A Sense of Place: HIKING TRAIL – touch

This Post Has 93 Comments

1. I am overwhelmed by the number of comments here today… so thanks to all the poets who submit their poems in the first place, & also those who have shared their comments here… this is the kind of dialogue that I am hoping will continue in 2019 because we all learn so much from this sharing of ideas…
   Special thanks, of course, to Alan Summers… as always!

2. Though hiking is often a refreshing experience, these haiku show a downside: being slapped by a branch or a mosquito. Or the feel of achingly cold water or stinging rain. I could imagine having the same experience.
   .
   a slap in the face
   from oak branches
   unmaintained trail
   .
   Deborah P Kolodji
   Temple City, California
   .
   the slap of her hand
   on the back of her neck
   mosquito
   .
   Margo Williams
   Stayton, Oregon
   .
   achingly cold
   pure spring water tumbles
   beside our trail
   .
   Ingrid Baluchi
   memories of living in Iran
   .
   off track
   in a nettle patch
   the stinging rain
   .
   Mike Gallagher
   Kerry, Ireland

3. .
   I do love one line haiku that have a certain rhythm, like this one:
   .
   .
   leaning into the wind into her heart geraniums
   .
   Réka Nyitrai
   .
   .
   The repetition of ‘into’ is highly effective and emotive. A stunning example of the one-line approach here. 🙂

4. My city sidewalk haiku:

   I am not sure where to submit. Can you please direct me to the proper channels. Here are three.

   weeds
   growing through sidewalks cracks
   reach for sky

   step on a crack
   break your mother’s back
   sidewalk games

   sidewalk cafe
   summer nights in Zurich
   time flies, memories stay

   1. Genie,
      Glad you will have a go! 🙂
      .
      If you are using a smartphone or other small device you may not see the live web link, so just go top right of this page where it says Contact and click onto that which will take you here anyway:
      https://www.thehaikufoundation.org/contact/
      .
      And put CITY SIDEWALK – sight to help the contact sorter (might be Dave and not just KJ).
      .
      .
      Kathy says:
      .
      “Submit an original unpublished poem (or poems) via our Contact Form by Sunday midnight on the theme of the week, including your name as you would like it to appear, and place of residence.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.”
      .
      Good luck! 🙂

      1. thanks for this, Alan – Genie has found the Contact Form, with your help!

5. Thanks KJ for choosing one of mine. I think I would highlight Helga Stania’s which sent a chill through me –
   *
   wayside chapel
   I feel the cold
   of the old key

   1. Excellent use of ‘cold’ and ‘old’ which can fall into being tropes, especially ‘old’ but is authentic and adds to the tension. ‘Wayside chapel’ is intriguing when looked up on the internet.
      .
      .

      warm spring water
      holding her hair
      away from her face
      .
      Mark Gilbert
      UK
      .
      .
      I immediately thought of someone being violently sick. I certainly hope that wasn’t the case, but overexertion on a walk can do that, not just nightclubbing on over cheap cocktails.
      .
      I’m hoping it’s just a High Summer overnight camping and thankfully the spring water is warm, maybe from a thermal? Whenever I’ve washed in fresh water it was close to being ice, even in Queensland! 🙂
      .
      An interesting technique of alliteration in lines one and two, and the first line’s alliteration subtly carried over into the last line.

      1. Thanks Alan, interesting interpretation of mine … not necessarily my interpretation ….

         1. Yes, agreed.
            .
            It’s just that we’ve seen this so often in TV drama and movies:
            .
            “holding her hair away from her face”
            .
            Or when we used to do heavy nightclubbing, starting with pubs and even more than one club after. 😉
            .
            It’d be interesting who among us has helped a colleague not get her hair messy in the restroom.

            1. I read it as someone being ill. That the hike was just too much, overheating, dehydration, etc. It could also be tenderness. Ah, the fun of interpreting haiku.

