Category: Biology

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fallen log by Travis Park

fallen log
after the rain
one green light

by Travis Park

Several species of fungi are naturally bioluminescent, producing a soft green glow through a chemical reaction involving the molecules luciferin and luciferase. Although the purpose of this light is still being studied, research suggests it may attract insects that help disperse fungal spores, particularly in dark forest environments. 

Further reading:

‘Bioluminescent fungus’, Wikipedia article, available: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioluminescent_fungus 

Author bio:

Travis Park is an Indiana writer whose work has appeared or is forthcoming in Modern Haiku, Ribbons, Presence, Wales Haiku Journal, Leaf Journal, Haikuniverse, and other publications. More of his work can be found on Instagram at @travisparkarchive.

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Pheromones by John Hawkhead

pheromones
the short-lived affair
of ant flights

by John Hawkhead

The word ‘Pheromone’ derives from the Greek words ‘pherein’ (to carry) and ‘hormon’ (to excite). They are chemical messengers emitted by a body into the environment where they can activate specific physiological or behavioural responses in other individuals of the same species. 

During the nuptial mating flights of ants, pheromones work as chemical control centres. They are the impetus behind the synchronized mass take-off from ant colonies and the mid-air attraction between virgin-queens and drones.

Recent studies have found that pheromones may also play an important role in the behavioural and reproduction biology of humans.

Further reading:

‘Pheromones’, Wikipedia article, available: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pheromone

Author bio:

John Hawkhead (@haikuhawk.bsky.social) is a writer and artist from the south-west of England. His work has been published globally over the last 25 years, including three books of haiku / senryu: ‘Small Shadows’ and ‘Bone Moon’ (available from Alba Publishing. http://www.albapublishing.com/) and ‘Four Horse Parable’ (available from Nun Prophet Press).

Read more of John’s sciku here!

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Subsea tender loving care by Douglas J. Lanzo

the tenderness
of a mother’s touch
eight arms caressing eggs

by Douglas J. Lanzo

Mother octopuses are so devoted to ensuring the health and survival of their eggs that they outdo all of nature in their supreme final acts of sacrifice. And these acts last much longer than you would ever imagine. Brushing her eggs to keep them free of silt and sediment, blowing water over them to diffuse oxygen through their membranes and constantly guarding her eggs with eight arms to ward off reef fish, eels and starfish, a mother octopus dedicates 100% of her time, energy and attention to her brood.

This means that from the moment she strands her eggs and attaches them to the walls of her den, she remains with them, staying with them day and night for the remainder of her life (which last another 1 to 4 months for a Common Octopus, 5 to 10 months for a Great Pacific Octopus and about 53 months for a deep-sea octopus). During this time, the mother octopus slowly starves to death in a process known as senescence, passing away just before or at the same time as her eggs begin to hatch. This ensures that the mother octopus does not cannibalize her young and provides them a greater change of survival by diverting predators to feast on her rather than on the myriad of new hatchlings.

In a fascinating discovery, scientists have learned that a mother octopus’ senescence is triggered by an optic gland switching from producing hunger-driving hormones to producing a toxic blend of cholesterol precursors and steroids. It provides her just enough strength to care for, caress, fan, siphon and guard her eggs, but not enough energy to survive their birth. An impeccably timed act of ultimate sacrifice and devotion, driven by science and, perhaps, by just a touch of tender loving care.

Further reading:

To learn more about this fascinating end of life behavior, check out the 2023 BBC Documentary Planet Earth III — Episode: “Oceans” (available at Amazon Prime Video: Planet Earth III) featuring groundbreaking footage of Pearl Octopuses as they nest by thermal springs two miles beneath the waves or the 2017 BBC Documentary Blue Planet II— Episode: “Our Blue Planet” or “Green Seas” detailing the supreme sacrifice of Common Octopuses in kelp forests and coral reefs (on Google Play or HBO Max or stream or purchase the individual episodes through the Amazon Prime Video: Blue Planet II landing page).

Author bio:

Doug is an award-winning writer whose novel The Year of the Bear and novella I Have Lived were named 2023 and 2024 books of the year, respectively. 589 of Doug’s poems have found homes in 79 literary journals, 9 anthologies and 2 books all around the world. His Author’s website is www.douglaslanzo.com.

Check out other sciku by Doug here.

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Squishy by Kelly Westhoff

we all started out
squishy like a grub before
growing June bug shells

by Kelly Westhoff

June bugs appear for just a short time each year. Even so, their bulky shells and clumsy movements make quite an impression as they stumble around trying to secure a place in the light.

These scarab beetles might seem like they have a very short life, but in reality their life span can last years. Most of a June bug’s life is spent underground. Once it hatches from the egg, the larva takes the form of a white grub. The grub feeds on roots, descending deeper into the soil when winter comes and rising closer to the surface in warmer months. A June bug grub can spend up to three years feeding in the ground before becoming a pupa and emerging as the awkward adult beetle with the hard, rounded shell that we readily recognize.

Further reading:

‘Pest . . . or snack? June bugs are the ‘croutons of the sky’’, 2021, Manning, P., Dal News, available: https://www.dal.ca/news/2021/05/26/pest——-or-snack–june-bugs-are-the–croutons-of-the-sky-.html

‘June bug’, Encyclopaedia Britannica, available: https://www.britannica.com/animal/June-beetle

Author bio:

Kelly Westhoff loves fitting words into the 5-7-5 format of traditional haiku. For her, haiku is a practice in mindfulness. She enjoys discovering parallels between her life and nature. She lives in Minnesota where the ever-changing seasons are a constantly-renewing source of inspiration. Find more of her haiku on Instagram @KellyWesthoffWrites.

Read more sciku by Kelly: ‘The Sound of a Worm’ and ‘Your Roots’.

