A Sense of Place: THE SHORE – hearing
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 Submit an original unpublished poem (or poems) via our Contact Form by Sunday midnight on the theme of the week, including your name as you would like it to appear, and place of residence.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: THE SHORE – smell
We remain at the shore – if possible, the same actual shore as last week, be that ocean or lake or river or pond – but now we explore the sense of smell…
I look forward to reading your submissions.
A Sense of Place: THE SHORE – hearing
driftwood
a sizzle of marshmallows
at midnightBarbara Tate
A complete scene in very few words, as usual in this column, with just enough of a gap for the reader to warm themselves by…
deserted beach
the sound of the sun
going downMark Gilbert
UK
Silence is explored in a number of poems this week, usually in contrast to a sound of some sort, but the absence of sound, in this case, makes for an effective sound…
shoreline caves
my voice tests
the darknessRachel Sutcliffe
Caves have been in the news lately, and this poem captures the hesitation that many of us might feel when faced with them in real life…
splosh…
we are not alone
at night swimmingSlobodan Pupovac
Zagreb, Croatia
Ogopogo, the fish that got away, or another skinny dipper – the reader here can decide how far to take this, and in what direction…
Here are the rest of my selections for this week:
sea wind
the gulls floating
on their callsAdjei Agyei-Baah
Kumasi, Ghana
in between the river denizens hurtling notes around
Alan Summers
Wiltshire, U.K.
in the silence
of the sands
my beating heartAmy Losak
Isle of Wight festival
a gull surfs
the sound wavesAndrew Shimield
UK
radio off –
the music of the sea
again and againradio spenta –
la musica del mare
ancora e ancoraAngiola Inglese
out-screaming
even this sunset
Oregon coast gullAnn Schwader
Night sea storm
Through the roar of waves
SilenceAnna Goluba
the wash of the waves
on the shore –
an ancient litanyAnna Maria Domburg-Sancristoforo
a barking dog
on the sandy shore
sea foamAnthony Rabang
triple dolphin song
whistles and clicks
near the shoreArdelle Hollis Ray
Las Vegas, NV
how silently
the shores listen –
roaring wavesArvinder Kaur
seagull cry
a woman calls
her lost childBarbara Kaufmann
NY
gull cry
the sea unmoors
its voiceBetty Shropshire
Texas
the sound
of his last words…
receding waveBilly Antonio
Laoac, Philippines
a night at the shore
I give my ear
to the insectsBlessed Ayeyame
Ughelli, Nigeria
just past new, the moon
peers through veils of mist
murmur of the riverBob Whitmire
Round Pond, Maine
still afternoon
a weathered boat
slowly chugs upriverBona M. Santos
Los Angeles, CA
waves…
just listen to us
bye and byeC.R. Harper
surfers
cutting the waves…
seagulls crycarol jones
Wales
Marina Del Rey
all the rigging rattling
in the rainCarol Raisfeld
homeless guy drags
enormous bag of empties
along the shoreCharles Harmon
La La Land by-the-shore
no fishing
within two nautical miles
the seagulls laughChristina Chin
Kuching, Sarawak
meditation app
the sound of the waves
lulls me to sleepChristina Sng
twilight lullaby
as waves and voices fade
a seagull’s cryChristine Eales
UK
the crunch of seashells
beneath running feet
riptide warningsClaire Vogel Camargo
the rustling of palm leaves
– seaside honeymoonCorine Timmer
above dark water
the silence
of dragonfly wingsCraig Kittner
Wilmington, NC
the shore boardwalk –
crack! sizzle!
