cherry blossom petals

Back in February, I saw a notice that haiku about blossoms were wanted for “Haiku for Hope”, an art exhibit that was raising funds for a cancer hospital back east. Few causes are nearer or dearer to my heart, and so I sent along a couple of my haiku that had received Honorable Mentions in the latest Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival.

I am pleased to have one haiku selected to be matched with a photograph, and that the exhibition is viewable online, through an article in The Baltimore Sun. It made it even more special that I know two of the other haiku poets whose haiku were also selected: Roberta Beary and Charlotte Digregorio. Proceeds from this art show go towards Howard County General Hospital’s Claudia Mayer Cancer Resource Center.

cherry blossom petals
this quiet hour
before dawn

December Publications

After working hard on getting the next batch of submissions into the pipeline, it’s always lovely when the acceptances come rolling in, and previously accepted work finally appears online or in print. I am not naturally a patient person, so the sometimes long waits to learn the status of a submission are difficult for me. But in the end, it all pays off. Of course there are those pesky rejections now and again, but I refuse to let those rain on my parade!

This has been a particularly good week for my writing:

• I had a haiku and a haibun appear in the inaugural issue of A Hundred Gourds.
• That same day, a haiku appeared in The Heron’s Nest.
• The next day, I learned through Roberta Beary, that we had both received an Honorable Mention in the 13th HIA Haiku Contest for our haiku.
• And today, an eyeku (visual haiku) of mine was accepted for the next issue of Frogpond.

Now onto my December submissions!