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 Submit an original unpublished poem (or poems) via our Contact Form by Sunday midnight on the theme of the week, including your name as you would like it to appear, and place of residence.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

Now we move from the shore to the mountains – if possible, I hope you can be in the mountains, and can actually look around, but failing that, we have our memories and our imaginations…

I look forward to reading your submissions.

 

A Sense of Place:  THE SHORE – touch

waves at the shore –
foam between the fingers
for an instant

Angiola Inglese

Here the poet captures a moment and holds it still for us to consider – meanwhile, the waves continue to roll in and out…

waning moon
magnitude 7 quake
alerts tsunami

Christina Chin
Kuching, Sarawak

(Breaking news. 7.46pm 05 August 2018 Bali Island 7.0 earthquake.)

An unexpected and interesting take on the theme of the shore and the sense of touch – we share our concern and good wishes for the safety of those in the affected region…

learning to float
my father’s hand
on my back

Greer Woodward
Waimea, HI

Perhaps the reader feels a strong, supporting hand under their back as they stare at the sky from this new perspective, possibly even venturing from the shallows to the deep end of the pool…

coastal gale
kite strings fasten
hands to wind

Lamart Cooper

Here is another example where the reader can feel the tug of the kite string in the gusts of wind, without those details being spelled out in the poem…

alone inside a wave
the strange pull
of the undertow

Lucy Whitehead
Essex, UK

The reader does not need to be a surfer or a swimmer to feel the pull of this poem – we can feel that world inside of the wave…

Here are the rest of my selections for this week:

skinny dipping
the graze of her nipples
under water

Adjei Agyei-Baah
Kumasi, Ghana

 

icy storm ships hugging the shore

Adrian Bouter

 

where the butterflies went trailing fingers there

Alan Summers
Wiltshire, England

 

knee replacement
the silky feel of sand
between my toes

Amy Losak

 

that moment
of hesitation
knee deep in a cold sea

andrew shimield

 

lost love
my hand slips over
a piece of seaweed

Andy McLellan

 

rough sand –
the soft caresses
of your hands

Angela Giordano

 

burning up –
the cool touch
of my mother’s palm

Anna Maria Domburg-Sancristoforo

 

jellyfish
a vinegar bottle
half empty

Anthony Rabang

 

toes in wet sand
working a shift
in gritty sneakers

Ardelle Hollis Ray
Las Vegas, NV

 

after she left –
touches of moonlight
on the footprints

arvinder kaur
Chandigarh, India

 

darkening water –
something touches
my leg

Barbara Kaufmann

 

swimming with dolphins
I touch another
world

Barbara Tate

 

shore wind
I shiver at
the thought of water

Blessed Ayeyame
Ughelli, Nigeria

 

receding wave
the world slips
from under my feet

Bob Whitmire
Round Pond, Maine

 

night walk
the company
of a balmy sea breeze

Bona M. Santos
Los Angeles, CA

 

rough waters
the smoothest stone
in the surf

C.R. Harper

 

stretching my arm
outside the rowboat
soft waterlily petals

Carmen Sterba

 

sand between my toes oyster pearl

carol jones
Wales

 

napping…
the teak deck warmed
by the noonday sun

Carol Raisfeld

 

low tide
crabs touching
the moon

cezar ciobika

 

buried in hot sand
pirate king feels rising tide
splash him in the face

Charles Harmon
California

 

seashore
touching your smile
with my lips

Christine Eales
UK

 

discovery cove
the slick dorsal fin
in my grasp

Claire Vogel Camargo

 

don’t touch written all over her face sunburn

Corine Timmer

 

silky
toadstools and the pond
swell in the forest

Craig Kittner
Wilmington, NC

 

end of beach day
the gritty sand
in my sandals

Debbi Antebi
London, UK

 

your beach towel
the scratch of sand
against my cheek

Deborah P Kolodji
Temple City, California

 

hot sun on your back
making love in the dunes
a fire through me

Dianne Moritz

 

lost dolphin
the laying-on
of hands

dl mattila
USA

 

fisherman in boat
feels giant tentacle
tapping his shoulder

Erick Harmon (age 10)
Los Angeles, California

 

Trebbia river
the willows touch
blue waters

(The Trebbia is a river predominantly of Liguria and Emilia Romagna in northern Italy.)

