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A Sense of Place: MOUNTAIN – 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 Submit an original unpublished poem (or poems) via our Contact Form by Sunday midnight on the theme of the week, including your name as you would like it to appear, and place of residence.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:  MEADOW/FIELD – sight

We move from the mountains to a meadow or field of any kind – if possible, I hope you can be in a meadow, 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:  MOUNTAIN – touch

 

glacier fed stream –
nakedinandout

Judt Shrode

The actual temperature of the water is not mentioned here, and joining all the words of the second line together as one word quickens the pace that it is read, so the reader is inandout of the poem too…

 

one rock
trips another
scree slope

Michele L. Harvey

The poet describes a little rock slide – an interesting take on the theme of touch, where a human is not necessarily involved…

 

hand in hand –
help for the last step
to the top of the mountain

Slobodan Pupovac
Zagreb, Croatia

This poem can be read literally, a touch in the mountains, and can also lead the reader to think about help and support in the pursuit of any goal…

 

mountain summit
in my legs
before and after

Stephen A. Peters

Here the poet may be describing both the anticipation and the exhaustion of the climb…

 

Here are the rest of my selections for this week:

 

mountaineer
embracing his shadow
on the mountain wall

Adjei Agyei-Baah
Kumasi, Ghana

 

mountain time
the found fossil
my fingers stroke

Adrian Bouter

 

mountain trail
the sting of icy rain
on my face

Al Gallia
Lafayette, Louisiana USA

 

mountain sun
fingertip by fingertip
tracing its arc

Alan Summers
Wiltshire, England

 

gentians among the rocks –
purple velvet

Alessandra Delle Fratte
Rome, Italy

 

straining for a finger-hold
my cheek
against the mountain

andrew shimield

 

mountain face
my fingers grasp
the depth of stone

Andy McLellan

 

highest mountain –
touch with a finger
the earth and the sky

Angela Giordano
Italy

 

autumn mountain –
the velvet feeling of moist moss

Anna Maria Domburg-Sancristoforo

 

sagebrush stubble
rubbing against
the mountain’s face

Ardelle Hollis Ray
Las Vegas, NV

 

hiking trip –
i bring home
a touch of wild lilacs

Arvinder Kaur

 

into the soft kiss
of a cloud
sunrise hike

Barbara Tate
Winchester, TN

 

far from home
carved in a mountain –
this foxhole

Bob Whitmire
Round Pond, Maine

 

Haleakala sunrise
a moment holds
all senses captive

Bona M. Santos
Los Angeles, CA

 

icicles
at our heads and toes –
cave retreat

C.R. Harper

 

mountain stream
touching the coolness
of moss and ferns

Carol Raisfeld

 

touched by visions
mad mountain prophet
popping magic mushrooms

Charles Harmon
Los Angeles, California, USA

 

her tears
when we reach the summit
actually raindrops

Christina Sng

 

mountain
rucksack digs into
my back

Christine Eales
UK

 

a slap to my neck
amidst the buzz
of horseflies

Claire Vogel Camargo

 

summer snow
on the mountain
– he waxes his skis

Corine Timmer

 

climbing
the cool rock face grows
slick with sweat

Craig Kittner
Wilmington, NC

 

connection –
a small peace of mountain
in my hand

Danijela Grbelja
Croatia, Sibenik

 

a long run-out of rope
my eyes closed…
groping the rock for friction

David Gale

 

backpack straps
our hearts heavy when we need
to turn back

(inspired by a recent visit to Great Basin National Park, Nevada)

