HAIKU DIALOGUE – talk about tulips

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1. it was my intention to be the first to comment here on Wednesday morning… maybe next week! I ended up posting more poems than I had intended too, such an amazing variety of responses to the photo – some clearly written as haiga, others more closely linked to the image… in any case we are off to a great start – thanks for the kind words & suggestions – & for all these great conversations… thank you all!

   1. Thank you for having this great discussion group. I am enjoying this so much. Love reading all the poems you have selected and love reading the comments.
      Thank you for select my haiku for discussion.

2. Black Parrot tulip
   a dad reads fairy tales
   to wide eyed girls

   Alan Summers

   Such an evocative haiku and a happy one too! I can see it, feel it, and hear the bedtime story. Well done, Alan.

   in the tulip’s center
   all the math
   I’ll ever need

   Terri French

   This haiku of Terri’s is destined to become a classic. Each reading evokes layers of interpretation depending on the reader’s experience. It is Perfect, Terri.

   1. Black Parrot tulip
      a dad reads fairy tales
      to wide eyed girls

      Alan Summers

      to choose “black parrot tulip” here raises my interest…i want to know what story you are reading…is it Captain Hook, a dragon, etc.? the feathered edges of the petals can become any animal…when i keep my eyes on them and turn them around. Just like the twists in the pages of a children’s book and its images. thank you alan for sharing this special family moment.

      1. Hi Wendy,
         .
         You said:
         .
         “…to choose “black parrot tulip” here raises my interest…i want to know what story you are reading…is it Captain Hook, a dragon, etc.? the feathered edges of the petals can become any animal…when i keep my eyes on them and turn them around. Just like the twists in the pages of a children’s book and its images. thank you alan for sharing this special family moment.”
         .
         .
         I was in a cafe, which I occasionally do to incorporate the hustle and bustle of fellow customers into my writing. There was a couple and when the mom went off to order etc… the dad started reading a story. I didn’t recognise it, and was from the cafe’s various very young reading picture books for families. He had a great voice, and when he stopped, I told him so. I’m always impressed when dads read to their children. He said he doesn’t usually get a look in for reading as his wife takes over. I heard her read later too, and she was good, but so was he! 🙂
         .
         .
         Tulips were very much part of the culture in Britain due to links with Holland I guess, and the hit song by Tiny Tim. 🙂
         .
         I didn’t get to like tulips again until my wife took me to Amsterdam (The Netherlands) and to the floating flower market: http://area17.blogspot.com/2015/09/bloemenmarkt-amsterdam-worlds-only.html
         .
         .
         Many of the bulbs flowered in our small garden areas and I just loved them, and their mystery, even when they started to die there was something amazing about them.
         .
         .
         As someone who loved and loves fairytales and folklore and children’s fiction, all the magic just abounded when he read.
         .
         .
         I’m occasionally, every other year, a professional Santa, and meet thousands upon thousands of parents during the six weeks I cover for St Nick. 🙂 I’ve seen many kinds of families, and the difficult problems they face. Often the families with the greatest problems and issues are the nicest too! 🙂
         So I enjoyed giving him the thumbs for being a good dad, and adding to literacy which is a gift to any child.
         .
         many thanks! 🙂

   2. Thanks Roberta!
      .
      I’m glad this haiku resonates with a lot of people. It’s a catch in time for something very precious, the gift of literacy and imagination to children. Elon Musk read a book a day from childhood onwards, and we can see his imagination being partnered to the practicalities and challenges of this still new century!
      .
      Yes, math and sums in particular, played a big part in the tulip trade, as it was the multi-billion dollar industry of its day! 🙂

3. Thank you Kathy for the selection. While I enjoyed reading all the haiku, each made me think, and some of those thoughts on some of the verses are here-

   cut tulips
   still hoping
   for a miracle
   -cezar-florin ciobica

   There is a hint of strong expectation for a diametrical transition even while at the cusp of a dire adversity.

   tangerine sunset
   a tulip
   holding daylight
   -Claire Vogel Camargo

   The tulip is showcased here in all its splendour, that it can hold its own in the backdrop of the alluring palette of the sky during sundown.

   tulip runway
   the sun admires
   my spring collection
   -Greer Woodward

   So here we have a vast expanse of tulip fields, patronised by a friendly sun. Alternately in the face of cynical disinterest of others, the poet basks in the comfort of the sun showering attention on the alluring display which has accounted for considerable labour,time and love.

   leaving the hospice
   a tulip
   opens its heart
   -Rachel Sutcliffe

   A poignant verse.Leaving the hospice and delving back into the warm folds of the family is joyful. What if the family is tepid or indifferent to the homecoming…the poet finds joy in the open embrace of the blossom.

   power walking
   through the park—
   yawning tulips
   -Sari Grandstaff

   This one has a hint of satire. The fanatical walkers in the park, who are so involved in their exercise schedule are quite oblivious of their surroundings.And the denizens of the park do see many of them and may also have a laugh or two.

