Haiku Windows: hospital window
Haiku Windows
In the book Haiku: The Art of the Short Poem, editors Yamaguchi and Brooks quote David Lanoue: “A haiku is a window”…
In the following weeks we will look at (or through?) the many possibilities raised by this thought – and you’re invited to join in the fun! Submit an original unpublished poem (or poems) via our Contact Form by Sunday midnight on the theme of the week, including your name as you would like it to appear, and place of residence. I will select from these for the column, and add commentary.
next week’s theme: window seat
Some bay windows or other windows with a view come complete with a seat and cushions for your viewing comfort. A window seat can also refer to the seat on a train, plane or restaurant nearest to the window…
I look forward to reading your submissions.
Haiku Windows: hospital window
perched outside
the hospital window
a bird with all its limbsChristina Sng
By emphasizing that the bird has all its limbs, we naturally begin to think about someone who does not have, or may no longer have, all their limbs… this is how the reader can participate in the completion of a haiku…
hospital room
looking out the window
my child asks if it will hurtStephen A. Peters
Once again an example of how less is more – here, we do not know who the child is asking about – is it themselves? or someone they are visiting? a sibling or parent? In any case, we feel the concern in this situation… we feel the hurt…
hospital window
I look
without seeingTia Haynes
Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, USA
We have the setting, and we are given one statement – but anyone who has experienced grief, or the shock of sudden news, even, knows this feeling…
Here are the rest of my selections for this week:
bedridden –
the comfort of going places
with passing cloudsAdjei Agyei-Baah
waving to the leaves
waving at me –
hospital windowAmy Losak
hospital window
left on the sill
an unfinished bookAndrew Shimield
UK
hospital window
why the wind vane
points nowhereAngelo B. Ancheta
hospital window –
somewhere, out,
the moonAngiola Inglese
stopping CPR –
outside the window
springAnna Maria Domburg-Sancristoforo
ER window
glimpsing
a covered gurneyArdelle Hollis Ray
Las Vegas, NV
all that is unsaid
in mother’s stare –
hospital windowarvinder kaur
Chandigarh, India
third week
cards and photographs line
the hospital windowsillBeverly Acuff Momoi
iv drip
outside
the
window
slow
rainBilly Antonio
hospital window
an upgoing bouquet
of balloonsCarmen Sterba
Tet, ’68, Hue
daylight outside MASH windows
mixed blessings, going homeCharles Harmon
Los Angeles, California, USA
hospital window
the clouds move
s l o w l yChristina Chin
Kuching, Sarawak, Borneo
outside the hospital window
my dog wagging
his tailChristine Eales
UK
mom dozes
by dad’s hospital bed
a sunbeamClaire Vogel Camargo
open window
in my hospital room
a sudden chillDebbi Antebi
London, UK
hospital window
the view of more
hospital windowsDeborah P Kolodji
Temple City, California
ICU window
green view to the horizon
I plot my escapeDianne Moritz
hospital windows
reflecting the day’s last light
river on the urnEngin Gulez
Ankara, Turkey
hospital window
a woman sings
a lullaby for her childEufemia Griffo
full moon
through hospital window
carbolic scentEva Soe
open door
doctor stares
at the horizonGiovanna Restuccia
Italy
how many windows
the distance
between our lifelinesGuliz Mutlu
Outpatients window
a fledgling bullfinch
learns the hard wayHelen Buckingham
labor ward window
the unfolding leaves
of an acer treeHelga Stania
Switzerland
surgery day
through the hospital window
distant thunderHifsa Ashraf
Pakistan
in remission –
at the hospital window
his smile from ear to earIngrid Baluchi
black dahlia
from ICU the view
of a nurse lighting upJennifer Hambrick
Columbus, Ohio, USA
in the window
legs and arms and heads and eyes
doll hospitalJoanne van Helvoort
by her window
in the hospital
the drip of the catheterJohn Green
remission –
through the hospital window
blackbirds sing in duskJohn Hawkhead
Seeing the moon
through the ward window –
heavenly pull.John Noonan
Dundalk Ireland
hospital window
the therapy dog
peeks outKath Abela Wilson
Pasadena, California
aspens
mention a breeze
hospital windowKen Olson