Deborah P Kolodji
Temple City, California

 

touching down
on the cap of Crest Mountain
hawk-eagles

Devin Harrison

 

a sudden spill
falling in deep, fresh powder
soft as clouds

dianne moritz

 

after twilight
the touch of moon
on the mountains

Eufemia Griffo

 

icy wet clouds
shroud Haleakala
and jet-lagged tourists

Giedra Kregzdys
Woodhaven, NY

 

mountain stream –
on a warm stone
the dragonflies and us

Giovanna Restuccia
Italy

 

a touch of eternity
cleaning pine sap
off my hands

Greer Woodward
Waimea, HI

 

the crater lake
touching the knot
of rainbows

Guliz Mutlu

 

vertigo
feeling the camera
slip…

Helen Buckingham

 

mountain erosion
i stumble over
the pebbles

Hifsa Ashraf
Pakistan

 

mountain base
hugging a boulder
before the climb

Ingrid Baluchi
Ohrid, Macedonia

 

bramble trail
the prickle
of hot sweat

Isabel Caves
Auckland, New Zealand

 

appalachian evening
the graceful give
of the dulcimer string

Jennifer Hambrick

 

autumn trail hike –
an extra pair of socks
in my pocket

John S Green

 

handful of snow
she takes aim
at the patriarch

John Hawkhead

 

spruce gum
sticks to your teeth
in the mountains

Judith Hishikawa
West Burke, VT

 

worrystone
a little piece
of mt fuji

Kath Abela Wilson
Pasadena, California

 

hiking boots
grassy patch or rocks
my feet know

Kathleen Mazurowski
Chicago, IL

 

Appalachians…
feeling something deeper
than the need for coal

Laurie Greer
Washington, D.C.

 

Thunderhead rumbles
mountain top overlook
I touch the clouds

Linda Ludwig
Inverness, FL – USA

 

first blossoms
on the mountain
the touch of spring

Lori Zajkowski

 

Standing on the mountain top
the sky
close enough to touch.

Lorraine Schein

 

lake’s cool water…
with my fingers I touch
the mountain top

l’acqua del lago … con le dita sfiorare / la cima dei monti

Lucia Cardillo

 

unspoken friction
on the mountain trail
I nurse my blisters

Lucy Whitehead
Essex, UK

 

a touch of nostalgia
beyond the mountain
lies monk’s lost home

Madhuri Pillai

 

Bridal Falls
my face wet
behind the “veil”

Margaret Walker
Lincoln, NE, USA

 

short stop –
the rough heat
of the rock

Margherita Petriccione

 

sap residue
I bring the mountain home
stuck to my fingers

Margo Williams
Stayton, OR USA

 

fog –
autumn touch
tightens mountain

Maria Teresa Sisti

 

the ouch
of prickly heath
mountain wilderness

Marietta McGregor
Canberra, Australia

 

at the summit
the height in braille
a little higher

Mark Gilbert
UK

 

mountains…
to touch the virgin snow
on the top

Marta Chocilowska

 

rocky mountain
a sharp wind cuts
to the bone

Martha Magenta
England, UK

 

sturdy hiking boots
on this rugged trail –
my happy feet!

Mary Ellen Gambutti
Sarasota, FL

 

Zabriskie Point
a touch of vertigo
on the edge of time

Michael Henry Lee

 

slalom –
the feel of fresh powder
on the ski slope

Michael H. Lester
Los Angeles CA USA

 

white pebble
I find a keepsake
of Mont Blanc

Michael Smeer
Haarlemmermeer, The Netherlands

 

holy mountain
adding to the ecstasy
a stone in his shoe

Mike Gallagher
Ireland

 

mountain trail
a flock of sheep
touch one another

Mohammad Azim Khan
Pakistan

 

Rivets of sweat –
hands clenched to the rocks
on the steep wall

Monica Federico

 

filled with awe
I touch the mountains –
Art exhibition

Muskaan Ahuja
Chandigarh, India

 

off the trail
she walks
into a web

Nancy Brady

 

rockslide
his body squeezes mine
onto the path

Natalia Kuznetsova
Russia

 

alpine hut
I can almost
touch the stars

Olivier Schopfer
Geneva, Switzerland

 

mountain rain
the rock overhang
almost my size

Pat Davis
Pembroke, NH  USA

 

my friends went on…
alone on the mountain
I press against its flank

Pauline O’Carolan

 

