A Sense of Place: CITY SIDEWALK – hearing
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 Submit an original unpublished poem (or poems) via our Contact Form by Sunday midnight on the theme of the week, including your name as you would like it to appear, and place of residence.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: CITY SIDEWALK – smell
We remain on city sidewalks – if possible, the same one as last week – but now we explore the sense of smell… the deadline for this theme is midnight Pacific Time, Sunday 09 December 2018.
I look forward to reading your submissions.
A Sense of Place: CITY SIDEWALK – hearing
This is an open call to readers of this column for the position of guest editor… if you are interested, let us know on a Contact Form! More information will follow later this month about what this column will look like in the New Year… but expect fewer poems in the column itself, and even more discussion in the comments section of the blog…
The following poems seem to be simple sidewalk observations, yet each contains elements that continue to ripple long after the poem is read… one idea leads to another, echoing…
busy street in Paris
only two people talking
in FrenchChristine Eales
UK
crosswalk wait –
the guy with earbuds
does a little wiggleJudt Shrode
crowded street –
Grandpa on the sidewalk
talking to himselfMaria Teresa Piras
hopscotch
my mother’s footsteps
end the gameRoberta Beary
County Mayo, Ireland
city sidewalk
no one
calling my nameRuth Powell
Here are the rest of my selections for this week:
nighttime city stroll
footsteps behind
speed me upAalix Roake
early jogging
running in the songs
of morning birdsAdjei Agyei-Baah
Kumasi, Ghana
tourist in my own town barrel organ
Adrian Bouter
evening rush –
clickety clack of high heels
on pavementAgus Maulana Sunjaya
Tangerang, Indonesia
crack in the line
we don’t always sidestep
the cold queue sigh(It doesn’t seem to happen so much nowadays, but I remember it seemed common practice to queue for ages outside shops. There seemed so many queues, but now shops are larger, faster, have more stock.)
Alan Summers
on the sidewalk
the echo of the rain –
soft applauseAlessandra Delle Fratte
Rome, Italy
Red kettle bells –
the homeless man gently holds
his homeless dogAmy Losak
the sun at the peak –
on the pavement the noise
of roller skatesAngela Giordano
old receipts
in front of the shop window
dry leavesAngiola Inglese
Quai des Orfèvres –
a musette waltz
of raindropsAnna Maria Domburg – Sancristoforo
Beyond the time
Just on the street
A man plays didgeridooAnna Victoria Goluba
the sound of
hard-starting engine
rush hour sidewalkAnthony Rabang
the silent eloquence
of sunset hues –
horns blarearvinder kaur
Chandigarh, India
underfoot
the squeak of last night’s
snowBarbara Tate
Winchester, TN
sidewalk bar
I toss a step
to the music beatBlessed Ayeyame
Ughelli, Nigeria
city sidewalk –
imagining silence
in a wall of noiseBob Whitmire
Round Pond, Maine
sidewalk performer
drumbeats
under the marquee lightBona M. Santos
Los Angeles, CA
hailing
someone else’s cab
sharp patterC.R. Harper
outdoor cafe
the first robin
entertains a crowdCarmen Sterba
sidewalk traffic
languages merge
in a cacophonyCarol Raisfeld
under the lamp post
old soldier sings half asleep
Lili Marlene(“Lili Marlene” is one of the most famous and popular songs in world history, but many people don’t know about it anymore.)