6. Thank-you Kathy for again including me. Congrats to all the talented poets.

   1. I must admit the snakes who had to put up with me in Australia were very forgiving and patient. Common Browns and Eastern Browns are repeat strikers, and move as fast as a galloping horse, as one Queenslander tested, just to show me. 🙂
      .
      .
      perspiring…
      on the return path
      a snake
      .
      Valentina Ranaldi-Adams
      Fairlawn, Ohio USA
      .
      .
      So I can relate to this! Even in September when it’s the breeding season, and they are protective, they are not like birds that can chase you for a mile! Phew! 🙂

7. Well done everyone, and of course to Kathy for all her hard work!

   1. Ah, yes, all that unknown hard work unless you’ve been involved in a weekly column, editing a collection or an anthology, or other intense poetry projects! Hats, scarves, and booties to Kathy! 🙂
      It’s honestly not as simple as it looks when we click onto the home page image! 🙂
      .
      .
      North York Moors storm
      the warmth of the sweater
      the farmer insists I take
      .
      Helen Buckingham
      .
      .
      I’ve been to Yorkshire a few times, and every other week for a year and a month I was resident renku poet for Hull. I’ve never done the Moors, they do get bad press sadly, but perhaps less so now.
      .
      The generosity of the farmer, and the thoughtfulness to have the sweater already warm, is endearing and respectful of guests and the landscape outside his farm. For some farmers that was no small thing to gift a sweater. I hope you were able to return it at some later date? Perhaps with a wee dram of single malt whisky from “The Spirit of Yorkshire” Distillery in North Yorkshire. 🙂
      .
      Wonderful word choice and order and see you write some longer haiku too! 🙂

      1. Not to mention her fine taste, too! Such an incredible service to the haiku community, Kathy. Thank you! Each week is a lesson.

8. Thank you Katherine for this wonderful selection and for including mine. So totally enjoy writing and sharing . Thank you Christina for your wonderful and heartening feedback. Thanks to Alan for his comments, a kind of learning process by itself. Look forward to the column each week !

   1. Thanks Arvinder! 🙂
      .
      I like to create parallel learning processes that complement our daily ones. 🙂

9. Wednesday, my favourite day of the week to enjoy, share and learn from others.
   Thank you Kathy, and again for including one of mine.

10. Thank you, Kathy, for weaving together such lovely selections…. poets for your haikus…. and commentators for your take on them.
    .
    This week I was moved by the sensual intimacy in arvinder kaur’s final lines
    .
    going past him
    our shadows touch
    .
    It reminded me of Martin Buber in his classic book, I and Thou, asserting that “(e)xtended, the lines of relationship intersect in the Eternal You.”
    .
    I found that intersecting intimacy again in Christina Sng’s
    .
    the warmth
    of my daughter’s hand
    .
    and in both the “gentle nudges” of Margaret Walker’s “old hound” “(pushing her) home” and Alan Summer’s intriguing
    .
    sunflower forest
    undulating the boy
    and a dog
    .
    Intimacy with earth moved me in Debbie Strange’s haiku
    .
    walking sticks
    the earth’s pulse
    in my hands
    .
    and with oneself in Madhuri Pillai’s deceptively simple
    .
    touching base
    with myself
    creek walk
    .
    There were other lines too that spoke to me of Buber’s wisdom, but I need to stop this already lengthy musing with my deep thanks.

    1. Thanks for your comments! 🙂
       .
       .

       my arms around
       the scratchy bark
       a tree’s weathered love
       .
       Christina Pecoraro

       .
       .
       I loved this line “a tree’s weathered love” which might even tie in with Martin Buber?
       https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_and_Thou
       .
       .
       That’s a really good catch, and your line feels right as well. Trees have witnessed good and bad incidents, people inscribe/carve enduring love, or at least a mark of time relating to themselves. Climbing trees used to be a childhood thing, certainly for me, and our own backyard pear tree that only fruited once, with one pear, which was knocked off by someone else. But I’ve always remembered that tree as a friend, and it was a de facto home or launch pad for adventures.

