A Sense of Place: THE SHORE – sight
A Sense of Place
In his essay ‘So:ba’, given at the International Haiku Conference (SUNY Plattsburgh, NY, 2008) and published serially in Frogpond, Jim Kacian discusses the concept of ba:
“If you look up ba in any Japanese-English Dictionary you’ll find it means “place” or “site” or “occasion”. And these are all true in the most general sense—ba is a pointer to a kind of awareness that something of importance is happening in time and space.”
So here we are…
In the following weeks we will get back to haiku basics and explore specific locations with an emphasis on the senses, and with the intention of improving our own haiku practice. Ideally, participants will select an actual location that they can visit, or a location from memory that they have visited in the past. Failing that, we always have our imaginations – 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 Submit an original unpublished poem (or poems) via our Contact Form by Sunday midnight on the theme of the week, including your name as you would like it to appear, and place of residence.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: THE SHORE – hearing
We will stay at the shore – if possible, the same actual shore as last week – but now we listen…
I look forward to reading your submissions.
A Sense of Place: THE SHORE – sight
Welcome to our newest feature! I did an extensive amount of Googling this week (place names, mostly) – do keep in mind the sense theme each week – several excellent poems were not selected this week but could be re-submitted for an upcoming ‘sense’… I hope over the next few months that readers and writers alike will enjoy the poems that are shared here…
garden pond
a heron tries to out-stare
a plastic oneAndrew Shimield
UK
This poem works twice as hard – it is about sight as well as about the scene that we can see…
shoreline view
white yachts carve scimitars
in Lake Ohrid’s turquoiseIngrid Baluchi
Macedonia
Here we have a stunning description where the word ‘scimitar’ may help to locate the poem – for those who are not familiar, Lake Ohrid straddles the mountainous border between southwestern Macedonia and eastern Albania, according to Wikipedia…
blue winter sky –
an old man and a stray dog
play on the shorelinemargherita petriccione
Such a simple, common sight that, because of the poet’s selection of descriptive words, translates into a memorable event, and a wonderful haiku…
a certain kind
of inheritance…
shells at the tidelineMichele L. Harvey
We know that the debris on the shore changes with the tide, and there is, perhaps, a randomness or synchronicity around when we choose to beachcomb, and what might be there for us to find… but to think of a found shell as an inheritance is to help the reader look at our world in a new way…
Here are the rest of my selections for this week:
littered plastic bowls –
stray children feed on
summer remainsAdjei Agyei-Baah
Kumasi, Ghana
the depths
of green bridges
River AvonAlan Summers
Avon River UK
the world
between my toes…
sluices of sandAmy Losak
wind to shore
a wave of mimosas
on the hillil vento a riva –
sulla collina l’onda
della mimosaAngiola Inglese
glory of the bank –
yellow and magenta
the wild flowersAnna Maria Domburg-Sancristoforo
purple sand dollars
glide toward the waves
summer dawnArdelle Hollis Ray
Las Vegas, NV
Indian ocean –
an immersed idol
emerges on another shorearvinder kaur
Chandigarh, India
river of alewives
climbs the fish ladder
silver inside silverBob Whitmire
Round Pond, Maine
morning walk
hermit crabs scamper
from beached seaweed driftBona Santos
sleepyhead poet…
full moon rising
with the ebb tidecarol jones
Wales
Marina Del Rey
the spinnakers fill with sun
on the horizonCarol Raisfeld
ocean mirror
guides our glances
