— Bruce Ross (Bangor, ME, USA). Posted 5 times in 2014.

Comment:**Bruce Ross, a master of haiku in English, has been the face of the Mainichi "Haiku in English" column for many years. His haiku reflects the tranquility of his mind and the haiku scenes are beautifully constructed.

— Ken Sawitri (Jawa Tengah, Indonesia). Posted 5 times.

Comment:*We understand the father's inner sentiments.

— Ajaya Mahala (Maharashtra, India). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* "Warm" is a good choice of word for his love. This makes the haiku so warm and real.

— Abraham Freddy Ben-Arroyo (Haifa, Israel). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* I have just finished off a 30-year-old Scotch. It was really wonderful. As the rule goes, I drank it straight.

— Janina Kolodziejczyk (Pavullo nel Frignano, Italy). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* At the same time, the stars are creaking in the freezing skies.

— Romano Zeraschi (Parma, Italy). Posted 4 times.

Comment:** I feel a oneness with the author with the Harley. Incidentally, I still remember my traffic accident in the heavy rain. I fell to the ground and broke three ribs and a shoulder bone. I have never ridden it since.

— Philip Noble (Inverness, Scotland). Posted 3 times.

Comment:* I am thinking about the situation from the word "her" in the third line, for you were there at the same time looking at your grandson with a smile on your face.

— Robert Henry Poulin (Micco, FL, USA). Posted 9 times.

Comment:* I don't like to see my ugly illusion in the mirror.

— Helen Buckingham (Bristol, UK). Posted 6 times.

Comment:* This haiku has a super technique juxtaposing two things ("gargle" and "sunset") which are unrelated not so close and not so far from each other.

— Keith A. Simmonds (Tunapuna, Trinidad & Tobago). Posted 4 times.

Comment:* The first word, "chiaroscuro," is explained in the second and the third lines. Explanation or interpretation spoils haiku.

— Asni Amin (Tampines Street, Singapore). Posted 4 times.

Comment:* They say, "Communication in different cultures is so difficult," but sometimes communication like this is possible.

— Ernesto P. Santiago (Athens, Greece). Posted 4 times.

Comment:* We must keep his glorious light forever.

— druart patrick (Urou et Crennes, France). Posted 3 times.

Comment:* You saw me the other night, Pat. After the rain, water was washing down through the duct.

— Victor Ortiz (San Pedro, CA, USA). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* The author was uneasily watching his granddaughter on the seesaw.

— Semih Ozmeric (Istanbul, Turkey). Posted 2 times.

Comment:* I recommend 10 sit-ups a day.

— Angelica Seithe (Wettenberg, Germany). Posted 5 times.

Comment:* Once my returned mail came back so soon … by priority.

— Alan Summers (Bradford-on-Avon, England). Posted 4 times.

Comment:* He is enjoying his metamorphoses dancing in the snowstorm.

— William Seltzer (Gwynedd, PA, USA). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* The heavens and the earth correspond with each other at the turn of the seasons.

— C. Ronald Kimberling (South Elgin, IL, USA). Posted 2 times.

Comment:* The "b" sound in "bushy" could well be associated with squirrels' tails.

— Don Hansbrough (Seattle, WA, USA) Posted 3 times.

Comment:** Excellent indeed. We have another "Milky Way": The waterwheel / scooping up water / and splashing down — Tenkou Kawasaki (1927-2009); tr. by IH.

— R. K. Singh (Dhanbad, India). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* I would like to put "starry" before sky — "the starry sky."

— William Hart (Montrose, CA, USA). Posted 3 times.

Comment:** This must be one of the best of the war haiku. Following is one I highly esteem too: tonight ... wishing / the lightning were lightning / the thunder, thunder — Michael McClintock (1950- ).

— Nada Jacmenica (Zagreb, Croatia). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* This is an excellent mere description of the surroundings. One word in the third line, "barefoot," is effective in the heavy cold.

— Michael Henry Lee (St. Augustine, FL, USA). Posted 3 times.

Comment:* A minimum haiku of high quality.

— Rudi Pfaller (Remshalden, Germany). Posted 2 times.

Comment:* "The time" has an unexpected haiku punch.

— Eva Limbach (Saarbrucken, Germany). Posted 9 times.

Comment:* (Singing) "It was fascination, I know …"

— Urszula Wielanowska (Kielce, Poland). Posted 1 time.

Comment:** I too have been reincarnated from Basho, upon the palm of the Great Buddha.

— Zelyko Funda (Varazdin, Croatia). Posted 3 times.

Comment:** It's very meaningful behavior for the dog. The punch line is not like the one in a party joke. Often punch lines in haiku are apt to decline into a dull conclusion, which we haijin have to avoid.

— Tyrone McDonald (Brooklyn, NY, USA). Posted 4 times.

Comment:* It's really a new recognition.

— Neal Whitman (Pacific Grove, CA, USA). Posted 2 times.

Comment:* The seaside we would like to be at.

— Asni Amin (Tampines Street, Singapore). Posted 4 times.

Comment:** God knows everything before you dare to tell. But you're so brave, I respect you.

— Patrick Sweeney (Misawa, Japan). Posted 2 times.

Comment:* Talking of Misawa, Aomori Prefecture, many haijin remember the simplest Japanese haiku made by Seison Yamagushi (1892-1988): michinokuno / sabishironohama / wakameyosu (Michinoku Northeast Japan / seaweed lapping on / Sabishiro beach (tr. by IH). The seaside is near Misawa.

— Philip Noble (Inverness, Scotland). Posted 3 times.

Comment:* Being at the foggy port of Inverness, I want to be wearing that Inverness overcoat.

— Eva Limbach (Saarbrucken, Germany). Posted 9 times.

Comment:* A desirable relationship between father and daughter. The coat should have been made of wool, in black and with big pockets, of course.

— Ramona Linke (Beesenstedt, Germany). Posted 5 times.

