project such as this is only as strong as its team and I am very lucky to have such support. This includes the website supported by the wonderful Panorama Journal of Travel, Place and Nature where I am a guest poetry editor. Do check them out http://www.panoramajournal.org
LEAF 6 is full of Such riches!!!
Thank you Ravi, Amanda, Keith, Marion and team for this incredible collection! I’m so honored to be included and am loving every minute of reading all the poems! Congrats to all the poets! And thank you LEAF!!!
Belinda LEAF is a testament to the support and creativity of THE DAILY HAIKU membership and we are so thrilled to continue to thrive by members like yourself submitting such beautiful work.
Dear Amanda,
and Ravi, Marion, Keith and the entire production team
Another stunningly beautiful, and poignant and empathetic at times, edition
Amanda – thank you so very much for founding, and gifting the life-enhancing TDH (and now LEAF) to the world
Everything about this wonderful group makes my world, our world, the world, a much much better place
Love to all
Dom ❤️ x
Dominic thank you for your heartfelt support and most importantly your engagement and writing which brings so much joy.
Thanks to the editorial team for a) producing this edition and b) for including one of mine.
Some superb examples of our art – truly inspirational.
Thank you Malcolm for taking part, your support and most importantly your creativity and engagement.
Many thanks to the team of LEAF for the work they do and their contribution to the positive image of haiku. A pleasure to read and an honor to be included.
It’s interesting to see the array of styles and topics, while still making sure they’re all haiku’s and not just short poems.
LEAF captures the soul of haiku.
Keep up the fantastic work!
Lovely feedback Michael I’ll take ‘LEAF captures the soul of haiku’.
A repost of Keith Evett’s from the Facebook group.
Keith Evetts
Yesterday at 08:34 ·
LEAF #6
It’s really encouraging to see the blossoming of haiku in LEAF, which I think is improving issue by issue. The Daily Haiku group takes a relaxed view of current haiku conventions. They are but techniques that may be used. More important is the “haiku spirit,” hard to define. And that no word in a verse is superfluous, at the same time leaving space and further meaning (“layers”, or “surplus meaning”) for readers to deduce, to achieve a shared insight.
Last time, in issue 5, I drew attention to atarashimi — freshness, originality, novelty — and it was delightful to see the range of styles, techniques, and topics in issue 6. Rather wider, I think, than in some haiku journals where more restrictive editorial criteria can lead to the dullness of a conveyor belt. In LEAF 6 there were far more that stood out. Well done, Ravi. This made selection for commentary a knotty task.
Among others that got onto my shortlist for various reasons were:
dirt road —
alone with the cry
of swallows
Daniela Misso
…
last bell
the ghosts file out
with the children
Matt Robison
…
leaving you kicking pinecones under clouds
Sharon Ferrante
…
small town
slowing my speed
to a drawl
Marilyn Ashbaugh (shahai) (love that one with or without the image!)
…
misty morning
hard to see beyond
a torn flag
Wendy Houser Blomseth (shahai) (also stands well without the image)
…
a moth on the wall still on the wall
Minal Sarosh
…
toy store
pushing the button
for childhood
Richard Matta
…
sour cherries
how those crows
complain
Cindy Putnam Guentherman
…
the property line
where the higher
weeds begin
Goran Gatalica
…
memorial garden
a favorite teacher’s
last lesson
John Pappas
…
city moon
the kohl – rimmed eyes
of a bar dancer
R. Suresh Babu
…
rain to snow
how light the touch
of grace
Anne Fox
…
beach restaurant…
daughter and I sit
facing the sea
K. Ramesh
…
maggotpies
dipped in dark
I spit in the wind
Ann Smith
…
nursing home gate
trumpet vines
over the top
Randy Brooks
What a fantastic collection of work. I’m honoured and delighted to be part of it, as a member of TDH since the beginning. Thank you, Amanda, Ravi, Keith, Marion et al for making it all possible. I’ll keep returning to this journal regularly – it’s so rich, and impossible to absorb in one sitting. Great to see contributions from under-18s too. ❤️🙏❤️
Thank you Vivien, I too have enjoyed revisiting this issue, so much to savour and mull over. Haiku continues to expand our minds and feed our soul – for such a short poetic form it packs a punch.