upwards to the starsCharles Harmon
Los Angeles by the sea
flee as wave rushes in
flock back as it recedes
sanderlingsChristina Chin
Kuching, Sarawak
river rocks
we leap over
the frogsChristina Sng
grey waves and pebbles
her golden hair
in the Brighton breezeChristine Eales
UK
kids cast
fishing lines from the dock
summer campClaire Vogel Camargo
seaside sunset
the orange glow
in her hairCorine Timmer
receding wave
minnows chase their shadows
back to seaCraig Kittner
childhood lake
a seagull dots
the final postDavid Jacobs
London, UK
summer sunset
all along the shore
ruins of sand castlesDebbi Antebi
London, UK
sand castle
the wave
too soonDeborah P Kolodji
Temple City, CA
diving bobbing
diving bobbing diving bobbing…
six ducklingsDian Duchin Reed
Soquel, California, USA
setting sun
Tiber river
changing its coloursEufemia Griffo
back to my home port
upon the rusty anchor
warm evening sunEva Limbach
Germany
picnic at Schoodic Point
rocks stuck here
with the oceanGary Hotham
full moon
slices
Montauk wavesGiedra Kregzdys
Woodhaven, NY
blazing sun
in the Strait of Messina
a feluca leaves the shore(feluca is the boat used to catch the swordfishes)
Giovanna Restuccia
Italy
ocean view
a pitcher of
Mai TaisGreer Woodward
Kamuela, HI
eyes on the shore
fishermen and gulls
far from the flowGuliz Mutlu
a line
made by walking –
morning shoreHelga Stania
Switzerland
after flood
the bridge
of fallen treesHifsa Ashraf
Pakistan
summer holidays
the starfish
in a tidal poolJoanne van Helvoort
exploring tide pools
my line in the sand
fades awayJohn Green
night shore
the ebb tide
tumbling starsJohn Hawkhead
bald eagle soars
beside me over Crystal Lake
hunting seasonJudith Hishikawa
West Burke, Vermont
Patagonian coast –
The seagulls fly
towards the sunsetJulia Guzmán
airshow finale seagulls cartwheeling into the sun
Karen Conrads Wibell
driftwood beach
the ocean opens
its own galleryKath Abela Wilson
Pasadena, California
(traveling in Portugal)
sea foam
kisses the coast
before retreatingKathleen Mazurowski
Yorktown Beach
footprints encircle
my JAWS towelLamart Cooper
Flecked with white
crepe myrtle blossoms
the sprinkler’s fading tidelineLaurie Greer
Washington DC
echoing its name
mountains reflected on the lakeLori Zajkowski
barefoot…
child shows the sea
her dolla piedi nudi … la bimba mostra il mare /alla sua bambola
Lucia Cardillo
Sennen Cove
a boat made out of sand
fills with seaLucy Whitehead
Essex, UK
a doe rearing
for mustang grapes
Blackjack PeninsulaLynn Edge
Indian Ocean
how quickly it embraces
mother’s ashesMadhuri Pillai
foggy beach
Mama’s yellow slicker
in the mistMargaret Walker
walking the edge
of a southern sea…
his thousand-yard stareMarietta McGregor
an egret pauses
at her haiku stone…
Epworth by the Sea(Peggy Willis Lyles’ family placed a haiku stone in the memorial gardens at Epworth by the Sea in Georgia to celebrate her life and haiku. You may see the stone by googling HSA SE Robyn Hood Black/Peggy Willis Lyles)
Marilyn Appl Walker
Gulf Stream
sandpipers stitch stars
in the sandMarilyn Ashbaugh
Edwardsburg, MI
at the shoreline
one cloud
chases anotherMark Gilbert
UK
red sunset
a boy pursues the ball
across the beachMarta Chocilowska
seashore the sparkle of sun-polished pebbles
Martha Magenta
England, UK
fresh crawl…
two old gulls
looking for dinnerMary Hanrahan
brown river
the land traveling
back to sea(the beautiful Northern Wairoa River, New Zealand)
Maureen Sudlow
Fourth of July –
kayakers on
the Cuyahogamichael ceraolo
moultirie creek
a shard of silver through
the osprey’s clawMichael Henry Lee
skinny dippers
sparks fly at a Malibu beach
bonfireMichael H. Lester
Los Angeles CA USA
low tide…
rivulets of moonlight
on the mudflatsMichael Smeer
Haarlemmermeer, The Netherlands
the island
moving closer
promise of rainMike Gallagher