   1. Thank you for commentary Rashmi!

      1. cut tulips
         still hoping
         for a miracle
         -cezar-florin ciobica

         how long these cut flowers will survive, i ask?
         uncut tulips have a short life-span…so what are the chances here? Of course, it is easy for me to see there is a patient, that is silent here, perhaps in an OR…and loved ones waiting in the victim’s room for news from a doctor.
         cezar has performed the ultimate act i ask of a poet…to make me feel…and take me out of myself to do so. thank you cezar.

   2. tangerine sunset
      a tulip
      holding daylight
      -Claire Vogel Camargo

      in claire’s tulip, it is holding the colours of the sunset
      because the viewer doesn’t want this fantastic sunset, (relationship) to end.
      it is the viewer’s way of extending time to pass the colours onto the tulip. it is a wishful poem…thank you claire

4. A very nice start to a new venture in poetry! So many interesting takes on such a seemingly simple image. Yay Kathy!

   Wearing my science hat, I’m often forced to reduce nature’s beauty and complexity down to numbers. Good science then interprets those numbers to help tell the important, beautiful, horrifying stories so important for the world to hear and know. Terri French perfectly summed up the fact that sometimes nature is enough…

   in the tulip’s center
   all the math
   I’ll ever need

   And Rashmi Vesa captures so well that moment when a flower works its magic:

   late blossom
   the thaw in her
   creased face

   1. It is interesting that this tulip is based on 6 and 3. 6 petals; 6 stamen; three parts to the pistol. I’m not a flower expert … so many are heavily hybridized now … but the original N. American wild rose (Rosa virginiana) has 5 petals. The simplest hibiscus blooms the same. A lot of nature is divided by 2 and 4, mammals for example … but starfish, sand dollars and sea urchins are in fifths.

      1. Paul, you may not be a flower expert, but your facts lend weight to Terri French’s wonderful assertion, “all the math/ I’ll ever need.”

         Wasn’t going to comment again, but below you apologized for misspelling my name, and I want you to know I actually love “Cristina” without the “h.” That’s how my grandmother spelled her name, and just now being reminded of her gives me added courage when I sorely need it. Guess we never know how poetry (haiku) and poets (you) can touch into the deep parts of ourselves, even unwittingly.

5. Would it be possible to include the picture again just prior to the comments? Many people may not have seen the tulip picture from the prior week but have joined to read the response poems.

   1. an interesting idea, John! I will consider this for next week… thank you!

6. in the tulip’s center
   all the math
   I’ll ever need

   Terri French

   I liked reading haiku about math.

   1. terri french’s poem:
      in the tulip’s center
      all the math
      I’ll ever need

      Terri French

      has me looking straight into that tulip, and looking into how nature divides in perfect segments…letting nature teach us math may be a better way of remembering, and certainly a more refreshing way of learning…a way to get dreamily lost in it. thank you terri for this new way of seeing.

7. early spring
   squirrels rearrange
   the tulip bulbs
   .
   Marilyn Ashbaugh
   .
   A slice of life, not anthropomorphic but verisimilar, blackbirds in my experience, where nature invariably trumps the actions of man.
   .
   Just as a comparison I would also like to present an alternative rendering, using the poets words:
   .
   early spring
   rearranged by squirrels
   the tulip bulbs

   1. I love the humor in this, since we often arrange flowers. Understated…(!) . Love the way she puts this. Yes simonj, that the sense of spring being rearranged is there. Our best laid plans being set aside., also.

   2. early spring
      squirrels rearrange
      the tulip bulbs
      .
      Marilyn Ashbaugh

      the idea of squirrels, being “helpers” in the garden or getting into mischief…. so mimics the activities of garden owners ….perhaps not every expectation was met…this is fun and realistic with an edge. thank you marilyn ashbaugh for this springy poem.

8. leaving the hospice
   a tulip
   opens its heart

   Rachel Sutcliffe

   This haiku addresses the topic of death in a very gentle way.

   1. leaving the hospice
      a tulip
      opens its heart

      Rachel Sutcliffe

      rachel does it all the time….even the tulip is letting go….thank you for this simple poem that packs a heap of empathy.

9. So many beautiful ku to read but my favorite is:

   cut tulips
   still hoping
   for a miracle

   cezar-florin ciobica

   For me these three lines say nothing and everythying.
   I wish this miracle comes true ….

