A Sense of Place: MEADOW/FIELD – touch
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 Submit an original unpublished poem (or poems) via our Contact Form by Sunday midnight on the theme of the week, including your name as you would like it to appear, and place of residence.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: HIKING TRAIL – sight
We move from the meadows to a hiking trail of any kind – if possible, I hope you can go hiking somewhere, and can actually look around, but failing that, we have our memories and our imaginations… what do you see?
I look forward to reading your submissions.
A Sense of Place: MEADOW/FIELD – touch
As may have become apparent – this project is not sustainable in its current form… and it is my hope that it does continue in 2019, with a greater emphasis on commentary and sharing, and less work for the editor… the comments on the blog post each week are informative and inspiring – thanks to all those who are adding their comments, and if you are not yet participating there – please take a look!
petal soft
certain pages
of her field guideLaurie Greer
Washington, DC
Of course this is a field guide of wildflowers – or is it? So much can be contained in eight words, yet there is still so much that the reader can bring to the poem…
with a gentle
stroke of the brush
flowering meadowsMargo Williams
Stayton, Oregon
Those who have the talent to draw and paint can make this look so easy – the sense of touch and the meadow location are beautifully illustrated in this poem…
a field of flowers
and no need
to pick onePat Davis
Pembroke, NH USA
Here the poet, like several others this week, chooses to write about the larger picture – a big field, and bigger feelings…
field stones
behind the old milk barn
warmed by the sunRandy Brooks
After re-reading my comments last week, it is important to add that there are also successful haiku that do not have a natural break at all – sometimes the three lines can run straight through without a break, as in this example, where the image becomes richer and clearer with each successive line…
Here are the rest of my selections for this week:
the wildflowers
lean into one another
with the breezeAalix Roake
touching bark –
the dog and me
in a walnut groveAdrian Bouter
a dragonfly…
does the sunflower
feel its touch?Al Gallia
Lafayette, Louisiana USA
starlight
the sharp tang
of thornAlan Summers
Wiltshire, England
municipal green
the graze of a leaf
on my unturned pageAmy Losak
the frail touch
of my grandmother’s hand
poppy flowersAndy McLellan
wildflowers –
the soft caress
of a butterflyAngela Giordano
autumn fields
the wind through the grass
through meAnn K. Schwader
Westminster, CO
tickling grass
on bare legs –
for ever childAnna Maria Domburg-Sancristoforo
In the middle
Of the meadow, a light touch
Of my previous lifeAnna Goluba
cornfield
a deep scratch
on the screenAnthony Rabang
first date –
the imprint of grass
fresh on her cheekarvinder kaur
Chandigarh, India
a touch of blue
flits across the meadow
squawking jayBarbara Kaufmann
butterflies
the transfer of gold dust
to my fingertipsBarbara Tate
field walk
now and again the touch
of wind powered grassBlessed Ayeyame
Ughelli, Nigeria
hide and seek
the tickle grass
gives me awayBona M. Santos
Los Angeles, CA
summer beard
growing against
the grainC.R. Harper
neglected yard
brought under control
the push mower jolts in my handsCarol Dilworth
Guelph, Canada
after the row touch-me-not
(The Himalayan Balsam —also known as, touch-me-not— seeds explode all over the place at the merest touch)
carol jones
where the horizons
kiss the meadow
I say yesCelestine Nudanu
swaying grass
remembering
your gentle touchcezar ciobika
when the time comes
bury me on the prairie
touching earth and skyCharles Harmon
Los Angeles, California, USA
a touch of dew
on the strawberries
picking seasonChristina Sng
sunlit meadow
the tickle on my cheek
a ladybugClaire Vogel Camargo
flowering fields
expanding the boundary
of my heartCorine Timmer
the scrape of stubble
underfoot, my shadow stretches
over mown hayCraig Kittner
Wilmington, NC
barefoot
on the grass
how refreshingDanijela Grbelja
Sibenik, Croatia
summer grass soothes my feet
David Gale
Gloucester, UK
field of daisies
the soft wings
of a cabbage whiteDebbi Antebi
London, UK
cowslip meadow
I stumble over
a mole hillDeborah P Kolodji
Temple City, California
touching down