alone on the mountain
an itch, unreachable
ah! Tree bark

Petru Viljoen
South Africa

 

mountain fever
brushing leafmold
off mushroom caps

Philip Whitley
South Carolina, USA

 

sunlit slope…
the glow of larches
touched by frost

Polona Oblak
Ljubljana, Slovenia

 

new hiking boots
blisters arrive at the peak
with me

Pris Campbell

 

after the sting
of a mountain nettle
dock leaves

Rachel Sutcliffe

 

mountain ridge
touch of herbal bunch
undoing  her spell

Radhamani Sarma

 

searching mountain wind
a courier delivers home
divorce papers

Radostina Dragostinova
Bulgaria

 

near the waterfall
the baby’s sharp fingernails
pinch my neck

Randy Brooks

 

sweat dripping down
the back of my neck
mountain hike

Rehn Kovacic

 

wrapping a scarf around the mountain’s soul :: twilight

Réka Nyitrai

 

mountain guide

exploring

my waterfall

Roberta Beary
County Mayo Ireland

 

swiss alps detour –
gusts of crisp wind
from passing trains

robyn brooks
usa

 

mountain peak
the wings of a fruit bat
scuffing the moon

Ron C. Moss
Tasmania, Australia

 

Black Hills winter
reviving our hands
over a fire

Ronald K. Craig
Batavia, OH  USA

 

while climbing
lightly touching
an edelweiss

Rosa Maria Di Salvatore

 

Rocher peak
fingers on rock
finding the way

Ruth Powell

 

octaves climb
the mountainside
my bare feet

Sandi Pray

 

craggy mountains
I touch
my father’s face

Sanjuktaa Asopa

 

mountaintop fire tower
the feel of the wind
stinging my cheeks

Sari Grandstaff
Saugerties, NY, USA

 

vertical rock
climber touches
blooming edelweiss

Serhiy Shpychenko
Kyiv, Ukraine

 

inside
butterflies
crib goch

simonj
UK

 

homecoming
hands run on our names
etched on rock hill

Srinivasa Rao Sambangi
Hyderabad, India

 

mountain path
a butterfly stretches his wings
on my hand

stefano riondato

 

she shows me
the sign for mountain
touches my heart

Susan Rogers
Los Angeles, CA, USA

 

mountain lift
how I long
for his touch

Tia Haynes
Lakewood, Ohio, USA

 

remembering
our first kiss
mountain’s breath

Tiffany Shaw-Diaz

 

freshly broken trail
the sting of a pine bough
you let go too soon

Tim Heaney
Atlanta, Ga

 

cold invades
deep deep into the cave
bears cuddle closer

Trilla Pando
Houston, Texas

 

sacred place
on a rocky hill
old stone steps

Tsanka Shishkova

 

mountain ridge…
the journey
I did not take

Valentina Ranaldi-Adams

 

pine needles
his words
sting more

Vandana Parashar

 

mountain climbing
how warm the outstretched
palm is

Vessislava Savova

 

 

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 87 Comments

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  3. Each week, I am transported and delighted! Thank you, kj munro, for curating this amazing blog and for including my work.

  4. Large number of poems on sense of place, many are nice but has the list of poems ended or still some to come like on Kanchenjungha?

    1. thanks for your interest – I am not familiar with the reference, but on this blog there is a new collection on a new theme each week – the next post will go up on Wednesday… details at the top of the post… hope this helps! kj

  5. Alan, why don’t you lead a haiku workshop in Torquay – like a week-long haikupalooza on the British Riviera. I, for one, would love a good excuse for a pilgrimage to the land that gave us Basil Fawlty.

      1. Hi Marietta, and KJ,
        .
        Well I did a mini-workshop with Lynne Jambor (with Jacquie Pearce) a couple of days ago in Bath. 🙂 We certainly have a lot of Canadians and Americans popping over, so why not Aussies too! 🙂
        .
        We are going to be launching some special haiku events, and would love to include seaside resorts too. 🙂

        1. This is Jennifer writing – another American, alas – not Marietta. I’ll keep my eyes open for a Torquay haiku adventure. Just imagine – literary enlightenment AND a suntan all in one trip!

