unfinished to-do list--
my roses lure me out
into sunlight

zanmu ari bara ni sasoware hi no nakahe

haiku - Michael Dylan Welch
painting - Mary Rodning
translation - Hiromi Inoue
calligraphy - Shisen
haiga - Jasminka
bamboo flute - Choshi

Presenting the selected author of
this issue's Haiku this Haiga:
MICHAEL DYLAN WELCH,
Washington, US

My first contact with Michael was in 2003 on WHChaikumultimedia when he generously lent a haiku to one of our haiga exercises and served as guest critic (World Haiku Review December 2003). During that exercise, we all became familiar with Michael's approach to modern haiga, that the image should not simply illustrate the haiku but work in a renku-like 'link/shift' relationship with it, each enriching the meaning of the other. "Open Windows", his own photo haiku site at Brooks Books Haiku, clearly illustrates this philosophy.

When Michael submitted this haiku to us, he included a short note. "Believing that the key aspect of haiga is the oblique way that the image and poem relate to each other, I have deliberately avoided writing about spiders and spider webs, since that's already obvious in the image. I hope this poem might resonate."

Indeed it does, and we are honored to present the haiku by Michael Dylan Welch that was selected to poem this issue's Haiku this Haiga painting.