in a field of clover
wild turkeysDevin Harrison
dandelion puffs
dotting the green meadow
pick one, make a wishdianne moritz
autumn field
the touch of pale sun
on golden leavesEufemia Griffo
windfall –
a sunray touches
my pencil pointEva Limbach
harvested field…
the rough and cold ridges
of the last pumpkinFrank J. Tassone
Montebello, New York
wildflower meadow
honey bees caress
each blossomGary Evans
Stanwood, Washington
monarch shakes
a rudbeckia’s petals
dotted with morning dewGiedra Kregzdys
Woodhaven, NY
October chore
picking grass burrs
from my camping blanketGreer Woodward
Waimea, Hawaii
a bee clings
precariously to my arm
broad meadowGregory Longenecker
a sea breeze
wrapping around
the war fieldGuliz Mutlu
Gallipoli, Turkey
the injured player’s up in a flash
as his mum crosses the touchlineHelen Buckingham
the goddess touch blooming the iris field
Hifsa Ashraf
Pakistan
pain before pleasure
blackberry buckets
line the hedgerowIngrid Baluchi
alone in the fields
what’s left of us – the sting
of ants and wet grassJackie Chou
old man
swings his sharp scythe –
endless meadowJanis Albright Lukstein
Palos Verdes Peninsula, Ca
caught in the meadow
different season
same thornsJean LeBlanc
daffodils bend
in the midday breeze
her hand on my shoulderJohn S Green
Bellingham, Washington
long hot summer
I trickle a grass blade
along her thighJohn Hawkhead
two horses noses to tails
swatting flies
in the meadowJudith Hishikawa
meditation
the open field
opens widerKath Abela Wilson
Huntington Gardens
Pasadena, California
breezy touch
scatters
golden poppiesKathleen Mazurowski
knucklehead pumpkins
fear at my fingertips
warts and allKimberly Esser
Los Angeles, CA
Picking wildflowers
Grandma touches
A buttercup to my noseKimberly Spring
Lakewood, Ohio
halfway over
the rusty gate
gorse pricklesLucy Whitehead
Essex, UK
rising from the ground
an angry yellow bloom
yellow jacketsm. shane pruett
evening field
a touch of gold
on gum tree topsMadhuri Pillai
she did not notice
the stinging nettles
until too lateMarcyn Del Clements
Claremont, California
deep in wildflowers
my feet find
his stone markerMargaret Walker
Lincoln, NE, USA
blades
of wild grass
summer dayMargherita Petriccione
day’s end
gun shearers’
high-fivesMarietta McGregor
meadow ginko fronds brushing my sketchbook
Mark Gilbert
UK
blackbird’s song
the shiver
up my spineMartha Magenta
England, UK
escape artist
brushing burdock
from his furMary Hanrahan
East Lansing, Michigan
Front-yard football field –
exposed tree root
abrades my legmichael ceraolo
South Euclid, Ohio
sadness replacing the meadowlark
Michael Henry Lee
baseball field –
the thrill of touching
home plateMichael H. Lester
Los Angeles CA USA
in tall warm grass
watching the geese ascend…
an itch of a bugMichael Smeer
Haarlemmermeer, The Netherlands
as if a lover
caressed it too
wind rippled wheatMichele L. Harvey
hayfield
the changing texture
of grassMike Gallagher
Achill, Ireland
Evening tisane –
in the palm of my hands
fresh mint leavesMonica Federico
butterflies in the meadow
the cottony milkweed seeds
in my handNancy Brady
Huron, Ohio, USA
harvested fields…
wind gusts ruffle my hair
and thoughtsNatalia Kuznetsova
Russia
a blade grass
caresses my hand
it’s an ant!Nazarena Rampini
Italia
picnic spot
the itch
after the mosquito biteOlivier Schopfer
Geneva, Switzerland
walk lightly
in the paddock
new shoots underfootPauline O’Carolan
Cobargo, NSW, Australia
paperwhites in snow
the scratch of a quill
from her pillowPhilip Whitley
SC, USA
unseen until stinging nettles
Polona Oblak
Ljubljana, Slovenia
fields of childhood
a buttercup tickles
my chinRachel Sutcliffe
each flower
borrowing its strength
stem of the plantRadhamani sarma
endless corn fields
the pain
you leftRadostina Dragostinova
Bulgaria
high desert grasses
tickle my legs
morning hikeRehn Kovacic
buried in the earth
I will be reborn
as a wild tulipRéka Nyitrai
stony field
Jack’s beanstalk
brushes
the skyRoberta Beary
County Mayo, Ireland
plantation trail –
the heaviness
of unmarked fieldstonesrobyn brooks
usa
cumulus rising…
the lambkins nuzzle
fresh cloverRon C. Moss
Tasmania, Australia
milkweed floss
floats into my opened hand
asterisk for touchlessron scully
as if this field were speaking
soft breeze
at the nature center(The Cincinnati Nature Center is in Milford, Ohio)
Ronald K. Craig
Batavia, OH USA
blades of grass –
fresh dewdrops
in my handsRosa Maria Di Salvatore
