A Sense of Place: HIKING TRAIL – taste

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1. Thank you Kathy for including my haiku. Many tasteful selections here! I particularly was struck Christina Sng’s, Alan Summers’s, Yanwei Cai’s and Deb Kolodji’s haiku.

   1. thanks for submitting, Sari, & for sharing your comments here…

   2. Thanks Sari! 🙂
      .
      the taste
      of freedom
      solo hike
      .
      Christina Sng
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      .
      This would make for a great performance haiku as well, as Christina Sng judges the line breaks that would also make for great performance pauses after every single line.
      .
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      anniversary hike
      the green M&Ms
      in our trail mix
      .
      Deborah P Kolodji
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      I’m guessing those greenies don’t usually go into shop packets of trail mix, so I love the humour and irony (in correct meaning of the term). Highly original, but there is more harnessing the humour as the opening line could be happy or sad, reflective, or just a great get together, perhaps with everyone less sporty than in earlier years?
      .
      A great use of words with anniversary and ‘green’ where there is so much more than is apparent on a first reading. It’s great!!! 🙂
      .
      A must have collection is:
      Deborah P Kolodji’s “highway of sleeping towns”
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgGtgq_avMw
      .
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      school trip hiking trail
      the chalky taste
      of the granola bar
      .
      Sari Grandstaff
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      .
      Yep! 🙂 I always think candy bars, dressed up as proper energy food, fall short of just a healthy but useful fruit and veg bowl. I always had a massive combo of fresh and raw veg mixed with pawpaw and mango, other fruit, herbs such as bananas (yes, it’s a herb folks! 🙂 ) and nuts and raisons. Never got that nasty energy drain from high and processed sugar bars.
      .
      Chalky is a neat pun on chalk sticks and chalkboards and makes me wonder if the group are replaying their happy student days.
      .
      Great use all round with ‘key words’! 🙂

      1. thanks for this, Alan – also, the green M&M’s were thought to have special powers… another urban myth, I believe…

         1. Not sure I’ve ever had M&Ms, but Smarties were common as a schoolchild. Here are the bizarre things around M&Ms and green ones in particular:
            https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=green+M%26M%E2%80%99s+were+thought+to+have+special+powers&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
            .
            Weird what people will believe. 🙂

            1. Thanks to Sari, Alan, and kjmunro for the comments and analysis of my haiku. When I was a teenager, we used to giggle about green M&M’s and their alleged aphrodiastic properties. (I was a teenager in the 70’s at the height of this urban myth)

               https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/green-mms-aphrodisiacs/

               I am glad it struck a chord with readers.

               (Thanks, also, Alan for the plug of my book.)

2. Thank you Alan for such a close analysis of my poem. Yes I did think about orher versions but ‘ his mother ‘ gave me the tongue in cheek that i was looking for. :)) thanks again

   1. Exactly! 🙂
      .
      And it was the thoughtful craftwork that pushed this haiku from good to exceptional!

3. morning campfire
   a hint of aspen
   in our cowboy coffee
   .
   Mike Stinson
   Omaha, Nebraska
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   .
   Just love this! I feel I’m in one of those old cowboy movies or TV series, from The Monroes to The Virginian or Rawhide, or Bonanza, and so many more!

   1. thanks Alan!

4. Thanks a lot Kathy for including my poem. A very enjoyable and rewarding exercise every week,also thanks to Alan for his comments and valuable insight. I enjoyed reading ‘taste of mountain’ ‘salami sandwich ‘ Alan’s and Madhuri’s ku among others. Touched by ‘California fires’ I was in the US around that time and in California. Best regards,arvinder

