A Sense of Place: THE SHORE – hearing

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1. Thank you again for providing this forum, kj. It is seriously inspiring me to get out there and open up all my senses in places I don’t often frequent.

   1. thanks for this, Craig!

2. I am pleased to be present in such a rich selection. My thanks to Katherine

   1. thanks for submitting, Margherita! As I have said many times, I couldn’t do it without all you fabulous poets!

3. I love this collection of shore sound haiku. Kudos to all the poets and to kjmunro for editing this wonderful feature.

   1. thanks for this Deb! I appreciate it!

4. Thank you for including mine this week! I really enjoyed these shore poems. Excellent read!

   1. I agree Barbara – thanks for sharing!

5. Thanks so much, once again, Katherine…..and well done everyone.

   ***

   Alan, your knowledge of the English coastline is obviously lacking! Birling Gap, East Sussex.
   I’m sure you’ll have got the reference to George V’s infamous last words: “Bugger Bognor”.

   1. And there I was thinking you were going all Monty Python on me. 🙂
      .
      Ah, that Birling, there are so many. 🙂
      .

      .

      Seven Sisters the call of owls either side
      .
      Alan Summers
      Blithe Spirit March 2012
      https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/birling-gap-and-the-seven-sisters

   2. thanks for this Helen! & Alan for the clarification…

6. Thanks, Kathy. This week has been especially fun. Invoking a dimension that lends itself so well to haiku.

   Capturing the sounds of the shore, especially the seashore, will inevitably include sounds that we only think we hear – and just as clearly as the huge poundings, the piercing screeches, and the foghorn blasts!

   1. thanks for sharing this, Ken!

7. .
   Lots to enjoy in this important journey into our senses around the theme of place, and our individual sense, and personal identification, of and with place. I wish I could comment on every single poem, here’s just a tip of the iceberg from me, without web links this time. 🙂
   .
   Alan
   .
   .
   I really liked the use of the verb and its accuracy regarding gulls, and other birds:
   .
   .
   sea wind
   the gulls floating
   on their calls
   .
   Adjei Agyei-Baah
   Kumasi, Ghana
    .
   .
   What and how do gulls sense certain human activities, especially during the Summer festivals regarding music?
   .
   .
    
   Isle of Wight festival
   a gull surfs
   the sound waves
   .
   Andrew Shimield
   UK
   .
   .
   I loved this striking take between silence and the rest, between the shorelines and their neighbours:
   .
   .
    
   how silently
   the shores listen –
   roaring waves
   .
   Arvinder Kaur
    
   .
   .
   Deeply poignant. Sometimes gulls, and other birds such as crows, sound as if they are in anguish, and truly, research shows they do not always fully understand about death:
   .
   .
   seagull cry
   a woman calls
   her lost child
   .
   Barbara Kaufmann
   NY
   .
   .
   Another example of using a verb, and enhancing the haiku:
   .
   .
   gull cry
   the sea unmoors
   its voice
   .
   Betty Shropshire
   Texas
    
   .
   .
   The shore is a wonderful and amazing reservoir of sights and sounds, which this author takes advantage of wonderfully:
   .
   . 
   a night at the shore
   I give my ear
   to the insects
   .
   Blessed Ayeyame
   Ughelli, Nigeria
   .
   .
   A beautiful elegiac image:
   .
    
   just past new, the moon
   peers through veils of mist
   murmur of the river
   .
   Bob Whitmire
   Round Pond, Maine
   .
   .
   A lullaby at twilight and the fadingness of the gull’s territory that it somehow brings with it, even in the middle of a metropolis:
   .
   .
   twilight lullaby
   as waves and voices fade
   a seagull’s cry
   .
   Christine Eales
   UK
   .
   .
    