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Your Roots by Kelly Westhoff

the soil at your roots
determines much of your life
rosy hydrangea

by Kelly Westhoff

Hydrangea are synonymous with summer. These leafy shrubs filled with profuse balls of blooms grace boulevards, lawns, parks, and patios. Cut hydrangea blooms are also popular in floral arrangements. Hydrangea flowers appear in many colors: white, green, pink, lavender, and blue. Sometimes, one hydrangea bush might boast blooms of two different colors. Hydrangea flowers can even change color, going from white one year to blue the next.

How does this happen?

It all depends on the chemical composition of the soil in which the hydrangea grows–the acidity and the aluminum levels are key. Backyard gardeners have all sorts of home remedies to alter the soil composition under a hydrangea bush and thus change the color of the blooms. Some say a bed of pine needles will do the trick while others believe in burying rusty nails by the roots. The most reliable tactic, however, is to stop in a local garden store, ask the advice of a master gardener, and purchase the specialty fertilizer they suggest.

Further reading:

‘Curious Chemistry Guides Hydrangea Colors’, 2014, Schreiber, H., American Scientist, available: https://www.americanscientist.org/article/curious-chemistry-guides-hydrangea-colors

Author bio:

Kelly Westhoff loves fitting words into the 5-7-5 format of traditional haiku. For her, haiku is a practice in mindfulness. She enjoys discovering parallels between her life and nature. She lives in Minnesota where the ever-changing seasons are a constantly-renewing source of inspiration. Find more of her haiku on Instagram @KellyWesthoffWrites.

Read more sciku by Kelly: ‘The Sound of a Worm’ and ‘Squishy’.

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Sonic Booms Fired from the Reef by Douglas J. Lanzo

spit-fired flames
the coral-creviced crackling
of shrimp

by Douglas J. Lanzo

If you’ve ever snorkeled over a reef and heard strange crackling sounds, chances are that you were tuning in to one of the most remarkable creatures of the reef: snapping shrimp.

As soon as a reef snapping shrimp spots its prey, such as a small goby, hermit crab or bristle worm, it springs into action, pulling back its upper claw into an open position akin to cocking the hammer of a pistol. Upon releasing a specialized, latching joint, its claw finger slams shut in less than a millisecond, ejecting water from its socket at speeds of up to 100 km/hour. The intense speed of this water jet shears the water apart, creating a cavitation bubble whose implosion produces a sonic shockwave of over 200 decibels in acoustic pressure, instantly killing the stunned prey.

As if these feats of physics were not enough, the shrimp’s snap also produces an intense burst of light called sonoluminescence whose temperature for a few nanoseconds approaches the temperature on the surface of the sun.

Further reading:

To learn more about this spectacular hunting technique, check out BBC Earth (Weird Nature): Pistol Shrimp Superheats Water!, BBC Earth (Richard Hammond’s Invisible Worlds): Pistol Shrimp’s Cavitation Bubble and the incredible footage capturing over 10,000 frames per second of The Patek Lab (Duke University).

Author bio:

Doug is an award-winning writer whose novel The Year of the Bear and novella I Have Lived were named 2023 and 2024 books of the year, respectively. 589 of Doug’s poems have found homes in 79 literary journals, 9 anthologies and 2 books all around the world. His Author’s website is www.douglaslanzo.com.

Check out other sciku by Doug here.

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Plum Blossom by Sarah Das Gupta

Blossoming plum in a moonlit garden
flower falls lightly on a royal forehead
even a princess’s beauty enhanced

by Sarah Das Gupta
Botanical name:Prunus mume
Popular names:Plum Blossom, Meihua (China)
Family:Rosaceae
Origin:Area round Yangtze River, spread to Japan, Korea and Vietnam
Habitat:Found in sparse forests, at edge of trails up to 3,100m. Sunny position, fertile soil, no water logging, blossom subject to frost damage.

The national flower of China, the Plum blossom, starts to flower in late winter, early spring. Colours range through white, pink and red. The blossom has a characteristic fragrance. In China there are over 300 recorded cultivars.

Plum blossom plays an important symbolic role in Confucianism and Daoism. It represents the Five Virtues: benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and trustworthiness. The trees often bloom in adverse conditions which perhaps explains the flowers’ association with resilience and perseverance.

In Chinese art and calligraphy this blossom is often celebrated. It is the subject of classical poetry in the work of Wang Anshi and Lin Bu.

Further reading:

‘The Plum and Its Cultivation’, 2011, Bagenal, N.B., Cope Press, ISBN: 9781446537268

Author bio:

Sarah Das Gupta is a young 81 year old. Loves writing haiku and most forms of poetry. Is learning to walk after an accident. Main outside interests include equine sports. Lives near Cambridge, UK. Read other sciku by Sarah here.

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The Sound of a Worm by Kelly Westhoff

in this noisy world
robins tune out everything
and listen for worms

by Kelly Westhoff

Robins can often be seen hopping around the grassy lawns of parks and homes hunting for earthworms. But worms live underground, so how do robins know where they are? Robins can hear them! Well, not exactly. Worms don’t make noise, but their movements underground do stir up soil and roots and leaves, and that’s what robins can hear.

If you watch a robin hunt, you’ll likely notice that it will often pause and cock its head. Researchers think this is when a robin is “listening” for worms. In the past, scientists thought robins could see grass shift as a worm passed underneath and that this was how they found their prey.

However, in the 1990s, scientists captured some robins and created a variety of scenarios, like hiding worms deep in dirt under a layer of cardboard and playing loud music while robins hunted. The robins had the hardest time finding worms when their hearing was compromised, leading the scientists to believe the birds rely on their ears more than their eyes while seeking worms. When the study was done, all the robins were released back into the wild.

