Our Host
David Duer recently retired from teaching English at Cedar Rapids Washington High School, where he was the faculty advisor for the Washington Literary Press. His work has appeared in Ascent, Exquisite Corpse, English Journal, North American Review, Poetry, and others. His memoir-themed blog From Now On can be found at www.davidduerblog.com.
Inspiration: Haiku
The haiku is a great poetic form for April. A short three-line poem that uses sensory language to capture a feeling or image, the haiku was originally developed by Japanese poets. Haiku are often inspired by nature, a moment of beauty, or a poignant experience. Traditionally, the poem couples a spontaneous observation containing a direct or indirect reference to a season (kigo) with a subtle commentary on that observation. It consists of 17 syllables: a line of 5 syllables, a second line of 7 syllables, and the last line of 5 syllables, although many contemporary haikuists break the formal syllabic rules in order to preserve the spirit of the form.
| Haiku by Matsuo Bashō | Haiku by Yosa Buson | Some Western Haiku by Jack Kerouac |
| On a bare branch a crow just settled – autumn evening. | Coolness – the sound of the bell as it leaves the bell. | Alone, in old clothes, sipping wine Beneath the moon Morning sun – The purple petals, Four have fallen |
Process
The act of writing haiku requests a sense of meditation and quiet observation. Go outdoors, or at least open a window. Use strong details and specific imagery. When you have a draft, read it aloud and listen to how it sounds to know if it’s done. When you’ve written one haiku, take a deep breath, look around, listen, smell, and start another.
David’s Poem
Intricately arranged,
dead wildflowers stand
in a white bed of snow.
After the first frost
wandering a cow pasture –
drunk on wild rose hips.
Winter in Michoacán –
camping with hummingbirds
beside blue cascadas
– David Duer
I love Haiku poems! Thank you for such a great prompt
Forced in endeavors
That forsake me in my prime
Is my black a crime
Privileges taken
Black lives are at stake daily
It moved the nation?
Just look at the news
Is my son the new victim?
Is -my -black-a-crime
Love yourself within
They say you are a black queen
Faith is all you need
Yet, black is a crime
How can I shine in the darkness
while white privilege stay
Is my black a threat?
Does my gender offend you?
Do my curves blind you?
My black is so bold
Black hair is professional
No matter the style
Black is beautiful
Nappy to straight to curly
My hair is divine
My black is not free
But it is a luxury
Black is not an act
I was born in this
This is the skin I live in
My black is so strong
Fun prompt! I had planned to write 17 syllables, but churned out a few more than expected. I was inspired by some daring caterpillars on my run this afternoon.
Caterpillar
Inching carefully
along the cracked pavement is
a caterpillar
It does not know that
someday it will be a winged
monarch butterfly
and potential plays
no factor in the present
decisions it makes
like crossing the paths
of runners, bikers, walkers
who control its fate
Rachelle,
I love this caterpillar story! I think haikus are quite addictive and it’s quite fun to create stories with them. This is a great one.
So fun! I think the third one is my favorite.
Rachelle,
Loving you caterpillar story. It reminds me of when my older boys were little and liked to play with caterpillar while playing outside.
Rachelle,
It makes me so happy to think of us composing these haiku while going for a run or working in the garden.
Scrawled along the margins of your haiku series: Man vs Nature/Caterpillar.
//david
a couple of haikus
a few brief moments
after work on the back porch
already too hot
two dogs and one man
not a bad way for week’s end
and a cold beer too
Ah, Jamie, happy Friday to you! These are too sweet.
I felt myself relax reading these haikus; I have a familiar scene in the evenings. Thanks for capturing the moment.
Wish I could join you on that porch with a cold beer :). We had our first hot day too but luckily it was interrupted by rain (and petrichor—thanks, Allison!).
Ah-ha! Jamie, I love the ratio: two dogs and one man! Your pair of haiku warmed my porch-loving heart.
Forgive me for doing this, Jamie, but I read these aloud with my best attempt at a West Texas drawl. If I was a Tiktoker, I would so record myself performing these in that voice.
//david
Okay, David (and all),
This poem needs some qualification. I started trying to write a haiku using the word “petrichor” because it was David’s 2021 word of the year. I didn’t think my first haiku worked, so I tried another…and another. About five haikus in, I remembered Wallace Stevens’s brilliant “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird”
At that point, I felt compelled to push forward with 13 haiku. If you can bear to make it through them all, you might commit this wonderful word to memory, as I now have. Thanks, David!
Thirteen Ways of Smelling Petrichor
I knew scent of rain
meeting dust, but did not know
the word: petrichor
Smell of rain on dust
universal memory
the word? petrichor
raindrops pelt the dust
a song of scent arises
it is petrichor
an open window
the first droplets pelt the dust
welcome petrichor
when arid meets rain
my dusty hours quench(ed)
your smile petrichor
we farmers love dirt
when rain hits dust we rejoice
and dance petrichor
when the day’s dullness
is broken by a startled
glint, it’s petrichor
petrichor petri
chor petrichor petrichor
petrichor petri
I learned “petrichor”
the word said pay attention
notice rain on dust
dry tongue swells with want
give me wet relief
oh sweet petrichor
I have lost my god
but clouded sky touches
my soul: petrichor
Ashes to ashes
dust to dust I hear the dirge
yet still know petrichor
I will look to find
moments where dust meets the rain
I smell petrichor.
It was easy to bear through them all. I love the petrichor rhythm and dance, throughout the baker’s dozen. This one was my favorite…
Beautiful
Thank you for introducing me to “petrichor,” although, I know it so well but did not know that it had been named! I love all of the facets of petrichor, especially “ when the day’s dullness/is broken by a startled/glint, it’s petrichor.”
Allison, Cara uses 13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird in Creative Writing, so I just read the poem for the first time a few weeks ago! Thank you for this tribute to petrichor (my phone says it is misspelled). I read it aloud to Sam and we both are in awe of your talent. Thank you for this today —distance learning feels like a drought and Tuesday we reunite with students. Rain on the dust.
Allison – This series is terrific. I love the varied impressions of petrichor… each one a sensory reinforcement of the power of that scent. I also like the idea of students taking a term like petrichor and writing a series of haiku to capture the term forever. A perfect way to drive home a remarkable term so never to forget it.
I loved all of these, and especially
And
I’m glad you marshaled through each of these. Marvelous! Susie
Allison, I love you for doing this. (There, I said it.) After submitting this word to you as the one inspiring me in the coming year, I felt a bit sheepish seeing it alongside so many much more inspirational words. I feel better now. And your use of Stevens’s great poem as an inspiration and model reminds us of its usefulness as a prompt. (I’ve used it as a class collaboration writing prompt – 13 teams write 13 ways of looking at … whatever we’ve been studying.) Inspired by your poem, the next time I encounter this smell, I am going to shout out (instead of Excelsior!) … Petrichor!