Eufemia Griffo

 

riverbank
the pebbles I put
in my pocket

Eva Limbach

 

sandy beach ball
expands with each
deep breath

Giedra Kregzdys
Woodhaven, NY

 

end of winter –
ashore our feet
touch the sea

Giovanna Restuccia
Italy

 

leaving the shore
the first teardrop
on my face

Guliz Mutlu

 

sea lichen
on my arm
a new tattoo

Hifsa Ashraf
Pakistan

 

digging in my heels
the give and take
of the tide

Holli Rainwater
Fresno, OH  USA

 

pensioners passing time
on the promenade wall –
warmth of old stone

Ingrid Baluchi
Lake Ohrid, Macedonia

 

willingly
I turn my other cheek –
ocean mist

Jessica Malone Latham
Sonoma County, CA USA

 

maximum ebb –
all the starfish
clinging to rocks

Jill Lange

 

incoming tide
mud squishes up
between my toes

Joanne van Helvoort

 

fading light
the neap tide
slips between our toes

John Hawkhead

 

spring water caresses
every part of my body
Crystal Lake

Judith Hishikawa

 

heading home
flip flops shed
the last grains of sand

Karen Conrads Wibell

 

beach party
the feel of my shoes
in my hand

Kath Abela Wilson
Pasadena and Santa Barbara, California

 

sea breeze
a tide shifts
in me

Kimberly Esser
Los Angeles

 

Light rain
at low tide
fresh salt splashes

Laurie Greer
Washington DC

 

after a swim
wrapped in a towel
against the wind

Lori Zajkowski

 

sea pebbles…
the heat of a sun ray
so smooth

ciottoli di mare … così liscio il calore /d’un raggio di sole

Lucia Cardillo

 

Tiny blue jellyfish
Pepper the rolling waves
burn of hot sand

m. shane pruett

 

Indian Ocean
I touch my childhood
on its shore

Madhuri Pillai

 

rough seas
she wears his old jacket
still holding her

Margaret Bissell Walker

 

September sea
the fiery caress
of a jellyfish

Margherita Petriccione

 

pummeled by waves
nothing but
gritty sand in her shorts

Margo Williams

 

the slither
of a fresh oyster
seaside lunch

Marietta McGregor

 

beach towel
shells with ripples
shells without

Marilyn Appl Walker

 

smooth pebbles
skim the surface…
beachcomber

Marilyn Ashbaugh
Edwardsburg, MI

 

fading scar
running my fingers
along the shell’s fracture

Mark Gilbert

 

sunbathing
a child places mud pie
on father’s back

Marta Chocilowska

 

pull of the tide –
the slither of seaweed
around my ankles

Martha Magenta
England, UK

 

fragments caught in bladderwrack –
wood and shell
line and hook

Mary Ellen Gambutti

 

washed up
the scallop shell’s ridges
press into my palm

Melissa Howell
Tennessee, USA

 

By blue Erie’s shore –
spray from
a boat’s wake

michael ceraolo
South Euclid, Ohio

 

moultrie creek
feeling the loss
of an eagle

Michael Henry Lee
Saint Augustine  FL

 

tag and release –
memories of the seashore
slip through my fingers

Michael H. Lester
Los Angeles CA USA

 

pelting rain…
the young sailor
clutches a steel rail

Michael Smeer
Haarlemmermeer, The Netherlands

 

lapping waves…
the baby
curls his toes

Michele L. Harvey

 

powerful
drag of rip tide
memories

Mike Gallagher
Ireland

 

a dragonfly
on the reed –
touch and go

Mohammad Azim Khan
Pakistan

 