Further reading:

‘How Do American Robins Find Worms? Behold the Rich Sensory World of Birds’, 2026, McGlashen, A., Audubon Magazine, available: https://www.audubon.org/magazine/how-do-american-robins-find-worms-behold-rich-sensory-world-of-birds

Author bio:

Kelly Westhoff loves fitting words into the 5-7-5 format of traditional haiku. For her, haiku is a practice in mindfulness. She enjoys discovering parallels between her life and nature. She lives in Minnesota where the ever-changing seasons are a constantly-renewing source of inspiration. Find more of her haiku on Instagram @KellyWesthoffWrites.

Read more sciku by Kelly: ‘Your Roots’ and ‘Squishy’.

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Cherry Blossom by Sarah Das Gupta

Blossom in the wind
an elfin candyfloss drifting
in a Japanese garden

by Sarah Das Gupta
Botanical name:Wild cherry – Prunus avium
Popular names:Cherry Blossom, Sakura (Japan)
Family:Rosaceae
Origin:Widely distributed in Northern Hemisphere and Eastern Asia, especially Japan
Habitat:Grows best in full sunlight and fertile soil. Will not tolerate being waterlogged.

The national flower of Japan is the cherry blossom. Trees in parks and gardens, are bred from wild cultivars such as Prunus speciosa (Oshima Cherry) which is native to Japan and can produce double flowers and grows rapidly. In the modern era trees are generally propagated by grafting. Classifying cherry trees is difficult as they have a tendency to mutate. Prunus itosakura is a wild, species which grows slowly but has the longest life among cherry trees. Jindai—sakura is over 2,000 years old and believed to be the oldest surviving cherry. Often such ancient trees are seen as sacred and mark Shinto shrines. The flowers of ornamental cherries have a characteristic scent, like vanilla.

The term ‘hanami’ refers to the practice of ‘flower viewing’ which was originally popular with the Imperial Court but with the planting of cherry trees in urban areas in the modern era, it has spread to all classes.

Modern cultivars are being developed with a resistance to disease, especially to an invasive longhorn beetle. Traditionally the cherry blossom begins blooming in Okinawa in January and reaches Kyoto and Tokyo by the beginning of April. As a result of global warming, the date in Tokyo has moved to early March.

In Japan, the blossom is a symbol of the ephemeral nature of life. The blossom is short-lived and fragile.

Further reading:
‘‘Cherry’ Ingram: The Englishman Who Saved Japan’s Blossoms’, 2020, Abe, N., Vintage, ISBN: 978-1784706920

Author bio:

Sarah Das Gupta is a young 81 year old. Loves writing haiku and most forms of poetry. Is learning to walk after an accident. Main outside interests include equine sports. Lives near Cambridge, UK. Read other sciku by Sarah here.

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Canopy Anyone? by James Penha

the orangutans
will finally cross that bridge
when they come to it

by James Penha

Two years ago, conservationists in North Sumatra, Indonesia built a rope bridge in the jungle canopy hoping that orangutans whose habitat had been truncated by a busy highway would learn to use the bridge and so safely travel throughout their habitat. The Sumatran Orangutan Society set up a time lapse camera awaiting the first simian pontist to dare to cross. In April, they recorded it!

Further reading:

‘Cries of delight’ as Sumatran orangutan filmed using canopy bridge to cross road for first time, 2026, Tomkins, I., The Guardian, available: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/apr/25/first-footage-endangered-sumatran-orangutan-using-canopy-bridge-cross-road-hope-species-aoe?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Author bio:

Expat New Yorker James Penha (he/him 🌈) has lived for the past three decades in Indonesia. His story collection  Queer As Folk Tales  was published by Deep Desires Press in October 2025. His chapbook of poems  American Daguerreotypes is available for Kindle.

Penha edits TheNewVerse.News, an online journal of current-events poetry. You can find out more about his poetry on his website https://jamespenha.com and catch up with him on BlueSky @jamespenha.bsky.social

Read more of James’ sciku here.

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Dodo No No by Mark Valentine

soul of the dodo
awaiting de-extinction
sighs don’t don’t

by Mark Valentine

A bioscience company believes it has made a crucial step towards bringing back the dodo, the flightless bird from Mauritius, extinct since the 17th century.

Further reading:

‘Scientists claim they’ve made ‘pivotal step’ in bringing back the dodo for first time in 300 years’, 2025, Milman, O., The Guardian, available: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/sep/17/dodo-birds-gene-editing-advance

Author bio:

Mark Valentine lives in Yorkshire, England, and is a short story writer, and essayist on book-collecting. His haiku has been published in dadakuku, Modern Haiku, Heliosparrow, Presence, tsuri-doro and other journals.

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one forest by Suzanne Beaumont

all trees together
silently make one forest
right in front of us

by Suzanne Beaumont

My home faces east with a view just beyond the yard of a few acres of woodland. I often sit in the living room, reading or writing, but always finding respite, upon looking up, in the view of those trees; they are my most constant companions. I have spent years gazing at them as they cycle through the seasons, enduring the harshest moments of each one, steadfastly advancing what the seasons ask of them. Whatever competition is being waged there, it does not come amidst the clashing of wordsmithed-swords or undignified flash-bangs and handcuffs. That is left to their human neighbors who continuously mistake their brief lives as zero-sum endeavors. We could look to the trees that stand next to each other, sharing sky and earth so that all can survive. Above and below, the trees eschew sole ownership of their knowledge, giving and taking whatever is at hand; they are through each other.

There are many texts and studies now that confirm and quantify this way of life. Crowns grow only to the width that will allow their neighbors to co-flourish. The tallest beings shelter the understory inhabitants. Each member of the woodland flora and tree communities, acts as a sentinel, standing guard and proffering chemically coded messages, borne through the air, of threats that could break them all. Below, in shallow and deep earth, thick roots and thin mycorrhizae and mycelium do likewise. Abundance is shared, warning messages are propagated, something we learn, but briefly, during dire events, like covid-times. Even in death, the trees continue to nurture and provide for their community, like haiku poets whose words find resonance beyond their time with successive generations.