//david
Steadfast
Branches tossed about
Violent tempest bellowing
Voice of darkened skies
Tossed on reckless winds
Leaves reach hopelessly around
For the familiar
Still the trunk is strong
Never bowing to the storm
Steadfast in its place.
Hi Ann. I love the story in your haikus. “Voice of darkened skies” is a great description as are the reckless winds. So easy to picture!
after all the movement in the first two haikus the trunk is strong, steadfast in its place
I love that you titled this “steadfast.” This poem gave me a feeling of hope, surviving despite the odds. Beautiful!!
Ann,
This is a wonderful example of the effect of diction. The word “steadfast” does so much good work here. Literal and figurative, denotative and connotative.
//david
Chartreuse baubles,
Scurry below the oak boughs,
Tickling backs of throats.
Oh, my, Laura, this haiku makes me wonder. I like the scurrying below the oak boughs going on. I have questions too. I’m going to keep reading it.
Arkansas spring is not kind to the sinuses 😉
Laura,
I may have made a leap unintended, but I was talking with my friends last evening about the liqueur Chartreuse, so for me this haiku was becoming a drink recipe (which might become its own fun writing assignment – write a recipe poem).
//david
I saw little acorns in little squirrels’ mouths!
Earlier this week we had two and a half inches of new snow followed by a sunny day requiring no jacket. We suffer from weather whiplash. The River of Mo Return is part of the Frank Church Wilderness Area in central Idaho. The Sawtooths are the main mountain range in this area.
Idaho Spring
Spring snowfall sprouts like
tulips and daffodil bulbs:
April’s teasing joke.
We breath budding blue
air touching cheeks nested in
Earth’s cradling arms.
Mountain clear nectar—
our River of No Return—
melts through Sawtoothed peaks.
—Glenda Funk
That is weather whiplash! Absolutely adore the alliteration of “Spring snowfall sprouts” and “We breath budding blue.” Tulips, daffodils, and snowfalls are a contraction. I would love to see the River of No Return one day.
That’s Idaho beauty! Glenda, you might try sending these to the state of Idaho’s magazine. My niece sent them some photos a couple years ago, and they published them. They seem eager to have images of Idaho… these would be terrific.
Glenda, what beauty in your poem and really in weather whiplash, I think. That was always my favorite part of spring in the Midwest, when it snowed, but I knew spring would eventually win. My favorite is the middle haiku:
So beautiful–budding blue, air on cheeks, nested in Earth’s arms. So many beautiful images right there in 17 syllables.
Glenda,
As has happened more than once as I’m reading through these, I’ve been truly transported to spring in the Idaho mountains. Your haiku offer that perfect balance of imagery and comment. And I love your use of colorful geographical terms. (I’ve been writing in my memoir blog about traveling in the Sierra Madre, so I was noting the synonomous kinship between Sawtooths and Sierras.)
//david
Glenda, the idea of snow sprouting turned my expectation upside down! I love it when a poem does that to me. I can taste the melted mountain clear nectar. Lovely.
Thank you, David for the inspiration.
Spring Grass
Between brown and green,
air rising filling spaces,
warm by sunshine’s kiss.
I SMELL. your poem! Delicious.
I love the smell of spring grass.
Melanie,
I’m drawn in by the attention to elements – grass, air, sun – and the echoes of Whitman (although I don’t think haiku could’ve ever been his metier).
//david
I’m at Arches National Park with my family today, and we’ve had fun writing haikus about our day! Here are a few:
Footprints in the sand
Saucony’s, Chacos, Tevas
I add my Nikes
A warm spring morning
Sun beams break between red rocks
Morning glory arch
Brimming with life
Summer sticks out her hand
Touching the peaks
Sandy rock layers
Preserved through millenia
Crumble in my hand
A little hiker
Cuddling her water bottle
Dreams away the heat.
Rachel — Ooooo, those Utah red rocks! Mmmm! That seems soooo lovely. The “layers”… love that. And “summer sticking out her hand”… that’s beautiful. Thank you for these sensory delights. Susie
I loved reading the sequence and gathering all that beauty into myself! The final one touches my mama heart.
Ooohhh summer sticking out her hand! I love, love, love this.
Rachel,
First, Arches National Park! I so want to be there (and hope to be this summer – I just ordered my lifetime USNP pass). Second, I’m delighted that you did this with your family, expecially after just reading the collab haiku series that Kim Johnson wrote with her daughter. I’ll be camping with my daughter and two grandsons in a Virginia state park in a month. We’re going to do this!
//david
David, thanks again for the inspiration for today! Sorry for the length of the Haiku – we kind of worked on this through the day.
Miracles
Nashville, Tennessee
mother, daughter celebrate
brand new Birkenstocks!
supper: salmon steaks
risotto cauliflower
fresh-steamed Brussels sprouts
evening: Zen garden
bamboo wall, tiki torches
rock-scaped patio
Farmer’s Market stop
succulents and Bonsai trees
jewelry treasures
Frist Art Museum
Picasso’s U.S. Tour stop
Disfigurement art
Whole Foods Market stop
fresh, healthy food abundance!
picnic on a whim
Hammock in the park
by the city Parthenon
lazy, breezy rest
Red cabbage and kraut
The Bavarian Bierhaus
Big German pretzel
Playing dominoes
With a side game of Scrabble
Coffee, happiness!
Blue Period passed,
recovering daughter lives!
God answers prayers.
Kim, Your poem spikes my hunger for time with family, time out grazing the shops, and eating someone else’s cooking. The specifics make it yours, true, but the suggestions make it ours.
Thanks for reminding us that “God answers prayers” and sometimes the answer is “Yes!”
Oh, Kim — This is a poem to savor. I am so happy for the both of you. Each of these moments through your day are worth a fortune. Save this and read it again and again in the days and years to come. I can almost hear it as a choral reading between the two of you. Love you. Susie
Kim, I love how you wove each of these together to create one seamless, beautiful narrative. The message is so heartwarming!
Kim,
Your haiku makes me hungry, and I just ate dinner! Your day sounds lovely. I love the ending most, however.: “recovering daughter lives! / God answers prayers.”
Wow, Kim, I’m so glad I came back this morning to visit with you and your daughter in your celebration in Nashville. What a jam-packed day of fun. And the best part of all–your recovering daughter lives! Praise God!
Kim,
This turned out great. You’ve inspired me to find a long-distance friend with which to write an online collab poem.
//david
Spring Haiku
Winter turned around,
slipped back in with frozen lips
and kissed the Kwanzan;
unprepared she blushed,
pink petals billowed like snow —
Spring, a hasty love.
by Susie Morice, April 9, 2021
So beautiful, this image of frozen lips kissing the cherry tree and the wonderful, visual pink rushing forth. Thanks for this refreshing image of Spring.
Susie, this is such a sensual pairing of Winter and Spring. Winter slides between gentleman and rake (a bit of a Clark Gable move here) and spring responds with all the delicacy of an 18th century debutante. Such personality exhibited in both! I can visualize the entire scene. I think I’m in love. It’s perfection!