Comment:* The juxtaposition of haiku must be made between two unrelated things not so close and not so far from each other. "Wintry" and "quieter" are a bit close.

— Angelo B. Ancheta (Rizal, Philippines). Posted 1 time.

Comment:** I can see the haiku talent of his on the table.

— Robert Henry Poulin (Micco, FL, USA). Posted 9 times.

Comment:* The author has very sharp eyesight.

— Bruce Ross (Bangor, ME, USA). Posted 5 times

Comment:* See→January 1.

— Wincenty Ozga (Warsaw, Poland). Posted 2 times.

Comment:* The boat must have been moored to the stake.

— Cezar-Florin Ciobica (Botosani, Romania). Posted 2 times.

Comment:* We have a "slide haiku" in Japan. "Sunday quiet ... / kindergarten petals / blow down the slide (Thomas Heffernan).

— Lothar M. Kirsch (Meerbusch, Germany). Posted 4 times.

Comment:* This is an amusing picture, though constructed by the brain.

— Wolfgang Beutke (Barum, Germany). Posted 4 times.

Comment:* This could be named a complete description of the surroundings. But I would like to move the hyphen to the end of the second line.

— Helga Stania (Greppen, Switzerland). Posted 3 times.

Comment:* One way or the other the spring season is just around the corner.

— Djurdja Vukelic Rozic (Ivanic Grad, Croatia). Posted 2 times.

Comment:** Excellent, indeed! This will be the author's representative masterpiece. From "the orb" to "neck" is an entirely new depiction.

— Smajil Durmisevic (Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina). Posted 2 times.

Comment:* All is done by God Almighty.

— john mcdonald (Edinburgh, Scotland). Posted 2 times.

Comment:** The third line might be judged as an "interpretation." However, this haiku picture is beautiful.

— Andrzej Dembonczyk (Silesia, Poland). Posted 2 times.

Comment:* My favorite nostalgic silhouette in white.

— J. D. Nelson (Lafayette, CO, USA). Posted 1 time.

Comment:** A finely framed 5-7-5 syllabic haiku with three keywords (sock, corkboard, moon). The author could have made the last line "almost full moon," but for the syllabic count.

— Borivoje Sekulic (Lacarak, Serbia). Posted 1 time.

Comment:** The author put unexpected new materials in the haiku frame.

— David Jacobs (London, UK). Posted 3 times.

Comment:* A few times I encountered a dog crawling on the floor at Narita Airport.

— Gautam Nadkarni (Mumbai, India). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* "Spiking" is unique. I have a pair of Hush Puppies.

— jerry ball (Walnut Creek, CA, USA). Posted 5 times.

Comment:* The memory plant degenerates year by year. In business gatherings, such conduct is strictly forbidden.

— Christopher Jupp (Edinburgh, Scotland). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* This is that "mere description of the surroundings" which could be regarded as the most fundamental factor in haiku. You can make good haiku with astonishment in nature.

— Romano Zeraschi (Parma, Italy). Posted 4 times.

Comment:* The third line is so appealing to me. In Casablanca there live the Berbers, though not so many, and they speak Berber.

— Semih Ozmeric (Istanbul, Turkey). Posted 2 times.

Comment:* A romantic fantasy will continue on.

— Angelika Holweger (Epfendorf, Germany). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* I don't think you are impious. With no other sound except for the lecture on Feb. 2, you were apt to hear the song of birds from time to time.

— Robert Davey (Thetford, Norfolk, UK). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* "Late" in the first line means the lavenders were almost withered in the summer fields. In the second and the third lines, the author told us the plants with bees were swaying in the autumn wind.

— Lothar M. Kirsch (Meerbusch, Germany). Posted 4 times.

Comment:* This might be from a "kigo" — "ganburo" (goose bath) in the haiku dictionary of seasonal words ("saijiki"). Legend has it that the pieces of driftwood we see on the seashore serve as buoys on which geese can rest when tired over the sea. The next spring, the birds return north with the stick scratching. If there are lots of sticks left on the seashore, it means the birds have lost their lives, corresponding with the number of the sticks during their stay in Japan. Lamenting their lost lives, fishermen on the coast of northern Aomori used to heat baths with the sticks.

— Helen Buckingham (Bristol, UK). Posted 6 times.

Comment:* Often seen from my fifth-story apartment room. Regrettably the haiku ends with a commonplace conclusion. Find the "newness."

— Krzysztof Kokot (Nowy Targ, Poland). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* Drinking coffee, the author must have been in tranquility thinking about the other object of the juxtaposition, and at last he found "foggy."

— robert epstein (El Cerrito, CA, USA). Posted 2 times.

Comment:* Only human is not human. Master Robert Spiess once wrote to me: "As human beings, we arose from and remain a part of nature. A kigo helps us to feel our kinship with all creation, and that other life and 'nonlife' have the right to exist." Your way of living corresponds with such nonlife.

— martin gottlieb cohen (Egg Harbor, NJ, USA). Posted 3 times.

Comment:* I'd like to make this into a one-liner eliminating the first line: "through the snow drift faint stars."

— amir hasanvandi (Shoush, Iran). Posted 2 times.

Comment:* "Some" comes from the eyes of haijin.

— Eva Limbach (Saarbrucken, Germany). Posted 9 times.

Comment:* Stop it!

— Origa (Lansing, MI, USA). Posted 3 times.

Comment:* A professional construction of haiku.

— Norah Sweeney (Aomori, Japan). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* I acknowledge your haiku talent here as well as your husband's. It would be a much better haiku if you added a kigo.

— Jacek Margolak (Kielce, Poland). Posted 2 times.

Comment:* So wild the wind storm.

— Toshio Matsumoto (Osaka, Japan). Posted 5 times.

Comment:* Ku (enlightenment) or mu (nothing) can be a goal.

— Verica Zivkovic (Letnja, Serbia). Posted 3 times.

Comment:* The farmers had gone to town.