I don’t recall what I was reading or writing or what feeling I had conjured, when something about the still constancy of the woodland gave me a silent lesson in community; perhaps they wrote this haiku as a gift, and so I offer it to you.

Further reading:

‘Trees Have Their Own Way of Social Distancing: A treetop expert explains the mystery of “crown shyness”’, 2020, Baillargeon, Z., Atlas Obscura, available: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/how-trees-social-distance

‘Better Understanding of Trees & Their Ecology’,2010, Cachat-Schilling, R., ecological landscape alliance, available: https://www.ecolandscaping.org/03/designing-ecological-landscapes/trees/trees-a-challenge-of-perspective/

‘Underground Networking: The Amazing Connections Beneath Your Feet’, Horvath, W., National Forest Foundation, available: https://www.nationalforests.org/article/underground-mycorrhizal-network

Permaculture Apprentice: https://permacultureapprentice.com

Author bio:

Suzanne Beaumont writes to know herself and to explore the world around her. She has studied writing with Natalie Goldberg and is currently studying haiku with Clark Strand. Her work can be found in The Wake Forest Review, Trash Panda, Haiku Pause, and the California Urban Forests Council Instagram.

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Grief-Stricken Memories of an Elephant Calf by Douglas J. Lanzo

desiccated bones
by parched watering hole
caressed by the trunk
of a daughter clinging to
mother’s memories

by Douglas J. Lanzo

This scitanka underscores the tragic deaths of elephants due to increased instances of extreme drought caused or exacerbated by climate change. 

One unfortunate byproduct of climate change is that the warmer air holds more water vapor, as warmer air has the ability to absorb more moisture before reaching its saturation point.  This leads to extreme precipitation and storms in some areas, but in desert and other dry areas it results in the warmer air acting like a sponge.  As such, the warmer air absorbs a larger percentage of the scarce desert / drier area moisture that is present there, exacerbating drought. 

Further reading:

There are numerous moving BBC documentaries and video clips depicting elephant grieving for fallen matriachs, including Serengeti II (BBC/Discovery, 2021), Natural World: Elephant Nomads of the Namib Desert (2008), Life Story (BBC) (2014) and BBC Earth Clips (2007-2008).

Author bio:

Doug is an award-winning American author and poet of over 587 internationally published poems whose debut novel The Year of the Bear won the Ames Award for YA Books and whose second book I Have Lived was named American Book Fest Novella of the Year. His Author’s website is www.douglaslanzo.com.

Check out other sciku by Doug here.

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Hell’s Kitchen Houdinis of Hotdogs by Douglas J. Lanzo

pavement ants hoist
bacon bits and sauerkraut
along sidewalk cracks
as we savor hot dogs
overloaded with flavor

by Douglas J. Lanzo

Pavement ants are perhaps the most successfully adapted animal species of modern times to New York City.  As the most populous ant species, they outnumber humans in the Big Apple by the ratio of 2,000:1, representing over 50% of the billion plus ants in each of its 5 boroughs.  Just how these aptly named insects thrive through all seasons in NYC is a marvel to behold.

Enamored of greasy foods like hotdogs, pavement ants send scouts out on initially randomized foraging walks to cover as much territory as possible.  With extremely sensitive olfactory receptors on their antennae, they can detect the fat and protein molecules in a hot dog in concentrations as low as a few parts per trillion.  Following windblown hotdog odor plumes, these ants follow “scent gradients”, tracking rising concentrations of scent until they locate the food source.

If you’ve ever been to Manhattan and grabbed a hotdog, chili dog or street taco, you’ll readily appreciate how easy it is for a portion of these overloaded toppings to end up “fragrancing” the city’s streets. Not only are pavement ants masters of locating NYC’s offloaded fast food treats, they are masters at breaking them down into pieces and hoisting them on their waterproof, triple-segmented exoskeleton, weathering wind and rain, back to their queen and larvae for high-energy feeding.  Foraging in groups of hundreds, the scouts leave a trail of pheromones for their worker ants to follow.  Once at the hot dog, worker ants sample the food to determine its quality, and if satisfactory, break it down with their mandibles, digest some of it in their social stomachs and carry the remainder in bits back to their nests, cleverly utilizing sidewalk cracks to avoid being stomped in the process.

Further reading:

To learn more about these remarkably successful fast-food scavengers, and entrancing behavior, check out Episode 2: Food of BBC Earth’s series: New York: America’s Busiest City (2016) or the “60,000 Hot Dogs” Research published Dr. Elsa Youngsteadt, in Global Change Biology (2014), calculating that Manhattan’s arthropods could consume the equivalent of 60,000 hot dogs annually in the Broadway and West Street corridor alone.

Author bio:

Doug is an award-winning American author and poet of over 560 internationally published poems whose debut novel The Year of the Bear won the Ames Award for YA Books and whose second book I Have Lived was named American Book Fest Novella of the Year. His Author’s website is www.douglaslanzo.com.

Check out other sciku by Doug here.

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Movement in stillness by Daya Bhat

leading the gene unto light gen beta

by Daya Bhat

This ku was inspired by a photograph. There seems to be an endless renewing energy and light source at the core. Something like a window eternally open to the Sun. When we think of renewing energy what comes to mind is the human gene that has evolved generation after generation!

Thus far from the Stone Age the world has seen amazing changes, the centre of it being the gene getting better and brighter with time, igniting a hope that the world will witness the same kind of progress technologically, scientifically and spiritually.

Further reading:

These poem was originally submitted as part of The Haiku Foundation’s ‘Energy of Motion – Movement in Stillness’ Haiku Dialogue prompt, inspired by a photograph presented by the guest editor Vidya Shankar.