Charles Harmon
Los Angeles, California, USA
hawker street
the loud stir fry
in flambé wokChristina Chin
Kuching, Sarawak
missing silence
she misses
the curbChristina Pecoraro
the sound
of two cats fighting
alley brawlChristina Sng
early morning jog
the clang
of commerceClaire Vogel Camargo
carillon rings out
Christmas carols
icy sidewalksColleen Rousch
early rise –
in the city the sound
of silenceCorine Timmer
Faro, Portugal
rainy day downtown
the sound of water finding
its way to the streetCraig Kittner
inaudible in the city street
a pleading mouth
a rattling cupDavid Gale
Gloucester, UK
after the rain the Maserati all guns blazing
David Jacobs
London, UK
sidewalk cafe
overhearing the whisper
of a sycamore treeDebbi Antebi
London, UK
shopping downtown
Christmas carols piped out
to the sidewalkDeborah P Kolodji
Temple City, California
morning rush
commuters speed-talking
on their iPhonesDevin Harrison
Vancouver Island, Canada
sidewalk prophet
shouts diatribe to heathens
people hurry pastdianne moritz
passing tram
carrying your shopping list
from my cell phoneDubravka Šcukanec
Zagreb, Croatia
dumpster lip
the fussy calls of gulls
land and re-landErin Castaldi
fire drill…
the noise of three-thousand
teens on the sidewalksFrank J. Tassone
a rumble
underneath the sidewalk –
CRACKGenie Nakano
Gardena, California
snowy sidewalk –
nobody listens to
his tired voiceGiovanna Restuccia
strade deserte:
suono d’un sax in lontananzadeserted streets:
sound of a sax in the distanceGiuliana Ravaglia
sidewalk
symphony
orchestral ringtonesGreer Woodward
Waimea, HI
rush hour hush a hymn to snow
Helen Buckingham
Squish swish splash
a tidal wave
when cars go pastHelen O’Connor
Whitehorse, Yukon
sidewalk sale
the low voices
of a Christmas choirHelga Stania
Switzerland
Black Friday
a beggar tosses
coins in the bowlHifsa Ashraf
Pakistan
Christmas crowds
a sidewalk virtuoso
vying to be heardIngrid Baluchi
Ohrid, Macedonia
rustling sounds
of jacaranda flowers
windy sidewalk dreamsJackie Chou
a pigeon lingers at the
chirping crosswalk*(*some crosswalk signals emit chirping sounds for visually impaired people. This style is being phased out due to reports of birds imitating the chirps and confusing pedestrians.)
janice munro
Canada
whooshing air
the silent bicycles
of AmsterdamJoan Barrett
Whitesboro, NY
the cold walk home
my silence broken
by crispy leavesJoanne van Helvoort
overhearing
phrases on my walk –
found poetryJohn S Green
Bellingham, WA
City sidewalk –
the voices of the sellers
among the hornsJulia Guzmán
after leaf blowers
and car alarms
birdsongKath Abela Wilson
Pasadena, California
holiday tunes
piped outside
shoppers hum alongKathleen Mazurowski
sunday matinee
the stage door’s
cold metal creakKelly Sauvage Angel
Madison, WI
two cars argue
over one parking place
holiday cheerKimberly Esser
Los Angeles, CA
Alone in the crowd
A child cries
MotherKimberly Spring
Lakewood, Ohio
doorway keypads
the sound of home
as algorithmLaurie Greer
Washington DC
on the sidewalk
so many languages
I don’t understandLori Zajkowski
New York, NY
frosty moon…
a bottle rolls down
from sidewalkgelida luna … s’infrange una bottiglia / sul marciapiede
Lucia Cardillo
deep
into city streets
the call of seagullsLucy Whitehead
Essex, UK
two buckets
and a three string violin
standing room onlym. shane pruett
salem, OR, USA
tram stop
chatter of tourists
undecidedMadhuri Pillai
strains of Messiah
coming from way down the street
flash mob!Marcyn Del Clements
Claremont, California, USA
sidewalk café
eavesdropping
at the next tableMargaret Walker
the singsong
of the taralli seller
Napoli sidewalkMargherita Petriccione
morning walk
the city awakens
with a yawnMargo Williams
Stayton, Oregon