— Natalia Kuznetsova (Moscow, Russia). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* A happy welcoming light.

— Gabriel Sawicki (Wroclaw, Poland). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* Buy one more.

— Angelica Seithe (Wettenberg, Germany). Posted 5 times.

Comment:* A new phase of silence.

— Priscilla H Lignori (Montgomery, NY, USA). Posted 3 times.

Comment:* She used to teach in Yokohama, Japan. This would be from her daily life there.

— Doris Lynch (Bloomington, IN, USA). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* One more beautiful Milky Way.

— Robert Henry Poulin (Micco, FL, USA). Posted 9 times.

Comment:* Even through a super telescope, I couldn't see a perfect world, ever.

— Goda V. Bendoraitiene (Klaipeda, Lithuania). Posted 4 times.

Comment:* An effective white medicine for curing the vacant tree trunk.

— Don Hansbrough (Seattle, WA, USA). Posted 3 times.

Comment:* The cherry-blossom front travels up the Japanese archipelago from Tosa, Kochi Prefecture, through Ueno, Tokyo to Hirosaki, Akita, and finally crosses the channel to Hokkaido.

— Bruce Ross (Bangor, ME, USA). Posted 5 times.

Comment:* Osamu Dazai (1909-48) wrote: "Mt. Fuji looks good in the evening primroses." This time Master Bruce Ross considers only a twig dedicated to the grave of naturalist Thoreau (1817-62) as being best suited.

— Dan Iulian (Bucharest, Romania). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* A unique imagination.

— Angelee Deodhar (Chandigarh, India). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* tenshouno / nekogamiaguru / yuzakura (a cat reincarnated / looking up at / night cherry blossoms) — Kazuo Sato (1927-2005); tr. by IH.

— Keith A. Simmonds (Crayford, Dartford, UK). Posted 4 times.

Comment:* If you are obsessed with queer dreams and you have to get rid of them, then you had better come over here in the season of cherry blossoms (April) for playing out fantasies.

— Heike Gewi (Aden-Crater, Yemen). Posted 2 times.

Comment:* It must have been a super typhoon like Katrina, which flooded Florida.

— Teiichi Suzuki (Osaka, Japan). Posted 7 times.

Comment:* The early morning walk gave the author another excellent "vacant can" haiku.

— Ramona Linke (Beesenstedt, Germany). Posted 5 times.

Comment:* Still in winter on one side.

— jerry ball (Walnut Creek, CA, USA). Posted 5 times.

Comment:* It's just like a good old Western movie.

— Romano Zeraschi (Parma, Italy). Posted 4 times.

Comment:* The last word "transhumance" seems to be an indispensable word for this haiku. However, it explains the above two lines. Abstain from explanation or interpretation in a haiku.

— Eva Limbach (Saarbrucken, Germany). Posted 9 times.

Comment:** Excellent in every aspect of haiku.

— Jacek Margolak (Kielce, Poland). Posted 2 times.

Comment:* The ordinary word order would make the lines settle like this: spring glare / spilling puddle / along the curb stone.

— Tyrone McDonald (Brooklyn, NY, USA). Posted 4 times.

Comment:* You seem to have stayed up late last night. "Look out for fire!" before you go out.

— Lothar M. Kirsch (Meerbusch, Germany). Posted 4 times.

Comment:** One week after the Carnival in New Orleans, I walked by the vacant stands composedly. This state of mind must be haikuish, and you, a cowboy, too.

— druart patrick (Urou et Crennes, France). Posted 3 times.

Comment:** The haiku punch line is well made and irreplaceable.

— Gerda Forster (Nijmegen, The Netherlands). Posted 1 time.

Comment:** This piece is on the first-class level, evoking a laugh from human nature. Also "march sun" is great.

— Annie Bachnini (London, UK). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* An amiable shorthair.

— Mark Miller (Shoalhaven Heads, Australia). Posted 2 times.

Comment:* When coming back home, I sometimes fall asleep and miss my station.

— Wolfgang Beutke (Barum, Germany). Posted 4 times.

Comment:* Some trick or magic? I'm so sorry I can't appreciate this fully.

— Joseph Roberts (Hayward, CA, USA). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* There are too many materials here for one haiku. The haiku focus becomes blurred.

— Joan Williams (London, UK). Posted 2 times.

Comment:* This has very delicate content.

— Wieslaw Karlinski (Namyslow, Poland). Posted 3 times.

Comment:* This "inemuri" might be a new entry of Japanese into the English dictionary.

— Alexey Golubev (Saint Petersburg, Russia). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* Anastasia must have also disappeared into the hazy history of Saint Petersburg.

— Birgit Schaldach-Helmlechner (Schluchtern, Germany). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* The third line can be labeled "newness."

— Smajil Durmisevic (Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina). Posted 2 times.

Comment:* Very small good conduct in a former life resulted in reincarnation into a bee.

— Sheila K. Barksdale (Gainesville, FL, USA). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* Exaggeration sometimes makes haiku unnatural and unreal.

— Ernesto P. Santiago (Athens, Greece). Posted 3 times.

Comment:* This "narcissus" must have a double meaning — one for the spring season and the other for a self-loving young boy in a chapter of Greek mythology.

— Robert Henry Poulin (Micco, FL, USA). Posted 9 times.

Comment:* Bob knows best.

— Teiichi Suzuki (Osaka, Japan). Posted 7 times.

Comment:* This is the best of his travelogue haiku around the world.

— Keith A. Simmonds (Crayford, Dartford, UK). Posted 4 times.

Comment:* "Hazy" really pops up in the reality of haiku.

— Helen Buckingham (Bristol, UK). Posted 6 times.

Comment:* Proverb: "Constant dropping wears the stone." — Proverb (IH) a fly sits & / I adjust myself / a little.

— Wolfgang Beutke (Barum, Germany). Posted 4 times.

Comment:* The first line is very effective and the third is a real haiku punch line.

— John Zheng (Itta Bena, MS, USA). Posted 3 times.