       1. Alan,
          .
          You are an absolute marvel, and so are your insights.
          .
          As for your haiku, for me a “sunflower forest” lifted them from mere field or expanse into another realm. And your intriguing verb, “undulating,” especially when transferred to ”the boy and a dog,” captured in movement not only their intersecting intimacy with each other —as I said earlier — but with the sunflowers as well. So little says so much!
          .
          sunflower forest
          undulating the boy
          and a dog
          .
          About my own “tree’s weathered love” it came from a three month hermitage experience I had in a cabin in a woods almost 20 years ago. I never considered, as you did, its own possible tie with Buber. Like that a lot.
          .
          Also appreciate the connections you make with your own interactions with trees, said to be earth’s oldest creatures. Alan—big thanks for all.

          1. Thanks Christina! 🙂
             .
             Yes, trees are wonderful. With rainforest deprivation everywhere I loved starting off a new one in Queensland, Australia. It’ll take a thousand or more years to really start to become even slightly old, but I’m glad I did a tiny part.
             .
             Wow, a three month hermitage! Did you do similar to Walden, or a mix of survival skills, and hunting, as well as writing, and perhaps a spiritual retreat. Sounds fantastic. I wish everyone could zone out from the crazy society thing that long for at least once in their lifetime.
             .
             .
             You said:
             .
             “As for your haiku, for me a “sunflower forest” lifted them from mere field or expanse into another realm. And your intriguing verb, “undulating,” especially when transferred to ”the boy and a dog,” captured in movement not only their intersecting intimacy with each other —as I said earlier — but with the sunflowers as well. So little says so much!”
             .
             sunflower forest
             undulating the boy
             and a dog
             .
             Alan Summers
             .
             .
             You are absolutely right. I feel we tread two worlds most of the time: the perceived real world and the echoes of the actual real world, and perhaps aspects of where folklore exists.
             .
             Yes, a young lad, my nephew, the son of a successful inventor and one who sees those other worlds in tandem with everything else. We are all molecules barely separated from each other, flora or fauna.
             .
             At least I want the barriers reduced until I have to come back the world paying bills and taxes. 🙂
             .
             Thank you so much for ‘getting inside’ the haiku, deeply appreciated.

             1. To answer your question, Alan, mine was a sabbatical spiritual retreat. And oh, how I relished 3 months of “zoning out from the crazy society thing” as you so aptly put it.
                .
                Also…this haiku neophyte is humbled by your generous thanks.

             2. Thanks Christina! 🙂
                .
                That’s certainly some decent time away. I’ve managed a week here and there to recharge. Good on you!

    2. Beautiful interpretations . . .

11. Thank you for including my haiku.
    I was astonished by reading other people’s fresh haiku.

    1. my pendant
       as cold as half moon
       over forest
       .
       Megumi Shibuya
       Japan
       .
       Beautifully folklore and magic driven haiku. A great example of when we can leave out an article (a/the) to make it legitimately mystical. Wonderful! 🙂

12. Another wonderful set of hiking haiku. I love the Sense of Place series, and am looking forward to “City Sidewalks” haiku. I’m glad I didn’t bet on the next theme, I was certain we were going to the desert!

    1. Ouch! 🙂
       .
       .
       a slap in the face
       from oak branches
       unmaintained trail
       .
       Deborah P Kolodji
       Temple City, California
       .
       .
       And sometimes we wouldn’t have it any other way. Too maintained and there’ll be too many groups and loud noise. It’s a shame the local authorities are allowing Robin Hood’s Sherwood Forest to be destroyed in Britain, we don’t seem to like woodland, maybe too many people would thumb their noses at the bad Sheriffs of ‘Nottingham’. 🙂

       1. Ouch, indeed. I thought about “overgrown” trail, but I decided on “unmaintained” due to the cuts in funding for taking care of state parks, national parks, national forests, etc. I remember hiking one trail in particular in the Angeles National Forest – I don’t remember which trail, but I just remember the branches. I was trying to remember what kind of branches and decided on oak branches since there are various types of oaks in our local mountains, but the actual branches of the hike I am remembering could have possibly been from a different tree.