10. Looking at Kathy’s photo prompt, and thinking generally about tulips, there is a plastic quality about both the flower and leaves. In general, possibly as a result of plant breeding, the cultivated varieties lack the density of trichomes that many other flowers count on for their protection…maybe this, too, inspired Martha’s poem:
    .
    scent of snow…
    plastic tulips
    in the window
    .
    .
    I also enjoyed Marilyn Ashbaugh’s humo(u)r:
    .
    early spring
    squirrels rearrange
    the tulip bulbs

11. tulip mosaic virus
    a beauty
    still undefinable

    Yvette Kolodji

    Having studied microbiology among other sciences I’ve seen beauty in the invisible world and in the effects manifested in our ordinary world. I learned something new, that mosaic virus causes the variegation in some plants. It is undefinable because as we go deeper into the world of the small–molecular, sub-atomic, quantum–the effects may be left to chance and new mutations can cause unpredictable results. Some viruses are beautiful, resembling spaceships, flowers, snowflakes. But viruses can kill their host…sometimes humans seem like a virus that may end up killing our host, Mother Earth. And yet, and yet…the presence of beauty reminds us of our responsibility and we may yet turn back from the brink.

    skirts in the wind tulip display

    Deborah P Kolodji
    Temple City, California

    Like mother, like daughter. Invited to join HSA and encouraged to send to Haiku Foundation last May, I have begun attending meetings hosted and led by Deborah Kolodji, an excellent poet and teacher. Only last Sunday she hosted a lovely new year holiday party at her home for many of our Southern California Poets. Besides food and conversation there was a haiku gift exchange in which poets gave some small but meaningful gift with their haiku attached. skirts in the wind tulip display, indeed! Great party! The gift of haiku and creativity is the best of all, as is this new feature that challenges our imaginations in new ways in the new year. Debbie’s workshops at monthly meetings teach all of us with examples, guest poets, and anonymous group criticism.

    on the tip
    of my tongue
    the taste of tulips

    Kath Abela Wilson
    Pasadena, California

    Kath Abela also hosts poetry meetings at her home and at the Japanese Gardens in Pasadena weekly. She is also an excellent teacher, and provides encouragement and a forum to many local poets, artists, and musicians. I’ve never eaten flowers, but her poem makes me imagine their taste, something like the taste of poetry and thoughtful words…

    So many beautiful and thought-provoking poems from around the world! Thank you to kj for creating and editing this international forum!

    1. Charles thank you for your wonerful bursts of appreciation and your trifolf haiku burst! ( almost imagining the 3 poets you mention here… as cloud flower and star!)

       cloudburst flowerburst starbusrt

       (Wonderful energy and excitement)

       I love edible flowers and I studied to find out a lot about how wonderfully edible the petals are, thanks to this tulip theme someday I will make tulips stuffed with ice cream!!

       I will try to post some links later. The petals of tulips sound delicious!

       And so my haiku was on the tip of my tongue….

12. cloudburst flowerburst starburst

    Charles Harmon
    Los Angeles, California, USA

    A lot can be expressed with just three words. Rain is need for flowers to bloom. There is
    beauty in the flowers that bloom and the stars that shine.

13. Many thanks to Kathy Munro and THF for continuing onwards with Haiku Dialogue! And thank you’s to all those who have commented, kindly and interpretively. I am enjoying re-reading all of the haiku, soaking up their essences. Hopefully to comment soon.

14. Ronald Craig: Thank you for talking about my haiku. Although there are some sweet-smelling tulips, plastic ones are not. The scent of snow is more noticeable. Thanks – the mention is much appreciated.

15. From nostalgia to intimacy to pathos, am moved
    (at times through juxtaposition) by
    .
    Black Parrot tulips
    a dad reads fairytales
    to wide-eyed girls — (Alan Summers)
    .
    spring bloom
    my daughter dresses
    for her prom — (Christina Sng)
    .
    in the heart
    of a full-blown tulip
    my heart, too — (Carole MacRury)
    .
    hold me
    in your petals
    Passion flower — (Genie Nakano)
    .
    late bloomer –
    looking inside
    myself — (Valentina Ranaldi-Adams)
    .
    full-blown tulips
    the nurse replaces
    an IV bag — (Paul MacNeil)
    .
    leaving the hospice
    a tulip
    opens its heart — (Rachel Sutcliffe)
    .
    i pin a tulip
    on mama’s lapel
    open casket — (Roberta Beary)

    1. Also meant to include
       .
       spring blossom
       I count on you
       petal by petal — (Hifsa Ashraf)

    2. Thank-you Christina for putting mine on your list.

    3. Christina, lovely to see mine on your list of favorites. Thank you.

16. in the heart
    of a full-blown tulip
    my heart, too

    Carole MacRury

    This one nicely expresses what it feels like to be a nature lover.

    1. Thank you Valentina. Tulips are my favorite flower, and this one was inspired by a gorgeous wide-open orange tulip with a red heart on the inside of each of its petals I’ve never seen this again in any other tulip…glad I took a photograph of it. 🙂

       1. I LOVE THIS TULIP PHOTO that we have for our first haiku dialogue prompt! Immediately mind-salivation 🙂

    2. The open tulip does have the slight shape of a heart. I noticed that the first time I looked at the photo! Love how you have put it…Carole MacRury! So simply and heartfully!