Comment:* The key word of this haiku is "almost." They were trying hard to land from the sea. The onomatopoeia: ga-ga-ga is better than "squawking."

— Maria Kowal-Tomczak (Opole, Poland). Posted 2 times.

Comment:* The construction could change into a minimal haiku: moonlight / muffled / whispers.

— James Roderick Burns (Edinburgh, Scotland). Posted 2 times.

Comment:* A fine and decent-flavored haiku.

— amir hasanvandi (Shoush, Iran). Posted 2 times.

Comment:* The author has a bright haiku vision.

— Patrick Sweeney (Misawa, Japan). Posted 2 times.

Comment:* This is one of very few pieces dealing with reincarnation. I'm now living detached from the bustling of Tokyo, just like Master Basho did 400 years ago.

— Ramesh Anand (Tamil Nadu, India). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* How benevolent the mother is!

— Helga Stania (Greppen, Switzerland). Posted 4 times.

Comment:* This has very refreshing content: Lambs are grazing up and up on the highland pastures to the white clouds.

— Ken Sawitri (Java Tengah, Indonesia). Posted 5 times.

Comment:* People proceed with friendly conversation on the backstreets of Java. "Spineless" and "chinwag" are good word choices.

— Namiko Yamamoto (Kawasaki, Japan). Posted 2 times.

Comment:* Japan has a so-called aging society. If you turn back, you will surely meet a grandma or grandpa, or both.

— K. Ramesh (Chennai, India). Posted 3 times.

Comment:** A simple sentence does not always make a simple haiku. The ellipsis in the first line signifies a short duration of time sparsely lighting homes.

— Angelica Seithe (Wettenberg, Germany). Posted 5 times.

Comment:* I can instantly associate with the thatched roofs of "Gokayama" or "Shirakawa-go" in northern Japan. You could find another word or phrase in the first line because there is overlapping with the third line.

— jerry ball (Walnut Creek, CA, USA). Posted 5 times.

Comment:* It's fantastic or chimerical. He has a broad imagination.

— Mako Kusunoki (Chiba, Japan). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* I'd like to remake this into a simple sentence with a final punch line: she squeezes / her magic wand / into a long carrot.

— john mcdonald (Edinburgh, Scotland). Posted 2 times.

Comment:* Another approach of mine: Chopin / shimmering on a vase of / daffodils. I like Tchaikovsky best.

— Maria Santomauro (Commack, NY, USA). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* It seems much better to substitute "night" with "corridor" in the third line.

— Asni Amin (Tampines Street, Singapore). Posted 4 times.

Comment:* I was given an old bicycle when I was a schoolboy.

— Richard Jodoin (Montreal, Canada). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* Such an impressive orange color.

— Marie-Louise Montignot (Saulxures, France). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* "Geometry" is the life of this haiku.

— Billy Antonio (Pangasinan, Philippines). Posted 3 times.

Comment:* Between the first line and the second, there exists a complete disconnection [caesura] which makes the haiku wider and deeper.

— Rahadian Tanjung (Jakarta, Indonesia). Posted 3 times.

Comment:* I like to see that flashing of a hummingbird.

— Valeria Barouch (Geneva, Switzerland). Posted 2 times.

Comment:* A new first line is needed.

— Verica Zivkovic (Letnja, Serbia). Posted 3 times.

Comment:** This depicts a rare scene — really splendid. This should be her No. 1 piece.

— Robert Kania (Warsaw, Poland). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* Me too.

— robert epstein (El Cerrito, CA, USA). Posted 2 times.

Comment:* It's really a happy daily shower! The new Hokuriku Shinkansen started on 14 March, 2015, connecting Tokyo and Kanazawa in 2 1/2 hours via Nagano and Toyama.

— Andrzej Dembonczyk (Silesia, Poland). Posted 2 times.

Comment:* night thunderstorm / appears and disappears / outside the window. In this case, the second line may not be a cliché.

— Priscilla H Lignori (Montgomery, NY, USA). Posted 3 times.

Comment:* This haiku can be called a simply natural haiku.

— Ann Magyar (Boston, MA, USA). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* The punch line is really unexpected.

— Bernhard Kopf (Vienna, Austria). Posted 4 times.

Comment:** If this haiku had a seasonal word stuck in the third line, the haiku would be much better.

— Andrius Luneckas (Vilnius, Lithuania). Posted 2 times.

Comment:* People in Lithuania, rich or poor, often eat cabbage soup, right?

— David Flynn (Nashville, TN, USA). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* I am almost sure she won't be a good actress.

— Wieslaw Karlinski (Namyslow, Poland). Posted 3 times.

Comment:* Beat it instantly.

— Teiichi Suzuki (Osaka, Japan). Posted 7 times.

Comment:** The author sometimes shows us his talent for producing an excellent haiku. This is the case. How about just "snowy" in the first line?

— Maria Kowal-Tomczak (Opole, Poland). Posted 2 times.

Comment:* The third line is "haikuishly" beautiful, but commonplace. Find the "newness."

— Mary Hind (Melbourne, Australia). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* She is a prominent haijin in Australia.

— Kumarendra Mallick (Hyderabad, India). Posted 1 time.

Comment:** From the first line, we know she's not an adult. And in the moonlight the haiku will be completed.

— Stelianna Cristina Voicu (Prahova, Romania). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* My way: without a groom / in the rain / a white tulip.

— Judit Hollos (Budapest, Hungary). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* Spring is all around.

— Neal Whitman (Pacific Grove, CA, USA). Posted 2 times.

Comment:** I envy you, Mr. Whitman. But in one way or another, I am too old to be a seafarer.

— Robert Henry Poulin (Micco, FL, USA). Posted 9 times.

Comment:* Cf. Jack Kerouac's haiku in "Classics," March 2015 (Spring day— / in my mind / Nothing) and some comments on "mu" and "ku."