          1. Gosh, how did I make that mistake Jennifer! Apologies!
            .
            Well, we have had a flurry of US visitors to Bath and/or London, with just one more this September, as Hamilton is far cheaper in London than New York for them. 🙂
            .
            .
            We are based in the South West of England, and if you are heading that way let us know! 🙂

    1. Have you ever heard of a herd of wildebeest, or heard someone speak Wildebeest as it was the only common language between a meeting of individuals from different tribes of Masai warriors with a welsh film-maker in the middle of the Serengeti? 🙂
      .
      Yes, there are still funny hotels and the like around the world.

      1. You make me laugh, Alan. I just see now my typo. And if I had seen it after it was sent, I don’t bother to send a correction message as, in today’s world, with auto-correct and such – – it happens…
        .
        There once was a wildebeest named Wilma,
        who had a twin sister named Selma.
        The two of them ran
        a deli in Japan
        specializing in gator bologna
        .

        1. Yep, I’m a bit of a wordster and love typos, they can often improve a haiku as well.
          .
          Karen’s wildebeest haiku, and yes she can really speak it as a language, as can most Masai too, might appear finally in print, as I love the poem so much, and ask her to not only read it, but speak a little of their lingo.

  6. Thank you Kathy for having one of my haiku this week! Many accolades on these wonderful haiku which really do call out for rereading.

  7. went through the poems again and enjoyed them as much, if not more, as the first time.
    thanks, Kathy, for all the good work to produce our weekly fix of haiku 🙂

  8. Roberta Beary’s haiku:

    mountain guide
    exploring
    my waterfall

    reminds me of T.S. Eliot’s THE WASTELAND
    “In the mountains, there you feel free.”

  9. Thank you, KJ, for including my poem. It’s lovely to see here the wide variety of ways we have been touched by mountains.

  10. What fun! I think we all reached a peak this time! 😁 Thank you to Kathy and fellow poets for an amazing sensual mountain journey.

  11. Thanks for choosing one of my poems, Kathy. It’s a pleasure to read the poems each week. I did enjoy Judt Shrode’s poem. And those comments! Thanks, Alan. They make me want to read each poem again.

    1. Great! 🙂
      .
      Sometimes it’s all too easy to quick-read and move on, but these poems here, all of them, are certainly well worth another visit, and off and on through the rest of the year.

  12. Thank you KJ again! A pleasure to read these ku and I look forward to each new surprise every Wednesday!! Congrats to all

  13. I loved so many, but would like to highlight a few:
    mountain trail
    a flock of sheep
    touch one another by Mohammad Azim Khan

    holy mountain
    adding to the ecstasy
    a stone in his shoe by Mike Gallagher

    Thanks, Kathy, for including one of mine.

  14. Such a gorgeous selection of poems, well done to all of you 🙂
    *
    mountain time
    the found fossil
    my fingers stroke
    *
    Adrien Bouter
    *
    A wonderful moment. Found a small fossil on a mountain path that had been washed by rain, It looks like a part of a large daisy. A treasured possession.
    *
    mountain stream
    touching the coolness
    of moss and fern
    *
    Carol Raisfeld
    *
    Its the little things in life that can give the most pleasure. Lovely work.

  15. Leaving mountains behind with all their facets expressed in these poems, I was particularly moved by the following two:
    .
    wrapping a scarf around the mountain’s soul :: twilight

    Réka Nyitrai
    .
    and
    .
    Appalachians…
    feeling something deeper
    than the need for coal

    Laurie Greer
    Washington, D.C.
    .
    Who’s to say that mountains do not have a soul when they’re so revered the world over? Yet I’ve seen whole mountains eaten away by dynamite and bulldozer, altering the landscape forever, leaving nothing behind but wasteland and ugliness, and wonder at man’s legacy.
    .
    Thank you, Kathy, for including one of my poems.