          “Overgrown” has the advantage of some assonance with “oak” and it seems to read smoother, but “unmaintained,” by actually not flowing as well, seems to fit the situation better, or at least those were my thoughts.

          1. Hi Deborah,
             .
             Yes, ‘overgrown’ gives a different nuance doesn’t it? ‘unmaintained’ lets us know it’s a type of public park, whereas overgrown could mean it’s pure wild or private land. There’s a great parcel of land so long abandoned, but owned, that the deserted building, vehicles, etc… have become a wildlife reserve. I forget where in Britain, but it’s the overland version of sunken ships etc… taken over by fish, coral, barnacles, etc…
             .
             Yes, the method of dissonance can work well, as you have it, as it creates a break, even for someone who might insist on reading right through without one. I still remember, in a reading group of multiple genres, one person who ignored the aspects of a title, blank spaces for lines, periods etc… and reading title, prose body, and haiku as one sentence with no pauses or taking breath! 🙂

13. gravel path –
    a small stone jumped
    in my shoe
    .
    Slobodan Pupovac
    Zagreb, Croatia
    .
    .
    I love those last two lines, and it feels so true, I can relate to that happening!

    1. What a great haiku! Stones do just seem to hop right in! Nicely done, Zagreb.

       1. A fun nickname for Slobodan Pupovac? 🙂
          .
          I remember so many wonderful Croatian haiku poets regularly publishing their work in Azami journal (Japan), setting the bar high for so many of us.

    2. I was wondering if, “jumps” would strengthen the poem.
       .
       gravel path –
       a small stone jumps
       in my shoe
       .

       1. re:
          .
          .
          gravel path –
          a small stone jumped
          in my shoe
          .
          Slobodan Pupovac
          Zagreb, Croatia
          .
          .
          John S Green said:
          .
          .
          “I was wondering if, “jumps” would strengthen the poem.”
          .
          gravel path –
          a small stone jumps
          in my shoe
          .
          .
          Alan:
          .
          For me, that would suggest we see the stone jump into the shoe, both the reader(s) and the poem’s narrator. In my experience we don’t see the stone, it just gets into the shoe, and sometimes the sock, as if by magic or osmosis. 🙂
          .
          I liked the choice of ‘jumped’ because the reader can decide whether they see the action, or the consequences. I’m sure we’ve all had a stone in our shoe. I know if I’m wearing Crocs™ out in our pocket garden they seem to allow just about anything to jump inside, but I never see the blighters. 🙂

14. touchstone
    the sun in my pocket
    after our walk
    .
    Kath Abela Wilson
    Pasadena, California
    .
    .
    “touchstone” origin:
    .
    “A touchstone is a small tablet of dark stone such as fieldstone, slate, or lydite, used for assaying precious metal alloys. It has a finely grained surface on which soft metals leave a visible trace.”
    WIKIPEDIA
    .
    .
    I like the contrast of a dark stone and the voice of the sun held within it, and all safely ensconced in your pocket!
    .
    Truly magical haiku! 🙂

15. Thank you kj for including my haiku as one of your featured ones! Always an honor to be included.

    1. tree root
       the forest floor
       greets me
       .
       Tia Haynes
       Lakewood, Ohio, USA
       .
       .
       Forest floors is very and deeply poignant just now. This reminds me of how I stay amazed that trees are like inverted roots, one system of roots reaches for the sky, and almost like an iceberg, there is a forest of roots beneath our feet as well.
       .
       Wonderful haiku!

       1. Thank you so much Alan!

          1. I love how a comment gives me the opportunity of revisiting the person’s haiku and inhabiting it, and growing from living inside their wonderful poem!