Yakima WA
hospital windowsill
wilting flowers
hang their headsLiz Ann Winkler
White Rock, BC Canada
hospice veranda
the old salt scans the sky
for herLPConvey
Brisbane, Australia
hospital room…
with a finger she draws flowers
on the window glassin ospedale… con un dito disegna / fiori sui vetri
Lucia Cardillo
baby shower…
at the hospital window
pink camelliasLucia Fontana
hospital stay
no window
in her corridorLucy Whitehead
Essex, UK
past hospital
I wave at the window
of her roomMadhuri Pillai
hospital window
his smile to our daughter
for the first timeMarilyn Appl Walker
georgia, usa
Children’s Day
through the hospital window
Spider-Man climbs inMarta Chocilowska
hospital gown…
dancing with my reflection
in the windowMary Hanrahan
children’s ward
no one at any
of the windowsMichael Henry Lee
get well soon cards
taped to the hospital window
empty bedMichael H. Lester
Los Angeles CA USA
waving
a fond farewell
hospital windowMike Gallagher
Achill Island, Ireland
hospital window…
the room
without a viewMohammad Azim Khan
just enough time
to see the falling rain…
hospital windowMuskaan Ahuja
Chandigarh, India
air conditioning units
on the roof
hospital room viewNancy Brady
Huron, Ohio, USA
springtime frolicking
behind hospital windows
smile on her still faceNatalia Kuznetsova
Russia
hospital stay
no memory
of the windowNicole Tilde
Shady Dale, Ga.
hospital window
losing track
of another snowflakePeter Jastermsky
hospital window
someone’s lipstick kiss
left on the panePris Campbell
in hospital
outside my window
life goes onRachel Sutcliffe
hospital window
peonies fill in the room
with sunsetRadostina Dragostinova
Bulgaria
a wide-eyed child
sees swooping bluebirds
hospital scrubsRandall Hermn
one bundled twin
in the neonatal window
now twoRandy Brooks
reflected
in his window
flowers and tubesRehn Kovacic
twelve o’clock –
the coming of night lurks behind
the hospital windowReka Nyitrai
hospital window –
my shifting view
of mortalityRoberta Beary
County Mayo, Ireland
shared hospital room…
resting on the sunny side
of a closed curtainRobin Smith
Wilmington, DE
from her hospital bed
she spies a deer darting
past the windowRobyn Brooks
a child’s soft toy
in the hospital window
going homeRon C. Moss
Tasmania, Australia
hospital window
between African Violets
and smell of spring rainRon Scully
window washer
at the ICU floor
life hangs by a threadRonald K. Craig
hospital window –
a full moon lights up
a sleepless nightRosa Maria Di Salvatore
room with a view
outside the ER
some smokersRuth Powell
stick figures
in the hospital window
pediatric wardSari Grandstaff
Saugerties, NY, U.S.A.
maternity ward
chicks tweet in the nest
in front of the windowSerhiy Shpychenko
Kyiv, Ukraine
big sister
excitedly waves at baby
through hospital windowSharon Lynne Yee
Torrance, CA 90502
baby grandson
caressed by sunbeams
cardiac care unitSheila Sondik
outside
his hospital window
life goes onShirley Brooks
hospital window
on every corner
fast food outletsSimon Hanson
Queensland, Australia
children’s ward
the window overlooks
a robin’s nestSkaidrite Stelzer
Toledo, Ohio
spring nightfall
concerned face of my reflection
on the hospital windowSlobodan Pupovac
Zagreb, Croatia
blood stains on curtain
red shades
in hospital windowSomayajulu Musunuri
hospice window
a narrow slit lets in
the morning sunSrinivasa Rao Sambangi
lipstick tic tac toe
on the hospital window
I let her winSusan Rogers
Los Angeles, CA, USA
feeding my hospital food
to the pigeon
on the window sillTammie Baluchi
Uganda
sickbed window
a hawk
powers into flightTimothy J. Dickey
hospital window –
a child looks at raindrops
in a puddleTomislav Maretic
hospital window
a parking lot replacing
the parkValentina Ranaldi-Adams
Fairlawn, Ohio USA
hospital window
he wonders if he’ll be
a star soonVandana Parashar
last stage cancer
waning moon deepens darkness
hospital windowVishnu Kapoor
hospital window –
on a maple tree
a green leafZuzanna Truchlewska
Katherine Munro lives in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, and publishes under the name kjmunro. She is Membership Secretary for Haiku Canada and an Associate Member of the League of Canadian Poets. She recently co-edited an anthology of crime-themed haiku called Body of Evidence: a collection of killer ’ku.