— yukiko smith (Raleigh, NC, USA). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* She keeps in mind Nicholas Virgilio (1928-89): Now the swing is still: / a suspended tire / centers the autumn moon.

— Don Hansbrough (Seattle, WA, USA). Posted 3 times.

Comment:* "New things should be the flower of haiku." — Basho (1644-94).

— William Hart (Montrose, CA, USA). Posted 3 times.

Comment:* I am strengthening my soles stepping on a half-cut piece of bamboo.

— Eva Limbach (Saarbrucken, Germany). Posted 9 times.

Comment:** There is a mysterious atmosphere, as if the real Judas were a member of the Passion play.

— Barbara A. Taylor (Nimbin, Australia). Posted 1 time.

Comment:** Using a mastered technique, the haiku goes as simply as we can.

— Zelyko Funda (Varazdin, Croatia). Posted 3 times.

Comment:* A still high-spirited Croatian master of haiku.

— Toshio Matsumoto (Osaka, Japan). Posted 5 times.

Comment:* I imagine she likes fishing and likes to be all alone.

— Alan Summers (Bradford-on-Avon, England). Posted 4 times.

Comment:* The third line must be a "life point," but rather ambiguous.

— Bruce Ross (Bangor, ME, USA). Posted 5 times.

Comment:* He happened to meet with a kit fox on a little island at the beginning of spring. This must be the real thing.

— Stephen A. Peters (Bellingham, WA, USA). Posted 2 times.

Comment:* This quiet juxtaposition of "dentist" and "spring drizzle" is haikuish.

— Robert Henry Poulin (Micco, FL, USA). Posted 9 times.

Comment:* Cf. Basho (1944-94): kumonomine / ikutsukuzurete / tsukinoyama (cumulonimbus / coming down again and again into / moonlight Gassan mountain) (tr. by IH).

— Beate Conrad (Waterford, MI, USA). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* "Late spring" and "stark naked" can be inwardly connected with each other.

— tommy ichimiya (Oita, Japan). Posted 3 times.

Comment:* If you don't know columbine flowers, you can imagine the sad faces of the children.

— Shin Ito (Nagoya, Japan). Posted 2 times.

Comment:* Let us all think again about "sports and world peace".

— Tyrone McDonald (Brooklyn, NY, USA). Posted 4 times.

Comment:* This is surely a result of "awareness practice."

— David Dayson (Romsey, Hampshire, UK). Posted 2 times.

Comment:** An unexpected haiku punch line.

— Tuvshinzaya Nergui (Arkhangai, Mongolia). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* He will surely be a good "Taisho" (leader of the people) and come back for you.

— Emanuela Podda-Ankrom (Bahrain). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* It's so kind of you. Very many thanks: 2:46 p.m., March 11, 2011, Tohoku, Japan.

— Yuji Hayashi (Fukuoka, Japan). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* Such a beautiful reflection on the glittering paddy fields. Incidentally, I made a "paddy field" haiku this year: uminonano / houmunomukou / aotanami (beyond the platform / with the name of the sea / waving paddy fields) (IH).

— Howard Lee Kilby (Hot Springs, AR, USA). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* This has three separate directions. Thinking there must be something in it, I finally selected it.

— minami eto (Ibaraki, Japan). Posted 5 times.

Comment:** Very good. Is the Japanese: oomatade / onnawaaruku / kakiwakaba? A great contemporary poet, Sakutarou Hagiwara (1886-1942) wrote in his famous poem: … young women are silently walking and talking …

— Tony Lewis-Jones (Bristol, UK). Posted 3 times.

Comment:* Give three cheers for the vigorous old boy.

— Ken Sawitri (Java Tengah, Indonesia). Posted 5 times.

Comment:* Everybody's weathervane at the top of the old railway station.

— David Jacobs (London, UK). Posted 3 times.

Comment:* The train on platform number 9-3/4 at King's Cross Station is due to depart at any moment for Hogwarts, Harry Potter on board, of course.

— James Roderick Burns (Edinburgh, UK). Posted 3 times.

Comment:** This appears meaningless at first glance, but later I came to esteem this stillness very much.

— Vincent O'Connor (Cork, Ireland). Posted 2 times.

Comment:** "Alight" is a word of new awareness.

— Lothar M. Kirsch (Meerbusch, Germany). Posted 5 times.

Comment:* Interesting, and oh, my favorite spring rolls!

— Reza Aerabi (Semnan, Iran). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* The cat knows better than the author. I too like it as it was.

— Deborah P. Kolodji (Temple City, CA, USA). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* The "radius" may rather be ambiguous, but radiating.

— Radka Mindova (Sliven Park, Bulgaria). Posted 1 time.

Comment:** The author has serendipity, showing us a tiny doll's dress.

— Ingrid Jendrzejewski (Cambridge, UK). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* The image of both the rain and tail beating on the glass pane seems so soothing.

— jerry ball (Walnut Creek, CA, USA). Posted 5 times.

Comment:* This is a humane, natural haiku showing us one aspect of the romantic Jerry.

— Toshio Matsumoto (Osaka, Japan). Posted 5 times.

Comment:** What a fantastic imagination.

— Rahadian Tanjung (Jakarta, Indonesia). Posted 3 times.

Comment:* In the second line, "plowing" is haikuish. This scene is one of the best summer amusements in western Japan.

— Kenlay Friesen (Sapporo, Japan). Posted 1 time.

Comment:** Oh, really, it's an excellent ecological haiku.

— druart patrick (Urou et Crennes, France). Posted 3 times.

Comment:* How many times have I felt the agony of uselessness?

— Verica Zivkovic (Letnja, Serbia). Posted 3 times.

Comment:* I can clearly imagine the black and white summer clouds.

— Robert Henry Poulin (Micco, FL, USA). Posted 9 times.

Comment:** Do you know why there is little good news in the papers and on TV? It's because good news is much more difficult to collect than bad news.

— David Dayson (Romsey, Hampshire, UK). Posted 2 times.