Pesche mature
La pelle vellutata
di un bambinoRipe peaches
Velvety skin
of a childRosaria Lo Bono
Sicily Italy
bed of hay
the lightness
of your touchSanjuktaa Asopa
Fresh Air Fund child
the wet grass on his bare feet
makes him crySari Grandstaff
Saugerties, NY, USA
parental home
I wander the lawn
barefootSerhiy Shpychenko
Kyiv, UA
she walks in the field
in sandals
ouch!shandon land
arms raised
in short sleeve fatigues
I surrender to nettlessimonj
UK
swarm of flies –
the cow’s tail
on my faceSlobodan Pupovac
Zagreb, Croatia
green meadow the mother chases bare feet baby
Srinivasa Rao Sambangi
Hyderabad, India
wildflowers
the feel
of something more againStephen A. Peters
twilight homecoming
I tap my shoulder
and the hawk landsSusan Rogers
Los Angeles, CA, USA
meadow jaunt
cockleburs plucked
from the dog’s coatTerri French
engagement photos
lacing our fingers
around the sunflowersTia Haynes
Lakewood, Ohio, USA
breakfast in the grass –
our glances in the crowd
are touchingTomislav Maretic
flower moon’s day…
among peony meadow
wedding ceremonyTsanka Shishkova
an itchy souvenir
from the meadow…
poison ivyValentina Ranaldi-Adams
Fairlawn, Ohio USA
meditating after
returning from fields –
snails tickle my feetVani Sathyanarayan
sleeping
beneath the dew
meadow in shadowVictor Ortiz
Bellingham, WA
meadow green darkens
intruding touch
of cloud shadowVishnu Kapoor
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 61 Comments
Comments are closed.
Thank you so much for including one of my haiku this week! I will have to read over these haiku while on my way to the Dodge Poetry Festival today. Thank for all you do to keep this weekly haiku treat so vibrant.
thanks for this, Sari – have a great Festival!
Many thanks Katherine for including me this week! As a busy mom I don’t always take the time to scroll down through the comments but I’m glad that I have today. So many insightful and talented people are drawn here. I love the opportunity to grow and reflect on my own work. Thank you everyone!
thanks for this, Tia – I do hope these comments continue to grow & inspire!
Thank you KJ for this wonderful selection of poems. I believe this has been my favorite group so far. Your selection to comment on was wonderful! I would like to add that these following poems spoke to me in a very special way:
autumn fields
the wind through the grass
through me
Ann K. Schwader
Westminster, CO
Having spent my early life on the plains I was drawn to to this one by Charles Harmon:
when the time comes
bury me on the prairie
touching earth and sky
Charles Harmon
Los Angeles, California, USA
And this one was particularly poignant:
a sea breeze
wrapping around
the war field
Guliz Mutlu
Gallipoli, Turkey
I could name so many more, but will stop here. I am sure each of us is touched in a special way by different poems.
Peggy Bilbro.
I see that I must separate my comments with something to keep them from running together. Lesson learned!
I learned from Alan Summers to use a period (.) It works perfectly.
.
And this one was particularly poignant:
.
a sea breeze
wrapping around
the war field
.
Guliz Mutlu
Gallipoli, Turkey
thanks Peggy & John – it is so gratifying to me (& I’m sure to the authors of the poems) to read these comments – not only that a poem is enjoyed, but why…
Thanks for today’s meditation.
my pleasure, Kathleen!
Thank you, Kathy, for including my haiku here! Focusing on ‘place with emphasis on the senses’ has helped me expand my awareness when I write. Your selection and commentary each week gives me insight into my own work and I truly appreciate this. Thank you for giving us a space to grow as writers.
Also, thank you to Alan, and to others for the weekly commentary. It’s pure gold to have those ‘aha’ moments after reading through the comments. I learn something new each time!
thanks for this, Mary, & for submitting – I’m learning from this commentary too!
Congratulations to all the poets.
Thank you, Kathy, for including my haiku into this wonderful, kaleidoscope (my favourite toy when I was a child) – like collection 🙂
thanks for sharing this Anna! (… & I still like kaleidoscopes!)
Congratulations to all, a truly touchy-feely group of haiku. Thanks, Kathy, for including one of mine in this week’s collection. Always impressed by them. You do a fantastic job each week, which I so appreciate. Again thanks.
thanks for this, Nancy!