While going through challenging times, one can still thankfully indulge in some small joys.
I was woken up very early today morning by the black-rumped flameback’s call. Bracing myself for some uncertain and difficult things ahead in the day, I happened to find, to my utter surprise and joy, in my mail, Issue 6 of LEAF where I managed to get in two verses, having submitted them on time 😊
Not wanting to deal with the difficult things, I sat reading the journal and I thoroughly enjoyed reading the wide variety and an eclectic selection of verses. Will definitely savour them once again slowly, to take in some more learning.
Many many thanks to Editor Ravi Kiran, and Keith Evetts & Marion Clarke who have provided insightful commentaries for haiku and senryū, & haiga respectively.
Thank you, Amanda, and the entire editorial and production team, for this wonderful opportunity to be a part of this special journal of The Daily Haiku ❤️
Thank you Amoolya for sharing your thoughts. I have a wonderfully vivid picture of where you are, how you are feeling and just love your creativity.
A beautiful collection of poems to cherish.
Wonderful job by Ravi and his team. Thanks and congratulations to you Amanda.
Proud to be part of this.
Thank you Ram for taking part and your wonderful writing. So much to enjoy here and I feel LEAF is now firmly established thanks to Ravi’s hard work in the wider haiku Journal world.
Dear Amanda,Ravi,Marion,Keith and the stylish designers & production team…I think you have made a treasured collectible for all of us. love all the haiku and feel so honoured to be a part of the 6th issue of Leaf.Looking back on this last year ,I want to say that each day is special because the prompts make us all reflect and do better than our intuitive best- hand of God surely…God bless you,I love the open mind and support TDH friends give each other
An excellent collection – thanks Amanda, Ravi, Marion – and Keith for the welcome comments. A lot to enjoy!
Thank you Tony for your wonderful writing and for being part of our adventure at LEAF.
Thank you Mariam. I too feel LEAF has become a much treasured collectable too.
Wonderful issue. Congratulations to all the contributors selected!
Thank you for being part of the adventure here at LEAF and for your writing
What an amazing, beautiful volume of poems! The selections are so impressive and are wonderfully organized. Congratulations also to those creating the graphics. The layout allows the poems to breath, and the photos always enhance the sense the poet intends.
Thanks Linda for your wonderful comments. I will share your thoughts with our designer Jade Wildgoose too. I agree the layout really allows the poems to breath.
Congratulations to all of us on the fifth anniversary! I feel privileged to have my poems included in such a stellar collection. Issue 6 is a treat indeed. I always look forward to reading Keith’s commentary. Thank you Team LEAF. And best wishes for the journal to go from strength to strength
I second that Anju, here’s to going from strength to strength. Thank you so much for your engagement and creativity.
Such a beautiful issue filled with inspiring poems. I love the way they all fit together to make it a pleasurable read.
Thank you Joanna, I think Ravi and Jade have curated the collection beautifully so it does have a real flow to it when you read through.
A fantastic collection of haiku yet again! For all the work that I know has gone on behind the scenes to bring every LEAF issue to fruition, I am immensely grateful to all of you – Ravi Kiran, Amanda White, Marion Clarke, Keith Evetts. I am very honored to be a contributor again and have been savoring every poem penned by the many gifted haikuists from around the globe. Our world is in turmoil on many levels, and while most of us feel apprehensive and fearful, at least, we can come together in this space to remember the things that unite and connect us. It is not an escape; it is about finding moments to express ourselves in positive ways.
Thank you Neetu for your writing, support as an admin at TDH and for your inspiration as a writer. Yes I too think haiku provides a still point of calm and contemplation in these difficult times where we can connect and as you point out express ourselves in positive ways. Happy writing. x
Thank you, Amanda. It is a joy to be part of TDH. 🙂