  16. Thanks for another lovely set, Katherine, and for including me in it. I particularly enjoyed Alessandra’s velvet touch!

  17. Touching the Wilderness
    .
    .
    Touch of course can be as much about how the wilderness physically touches us, as much as we might trail our fingers, drag our feet, push through Sleeping Beauty overgrowth, as I’ve done. 🙂
    .
    .
    Too many to mention, here are just a few of the wonderful verses.
    .
    .

    Evocative lines, aided and abetted by alliteration, this is a wonderful example of a circular haiku where the first line can be repeated after the third line, and on into a loop.
    .
    .

    mountain time
    the found fossil
    my fingers stroke
    .
    Adrian Bouter
    .
    .
     
    Great opening line followed by wonderful following lines, so many of us can relate.
    .
    .

    straining for a finger-hold
    my cheek
    against the mountain
    .
    andrew shimield
     .
    .
    That stunning last line! It makes me read the haiku again to even more fully appreciate it.
    .
    .
    mountain face
    my fingers grasp
    the depth of stone
    .
    Andy McLellan
     .
    .

    far from home
    carved in a mountain –
    this foxhole
    .
    Bob Whitmire
    Round Pond, Maine
    .
    .
    As Bob had military service, the foxhole has double meanings. If anyone doesn’t know what it is like in a foxhole, watch the episode of Band of Brothers when they are in a winter forest during the Battle of the Bulge. I’m reminded of Michael McClintock’s famous haiku that may or may not be about a cat, or a G.I.
    .
    .

    A deft touch of craft using ‘actually’ that adds and doesn’t take away from the haiku:
    .
    .

    her tears
    when we reach the summit
    actually raindrops
    .
    Christina Sng
     .
    .

    I love the 2nd and 3rd lines as I can really feel that stumble! The use of I in lowercase makes an interesting extra visual to go with the sensation of stumbling over those small stones.
    .
    .

    mountain erosion
    i stumble over
    the pebbles
    .
    Hifsa Ashraf
    Pakistan
      
    .
    .
    Sometimes haiku hardly need anything, but those extra pair of socks. The whole haiku word by word and line by line is utterly simple but full of depth at the same time, and a joy to read out loud:
    .
    .
    autumn trail hike –
    an extra pair of socks
    in my pocket
    .
    John S Green
     .
    .
    Wonderful poem from worrystone all the way up to mt. fuji! So much feels said without ‘telling’:
    .
    .
     
    worrystone
    a little piece
    of mt fuji
    .
    Kath Abela Wilson
    Pasadena, California
     .
    .
    A pun regarding the name of the place, but suggesting the spiritualness of water:
    .
    .

    Bridal Falls
    my face wet
    behind the “veil”
    .
    Margaret Walker
    Lincoln, NE, USA
     
    .
    .

    Love the simple but tactile opening line, and that great second line followed by a wonderful line that it’s all stuck to our fingers, readers included:
    .
    .

     
    sap residue
    I bring the mountain home
    stuck to my fingers
    .
    Margo Williams
    Stayton, OR USA
     

    .
    .
    The signs for those of us who are not visual but blind or partially sighted add another texture all over again. They are often comforting to those of us with eyesight.
    .
    .
     
    at the summit
    the height in braille
    a little higher
    .
    Mark Gilbert
    UK
     
    .
    .
    The famous mountain, and the famous pen named after it, but here, out of the vastness of the mountain, is a keepsake of a pebble, all white. I hope not too many take the mountain down pebble by pebble though! 🙂
    .
    .

     
    white pebble
    I find a keepsake
    of Mont Blanc
    .
    Michael Smeer
    Haarlemmermeer, The Netherlands
     

    .
    .