water noise –
on the wet sidewalk
my new bootsMaria Teresa Sisti
Parisian dawn
from a bistro’s swing door
la vie en roseMarietta McGregor
early hours
the click-clack of stilettos
on the sidewalkMarina Bellini
above the click
of designer boots
“Spare change?”Marita Gargiulo
broken glass
cracking on concrete
splintering alarmMark Gilbert
UK
pouring rain
a crow’s caw soaks
into my earsMartha Magenta
England, UK
early morning
an archaeological dig
under the skyscraperMegumi Shibuya
Japan
Winter sidewalk –
the scrape
of the snow shovelmichael ceraolo
South Euclid, Ohio
Rodeo Drive
an endless chatter of
self obsessionMichael Henry Lee
double heelflip –
the sound of skateboards
chipping the sidewalkMichael H. Lester
Los Angeles CA USA
city sidewalk…
the bow and scrape
of double DutchMichele L. Harvey
old inn
clip clop of
brewer’s drayMike Gallagher
Ireland
sidewalk sale
the shrill voice
of a hawkerMohammad Azim Khan
Peshawar Pakistan
Hope in an inhaled breath
Indifferent footsteps pass
the weight of a sighMolly Hogan
roadside path…
a toddler jumping
on her chu chu shoesMuskaan Ahuja
Chandigarh, India
ice and snow
the sidewalks crunch
under my bootsNancy Brady
Huron, Ohio
the human flow
against a street busker’s blues –
rush hour in townNatalia Kuznetsova
Russia
morning rush
the high heels of shoes
cross the streetNeni Rusliana
Indonesia
the crimson twilight
beggar with harmonica
a song out of tuneNuky Kristijono
Indonesia
Christmas lights
the sound of rain pitter-
pattering on the sidewalkOlivier Schopfer
Geneva, Switzerland
sidewalk sale
the vendor thanks me
in his languagePat Davis
Pembroke, NH
clatter of heels and traffic
unheard by most…
smartphonesPaul Geiger
urban ibis
scrape of beak
on metal binPauline O’Carolan
the dog and I walk past your silence again
Philip Whitley
SC, USA
blues beat
the bar’s door
swings openPris Campbell
city sidewalk
the subway grates
hissing steamRachel Sutcliffe
improvised cradle
jingling with bells,
she asks for almsRadhamani sarma
Silent night…
the torn cords of
the street musicianRadostina Dragostinova
Bulgaria
spring break
her rollerblades clack
over each crackRandy Brooks
sidewalk bargains –
the tinkling laughs
of shoppersRashmi Vesa
Bengaluru, India
joyful noise
from the Black church
San Francisco streetRehn Kovacic
his hands
holding her face –
moon songRéka Nyitrai
excuse me ma’am
can you spare some change…
high heels click on cold cementRichard Grahn
post office facade –
swish of a sleeping bag
at nightrobyn brooks
usa
between the brakes…
and the sound of shatter glass
a breath withheldron scully
the slap slap slap
of running shoes
in sync with my breathingRonald K. Craig
Batavia, OH USA
village festival –
the sound of a band
makes me happyRosa Maria Di Salvatore
Sul marciapiede
calpestio di foglie
Suoni d’autunnoOn the sidewalk
trampling of leaves
Autumn soundsRosaria Lo Bono
jackhammers and beeping trucks
the sidewalk mime pretends
to escapeSari Grandstaff
Saugerties, NY, USA
evening boulevard
the ringing of keys
in the coat pocketSerhiy Shpychenko
Kyiv, UA
birdsong stops
at the corner
a jackhammerSidney Bending
Victoria, BC, Canada
notting hill
to dance all alone
on a rocking paversimonj
UK
Sunday morning
the sound of roller skates
behind my backSlobodan Pupovac
Zagreb, Croatia
city sidewalk
the sound of cars honking
morning migrationStephen A. Peters
sidewalk beggar
tossing coins
in the bowlSudebi Singha
India
downpour
streets amass
with umbrellas and mimeSusan Mallernee
remembering
Gene Kelly in the rain
I start to humSusan Rogers
Los Angeles, CA, USA
empty hat
a street musician
thanks meTia Haynes
Lakewood, Ohio, USA
whistling loudly
off key to no known tune
sidewalk minstrelTim Heaney
Johns Creek, Ga.
