Francine Porad

Francine Porad was the first editor to publish one of my haiku, back in
the glory days of "Brussels Sprout". Truth be told, she did far more than that - she patiently endured the well-meaning but ultimately mediocre submissions of a haiku neophyte and provided constructive criticism with each reply. And when one of my haiku finally passed the test, she shared in my celebration. She is, has been, and continues to be a mentor and an inspiration.

Fittingly, the first of my haiku to grace the pages of her journal were
about writer's block:

staring
at a blank sheet of paper -
a night
without words

Paul David Mena