Starting in 2018, Corine Timmer has been publishing annual anthologies focusing on the animals of the Chinese zodiac. I’ve had haiku in each collection but one, listed here in chronological order, most recent first. Proceeds from each book have gone to charities related to the animal featured that year. I also blurbed the first book, Barking Mad, by saying “Once let off the leash, Corine’s imagination ran away with her. After a lot of digging and haiku-sniffing she found what she was looking for. A round of howls for Corine Timmer for this barking mad collection. These canine haiku will get your tail wagging!” Please visit the Bicadeideias website for publisher details. See also my own sequence of zodiac haiku, “Shēngxiào / 生肖.”
2024 — year of the dragon
shadows growing
at the end of our garden
here be dragons
2023 — year of the rabbit
red dust still settling . . .
my finger blurs
the hare’s faint track
2022 — year of the tiger
the cat’s claws
deeper into the sofa—
divorce pending
2021 — year of the ox
growing heat—
cows in the lee
of the rotting barn
2020 — year of the rat
rats in the rafters—
you tell me it’s time
to close the summer house
2019 — year of the pig
(no poem)
2018 — year of the dog
together
we take the old dog’s route
summer rain