Among my past lives I was an editor of small town newspapers, and I've always loved gathering material and arranging pages. I also enjoy photography, so preparing my photos/digital art to fit the themes was an exciting challenge. (Why black and white? Shades of my old darkroom days!)

The poets are folks I've met through various workshops, forums, blogs, etc. Although it was difficult to choose from so many excellent haiku, I selected ones that spoke to me strongly, then I arranged them in various themes.

I also wanted to show appreciation to some of the mentors who helped me along the haiku path... Mike Rehling, Robert Wilson, Carol Raisfeld, an'ya, Jane Reichhold, Lorin Ford... and many others who offered suggestions and encouragement.

From one of my haiku published in Mainichi, 05/05:

xxxx ten ducklings...
xxxx a procession
xxxx of ripples