17. open
    to the snowflakes
    first tulip

    Ann K. Schwader
    Westminster, CO

    This one does a nice job of expressing how winter and spring intermingle before spring arrives for good.

18. Thank-you Kathy for choosing one of mine for your new column. There are many fine haiku this week.

19. in the tulip’s center
    all the math
    I’ll ever need

    Terri French

    I appreciate the simplicity and the deep observation of the poet. Math is an unexpected fascinating world, important for knowing the nature, I forget it often.

    1. I agree. Nature’s symmetry and structure is endlessly enthralling.
       Love Terri’s “all the math / I’ll ever need.”

    2. Thanks Kathy. I love your concept of Haiku Dialogue and happy to find one of mine included in the tulip challenge. I love your list of haiku and found so many favorites. Here are a few that I found myself enjoying immediately, and even more with second and third readings.

       late bloomer –
       looking inside
       myself

       Valentina Ranaldi-Adams
       Fairlawn, Ohio USA

       I love the straightforward simplicity of this haiku and the added dimensions I felt with ‘late bloomer’. Perhaps being one myself, I could relate. Life is as beautiful and complex as the inside of a tulip.

       in the tulip’s center
       all the math
       I’ll ever need

       Terri French

       I can’t even explain why I love this one so much, I just do. In a flash the poet has drawn me in what’s really important…and that’s to see deeply into things that appear simple, but in fact are not.

       full-blown tulips
       the nurse replaces
       an IV bag

       Paul MacNeil
       Ocala, Florida

       This one brought back memories of my own, and it reaches me on several different levels. Full blown tulips, are tulips are on the edge of falling…..and this juxtaposed with the replacement of an IV bag is a poignant way to show how serious this health situation is.

       scent of snow…
       plastic tulips
       in the window

       Martha Magenta
       UK

       I loved this one right away for its juxtaposition of real to fake; of the fresh mineral scent of snow, to no scent at all; to its focus outside and inside.

       1. thank you Carole. You have it right. A hospital room haiku. & not a happy time.

          Thanks also to Katharine and Cristina for the mentions.

          1. My pleasure, Paul. It was the pathos in your haiku that caught me.
             “full-blown” tells me the tulip is far spent. So too I felt, the one for whom “the nurse replaces / an IV bag.” Sadness gripped me instantly.

             By the way, your spelling of my name without its “h” reminds me of the loved grandma whose name I was given. As it happens she experienced deep and frequent loss before her own life was spent. Was a heroine to me.

             1. I apologies for spelling your name incorrectly. My haste. And, I very much appreciate your comments about the haiku.

20. I enjoyed this week’s collection of tulip poems. Alan’s “Black Parrot tulip” encouraged me to think that if you admired Black Parrot tulips you could easily believe in fairy tales, the implied connection between the beauty of nature and the possibilities of fantasy and magic.

    Victor Ortiz’ evocation of eating tulip bulbs in order to survive remininded me of families affected by the government shutdown as well as migrants suffering for the dream of living in America. That the comfort and sustenance of beauty is one of the first things to go in hard times.

    A personal favorite was Madhuri Pillai’s creation of the offstage character of the Mother. Here was a person who wanted to bring beauty to her home by her own creative efforts, embroidery and gardening. She reminded me of my own Mother who enjoyed sewing and establishing a tropical garden.

    Thanks for the subtle, evocative work, fellow writers. I’m longing for spring.

    Greer Woodward

    1. Greer Woodward said:
       .
       .
       “I enjoyed this week’s collection of tulip poems. Alan’s “Black Parrot tulip” encouraged me to think that if you admired Black Parrot tulips you could easily believe in fairy tales, the implied connection between the beauty of nature and the possibilities of fantasy and magic.”
       .
       .
       You got it! 🙂 Sometimes we have to believe in magic, and I’ve never stopped believing. 🙂

       1. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it
          .

          – Roald Dahl –

          1. Joanne quoted:
             .
             “Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it”
             .
             – Roald Dahl –
             .
             I’ve actually visited his writing room a few years back, and my brother in law lives in ‘Roald Dahl’ country (Buckinghamshire, England). There is magic about despite effects to counter it by politicians and corporate interest. As an occasional professional Santa, both myself and the elves help a lot of families believe in it again, if only during Christmas, and a little after. 🙂

21. Thank you Kathy and poets for a wonderful selection of haiku. I was struck by the uniqueness of each. There were many “at the top of my list”.

22. Gosh, a lot to choose from, and so I’ll do a brief foray!
    .
    .
    .
    The right placement of words, and of lines, both via order, and sequencing, can make a good haiku even stronger, and into a fine haiku.
    .
    .
     
    tangerine sunset
    a tulip
    holding daylight
    .
    Claire Vogel Camargo
    .
    There is something about certain flowers that makes them possibly appear to be holding back the night. Sometimes the best sunsets are caused by pollution, and also something else, which is horribly ironic. Of course sometimes the sky plays sunset to its own rules, as do certain tulips.
    .
    I like the placement of a single tulip dead center of the three-line haiku, acting as both a pivot line and as a statement in itself. They do have incredible presence!