   A man with the oceans running in his veins:
    
   .
   .
   my home is
   a seashore morning…
   the cry of the gull
   .
   Damir Damir
   .
   .
   There is always something melancholy about a fair ever since a savage incident in my hometown of Bristol. Setting that aside, and I did love the amazing Hull Fair, one of Europe’s largest travelling funfairs, famously known for its pomegranates. The use of ‘childhood’ along with ‘the sound of…” immediately feels like those bittersweet memories that are conjured up at unexpected moments in our lives. The use of part of the now common phrase ‘see you on the other side’. This probably just means the physical ‘other side’ of the lake, the side opposite, but I can’t help adding the other meaning of the term used by people in battle, as well as a lighthearted attempt at wishing a person good luck dealing with a personal issue or other type of ordeal: That they will indeed survive, and get through it:
   .
   .
   childhood lake
   the sound of the fair
   from the other side
   .
   David Jacobs
   London, UK
    
   .
   .
   I love the phrase ‘mute inhabitants’ as both literal, but also as perceived by us, the humans, as well as those non-human co-species being denied a voice in wider circumstances:
   .
   .
   crashing waves
   the mute inhabitants
   of tidepools
   .
   Deborah P Kolodji
   Temple City, California
    .
   .
   I enjoyed the alliteration of ‘cast’ and ‘crabs’ and the part-invisible extra “c” sound in ‘scuttle’ echoing the sound of these wonderful creatures:
   .
   .
   walking by the bay
   a cast of fiddler crabs
   scuttle in beach grass
   .
   Dianne Moritz
    
   .
   .
   You didn’t know that lions exist in Canada!?
   The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team competing in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). Based in Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada):
   .
   .
    
   lions on the shore
   the faraway roar
   of the reef
   .
   Garry Eaton
   .
   .
   Great atmosphere of sounds, and the gulls and fishermen both making their own distinctive calls. I wonder which part of Turkey this was? I still remember eating freshly caught and cooked fish (sardines I recall) straight off the Golden Horn!
   .
   .
   along with the gulls
   fishermen whistling
   close to the shore
   .
   Guliz Mutlu
   .
   .
   Is this a game of skill, perhaps first started by lumberjacks, where people try to keep upright on a log on water e.g. logrolling? There’s a great song about lumberjacks, and perhaps one about logs on the water too? There is also an awful character from J. B. Priestley’s “An Inspector Calls” by the name of Mr. Birling, but I won’t go there except to say it might be about time we had another visit from Inspector Goole.
   .
   .
    
   ****** Birling!
   I and/or the stingray scream
   as my leg turns purple
   .
   Helen Buckingham
   .
   .
   Love ‘the whispers of pebbles’:
   .
    
   gentle swell
   nothing but the whispers
   of pebbles
   .
   Helga Stania
   Switzerland
   .
   .
   The sound of pollution, a fascinating idea, in all of its consequences:
   .
   .
    
   beach debris
   striking the rock
   a rolling can
   .
   Hifsa Ashraf
   Pakistan
    
   .
   .
   Great play on sounds far and near, along with the idea of “rush-traffic” either or both meaning motor vehicles, or the rushing of the waves. Wonderfully undulating in its play on sounds and which ones:
    .
   .
   distant highway
   rush-hour traffic
   roars high tide
   .
   Jennifer Hambrick
   Columbus, Ohio, USA
    .
   .
   Another great use of a verb, and right from the start! Love both of the first two lines, and ‘seal rock’ makes them resonate further. Great haiku!!!
   .
   .
   leaning my ear
   deeper into the wind
   seal rock
   .
   Jessica Malone Latham
   .
   .
   All are fine lines, but the middle line helps to further enhance lines one and two. Wonderful and evocative!
   .
   .
    
   waiting for the tide
   the die away sighs
   of a whistle buoy
   .
   Joanne van Helvoort
    
   .
   .
   Thinking of you John, and must try to meet up sometime soon. I really like the way this haiku sounds on my tongue, both silently and gently spoken in a half-full hotel coffee lounge. Was this deliberately evoking the “Round the rugged rock, the ragged rascal ran” tongue twister? I also like the addition of hidden alliteration, can you spot the extra ones?
   .
   .
   surf ribbons
   the random flutterings
   of the red flag
   .
   John Hawkhead
   .
   .
    