    The method of suffering for our good, whether by religion or some other challenge, is an interesting one. Wonderfully evocative:
    .
    .

    holy mountain
    adding to the ecstasy
    a stone in his shoe
    .
    Mike Gallagher
    Ireland
    .
    .
    A wonderful last line that makes me read the haiku all over again just for the sheer pleasure of its magic:
     
    mountain trail
    a flock of sheep
    touch one another
    .
    Mohammad Azim Khan
    Pakistan
     
    .
    .

    From a wonderful opening line, to the middle line, all brought together by the last line. Just like Mohammad’s verse, but finely crafted haiku avoid the Western surprise line effect and give us something far deeper. Philip’s haiku feels very much like the zoka of a hokku:
    .
    .
     
    mountain fever
    brushing leafmold
    off mushroom caps
    .
    Philip Whitley
    South Carolina, USA

    .
    .
    The alliteration in the first line literally gives me the sensation of that sunshine bouncing of a slope. I love that middle line too! From one magical line to another we end with ‘touched by frost’ which makes me read the haiku all over again for its sheer embracingness of nature and poetry:
    .
    .
     
    sunlit slope…
    the glow of larches
    touched by frost
    .
    Polona Oblak
    Ljubljana, Slovenia
     
    .
    .
    Ah, new boots not really broken in, if at all, and already I am filled with trepidation and past memories! 🙂 I love that those blisters arrive at the peak with Pris, within the poem, not with the awful memory of badly blistered feet in old fashioned military poke boots:
    .
    .

    new hiking boots
    blisters arrive at the peak
    with me
    .
    Pris Campbell
     
    .
    .

    The folklore of dealing with nettle stings always worked for me, as they do in this subtle but deftly crafted haiku:
    .
    .

    after the sting
    of a mountain nettle
    dock leaves
    .
    Rachel Sutcliffe
    .
    .
    Here we have a little mystery, from a mountain ridge, the touch of a ‘herbal bunch’ or bunch of herbs, is undoing her spell. Is this a legendary personification of a mountain, or a wise woman who succombed to the mountain? Mystical and tactile at the same time, creating an extra magic:
    .
    .
     
    mountain ridge
    touch of herbal bunch
    undoing her spell
    .
    Radhamani Sarma
     .
    .
    A stinging tactile sensation not from the piercing wind but the cold slick touch of legal papers announcing the end of a union between two people:
    .
    .
    searching mountain wind
    a courier delivers home
    divorce papers
    .
    Radostina Dragostinova
    Bulgaria
     

    .
    .
    The double colon first started by Timothy Russell and years later by Grant Savage, and then Kala Ramesh, is ably used to great effect here:
    .
    .
     
    wrapping a scarf around the mountain’s soul :: twilight
    .
    Réka Nyitrai
     
    .
    .
    I wasn’t sure if the double spacing was intentional to go along with a potential double-meaning in the verse. The verse is both disturbing, as I hope I’ve misread it, yet perhaps it’s a genuine and consentual bonding with the mountain in so many and perhaps unexpected ways:
    .
    .

    mountain guide
    exploring
    my waterfall
    .
    Roberta Beary
    County Mayo Ireland
    .
    .
    The detour, swiss alps, crisp wind, and all from a train. I remember my own train trip through France and Italy, snow and mountains, and not a Poiret in sight:
    .
    .
     
    swiss alps detour –
    gusts of crisp wind
    from passing trains
    .
    robyn brooks
    usa
     
    .
    .
    Having seen tens of thousands of fruit bats against a blood red sky, over Ipswich, Queensland, I can try to imagine this wonderful image too! The wings scuffing the moon is how I saw the flying foxes that night, and this deftly captures how they scrape, scuff, and almost bounce off the moon:
    .
    .
    mountain peak
    the wings of a fruit bat
    scuffing the moon
    .
    Ron C. Moss
    Tasmania, Australia
     .
    .
    Great and unusual first line! The fact that the mountainside is our bare feet is brilliantly stunning too:
    .
    .

     
    octaves climb
    the mountainside
    my bare feet
    .
    Sandi Pray
     
    .
    .
    I love the opening line that deepens with that phrase of “I touch my father’s face” is beautifully wonderful:
    .
    .

    craggy mountains
    I touch
    my father’s face
    .
    Sanjuktaa Asopa
     
    .
    .
    Ah, that timing or blissful ignorance, brings that stinging slap back to me all over again:
    .
    .

     
    freshly broken trail
    the sting of a pine bough
    you let go too soon
    .
    Tim Heaney
    Atlanta, Ga
    .
    .
    Enjoy all the verses I have not included, and how they have approached the sense of touch in their own unique ways.
     