That Old Man Winter is a what my boys, when they were young, would call a “sneaky snake” – pulling a fast one on the unsuspecting cherry tree. How perfect is “she blushed/pink petals billowed like snow” – and how TRUE is “Spring, a hasty love”! Beautiful, whimsical metaphor and imagery, Susie.
Susie, the imagery on the edge of spring with its flippant decisions is gorgeous.
You always have a way of bringing us into the full sensory awareness of the moment. I can even hear your guitar strumming the tune of springtime as I read your words!
Susie,
Winter is a beotch. She did the same thing here. Love the image: “frozen lips.”
Susie, I love the line “slipped back in with frozen lips”! It’s such a startling image to contrast with the warmth coming from the next stanza. You do so much with so little, which really epitomizes the spirit of a haiku in my opinion!
love the blushed,/pink petals billowed like snow – a beautiful image
Oh, Susie. This is so lovely, all the personification. I’ll admit to quickly switching windows to look up “Kwanzan.” I have a Nanking cherry bush here in Iowa City, due north, all white blossoms these past few days. That hoary hibernal Winter has left her alone.
//david
Susie, I love the contrast of cold and warm here. “Frozen lips” and “pink petals billowed like snow-” Wow, lovely images. Your last line is brilliant. Beautiful!
After reading Katrina Morrison’s Haiku about Spring, I thought about Spring where I live.
Chilly Spring Mornings
Blazing Hot Spring Afternoons
Spring ~ Here in Texas
Leave in a Jacket
Return in Perspiration
Spring ~ Here in Texas
Thanks Katrina for the inspiration.
Donnetta — I love the idea having a geo-trip into Texas this evening. I started my day here in a jacket and ended with a hot afternoon too. Glad to take the ride with you. Thank you. Susie
Donettea, your poems and other here about the change in weather during this time of year reminds us of several truths: One – we live in different time zones and experience different weather patterns. Two: Lyrics to the Byrds song, “”Turn, Turn, Turn”
To everything (turn, turn, turn)
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time to every purpose, under heaven
And so, reading your poem, we see that the seasons may change in a day, but they do change!
Omgosh yes, yes, and yes! I love how you’ve crafted this, Donnetta. Texas has quite the weather whiplash.
Yes, Donnetta, those days when (and places where) we’d want to get up at sunrise to get the hard work done, and then a long siesta at midday. My 11:00 a.m. Sunday zoom calls with my kids usually includes some weather complaint from my son in Austin.
//david
Green buds speckle limbs
Fight the pounding rain and wind
Spring is here again
Your Haiku inspired mine. It made me think of Spring where I live. Thank you.
Katrina — As clouds form in the West right now, I think I’m going to see some of the same “pounding rain and wind” tonight and tomorrow! Happy Spring! Susie
Your Haiku rhymes! That is challenging to make happen! I’m so glad spring is here.
Katrina,
As I was reading your haiku, I was thinking about how working in this form can give us practice in crafting crisp images, paring of our language down to its essentials…
and encourage us to do this more in all our writing.
//david
Date Night on the Doorstep
In the cracks, dried grass
is joined by new green growth as
an ant explores each.
A lone pansy waits
this Friday night for her date
to pop up below.
Heather,
I love the personification in the line “a lone pansy waits,” you have me thinking about the days when there’d be a Friday night date. That image of “pop up” is adorable.
Sarah
Love the lone pansy waiting for her date!
Just what I needed today…before reading responses to our poems…Another reason to smile. Poems do make us feel better! If we just wait….keep reading…and watch the ants. (Smile)
Thanks for the uplif!
I love that ant “on the town” exploring! I feel badly for the lone pansy. This is adorable perspective on the cracks in concrete. So fun!
That lone pansy is so cute! I can imagine her all dressed up in color awaiting her date while the ant explores. Thanks, Heather, for this story in Haiku.
Heather,
Although I’d never want to ignore the large issues of the world, the headlines, whatever is at the top of our newsfeeds, I will applaud and advocate for these moments, these breaths of careful introspection, that offer some balance to our lives.
//david
Truth
Sometimes life gets tough
Seventeen syllables, all
I can do today.
GJSands 4/9
I have been there. In your 17 syllables I feel your heaviness.
Gayle!
Yes, we can do it, right? 30 days is a lot if we don’t feel like we can play a bit with these and call attention to the fact that we are here just trying to get some words into the world. “I can do today” is a mantra I plan to adopt!
Sarah
Gayle, I have many days like this. But, you showed up. Brava!!
Gayle — I almost didn’t make it today…even the 17 syllables seemed like a lot! But here we are! I appreciate your “truth”! Susie
Gayle, this is absolutely perfect! Hope life gets softer.
Gayle, Yes! Thank you for haikuing this truth!
Gayle,
Seventeen syllables is enough for truth. Hugs.
Gayle,
I not only want to honor the “truth” of your poem but also the generosity of this community, all the support, all the leeway, we give each other.
//david
Nascent yellow buds
Bathed in gentle spring rain
Daffodils unfurl
Aromatic bush
The sweeping drifts of purple
Calling butterflies
Rosy teacup blooms
Attracting birds to fruit
your stars of summer
The seeds you tended
Oh, how you lived and loved
Unforgettably
Tammi,
The wonderfiul mystery of your haiku is the “you” – who stays hidden, back in the shadows, until the last four lines. You generously give the reader room to imagine the identify of the person in the poem.
//david
Michigan Spring
Dawn’s day sets with rain
smell of damp soil, wind funnels,
chill floats in with gray.
Petals curled tightly,
red rhubarb retreating,
lilies not so sure.
Grasping the kindling
crackling logs burn, warm slowly,
chill is back tonight.
Linda — Oh, yes! This is like how our Ohio spring’s tiptoe in too. Love the beautiful imagery, especially: “petals curled tightly/red rhubarb retreating/lilies not so sure.
Linda — I felt that chill this morning here as well. Your poem has a real burst of Spring. The rhubarb made me smile… I love the rhubarb plant and the tart fruit as well. I like the notion of a fire tonight. Mmmm. Thank you. Susie
LInda,
These are amazing. Thank you for sharing this.
Linda,
Although we don’t normally think of the haiku as a narrative form, you make it work so well here by stringing together this short series of moments. (Although it’s taking me a while to get through all the haiku written yesterday, I’m just falling in love with the idea that this is all one huge collaborative poem, written from different places, at different times of the day.)
//david
Love/Hate Relationship with Rain
Watching rain fall down
Picturing sun rays through limbs
Weeds sprout from the earth
Orange blossoms on branch
Needed cool drips of water
More than I need sun
Lauryl — I love watching light rain fall on a spring day. You’ve captured the scene so perfectly and beautifully.
Always a mixed blessing…
Lauryl,
Oh yes, there are days I just want to see the sun instead of the Oregon rain.
More than once I’ve had to remind myself if I want comfy green grass under my bare feet in the summer I need the rains along with the sun.