     .
    .
    The Kolodji haiku dynasty always put on as good a show as any display of tulips!
    .
    .
    skirts in the wind tulip display
    .
    Deborah P Kolodji
    .
    .
    A great comparison of certain tulip and certain skirt shapes and all making for a wonderful one-line haiku.

    .
    .
    tulip mosaic virus
    a beauty
    still undefinable
    .
    Yvette Kolodji
    .
    .
    It’s said that certain viruses/diseases etc… are their own kind of beauty even if they kill the host. Who are we to define beauty as if we are the first and last judge of everything. Thought-provoking. It appears to be a sought after virus to enhance the coloration of tulips. This reminds me of “Noble rot” which is the beneficial form of a grey fungus for wine-making. ‘Curiouser and curiouser!” Cried Alice!
    .
    .
     
    spring blossom
    I count on you
    petal by petal
    .
    Hifsa Ashraf
    .
    I’m reminded of the childhood or young teenager game of removing petals of a flower until we know if someone loves us. Here, we find it’s even more perilous a decision, as we find out if “you can be counted upon to…”. A seemingly simple and slight haiku to some readers, but it packs an emotional punch for me.
    .
    .
      
    gathering light
    the translucent geometry
    of a tulip
    .

    Lucy Whitehead
    .
    .
    The geometry of everything, “would and could it be” as translucent and transparent in our contradictory human society. I love the idea of ‘gathering light’ in our own human geometry.
     
     .
    .
    early spring
    squirrels rearrange
    the tulip bulbs
    .
    Marilyn  Ashbaugh
    .
    .
    There’s always our fellow animals who rearrange things differently than us! It’s wonderful to be reminded we are not really the masters of the planet’s destiny.
    .
    .

     
    full-blown tulips
    the nurse replaces
    an IV bag
    .
    Paul MacNeil
    .
    .
    Great resonance on “full” and “full-blown” and an IV bag being replaced. It got me thinking also of A urinary catheter and its bag, needing to be emptied. Sometimes great juxaposition and comparing techniques, deliberate or otherwise, can set off other and great imageries.
    .
    .

     
    i pin a tulip
    on mama’s lapel
    open casket
    .

    Roberta Beary
    .
    .
    Deeply personal and tactile. I remember placing a potted yellow rose bush by my mom’s casket. My earliest memory of my adoptive mother is a single rose bush amongst the paved over front garden. Powerful haiku.
    .
    .
     

     
    withered fields –
    boiling tulip bulbs
    for soup
    .
    Victor Ortiz
    .
    .
    I immediately think back to one of the pre-haiku poets, namely the classic era hokku and haikai writer Matsuo Basho:
    .
    .
    旅に病んで夢は枯野をかけ廻る
    .
    Matsuo Basho
    .

    ill while travelling
    I become dreams wandering
    in withered fields
    .
    English version: Alan Summers
    .
    Note:
    Basho penned this hokku on Day 8 of the 10th lunar month in 1694 and died four days later.
    .
    .
    In Victor’s wonderful haiku, I feel he has the essence of both Basho and even Issa! It’s beautifully rustic and holds both poignancy and endurance.
    .
    .
     
    summer’s coming
    screams
    the tulip
    .

    Wendy C. Bialek
    .
    Tulips certainly prefer Spring and cooler weather than a Summer. We know flowers can scream and are more sentient than we realise. Wonderful haiku! Where humans might pray for the promised warmer seasons, some of our fellow species are more than happy with some of the other seasons.
    .
    .
    All subtle word placing, but oh how they make the haiku!

    1. Dear Alan,
       .
       Thank you for your commentary on my tulip haiku. You have such a panorama of perceptions. I had not thought of the negatives like pollution affecting sunset.
       .
       When I looked at the photo prompt, I felt myself slowly fall down into the tulip, and being surrounded by tangerine light, derived from the yellows and oranges of the petals. There being a world inside, with sunlight coming in.
       .
       Interesting the various mind ‘takes’ on sensory perceptions.
       .
       Best, Claire
       .
       Claire Vogel Camargo

       1. Thanks Claire, and a wonderful haiku will always pull more out of me! 🙂

          1. A good thing, Alan! Thanks bunches … of tulips! 🙂

    2. thank you Alan

       – Paul

       1. My pleasure!
          .
          .
          full-blown tulips
          the nurse replaces
          an IV bag
          .
          Paul MacNeil
          Ocala, Florida
          .
          .
          I also really like the verb because it does more than merely facilitate.