    1. Alan
      Thank you for your comments I loved reading them. After hiking with my family recently I had the pleasure of washing off sap for a few days off of my children’s hands. What a glorious memory to put into words.

        1. though larches are conifers they are deciduous and, especially in the mountains, turn from green to yellow to golden brown before dropping their needles. when the low autumn sun lights the slopes it does look like magic!

    2. Thanks a lot, Alan , for commenting on my poem! Your wonderful comments make me see many other verses in a different light.

    3. Thanks, Alan! Little worse than wet socks . . . I keep a pair in the car for you never know when one might step in a large puddle. I also bring an extra pair of slippers when visiting friends for they often have a ‘shoes off’ policy, and then, again, my socks are in for it.

      1. Ah, the shoes off policy. 🙂 We often forget we’ve trailed our street or rambling shoes/boots through the detritus of dog or Friday night byproducts, that others might not want introduced to their carpet. 🙂
        .
        autumn trail hike –
        an extra pair of socks
        in my pocket
        .
        John S Green
        .
        Sensible to take the car back up socks on a ramble, hill or mountain climb. I remember my nephew trekking the Lake District and disappearing in a mud pocket. Thank goodness after the embarrassment he could laugh about it. Pretty cool for an 8 year old.
        .
        Wonderful haiku!
        .
        Say hi to Gary and ask him to join in with next week’s prompt!
        .
        Great seeing Jacquie Pearce and Lynne Jambor today, when are you popping over! 😉

        1. Do you mean to England? I would love to indeed. My father lived in Torquay, (is that how you spell it) the town where Faulty Towers—John Cleese—happened , on and off for a number of years… lovely place.

          1. I met Gary and his wife in Bath, England, where we had tea and cake at The Holburn Museum garden cafe, and yesterday chatted with Jacquie Pearce and Lynne Jambor, also having tea and cake there! 🙂
            .
            Yes, Torquay, and my sister-in-law lived there for a while. It’s Fawlty Towers, a play on faulty of course. 😉
            .
            I didn’t see anything while we stayed in places in Torquay that were like Fawlty Towers, but we’ve all stayed in places around the world like that from time to time. 🙂
            .

            This really made me laugh!
            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcliR8kAbzc
            .
            Torquay is lovely by the way, honest!

          2. Hello, Alan! I had been thinking of touching bases with you and saw John at our meeting last evening. You were quite the topic of conversation – all good! You’ve spurred me on to submit a haiku about meadows and I thank you for the nudge. John mentioned that he looks forward to each week’s prompt, so I’ve subscribed now as well.
            My best to you.

          3. Hi Gary! 🙂
            .
            I was meeting Jacquie Pearce, with Lynne Jambor, at Holburne Museum garden cafe, and said this was the birthplace of your wonderful story of bravery becoming haibun! 🙂
            .

            Gosh! I was “quite the topic of conversation”? But it was all good? 🙂
            .
            Yes, Kathy has created an amazing platform where we cannot forget to add something along with the visuals. The next prompt, deadline tonight, is a visual about meadows, but we shouldn’t forget we can add another of our senses. I’m lucky, we have a meadow, which hopefully isn’t under threat, as we have a massive development on scrubland next to it which was home to birds and wonderful insects.
            .
            Kathy’s feature every week has been really useful in so many ways!
            .
            October 7th I’ll be going through different meadows as I lead a Forage for Haiku Ginko!
            http://area17.blogspot.com/2018/08/workshop-alan-summers-foraging-for.html
            .
            We do have at least one American, maybe two or three, joining us, so feel free to pop over! 🙂

          4. Hi Alan,

            Yes, the comments were very positive! 🙂 Our group has grown nicely in the last few months. Victor Ortiz, Patrick Gallagher and Sheila Sondik have all joined and are invaluable additions.