of the funnel cakeD.A. Xiaolin Spires
my home is
a seashore morning…
the cry of the gullDamir Damir
childhood lake
the sound of the fair
from the other sideDavid Jacobs
London, UK
solitary walk
the swish of waves
silencing my thoughtsDebbi Antebi
crashing waves
the mute inhabitants
of tidepoolsDeborah P Kolodji
Temple City, California
walking by the bay
a cast of fiddler crabs
scuttle in beach grassDianne Moritz
steps on the shore
continued on – a disappointed girl
listen to next onesDubravka Šcukanec
Zagreb, Croatia
coupons on sand
a man cuts out the sound
of the wavesEngin Gülez
Ankara, Turkey
low tide
a goldfinch chirps
on the shoreEufemia Griffo
stormy sea
I cling to
a gull’s callEva Limbach
Germany
lions on the shore
the faraway roar
of the reefGarry Eaton
shrill whistle
startles swimmers –
swells crashGiedra Kregzdys
Woodhaven, NY
Strait of Messina –
on the shore a fisherman
recites a litanyGiovanna Restuccia
Italy
lava sizzles into the sea
birth song of
a new islandGreer Woodward
Kamuela, HI
along with the gulls
fishermen whistling
close to the shoreGuliz Mutlu
****** Birling!
I and/or the stingray scream
as my leg turns purpleHelen Buckingham
gentle swell
nothing but the whispers
of pebblesHelga Stania
Switzerland
beach debris
striking the rock
a rolling canHifsa Ashraf
Pakistan
lakeside cafés
Turkish coffee
and the sound of tumbling diceIngrid Baluchi
Ohrid, Macedonia
distant highway
rush-hour traffic
roars high tideJennifer Hambrick
Columbus, Ohio, USA
leaning my ear
deeper into the wind
seal rockJessica Malone Latham
waiting for the tide
the die away sighs
of a whistle buoyJoanne van Helvoort
surf ribbons
the random flutterings
of the red flagJohn Hawkhead
Evening in the shore
The shrieking seagulls
among the wavesJorge Giallorenzi
late evening
the murmur of settling ducks
in the outlet reedsJudith Hishikawa
Valdez Peninsula –
The cry of the sea wolves
calling their matesJulia Guzmán
young love
the rustle of sea oats
in the dunesKaren Conrads Wibell
gull’s cry
louder than the sea
high tideKath Abela Wilson
Pasadena, California
(traveling in Singapore)
pounding surf
the pitter-patter
of sandpipersKen Olson
Yakima WA US
seashells to their ears
the ocean swirls
around the children’s feetKimberly Esser
Los Angeles
beach stroll
her flip-flops click
insync with mineLamart Cooper
Shouting
over pounding surf
voices running away to seaLaurie Greer
Washington, DC
razor edge
of a seagull’s cry
the lace-trimmed oceanLisa Cherrett
Wiltshire, England
on the shore
the rhythmic lapping
of the wavesLori Zajkowski
sea in winter…
in the roar of the waves
the shore shuts upmare in burrasca … nel fragore delle onde /tace la riva
Lucia Cardillo
white noise
waves thrash the cliffs
at the Crown MinesLucy Whitehead
Southend-on-Sea, Essex, UK
A wailing girl points
at cookies strewn on the sand
Laughing gulls circlem. shane pruett
screeching sea gulls
the pull of the leash
more intenseMadhuri Pillai
roaring waves
the unheard cries
of childrenMargaret Walker
closed eyes –
of sea and gulls
full the windMargherita Petriccione
shore-to-shore
a shudder in my chest
foghornsMarietta McGregor
garden by the sea
only a dove’s
wing whisperMarilyn Appl Walker
to and fro
to and fro
lakeshore lullabyMarilyn Ashbaugh
Edwardsburg, MI
gust of wind
the jingle of the sailing masts
in Grado MarinaMarina Bellini
midday sun
the slap of waves
under the pierMarion Clarke
night storm
in the seaside guesthouse
bang of shuttersMarta Chocilowska
susurrus of surf
my birth mother’s name
in a seashellMartha Magenta
England, UK
Euclid Creek –
the plop of a fishing lure
hitting the watermichael ceraolo
kingfishers
somewhere i have
not yet seenMichael Henry Lee
tide pool –
she listens to the ocean
through a conchMichael H. Lester
Los Angeles CA USA
patchwork sky
across the tidal plains
a curlew’s callMichael Smeer
Haarlemmermeer, The Netherlands
children squealing
as the sea fills the moat…
sandcastle dayMichele L. Harvey
buckets and spades
creating sandcastle
laughterMike Gallagher
Ireland
village pond
frogs welcome
the monsoonMohammad Azim Khan
nor’easter
the waves slap
the shoreNancy Brady
Huron, Ohio
deserted seashore…
a lone woman singing
in her native tongueNatalia Kuznetsova
Russia
screaming gulls –
the child laughs
at every waveNazarena Rampini
Italy
screeching seagulls
children raise their voices
above the wavesNicole Tilde
Shady Dale, Ga.