Lauryl, thanks for writing this! I enjoyed the tension you’ve created here: your need for the sun and their need for the rain I’m with you. I love the sound that it makes on the roof (and sometimes the smell of a thunderstorm), but it can be just so … wet. Lol
Lauryl, the imagery here is stunning! This poem is so warm and refreshing.
I hear ya, Lauryl. Right now I’m noticing the pink saucer magnolia blossoms just outside my window – not yet fully opened, kinda drenched and sopping from today’s steady cool drizzle. Oh for some sunshine that would encourage them to open up!
//david
Haikus intimidate me to no end! I’m reflecting on my day thus far though…
Pregnancy back pain
I tried sleeping on the couch
woke up tired, but-
forced energy while
on duty: “Welcome to school!”
teens coming to life
Poetry playing
writing poems, creating
students are living
Britt,
Love this last stanza: “Poetry playing/writing poems, creating/students are living.” Even in your exhaustion of pregnancy, I feel the joy in your teaching.
Each haiku evokes a very different picture. I can feel and see everything that is happening. I love “poetry playing.”
I love the contrast here, Britt, between the sleeping and students living. I am retired now but miss the energy given to me by my students even when I was almost too tired to get to school. Then on campus, those living students got me living, too. Thanks!
love the third haiku, – a lyric, who is playing, creating – the students or their teacher?
Britt,
Any time we are able to get kids to embrace life, living, hope, the future – it’s a productive day. Brava!
As for fear of the form, please see my comment below to DeAnna.
//david
Wonderful to go to your tweet and see your glorious collection! Thank you for sharing that with us.
I especially loved:
Well done, Bryan. I like how many of the haiku become (also) homages to old friends or lovers.
//david
Thank you David for today’s prompt. I’ll be honest, Haikus scare me. I’m never quite sure I’ll get it just right. In the back of my mind I worry my “teacher” will judge me harshly should it not come off as well as I hoped. This is a me thing and not a her thing. Something we have talked about more than once. CF – you make me strive to be a better writer.
Pink tulips out front
Yellow daffodils bring joy
Buzzing bees dancing
Black yellow flying
Flower to flower enjoy
Pollen sharing done
Definitely a “you” thing. 😉 This is lovely and sweet–very springy.
This is such a sweet tribute to the beautiful things that nature offers us! I really enjoyed reading.
DeAnna — We are always our own worst critics. I think this is a beautiful spring scene which totally embodies the spirit of Haiku.
This poem is SPRING, and I love every word of it. Reminds me that even while we are so busy, it’s good to stop and smell the flowers ? ?
DeAnna,
There’s a lot to be said for challenging ourselves to work within a form. The second haiku works so well, even better on its own, because the bee never explicitly enters the poem but is still there. On the other hand, I support the idea of fighting against or working around a form. I’m currently reading Cathy Park Hong’s book “Minor Feelings,” in which she make the arguments for undermining or upending English in her poems.
//david
I have a hummingbird feeder out the window I face while teaching online. It has been my brain break to watch the hummingbirds flit around. I love haikus!
As the sun goes down
Hummers fight for one last drink
Before cold night falls
Delicate wings beat
Against impossible odds
Airborne in the sky
Nature’s creations
Are always better than the
Imagination of man
Cara,
Beautiful poem. I can just imagine the humming bird you describe.
Cara, this is beautiful. It’s almost as if I’m fearless of them when reading your loving descriptions.
?
Cara, “nature’s creations ARE always better than the imagination of man” – I love that thought! You give them such personality by calling them hummers and describing their delicate wings. I remember reading that the calories they consume each day is something like 80 hamburgers for humans. Remarkable creatures!
Cara, we have no humming birds here yet (west central Michigan, but your poem makes the anticipation deepen. Beautiful poem!
Cara — I love the story this poem tells. What a wonderful inspiration to have your window.
That last haiku—so very true!!!
Cara — I LOVE hummers… poems about hummers… the movement of hummers. My favorite lines
They really are little miracles. Lovely poem! I have to go make my first batch of hummer juice for this season…I’m ready for them! Thank you. Susie
I love hummingbirds, and I also have a feeder right outside my home-office window. This tribute was perfect for our little friends, how they amaze me!
Cara,
Hummingbirds are “magical” birds, aren’t they? You’re first stanza/haiku reminds me of the increased activity of hummingbirds at nectar feeders the last week before they begin their southward migration.
//david
What a delightful focus for this Friday, writing haikus! It is very meditative. I played at this as I weeded in my garden.
I dig in the dirt
lifting sacrificial worms
as robins linger
light rain washes me
turning over heavy dirt
memories flowing
thinking about you
planting herbs in a crock pot
no such thing as junk
This is lovely and meditative. Strangely, I kind of want to go out and week now. 😉 Thank you for a lovely moment captured in your haikus.
Ugh. Weed, not week. Sigh.
I love the idea of using an old crock pot as an herb garden.
Oooweee, this is like a movie scene, from the garden to the kitchen. Delicious on all levels!
Maureen, lovely haiku! Digging in the dirt will be soon for me too. Our Robins have arrived! Gardens bring wonderful memories. I always feel bad for the
Maureen — I really feel and see this scene. Your words are so well chosen. Love the last stanza:
“thinking about you/planting herbs in a crock pot/no such thing as junk”
The peace flows from this…
I love the transition from the present to the past. I need to get into my garden. I look forward to that and keeping my notebook nearby to record any ideas that may emerge.
Maureen — You made me laugh… the crockpot herb pot! LOL! Digging is such, well, such an earthy thing… love it. Those big ol’ worms always surprise me. Lovely poem. Thank you. Susie
Maureen,
The sacrificial worm took me to ninth grade biology. I love the contrast in rain falling as you scoop up dirt. Who is “you”? I’m guessing your father. This gives the haiku a meditative quality. Perfect.
This is lovely. I like to garden, also. In this poem I can feel the dirt and the mud caused by the rain. Then felt the connection you give this with memories of a loved one.
Beautiful, Maureen. I love the mystery of the who you are thinking of, “No such thing as junk” I hear them say. “sacrificial worms” for the robins is a great image too. Well done, receiving this literary gift from the garden today.
Maureen,
These are beautiful. One thing I like so much is that each haiku could stand alone, but they also fit together, each one building on the previous, so that the generality of “memories” becomes transformed as the specificity of “crock pot.” All so effectively understated, per the tradition of this form.
//david
David, thank you for sharing such beautiful imagery with us today. What started out simply (writing at 5am lent itself to viewing the moon) became complex as I turned the April moon into a calendar of moons. Playing with word sounds, my brain counts all syllables, now speaks in haiku.