    3. thank you Alan for all your insightful feedback left for the tulip category of Haiku Dialogue. i must say, specifically, on the feedback you have written for my haiku…i am feeling very satisfied as i see you completely understood what i was saying. I am learning so much from being involved here….thank you again, Wendy C. Bialek

       1. Thanks Wendy! 🙂
          .
          .
          summer’s coming
          screams
          the tulip
          .
          Wendy C. Bialek
          AZ, USA
          .
          .
          I do really strive to ‘get inside’ and ‘inhabit’ a poem because the author has gone to a lot of effort, and I need to do my best as a reader to respect that.
          .
          I really do take my duty as a reader very seriously, and wrote an article about it too! 🙂
          .
          .
          Haiku and The Reader as Second Verse by Alan Summers (New Zealand Poetry Society September 2017 article) republished in “old song: The Red Moon Anthology of English-Language Haiku 2017”
          ed. Jim Kacian and the Red Moon Press Editorial Staff
          http://area17.blogspot.com/2017/12/haiku-and-reader-as-second-verse-by.html

          1. Thank you for your response, Alan, so after i submit for this next picture, i will follow up with your articles….and am sure they will enchant me even more.

23. A stimulating selection, Kathy. I wasn’t too sure what was expected, so a great learning curve. I will follow each week, and learn.
    .
    Black Parrot tulip
    a dad reads fairy tales
    to wide eyed girls
    Alan Summers
    .
    What could be more exclusive that ‘dad’ reading fairy tales to his children in this world of internet obsession. Wonderful, Alan.
    .
    cut tulips
    still hoping
    for a miracle
    Cesar-florin Ciobica
    .
    I see here the beauty of the tulips given to a loved one, but still the longing for something even more wonderful…life.
    .
    spring blossom
    I count on you
    petal by petal
    Hisaf Ashraf
    .
    How many times have we plucked at petals ‘s/he loves me s/he loves me not’ with Hisaf’s verse I feel there is a deeper meaning, that need for support through the trials of life, which there are many. Behind every successful man there is a good woman 🙂
    .
    gathering light
    the translucent geometry
    of a tulip
    Lucy Whitehead
    .
    Love this one. There ‘s been many times I’ve stood and looked at the light shining through a tulip, the shapes within shapes of the petals are so captivating, and they certainly edge me towards my paint brushes, which bring me closer to my next selection.
    .
    spring colors
    releasing a tulip
    from her paint box
    Pat Davis
    .
    So many colors to choose from, and such a wonderful image to entice the botanical painter from the warm winter retreat of the fireside chair 🙂
    .
    tulip virus
    a beauty
    still undefinable
    Yvette Kolodji
    .
    So sad that these remarkable wonders are no longer required by the tulip growers and are regarded as undesirables that spoil the norm. I watched a programme not so long ago about the history of tulips. Such a shame nothing wrong with being different.
    .
    So many wonderful verses, congratulations to all poets. Thanks for the experience.

    1. Carol Jones said:
       .
       .
       Black Parrot tulip
       a dad reads fairy tales
       to wide eyed girls
       .
       Alan Summers
       .
       “What could be more exclusive that ‘dad’ reading fairy tales to his children in this world of internet obsession. Wonderful, Alan.”
       .
       .
       It was wonderful to witness the dad, at a cafe table by me, read while his wife was ordering or making a smallest room in the building visit.
       .
       He said he doesn’t usually read, as his wife is better, but that’s not true, he had an incredible reading voice, and I told him so. I hope he sneaks in more storytelling, as it’s important to encourage dads to read to their children, regardless of their own reading ability.
       .
       Thanks Carol!
       .
       I was just seeing that Elon Musk read a WHOLE book EVERY single day as a child and youth, and it’s stood in good stead as an entrepreneur! After all wouldn’t we all prefer to be our own bosses of our destiny? 🙂

24. Many beautiful poems on which to comment. My 10 favorites:

    cloudburst flowerburst starburst
    Charles Harmon

    Spring showers bring May flowers. Then we thank the heavens for such beauty every spring!
    Simple, but elegant, Charles.

    sunrise –
    a solitary yellow tulip
    with red streaks
    Barbara Kaufmann

    Beauty on earth rivals beauty in the heavens.
    Very nice, Barbara.

    cut tulips
    still hoping
    for a miracle
    cezar-florin ciobica

    The tulip reminds us to be hopeful when someone has been harmed or is in poor health.
    The cut tulip will remain “alive” for additional time in the vase.
    Nice connection, Cezar.

    spring bloom
    my daughter dresses
    for her prom
    Christina Sng

    I have one grown daughter. As a child, whether in a tutu or street clothes, she was beautiful. But prom is dress up with hopes and dreams!
    Thanks for helping me relive a memory, Christina.

    tangerine sunset
    a tulip
    holding daylight
    Claire Vogel Camargo

    Even as the day closes the tulip remains a wonderful sight.
    Nice poem, Claire.

    scent of snow
    plastic tulips
    in the window
    Martha Magenta

    Fake tulips may not be as beautiful as live ones, but as we face the prospects of a long winter, they give us hope for the coming spring.
    Nice poem, Martha.

    spring colors
    releasing a tulip
    from her paintbox
    Pat Davis

    I guess you are a painter, Pat. I’ve dabbled in watercolor. The beauty is inside, but getting it on canvas/press paper is the trick. I must learn to “release” what’s already inside me.
    Thanks for the inspiration in this fine poem, Pat.

    late blossom
    the thaw in her
    creased face
    Rashmi Vesa

    When someone relaxes, makes a decision, solves a problem, or accepts an outcome, their face reflects the “thaw” of the turmoil inside.
    Nice observaton, Rashmi.

