Allyson’s Note

Thanks to all the readers; haiku is not complete until someone reads it.

Thanks to all the poets; their work is what makes a journal.

Thanks to all the guest editors; you make this publication far more interesting by bringing your own perspectives and preferences.

Thanks to all the tip jar contributors; not only are the funds appreciated, but they are helping to set a foundation for the project’s future.

I am astounded at the growth of Haiku Girl Summer in Year 3. We doubled submissions from Year 2, had a wait list for guest editors, and continue to increase direct subscribers. I know that some of you worry that the journal won’t come back next year, but I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon. This is, without a doubt, the most satisfying project I have undertaken.

See you next summer. . .

Allyson Whipple
Founding Editor

sweeping aside
the last moth wing
season’s end

Arvinder Kaur
Chandigarh India
Bluesky: @arvinder.bsky.social
Instagram: @arvinderk8
Twitter: @arvinder8

close heat –
the bath water
speckled with rust

Sandra Simpson
New Zealand
https://breathhaiku.wordpress.com/

Learning to be
happy with less
dead heading marigolds

Erin Castaldi
Mays Landing, New Jersey

buddleia
the sun reflected
In bubbles of rain

Melissa Dennison
United Kingdom

last day of camp
the pine trees and our son
an inch taller

Barrie Levine
Massachusetts, USA

skinny dipping
the lake embraces me
everywhere

Morag Elizabeth Humble
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Instagram @guineafowlgirl

produce stand
a heron vanishes
behind the barn

Valentina Ranaldi-Adams
Fairlawn, Ohio, USA

Lingering heat
the flower lets go
its last petal

Laila Brahmbhatt
Brookyln, New York, USA

cloud contrails
flirting with fantasies
of getting away

Sharon Martina
Warrenville, Illinois, USA

gaping fledgling
waiting for the bug
to jump in

Kimberly Kuchar
Austin, Texas, USA

storm warning
rusty wind chimes
without a melody

Tina Mowrey
San Antonio, Texas, USA

clouds

of Jacob's ladder

my spirit lifts

Lillian Nakamura Maguire
Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada

sunny weekend
the neighbour pressure washes
something else

kjmunro
Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada
kjmunro1560.wordpress.com
Bluesky: @kj-munro.bsky.social
Instagram: @kj_munro
Facebook: Yukon Froghat
Twitter: @kjmmjk15

new flowers—
the neighbor children
paint with dirt

Julie Bloss Kelsey
Germantown, Maryland, USA
Instagram @julieblosskelsey

dense woodland
the pied flycatcher
strikes the sky

Joanna Ashwell
United Kingdom
https://www.joannaashwell.com/

goldfinch
this longing
to undulate

Colette Kern
Southold, New York, USA

fledglings fall
then wing on the wind
towards sunset

Korie Beth Brown
Sierra Madre, California, USA

mosquito net
children tracing
shadows

Christina Chin

cactus flower—
it’s not over till it’s over

Shloka Shankar
Bangalore, Karnataka, India
https://www.shlokashankar.com
Instagram: @shloks23

spectrum —
a white-bellied sea eagle
disperses first light

Lakshmi Iyer
Trivandrum, Kerala, India

sunflower field
trying to guess where
he parked his car

Maya Daneva
The Netherlands

playing with mud
one human after another
released from her hands

Deborah Karl-Brandt
Sinzig, Germany
Bluesky: @dkarlbrandt

deck renovation
removing the rotting planks
inside myself

Adele Evershed
Wilton, Connecticut, USA
Bluesky: @adlibby

trout stream of consciousness vacation

Lorraine A Padden
San Diego, California, USA
lorrainepadden.com

angelus bells
raking hay til the hour
of my death

Bisshie

not seeking
another companion
last firefly

Ruth Holzer
Potomac Falls, Virginia, USA

Editor Bio: Allyson Whipple is the founding editor of Haiku Girl Summer and and current managing editor of Frogpond: The Journal of the Haiku Society of America. She is still hard at work on The Culinary Saijiki manuscript and is planning to release the first Haiku Girl Summer anthology in 2026.

Tip Jar

Haiku Girl Summer will always be a free publication. If you want to make a financial contribution, please visit Allyson Whipple’s Buy Me a Coffee page. Mention Haiku Girl Summer in the comment box and your donation will go into a pool that will be divided among the guest editors at the end of the 2025 editorial run.

Merch

After repeated requests, I set up a Haiku Girl Summer merch shop. You can order T-shirts and tank tops, along with hats, mugs, buttons, and a spiral notebook. Email me if there are other items you’d like to see!