   1. Thanks Arvinder! 🙂
      .
      Although I’m a big fan of chai (authentically made chai while working in India) and ordinary tea (no ice cubes! 🙂 ) when I’m out and about, horse rides, or hotels and conferences etc… it’s almost always hot black coffee (no ice cubes again, sorry! 🙂 )
      .
      picnic in the hills –
      a taste of his mother’s pickle
      in the kiss
      .
      arvinder kaur
      Chandigarh, India
      .
      Here we have a close relationship between the two image sections, with the opening section giving us a double wonderful picture of not only a picnic, so often in fields, or beaches, but “in the hills”.
      .
      Then first line of the second section (middle line) we know homemade pickle by the man’s mom is included, and then a cheeky and interesting surprise last line.
      .
      If it had said ‘my mother’s pickle in the kiss” or ‘my mother’s pickle in his kiss” it would have achieved interesting dynamics, but “his mother’s pickle in the kiss” is the best version.
      .
      For the closer reading we are rewarded with the idea that perhaps “his” mother is a strong presence in their lives and sometimes positive sometimes interfering and overbearing perhaps. Some mothers-in-law can be intimidating, and even display jealously, perhaps not letting go.
      .
      Of course his mother may just be a fantastic cook and it would be foolish not to take advantage of great homemade fare, and it’s far cheaper too!
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      The haiku and the careful and crafted placement and ordering of words elevates this beyond a straight one layer meaning.
      .
      Should the haiku be made more minimal?
      .
      e.g.
      .

      picnic in the hills –
      his mother’s pickle
      in the kiss
      .
      .
      It works fine, but the rhythm is more musical and poetic if we keep the original:
      .
      .
      picnic in the hills –
      a taste of his mother’s pickle
      in the kiss
      .
      .
      “a taste” is vital to the musicality of the poem, and not all haiku need to be ‘super-minimalist’.
      .
      A truly wonderful and memorable haiku word by word and line by line! 🙂

   2. thanks so much for sharing this Arvinder, & of course Alan…

5. For me, Michael Smeer’s “all the tastes of autumn / replaced by smoke” became sad and sinister (mostly the former) when linked with his dedication “to those affected by the California wildfires.” I join Valentina in thanking him for it.

   Because of it, Bill Pauly’s haiku took on added meaning, moving me.

   smoky taste
   of the forest
   heartbeats away

   …………

   Was reminded how powerfully taste can evoke memory, found myself in two places at once, and felt a nourishing maternal presence reading:

   along the way
   back in my mother’s kitchen –
   salami sandwich

   Anna Maria Domburg-Sancristoforo

   Had similar feelings reading: “a taste of his mother’s pickle /in the kiss”— arvinder kaur

   ……….

   Really enjoyed the element of discovery (“so this is how/ the mountains taste“) in Sanjuktaa Asopa’s haiku. It’s almost as if a riddle or wondering has been solved.

   sparkling stream
   so this is how
   the mountains taste

   …………

   Thanks, Kathy, Alan, all — for poetry and commentary.

   1. I enjoyed your thought-provoking comments, Christina Pecoraro, among others . . . Thank you!
      .
      And thank you again, Kathy, for including my contribution.
      .
      This probing deeper into our own sub-consciousness has brought out, for me, the importance of how all our senses play into appreciating the world around us, and how this works so effectively through the ‘simplicity’ of haiku. It’s a lovely combination!

      1. Thanks, Ingrid from Macedonia.
         .
         Musing upon your haiku below, I find myself wanting to play nomad, sipping laughter along with tea.
         .
         trail break at a nomad camp –
         sweet tea
         sipped between laughter

      2. thanks for this, Ingrid!

   2. Thanks Christina! 🙂
      .
      .
      sun’s buttery flavor
      sits on my tongue
      defying snowdrops
      .
      Christina Pecoraro
      .
      .
      Just love that last line of:
      .
      “defying snowdrops”
      .
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      Brings a big 🙂

   3. thank you so much, Christina – for sharing your thoughts on these poems, & for submitting!

6. Many thanks KJ for including my poem. Thanks a lot to Alan Summers too for his valuable insights every week.

   1. Yes, big bow to Kathy aka KJ! 🙂
      .
      .
      “this is how the mountains taste”
      .
      Sanjuktaa Asopa
      .
      Lovely phrase!!! 🙂

      1. Dear esteemed poet,
         Greetings! the alliterative effect created in the first line and the visual image dipping in the auditory perception also, add a telling effect on the haiku. As you have verily mentioned ” a lovely phrase. ” this is how the mountain taste”

         sparkling stream
         so this is how
         the mountains taste

         1. thanks for sharing this!

   2. my pleasure!

7. First of all my deepest commiserations to those who passed away in Malibu, a place I remember with great fondness. Secondly, to the Chicago family of Jemel Roberson, shot dead by authorities, while saving many lives. Such an extreme in both situations. Although we think we can always walk and move around in safety and for pleasure it’s not always that simple, and for some light relief, I’d like to talk about this wonderful haiku:
   .
   .

   hike in low light
   remnants of a spiderweb
   across my mouth
   .
   Carol Dilworth
   .
   .