Comment:* Such is life.

— Bernhard Kopf (Vienna, Austria). Posted 4 times.

Comment:** A minimal piece of "newness."

— Linda Ashok (Hyderabad, India). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* Clever nursing rabbits.

— Evgeny Ivanov (Moscow, Russia). Posted 3 times.

Comment:* It's so wonderful that you can walk barefoot in natural surroundings.

— Eileen Benavente-Blas (Dededo, Guam). Posted 1 time.

Comment:** The flaming summer heat can burn dead trees or grass in tropical zones. I acknowledge a haiku technique in the third line.

— oana boazu (Galati, Romania). Posted 2 times.

Comment:* Just now I am sipping a cup of chamomile mandala tea that will be so helpful for my health.

— Pravat Kumar Padhy (Gujarat, India). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* I say "thank you" for the world heritage.

— Andrea Cecon (Cividale del Friuli, Italy). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* I think the last line could be replaced with something better.

— minami eto (Ibaraki, Japan). Posted 5 times.

Comment:* Granddad set the clock correct with the corn pipe in a gentlemanly manner.

— Michael Henry Lee (St. Augustine, FL, USA). Posted 3 times.

Comment:* "One" is haikuish.

— Teiichi Suzuki (Osaka, Japan). Posted 7 times.

Comment:* The Buddhism and the yellow sand came in from China.

— Ramona Linke (Beesenstedt, Germany). Posted 5 times.

Comment:* A good natural haiku.

— Eva Limbach (Saarbrucken, Germany). Posted 9 times.

Comment:* How huge the loving shadows are. Lampedusa: a little island between Malta and Tunisia.

— Shin Ito (Nagoya, Japan). Posted 2 times.

Comment:* Lovely little palms softly wrap up flickering fireflies.

— Origa (Lansing, MI, USA). Posted 3 times.

Comment:* Contrastive beauty—one afar, one nearby.

— Tony Lewis-Jones (Bristol, UK). Posted 3 times.

Comment:** This is perfectly constructed with the words "tiny," "butterfly," and "window." These are distinctively connected with each other.

— Marek Kozubek (Zywiec, Poland). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* Heaven knows.

— Lilia Racheva Dencheva (Rousse, Bulgaria). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* Beautiful though commonplace.

— Damir Janjalija (Belgrade, Serbia). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* "The sound" comes from a haikuic sensibility.

— Kala Ramesh (Pune, India). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* How about this: "wharf in mist / off and on / the smell"?

— Wincenty Ozga (Warsaw, Poland). Posted 2 times.

Comment:* The author knows haiku well.

— Abraham Freddy Ben-Arroyo (Haifa, Israel). Posted 3 times.

Comment:** "Newness!" If you put "spring" before "gorge" I think haiku would be much better.

— Zoran Doderovic (Novi Sad, Serbia). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* The first line does match well with other two lines.

— Teiichi Suzuki (Osaka, Japan). Posted 7 times.

Comment:** Success in haiku often depends on new kinds of materials.

— minami eto (Ibaraki, Japan). Posted 5 times.

Comment:* Successfully done all right.

— Ken Sawitri (Central Java, Indonesia). Posted 5 times.

Comment:* Bill Higginson: commercial break— / the cat and I / head for the kitchen.

— Stephen A. Peters (Bellingham, WA, USA). Posted 2 times.

Comment:** The superb third line comprises an entirely new expression.

— Helen Buckingham (Bristol, UK). Posted 6 times.

Comment:* What a huge butterfly bush.

— Eva Limbach (Saarbrucken, Germany). Posted 9 times.

Comment:* With the power of intention, you can again take up a 9B pencil.

— Mario Massimo Zontini (Parma, Italy). Posted 2 times.

Comment:* As I live alone, I cut melons by myself. The next is Santouka Taneda (1882-1940): a free style wanderer: sekioshitemohitori (if I cough…alone) (tr. by IH).

— Carl Seguiban (Vancouver, Canada). Posted 1 time.

Comment:** No noise in this haiku picture.

— Raj K. Bose (Honolulu, HI, USA). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* I have often experienced the same thing at parties myself.

— Rita Odeh (Nazareth, Israel). Posted 1 time.

Comment:** I have never seen such a vast shadowy landscape.

— Diarmuid Fitzgerald (Dublin, Ireland). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* Robert Spiess (1921-2002): The pines on shore sway — / a mallard hen and ducklings / crest another wave.

— martin gottlieb cohen (Egg Harbor, NJ, USA). Posted 3 times.

Comment:* A breathtaking one-liner.

— Devin Harrison (Duncan, Canada). Posted 1 time.

Comment:** It's so dense and huge, the Canadian fog. The second and third lines are unique expressions.

— Kie Nakagawa (Sapporo, Japan). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* "Erai!" (That's great.)

— Catherine Campbell (Richmond, Canada). Posted 1 time.

Comment:** Wonderfully constructed humor. We could not sense the switch until the very end.

— Liz Moura (East Taunton, MA, USA). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* Happily you can go back to good old memories with the smell of lilacs.

— Helga Stania (Greppen, Switzerland). Posted 3 times.

Comment:* Helga is so sensitive to be able to distinguish one bell from the other.

— Romano Zeraschi (Parma, Italy). Posted 4 times.

Comment:* The huge shadows of you and of grandfather.

— Joan Williams (London, UK). Posted 2 times.

Comment:* Perhaps "Herefords" must have a great historical meaning.

— Nancy May (Preson, Lancashire, UK). Posted 1 time.

Comment:** From olden times, miracles would have happened on midsummers' eves.

— Paul Chambers (Newport, Wales, UK). Posted 2 times.

Comment:* I would like to take out "his" in the second line. In that case, the red ball will mean a big flare around the sun.

— Ramona Linke (Beesenstedt, Germany). Posted 5 times.

Comment:* A new finding, but the first line may not be enough.

— Rudi Pfaller (Remshalden, Germany). Posted 2 times.

