HAIKU DIALOGUE – Opposites Attract – open/shut
Opposites Attract
Hello – kj here – I will be taking the reins again for the next few weeks, with the theme ‘opposites attract’. The prompt each week will be a pair of opposites – feel free to be inspired by one or the other, or both! I hope this draws you towards excellent haiku – the way the compass, even in these uncertain times, will always settle on ‘North’…
quarantine
compass needle
spinning
kjmunro
next week’s theme: OPPOSITES ATTRACT – hot/cold
The deadline is midnight Pacific Daylight Savings Time, Saturday August 15, 2020.
Please submit one or two original unpublished haiku inspired by the week’s theme by clicking here: Contact Form. Please put Haiku Dialogue in the Subject box, & include your name as you would like it to appear, & your place of residence, with your poem. I look forward to reading your submissions.
A few haiku will be selected for commentary each week.
Please note that by submitting, you agree that your work may appear in the column – neither acknowledgment nor acceptance emails will be sent. All communication about the poems that are posted in the column will be added as blog comments.
Below is the commentary for open/shut:
Thanks to you all for the warm welcome back! It is wonderful to be here, & I do hope you will all stay safe & well during this difficult time, wherever you are – & I hope you all keep writing! Not surprisingly, a number of poems this week can be read through the lens of the pandemic – here is my commentary on a few of these:
lockdown
in the walled garden
roses bloomJuliet Wilson
lockdown
every crocus in the municipal garden
openMarion Clarke
Both of these poems contain a striking contrast between our lockdown situation & the sheer beauty of a common flower – the power of the natural world to influence the speaker’s, & the reader’s, mood…
delivery van
driving by
shuttered businessesSari Grandstaff
Saugerties, NY
Here, an added dimension – the economic impact… in a clear, simple observation, the poet describes the present reality, leaving the reader to contemplate what this may mean for the future…
rediscovering
myself after the shut down
menopauseVandana Parashar
In this poem, a more personal view – on reading the first two lines, the reader may be thinking about the impacts of physical distancing or working from home, but the twist in the third line brings in the fresh idea of a completely different system shutting down…
& here are the rest of my selections:
talkative hours the husband’s *is that right…*
Adrian Bouter
morning yoga
a lotus bud opens
to catch the lightAgus Maulana Sunjaya
Tangerang, Indonesia
prairie wind…
old barn door’s ceaseless
to and fro bangingAl W Gallia
Lafayette, Louisiana
care home
the window and a fly
both see dunesAlan Summers
England
a touch and
gentle caress
her last breathAlbert Schepers
Windsor, Ontario
her muffled cries
from behind the slammed door –
my father’s bloodAlex Fyffe
Texas
closed shutters –
first flowering iris
in the tall grassAngiola Inglese
sand stretches –
how blue the oasis
of her large eyesarvinder kaur
Chandigarh, India
worn covers open
columns of words battle
the shut mindB.A. France
Maryland
blue sky
I close my eyes
to still my mindBona M. Santos
Los Angeles, CA
no matter
of color skin
the same shadowBrăilean Mirela
closing time
the barmaid thumbs through
a stack of onesBryan Rickert
leaving Michigan
for Japan
in my junior yearCarmen Sterba
shut lips
across the open field
a skylark’s songcezar-florin ciobica
busy doing
absolutely nothing
meditationCharles Harmon
Los Angeles, California
eyes shut
her heart opens
first kissCharlotte Hrenchuk
traffic jam
we lose the thread
of our conversationChristine L. Villa
USA
a new home
no one can visit
funeral spraysClaire Vogel Camargo
foreclosure –
the bedroom door
nailed shutDan Campbell
open and shut…
even sunflowers
do thataperto e chiuso…
persino i girasoli
fanno cosìDaniela Misso
temptation
grandma unfolds
her armsDeborah Karl-Brandt