Moonrise
hard frost exploding
underneath the full wolf moon –
gather for the hunt
within heavy snows
nethering creatures hunger –
the white bone moon hangs
spring soils warm, emerge
under the sugar maker
from winter hideouts
wild geese return
the moon, moss pink, arises
budding in blackness
within wood frog moons
entire aquariums –
encapsulated
full berries ripen
beneath the green corn moon
hatching has begun
in halfway summer
the thundering crescent sounds
its struggle against time
against great lake waters
the mountain shadow moon knows
that sturgeon ready
autumn child sings
above softly falling leaves
harvests have begun
the ice moon slips
travels darkening skies
fattened for winter
the world retreats
whitefish orb frosts and drifts
into noiseless sound
fastening its grip
the snow moon sheds long nights –
conceals winter spirits
I love the connection to the moon. A favorite children’s book of mine is about the names of the moons throughout the year. Lovely!
Oooo, Jennifer — You did great justice to the moons… I love this. The creatures! Love this…frogs.. yes…that has a fascinating sensory sound. I didn’t know about “green corn moon”…. ooo, that’s really cool! I love that your poem has me researching moons… The varied Native American moons have been a real fascination… I LOVE this. The seasons rolling through these images really is beautiful. I’m sure glad that you now “speak in haiku” as these moons are marvelous. I may have to steal this idea and play with it myself. Love this. Thank you. Susie
Just gorgeous, every line-
Jennifer, This is great! Thank you for sharing these moons with us! I enjoyed all of your vivid details from the “nethering creatures” to the “white bone moon” to the “whitefish orb [as it] frosts and drifts.”
Jennifer,
This is impressive. I love the way you use some of the Native American names for the moons, which are so evocative. Yes, I can imagine that you began to compose instinctively in the form. I noticed I did that yesterday after rereading the Basho and Buson examples. Do you suppose Shakespeare had the iambic pentameter heartbeat down by heart?
//david
David, thank you for the prompt and your poems! Your images of this “first frost” are very crisp and vivid. I enjoy reading (and trying to write) Haiku. I tried my hand at two unconnected (though Zoom-centric) ones.
_______________________________
Zoom mishaps abound
(I’m bounced out of my own class)
students still on task
The Zoom Private Chat
— a place for reluctant folks
to feel heard and seen
Oh, Scott, I love those two Zoom haikus. We can all relate to both those experiences, thought I hadn’t consciously considered the reluctant students having a voice through the private chat before. It’s so true! Thanks for these.
Scott, the humor and seriousness of connecting to students plays out in your Zoom-centric pieces today. I love that you gave voice to the “reluctant folks.” We all need a place to feel heard and seen.
Teh first haiku is so real!!!
I experienced both of these haikus today. I got the best question in the chat from a student who will not turn on his camera. The chat lets us know they are there.
Hey, Scott — I sure appreciate the complexity of Zoom life as a teacher. I appreciate the warrior in you that makes this platform work for kids. Thank you! Susie
I applaud your taking the haiku form into new territory, Scott – the ecosystem of Zoom. Yesterday evening, sharing drinks with my former colleagues as we toasted our vaccine immunity, lots of Zoom stories, both hilarious and disheartening.
//david
Three Pet Haiku
By Nancy White
Pet 1
Plump pillow of fur,
I hear your motor rumbling.
And then you chirp, “Mew!”
___________________________
Pet 2
On the couch go round and round,
Spotty dog searching.
Perfect place, you found it—plop!
____________________________
Pet 3
Curled and cuddled on my lap,
Close your eyes, big yawn,
Suddenly on full alert.
What’s that noise, a bird? A car?
Jumping down you run,
Outside adventures calling.
_____________________________
Nancy! The personality of each springs forth in each of your Three Pet Haiku. I love the “spotty dog searching” before the plop, and the call of outside adventures. I can’t help but think of students who show themselves in the same way. This made me smile – thank you.
What sweet companions! I particularly like Pet 3’s ability to shift from sound asleep to on the run! Such great description:
Here’s to the animals we live with and the pleasure and company they provide, Nancy (a la Christopher Smart’s “Jubilate Agno”). Your use of sound in these pieces, and the pleasantly surprising choice of “chirp” stand out to me.
//david
Morning ?
Hummingbirds are cute
From a far-away distance
They don’t know my fear
Noon ?
Honeybee dances
Above my yellow flowers
Pollinating work
Sunset ?
Lizard skitters by
From the corner of my eye
Grasshopper for lunch
Night ?
Moaning and crying
Outside my bedroom window
Stray cats calling mates
©Stacey L. Joy, April 9, 2021
Around the clock LA menagerie! What a clever organization and beautiful images you have put into our thoughts. I like the lizard one and your nonchalant announcement of his lunch!
I can be nonchalant with the ones who don’t cause fear. LOL! Thanks Denise.
Stacey, I can see the honeybee dance against all of the flower photos you post! Your verbs drive this – skittering, moaning, pollinating – as do the sounds and images. I love the use of the four times and different creatures.
Love how you structured these haikus around time of day – and that each chunk of time is defined by animals; really clever. I adore hummingbirds – my fear is your lizard! I’m not a fan of their unexpected skittering – and, my oh my, eating a grasshopper…aack!
Stacey, I love your timeline haiku! It brings a smile to my face and feel like I’m right there with you!
A trip through your day…
I love the structure and a focus on a different creature in nature.
Stacey — This was like taking a walk with you. I giggled at the hummingbirds, as I know your measured relationship with this feathered friends. These four haiku really did feel like a Stacey walk and then a settling in to hit the sack with cats under the window…Ha! Love the trip! Thank you. Susie
Stacey,
Love the emojis and the way you notice all the critters throughout your day. Why the fear of hummingbirds? ?
What a great haiku menagerie, Stacey. I admire your use of emoticons. Although used here mostly for illustration, I’m intrigued by the idea of using them to express meaning, as ancient writers did on papyrus and stone tablets etc.
//david
Bryan, I was able to open your twitter post today. Love the epic haiku idea. The beauty of nature you share is striking and I loved the opening with “Froggy-Friday”. I also appreciated the lens and insight you share of your own personal life. “Love your note to David! Nanny boo-boo….so right! I bet your students loved the epic haiku. I’m going to have to try that out myself! Thank you for sharing such a wonderful idea and your outstanding poetry!
David, thank you for today’s prompt. I do love to write haiku. Tried to share my photo, but just could not get it accomplished. It is a very gray day in southeast Iowa.
Renewed
gray river softly
sighs below somber skies, a
silent symphony
baptizes me with
cool tears-slipping beneath its
strong currents-renewed
Barb Edler
9 April 2021
Sorry for the duplication. Ugh!
“Baptizes me with cool tears” is so beautiful and fills my imagination up with thought. Thanks for this glimpse into your river, Barb. (I won’t duplicate my comment, ok? 🙂
Barb, the sounds of the river – soft, sighing, silent symphony, along with the movement of cool tears slipping and currents renewed, feels so soothing. I feel a sadness, too, in the tears, that is offset by the baptism.
I love the alliteration of the first haiku, so many beautiful s’s – lovely to read aloud. Also love the poetic pairing of ‘baptizes me’ with the last word of haiku – ‘renewed.’ Beautiful!