Lyreacrompane, Ireland
piles of debris
dot the river’s shore
abating floodMike Stinson
crowded shore
a bride disembarks
with musicMohammad Azim Khan
lakeside walk
she searches
for lake glassNancy Brady
sleepless…
moonlit path across the sea
beckons homeNatalia Kuznetsova
Russia
noon blazing sun
in(de)finite
ocean shoreOlivier Schopfer
Geneva, Switzerland
Arenzano shore –
above, below the horizon
no cloudsPasquale Asprea
sudden spray of surf
my watercolor becomes
abstractPat Davis
Pembroke, NH USA
Hugging the coastline
of my suicidal ideation
an up-tempo wavePatrick Sweeney
scumbling
blue into blue
lost horizon(To scumble – a painting term for laying color down in a manner to soften or blend color or strokes)
Peggy Bilbro
Alabama, USA
mating season
the gator eyes me
from water’s edgePris Campbell
lake-shore breeze
the way clouds ripple
alongside meRachel Sutcliffe
seashore stones
vedic chanting
splashesRadhamani Sarma
Chennai, India
morning haze
old fisherman heaves the sun
from the lakeRadostina Dragostinova
Bulgaria
food wrappers blown
by the wind…
seagull droppingsRandall Herman
Victoria, TX
reading a mystery
to rhythm of the waves
ocean shoreRehn Kovacic
sea waves…
her shadow jumps in,
no splashRéka Nyitrai
receding waves…
the shoreline wriggles
with coquinas(Donax variabilis, a species of small clam)
Robin Smith
Wilmington, Delaware
beauty’s rebirth –
urban nudes frolicking
on baker beach sandrobyn brooks
usa
Lake Erie
gulls follow us
down the beachRonald K. Craig
Batavia, OH USA
watching
a seagull over the water
in search of fishRosa Maria Di Salvatore
lakeshore
the green dance
of lily pads
on waveletsRuth Powell
shoreline boat cruise –
the fancy estates
hidden from the roadSari Grandstaff
Saugerties, NY, USA
native shore
grains of sand crumble
inside the footprintSerhiy Shpychenko
Kyiv, Ukraine
island
splits the sea
from the skySlobodan Pupovac
Zagreb, Croatia
one gold
lagoon and Doge’s Palace
San Marco at duskSonam Chhoki
nesting time
a giant wave delivers
the turtleSrinivasa Rao Sambangi
Hyderabad, India
ocean shore
some of my childhood
still thereStephen A. Peters
somewhere
in all this sand
her shoesSusan Rogers
Los Angeles, CA, USA
distant pond shoreline
for our hastily built raft
a crew none braverTim Heaney
Atlanta, Ga. USA
sailboats cluster
Galveston’s sheltered curves
waiting for the windTrilla Pando
Houston Texas
harvest moon –
baby turtle on its way
to the oceanTsanka Shishkova
ocean wave –
the blue
in her eyesValentina Ranaldi-Adams
Fairlawn, Ohio USA
depression
one by one the waves
break on shoreVandana Parashar
barnacles
thick on a drift log
my aging armVictor Ortiz
Bellingham, WA
waves after waves
unending cycle of
coming and goingVishnu Kapoor
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 54 Comments
Comments are closed.
THE SHORE – hearing
.
.
moonless night
from far away
foghorns answere
.
.
waiting for the tide
the die away sighs
of a whistle buoy
Oops, mistake. Sorry
My fave was the second one, but correct the typo in the first one before you post.
.
Good luck!
.
warm regards,
Alan
thanks again Alan – & Joanne – glad to see you found the Contact Form!
Thanks Katherine Munroe for having appreciated my haiku, is an image of my Liguria at the end of winter !
thanks for this, Angiola!
somewhere
in all this sand
her shoes
*
Susan Rogers
This poem immediately draws one in to the sheer flurry of activity taking place, It comes over as completely unforced although it wouldn’t surprise me if it took a bit of work to get there. You couldn’t doubt its authenticity for a second.
thanks for sharing this, David!
Thank you Kathy for including one of my verses. All of the selected poems make for great summer reading! I also enjoy reading the commentary and the spirit of encouragement.