city sidewalk…
a man plays the violin
cold nightTomoko Nakata
Kanagawa, Japan
christmas eve…
kids ringing bells
on the sidewalkTsanka Shishkova
hearing aids off –
workers jackhammering
the sidewalkValentina Ranaldi-Adams
Fairlawn, Ohio USA
tending street plantings
homeless woman
singsValorie Broadhurst Woerdehoff
morning walk
honking cars drown
the birdsongVandana Parashar
“No Horn” zone
varying pitch of footfalls
on mute sidewalkVishnu Kapoor
city sidewalk
the pleadings
of a beggarWillie Bongcaron
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 37 Comments
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wonderful! thank you poets for supporting each other with kind words, & for submitting!
I enjoy reading about the impact of these poems… that ‘little wiggle’ (Judt Shrode) still makes me smile…
Another fine collection, Kathy. Just the right thing for a frigid night indoors – a fire, hot chocolate, and haiku! Thank you! And congratulations to everyone whose work was selected!
For me, the single word ‘fussy’ enlivens everything in your haiku, Erin. Also like the well put ‘dumpster lip.’ Cheers.
dumpster lip
the fussy calls of gulls
land and re-land
Erin Castaldi
Congrats to all the haiku people.
Thank you, Kathy, for publishing my poem.
Thanks Kj Munro for such an awsome oficina our different está of witnesses the Worlds.Thanks for having selected my haiku. Thanks to every contribuir who enriches my senses sharing them.
Córdoba, Argentina
Thank You Kathy for the selection, makes one read,think ,introspect.The overwhelming reality of urban life is in all its facets is vast, varied across various cultures,the selection provides this cross sectional glimpse.
The loneliness of the aged and their deep sense of alienation is one of the saddest truths of urban living, the poem that impacted me most was-
crowded street
Grandpa on the sidewalk
talking to himself
Maria Teresa Piras
The words are poignant, depicts helplessness, sense of being alone in a crowd of purpose driven populace.
Grandpa could also wear a mobile phone with a headset, talking to…? Thats why I like this haiku so much!
Kathy, thank-you for publishing my haiku.
These haiku remind us that a sidewalk represents so much more than rushing from point A to point B.
Thanks for the excellent topic and selections, and for including mine.
Marita
Among this week’s wonderful collection, so many of the poems applicable to anywhere in the world, it was good to know that we’re able to blot out our city, man-made noises and hear nature speaking. Particularly lovely – and there were several more in the same vein – I enjoyed the following three, each of them familiar yet with a surprise twist in the last line:
.
on the sidewalk
the echo of the rain —
soft applause
Alessandra Delle Fratte, Rome, Italy
.
old receipts
in front of the shop window
dry leaves
Angiola Inglese
.
and
.
Quai des Orfèvres –
a musette waltz
of raindrops
Anna Maria Domburg-Sancristoforo
.
Thank you Kathy for accepting my contribution.
Thanks, Kathy and poets, for this fascinating sampling of sound.
.
Found myself saluting our multi-lingual world in Christine Earles’ Paris street with
.
“only two people talking / in French,”
.
with Lori Zajkowski’s
.
on the sidewalk
so many languages
I don’t understand
.
and Pat Davis’ vendor who “thanks… / in his language”
Felt familiarity in Barbara Tate’s “underfoot / the squeak of last night’s / snow”
.
and Anthony Raban’s “hard-starting engine”
.
Started to hum along with Sudan Rogers’
.
remembering
Gene Kelly in the rain
.
Wanted to cover my ears not only at Valentina Ranaldi-Adams’ and Sari Grandstaff’s jackhammerers (in the latter case with “beeping trucks”)
.
but also with Tim Heaney’s “sidewalk minstrel” marvelously
.
whistling loudly
off key to no known tune
.
Nuky Kristijono’s “beggar with harmonica…out of tune”
.
and Pauline O’Carolan’s “urban ibis /scrape of beak/ on metal bin”
.