Barb,
Music to my ears and soul:
Oooo, Barb — So sensssssory! I love this. You surely captured the grey day. Great word choices: sighs, somber, silently symphony, baptizes. Lovely! Thank you! Susie
David, thanks for sharing your blog and today’s prompt. I love to write haiku. I tried to copy my photo into this space, but had not luck. I’m not trying to share it through a link, but I am not sure it will work. Great gray day here in southeast Iowa.
Renewed
gray river softly
sighs below somber skies, a
silent symphony
baptizes me with
cool tears-slipping beneath its
strong currents-renewed
Barb Edler
9 April 2020
How beautiful and peaceful. Love the act of baptism with the river.
‘Baptizes me with cool tears…lovely.
Barb,
This is a sweetly meditative piece (peace). You pull us in with
and then link the two haiku witht he baptismal.
I’m thinking of you in Keokuk and a dear old friend in Donnelson
on another grey Iowa day.
//david
I love haikus. Pieced this together on my morning walk with Elsa and Bass…
Wagging, leash pulled tight
Two three four trots ahead now
Love to walk greyhounds
Eric, love the action words here to show you walking with greyhounds. Had to laugh at
Very fun haiku!
Eric, I could really feel the tension of the leash, the excitement of the dogs as they trotted ahead, and your love for them. Well done!
Eric,
This totally reminds me of walking my old dog. Her pulling the leash tight trying to trot further ahead.
There is terrific motion in this haiku – you impart the challenge of walking these dogs!
I can see this!
Eric,
One of the pleasures of this form is that one can fully compose a haiku in one’s head, even counting the syllables, if that’s a concern. And that act becomes a kind of meditation.
//david
As the dancing breeze
Floats past my wrinkled eyebrows
My mind is far off.
Pleading for a dream
Lost from the distortion that
Took my innocence.
Yet, I forget life
Continues to move with me
I just need new dreams.
Noah, your haikus are very thought-provoking. I feel the loss of innocence here, and the need to move on. Yes, sometimes we do need new dreams. “Pleading for a dream”…boy have I been there. Beautiful poem!
Noah, I have felt lost and stuck many times. I have also longed for dreams. I felt tension between “dancing breeze” and “wrinkled eyebrows”. It made me feel the sense of life moving on around you, yet you are pondering things, maybe a bit worried. I felt sadness at “loss of innocence”. It is a feeling of hope being depleted. Here’s to more hope and dreams, new beginnings, and living in the moment!
I really like the line “Pleading for a dream” – I want to know more about this!
Noah, how breathtaking! I am a huge fan of haiku that aren’t about nature. I recently discovered the Zappai! It gives the poet freedom to write with the 5-7-5 and not have to worry about nature. Click the link if you want to see more. I think you’ll love it.
This is so powerful:
?
Here’s the link about Zappai. https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/zappai-poetic-form
Noah,
Your 3rd stanza or haiku offers a thrilling example of the power of a line break. The reader holds for a minute on the sense of that line
before moving on to the rest of the statement.
Haiku also challenges readers to slow down.
//david
David,
This is such a perfect inspiration. My students always choose haiku because they think it’s easy due to its length. But, crafting haiku are quite a challenge, especially for those of us that find economy a struggle.
I am currently sitting outside while my students are playing kickball (a school-wide incentive). So here is my quick attempt. I may revisit later.
Clouds surfing the sky
Wearing white and grey wetsuits
Churning up some waves.
Susan, I love the water words here: surfing, wetsuits, churning, and waves. Beautiful haiku! I kind of wish I was with you watching kickball. Don’t you just love the incentives schools come up with…hope the kids feel it is a good one. Thanks for your lovely haiku.
I love imagining you writing haiku while watching kickball! Love the clouds and water connection, beautiful!
Here is another one from the next round of kickball:
Kids playing kickball
Activity looks good on them
The zombies set free.
Susan,
Yes, the challenge is both practicing concision and combining observation and commentary. The commentary line is often the last, but in yur haiku it is the inventively metaphorical 2nd line.
//david
Not Light, But Fire
Everybody Looking
It Won’t Be Easy
Windowsill bookstack
Holley trio tips swaying
—Spine poetry sings.
*Not Light, But Fire, Matthew Kay
Everybody Looking, Candice Iloh
It Won’t Be Easy: An Exceedingly Honest (and Slightly Unprofessional) Love Letter to Teaching, Tom Rademacher
Spine poetry – I’ve never tried it, but I have a post-it somewhere reminding me to do so. You’ve used it to create this haiku?! I LOVE this idea. Beautifully done; thank you for the inspiration!
Sarah, I just love how you put this all together. My favorite line:
. Gorgeous “found” haiku! Loved it!
Wow, Sarah! What a clever and fun idea! That is like creating and solving a puzzle at once – I may have to give this a go. ” – Spine poetry sings,” indeed!
Oh, Sarah, this is so fun. I’m a big fan of found poetry. And the blending of forms/prompts is an inspiration. There’s a classroom writing assignment here – maybe read some tanka first, then let the kids loose in the library/media center – pick 5 books off the shelves, arrange them in a stack on a library table, transcribe the poem they’ve found.
//david
Cool idea, Sarah, to use spine poetry here. Very effective. Thank you for thinking of this. Susie
This is such a wonderful prompt! I think I will write Haiku’s all day. Really makes me conscious of what’s around me. Thanks.
Haiku’s
by Susan Osborn
She circles my feet
hungry for petting and food
with a loud “meow!”
____________________
Hair growing long
tickles me – itch and scratch.
Wish I could cut it.
____________________
A chill on my skin.
Goosebumps, quivers and shivers
freshen my morning.
My gate has been shut.
Now creaking as it opens
letting in the world.
Susan,
I love this glimpse into the life and movement in your place/space.
This last part feels like the Haiku is the gate!
Sarah
Susan, I love all of your haikus here, but especially the last one. I can hear that gate opening, the chill in the air. Love the message of letting the world in! Terrific!
I love these, Susan. My favorite is the last stanza. I feel like I am that creaky gate starting to open!
I agree, Susan. It not only heightens our awareness of what is around us but of our relationship to it, as you did so well in these haiku, especially the final one.
//david
Susan — I think I need a kitty! I miss that hungry meowing. I too need a haircut…I keep whacking at mine with a scissors… it’s crazy! My favorite, though, is the sound of the gate “letting in the world.” So lovely. Thank you. Susie
I’m reminded by this month of writing that I’m more productive, more here, when I attend to it early in the day, before the business of the day (or class) begins. I know this was William Stafford’s practice. So I walk around the yard in the cool morning mist of an April day in Iowa…
cool mist of morning
the ostrich ferns begin to
unfurl their green flags
at the garden’s edge
asparagus at attention
roots buried last spring
three insistent notes
tufted titmouse in tall spruce
I’m here here here
David!
I am so with you on this! I can tell you that on the days that I write first, upon waking, are the days I feel most centered and also productive. I guess it is like meditation for others as they do yoga or walk or sip coffee. For me, especially these days, it is a way of being. I am when I write, and that it exists in this space for others to witness my existence, well, that affirms my existence in ways I am only beginning to understand. “I am here here here.”