16. I’m particularly moved by Gary’s:

    tree rings
    feeling each
    year

    Effortlessly gets across the concept of time translated into a tactile experience. Nice humor too. Lord knows I can feel each year sometimes when I’m on a long hike.

    I think this one would work as a monoku as well.

    1. If anyone hasn’t met Gary in person, you must, he’s a great guy!
       .
       .
       tree rings
       feeling each
       year
       .
       Gary Evans
       Stanwood, Washington
       .
       .
       Something so magical about tree rings, whether we see them or we don’t. Great one Gary!!! 🙂

       1. Yes, I can vouch for Gary Evans being a great guy. He is in our Haiku Group here in Bellingham, Washington, and we are lucky indeed.
          .
          tree rings
          feeling each
          year
          .
          Gary Evans
          Stanwood, Washington
          .
          Wonderful! A tactile gem with a playful tone of reminiscing and aging all at the same time.

          1. And your own John! 🙂
             .
             .
             misty hike
             I pull a yellow leaf
             off my walking stick
             .
             John S Green
             Bellingham, WA
             .
             .
             Even leaves will hitch a ride. We can be carriers of burrs and seeds, cobwebs or spiderwebs, a dying wasp, or bee, and a leaf that fell, but not to earth/Earth.

             1. Very nice, John. You captured hiking in northwest mists perfectly.

             2. Thanks, Alan.

                Gary and I among many others were recently at the Pacific NW Annual retreat at Seabeck in Washington state. It is situated in a pristine location on the Olympic Peninsula brushing the San Juan Islands. You should visit for the Seabeck retreat next—or be the feature the year after— year!!!
                We could even arrange for you to present one or more times!
                John

             3. Thanks John! 🙂
                .
                re:
                .
                Thanks, Alan.
                Gary and I among many others were recently at the Pacific NW Annual retreat at Seabeck in Washington state. It is situated in a pristine location on the Olympic Peninsula brushing the San Juan Islands. You should visit for the Seabeck retreat next—or be the feature the year after— year!!!
                We could even arrange for you to present one or more times!
                John
                .
                .
                I must admit it does look cool! I’ve followed the photos and program over the years. I’ve been to Seattle, more as a dropping point for Maui (conference). Hadn’t realised how close to Vancouver Island too.
                .
                Perhaps one year, that would be very cool! 🙂

    2. Aw….. thank you all for your comments. What a great way to start one’s day. Thank you!

       1. My fingers hit ‘post’ before I was ready!
          Thank you all for the kind comments – as well as for all your haiku that are so inspiring. What a community Katherine has gathered!

17. thank you so much Katherine for including my haiku in this weekly selection and congratulations to everyone

    1. Oh, gosh, we can so relate regarding the contradictory heat and cold aspects of hiking! 🙂
       .
       .
       backpacker –
       over the hot sweat
       the cold rain
       .
       [English version]
       .
       Angela Giordano
       .
       .
       Great hike-ku! 🙂

    2. Angela, my limited acquaintance with Italian (can read it a bit, speak it even less) makes me long to listen to your wonderful haiku in its soft Italian cadences. /English translation in Alan’s adjacent comment./
       .
       zaino in spalla –/sopra il caldo sudore /la pioggia fredda
       .
       that goes for Giuliana’s lovely haiku too:
       .
       freddo sentiero:/ la sciarpa di mamma così vicino
       cold path:/ the mother’s scarf so close
       .
       and of course, Lucia’s
       .
       soffice abbraccio / di una giacca di lana … mare d’inverno
       fluffy hug/ of a woolen jacket…/winter sea

       Brava to Kathy and the three of you for presenting both versions. I realize it would become too cumbersome to include the several others whose originals are in other languages — and salute them too.

       1. Christina,
          Just want to add that at this time I include all translations that are included in the submission when the poem is selected… thanks for this!