Loved the sheer poetry in Molly Hogan’s
.
Indifferent footsteps pass
the weight of a sigh,
.
Debbi Antebi’s
.
overhearing the whisper
of a sycamore tree
.
Craig Kittner’s rain water “finding/ its way to the street”
.
and Alan Summers’ “cold queue sigh.”
Thanks Christina!
.
A lot of great examples again this week, and love your choices! 🙂
Even in noisy downtown areas, one can experience silent moments of connection. arvinder’s “the silent eloquence” and Debbi’s “sidewalk cafe” capture this beautifully. The feel of separation from the hubbub as you focus on some emanation from nature. Nice bit of subtle humor from arvinder as well. I know I have been honked at when I lost myself staring at the sunset. Nice work all around. Have a great week, everyone!
An intriguing take, Craig, “separation from the hubbub” something I frequently desire..
Wonderful that you can lose yourself — or do you find yourself? —
when “staring at a sunset.”.
.
Good to see that, as Ingrid Baluchi says in her commentary, “we’re able to blot out our city, [human-made] noises and hear nature speaking.”
.
Both of you seem to have something of the contemplative in yourselves.
Thanks Kathy for selecting these haiku and for including mine! Christine Eales’s is a great take on our multilingual cities. Really “heard” that one too. And Deborah Kolodji’s I particularly liked as well.
A perfect pivot, with line one and three concordance. Life, in the pink:
.
Parisian dawn
from a bistro’s swing door
la vie en rose
.
Marietta McGregor
I loved this one
.
crowded street –
Grandpa on the sidewalk
talking to himself
Maria Teresa Piras
Well done everyone for a great batch and many thanks, as ever, to Kathy!
Thank you kj. Your work on this is so much appreciated. Congratulations to everyone included. I look forward to this each week.
Thank you kj. Your work on this is so much appreciated. Congratulations to everyone included.
Hi Kathy, I like the way you asked us to think of the selected poems as ones that echo. Here’s what I heard in the echoes of two featured poems. Roberta Beary’s “hopscotch” brought me back to simpler times when moms stayed home and sidewalks were safe and clean. There were so many sidewalk games in the past! Then, Christine Eales’s “busy street in Paris” could refer to any of the popular city destinations where many of the locals stay away from the “touristy” streets. Of course, the shopkeepers must be multi-lingual to understand all the foreigners who spend their money there! I also thought of my home city of Boston where you didn’t hear much English being spoken in the many ethnic neighborhoods.
A few words about one of the poems from the rest of the column. Aalix Roake’s “nighttime city stroll” made me think of a walker who was very brave to be out alone on a city street at night, and was faced with a fear that she/he was being pursued from behind. Could it be a purse-snatcher?, Maybe, though, the walker sped up simply to avoid being bumped into. Maybe the follower was just a jogger who would have whizzed past without incident.
As usual, a wonderful collection of haiku! I am very happy to have mine included. My favourites are too many to list. I’ll just mention two that, in unique ways, show the wide range of sound intensity from soft to deafening:
sidewalk cafe
overhearing the whisper
of a sycamore tree
Debbi Antebi
London, UK
:
passing tram
carrying your shopping list
from my cell phone
Dubravka Šcukanec
Zagreb, Croatia
Another marvellous selection, Kathy, well done to all poets.
So many to choose from-
.
night time city stroll
footsteps behind
speed me up
.
Aalix Roake
This just sends shivers down the spine. A nice bit of unease with this one.
.
shopping downtown
Christmas carols piped out
to the sidewalk
.
Deborah P Kolodji
Love it or hate it there’s no getting away from it 🙂
.
overhearing
phrases on my walk—
found poetry
.
John S Green
It never fails to amaze me the wonderful words people come out with, and don’t even realise it.
.
sidewalk café
eavesdropping
at the next table
.
Margaret Walker
This made me smile as its a case of ‘guilty as charged’ I just cant help myself. Lovely work.
.
Wonderful verse everyone.