the ocean shore
blanketed in fog
soft lapping wavesOlivier Schopfer
Geneva, Switzerland
seaside concert
the shamisen player
and the surfPat Davis
Pembroke, NH
crash of waves
how does the conch
hear itPaul Geiger
Crashes in
But whispers out
Stone by stonePaul Manning
Phuket, Thailand
the sound of screaming
at the shorePauline O’Carolan
Sydney, Australia
evening tide
between the waves
almost silencePeggy Bilbro
USA
stolen kiss
one wave after another
slaps the shorePris Campbell
shore’s ripples
cygnets crouch
fear ringingRadhamani Sarma
first raindrop
onto the lake
the monks’ prayer gongRadostina Dragostinova,
Bulgaria
fading footprints
the children laughter
still remainsRamlawt Dinpuia
the screech of
the unseen gull…
waves ebb and flowRandall Herman
home a week…
still I hear the waves
breakingRandy Brooks
stray pieces
of conversations
stroll on the beachRehn Kovacic
lightning…
seagull’s shriek blows
the sky apartRéka Nyitrai
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
one sea lion barks
slightly off-key –
baker beach shorerobyn brooks
usa
the old fisherman
on his final journey home
hears the mermaid’s songRon C. Moss
Tasmania, Australia
Moonstone Beach
at my mud feet
the oceans whimperron scully
St. Pete beach
waves thunder
under clear skiesRonald K. Craig
Batavia, OH USA
sunrise by the sea –
the breaking of the waves
in the silenceRosa Maria Di Salvatore
melancholy lake
a loon’s call answered
by the night trainRuth Powell
the next beach blanket
listening to the ball game
the crowd does the waveSari Grandstaff
Saugerties, NY, USA
last breath
the conch shell still speaks
of wavesSkaidrite Stelzer
Toledo, Ohio
crossing the rope bridge
to the gorge shrine
a hill partridge wails in the fogSonam Chhoki
the wave comes and goes
… with it the sound
of your breathSrinivasa Rao Sambangi,
Hyderabad, India
ocean surf
some of her words
inside meStephen A. Peters
strumming chords
to the sun dappled water
…lone guitaristSusan Rogers
Los Angeles, CA, USA
sunrise
ocean waves
shushing seagullsTerri French
calm sea…
but for the small slap of waves
against beach stonesTomislav Maretic
rocky coast –
in the air sound of percussions
tuned by the seaTsanka Shishkova
conch shell –
the giggling
of childrenValentina Ranaldi-Adams
Fairlawn, Ohio USA
overtime
I pick up a conch shell
to hear the seaVandana Parashar
screaming teens
the nearby squirt
of a clamVictor Ortiz
Bellingham, WA
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 74 Comments
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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.
thanks for this, Craig!
I am pleased to be present in such a rich selection. My thanks to Katherine
thanks for submitting, Margherita! As I have said many times, I couldn’t do it without all you fabulous poets!
I love this collection of shore sound haiku. Kudos to all the poets and to kjmunro for editing this wonderful feature.
thanks for this Deb! I appreciate it!
Thank you for including mine this week! I really enjoyed these shore poems. Excellent read!
I agree Barbara – thanks for sharing!
Thanks so much, once again, Katherine…..and well done everyone.
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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”.
And there I was thinking you were going all Monty Python on me. 🙂
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Ah, that Birling, there are so many. 🙂
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Seven Sisters the call of owls either side
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Alan Summers
Blithe Spirit March 2012
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/birling-gap-and-the-seven-sisters
thanks for this Helen! & Alan for the clarification…
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!
thanks for sharing this, Ken!
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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. 🙂
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Alan
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I really liked the use of the verb and its accuracy regarding gulls, and other birds:
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sea wind
the gulls floating
on their calls
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Adjei Agyei-Baah
Kumasi, Ghana
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What and how do gulls sense certain human activities, especially during the Summer festivals regarding music?
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Isle of Wight festival
a gull surfs
the sound waves
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Andrew Shimield
UK
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I loved this striking take between silence and the rest, between the shorelines and their neighbours:
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how silently
the shores listen –
roaring waves
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Arvinder Kaur
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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:
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seagull cry
a woman calls
her lost child
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Barbara Kaufmann
NY
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Another example of using a verb, and enhancing the haiku:
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gull cry
the sea unmoors
its voice
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Betty Shropshire
Texas
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The shore is a wonderful and amazing reservoir of sights and sounds, which this author takes advantage of wonderfully:
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a night at the shore
I give my ear
to the insects
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Blessed Ayeyame
Ughelli, Nigeria
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A beautiful elegiac image:
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just past new, the moon
peers through veils of mist
murmur of the river
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Bob Whitmire
Round Pond, Maine
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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:
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twilight lullaby
as waves and voices fade
a seagull’s cry
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Christine Eales
UK
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A man with the oceans running in his veins:
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my home is
a seashore morning…
the cry of the gull
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Damir Damir
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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:
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childhood lake
the sound of the fair
from the other side
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David Jacobs
London, UK
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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:
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crashing waves
the mute inhabitants
of tidepools
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Deborah P Kolodji
Temple City, California
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I enjoyed the alliteration of ‘cast’ and ‘crabs’ and the part-invisible extra “c” sound in ‘scuttle’ echoing the sound of these wonderful creatures:
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walking by the bay
a cast of fiddler crabs
scuttle in beach grass
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Dianne Moritz
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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):
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lions on the shore
the faraway roar
of the reef
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Garry Eaton
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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!