Thanks again!
thanks for your kind words, Lamart!
Thank you Kathy for including one of my haiku in the new sense of place feature. Many wonderful ones here. I am enjoying reading them and sensing some cohesiveness here.
thanks for sharing, Sari!
Thanks, Kathy, for selecting one of my poems to be part of this week’s column. Also, thanks to Alan Summers for his comment. I’ll have to look up the name Kurt Jackson! Thanks also to Ingrid Baluchi for her comment.
Hi Pat! 🙂
.
Here’s a BBC article on Kurt Jackson. I’ve not met him but he does a lot in the South West of England, but he did like my The Thoughtful Raven haibun on twitter. 🙂
.
warm regards,
Alan
Forgot the link about Kurt Jackson painting by shorelines! 🙂
http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/devon/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_8619000/8619641.stm
thanks for this, Pat!
Thanks, Kathy. Happy to be included in this lovely group of poems.
thanks for submitting, Mary!
kj , Greetings!
I am once again very honored that you enjoyed my poem. Like your selection ( from a previous week), the poem you chose was the first of three I submitted on this topic, I guess I need to stick with my “gut choice” in the selection process.
Looking forward to next week’s challenge.
Thanks again,
Tim Heaney
thanks for this, Tim!
Thank-you Kathy for publishing one of mine in your new column.
thank you for submitting, Valentina!
So many wonderful poems here!
.
Just a few I’ll mention:
.
.
wind to shore
a wave of mimosas
on the hill
.
Angiola Inglese
.
.
river of alewives
climbs the fish ladder
silver inside silver
.
Bob Whitmire
Round Pond, Maine
.
Love the terms and last line!
.
.
Marina Del Rey
the spinnakers fill with sun
on the horizon
.
Carol Raisfeld
.
.
river rocks
we leap over
the frogs
.
Christina Sng
.
Love this!!!
.
.
grey waves and pebbles
her golden hair
in the Brighton breeze
.
Christine Eales
UK
.
I’ve mostly known Brighton as a hot Summery place but remember one of the years of a great storm, and that first line feels so spot on for non-Summer days.
.
.
receding wave
minnows chase their shadows
back to sea
.
Craig Kittner
.
Lovely work!
.
.
childhood lake
a seagull dots
the final post
.
David Jacobs
London, UK
.
.
There is something iconic about gulls (and sometimes crows) dotting pillars, posts etc…
.
.
summer sunset
all along the shore
ruins of sand castles
.
Debbi Antebi
London, UK
.
Reminiscent of ruined fortifications against Napoleon and Hitler etc…
.
.
picnic at Schoodic Point
rocks stuck here
with the ocean
.
Gary Hotham
.
Wow, both for the haiku, and at these images:
https://acadiamagic.com/schoodic-point.htm
.
And thanks for the wonderful card/letter from your good self! I must re-train myself to use snail-mail again! 🙂
.
.
exploring tide pools
my line in the sand
fades away
.
John Green
.
.
Wonderful!
.
.
night shore
the ebb tide
tumbling stars
.
John Hawkhead
.
All lovely lines, including the great last line!
.
.
driftwood beach
the ocean opens
its own gallery
.
Kath Abela Wilson
Pasadena, California
(traveling in Portugal)
.
.
Great set of lines, enjoy your time in Portugal, and all that amazing fresh fish, and of course the horses! 🙂
.
.
Yorktown Beach
footprints encircle
my JAWS towel
.
Lamart Cooper
.
Most famous still for the Jaws movie (but other things too):
http://www.tusk2.com/2014/07/03/jaws-and-america/
.
Great use of sense of place!!!
.
.
Sennen Cove
a boat made out of sand
fills with sea
.
Lucy Whitehead
Essex, UK
.
Wonderful!
.
.
a doe rearing
for mustang grapes
Blackjack Peninsula
.
Lynn Edge
.
Great lines!
.
.
Indian Ocean
how quickly it embraces
mother’s ashes
.