Carol Jones, thank you for your comment about my
sidewalk café
eavesdropping
at the next table
I practiced this frequently in Paris and knew my French was improving when I could follow the conversations of those seated nearby. I called it a “learning experience”.
I haven’t yet had a chance to read all these great pieces – but hope to today!
‘learning experience’ most definitely 🙂
Hi Carol,
Thanks for mentioning my poem.
You did not have one but still took the time to enjoy the others. A fine testament to the value of this weekly exercise!
Thank you Kathy and to everyone who contributes, I so enjoy reading these each week!
Great selections by KJ Munro. Thanks as always for what must be considerable work on this and for giving us (many of whom are novice) a chance to share.
Several immediate reactions..
I’ll bet we’re all familiar with Roberta Beary’s
“my mother’s footsteps
end the game”
For me it was my mother’s yell from down the block for dinner, but the emotion is the same.
And two years after a cross country move to a new life, I am still searching for friends and connections, and Ruth Powell captures that stunningly with,
city sidewalk
no one
calling my name
Wow.
Barbara Tate’s “squeak of last night’s snow” took me back to a late late walk in NYC when the city was mostly asleep.
There are some great senryu in this collection (methinks)… so many little points of humanity. I smiled broadly at Susan Roger’s “remembering Gene Kelly in the rain I start to hum” having just recently watched my 10 year old belt out that iconic verse on a wet day.
m.shane pruett
Salem, OR
Thank you so much for mentioning my poem. So much appreciated. I just printed this issue out and look forward to an evening of good reading. I used to live in Ohio and definitely miss the squeak of snow!!
Wonderful read today!Thankful to have my haiku among so many different verses. I find that I am visiting many different sidewalks and learning so much. Such vivid imagery and depiction of the sense of hearing. A few ku that popped out at me today. Lots of different noises from songs to bird songs, horns honking,jackhammers and much more.
birdsong stops
at the corner
a jackhammer
Sidney Bending
Victoria, BC, Canad
I can hear the stop and start of the birdsong and jack hammer or maybe it is just the jackhammer noise masks the birdsong both harmonious in their own way and of course depicts the human and natural made noises one hears often when out on a sidewalk.
remembering
Gene Kelly in the rain
I start to hum
Susan Rogers
Los Angeles, CA, USA
“singing in the rain” what a wonderful image that you have brought to life and a song that replays in my mind the minute I read your haiku Susan!
Again thank you and congrats to all!
What another wonderful collection of haiku!
Thanks for including one of mine in this virtual world tour of the sounds of the sidewalks. What a great way to travel…all these images in my head to savor throughout the week.
Thanks KJ for including mine. I think my favourite was Radhamani sarma’s
.
improvised cradle
jingling with bells,
she asks for alms
.
which not only conjures up a poignant vision but also a soundtrack to go with it.
Dear Mark Gilbert,
Greetings! Thank you so much for your kind words of appreciation. This
encouragement takes us a long way.
with regards
S.Radhamani
Dear Kathy, warm greetings! So many vibrant voices, we could hear and enjoy, so many approaches. Always bow before your meticulous care. Delighted to see mine,thanks for including the same. Of many wonderful haiku, this one is my immediate .
on the sidewalk
so many languages
I don’t understand
Lori Zajkowski
New York, NY
with regards
S.Radhamani
Thanks for choosing one of my haiku, Kathy. Congratulations to all. I love the selection for commentary this week. Wow! A couple more I enjoyed:
early morning jog
the clang
of commerce
Claire Vogel Camargo
the dog and I walk past your silence again
Philip Whitley
SC, USA
Thank you very much, Corine Timmer, for enjoying my haiku! I enjoyed yours also! I so appreciate my haiku being included by Kathy Munro, THF, Jim. Congratulations to all, Claire
Thanks to KJ and all contributors–a wonderful aural tour of world cities.
On a first reading was especially struck by:
Parisian dawn
from a bistro’s swing door
la vie en rose
Marietta McGregor
Never been to Paris, but could hear and see it!