   The unusual term, to me, of ‘outlet reeds’ made me pause amongst those murmuring of ducks settling (great image!).
   .
   .
    
   late evening
   the murmur of settling ducks
   in the outlet reeds
   .
   Judith Hishikawa
   .
   .
    
   I absolutely love new names cropping up in haiku, it’s education, and with internet searches less than two seconds away, I can learn something new, and very quickly!
   .
   Look up about Sea Wolves, and Valdez Peninsula, you will not be disappointed.
   .
   A really great ‘sense of place’ haiku! Thank you Julia Guzmán, deep bow:
   .
   .
   Valdez Peninsula –
   The cry of the sea wolves
   calling their mates
   .
   Julia Guzmán
    
   .
   .
   Wonderfully evocative, from young love and sea oats rustling!
   .
   .
   young love
   the rustle of sea oats
   in the dunes
   .
   Karen Conrads Wibell
   .
   .
    
   Love the idea that whole oceans can revolve, and safely, around the feet of children:
   .
   .
    
   seashells to their ears
   the ocean swirls
   around the children’s feet
   .
   Kimberly Esser
   Los Angeles
    
   .
   .
   As a fellow Wiltshire (England) poet I could not let this go without acknowledging it:
   .
   As someone who was relieved to move away from Bristol (I’m old enough to remember hardly hearing gulls, as they used to be sea birds only, before ‘fast food’ brought them in their masses. Thankfully in Chippenham I don’t hear more than two gulls, now and then, at a time.
   .
   Wonderful description in that first line, very accurate too!
   .
   And the white froth of the ocean being delivered to the shore, with razor bills in contrast to the delicate nature of lace:
   .
   .
   razor edge
   of a seagull’s cry
   the lace-trimmed ocean
   .
   Lisa Cherrett
   Wiltshire, England
   .
   .
    
   Great middle line that might mean walking a dog along a cliff perhaps, but powerfully used making the first line conjure up hundreds upon hundreds of gulls, and the pull of their sea voices, like Sirens!
   .
   .
    
   screeching sea gulls
   the pull of the leash
   more intense
   .
   Madhuri Pillai
    
   .
   .
   Both a truly innocent verse, but I can’t help thinking of the plight of children around the world, and not only of refugees and immigrants, but how some adults treat our little ones:
   .
   .
   roaring waves
   the unheard cries
   of children
   .
   Margaret Walker
    
   .
   .
   The high noon of a place near a body of water has its own nature, and sense of place and light. Here the reflections and glint are made aural beyond just their expected ‘noise’:
    
   .
   .
   midday sun
   the slap of waves
   under the pier
   .
   Marion Clarke
    
   .
   .
   Ah, night storm! I’m reminded of literally being marooned in a place called Maroon (Queensland). An unusual and strange experience. I love all the different sounds of the seaside guesthouse:
   .
   .
   night storm
   in the seaside guesthouse
   bang of shutters
   .
   Marta Chocilowska
   .
   .
   I can’t associate either of my two mothers with coasts although both were born and died near large bodies of water. I never had the chance of seaside memories with my bio-mom, but my adoptive mom shared a (rain) umbrella with my father, in the early 1960s, before Brits knew how to be less formal in beaches overseas.
   .
   Great last two lines, original and evocative:
   .
   .
   susurrus of surf
   my birth mother’s name
   in a seashell
   .
   Martha Magenta
   England, UK
    
   .
   .
   I like the opening line, whether we know the actual names of clouds or not, but perhaps a view that includes several types at once. And I’ve seen that illusion that tidal plains seem to have their own sky separate to that over the other and main landmasses:
   .
   .
    