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along with the gulls
fishermen whistling
close to the shore
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Guliz Mutlu
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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.
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****** Birling!
I and/or the stingray scream
as my leg turns purple
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Helen Buckingham
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Love ‘the whispers of pebbles’:
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gentle swell
nothing but the whispers
of pebbles
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Helga Stania
Switzerland
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The sound of pollution, a fascinating idea, in all of its consequences:
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beach debris
striking the rock
a rolling can
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Hifsa Ashraf
Pakistan
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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:
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distant highway
rush-hour traffic
roars high tide
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Jennifer Hambrick
Columbus, Ohio, USA
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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!!!
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leaning my ear
deeper into the wind
seal rock
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Jessica Malone Latham
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All are fine lines, but the middle line helps to further enhance lines one and two. Wonderful and evocative!
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waiting for the tide
the die away sighs
of a whistle buoy
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Joanne van Helvoort
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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?
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surf ribbons
the random flutterings
of the red flag
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John Hawkhead
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The unusual term, to me, of ‘outlet reeds’ made me pause amongst those murmuring of ducks settling (great image!).
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late evening
the murmur of settling ducks
in the outlet reeds
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Judith Hishikawa
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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!
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Look up about Sea Wolves, and Valdez Peninsula, you will not be disappointed.
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A really great ‘sense of place’ haiku! Thank you Julia Guzmán, deep bow:
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Valdez Peninsula –
The cry of the sea wolves
calling their mates
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Julia Guzmán
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Wonderfully evocative, from young love and sea oats rustling!
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young love
the rustle of sea oats
in the dunes
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Karen Conrads Wibell
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Love the idea that whole oceans can revolve, and safely, around the feet of children:
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seashells to their ears
the ocean swirls
around the children’s feet
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Kimberly Esser
Los Angeles
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As a fellow Wiltshire (England) poet I could not let this go without acknowledging it:
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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.
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Wonderful description in that first line, very accurate too!
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And the white froth of the ocean being delivered to the shore, with razor bills in contrast to the delicate nature of lace:
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razor edge
of a seagull’s cry
the lace-trimmed ocean
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Lisa Cherrett
Wiltshire, England
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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!
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screeching sea gulls
the pull of the leash
more intense
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Madhuri Pillai
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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:
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roaring waves
the unheard cries
of children
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Margaret Walker
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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’:
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midday sun
the slap of waves
under the pier
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Marion Clarke
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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:
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night storm
in the seaside guesthouse
bang of shutters
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Marta Chocilowska
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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.
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Great last two lines, original and evocative:
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susurrus of surf
my birth mother’s name
in a seashell
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Martha Magenta
England, UK
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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:
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patchwork sky
across the tidal plains
a curlew’s call
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Michael Smeer
Haarlemmermeer, The Netherlands
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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:
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deserted seashore…
a lone woman singing
in her native tongue
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Natalia Kuznetsova
Russia
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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:
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screaming gulls –
the child laughs
at every wave
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Nazarena Rampini
Italy
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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’:
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stolen kiss
one wave after another
slaps the shore
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Pris Campbell
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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:
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shore’s ripples
cygnets crouch
fear ringing
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Radhamani Sarma
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Delightful. Showing alliteration can work successfully in haiku, and love ‘still remains’ regarding the laughter of children:
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fading footprints
the children laughter
still remains
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Ramlawt Dinpuia
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When someone lives and works on or near the ocean they can often take it with them, even to landlocked places:
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home a week…
still I hear the waves
breaking
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Randy Brooks
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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.
