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

gallery café
someone else's child
dancing for us

winter park -
white wings and blue lights
flashing

photo archive
the ice skaters' grins
frozen in time

... upon seeing a picture of Torville and Dean skating on home "turf" in our record office

a wasp
struggling in the web
last apples

rewriting
the first draft
coffee stain

chimp on the pump
a pint of
Blue Monkey

daughter's homework
even in my dreams
Fibonacci

lost in the country
the surprised yaw!
of a peacock

hazard lights
through raindrops
October leaves

Sympathy for the Devil
a wood pigeon
joins in

"konichi wa"
the parrot's blank stare -
only fluent in English

solid gold hits -
I wish the builders could be
California girls

far from home
the morning chatter
of flying foxes

winter sunset
the faded colours
of the fro-yo shack

Uluru sunrise
tourists armed
with selfie sticks

zoo shop
green ants haul
a cockroach skyward

under serendipity
I find my surname
in the hotel phone book

(When you have a rare spelling of a rare surname, chance phone book trawling is a requisite pastime).