   patchwork sky
   across the tidal plains
   a curlew’s call
   .
   Michael Smeer
   Haarlemmermeer, The Netherlands
    
   .
   .
   Very simple, but subtly complex. We know the shore cannot be deserted, but is the author the lone woman, or reminded by the song of a woman strolling or working along the border between land and the mermaid’s territory. Mesmerisingly beautiful, evocative, and poignant:
   .
   .
   deserted seashore…
   a lone woman singing
   in her native tongue
   .
   Natalia Kuznetsova
   Russia
    
   .
   .
   Great play on screaming, which too often is done in play, so we no longer know if someone is in danger. Here we have an innocent verse where gulls and a child are letting themselves be lost in sheer enjoyment:
   .
   .
   screaming gulls –
   the child laughs
   at every wave
   .
   Nazarena Rampini
   Italy
    
   .
   .
   Ah, great opening line, full of innocence, or something opportune, for good or not reasons. The middle line is enhanced by the first line, and the use of the verb ‘slaps’ makes me wonder if one person was being seriously or playfully chastised or not. Both a simple and complex poem all in one, and I’ve enjoyed both ‘versions’:
   .
   .
    
   stolen kiss
   one wave after another
   slaps the shore
   .
   Pris Campbell
    
   .
   .
   A mysterious haiku perhaps? The opening line works well with the unusual last two lines. Why? There is an extra space between ‘cygnets’ and ‘crouch’ and ‘fear’ and ‘ringing’ that makes me fill in those gaps with extra words of meaning. A great technique, showing negative space / white space:
   .
   .
   shore’s ripples
   cygnets  crouch
   fear  ringing
   .
   Radhamani Sarma
    
   .
   .
   Delightful. Showing alliteration can work successfully in haiku, and love ‘still remains’ regarding the laughter of children:
   .
   . 
   fading footprints
   the children laughter
   still remains
   .
   Ramlawt Dinpuia
    
   .
   .
   When someone lives and works on or near the ocean they can often take it with them, even to landlocked places:
   .
   .
    
   home a week…
   still I hear the waves
   breaking
   .
   Randy Brooks
    
   .
   .
   The season word of humans using a term that makes them sound like avians! “Snowbirds” is a very strong seasonal reference for a regional saijiki in the USA.
   .
   .
    
   kee! kee! kee!
   snowbirds call down
   the gulls
   .
   .
   (snowbirds is a North American term for people who migrate south for the winter)
   .
   Robin Smith
   Wilmington, DE
    
   .
   .
   After watching the tv drama Siren (combining mermaids with the Greek myth) I can imagine most fisherfolk intertwined with fact and belief:
   .
   .
    
   the old fisherman
   on his final journey home
   hears the mermaid’s song
   .
   Ron C. Moss
   Tasmania, Australia
   .
   .
    
   Well, I am a sucker for haiku about trains, and night trains too! Now combine that with melancholy lakes and the call of a loon, and we have a powerful haiku:
   .
   .
   melancholy lake
   a loon’s call answered
   by the night train
   .
   Ruth Powell
    
   .
   .
   Rope bridges leading to shrines, fog, and the sound of a bird calling out aloud, is highly atmospheric:
   .
   .
   crossing the rope bridge
   to the gorge shrine
   a hill partridge wails in the fog
   .
   Sonam Chhoki
    
   .
   .
   Wonderful! Is it only the surf, or a romance unable to be completed, or perhaps reminiscent of the most famous shore/beach scene ever in a film:
   Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr in the Oscar-winning movie “From Here to Eternity.”
   .
   This haiku by Stephen A. Peters could easily slip by us as readers, so please return, as that concluding phrase is brilliant, evocative, and everything about love:
   .
   .
    
   ocean surf
   some of her words
   inside me
   .
   Stephen A. Peters
   .
   .
   And about time, those gulls sure can be noisy!
   .
   .
    
   sunrise
   ocean waves
   shushing seagulls
   .
   Terri French
   .
   .
   I love the play on words with ‘squirt’ both literally as a verb, but also the term for a annoying person. I love the almost-rhyme of the two leading words, and the observational humour of the concluding phrase:
   .
   .
   screaming teens
   the nearby squirt
   of a clam
   .
   Victor Ortiz
   Bellingham, WA
   .
   .
   .
    