I love this line for its alliteration and contrast of size and perspective between the mouse and spruce:
Sarah
David, this is absolutely gorgeous. I love the attention to color and sound. I can hear the titmouse calling! Love it!
Greetings David! Thrilled to write to your prompt today because Haiku happen to be one of my favorite poetry forms. I enjoyed the images your haiku give since I rarely see snow unless I leave sunny California.
There is wondrous beauty in these 3 gorgeous words:
I’ll share my haiku before Zoom class begins. Have a wonderful Friday!
Thank you, David, for your sweet haikus. I can see the white bed of snow with the dead flowers. I love the winter camping in Mexico. Hummingbirds and waterfalls sounds amazing. Your poems give me a lift, especially the last one. It’s springtime in Bahrain, but close to 90 degrees, so I didn’t get out in nature much today. Instead we went to IKEA. I thought People of Determination was a good translation for this parking sign.
Determination
Needed to survive a world
Blind to crucial needs
This sign is awesome and so is your haiku, Denise! I will be in Kuwait in August! Will you still be in Bahrain? 🙂
Thanks, Angie. Yes, I will be here in Bahrain. Want to have a stopover?
I will let you know if I ever make it over there! Things are pretty strict in Kuwait.
Denise, That sign grabs you! Maybe sheds some light on the struggles of those who need special parking.
This is great, Denise. I mean, I love the quirkiness of the sign. And your haiku is true to the spirit of the form – a careful attention to and concise commentary on the world around us.
//david
Denise, Thanks so much for this awesome photo, perspective and haiku! Perfect message on this cold gray day for me! I’m just so sad I could not figure out how to get my photo to post.
I guess I do it a little different. I add the photo on my blog and get the code for its own page and then post the code here. If you click on my photo you can see where it goes.
How cool that you included this photo! Love that verbiage – “parking for people of determination.” What a fabulous way to describe the need. Your haiku is awesome; I especially like the last line – “Blind to crucial needs.”
Denise — This is a really interesting sign and I LOVE your haiku! Quite a tribute to folks who face the challenge of mobility. Thank you for this piece of “determination.” Susie
Denise, I’m with Susie (and the others) here. Your haiku is quite a tribute! Thank you for writing and sharing this!
Denise,
This is very clever. Love that you included the photo inspiration. I wish the world weren’t “blind to human needs.” ?
Gray is Okay
Oh my! A gray day.
Friends come on and light my way.
Let’s have fun and play.
Write! Make your light shine.
Even without rhythm and rhyme
Poems make us feel fine.
Write haiku today.
Tell us what you want to say.
Let’s stay in and play.
Aww such sweet haiku <3 You definitely make the "gray…okay" 🙂
Love your invitation to stay and write and play!
How fun is this!!
Anna,
Adding rhyme to the haiku is a fun twist. The rhyming syllables – the long A, the long I + N/M – both feel like happy ones, syllables of smiling or laughter. They lift the spirit of the poem.
//david
Anna,
So appreciate your invitation and celebration of the light and rhythm and play in poetry. I think Haiku with Anna J. Small Roseboro is just what I needed today! So love your poetry, friend.
Sarah
Anna, you are speaking to my heart today. “Poems make us feel fine!” Yes, I could not agree more. Love this uplifting poem!
Anna, you are the Queen of Rhyme! Gray is okay when you have rhyming, writing, light, and play as in your verses. Thanks for this!
David,
There is no more perfect day for writing Haiku poetry than today! As I visit my daughter in Tennessee and celebrate another anniversary of her recovery, we will compose a series of Haikus together to form a snapshot of our day – so I will plan to post and to respond to poets later this evening. Thank you for hosting us today – this form will allow us to stop and jot at various times.
✌?
Kim,
This is a great idea. The haiku form was derived from an older Japanese poetic tradition, the renga, which was usually written collaboratively. One poet would write a 3-line verse, another would respond or add to that with another 3-line verse. These could go on and on, although one version, the kasen, was 36 lines long.
//david
I like the idea of asking students to hold a haiku conversation. Might try it this week!
Kim — This is great. I look forward to reading your post! Susie
Always love a haiku, David! I really like the contrast in this line: “dead wildflowers stand”.
calm clouds rest between
transcendent blue and low grey
look! the white puffs poofed!
So easy to picture the white puffs poofing! Last week I was driving and thought I was driving right into the opening credits of The Simpsons. Thanks for reminding me of that!
Angie,
Your final line is a perfect ending line for a haiku – whimsical and surprising, a flash of insight. Brava!
//david
Angie,
I love this sense of “between” and the welcoming of the space and the impermanence of it in the “poofed”!
Sarah
Angie, I love the sequence of your haiku…that last line is so perfect, and I think we are sharing the same skyline although we clearly are miles apart! Love it!
oh, those surprising white puffs.
So light and fun to read – like watching clouds themselves! Love “transcendent blue.”’
David, thank you for the lovely haiku, perfect for this month.
Hunger
Wind gently rocks trees
Branches caress each other
Evening lullaby
Spring is the frogs’ time:
In the pond across the road,
Symphony of peeps.
Finally, velvet-
Petaled crocuses peek heads
Out of frozen ground.
Snowdrops dance lightly,
Heads dangling, in the spring breeze,
Surrounded by snow.
Daffodils slowly
Open buttery petals
To welcome the spring.
Ahhhh these lines are so comforting. Hard to pick one that is most. I love:
and
Wendy,
So much careful observation to nature and language here. I love the ambiguity and oxymoron of
and the way the fourth haiku/verse begins and ends with “snow” as we feel the spring breeze in it,
and the fresh evocative imagery of
//david
Wendy, your haikus are rich with nature’s beauty. The personification is perfect here to show everything coming to life in spring! Gorgeous!
Wendy, these images are all lovely clear; the line that stirs me most is “Spring is frogs’ time.” A lyrical truth – love that.
Wendy — This is really lovely. You’ve captured so many gorgeous spring senses. I love the froggies…I was at a friend’s home and the frogs were just a cacophony … doing the wild thang! 🙂 My favorite image is the “buttery petal” of the taffies. Perfect! Thank you. Susie
David – thank you for the prompt this morning! I like how your poem captures winter into spring in an unexpected landscape. I love the contrast of colors of the snow, blue waterfalls, hummingbirds, and rose hips – it puts me in that unique moment.
April Morning from the Porch
Seed packets await
Wet earth, hopeful hands, new life –
Time to get messy.
***
Frost in the shadows
I stand where it changes to
Dew in the sun
***
I listen to
the circle of April sounds –
Winter’s lingering sharp caws
to the chickadee’s morning craving for a
“CHEESEburger!”
Emily , this was lovely. The middle haiku really struck me, and I could picture and feel your image. Love, too, the whimsical chickadee song at the end! 🙂
This is very, very good:
I can feel myself standing in this place.