Kathy, thank-you from the meadow !
Dear Valentina Ranaldi-Adams,
.
I featured your haiku from last week in a post here:
https://www.thehaikufoundation.org/2018/10/10/a-sense-of-place-meadow-field-taste/
.
Thank you for writing such a superb verse! 🙂
thanks Valentina!
KJ, I do not usually match your choice of highlighted poems but this week I think you are spot on. For me, all of these are loaded with implications and intrigue. I think ‘we’ have done particularly well with the haiku this week.
I appreciate the attention to detail you put in every week (this week’s 110 is not the highest) and I note that I do not recall seeing a single error or typo in the formatting to date. Thank you.
thanks for sharing this, Mark – you are too kind!
Thank you KJ for giving me the opportunity to include a reference to Masaoka Shiki in the haiku of mine that you included this week, a first for me, and interesting as I do not normally identify with him out of the Japanese haiku ‘masters’.
Great work again, everyone! And thanks so much for including me, Katherine.
thanks, as always, for submitting, Helen!
Dear Kathy,
Thank you for commenting on my little poem this week – I’m floating!
When I wrote that I was thinking of how blissful it is to just let the flowers BE.
I find myself reading this column many times through the week – not only to enjoy everyone’s work, but also to read the comments. There’s so much to appreciate and learn from each other.
Thanks for all the effort you put into this column.
Thanks for this, Pat – it is my hope that the discussions within these comments will only get better moving forward…
Thank you, Kathy for the project!
This time I “experimented”.
For five weeks I stayed in my imagination in the same place in the harvested fields and tried to sort out what I saw, heard, scented, tasted and felt
Splendid experience…
But as well I had my sixth sense “touched” –
harvested fields …
overpowering feeling
of being watched
***
Indeed, we were all watched, listened to and heard these weeks.
THANK YOU!!!
wonderful! thanks so much for this, Natalia!
Thank you so much for the comments on my haiku a joy to be here this week. I find that I am continuing to learn from commentary, others who have been chosen to be among the many poets and my own experiences. Thank you again Katherine!! I
thanks for sharing this, Margo!
Another monoku I like is this one:
.
.
the goddess touch blooming the iris field
.
Hifsa Ashraf
Pakistan
.
.
Wikipedia will help those unfamiliar 🙂
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iris_(mythology)
.
Wonderful variety of “reads” from this, enjoy!
& thanks also for sharing this!
Thank you, Katherine for the selection of my Haiku and congratulations to all of us!
thanks for submitting, Monica!
deep in wildflowers
my feet find
his stone marker
.
Margaret Walker
Lincoln, NE, USA
.
.
Karen has been researching my ancestry, a novel in itself, but what Margaret’s haiku does, is take me back to finding a long ago relative. He was buried in a ‘Non-Conformist’ cemetery now made into a small park, and each gravestone is one of those flat slabs, and almost lost to time and grass.
.
Margaret’s haiku is full of touch, literally brimming, starting with the wonderful opening line, and feet finding a stone marker. Excellent haiku, full of haikuness, and touch, not just visual.
Alan,
Thank you for the wonderful comments! Your feedback – and that you take the time to do this – is so very much appreciated. Not only did this make my day – or week – but I learn so much from all of your comments.
Many thanks,
Margaret
Thanks Margaret! It’s one of those haiku that can be read time and time again!
thanks for sharing this, Alan!
Surprised and delighted to see my poem up top! I’ve only been at this since stained glass windows, and I’ve learned an enormous amount from everyone on this blog.
Kathy, you do a tremendous job–always sensitive and acute. Editing is a lot of work.
Many wonderful haiku here. I’m especially struck by:
meditation
the open field
opens wider
Kath Abela Wilson
Huntington Gardens
Pasadena, California
such a short form–yet a repeated word carries such nuance and power.
Grateful to be a part of all this
Laurie
thanks so much for submitting, & sharing this, Laurie, & for your kind words!
Another marvellous read, congratulations everyone.
.
Thank you for including me in this awesome collection, Kathy.
thanks for submitting, carol!
I don’t know where Réka comes from, but this brought me straight back to mountains in Iran, where each spring, the hard stony earth yields a riot of wild red tulips. One of many ku to enjoy this week:
.
buried in the earth
I will be reborn
as a wild tulip
Réka Nyitrai
Honored to have had a poem included, thank you Kathy, and to have a comment as well, thank you Alan! (I popped in a late reply/request/comment, Alan, at the end of last week’s collection, regarding your thoughts on humor in haiku, probably too late for you to catch. Only if you have time, I would be grateful if you would read it.) 🙂
Dear Ingrid Baluchi,
.