Madhuri Pillai
.
Poignant and beautiful.
.
.
an egret pauses
at her haiku stone…
Epworth by the Sea
.
(Peggy Willis Lyles’ family placed a haiku stone in the memorial gardens at Epworth by the Sea in Georgia to celebrate her life and haiku. You may see the stone by googling HSA SE Robyn Hood Black/Peggy Willis Lyles)
.
Marilyn Appl Walker
.
Wonderful memorial haiku for Peggy.
.
Here’s the commemoration, wonderful!
https://www.authorsguild.net/services/shared/attachments/sbx/content_images/44459f9ec7b7cabdb928db4b3f4a8301b48afc7e.jpg?1522267069
.
.
Gulf Stream
sandpipers stitch stars
in the sand
.
Marilyn Ashbaugh
Edwardsburg, MI
.
Love that middle line!!!
.
.
Fourth of July –
kayakers on
the Cuyahoga
.
michael ceraolo
.
Great!
.
.
moultirie creek
a shard of silver through
the osprey’s claw
.
Michael Henry Lee
.
My top favorite of banging in a sense of place! 🙂
.
.
low tide…
rivulets of moonlight
on the mudflats
.
Michael Smeer
Haarlemmermeer, The Netherlands
.
.
Incredibly atmospheric!
.
.
lakeside walk
she searches
for lake glass
.
Nancy Brady
.
Quietly wonderful.
.
.
noon blazing sun
in(de)finite
ocean shore
.
Olivier Schopfer
Geneva, Switzerland
.
Delightfully innovative! 🙂
.
.
sudden spray of surf
my watercolor becomes
abstract
.
Pat Davis
Pembroke, NH USA
.
Very Kurt Jackson! Great!
.
.
lake-shore breeze
the way clouds ripple
alongside me
.
Rachel Sutcliffe
.
Beautiful beautiful lines.
.
.
seashore stones
vedic chanting
splashes
.
Radhamani Sarma
Chennai, India
.
Lovely!
.
.
morning haze
old fisherman heaves the sun
from the lake
.
Radostina Dragostinova
Bulgaria
.
Wow! And love that use of a verb (heaves), brilliant!
.
.
receding waves…
the shoreline wriggles
with coquinas
.
(Donax variabilis, a species of small clam)
Robin Smith
Wilmington, Delaware
.
Always great when a specific name from nature is used!
.
Note: The coquina is edible, and is used to make broth. Some people collect the colorful shells to use for crafts. (Wikipedia) So I can imagine a number of locals being very interested for various reasons.
.
.
nesting time
a giant wave delivers
the turtle
.
Srinivasa Rao Sambangi
Hyderabad, India
.
Lovely!
.
.
sailboats cluster
Galveston’s sheltered curves
waiting for the wind
.
Trilla Pando
Houston Texas
.
Great feeling of place and atmosphere!
.
.
Now can’t wait to see what everyone delivers for the next sense! 🙂
.
.
warm regards,
Alan
Thanks Alan Summer for having enjoyed my haiku, is an image of my Liguria at the end of winter !!
Thanks!
.
I’m always happy to become a kigo! 🙂
.
.
wind to shore
a wave of mimosas
on the hill
.
Angiola Inglese
.
.
End of winter mimosas:
http://beautifuliguria.com/authentic-italy-mimosa-festival-italian-riviera/
.
.
Of course I know Genoa well, in particular, as I’m a student of Byzantine and Italian history! 🙂
.
Dear esteemed poet,
Greetings! Thank you so much for appreciating my take. A wonderful way
of encouraging writers
with regards
S.Radhamani
thanks for this!
thanks so much, as always, Alan! who knew this column would turn into a world-wide geography lesson – I have learned so much
Really enjoyed your comments on all of these, Alan!
Thanks Michael! 🙂
.
warm regards,
Alan
Wonderful images, thanks
thanks Kathleen!
Happy to appear in such a fine collection of haiku. Thank you, kj. Eager to return to Kure Beach with my ears wide open. Be well, all.
thanks for this, Craig!
