Under the shade of the pōhutukawa by the moana. Mike Johansson stands under the inspiration for his acclaimed haiku. Photo / Doug Laing
Under the shade of the pōhutukawa by the moana. Mike Johansson stands under the inspiration for his acclaimed haiku. Photo / Doug Laing
If absence makes the heart grow fonder, Napier man Mike Johansson muses it may be the big factor in his success with haiku, a form of short verse that suddenly brought unexpected international acclaim.
The former Napier Daily Telegraph reporter, who after 30 years in the US returned to NewZealand three years ago and became the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council’s director of communications and engagement, is one of three accorded “High Distinction” in The Best Haiku of 2025 competition, run by the Society of Classical Poets, based in Mount Hope, New York.
The trio were bettered only by the winner, Rivka Kaplan-Peck, who has published a book on haiku.
Johansson says that during his years in the US, where he lectured in journalism at the Rochester Institute of Technology, he would of often think and write about the good things back home.
His social media posts in America about places in New Zealand attracted a following, and at Christmas, when he thought of home, he says: “All I could think of was pōhutukawa, the sea, Cape Kidnappers ... ”
Haiku is described by AI as “a traditional Japanese three-line poem with a 5-7-5 syllable structure” and AI says: “Traditionally, haiku focus on nature and seasonal moments, using vivid imagery to capture a single experience in time.”
A former colleague in the US told him of the competition, and he realised “pōhutukawa” somehow fitted the haiku format, in which he had taken an interest due to the fascination two teachers at intermediate and high school in Napier had with it.
Judges complimented him particularly on getting the five-syllable “pōhutukawa” into the middle line, so he’s now looking at doing the same with “Aotearoa”.