18. Great haiku hike; congratulations to all the poets.
    Thank you, Kathy, for including mine.

    1. Foggy hiking trail…
       This hand, in my hand,
       Is it still yours?!
       .
       Anna Victoria Goluba
       .
       .
       Like something out of the Walking Dead TV Series! Great combination of tension and humour. 🙂

       1. Thanks, Alan; I feel appreciated 🙂 I love black humour, it’s releasing for me.

          1. Definitely black humour! And one of the top exponents was Dave Allen:
             https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=Dave+Allen+black+humour&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
             .
             Enjoy the links! 🙂

19. A delightful array of touch and feel, Kathy. congratulations to all poets.
    Thanks for including mine 🙂

    1. beyond the rylock freedom
       .
       Carol Jones
       .
       .
       I must admit I wasn’t familiar with that term [rylock] but the product is everywhere isn’t it? Wales is either the biggest or one of the very biggest producers of barbed wire, I wrote a poem about it. 🙂
       .
       This type of fencing, in very early days, was also probably used, when us, the British, allegedly created the idea of concentration camps during the Boer wars, to our eternal shame.

       1. Hi Alan
          Thanks for your comments, they never fail to inspire and send me on a search mission to find out more.
          I didn’t know Wales was a big producer of barbed wire, even though I’ve stapled up quite a bit of the stuff, I’ve learnt.
          When learning about the Boar wars during my school years, I believe the info in your last paragraph was left out of the lessons.
          .
          Writing this verse reminds me of the song, Don’t fence me in — give me land lots of land and the starry sky above…
          lovely words 🙂

          1. Thanks Carol! 🙂
             .
             It’s such a shame that the history in each country removes so many facts and puts in a biased viewpoint. Children all over the world would grow up to be balanced individuals if we had an honest World History Book.
             .
             Yes, lots of fences, barbed wire, walls, and defence mechanisms to keep out most of the world alas. Perhaps if there was a magic spell and all walls ceased to exist, for just an hour, things might get interesting, in a good way. 😉

20. Dear Kathy,
    Greetings! Thanks for including mine,delighted to be among so many gentle haiku hikes and touches of splashes of spring water. Pleasure reading all and wondering at individual application. Your meticulous choice is amazing.
    with regards
    S.Radhamani

    1. trail of wilderness
       the unreachable
       touch of serene
       .
       Radhamani sarma
       Chennai
       .
       .
       Powerful!!!

       1. Dear esteemed poet,
          Always thankful for your lovely encouraging comments.
          with regards
          S.Radhamani

21. My lovely former oppo Carmen has produced a beautifully tactile sense-full haiku of musicality! 🙂
    .
    .
    sitting in a circle
    of bone cold benches
    one of us lights a fire
    .
    Carmen Sterba
    .
    .
    Full of fun, poetry, touch, and delights! 🙂

    1. oppo:
       https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/oppo
       .
       We were co-founding editors, with others, of Haijinx, still greatly missed!

22. .
    gentle nudges
    the old hound
    pushes me home
    .
    Margaret Walker
    Lincoln, NE, USA
    .
    .
    Great opening line, with just enough for the second line, and the glorious last line, making me want to enjoy the first line all over again, and the second line and so on. The verb does feel best in the last line here. Finely judged! 🙂

23. This is so beautiful, and sad, and poignant, endearing, charming, and delicately beautiful. Did I mention beautiful?
    .
    .
    off the beaten path
    her touch I remember most
    wildflowers
    .
    Stephen A. Peters
    .
    .
    The opening line could have so easily have been a trope, a cliché, but is made fresh and engaging by the excellently judged middle/second line and the one word line ending the haiku. In fact it’s wonderful to read the opening line again after wildflowers. A very circular haiku, which could be first love or love lost, or something else especially precious.
    .
    A truly beautiful haiku, and quite magnificent.

24. While I have not read them all, I was struck by Astrid’s haiku about clearing the trail of fog for subsequent hikers. I could imagine it all, taken there with just her few words.

    Thanks for including one of mine, Kathy, in this feel good collection of haiku.