This Post Has 34 Comments
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just enough time
to see the falling rain…
hospital window
.
Muskaan Ahuja
Chandigarh, India
.
When this appeared on Charlotte Digregrio’s blog I just had to comment:https://charlottedigregorio.wordpress.com/2018/05/15/daily-haiku-may-16-2018/#comment-7142
.
Truly wonderful work!
Thanks Kathy for lovely haikus, a glance into peoples clear hearts and including my one.
thanks for this John!
Thank you HJ
for posting my haiku
such wonderful entries, congrats to all
cheers
thanks for submitting!
Thank you for including one of my haiku here, Kathy! Roberta Beary’s and Shirley Brooks’s haiku really strike me here too among these excellent selections. I have started thinking of Wednesdays as Windows Wednesdays now, when I get to read the week’s wonderful haiku selections.
thanks for sharing this, Sari, & for your kind words!
This is my first post and I am so grateful that my haiku is selected among the great Haijin
I
Thank you so much…
thanks for submitting, Eva!
Been dark re wifi for two days, but slowly catching up on wonderful contributions here! 🙂
.
Alan
thanks Alan!
Thanks very much for so many beautiful, enjoyable haiku by great poets today.
Thanks for including mine Kathy!
Warmest regards.
thanks for submitting, Christina!
Thanks, Kathy, you have made this ‘Haiku Windows’ feature so much fun and a great opportunity for some deserving poets to show their stuff!!!
thanks for this, Ken!
This week’s theme was of interest to me as I was recently reading about new designs in hospitals to include views of the natural world. Studies have shown that patients with views of nature heal faster. Enjoyed reading all of the haiku this week. Thanks for including mine.
wow – thanks for posting this, Nicole, & thanks also for submitting!
Thank you for the information…
Green are leaves
Thank-you Thank-you for including mine.
thanks for submitting, Valentina!
Exceptional beauty in this collection. I enjoyed reading each one.
thanks for this, Corine – it was a record week for the number of poems posted…
Another great, varied collection of haiku. Thanks for including one of mine.
thanks for submitting, Nancy!
So many heartfelt verses to read, well done to all the poets.
Another wonderful line up Kate
thanks for this, Carol!
Great collection of ku – congratulations everyone – and thanks so much for including mine, Katherine, it’s an honour to be among them. Hard to pick favourites from such a good bunch but the ones that really do it for me (after just a couple of readings) are those by Tia Haynes, Billy Antonio, Deborah P Kolodji, Muskaan Ahuja, Robyn Brooks…..I could easily go on. A really top set.
thanks for sharing, Helen!
full moon
finds the hospital window
and my weary face
thanks for this, Penny – (& submissions for this week are ‘window seat’ via the Contact Form above)
Congratulations to each poet whose work has been selected. Wonderful variety of haiku!
Here I present my three on the subject
***
hospital room
with a garden view –
less lonely
***
children’s hospital …
window washers dress up
like Superman
***
hospital …
father and son kiss together
through the window
I do love the tenderness of your father and son haiku, Tsanka.
Again, so many memorable ones this week, Adjei’s especially for me. It describes the boredom and lack of movement for so much time when one is hospitalized, so passing clouds take on special significance — if you are lucky enough to have a window. Some are not. Windows in hospitals are an unnecessary ‘indulgence’ and expense in many countries, so Mohammad’s haiku also resonated.
Thank you, Kathy, for including one of mine.
Thank you, dear Ingrid Baluchi.
Your haiku expresses the same optimism and hope 🙂 I like it.
thanks to you both for sharing!