Read the background to the prompt here: https://thehaikufoundation.org/haiku-dialogue-energy-of-motion-movement-in-stillness/

Read Vidya Shankar’s commentary on this and the other selected poems here: https://thehaikufoundation.org/haiku-dialogue-energy-of-motion-movement-in-stillness-commentary/

Author bio:

Daya Bhat from Bangalore, India, has published both free verse and short form poetry including two books of poetry. She also enjoys painting.

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Soulful synchrony by Douglas J. Lanzo

perfect synchrony
of two soulmates
the mating dance of grebes

by Douglas J. Lanzo

Grebes embody soulful love, beauty and grace with their elaborate courtship dances. Endowed with striking eyes, chestnut-colored ruffs, regal black crests, and slender flowing necks, great-crested grebes take your breath away with an enchanting courtship dance.

As synchronized as a scene from the Nutcracker Suite ballet, they dip their heads underwater in synchronous movement before shaking them side to side as soon as they resurface as a pair. Their theatrical paired head-bobs, dips and weaves culminate in a spectacular, coordinated twenty-step-per-second dash across the surface of the lake with upright necks, arched backs and wings spread, dignified and adorable at the same time.

Their larger cousins, Western and Clark grebes, are the largest vertebrates on earth with the capability to walk, or shall we say, run, on water!

Further information:
To learn more about this remarkable and entrancing behavior, check out Boyd Huppert’s Land of 10,000 Stories video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMT9ym3Ug3I&t=153s or enjoy numerous BBC nature videos, including BBC Life (Birds) featuring Clark’s Grebes performing rushing dances on Oregon lakes, narrated by Sir David Attenborough, and Iolo’s Secret Life of Birds (BBC One) starring Great Crested Grebes in full courtship displays.

For online reading enjoy ‘All About Birds’ by Cornell Lab of Ornithology at https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Western_Grebe/lifehistory#behavior which features an informative “Life History” page describing the awe-spiring rushing ceremony and touchingly humorous weeds ceremony of the Western Grebe.

Author bio:
Doug is an award-winning American author and poet of over 560 internationally published poems whose debut novel The Year of the Bear won the Ames Award for YA Books and whose second book I Have Lived was named American Book Fest Novella of the Year. His Author’s website is www.douglaslanzo.com.

Check out other sciku by Doug here.

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Banding together by Kathy Gillen

Entangled worm blob
Seeking connection with mates
Much like a mosh pit

by Kathy Gillen

In laboratory culture conditions California blackworms huddle together, but why? California blackworms (Lumbriculus variegatus) are widely distributed freshwater annelids that are easy to care for in the lab (1). In the wild these detritivores stick their heads into the muck at the edges of ponds and rivers while their tails extend through the water column for gas exchange. In lab culture consisting of worms in bowls of artificial freshwater, the worms form tangled masses that with a touch from a pipette wriggle apart. This behavior fascinates students and students frequently ask why the worms form knotted blobs.

One explanation for the worm blobs is that lacking a substrate such as mud to stick their heads into, the worms instead burrow into each other. Whether or not this is correct, in worms, as in other animals, aggregating provides benefits. Researchers manipulated blob sizes and found that larger blobs help more worms survive thermal stress in a temperature gradient experiment. And blobs of worms better withstand desiccation stress (2). Additionally the physics of the entangled masses themselves are being examined, research that may pave the way for bioinspired materials with useful new properties (3,4). Long used as model organisms in whole body regeneration and in environmental toxicology studies, the California blackworm continues to provide new research avenues.

Further reading:

  1. ‘It Cuts Both Ways: An Annelid Model System for the Study of Regeneration in the Laboratory and in the Classroom’, 2021, Martinez Acosta, V.G., Arellano-Carbajal, F., Gillen, K., Tweeten, K.A., Zattara, E.E. Front Cell Dev Biol 9, 780422. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcell.2021.780422
  2. ‘Collective dynamics in entangled worm and robot blobs’, 2021, Ozkan-Aydin, Y., Goldman, D.I., Bhamla, M.S. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 118, e2010542118. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2010542118
  3. ‘Following the entangled state of filaments’, 2023, Panagiotou, E. Science 380, 340–341. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adh4055
  4. ‘Ultrafast reversible self-assembly of living tangled matter’, 2023, Patil, V.P., Tuazon, H., Kaufman, E., Chakrabortty, T., Qin, D., Dunkel, J., Bhamla, M.S. Science 380, 392–398. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.ade7759

Author bio:

Kathy Gillen teaches and conducts research at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. Her Kenyon profile can be found here: https://www.kenyon.edu/directory/kathy-gillen/

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still with me by Scott Edgar

thinking I lost you
then I remember you are
encoded in me

By Scott Edgar

My mom passed away when I was ten. And for so long, I thought “gone” meant gone.

But the truth is that half of my DNA is hers.
Her cells, her features, her way of seeing and feeling—
they live in me.

She’s still with me, still present, written into the blueprint of my being.

She didn’t vanish.
She continues—literally—inside me.

Always encoded.
Always with me.

Further reading:

‘In brief: How are genes passed on?’, 2023, InformedHealth.org, available: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK541156/

Author bio:

Scott is a father of five who finds peace in long desert hikes, wildflowers in mountain meadows, and the occasional perfectly shaped rock. He’s a self-published poet with three books out, including a collection of haiku, and a fourth on the way, the host of The Poet (delayed) podcast (available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts here: https://blessed-pine-5317.fireside.fm ), and the co-founder of “Torchlight,” a monthly arts and open mic event in Bountiful, Utah. He also practices law in solo practice, balancing the legal world with a steady pull toward creative life. You can follow Scott on Instagram @poetdelayed.

Read more of Scott’s sciku here.