closing
the open door policy
COVID-19Deborah P Kolodji
Temple City, California
yin and yang
that thin border line
between usDennys Cambarau
Italy
dandelion clock –
her old ballerina spins
as the lid risesDorothy Burrows
UK
hair trigger
the mouse trap
waits for the nibbleEdward Dallas
Père Lachaise
columbarium
“Toi et Moi”Greer Woodward
Waimea, HI
winter wind –
the mother sings
for the babyHassane Zemmouri
mask on
my mouth
wide shutHelen Buckingham
gathering twigs –
the evening draws
to a closeHemapriya Chellappan
notice
welcoming arms on the door
of a bolted churchIngrid Baluchi
Macedonia
defying odds
a dandelion sprouting
from a sidewalk crackJackie Chou
Pico Rivera, CA USA
unmown lawn
dandelions and violets
intermingleJanice Doppler
sinking in
my own thought
elevator opensJibril Dauda Muhammad
Bwari Abuja, Nigeria
the pause
between each pulse
her long yawnJohn S Green
Bellingham, WA
open heart –
my daughter’s innocence
in her diaryJulia Guzmán
drowsy gloam
she opens a window
to cicadasKat Lehmann
Venus flytrap
at the orchid show
her blushKath Abela Wilson
Pasadena, California
open diner
he shuts off
the motorcycle engineKelli Lage
playgrounds
the teeter-tottering between
opening/not openingLaurie Greer
open house
the furniture he’d always
kept coveredLorraine A. Padden
San Diego, CA
her smile…
in the pomegranate rind
the first crackil suo sorriso … nella scorza di melagrana / la prima crepa
Lucia Cardillo
linear mind
twisting and turning
spring stormLuisa Santoro
Italy
the tire swing
between each push
an open roadM. R. Defibaugh
open window –
the cadence of a cricket
from my youthm shane pruett
Salem, OR, USA
quarantine
the same old moon
settles on my windowMadhuri Pillai
sideways rain umbrellas inside-out
Margaret Walker
COVID checkpoints
the social distance
from common senseMarilyn Ashbaugh
the morning after
one of the lilies
has openedMark Gilbert
UK
grand opening –
a boutique mask shop
where our old pub wasMark Meyer
monsoon river…
the silent words
in the flowMilan Rajkumar
Imphal, India
separating
sun from dark clouds
a windy roadNadejda Kostadinova
coronavirus
reopening restaurants
only to close them downNancy Brady
Huron, Ohio
your face
swings open today
I tiptoenancy liddle
silent retreat –
behind closed doors
he opens his mindNick T
UK
cold night
the thunderclap
of a car door slamming shutOlivier Schopfer
Switzerland
divorced
Cancer and Capricorn
always so crabbypaul geiger
in the closing and opening
of an eye
a lifePeggy Hale Bilbro
Huntsville, Alabama
shielding –
my door
slams shutPeter Adair
Northern Ireland
a single touch…
the mimosa closes
into itselfPris Campbell
opening
the shuttered factory’s gate
winter windRashmi VeSa
cat sits
facing the door
deliberationRehn Kovacic
climbing Monadnock
my scout compass flatlines
summit points aboveRon Scully
summer breeze…
from the open window
the scent of the seaRosa Maria Di Salvatore
topless
neddy’s nose above
the stable doorsimonj
UK
locked door
a full moon enters through
an open windowSlobodan Pupovac
Zagreb, Croatia
mountain stream caressed by stones caressing
Steve Tabb
abandoned home
the wind opens the doors
and closes themStoianka Boianova
shelter in place
I change my zoom background
to outer spacesusan rogers
half moon
1/2 for yin
1/2 for yangTeiichi Suzuki
Japan
new boss
his door is always open
except when it’s shutTim Cremin
daystars…
the yellow blooms
of the cucumber vineValentina Ranaldi-Adams
Fairlawn, Ohio USA
night
touches the day…
i repeat myselfVijay Prasad
candle
lighting
shadowsVishnu Kapoor
Lori Zajkowski is the Post Manager for Haiku Dialogue. A novice haiku poet, she lives in New York City.
Managing Editor Katherine Munro lives in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, and publishes under the name kjmunro. She is Membership Secretary for Haiku Canada, and her debut poetry collection is contractions (Red Moon Press, 2019). Find her at: kjmunro1560.wordpress.com.
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