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kee! kee! kee!
snowbirds call down
the gulls
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(snowbirds is a North American term for people who migrate south for the winter)
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Robin Smith
Wilmington, DE
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After watching the tv drama Siren (combining mermaids with the Greek myth) I can imagine most fisherfolk intertwined with fact and belief:
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the old fisherman
on his final journey home
hears the mermaid’s song
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Ron C. Moss
Tasmania, Australia
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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:
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melancholy lake
a loon’s call answered
by the night train
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Ruth Powell
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Rope bridges leading to shrines, fog, and the sound of a bird calling out aloud, is highly atmospheric:
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crossing the rope bridge
to the gorge shrine
a hill partridge wails in the fog
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Sonam Chhoki
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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.”
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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:
.
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ocean surf
some of her words
inside me
.
Stephen A. Peters
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And about time, those gulls sure can be noisy!
.
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sunrise
ocean waves
shushing seagulls
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Terri French
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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:
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screaming teens
the nearby squirt
of a clam
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Victor Ortiz
Bellingham, WA
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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!
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down side streets –
gulls turning the sky
in and out
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Alan Summers
Haiku in English: The First Hundred Years.
ed. Jim Kacian, Allan Burns & Philip Rowland (W. W. Norton & Company 2013)
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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
Thanks Kathy! 🙂
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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. 🙂
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warm regards,
Alan
I do know the feeling! thanks again! All these great conversations…
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!
Thanks Kathy! And thanks Deborah! 🙂
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It’s because I got carried away with web links, five in total, that it went into automatic pending. 🙂
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warm regards,
Alan
& it is no trouble to me – thanks Deb!
Thanks, Alan and kj. I am learning so much through this forum.
again – wonderful to hear!
Thanks Karen! We are lucky to have kj and her wonderful themes aren’t we? 🙂
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warm regards,
Alan
Thank you very much Alan for your comments. What a lovely reading!
Best,
Marta
Thank you Marta, that’s deeply appreciated. 🙂
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!
Thanks Margaret!
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Much appreciated, and glad I could show how deep your haiku is, when we give that little extra reading, which I love to do. 🙂
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warmest regards, and deep bow,
Alan
Ab lovely, Alan
Much enjoyed reading your comments.
Cheers Kala!
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I really like unearthing and revealing to others the hidden depths of haiku. 🙂
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Alan
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.
Thank you Barbara, you are very kind! 🙂
Alan,
Your dedication to insightful analysis is much appreciated. it’s like taking a mini-lesson in the art of haiku.
Thank you!
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’.
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warm regards,
Alan
I totally agree with your comment, John.
thanks for your comments, carol!
Wonderful read this week. Thanks for including one of mine. Looking forward to next week.
thanks for this, Bob!
A beaut8ful collection – I feel properly relaxed after hearing all those waves and seagulls! Thanks for including mine.
thanks for submitting, Lisa!
The one I would highlight would be Carol Raisfeld’s
.
Marina Del Ray
all the rigging rattling
in the rain
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… a proper name, ‘R’ sounds galore and a nice structural twist in the L2/3 transition
thanks for sharing this, Mark!
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.
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
Sari & Greer – thanks to you both for your kind words, & for sharing this – fascinating!
Thank you so much for inclusion! I love your forum and hope to become an active participant. So many amazing poets.
thanks for these kind words!
Thanks, Katherine.
Congratulations to each poet whose work has been presented. Really wonderful poems!
I agree Tsanka! thanks for this!
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
thanks for submitting, carol – & for sharing this!
Thanks, Carol – Reading your work and that of the other poets is both rewarding and instructive.
thanks for this, Karen – good to hear!
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.
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.
thanks so much for your kind words, Ingrid!
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
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.
wonderful! thanks for sharing, corine!
Dear Kathy,
My greetings! Reading every pearl of gift is boon, Thanks Kathy for selecting mine,
i am honored .
with regards
S.Radhamani
thanks for your kind words S.Radhamani!
Many thanks, Kathy!
my pleasure, Marta!
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.
thanks for this Mark!
So much appreciated. Thank you for including me.
my pleasure, Barbara – thanks for submitting!
Beautiful selection! Thank you Kathy for including mine.
I agree – thanks for submitting, Christina!
Thank you, Kathy, for including my poem into this beautiful collection.
thank you for submitting, Anna!
KJ, once again, what a wonderful, varied collection. Thanks for including one of mine. Greatly appreciated.
thanks for submitting, Nancy!
Kathy, it always gives me pleasure when one of my haiku is published. Thank-you !!
thanks for submitting, Valentina!