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Uterus as sentinel by Debbie Lee

Menstrual health research
Uterus as sentinel
Tampon-based study.

by Debbie Lee

Leveraging power in the menstrualome, NextGenJane (NGJ) is unlocking the data of monthly cycles.

* As a hyper-responsive organ that responds to external and internal stimuli, from stress to disease, the uterus is a data trove.

* Menstrual blood contains early indicators of health and disease that’s difficult to get any other way.

* Members of the NGJ community mail their tampons using a patented, specially-designed collection kit.

* A survey is the beginning of this anonymised conversation with NGJ.

* The menstrual cycle is a convenient way to sample the uterus and advance the science of uterine biology.

* As a longitudinal study of women’s menstruation, a more sophisticated, molecular understanding of gynecological health will inprove medical diagnostics.

* More precise options for treatment is expected to deliver genomic insights and improved outcomes for endometriosis, fibroids, and other gynecological conditions.

For more information: https://www.nextgenjane.com/

Author bio:

Debbie Lee (@lee_debbie):
Writing from places light and dark,
awkward data nerd,
elegant word nerd,
dreaming in colour,
clumsily balancing love, hope,
kindness with pragmatic realism.

Read more of Debbie’s sciku here!

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changing leaves by Nancie Zivetz-Gertler

mix in some sugar
and the red only deepens
the leaves are changing

by Nancie Zivetz-Gertler

A poet with no background in the actual science of trees , writing haiku often leads me to learn unexpected things!

I was working with the kigo “changing leaves” and wondered why the reds are so red, why so breathtaking….

Then I discovered anthocyanins!

Extract from ‘Why do leaves change color in the fall?’:

“Most of the year, these leaves are green because of the chlorophyll they use to absorb energy from sunlight during photosynthesis. The leaves convert the energy into sugars to feed the tree.

As the season changes, temperatures drop and days get shorter. Trees get less direct sunlight, and the chlorophyll in the leaves breaks down.

The lack of chlorophyll reveals yellow and orange pigments that were already in the leaves but masked during the warmer months. Darker red leaves are the result of a chemical change: Sugars that can get trapped in the leaves produce new pigments (called anthocyanins) that weren’t part of the leaf in the growing season. Some trees, like oaks and dogwoods, are likely to produce red leaves.

How much and how fast leaves transform varies by location on the globe. The best colors are produced when the weather is dry, sunny and cool. Places that are cloudy, damp or warm won’t see the same degree of changing color.”

Further reading:

‘Why do leaves change color in the fall?’, 2021, Smithsonian Story, available: https://www.si.edu/stories/why-do-leaves-change-color-fall

‘Autumn splendor: Why do leaves change color in the fall?’, 2017, STEMvisions Blog, Smithsonian Science Education Centre, available: https://ssec.si.edu/stemvisions-blog/autumn-splendor-why-do-leaves-change-color-fall

‘Autumn Views: Art That Captures the Mood, Color, and Light of the Fall Season’, autumnal art from across the Smithsonian, available: https://www.si.edu/spotlight/autumn

Author bio:

Nancie Zivetz-Gertler, a poet and visual artist, studies Haiku in a community of poets with Clark Strand. Her work has been published in Haiku Pause, Tricycle Haiku Challenge, Asahi Haikuist Network, Folk ku, Haiku Avenue and Cold Moon Journal. A recently retired psychotherapist, she lives in Bend. Oregon.

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Fantastical Flocks That Feast by Douglas J. Lanzo

red-billed quelea
millions of birds mirroring
shifting sands

by Douglas J. Lanzo

Highly social, fast-breeding, migratory birds, red-billed quelea swarm for protection while feeding on a huge volume of grass seeds.  Red quelea also avail themselves of grain-based farmer crops, leading them to refer derogatorily to the quelea as feathery locusts. 

Intensive cereal crop farming in Africa in recent years has augmented the already mind-numbing sizes of these swarms, which often number in the millions.  Some swarms have been estimated to surpass 40 million quelea.

Further reading:

To learn more about this incredible swarming behavior, check out the BBC One Planet Earth Plains documentary from 2009 at https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00381fg, which captured what is claimed to be the largest flock of birds ever caught on camera, which represents only a small fraction of the 1.5 billion quelea that swarm over Africa’s savannah during their breeding season.  Additional information on red-billed quelea can be found at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-billed_quelea.

Author bio:

Doug is an award-winning American author and poet of over 530 internationally published poems whose debut novel The Year of the Bear won the Ames Award for YA Books and whose second book I Have Lived was named American Book Fest Novella of the Year.  His Author’s website is www.douglaslanzo.com.

Check out other sciku by Doug here.

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Masterful Mimicry by Douglas J. Lanzo

desert drongo
mimicking meerkat sentries
to draw them off guard

by Douglas J. Lanzo

Fork-tailed desert drongo first win the trust of meerkats by sounding an alarm when a threatening hawk circles above their burrows.  Having won their trust, a wily drongo then betrays it by sounding a false alarm.  This sends meerkats into a tailspin, inducing them to flee to their burrows.  In the process , the duped meerkats abandon captured insects, lizards and scorpions, leaving the tasty critters behind for grateful drongo to claim.

Once the meerkats catch onto this trick, fork-tailed drongo elevate their deception to the next level.  From their desert perches, they imitate the warning bark or high-pitched squeal of the meerkat sentry itself, sending the clan into a panic.  The burrowing meerkats leave behind insects, scorpions and lizards for the breakfasting drongo, who swiftly swoop down from trees and shrubs to retrieve the coveted prey.

Further reading:

To learn more about this fascinating opportunistic behavior,  called kleptoparasitism, check out the BBC series Wild Africa to witness these amazing interactions among Kalahari desert meerkats and fork-tailed drongo, available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEYCjJqr21A 

‘Forktailed drongo’, Wikipedia article, available: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fork-tailed_drongo 

‘Kleptoparasitism’, Wikipedia article, available: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kleptoparasitism.