At the shore
the sun reaching my legs slowly,slowly

Muskaan Ahuja
Chandigarh, India

 

tidal pool
a sea cucumber lies limp
across my palm

Nancy Brady
Huron, Ohio

 

ghost crab
nevertheless
taps the sand

Nancy Shires

 

caressing waves
slowly subdue the anguish…
alien shores

Natalia Kuznetsova
Russia

 

summer holiday –
a seaweed slides
on my arm

Nazarena Rampini
Italy

 

beach massage…
the warm caress
of the wind

Olivier Schopfer
Geneva, Switzerland

 

pebble beach
reflexology
free

Pat Davis
Pembroke, NH USA

 

finding the body
sodden wrinkled skin
scoured by sand

Pauline O’Carolan

 

reaching sea and sky starfish

Peggy Bilbro
Huntsville, Alabama

 

forever floating…
the caress of lost souls
at sea

Peter Jastermsky

 

late-winter tide –
she has goosebumps
where my hands long to go

Philip Whitley
Greenville, SC

 

waist-deep
hoping that soft flutter
is a fish

Pris Campbell

 

summer fling
the seaweed’s
slippery kiss

Rachel Sutcliffe

 

starfish
in the palm of her hand
no grip left

Randy Brooks

 

straining sand
between his fingers
talking to a girl

Rehn Kovacic

 

first autumn day…
a sea duck faintly touches
the waves

Réka Nyitrai

 

starfish shore
the baby touches
her reflection

Roberta Beary
County Mayo Ireland

 

the brief caress of a moon jelly lingering burn

Robin Smith

 

baker beach badlands –
the slippery feel
of serpentine rock

robyn brooks
usa

 

beach reggae
the feel of skin
on skin

Ron C. Moss
Tasmania, Australia

 

St. Pete
waves push and pull
4th down and inches

Ronald K. Craig
Batavia, OH  USA

 

spring lake
its icy grip
on our ankles

Ruth Powell

 

scratchy hotel towel
under my cheek
beach nap

Sari Grandstaff
Saugerties, NY, USA

 

long beach walks
hot sand, sharp shells
shoe-leather feet

Shandon Land

 

stranded jellyfish
running my fingers
round baldness

simonj
UK

 

salvo of sea drops
fall on me –
a dog shakes itself

Slobodan Pupovac
Zagreb, Croatia

 

autumn sea
the hands wipe off salt
from her creases

Srinivasa Rao Sambangi
Hyderabad, India

 

patterns in the sand
some of my childhood
between my toes

Stephen A. Peters

 

walking side by side
on the boardwalk where we met
I squeeze your hand

Susan Rogers
Los Angeles, CA, USA

 

rough waves
the smoothness of sea glass
in my palm

Terri French

 

water sloshes
against my children’s ankles
first beach visit

Tia Haynes

 

the feel of your skin
dusted in finely grained sand
gently brushed away

Tim Heaney
Atlanta, Ga.

 

a butterfly
on her belly on the beach –
she still didn’t notice

Tomislav Maretic

 

new moon…
tides wash away
our trace

Tsanka Shishkova

 

iced-over lake
fingers numbing
inside my gloves

Valentina Ranaldi-Adams
Fairlawn, Ohio USA

 

high tide
my fingers find the gap
between his

Vandana Parashar

 

at low tide
slipping on rocks
summer sea

Victor Ortiz
Bellingham, WA

 

sunrise
sound of rays
touching breakers

Vishnu Kapoor

 

The flinty beach stone
a good luck charm in my pocket
has a rough edge

Will Nixon

 

 

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 71 Comments

  1. Going through the five senses has been an incredible journey. It has been a great learning experience, which we are all going to do again! So thank you Kathy.
    Thanks to Alan as well.

  2. Thank you Kathy for including my verse in this collection and for the additional commentary! I enjoyed reading all the sense of shore haiku and have read many several times to improve my own writing. Thanks to Alan for all the additional commentary throughout this experience and I look forward to the mountains…

  3. I haven’t been around for some time but enjoyed every week’s selections and commentaries.
    good work, Kathy and everyone 🙂

  4. Thank you, Kathy and Alan. What a wonderful variety of poems this week! There are many poems to love. It’s been a pleasure reading each one and the comments.