Thank you so much, kj, for choosing one of mine to comment on. I’m delighted and greatly honored.
Memorable and lovely images in this week’s selection — in particular, for me, Marilyn Ashbaugh’s sandpipers’ stitched stars, Martha’s sun-polished pebbles, and the fun of Pat Davis’s accidental abstract watercolour. Michelle Harvey’s tideline shells had an unexpected poignancy to lift thoughts away from beached whales, and from the usual litter of plastic we humans leave others to inherit.
This new venture will be an interesting challenge to tease out poems from all angles, and I look forward to what you have in store for us.
thanks so much for sharing this, Ingrid!
So many poems to love in this week’s selection. Thanks for choosing one of mine, Kathy. It’s hard to select favourites as I like so many but here goes . . .
wind to shore
a wave of mimosas
on the hill
il vento a riva –
sulla collina l’onda
della mimosa
Angiola Inglese
nesting time
a giant wave delivers
the turtle
Srinivasa Rao Sambrangi
river rocks
we leap over
the frogs
Christina Sng
brown river
the land traveling
back to sea
(the beautiful Northern Wairoa River, New Zealand)
Maureen Sudlow
low tide…
rivulets of moonlight
on the mudflats
.
— Michael Smeer
Thanks Corine Timmer for having appreciated my haiku, is an image of my Liguria at the end of winter !
thanks to you both – Corine & Angiola – for sharing here
Thanks Corine, for appreciating my ku also 🙂
Thank you, Corine. I appreciate it 🙂
Dear Catherine Munro,
Greetings! Delighted to go through this wonderful creative platform
and proud to be one selected. Thank you so much , In a way, a very constructive way of
encouraging writers.
with regards
S.Radhamani
thank you!
So many wonderful haiku (I sense we are on firmer ground this week than some of the Haiku Windows themes) but I will mention Kath Abela Wilson’s delicious stillness, Réka Nyitrai’s Basho homage, and Michele Harvey’s, which made me think of the human race in a totally different way ….
Thanks KJ
thanks for sharing, Mark – I agree
I love all the visuals in these…evocative of the shore for sure, from beauty to humor and back again. Thanks for including one of mine in the mix.
thanks for this, Nancy!
My heartfelt thanks Katherine for having selected and commented my poem with great sensitivity
my pleasure Margherita – thank you for submitting!
First I’d like to thank Katherine Munro for compiling this lovely extensive collection. I am humbled to have my first submission to one of these THF series included among so many Pondies, and haiku friends. I guess the author’s notes were not included to keep the page from becoming too long. For anyone who is interested I have exended them a bit and I’ll add them below:
.
low tide…
rivulets of moonlight
on the mudflats
.
— Michael Smeer
.
Author’s Notes: Remembering walking the ‘Wad’ during a primary school summer camp: The ‘Wadden’ are mudflats at the ‘Wadden Sea’ in the Southern part of the North Sea (North of the mainland of The Netherlands, -Germany and part of Denmark. At low tide, the sea falls almost completely dry. In some area’s, such as between the North of Friesland and the Island of Ameland (The Netherlands) you can actually walk all the way across. If you have the opportunity do visit the Wadden Sea and try to take a guided tour to walk the ‘Wad’ (preferably at night when the moon is full!) The Wadden Sea is on the Unesco World Heritage List: whc.unesco.org/en/list/1314
thanks for this, Michael!
A wonderful line up to start the ‘sense of place’
Congratulations to all poets.
Thank you Kathy for including my verse.
*
These are the ones that I like as a sequence —
*
nesting time
a giant wave delivers
the turtle
Srinivasa Rao Sambrangi
*
somewhere
in all this sand
her shoes
Susan Rogers
*
harvest moon
baby turtle on its way
to the ocean
Tsanka Shishkova
*
waves after waves
unending cycle of
coming and going
Vishnu Kapoor
*
thanks for sharing this, carol!
Thank you, Carol Jones!
I appreciate that a poet like you have noticed my haiku.