Author bio:

Doug is an award-winning American author and poet of over 530 internationally published poems whose debut novel The Year of the Bear won the Ames Award for YA Books and whose second book I Have Lived was named American Book Fest Novella of the Year.  His Author’s website is www.douglaslanzo.com.

Check out other sciku by Doug here.

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A toxic relationship by Mike Fainzilber

love hurts
the semen
and the venom

by Mike Fainzilber

Blue ringed octopi are small (they can fit in the palm of your hand), beautiful and extremely deadly – a venomous bite from the octopus nestled in your hand can kill you. Female octopi are larger than the males and will readily devour their smaller male partners during mating. The male solves this problem by biting into the female’s aorta,  injecting a large dose of venom that paralyzes the female for long enough for the male to complete mating and escape (1, 2).

A previously published SciKu by Debbie Lee describes application of a similar principle in insect biocontrol (3).

Further reading

(1) ‘Blue-lined octopus Hapalochlaena fasciata males envenomate females to facilitate copulation’, 2025, Chung, W., et al., Current Biology, available: https://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(25)00057-0

(2) ‘These octopuses inject their lovers with one of the world’s deadliest toxins’, 2025, Wilcox, C., ScienceAdviser, available: https://www.science.org/content/article/these-octopuses-inject-their-lovers-one-world-s-deadliest-toxins

(3) ‘Toxic Male’, 2025, Lee, D., The Sciku Project, available: https://thescikuproject.com/2025/02/27/toxic-male/

Author bio:

Mike Fainzilber’s day job is a biologist. He began writing haiku and senryu during the pandemic, and this side effect of COVID-19 has not worn off yet. Editors in his two spheres of activity have been known to suggest that he should best restrict his efforts to the other sphere. Find out more about Mike’s research via his lab’s website and connect with him on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/mfainzilber.bsky.social .

Read more sciku by Mike here.

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A Little Pain Goes a Long Way by Maryam Imogen Ghouth

Too much water drowns.
Yet, windstorms force trees to grow.
We must ache to rise.

by Maryam Imogen Ghouth

Plant physiology research shows that while water is essential for growth, excessive water can drown a plant by suffocating its roots. Conversely, mechanical stress from wind and storms can actually stimulate stronger, deeper root systems and sturdier trunks. This paradox mirrors human adversity—it can foster growth, while overprotection can hinder it. 

Further reading:

‘Waterlogging stress in plants: Unraveling the mechanisms and impacts on growth, development, and productivity’, 2024, Manghwar, H., et al., Environmental and Experimental Botany, available: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envexpbot.2024.105824

‘Mechanosensing and Plant Growth Regulators Elicited During the Thigmomorphogenetic Response’, 2021, Telewski, F.W., Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, available: https://doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2020.574096

Author bio:

Maryam Imogen Ghouth is a literary artist working across written, audio, and visual poetry. Her work has appeared in several literary journals, including Sky Island and Last Leaves, and in award-winning films, such as Under the Sun. Her films, including Not Alone, have been awarded at over 30 film festivals.

Find out more at www.maryamghouth.com and follow Maryam on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/maryamghouth

Read more sciku by Maryam: ‘Rejection’ and ‘This Battle is Inborn’.

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Florida Ends Vaccine Mandate by Emily Jo Scalzo

New measles outbreak
a plague of anti-vaxxers
spreading diseases
a scapegoat for autism
destroy herd immunity

by Emily Jo Scalzo

There is a resurgence of measles outbreaks and now Florida is ending vaccine mandates based on RFK Jr.’s “research”.

Further reading:

‘Florida Moves to End Vaccine Mandates for Schoolchildren’, 2025, Mazzei, P., The New York Times, available: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/03/us/florida-vaccine-mandates.html

Author bio:

Emily Jo Scalzo holds an MFA in fiction from California State University-Fresno. Their work has appeared in various magazines including Midwestern Gothic, Mobius: The Journal of Social Change, and others. Their first chapbook, The Politics of Division (2017), was awarded honorable mention in the 2018 Eric Hoffer Book Awards.

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Rejection by Maryam Imogen Ghouth

Friction gives us lift.
Foot meets ground and body moves—
resistance births flight.

by Maryam Imogen Ghouth

This haiku focuses on biomechanical motion. It draws on the principle that friction—between the foot and the earth—is what enables locomotion. According to Newton’s Third Law, movement arises from force met with equal and opposite reaction. This haiku serves as a reminder: when we encounter opposition, it isn’t always a sign to stop—it may be the very friction that lifts us forward.

Further reading:

‘The Integration of Internal and External Training Load Metrics in Hurling’, 2016, Malone, S., et al., Journal of Human Kinetics, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5260590/

‘Ground Reaction Force’, ScienceDirect, available: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/immunology-and-microbiology/ground-reaction-force

‘Newton’s Third Law’, The Physics Classroom, available: https://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/newtlaws/lesson-4/newton-s-third-law

‘Newton’s laws of motion’, Encyclopaedia Britannica, available: https://www.britannica.com/science/Newtons-laws-of-motion

Author bio:

Maryam Imogen Ghouth is a literary artist working across written, audio, and visual poetry. Her work has appeared in several literary journals, including Sky Island and Last Leaves, and in award-winning films, such as Under the Sun. Her films, including Not Alone, have been awarded at over 30 film festivals.

Find out more at www.maryamghouth.com and follow Maryam on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/maryamghouth

Read more sciku by Maryam: ‘This Battle is Inborn’ and ‘A Little Pain Goes a Long Way’.

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Crazy things by Barbara Anna Gaiardoni

Our Valentine’s Day –
Pair of lovebirds, parakeet
and a cockatiel.

by Barbara Anna Gaiardoni

Nature builds large skeletons out of it. Animals, relationships, affections are one with us.