    1. Thanks Corine! 🙂
      .
      Kathy has created such a wonderful feature I am compelled to acknowledge as many people’s wonderful contributions as I can, including your’s! 🙂
      .
      warm regards,
      Alan

  5. I liked best Kath Abela Wilson’s
    *
    beach party
    the feel of my shoes
    in my hand
    *
    – an excellent and insightful twist
    Thanks KJ

  6. My three favorites were:
    .
    skinny dipping
    the graze of her nipples
    under water

    Adjei Agyei-Baah
    Kumasi, Ghana
    .
    .

    leaving the shore
    the first teardrop
    on my face

    Guliz Mutlu
    .
    .

    lapping waves…
    the baby
    curls his toes

    Michele L. Harvey
    .

  7. Good morning kj,
    As a life long beach goer, it was a pleasure to” wade down” memory lane.Thankyou for including one of my poems . Living in the foot hills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, I look forward to the next several weeks.
    Thanks again,
    A newly enthused rookie poet,
    Tim Heaney

  8. As usual a really interesting selection of poems that flower from the seed on one word: ‘touch’. All the different viewpoints, recollections and sensations caught in a very welcome series of prompts. Thanks kj for sparking the muse.

  9. Thank you Kathy for such a wonderful collection. Special thanks to Alan Summers for his indepth analysis.

  10. Thank you for including one of mine. I have enjoyed reliving experiences through my writing and have also enjoys all the submissions.

  11. Wow, the Sense of Place theme of THE SHORE and “touch” has really triggered the floodgates, in a positive way:
    .
    .

    What fascinated me is that we don’t often, or at least I don’t think so, talk about “being touched” both in general, and in haiku specifically.
    .
    We expect a poem to take us to a place where we ‘are touched’ but perhaps just lightly in an emotional manner. It’s a difficult area, where we might be okay with a basic sensation, but can we go further and acknowledge we are human, without being seen as ‘too effete”? It’s a difficult one to attempt. But kudos to everyone, we have not been frightened off.
    .
    This one, by Adjei Agyei-Baah, is deeply sensual, perhaps indicating the transition or the in betweeness of innocence and that ‘removal of the fig leaf’?
    .
    skinny dipping
    the graze of her nipples
    under water
    .
    Adjei Agyei-Baah
    Kumasi, Ghana
     
    .
    .
    Amy brings in our ‘augmentation’ which continues to develop and expand, and in this case, the ‘simple’ replacement of a knee:
    .
    .
     
    knee replacement
    the silky feel of sand
    between my toes
    .
    Amy Losak
    .
    .
    It reminds me of how a brilliant NHS operation (not possible under a privately paid method) gave my mother the freedom of a wider life experience). How far do we go in being augumented to obtain quality of life? A thought-provoking approach by Amy.
    .
    .

     
    that moment
    of hesitation
    knee deep in a cold sea
    .
    andrew shimield
    .
    .
    Ah, the world in a grain of salt, or more, and from my former experiences, a single moment of hesitation can mean living or dying. An intriuging pairing with a knee joint plunged into the cold sea.
    .
    .
     
    lost love
    my hand slips over
    a piece of seaweed
    .
    Andy McLellan
    .
    .
    Andy McLellan equates a love lost with a hand slipping over a piece of seaweed. If you have experienced both, you’ll recognise this is a briliant pairing of imagery.
    .
    .
    The glass half empty or half full is a common question for a person who is optimistic or otherwise. What of the astringent smell and taste of vinegar and that of a jellyfish? An incredibly intriguing pairing of images, bringing the sensation of touch to a new level.
    .
    .

     
    jellyfish
    a vinegar bottle
    half empty
    .
    Anthony Rabang
     .
    .

    after she left –
    touches of moonlight
    on the footprints
    .
    arvinder kaur
    Chandigarh, India
    .
    .
    A simple but powerful opening line making me wonder where the author will take us. We become part of the sensation of moonlight, perhaps our own footprints, or those we might seek to follow.
    .
    .
     