   As a bit of fun here’s a gull haiku, as they proved so popular in this week’s theme of sounds by the shore!
   .
   .
   down side streets –
   gulls turning the sky
   in and out
   .
   Alan Summers
   Haiku in English: The First Hundred Years.
   ed. Jim Kacian, Allan Burns & Philip Rowland (W. W. Norton & Company 2013)
   .
   .

   1. Wow – just wow, Alan… I’m sure I speak for everyone involved when I say a most emphatic Thank You!
      I think it may have been a combination of the links & the length of this post that sent the original to the pending file… & I was in the process of sorting that – & here it is! Shorter posts with links might work (for future reference) – sorry for the delay in getting to this! kj

      1. Thanks Kathy! 🙂
         .
         Yes, I could have broken up the post, and should have done, just got on a roll, and two hours later, when I should have been working on my own poetry submissions, I was in the zone, and just posted. 🙂
         .
         warm regards,
         Alan

         1. I do know the feeling! thanks again! All these great conversations…

         2. Alan, I love this beautifully written commentary and love it as one very long post, as long as it wasn’t too much trouble for Kathy, it was worth waiting for!

            1. Thanks Kathy! And thanks Deborah! 🙂
               .
               It’s because I got carried away with web links, five in total, that it went into automatic pending. 🙂
               .
               warm regards,
               Alan

            2. & it is no trouble to me – thanks Deb!

         3. Thanks, Alan and kj. I am learning so much through this forum.

            1. again – wonderful to hear!

            2. Thanks Karen! We are lucky to have kj and her wonderful themes aren’t we? 🙂
               .
               warm regards,
               Alan

   2. Thank you very much Alan for your comments. What a lovely reading!
      Best,
      Marta

      1. Thank you Marta, that’s deeply appreciated. 🙂

   3. Thank you Alan! After writing this and reading it again, I realized it could be interpreted 3 ways – but you expressed here my primary thoughts as I wrote. As always, I appreciate your comments! Loved reading them for each haiku – as always, learning from each of your comments!

      1. Thanks Margaret!
         .
         Much appreciated, and glad I could show how deep your haiku is, when we give that little extra reading, which I love to do. 🙂
         .
         warmest regards, and deep bow,
         Alan

   4. Ab lovely, Alan
      Much enjoyed reading your comments.

      1. Cheers Kala!
         .
         I really like unearthing and revealing to others the hidden depths of haiku. 🙂
         .
         Alan

   5. Thank you, Alan, for your comments on so many poems. They enhanced my second reading. And of course, thank you for your kind comment on mine. I am glad you enjoyed it.

      1. Thank you Barbara, you are very kind! 🙂

   6. Alan,
      Your dedication to insightful analysis is much appreciated. it’s like taking a mini-lesson in the art of haiku.
      Thank you!

      1. Thanks John, that is very kind of you! I do enjoy getting into the zone, and ‘inhabiting’ the haiku as living entities, and explaining as best I can, from ‘inside the poem’.
         .
         warm regards,
         Alan

      2. I totally agree with your comment, John.

         1. thanks for your comments, carol!

8. Wonderful read this week. Thanks for including one of mine. Looking forward to next week.

   1. thanks for this, Bob!

9. A beaut8ful collection – I feel properly relaxed after hearing all those waves and seagulls! Thanks for including mine.

   1. thanks for submitting, Lisa!

10. The one I would highlight would be Carol Raisfeld’s
    .
    Marina Del Ray
    all the rigging rattling
    in the rain
    .
    … a proper name, ‘R’ sounds galore and a nice structural twist in the L2/3 transition

    1. thanks for sharing this, Mark!