            I’m glad you met with Jacquie Pearce in Bath. I had told her that you and I had met there. She was at Seabeck last year. We met just briefly; she was with the Canadian contingent – what a delightful group, from such a great country! They sang the Canadian national anthem for the group – it was quite spontaneous – and it was quite a hit. Ah… Canada. I shall be attending Seabeck next month and intend to touch base with her.

            I’m so glad John recommended this forum to me – it seems like a great community. Sheila mentioned at our last meeting how reading haiku from other countries brings her hope for the world – I agree whole heartily.

            As for your October forage – Sally and I must miss this one, but we’ll both be thinking of you and Karen.

            Take care,

            Gary

          5. We met Jacquie and Lynne, and Jacquie’s daughter just by chance this morning! 🙂
            Karen and myself were on a train on its way to London, pausing at Didcot Parkway, and as I was helped a disabled woman off the train, they were walking along the platform. We had a very fast hellos and off we went, but with brilliant lovely smiles as memories.
            .
            We are planning a lot more events next year, so keep checking our website in the New Year! 🙂

    4. Thanks for the commentary, and for mentioning mine. It is indeed the kind of foxhole one would encounter in Band of Brothers.

          1. Fascinating. So bucolic now. At some point the US Army decided that the term foxhole was too poetic, and it started calling them ‘fighting positions’. That’s about as unpoetic a term as I’ve seen. During my tour in Vietnam, no one called our holes fighting positions. I doubt they call them that now. “Ain’t no atheists in fighting positions.” Seriously? 😉

          2. Hi Bob,
            .
            In all sorts of big things, and war is both a big thing, and often, behind the scenes, as much as business in its organisation and financing, and where unfortunately we get in house buzz words and phrases.
            .
            Okay, foxhole might seem an odd term as much as ‘fighting positions’ and after all isn’t anything frontline a fighting position. In fact wikipedia have a list of useful terms etc…
            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defensive_fighting_position
            .
            I’ve only been shot at once, and it was a single shot, and probably a BB gun that just sounded like a Section 1 firearm, and also buzzed right past my ear, and gave me earache. How people managed hours on end sometimes is beyond me.
            .
            I remember a young woman telling me about a sniper sending rounds down on her as she ran through a ramshackle factory floor trying to help an international aid charity. It didn’t stop her then, and she went back, but it was a chilling account from her.
            .
            It’s why your haiku is so powerful as it uses that nature or poetic term of foxhole, and people of my age remember the WWII conflicts from our parents, and from TV documentaries, as well as movies and T V dramas. And it seems we never stopped being at war as WWII seemed to be only a catalyst for the horrors we bestow on other countries. And usually from politicians who have never served in the armed forces, and the same going for too many businessmen too.

    5. Alan – & everyone – thank you so much – this thread is amazing! Wonderful to hear about tea & cake with Jacquie & Lynne (my fellow-Canadians!)… & if you visit the Yukon before I get to England, please do take off your shoes! (I think people do that here because for most of the year we are wearing felt pack boots that are covered with snow!)

      1. It is amusing that it might only occur to us to remove our ‘shoes’ if they caked in snow, of whatever colour, when we enter someone’s home. Our new place has no carpet on the street level floor though, so all good, and there will be receptacles for snow shovels instead of umbrellas!
        .
        Jacquie and Lynne were not only wonderful company, but incredible company! When Karen had to go to see about her faulty MacBook, I had further great chats, and a walk through the gardens of the Holburne Museum (Bath, U.K.) and then down to the famous weir in town. 🙂

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