Emily,
I’m particularly taken by your 2nd haiku. I can see the sharp line drawn between dew and frost, and the way early April in our part of the world can teeter there. (So many April snow showers on tulip and daffodil blooms.) And given your locale, I can’t help thinking that you’re also evoking the old guy, Bob Frost, back there in the shadows.
//david
Your line “Wet earth, hopeful hands, new life” is a wonderful line. These quick descriptors of the process of planing a seed is beautiful.
Emily, all of these are so focused and share a lovely vision. I can just hear that chickadee! I adore this one though the most:
Love the natural change taking place. Beautiful!
I love how each first line makes it’s own poem…beautiful.
Emily — You really did render the spring moments here. I particularly enjoyed the movement of the trio…seeing you stand at that specific spot between frost and dew (ooo, that’s beautiful)… and the fun of the “cheeseburger”… those little chatterboxes…what an uplifting poem this is! Thank you! Susie
Emily,
I love the title and the perspective it provides us. I find myself observing and surveying the scene through your words. The idea of a chickadee craving a cheeseburger is whimsical and has me scratching my head. Love this fun image.
David: Such clear, crisp images in that camping trip after the first frost – with hummingbirds! So unexpected, that delicacy of life juxtaposed with winter.’s snow and dead flowers. The other haiku you shared so invite one to be still and just drink in…
So, here goes my first shot…
April in North Carolina
blossoms hang like grapes
wisteria decadence
threaded through the trees
finches chirruping
five pale blue eggs in the nest
on the front door wreath
grass, fresh-cut fragrance
green carpet for morning sun
not yet grown brutal
Fran, I love how you made every word count in these — your economy of language contributed to concentrated, beautiful imagery that had great sensual appeal of sight, of smell, of sound!
Ohh, this is a lovely image:
I can picture it completely – I especially love “threaded through the trees”
Fran, the draping of the trees in wisteria, the birds taking the welcome wreath literally enough to move right in, and the green grass carpet rolled out for the sun’s warmth is stunning in your imagery. It makes me want to be right there on your front porch with you, sipping tea and savoring spring – celebrating life and friendship! Your gift of words absolutely draws me in.
Excited to see your eggs here! “Wisteria decadence threaded through the trees.” Love it!
Fran,
I’m loving that I’m getting to see all these snapshots of nature from different locales. For someone on the Iowa prairie
feels so wonderfully exotic. And we have so far acknowledged the tifted titmouse in Iowa, the chickadee in Maine, and the finches in North Carolina.
//david
Fran, the beauty you share here is stunning. I love the specific details of
….yes, this is the time of year that offers so much growth before the brutal hot days of summer’s end. Gorgeous poem!
oooooooh…those eggs have some story going now. Will you keep it going?
Fran — I’d say you nailed this! Each of these haiku yields a vivid image and I want to be there to see and experience each one. The “…hang like grapes/wisteria decadence/threaded…” (oooo!) And the finch nest on the door … Ooooooh how I wish for that. and the smell of cut grass.. So sensory-rich! Lovely. Thank you. Susie
at five twenty-nine
breathe, think, savor the moment
then the alarm shrieks
by Mo Daley
4-9-21
Mo – this so captures that moment of peace interrupted by the sharp shriek! I can just hear it and it made me smile in recognition.
Yes! “shrieks” is the perfect word for that dang alarm! 🙂
Mo! The moment! The edge of sleep and awake – you captured it in seventeen syllables, as impossible to do as catching a leprechaun! But here you have it.
Mo!
Thank you for putting the numbers into letters. There is something in that shift, the stretching of the numbers into many more letters is like the snooze button!
Sarah
This was far too relatable for me this morning. What followed was 5 hours of driving for no reason. But the peace right before the alarm is cathartic. Thanks for sharing.
Mo,
So much is packed into these three lines – the entire narrative arc. And that one minute of waking up before the command of the alarm – it’s a moment of grace to be treasured.
//david
THIS MOMENT! Or when my alarm is set for 5:00 AM, and the toddler is the shrieking sound at 4:58.. 🙁 Ha, I love how you captured this!
Mo, I had to chuckle at the alarming change in mood….to be savoring then to hear the shrieking! You captured a morning moment so well here! Wonderful!
That word shrieks just set me off as the alarm does when I’m forced to use it. This haiku is perfect!
ha! How did you know?
I’d love to be camping with hummingbirds right about now. Thanks for this prompt. Haiku calms me like no other form. This happened last night in a nonprofit board meeting I attended:
Bird call interrupts
Zoom meeting with loud tweeting
Hit mute & listen.
I SO would have hit mute and listened too, Margaret – for bird calls and birdsong calm as much as haiku. Zoom meetings do not.
Margaret – I love the twist! So good to take a moment to appreciate the new sounds of the seasons. Also, love the tweeting interruption to technology – a little irony in there made me smile.
Love this. <3. The end of Zoom meetings is not far away, Margaret!
This is awesome. A pleasant escape.
A wonderful reminder for us to stop and enjoy the things around us. Especially with us being at home, it is easy to get wrapped up in TV or whatever your vice is. Great. Thanks for sharing.
Margaret,
This is lovely. As I’ve seen in some many of our haiku this morning – that slowing down and paying attention that’s at the heart of all good writing. The converse of your haiku is when we hear birds singing in the background of someone else’s zoom space, and we stop listening to the humans for a moment to listen to the birdsong.
//david
This makes me think of yesterday’s inspiration – the things I didn’t realize I would miss. The sounds I didn’t realize I’ve shut out in the last year. Thank you for sharing!
Margaret, I am still chuckling….”Hit mute & listen”…I love the connection to birds here. Sheer genius!
A perfect idea. It’s always great to listen to the birds. Thank you, Margaret.
Hahahahaa, I love it. One of my students has a noisy love bird in her bedroom. Every time she unmutes to speak we all get the noisy bird’s added thoughts.
Speaks volumes!
Good Morning, writers. Thank you David for wonderful Friday prompt. I do love how haiku slows me down into that meditative feeling. And, as bad as my number-sense is, I love counting syllables. What a great way to start the day. “drunk on wild rose-hips” is a fabulous line!
candle burning low
lower still growls the thunder
adversaries bluff
Low growl of thunder is an image I know. It’s both daunting and comforting.
Lovely, sensory images, so clear; I feel I am standing in the room. Love this interpretation, “adversaries bluff,” on who can go the lowest.
Linda – I like the emotional tone of this, and the images you’ve put together with so few words. I can see that candle flicking in a thunderstorm. Beautiful use of language.
I love the different feels in this haiku. For me, comfort, then intimidating, then a bit playful.
Linda,
I’m drawn into the haiku’s moment by the wordplay of
and then brought up to the edge of the bluff
at which my mind goes both ways – verb? noun? –
and then leaps.
//david
Linda, what a rich, beautiful image….love the sound of thunder…lovely haiku!
Linda, there is so much warmth and serenity in your haiku.
I love:
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