11. Thank you Kathy! I truly appreciate your commentaries and having one of mine among these. And I especially liked the haiku by Greer Woodward from Hawaii. That haiku was such a beautiful and unique take on the volcano that has been erupting on the Big Island there.

    1. Hi Sari,

       I’m delighted you like the poem! I haven’t been to where it’s happening. More people would intensify the confusion. Years ago I did see a small lava flow reach the sea. There’s plenty to observe, especially the steam that goes along with it. It’s a hot walk though,
       and you feel a little nervous on the lava.

       Thanks again! And to you too, Kathy, for including my work!

       Greer

       1. Sari & Greer – thanks to you both for your kind words, & for sharing this – fascinating!

12. Thank you so much for inclusion! I love your forum and hope to become an active participant. So many amazing poets.

    1. thanks for these kind words!

13. Thanks, Katherine.
    Congratulations to each poet whose work has been presented. Really wonderful poems!

    1. I agree Tsanka! thanks for this!

14. A wonderful collection of poems, congratulations to all poets.
    Thank you for including one of mine, Kathy.
    *
    Love this-
    a night at the shore
    I give my ear
    to the insects
    *
    Blessed Ayeyame
    *
    This is a saddening vision and sound which is happening all to often-
    beach debris
    striking the rock
    a rolling can
    *
    Hifsa Ashraf
    *
    An uplifting memory of younger days 🙂 lovely work-
    young love
    the rustle of sea oats
    in the dunes
    *
    Karen Conrads Wibell

    1. thanks for submitting, carol – & for sharing this!

    2. Thanks, Carol – Reading your work and that of the other poets is both rewarding and instructive.

       1. thanks for this, Karen – good to hear!

       2. Many Thanks, Karen. Yes, I agree there is so much pleasure and learning from reading other peoples work. takes us to places forgotten or have never been.

15. I always look forward to your incisive comments on the four poems of the week you have chosen, Kathy. Lovely work from everyone again this time.
    Thank you for choosing one of mine. It’s such a privilege.

    1. thanks so much for your kind words, Ingrid!

16. It is such a pleasure to read the selection each week. Here are five of my favorites 🙂 Thank you for choosing one of mine, Kathy.

    screeching sea gulls
    the pull of the leash
    more intense

    Madhuri Pillai

    beach stroll
    her flip-flops click
    insync with mine

    Lamart Cooper

    gentle swell
    nothing but the whispers
    of pebbles

    Helga Stania
    Switzerland

    driftwood
    a sizzle of marshmallows
    at midnight

    Barbara Tate

    childhood lake
    the sound of the fair
    from the other side

    David Jacobs
    London, UK

    1. Dear Corine–Thank you for choosing one of mine as one of your five favorites. You’ll never know how much that means to me.

    2. wonderful! thanks for sharing, corine!

17. Dear Kathy,
    My greetings! Reading every pearl of gift is boon, Thanks Kathy for selecting mine,
    i am honored .
    with regards
    S.Radhamani

    1. thanks for your kind words S.Radhamani!

18. Many thanks, Kathy!

    1. my pleasure, Marta!

19. Thanks Kathy for choosing mine and for your comments – seeing it in black and white (well, grey and white) has helped me to see several more aspects to it.

    1. thanks for this Mark!

20. So much appreciated. Thank you for including me.

    1. my pleasure, Barbara – thanks for submitting!

21. Beautiful selection! Thank you Kathy for including mine.

    1. I agree – thanks for submitting, Christina!

22. Thank you, Kathy, for including my poem into this beautiful collection.

    1. thank you for submitting, Anna!

23. KJ, once again, what a wonderful, varied collection. Thanks for including one of mine. Greatly appreciated.

    1. thanks for submitting, Nancy!

24. Kathy, it always gives me pleasure when one of my haiku is published. Thank-you !!

    1. thanks for submitting, Valentina!

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