    Netherlands –
    endless fields of tulips
    on a postcard
    Slobodan Pupovac

    I always like the punch line type of poem. This one certainly made me laugh. Focusing at wide angle, then to a narrow perspective, drives home the pride of this country.
    Nice poem, Slobodan.

    in the tulip’s center
    all the math
    I’ll ever need
    Terri French

    Nature is symmetry; symmetry is math; math is … well, let’s stick with nature’s display of math and skip the textbooks!
    Creative look at nature, Terri.

    Thanks, kj, for this excellent selection.
    Ron

    1. Thanks, Ron, for your comment. You are right – I am a painter, although I haven’t done much artwork lately. I hope you get back into watercolor painting soon. The act of painting is a great release of yourself!

    2. Thank you, Ron for your kind words. Spring is like the sun rising in my heart after the darkness of winter… and tulips are such a wonderful symbol of spring, in this case, the colors were so like a sunrise to me. So glad you enjoyed this.

    3. Dear Ronald,
       .
       Thank you for the time you took and attention in commenting on so many of the haiku in the tulip dialogue. And specifically for your comment on my tulip haiku.. It does seem the bloom could still hold the glow from a tangerine sunset. Without and within.
       .
       Claire
       .
       Claire Vogel Camargo

25. withered fields –
    boiling tulip bulbs
    for soup

    Victor Ortiz
    Bellingham, WA

    I enjoyed Victor’s poem tremendously, returning to it again and again. There is a story here and the contrast between the actual image and the first line of this poem, gives one pause. It leaves me with much to think about! How sad that people must destroy something beautiful in order to eat.

    ***
    spring colors
    releasing a tulip
    from her paintbox

    Pat Davis
    Pembroke, NH USA

    I returned to this poem because of the joy it brought me. And a few questions too. Is spring the painter? Or something even bigger? Or perhaps the poet is the painter? What a joyful experience to be an artist (or a poet) and realize that she has released something as beautiful and perfect as a tulip!

    ***
    on the tip
    of my tongue
    the taste of tulips

    Kath Abela Wilson
    Pasadena, California

    Playful and light. And yet. This brought to mind what is usually on the tip of one’s tongue – words. It makes me wonder what those words might be!

    ***

    I have no idea what makes a poem ‘good’ I only know when one catches my heart in some way and I say to myself, “I wish I had written that.” Although there are many more poems in this group that are lovely, well-written and thought-provoking, these three stood out for me. I wish I had written them.

    1. Hi Barbara, Thanks for your insightful comments – much appreciated! Pat

26. Hi Kathy, I found something to enjoy and think about in each poem. These are the ones I’ll comment on for now.
    open
    to the snowflakes
    first tulip
    Ann K. Schwader’s poem blends winter with spring – I like that the word snowflakes instead of snow, gives me a sense of lightness and the hope that there were just a few flakes – not a heavy snowfall.
    Terri French’s “in the tulip’s center” and Lucy Whitehead’s “gathering light” appealed to me because I love it when mathematics is made beautiful.
    KathAbela Wilson’s playful “on the tip” made me smile. I especially liked the play on words – tulips/two lips.
    The emotion in Paul Mitchell’s “full-blown tulips” achieved by simply showing an image is admirable.
    Shloka Shankar’s “sashaying…” makes me think of releasing feelings after the confinement of winter. It’s like a spring awakening!
    The poem that gives me the most to think about is Ingrid Baluchi’s :
    ikebana class
    the harlequin’s life
    cut short
    When flowers are cut, their life is taken. In ikebana, the beauty of balance, color etc. is achieved, giving a form of life back to the flowers. The question of life and death… At first, I did not see a meaningful reference to the harlequin. But upon thinking about it I realize that a harlequin is colorful and showy, a performer just like tulips. The harlequin’s life is cut short just like the flowers used for ikebana. I have no idea what Ingrid’s own interpretation of her poem is, but I would love to know if I touched upon any of it.
    I will reread these thought-provoking poems again!

