Francine Porad

Francine Porad has made a great difference in my life. After collecting a shoebox full of rejection notes and returned haiku, I was ready to throw in the towel. I knew that I was close to "getting it," but I desperately needed direction. I knew that my images were fresh and real and concrete, but I wasn't building publishable haiku with them. Then I came across the Shiki Haiku Salon on the Internet. Back then, the Shiki Salon Haiku Mailing List was the only place one could go to receive feedback on haiku efforts--and it was loaded with wonderful poets and teachers, as well as with bright, new haiku talents.

I began posting some of my poems that I believed to be haiku. They weren't very good. Some were laughable. Today I blush to remember them. What the heck, most of the stuff posted to that list back then wasn't very good. But we newbies were trying our wings and we were learning in bits and pieces. After a while I submitted more poems to journals. Close but no cigars. I became very frustrated. Then one day I posted a few poems to the Shiki list, and Francine replied to me. Trembling, I read her words. This kind woman whom I had already come to revere opened a door for me, and I raced into the sunlight of new knowledge.

Francine told me kindly but without sugarcoating what I was doing wrong and why, and what I was doing right. She talked in specifics. From that moment on, I was on fire with the determination to study and write and learn all that I could about the art and craft of haiku. Francine not only helped me learn to write better, she also gave me guidance in submitting my work. Because of her generosity in sharing her knowledge and advice, my own haiku spirit grew, and I continued to study and write. Because of her encouragement, I did not give up, and this brought positive sea changes to my life.