Comment:* Naturally.

— Angelica Seithe (Wettenberg, Germany). Posted 5 times.

Comment:* A breeze started up.

— Archana Kapoor Nagpal (Karnataka, India). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* A tender and beautiful young mom.

— Robert Henry Poulin (Micco, FL, USA). Posted 9 times.

Comment:* A good nostalgic fantasy.

— Bruce Ross (Bangor, ME, USA). Posted 5 times.

Comment:* "Deep" must be heavily influencing the final two lines. This is one of the best in recent years.

— William Hart (Montrose, CA, USA). Posted 3 times.

Comment:** This is a light touch piece, and at the same time so unique.

— Tyrone McDonald (Brooklyn, NY, USA). Posted 4 times.

Comment:** "Newness." He might have been using a dermatograph, but it's only a pencil even if the lead is so thick.

— Valeria Simonova-Cecon (Cividale del Friuli, Italy). Posted 1 time.

Comment:*After the rice harvest in Japan, pale blue columns of smoke rise up from the paddy fields.

— Diana Teneva (Haskovo, Bulgaria). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* The two factors are juxtaposed in the front and back of the dash.

— tommy ichimiya (Oita, Japan). Posted 3 times.

Comment:* A dynamic expression: "absorbed." Surely, the stone Buddhas can hear you.

— Wieslaw Karlinski (Namyslow, Poland). Posted 3 times.

Comment:* I once tried a sip of Ballantine's 30 Year Old (Blended Scotch Whisky). For a while, I was wandering around in historical dreams.

— Evgeny Ivanov (Moscow, Russia). Posted 2 times.

Comment:* Oh, yeah.

— Bernhard Kopf (Vienna, Austria). Posted 4 times.

Comment:* Haijin.

— Rahadian Tanjung (Jakarta, Indonesia). Posted 3 times.

Comment:* I almost forgot the atmosphere of the standing bar. A long time ago, I quit smoking and drinking alcoholic beverages. Confession — I lied.

— Wolfgang Beutke (Barum, Germany). Posted 4 times.

Comment:* Such romantic wording.

— Abraham Freddy Ben-Arroyo (Haifa, Israel). Posted 3 times.

Comment:* Kindly enough.

— Goda V. Bendoraitiene (Klaipeda, Lithuania). Posted 4 times.

Comment:* He must have scooped mica from the sea.

— Hans-Jurgen Gohrung (Uberlingen, Germany). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* Clever.

— Keith A. Simmonds (Crayford, Dartford, UK). Posted 4 times.

Comment:* A miracle happened.

— Teiichi Suzuki (Osaka, Japan). Posted 7 times.

Comment:* There can be another way using the present progressive form—"cycler melting into."

— Eva Limbach (Saarbrucken, Germany). Posted 9 times.

Comment:* Because her mother is in bed.

— Zelyko Funda (Varazdin, Croatia). Posted 3 times.

Comment:* I would add "hydroelectric" at the top.

— Ken Sawitri (Central Java, Indonesia). Posted 5 times.

Comment:* Mom knows best how to stop every war in the world.

— Angelica Seithe (Wettenberg, Germany). Posted 5 times.

Comment:* BBQ.

— minami eto (Ibaraki, Japan). Posted 5 times.

Comment:* A unique simile.

— Heinz Schneemann (Berlin, Germany). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* "My soul" is a good choice of word.

— Olivier Schopfer (Geneva, Switzerland). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* On the screen, a vampire was going to bite a lady on her white neck.

— Brent Goodman (Rhinelander, WI, USA). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* Sorry, I can't fully imagine the indigo sundress, because I have never seen the echinacea.

— Sandip Chauhan (Great Falls, VA, USA). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* If not priceless, you'd better remain silent.

— Yvonne Wong (Briar Hill, Australia). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* While working, I always burn incense sticks.

— Robert Henry Poulin (Micco, FL, USA). Posted 9 times.

Comment:* The master must have been dreaming in the realm of "satori."

— Philip Noble (Inverness, Scotland). Posted 3 times.

Comment:* As an old miser of Fukushima, I have to object against nuclear power plants. However I like Atom-kun (Astroboy in America) very much, even though he moves by that same nuclear power.

— Cezar-Florin Ciobica (Botosani, Romania). Posted 2 times.

Comment:* So susceptible and delicate.

— martin gottlieb cohen (Egg Harbor, NJ, USA). Posted 3 times.

Comment:* A fine juxtaposition of two daily things: "noon sunlight" and "white chrysanthemum."

— Paul Chambers (Newport, Wales, UK). Posted 2 times.

Comment:** Her eyes flashed.

— Goda V. Bendoraitiene (Klaipeda, Lithuania). Posted 4 times.

Comment:** "Honest" has life in this haiku.

— Billy Antonio (Pangasinan, Philippines). Posted 3 times.

Comment:* This is flawlessly finished. However, I think the author could have found a better word than "quiet." I myself want to put three dots (…) like "…pond" in the first line.

— K. Ramesh (Chennai, India). Posted 3 times.

Comment:* While driving, I sometimes fall to sleep for a minute or two under the twilight.

— John Hamley (Marmora, ON, Canada). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* That's because Doctor prescribes digestive medicine for his whole family.

— Engin Gulez (Silifke, Turkey). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* On the cardboard futon.

— S. Abburi (Bangalore, India). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* I often dream a continuation of a previous dream after each time I get up to use the bathroom.

— Helen Buckingham (Wells, Somerset, UK). Posted 6 times.

Comment:* Helen, how do your limbs go in the freezing cold?

— C. Ronald Kimberling (South Elgin, IL, USA). Posted 2 times.

Comment:* This bears one of the darker aspects of haiku. Ema Yagi (1910-2008), one of my mentors in haiku wrote to me one day after moving from a long-resided estate to a newly-built luxury institution that it was no good for haiku, with too much bright sunlight coming through into the study.