   We read so much about juxtaposition, and it can seem quite a science! 🙂
   .
   How far apart should two different images distance themselves?
   .
   Well Carol Dilworth certainly cracked this one! 🙂
   .
   Without the first line the last two lines, in my humble opinion, would not make sense. But we’ve all made low light journeys, whether hiking or across our garden if we have one etc…
   .
   The very effect of a spiderweb is that it’s an active trap, a spider’s larder waiting for supplies. Thankfully humans are too large to ensnare! 🙂
   .
   Well executed haiku, using an example of juxtaposition that doesn’t explain the relationship of the image, but that you would certainly need both. And it has humour as well as the horror of too much spiderweb (active) or cobweb (abandoned) because we didn’t close our mouth, certainly an irony too! 🙂

   1. thank you Alan!

8. Kathy, thank-you for including my haiku. Thank-you to Michael Smeer for dedicating his to the victims, of the fires in California, in the USA. I did notice that many of the haiku this time had to do with berries.

   1. thanks for this, Valentina

9. Thank you Kathy once again! A joy to read and I am always amazed of what visual imagery I gain even when focusing on sense of taste!.

   Specifically…

   sandwiched
   between high dry walls
   desert watercress

   m. shane pruett

   and a nice play on the word choice sandwiched!

   It is always interesting to “taste” feelings as well. I noted several that I enjoyed reading that brought that to a reality for me. Never mind all the trail mix, berries, teas and coffees. What a joy to read today! Thank you once again.

   1. Thank you Margo!

      I’ve had a hard time with the ‘taste’ sessions in the past but I enjoyed this. So many watercress sandwiches in the U.S. desert southwest but I’d never thought about them poetically until this prompt and thinking back on all those hikes.

      There are some fantastic images in this collection. Can’t wait to sample more leisurely later.
      Thank you again.

      1. thank you both, Margo & m. shane pruett, for sharing your comments & kind words here, & for submitting

10. Congrats to all the poets.
    Thank you, Kathy, for including my haiku into this beautiful, inspiring collection, and for your comment; universality of our dreaming experiences is really fascinating for me 🙂

    1. thanks so much for this, Anna

11. A tasty line up, and great to read.
    .
    foraging
    wondering if this mushroom
    is safe
    .
    Mike Gallagher
    .
    Something to be treated with caution and respect, personally, I just photograph the little lovelies and leave well alone.

    1. Thank you, Carol. I have become more careful with age but i loved foraging for mushrooms as a child.

       1. thanks for this Carol & Mike – my husband forages for mushrooms in the Yukon, but I limit myself to the low-bush cranberries & a few mossberries

12. Berry, berry delicious haiku this week…thanks for including one of mine in this trail mix of savory delights, Kathy. Always love reading them all, but now I am hungry.

    1. I didn’t realise trail mix was so rampant on the walk! 🙂
       .
       But mind you, after reading decades ago, how good Kendal Mint Cake was, I was hugely disappointed it was just a slab of processed sugar and a bit of mint flavor! 🙂
       .
       Instead of a sugar buzz or rush, it was an energy drain. A tin of WWII rations, even stone cold, will always appeal to me more as a memory of a training walk across the Black Mountains in Wales! 🙂

       1. 🙂 the mint cake certainly wasn’t as appealing as it sounds, I too was disappointed when I purchased some many years ago.
          Taking a trek in the Black Mountains is on my bucket list…yes I know, on my doorstep. One day 🙂

    2. thanks for submitting, & for your kind words, Nancy – & thanks also for your comments Alan & Carol

13. “…for those of you who are curtailing the number of poems in your submissions, I think this can be a valuable exercise in reviewing one’s own work to try to see it through the potential editor’s eyes…” —KJMunro aka Kathy
    .

