In combing through the photos I’ve taken these past few months, I came across this one from mid-December when my family rented a house on the Oregon Coast. The weather wasn’t great, but during a rain-free window, I made it down to the beach and spent a delightful hour combing the shingle for interesting rocks. As you can see, I found some. Pockets full, I brought them back to the house where I could better examine them (and warm up with a cup of tea). After much deliberation, I selected a few to keep, returning the rest to the ocean the next day. Perhaps a few will end up in someone else’s pocket, or perhaps they will continue to be tumbled by the surf.
The excitement of looking for rocks is not dissimilar to that of reading submissions for Kingfisher. I never know what I’ll find, but my pockets are only so big, just as the number of poems I can publish in an issue is finite. As my family demonstrated when I showed them my beach finds, not every rock appeals to everyone, and that’s okay. We all have our own views, and that’s good. But each rock I plucked from the beach caught my eye for a reason, just as each haiku that I select for Kingfisher does. Have I stretched the metaphor too far? Perhaps. But that joy of discovery and delight in sharing with others is still the same.
Submissions for Kingfisher #9 are open the entire month of February (all 29 days this year). For complete submissions guidelines, please check out the website: https://kingfisherjournal.com/submissions/
Not sure what types of haiku & senryu I publish in Kingfisher? Consider ordering a back issue. Right now, issues 2 thru 6 are $5 for shipping to U.S. addresses. For folks outside the U.S., I have digital versions of issues 5 thru 8 available for $10 apiece. And if you haven’t renewed your subscription for 2024, now is a great time to do so. Subscriptions and donations are what allow me to keep publishing Kingfisher and sharing these brilliant haiku with you. https://kingfisherjournal.com/shop/
Thank you for your interest in Kingfisher. I look forward to reading your poems!
Your writing, personal and inviting, make me want to submit.
Dear Ms. Editor! I cherish the issue you kindly sent to me . I hope you liked Wind Arrow, the renku anthology. Today I want to respond to your love of rocks. In my house I display the rocks from North Shore Minnesota our friends we mingled with while our living in Minneapolis in the early eighties. Rocks are eternal to me. Thank you for writing that introduction!!!! sincerely, eiko yachimoto