Sizzling summer haiku

sun-striped path
the forest’s outbreath
fills our lungs

This mixed media collage is 11×14, made with paper, acrylic paint, charcoal, crayon, ink and glue on cradled wood. A birthday card version reads, “happy birthday—may you grow many more rings.” © Annette Makino 2023

Today is sunny, but through the weekend, the clouds hung on till afternoon, and I was chilly enough to wear a wool sweater. Here on the Northern California coast, we have entered the month of Fogust. In our cool and damp micro-clime, so perfect for redwoods, locals are amazed by the temperature if it reaches 70 degrees.

But having lived near Ukiah, CA as a teen and visited family often since, I know a little about triple-digit heat. Today I’m sharing a haiku sequence that I wrote on a recent trip there.

By the way, while traditional haiku are supposed to convey the season, there are lots of ways to do that without stating it directly. This sequence only uses the word “summer” once, but you’ll see that there are many creative ways to imply it.

Today I’m also featuring two collage haiga (art with haiku) that were inspired by my time in beautiful Mendocino County.

Heat Wave

weathered fence posts
resting on the wire
meadowlark song

This mixed media collage is 8×10, made with paper, acrylic paint, crayon, ink and glue on cradled wood. © Annette Makino 2023

English Breakfast
a real scorcher
gathers steam

record highs
the weather map
blazing

wildfire season
the first clothes I hung
tinder-dry

and the seasons . . .
turning the fan
to summer mode

heat haze
a hummingbird
fans the air

ninety in the shade
a glass of iced tea
sweating

cherry pits
stud the bear scat
exposed trail

the day’s heat
still rising from the stones
the whoosh of bats

first stars
we open every window
to let in the night

Whether yours is foggy and damp or sunny and dry, I hope you’re enjoying the summer!

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Makino Studios News

Free shipping this week: Your Makino Studios order ships free through Sunday, August 10 with code SIZZLE25. Enter the code at checkout. No minimum order. US addresses only.

This haiga, painted with sumi ink and Japanese watercolors on paper, appears in Water and Stone: Ten Years of Art and Haiku, Annette Makino, Makino Studios, 2021.

2026 calendar focus group: I’m working away on the collages for my 2026 mini-calendar of art and haiku! I could use some input on which image to use for the cover. If you’re interested in getting a sneak peek online and voting on the contestants, please reply to this email. And if you were part of last year’s focus group, I’ll include you again. Thanks!

Haiku 21.2: I’m honored to have the following haiku in Haiku 21.2, a new anthology of contemporary haiku in English, published by Modern Haiku Press:

October sun
the sky the color
of forever

Haiku North America: This biannual conference will be held in San Francisco September 24-28. I’m excited to attend HNA for the first time! Registration is still open for anyone interested in haiku.

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“Heat Wave” was published in Frogpond, 48.2, Spring/Summer 2025

The Galápagos in haiku

“Enchanted Islands” is 11x14, created with oil paint, cold wax medium, rice paper and sumi ink on paper. © Annette Makino 2023

So my husband and I made a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the Galápagos Islands last December. We had a truly magical week seeing blue-footed boobies, Galápagos penguins, land tortoises and sea lions, all unafraid of the gawking humans.

We kayaked through a lagoon with sea turtles, marine iguanas and rays. We snorkeled through lava tunnels with whitetip reef sharks and schools of brilliant tropical fish. And we hiked around a volcano crater, meeting a land iguana in the wild. I now understand why the place that Charles Darwin made famous is known as the Enchanted Islands.

As soon as we returned to mainland Ecuador, I came down with a nasty case of Covid. I had to spend the next week alone in a hotel room while my husband traveled around with our son, who spent fall semester there. (Fortunately for me, Uber Eats operates in Quito!)

Despite getting sick, I’m thankful that I got to the Galápagos, and am still processing the trip. Today I am sharing a recently published haiku sequence from that time. I hope this gives you a sense of the experience—without the cooties!

Galápagos 

Enchanted Islands
a sea turtle glides
along our kayak 

through the waves
without a narrator
marine iguana 

local character
a sea lion snoozes
on a park bench 

cumulus clouds 
flowing over the rim
cooled lava

luggage piled
on the boat taxi’s roof
frigate birds 

my breath
into thin air . . .
volcano fog

I would love to know hear what places are on your bucket list!

Publication credit: Frogpond, 46:2, Spring/Summer 2023

Sleeping sea lion spotted in Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island, the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador.

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Makino Studios News

Hello summer: Cards, notecard sets, books, prints—take 15% off everything in the store with your order of $15 or more thru 11:59 p.m. this Sunday, July 2. Enter code SUMMER15 at checkout. One code per order.

Sunkist Festival: This small and delightful fair, cancelled due to rain in May, has been rescheduled for Sunday, August 6, from 11 to 5. Besides arts and crafts booths, the festival will feature wood-fired pizzas and other goodies plus live music. 135 Sunkist Lane, off Glendale near the Blue Lake Murphy’s Market in McKinleyville, CA.

Obon Festival: Organized by Humboldt Asian Pacific Islanders in Solidarity (HAPI), the Obon Festival will take place on Sunday, August 13 at the Creamery District in Arcata, CA. There will be taiko drumming, bon odori dancing, bento boxes, games for kids and vendors like me. (I’ve decided not to do the North Country Fair in September, so these two fairs are your best shot at catching my Makino Studios booth in the coming months!)

Studio visits: If you can’t make it to the fairs, I am also happy to schedule a visit to my home studio located between Arcata and Blue Lake, CA.

Meanwhile: I’ve been working away on my art, experimenting with a new technique (oil and cold wax medium, as in the sea turtle piece above), and playing with more mixed media in my collages. In the coming months these will find their way into cards, calendars and eventually another book like Water and Stone!