Well, What Do You Know?

From Cattails, the official journal of the United Haiku and Tanka Society, premier issue, Jan. 2014, p. 17:

after the wildfire
I emerge from the well
with only my name

     dopo l’incendio
     emergo dal pozzo
     con soltanto il mio nome

E. Martin Pedersen, Italy


There were so many wonderful haiku submitted, it was nearly impossible to select so few Editor’s Choices. However, this one by E. Martin Pedersen from Italy, stood out as definitely a unique moment that certainly gave me pause. I often think of everything being “so pastoral” in Italy, but in this haiku, the realization of life “after a wildfire” is the same no matter where one lives, or perhaps worse. Stripped down to just “his name" is such an excellent “aha” in the last line. Both this haiku and Marianna's (above), involve “self” and are more personal than I usually select, however both are obviously by experienced authors as they are composed in a way that anyone can feel the true force of nature overpowering the human aspect.—cattails Principal editor an’ya, USA