    1. I agree, Astrid’s haiku is wonderful! 🙂
       .
       .
       fog on our skin
       we clear the trail
       for the hiker behind
       .
       Astrid Egger
       .
       .
       Lovely sensual opening line, and intriguing second line when we haven’t read the third and last line. Wonderful haiku! 🙂
       .
       .
       leaves of three
       he grabs
       the wrong handhold
       .
       Nancy Brady
       Huron, Ohio
       .
       .
       Love this haiku, and very fresh and original!
       .
       Great last line and it makes you want to enjoy reading the whole haiku all over again, at least once more, and for me, again after that. Great! 🙂

       1. Thanks Alan for your kind remarks. Anyone who has experienced poison ivy or poison oak might relate.

          1. Ouch! I think I’ve only been badly stung by nettles as a youngster, but of course have suffered rashes when younger too. There is always the wrong handhold, especially in places where everything bites or stings! 🙂

25. .
    Two very different but both full of touch in subtle ways. More power to the Susans!!! 🙂
    .
    .
    Susan ONE:
    .
    .

    family hike
    the growing chill
    in a wrong turn
    .
    Susan Mallernee
    .
    .
    Brilliant, just brilliant! It’s unnerving, but hopefully there is comedy in it, if only once they are all safe and somewhere with a log fire and hot drinks.
    .
    The opening line is open, and feels innocent, but wow, the second line is just a hint but becomes more tense when the last line is read, and then the middle/second line is read again. Incredibly astutely written!
    .
    .

    sharper
    than the baby imagined
    pinecone
    .
    Susan Rogers
    Los Angeles, CA, USA
    .
    .
    Great and intriguing opening line by Susan TWO! 🙂
    .
    It’s also a brilliant line break (enjambment) with astutely managed middle line and again a one word line both opening and closing the haiku. Full of texture and touch.
    .
    Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant, use of sense and humour.

    1. You just made my day Alan.
       No…you made my year! My gratitude to you on this Thanksgiving holiday!
       Many blessings
       susan

       1. Dear ‘susqn’
          .
          Are you Susan ONE or Susan TWO? 🙂
          .
          Both haiku are definitely fantastic. I have celebrated Thanksgiving in Los Angeles, but if you are the Susan from Ohio, I never got there alas! 🙂

          1. susan from Los angelles
             pinecone susan
             susanrogers49@yahoo.com
             come visit Alan!

             1. ah, pinecone susan!
                .
                I’ve had great memories of Los Angeles. I used to regularly attend Long Beach convention center, and had great fun at the Marriott opposite. Once when I was young, and knew I might have to hold down a 12 hour shift with no food, I had so much breakfast, I had to stand up, due to the piled dishes! 🙂
                .
                The hotel staff used to love us eccentric Brits! 🙂
                .
                I haven’t done conventions or conferences over there for a long time, but enjoyed the areas around LA too.
                .
                .
                sharper
                than the baby imagined
                pinecone
                .
                Susan Rogers
                Los Angeles, CA, USA
                .
                .
                Still love the haiku, and the line break choice, starting line two with ‘than’ really works for me! 🙂

    2. “sharper” is just a statement of the impossible to know – the baby’s mind.
       Compare – sweeter than the squirrel knows sugared almond – an exact analogue.
       Anything can be cut and pasted – blacker than the deer sees midge cloud -.
       .

       1. re:
          .
          .
          sharper
          than the baby imagined
          pinecone
          .
          Susan Rogers
          Los Angeles, CA, USA
          .
          .
          simonj said:
          .
          .
          “sharper” is just a statement of the impossible to know – the baby’s mind.
          Compare – sweeter than the squirrel knows sugared almond – an exact analogue.
          Anything can be cut and pasted – blacker than the deer sees midge cloud -.
          .
          .
          re:
          “sharper” is just a statement of the impossible to know – the baby’s mind.
          .

