February Is Fleeting!

In spite of being the shortest month of the year, this February has been surprisingly full: lots of auntying, a few in-person haiku meetings, a weeklong vacation to Chicago, and of course, receiving and reading Kingfisher submissions.

Thank you to everyone who has already sent their submission, and to those of you who haven’t yet done so, you’ve got until the end of the day on February 28 (that’s Tuesday). I recommend reading the submission guidelines before sending your poems, because after each issue, I fine-tune my guidelines to better reflect what I’m looking for: https://kingfisherjournal.com/submissions/ As always, I’m looking for haiku that dazzle me, haiku that are fresh and innovative, haiku that show me something new, or show me something familiar in a new way. Take Lake Michigan, for example. Until last week, I’d never seen it from the ground, and although I knew it was large, I was fascinated by the fact that I couldn’t see the far shore. Moreover, since I’ve lived most of my life on the West Coast, I kept thinking I was gazing west because the Pacific Ocean is my usual point of reference for large bodies of water. And there was no briny scent, which was also new and strange to me. In short, I was dazzled by the lake. I love being dazzled.

So consider this your final nudge for the submission period (and nudge your friends, too). I look forward to reading your haiku/senryu, and for those of you who are waiting to hear back from me, thank you for your patience. Chicago sidetracked me in lots of wonderful ways, but I’m back and responding to submissions as fast as I can. Enjoy the rest of this full, short month!