Read your comment and replied! 🙂
.
Reply link:
https://www.thehaikufoundation.org/2018/10/10/a-sense-of-place-meadow-field-taste/#comments
re:
.
buried in the earth
I will be reborn
as a wild tulip
.
Réka Nyitrai
.
.
I’m delightfully reminded of Machi Tawara’s famous tanka:
.
.
You,
bright as a tulip in bloom––
take me
away
in February
.
Machi Tawara
A Long Rainy Season: Haiku and Tanka (Contemporary Japanese Women’s Poetry) July 1998
ed. Leza Lowitz, Miyuki Aoyama & Akemi Tomioka
I read the link discussing humor in haiku. Thanks to you Alan and to Ingrid for pushing deeper. And, of course, many thanks to Kathy.
Thanks John! And thanks again to Ingrid. I miss the journal I helped create with Mark Brooks; Carmen Sterba, Serge Tome, and Kuniharu Shimizu, that published haiku with humour. It was groundbreaking then, and continues to be so. I’d love the archives to be reactivated, but with some sad virus attack it’ll possibly be on hold for good.
.
Humour can arrive to the reader in many hues, and not just custard yellow. 🙂
Thank you Alan for your response to the question of humour in haiku. I will endeavour to study more on the subject and see how others tackle it and how they keep their poems within the limits of ‘haikuness’. Your journal, sadly no longer available, would have been a great help, I’m sure.
Thank you again Kathy for making all this so fascinating and useful.
thank you Ingrid, Alan, & John – these discussions & links are invaluable to all readers!
Two very different approaches in the world of touch! 🙂
.
.
green meadow the mother chases bare feet baby
.
Srinivasa Rao Sambangi
Hyderabad, India
.
.
pain before pleasure
blackberry buckets
line the hedgerow
.
Ingrid Baluchi
.
.
If I start with the monoku (one line haiku) by Srinivasa Rao Sambangi it has a delightful movement throughout, and in its many parts. It’s stunningly brilliant, and it shouldn’t work, as you could say ‘why not’: a bare foot baby or bare feet babies, but snuck into and between the words and understand why it gloriously works.
.
.
Why does Ingrid’s haiku work so well too? Well the power of alliteration makes us feel cosy, comfortable, safe, and joyful: “pain”/”pleasure” and “blackberry”/”buckets” just for starters.
.
But there’s more than just poetics. We have great visuals, with a common sight in some parts of the world, both in the past, and still ongoing. These may be hired fruit pickers, or it may be the general public. I remember as a child it was important to pick fruit as we didn’t have lots of money, and every prudent saving was vital to keep a good diet at home. This is a very seasonal haiku, with a great visual, and the opening line informs us that there is a lot of touch and sensation involved in obtaining something that is vital and pleasurable.
.
Both contain subtle humour, and both contain wonderful movement.
Thank you so much, Alan for such a delightful commentary on my monoku. I do appreciate your time and patience as well as kj’s to go through such a huge number of haiku and comment. In fact I learn so much reading your comments week on week
Dear Srinivasa Rao Sambangi,
.
Many thanks!
.
Could I add your monoku to this feature?
http://area17.blogspot.com/2016/12/travelling-single-line-of-haiku-one.html
.
.
warm regards,
Alan
Yes please, it’s an honor for me
Dear Srinivasa Rao Sambangi,
.
Your monoku is now in the blog post, thank you so much for your permission!
.
Travelling the single line of haiku – one line haiku / monoku / monostich
http://area17.blogspot.com/2016/12/travelling-single-line-of-haiku-one.html
thanks to you both!
Thanks again for including my little ku in this week’s feature, Katherine. The series seems to inspire me more and more by the week and I like how it keeps my creative juices flowing during my overly busy days. 🙂
.
Also, congralations to all poets in this weeks feature of MEADOW – touch. There are som amazing poems here again.
.
Hope to see you around ‘My Haiku Pond’ soon.
.
http://www.MyHaikuPond.com
.
thanks so much for sharing this, Michael!
Just printed it out and look forward to an afternoon of happy reading. Thank you for including me and a big congratulations to everyone.
thanks for submitting, Barbara, & for sharing this!
Dear Kathy,
Greetings! so many gentle ‘touches’ touches of variety and fragrance sweeping this blog. Reading all one by one, thanks a lot for this gift.
with regards
S.RADHAMANI
thanks so much for your kind words!