An absolutely stunning collection of some the best work by an already accomplished poet in the Tanka genre. Kala Ramesh is a teacher, poet, and leader in expanding the role of poetry in India as well as the English speaking world. She has become a worldwide force for Japanese poetry, and lectured and presented many times in India and abroad. “The Forest I Know”, Tanka, Tanka Prose, and Tanka Sutras. Reviewed by Mike Rehling

BUY “The Forest I Know” on Amazon! https://www.amazon.in/dp/9354227589 in INDIA OR https://smile.amazon.com/Forest-I-Kno… IN THE USA

We will be attempting an experiment on August 21st at 1:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time! We will convene a meeting of several past and present editors of Failed Haiku and Prune Juice. The summit will last for 90 minutes, and begin with a discussion from each participant, followed by questions from the audience. Some folks who will be in attendance (hopefully) based on schedules and Internet connections are:

Bryan Rickert

Tia Haynes

Kelly Sauvage

Terri French

Steve Hodge

Michael Rehling

If you wish to participate email us at:

senryuseminar@haikuhut.com

Bryan Rickert did a wonderful job on Issue 68!!! A great collection of eclectic senryu to enjoy!

https://www.haikuhut.com/FailedHaikuIssue68.pdf

AND, DRUM ROLL PLEASE!!!! Kelly Sauvage has agreed to join Bryan and I as a co-editor. We are thrilled that she agreed and please check out her page for more about her. She has guest edited and done a wonderful job, and we look forward to her input and energy.

Yours truly, will be cutting back. I am feeling much better, and thank you all for your kindnesses, and good thoughts! But, my Internet is off the charts awful, and I want to spend more time expanding the Failed Haiku Video library which I can do without deadlines by going to public WIFI spots for uploads. I will still be doing a couple of issues a year, and maybe some readings, book reviews, and commentary. Look for announcements soon, as we are planning a Senryu Summit on Zoom with guest editors, and some interviews with true Senryu greats. More later!

Bryan and Kelly will be more the face of Failed Haiku as we enter the new year, and there are not two people anywhere I trust and love as poets and editors more than these two. Please congratulate them for having the silly fortitude to take an elephant off my back and continue the work of FH!!! My thanks and gratitude to them both!

Peace

Mike

The Murtha Contest Results are out, and we have published the top three winners AND the Honorable Mentions. You can get the Link to the full commentary on page two of the current issue.

CLICK HERE FOR ISSUE 67

CHECK OUT THE NEW ISSUE OF Prune Juice Journal!

Congratulations to everyone!!!

The top three prize winners have been notified. The rest of the poems shortlisted for the contest will be revealed on July 1 in BOTH Prune Juice Journal and Failed Haiku editions that will be out that day. SO many great poems.

Our thanks to Tia Haynes and Bryan Rickert who had the hard task of wading through a enormous group of wonderful poems! Thank you all for making their job so very hard, the quality was astounding!

BUT, to tide you over while you wait for the results PLEASE take a moment to download and read this short e-book that Gene Murtha put out just prior to his passing, and also you can search The Heron’s Nest website for his work as well. He loved the ‘Nest’ and published many of his poems there over the years. This contest was created to keep his poems and the memory of his outrageous soul alive for others to enjoy. He had a passion for life that may have have consumed him in the end, but I have nothing but fond memories of Gene right now. So please read his poems and enjoy.

BIDING TIME, by H. Gene Murtha

Peace

Mike

Did I say ‘short’ delay??? That was really off now wasn’t it? Well, it is now up and I was able to perform the miracle of resurrection on hundreds of senryu!

https://haikuhut.com/FailedHaikuIssue66.pdf

For those who have expressed concern, I will survive. My neck pain is back with a vengeance, and my headaches again out of control. No worries, I have a great team of Doctors and soon (I hope) we will have this better again. A medication was prescribed for another condition that triggered all of this, and next week I have consultations with all of my physicians. I ain’t dead yet, not even close!

Not to worry for FH though, I have a great co-editor who is doing the next issue and Bryan is young and healthy (or so he tells me) so we are open for business again. My passion for Failed Haiku is only equalled by Bryan’s so we are planning a lot of good things to end this year. Stay tuned.

I appreciate you all, your patience, and your kindnesses to me.

Peace

Mike

Well, here I am again with an apology. Oh well!!! I always have no reliable Internet, but I can usually go out and find a place to work if I need to, but not this time. A ‘new’ prescription had an unintended consequence and made things worse for me and not better. I am letting it all clear my system and will get out acceptances, and format the issue in a few days. So sorry. I am working on some workarounds for all of this, and will let you know soon.

Also, the Murtha Contest is closing at midnight tonight, and will be just fine and on time. I have Tia and Bryan to thank for that!!!

Peace

Mike

My apologies for being a bit late, but the Internet gremlins took me down and out twice in the middle of the final edit. I am waiting impatiently for Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites to reach critical mass and give me real Internet.

This issue has some very unique work, by some talented poets. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did putting it together.

ALSO, our next issue is a BACK FROM THE DEAD issue! Check the Submissions Page for some details, but this ONLY for poems that have been rejected by OTHER EDITORS.

CLICK HERE FOR ISSUE 65

Mike Rehling ‘Failed Editor’