          Alan:
          .
          Fascinating statement indeed! 🙂 It is wondrous to witness babies explore and react, and there’s plenty on YouTube to show how adept they are to learning and open to expressing themselves when something surprises them. 🙂
          .
          .
          “blacker than the deer sees” Wow!

          1. In demonstrating formulaic I may have written something that trips off the tongue, but is nonetheless fantastical.

             1. Sound like this could become an interesting haibun, with a bit of fantastic beasts thrown in maybe?
                .
                re:
                .
                “In demonstrating formulaic I may have written something that trips off the tongue, but is nonetheless fantastical.”
                .
                Something for The Other Bunny ed. Johannes S H Bjerg maybe? 🙂

       2. I am not sure about the idea of anything being cut and pasted as it applies to this but my intention
          was the sharp cut of sharper
          and the capture of that moment of needle sharp unexpected contact
          the distillation of that moment in a piercing point of time. Thank you for taking the time to read and respond I appreciate all suggestions.

          1. re:
             .
             .
             sharper
             than the baby imagined
             pinecone
             .
             Susan Rogers
             Los Angeles, CA, USA
             .
             .
             Susan said:
             .
             “I am not sure about the idea of anything being cut and pasted as it applies to this but my intention was the sharp cut of sharper…”
             .
             .
             Love that! 🙂 “The sharp cut of sharper” 🙂
             .
             Susan said:
             “…and the capture of that moment of needle sharp unexpected contact…”
             .
             Yes! 🙂
             .
             Susan said:
             .
             “…the distillation of that moment in a piercing point of time.”
             .
             Love that phrase! 🙂 “That moment in a piercing point of time” is something I can relate to very much, including any time of danger when a second is a very long time, long a slow hanging droplet of water.
             .
             I wouldn’t be surprised to see your haiku in a themed anthology in the future.
             .
             I know Vanessa would love your haiku!!! 🙂
             .
             Blowing Up Balloons, baby poems for parents by Gregory Piko and Vanessa Proctor
             https://www.redmoonpress.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=254&osCsid=d1c8ddb4b33e5b980d143504b8ad9fa9

26. .
    throwing a pebble
    into the mountain lake –
    circles of autumn sky
    .
    Tomislav Maretic
    .
    .
    The last line makes this fresh from other haiku that have stones or pebbles skipped, skimmed, etc… across a lake or river.
    .
    Lovely last line! 🙂

27. .
    touch of Alpine air
    my breath leaves its own trail
    on my beard
    .
    Vishnu Kapoor
    .
    .
    Love this, as beards can have their own ecosystem, and interactions with the elements! 🙂
    .
    Wonderful ordering and pacing over each line!
    .
    Brilliant! 🙂

28. I was intrigued by simonj’s “high street,” having seen Roman works all over Europe and the world. How far have we come on this road! And yet, and yet…

    1. Intriguingly the Romans never made it officially to America, and i doubt got to Australia, but both places make great use of straight Roman roads, arenas, and civic architecture etc…
       .
       .
       “the High Street retreat of eagles” makes me think of the loss of the wonderful independent shops that made such a treasure land for children and adults alike. I hope the eagles come back and defeat the chain stores! 🙂
       .
       .
       the high street
       retreat of eagles
       north wind
       .
       (high street roman road)
       .
       simonj
       UK

       1. Intriguingly the Middle English name for High Street is Brethstrett, where I like to think the first element breth is using breath to mean wind.

          1. simonj said:
             .
             “Intriguingly the Middle English name for High Street is Brethstrett, where I like to think the first element breth is using breath to mean wind.”
             .
             .
             Wow, that explains a lot, as the British High Street gave breath to a town or part of a city, and I’d hate to lose the High Streets of Britain entirely.

    2. There is little by way of architecture to see, and alas, no more golden eagles.

       1. I immediately thought of Rosemary Sutcliff, and the Eagle of the Ninth:
          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Eagle_of_the_Ninth
          .
          And I love visiting both the old Roman remains, and the new Roman (Byzantine) Empire remains across Turkey.

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