    Wise words from Kathy! 🙂
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    The combination of being a fan, and a student of haiku, and in particularly first and foremost “a reader of haiku,” and then secondly as a writer myself, in addition as being an editor, and a mentor and online tutor, I can really enjoy all “the colours of haiku” and more! 🙂

    .
    While I continue to strive to make my own work stronger, and dare not take anything for granted, I’ve been fortunate to have been asked to be an editor for a number of journals, and a few anthologies. I’ve also run haiku contests, and been approached to judge other ones too.
    .
    So what I do when I read work in a print or online journal, or any poems on the internet is combine the thrill of being “the reader” (and fan) of haiku, and my editor’s eye. If I’m judging a contest, which I rarely do now as I run courses on haiku, I keep the same passion I had, when I first came to haiku, with being an excited fan of this genre for now over 25 years.
    .
    I’ve made a lot of mistakes over my own haiku over the early years and I now find that it’s a bonus because I can see strengths as well as weaknesses in my work.
    .
    Why?
    .
    I can still “see” the poem, as if it’s in its chrysalis stage, and still be as excited. I feel most of our work, whether published or not, as something in progress. Lots of published poets, both in journals, and then later in their collections, will continue to tweak, edit, and revise. It’s a great brain workout because we use both our creative instinctive side, and then our analytical problem solving half of our brain! It’s a win-win situation. 🙂
    .
    And there’s always something to learn, and here’s just one out of many so many wonderful examples of terrific poems!
    .
    Plus I hope to comment on others through the rest of the week.
    .
    .

    hiking kiss the mints in her sack
    Adrian Bouter
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    There’s two great phrases here! 🙂
    .
    The two word opening section of this one line haiku, and ‘the mints in her sack’ both combine to make this a fun verse, with a hint of mystery for me. How can a kiss on a hiking walk taste of mints in someone’s bag? But of course it’s entirely possible they had a mint or two earlier and put them back in their bag. But I find delightful room for romantic wondering about a regular couple, or two people that found romance on the walk? Or perhaps one person is so intimately known to the other person, it was a shortcut to having a mint without all the rigamole of asking, and the rummage through the bag?
    .
    This haiku is full of taste, and deftly combines subtle humour, romance, and a little healthy intrigue. Brilliant! 🙂
    .
    Here’s more about one line haiku:
    http://area17.blogspot.com/2016/12/travelling-single-line-of-haiku-one.html
    .
    .
    And I’m going to enjoy coming back for more poems here! 🙂

    1. Thank you Kathy for this insight. Hope you know how much it’s appreciated!!

       1. thank you Barbara

    2. thanks as always for this Alan! I will be referencing your link to one-line haiku at a future solstice haiku meeting for sure!

       1. Thanks kj! 🙂

14. Dear Kahy,

    Your choice again,
    How language plays in rhythms of windfalls of this haiku!

    path through the orchard
    the sweetness of summer
    in the windfall’s flesh

    Rachel Sutcliffe

    A wonderful delicacy expressed in sweet and supple way.

    1. It’s a lovely verse by Rachel with a cracking good line of ‘in the windfall’s flesh’! 🙂

       1. Dear esteemed poet,
          Greetings!
          “It’s a lovely verse by Rachel with a cracking good line of ‘in the windfall’s flesh’! 🙂'” you said;
          yes very much ; unusual rhythm ringing ever “in the windfall flesh”
          with regards
          S.Radhamani

          1. & thanks for this…

15. Dear Kathy,
    Greetings! What a pleasant combination of tastes, blackberries,berries, strawberries, enticing our taste buds here!

    Blackberries
    Suddenly taste of bananas…
    Hiking in my dream

    Anna Victoria Goluba

    trailside pause
    the taste of berries
    on your lips

    Gary Evans
    Stanwood, Washington

    in the undergrowth the strawberries:
    little kisses along the path

    Giuliana Ravaglia

    and finally

    sandwiched
    between high dry walls
    desert watercress

    m. shane pruett

    And how apt your comment “double meanings of English Language” A pleasure to be in the orchids of haiku.

    1. There’s certainly been a lot of kissing on these trails, and I realise the 18-30 holidays and Ibiza are put into the shade! 🙂

    2. Thank you for the kind words, Radhamani. This week was indeed a taste extravaganza! (And empty Coke cans in Chennai, too, I see.)

       1. Dear Gary Evans,
          Yes! very much for your observations, thanking you.
          with regards
          S.Radhamani

    3. thanks so much for sharing here, S.Radhamani, & for your kind words, & also thanks to Alan & Gary for your comments as well…

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