— Bernhard Kopf (Vienna, Austria). Posted 4 times.

Comment:* This reminds me of Issa (1763-1827): the mountain temple / from the bottom of the snow / the sound of the bell (tr. by IH) //.

— Djurdja Vukelic Rozic (Ivanic Grad, Croatia). Posted 2 times.

Comment:* He looks unhappy.

— Mario Massimo Zontini (Parma, Italy). Posted 2 times.

Comment:* The third line might not be the haiku punch, but rather the explanation.

— Steliana Cristina Coicu (Prahova, Romania). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* Then a little boy came back toddling.

— Alan Summers (Bradford-on-Avon, England). Posted 4 times.

Comment:* You can often find a kingfisher in a place where the water is clean and transparent.

— tommy ichimiya (Oita, Japan). Posted 3 times.

Comment:** We feel the dynamism of haiku for the duration of the "falling."

— Toshio Matsumoto (Osaka, Japan). Posted 5 times.

Comment:* "Each time" in the third line induces laughter in the readers.

— Origa (Lansing, MI, USA). Posted 3 times.

Comment:* "Fingertips" can here be called "hosomi," subtleness or fineness in English. We have Nichio Okada (1932- ): gripping the rock tight / on the back of my hand / fog runs by (tr. by IH).

— Artur Lewandowski (Sieradz, Poland). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* A jazz number or a Japanese "enka" (like fado in Portugal) number? No, no, I misunderstood. It's her phone number.

— John Zheng (Itta Bena, MS, USA). Posted 3 times.

Comment:* Melancholic words gathered.

— Priscilla H Lignori (Montgomery, NY, USA). Posted 3 times.

Comment:* The big bird cleverly knows the dangerous circle zone.

— Tony Lewis-Jones (Bristol, UK). Posted 3 times.

Comment:* The number "seven" might be static, never to be altered. Shiki Masaoka (1867-1902): keitouno / jushigohonmo / arinubeshi (There would be / fourteen or fifteen / cockscombs) (tr. by IH).

— Namiko Yamamoto (Kawasaki, Japan). Posted 2 times.

Comment:* This haiku came from her wide intellectual knowledge.

— Alan Summers (Bradford-on-Avon, England). Posted 4 times.

Comment:** I can acknowledge he has created something new in the second and the third lines, but here we have another "hunter's moon:" Arizona Zipper: Hunter's moon, / A stick match lights up / a hound's eye.

— David Jacobs (London, UK). Posted 3 times.

Comment:** A realistic fantasy or a fantastic reality.

— Anna Goluba (Warsaw, Poland). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* There is a haikuic punch in the last word, which is like a living thing.

— Billy Antonio (Pangasinan, Philippines). Posted 3 times.

Comment:* Surely.

— Goda V. Bendoraitiene (Klaipeda, Lithuania). Posted 4 times.

Comment:* In the season dictionary "warmth" is included in the spring category.

— minami eto (Ibaraki, Japan). Posted 5 times.

Comment:* This metaphor may not be a fresh one.

— Toshio Matsumoto (Osaka, Japan). Posted 5 times.

Comment:** Excellent, especially the second and the third lines with two phases of sound.

— Crystal L. Jones (Phoenix, AZ, USA). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* It's a bit of a queer combination to have "breeze" with "winter."

— Heike Gewi (Aden-Crater, Yemen). Posted 2 times.

Comment:* The moon may have been shining extremely brightly, with no artificial lights.

— Asni Amin (Tampines Street, Singapore). Posted 4 times.

Comment:** A new aspect of reflections.

— jerry ball (Walnut Creek, CA, USA). Posted 5 times.

Comment:* Jerry and I are looking forward to her story, even if we are apart.

— Lily Tayag (PSC 76 Box 2776). Posted 1 time.

Comment:** There exists an excellent dynamism. We have another one: Michio Nakahara (1951- ): tobikomino / tochuutamashii / okurekeri (diving / on the way / soul being late) (tr. by IH).

— Eva Limbach (Saarbrucken, Germany). Posted 9 times.

Comment:* Are you? "Big Bang" -- thirteen billion, eight hundred million years ago. It's really amazing.

— Ramona Linke (Beesenstedt, Germany). Posted 5 times.

Comment:* Like Cleopatra, you were in the darkness of white chrysanthemums. Our Buddhas like to have lilies on the altar in every temple.

— K. Ramesh (Chennai, India). Posted 3 times.

Comment:* It's better, or worse, to substitute "before" for "after."

— Sonam Chhoki (Thimphu, Bhutan). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* And we will never forget Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

— Helen Buckingham (Wells, Somerset, UK). Posted 6 times.

Comment:* "Travelling Umbrellas" will be the title of this haiku.

— Vincent O'Connor (Bishopstown, Cork, Ireland). Posted 2 times.

Comment:* You'd better not trace her perfume.

— Mark Miller (Shoalhaven Heads, Australia). Posted 2 times.

Comment:** A splendid mere description of the surroundings.

— Andrius Luneckas (Vilnius, Lithuania). Posted 2 times.

Comment:* A good haiku punch at the end.

— oana boazu (Galati, Romania). Posted 2 times.

Comment:* A very busy year-end scene.

— Teiichi Suzuki (Osaka, Japan). Posted 7 times.

Comment:* Mr. Suzuki would be a great beer drinker.

— Valeria Barouch (Geneva, Switzerland). Posted 2 times.

Comment:* An intricate haiku scene.

— Tatyana Georgieva (Khaskovo, Bulgaria). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* At some public garden in London I picked up a cigarette package with a warning printed on it: "Smoking Kills You."

— Michael Henry Lee (St. Augustine, FL, USA). Posted 3 times.

Comment:* He seems to be talking about himself.

— Juliusz Wnorowski (Warsaw, Poland). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* I saw it.

— Carlos Gesmundo (St. Louis Park, MN, USA). Posted 1 time.

Comment:* It's very suitable for New Year's Eve.