Venus at dusk
her face
in my brake lights

pop up shop all eyes on me

a rewritten oldie

biopsy results her chirpy ringtone

approaching storm
one last swift
still being a swift

"konichi wa"
the parrot's silent
blink

(Port Douglas, Queensland, August 2015)

growing up her favourite doll now lives alone

cow parsley
swifts swoop low over
the disused pitch

airport toilets
one by one the hand dryers
spooling up

pausing on his crutches he relights his roll-up

Blithe Spirit

After a great deal of consideration, I will not be standing for re-election in the role of Blithe Spirit editor for 2017/18 in the forthcoming British Haiku Society elections.

Three more issues of Blithe Spirit will be published with me at the helm, starting next month. My final issue will be Volume 26, issue 4, due to go out in November 2016.

After a recent spell of bad health due to a chronic health condition, I'm in the mood to streamline a few areas of my life. The editorship of Blithe Spirit is one thing I feel the need to jettison.

There may be a chance that I'll stand for election as editor again in the future, but for now it's time to hand the reins to someone else. I want to look upon the eight issues I will produce with fondness and pride; I don't want to look at 16 issues and think they were a nightmare.

If any British Haiku Society members are interested in standing for this interesting and rewarding role, please contact me at my editorial email: bs dot editor at hotmail dot com for further advice and information. I will give all the help I can to any potential successor.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the other members of the BHS committee past and present for their help and support and to the brilliant cover artist Andy Brown whose covers rank among the best the journal has ever had.

Cheers
Dave

frost
on the spent firework casing
new year's day