    1. Thank you, Pat,
       You understood the meaning behind my poem better than I had expected. Spot on!
       I’ve never liked cut flowers. My husband thought I was the most unromantic woman ever until he realised that I ba(u)lked at their lives unfulfilled. Not everyone will agree, of course. But then I came across a poem that mirrored my thoughts. Annie Stenzel’s poem in Right Hand Pointing, Issue 123 ” The Flower Syllabus”, said what I have always thought, and I could have hugged her. I quote:
       .
       To the lilies in a strange-shaped vase

       I think I’ll let you go today
       before your beauty
       changes to decay and your petals
       into ghosts of their quick glory.

       Some people are opposed to flowers
       cut and sold, doomed to be kept indoors
       for a fraction of the lives they’d lead
       connected to the ground or tree.
       .
       [But then she finished with this….]
       .
       Forgive me: there are times I need
       to be force-fed this lesson in mortality.
       Say what you will, these lilies had a job
       to do for me, and did it well.
       .
       I have no doubt that ikebana is a beautiful art form. But, like bonsai, it is contrived and manipulated.
       .
       As for ‘harlequin’, you had that right as well, Pat. A performer’s life is short and sweet. And ‘harlequin’ is the apt name for this particular tulip.

27. Colleen’s
    .
    flower within a flower
    anchored by
    an embroidered star
    .
    Pure observation here – and maths as well…(Isn’t Nature wonderful?) Six tulip petals, six anthers, six points to a star, and six bee’s feet that is sure to visit soon.
    .
    I love the words ‘anchored’ and ’embroidered’ here.
    .
    Slowly going through others . . .

    1. Thankyou Ingrid…..I think this new format will be such a wonderful learning experience for those of us new to haiku….Colleen

28. Dear Kathy,
    Going through all the comments about tulips, new approaches, delectable.
    with regards
    S.Radhamani

    1. thank you!

29. I am not very experienced at haiku commentary, so I will just say something about the two haiku which jumped off the page for me. One is this monoku:

    sashaying in and out of daydreams spring blooms

    Shloka Shankar

    The word ‘sashaying’ is perfect and creates a vivid and beautiful image of a field of blooming tulips swaying from side to side in a gusty spring breeze. The mention of ‘daydreams’ relates the image to the writer herself sashaying in dance, or watching other dancers dressed in bright colours. It reminds me of that uplift I feel in spring when I feel like swaying like a flower in the breeze. I welcome image in the midst of a dull winter. There is musical assonance in the ‘i’ sounds.

    The second haiku that left out for me is:

    tulip mosaic virus
    a beauty
    still undefinable

    Yvette Kolodji

    This haiku forced me to look up ‘tulip mosaic virus’ and I found out it is a colour variegation in tulips caused by a virus. Interesting that a virus can have such a beautiful effect. I like this unusual term. I learned something new. There is subtle assonance with ‘beauty’ and ‘tulip’ and the ‘i’ sounds in ‘virus’ and ‘undefinable’ which creates a smooth flow of words.

    1. this is just the kind of commenting I had in mind, Martha! I had to look up ‘tulip mosaic virus’ too, & it is all fascinating!

30. Terri French’s math and tulips – puts me in mind of Fibonacci sequence of sunflowers, four-leaf clovers, etc. I remember what a fascinating discovery it was for me to learn of the math in nature. Cool!

    1. That came to my mind as well, Sari. I don’t know if this is absolutely true, but flowers tend to have a Fibonacci number of petals. From only one to two to three to five and so on. That particular bloom was so symmetrical.

31. kaleidoscope, symmetry, math…Great ways to encapsulate the idea of the tulip, particularly since the photo view is looking down into the bloom.

32. Dear Katherine, Happy New Year! I wish you to be successful and healthy! Good luck!

    flower moon …
    she calls her garden
    tulip land

    1. Flower Moon:
       “The Full Moon in May is known as the Flower Moon.”
       .
       Great seasonal injection!
       .
       Love the idea of naming our gardens! I have a name for the special part where they’ll be outdoor workshops! 🙂

       1. Thanks, dear Alan Summers!
          I love my tulips garden and I’m glad you like its name – tulip land. 🙂

          1. My wife used to work in Amsterdam many years ago, and visited the world famous tulip floating market every single day.
             .
             We now have tulips in our garden, and I’ve grown to love them! 🙂

             1. Oooo, maybe you had visited the legendary black tulip museum

                black tulip
                museum –
                red roses bloom

                …. and yet the rose remains the queen of flowers 🙂

             2. Alas no, too far out for Karen when she worked 12-14 hours in a windowless editing suite for a wildlife documentary company in the centre of Amsterdam, and I guess as we holidayed in the Museum Quarter, also close to the floating market, there was no need or time to venture further:
                .
                Bloemenmarkt, Amsterdam, the world’s only floating flower market, roses, tulips, and a cup of mint tea
                http://area17.blogspot.com/2015/09/bloemenmarkt-amsterdam-worlds-only.html
                .
                🙂

    2. thank you!

33. I’m just fine-tuning my commentaries on my top ten for the Heron’s Nest readership awards, but just wanted to say what an exciting line up of haiku for us to comment upon! 🙂

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