Further reading:

‘14 Fun Facts About Lovebirds, From Their Lifelong Devotion to Surprising Aggression’, 2025, Thompson, H. & Anderson, S., Smithsonian magazine, available: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/14-fun-facts-about-lovebirds-from-their-lifelong-devotion-to-surprising-aggresion-180949742/

Author bio: Barbara Anna Gaiardoni is among the winners of the 7th Basho – international English Haiku Competition (Tokyo). During her activities has obtained national and international prizes and distinguished awards. Her Japanese-style poetry has been published in 255 international magazines and translated into 12 languages. Find out more about Barbara on her website and follow her on Twitter/X here.

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Leafy Invaders – Eucalyptus by Sarah Das Gupta

Koalas eat leaves of the eucalyptus
famous in the land of kangaroos
but strangers in Spanish forests

by Sarah Das Gupta
Botanical name:Eucalypteae
Popular names:Gum tree, eucalypts, stringybarks
Family:Myrtaceae
Origin:Australia
Habitat:Full sun and well-drained soil

There are 700 species of the Eucalyptus, an aromatic tree native to Australia. The leaves are a bluish-green; the bark is often coloured and peeling. The tree is generally hardy in temperate zones. It can be pruned and cultivated in pots.

The Eucalyptus thrives in full sun and well-drained soil. It needs six hours of direct sunlight a day in spring and summer.

The roots can spread laterally up to one hundred feet and damage plumbing and pipes. Some species can grow up to 25 metres.

The Eucalyptus can have a negative effect on other trees. Its high transpiration rates lead to a decline in soil fertility. It is a host to the Eucalyptus gall wasp. The Honey-fungus feeds on the roots.

The tree does not add to bio-diversity and is allopathic in impact. It has been introduced into pine forests in Galicia, Northern Spain, to the detriment of other trees. Visiting the area earlier in the year, it was noticeable that the eucalyptus looked out of place in the pine woods both from a botanical and an aesthetic point of view. It is very flammable which is dangerous at a time of serious wild fires. There is some evidence that they are developing an ability to recover from the effects of fire. New varieties are being bred reaching only 3 to 5 metres.

Eucalyptus essential oil has a number of uses. It is a sinus-decongestant when inhaled in diluted form. It can relieve asthma either inhaled or using a diffuser. The oil can also be used for massage. Livestock often stand under Eucalyptus trees as it acts as an insect repellent. It can be a component in jet fuel, medical solvents, and dental hygiene. Undiluted, the oil is very strong. It should not be ingested and is toxic for dogs, cats and horses.

Further reading:

‘Eucalyptus: Hundreds of Household Uses’, 2012, Dobson, L., Flame Tree Publishing, ISBN 0857256183.

‘Gum: The Story of Eucalypts and Their Champions’, 2010, Hay, A., Duffy and Snellgrove, University of Chicago, ISBN I876631260.

Author bio:

Sarah Das Gupta is a young 81 year old. Loves writing haiku and most forms of poetry. Is learning to walk after an accident. Main outside interests include equine sports. Lives near Cambridge, UK. Read other sciku by Sarah here.

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Fledgling Courage to Pierce the Pane by Douglas J. Lanzo

thirst for survival
drenched fledging great dusky swift
pierces waterfall

by Douglas J. Lanzo

This sciku was inspired by watching the “South America” episode of the BBC series Seven Worlds, One Planet narrated by David Attenborough.

It shows how great dusky swifts build nests protected by the waterfalls from hawks and other birds of prey, which nests get flooded from dam releases upriver of the spectacular Iguazu Falls (on the Iguaçu River). The torrential dam releases sometimes force the parent great dusky swifts to have to abandon their fledglings, who unless they can escape from the torrents and fly through a massive cascading curtain of water into the sunlight, will either starve or plummet to their deaths. The poem recognizes the courage and tenacity of the fledglings who attempt to breach this waterfall curtain and succeed in doing so.

Further reading and watching:

‘Great dusky swifts: A leap of faith’, 2019, Seven Worlds, One Planet, BBC, available: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07tcnyf

‘Protectig a South American wonder of the world: Iguazú Falls’, 2019, Webster, J., BBC, available: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5MbnkmwJmQ1zpTrksTVRSmF/protecting-a-south-american-wonder-of-the-world-iguazu-falls

‘Great dusky swift’, Wikipedia article, available: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_dusky_swift

Author bio:

Doug is an award-winning American author and poet of over 500 internationally published poems whose debut novel The Year of the Bear won the Ames Award for YA Books and whose second book I Have Lived was named American Book Fest Novella of the Year. His Author’s website is www.douglaslanzo.com.

Check out other sciku by Doug here.

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Deceit Woven by an Orb Weaver by Douglas J. Lanzo

false beacon of light
flashing forest firefly
caught in spider web

by Douglas J. Lanzo

The orb-weaver spider is a master at weaving elaborate wheel-shaped webs that span across forest trees, capturing fireflies absorbed in mating rituals. Unfortunately for fireflies, the first firefly caught is not immediately killed, but rather just immobilized. That causes it to continue to flash, attracting more and more fireflies into the deadly spider web. And so the orb-weaver’s tale is woven…

Further reading:

‘Orb-weaver spider’, Wikipedia article, available: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orb-weaver_spider

‘These Spiders Use Captured Fireflies as Flashing Lures to Snare More Prey’, 2024, Sullivan, W., Smithsonian Magazine, available: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/these-spiders-use-captured-fireflies-as-flashing-lures-to-snare-more-prey-180984940/

Author bio:

Doug is an award-winning American author and poet of over 500 internationally published poems whose debut novel The Year of the Bear won the Ames Award for YA Books and whose second book I Have Lived was named American Book Fest Novella of the Year. His Author’s website is www.douglaslanzo.com.

Check out other sciku by Doug here.