     
    swimming with dolphins
    I touch another
    world
    .
    Barbara Tate
    .
    .
    Some of us strain to go beyond ourselves, and dolphins can be a welcome trigger. In my case it was Humpback Whales, both helping a spotter plane seek out their footprints, and also being an inch away from one part by and part under a small boat. I so wanted to touch the creature that gladly made me feel small instead of a domineering Apex Predator.
    .
    .
     
    shore wind
    I shiver at
    the thought of water
    .
    Blessed Ayeyame
    Ughelli, Nigeria
    .
    .
    The power of the wind, and being on a shore that shows an almost unearthly powerful volume of water, awesome!
    .
    .

     
    receding wave
    the world slips
    from under my feet
    .
    Bob Whitmire
    Round Pond, Maine
    .
    .
    When the earth slips or slides beneath our feet, perhaps we are then mindful we are resting upon a huge body of earth, rock, and water, hurtling around a body of space and stars. What can we reach out and touch in reality?

    .
    .
     
    rough waters
    the smoothest stone
    in the surf
    .
    C.R. Harper
    .
    .
    Rough waters, but there’s a smoothness that combines with it, and here we are, in between.
    .
    .
     
    stretching my arm
    outside the rowboat
    soft waterlily petals
    .
    Carmen Sterba
    .
    .
    Extending beyond the ‘world’ of our boat, and in between wood and water, waterlilies.

    .
    .

     
    sand between my toes oyster pearl
    .

    carol jones
    Wales
    .
    .
    The sand between our toes is perhaps one of our strongest sensations as a child, discovering an aspect of the world where our landbase is actually very close indeed with a vast body of water (the oceans). Sensations are combined with shells and stones, and perhaps some bladderwrack too!
    .
    .

     
    low tide
    crabs touching
    the moon
    .

    cezar ciobika
     .
    .
    The combination, how simple it seems, of low tide, and little creatures touching the moon, is incredibly deeply moving.
    .
    .

     
    seashore
    touching your smile
    with my lips
    .
    Christine Eales
    UK
    .
    .
    Deeply sensual, incredibly tactile, and at the seashore, with all the extra sensations of the seaside. Lots of intermingling sensations without (over)stating, as any haiku should avoid.
    .
    .
     

     
    don’t touch written all over her face sunburn
    .
    Corine Timmer
    .
    .
    Even without ‘sunburn’ we should respect what are real and obvious signs moving across our faces. I’ve experienced some incredible sunburn, as a teenager, a time where we often don’t know how to switch on commonsense.
    .
    .
    end of beach day
    the gritty sand
    in my sandals
    .
    Debbi Antebi
    London, UK
    .
    .
    Ah, yes, we can never ever completely wash out those grains of salt, even if there is a beach based shower faucet! Great sensory feel here!
    .
    .

     
    your beach towel
    the scratch of sand
    against my cheek
    .
    Deborah P Kolodji
    Temple City, California
    .
    .
    There is something deeply personal about our beach towels, with all its aspects of body scent, suntan oils, or sun protection oils, etc…. I can’t tell what the family connection or friend dynamic is here, but something subtly powerful is approached in that wonderful last two lines, made further powerful by ‘your’ beach towel.
    .
    .
     

    lost dolphin
    the laying-on
    of hands
    .
    dl mattila
    USA
    .
    .
    The laying on of hands can be a powerfully religious statement, and experience, which I’ve felt in various context situations, see my comment of the Humpback whale, but also in a spiritual manner. What is a lost dolphin though? They exist in pods, family groups, what is like to have no family? We have too many children ‘in care’ or in prison, and I could think of those denied by the State, of allowing family comfort.
    .
    .

     
    fisherman in boat
    feels giant tentacle
    tapping his shoulder
    .
    Erick Harmon (age 10)
    Los Angeles, California
    .
    .
    Wow! Octopus or Squid? Highly intelligent and wonderful, yet we hunt them down and eat them. Thank goodness most of our co-animals don’t do that to us! Perhaps this creature is simply asking ‘Why?”
    .
    .

     
    riverbank
    the pebbles I put
    in my pocket
    .

    Eva Limbach
    .
    .
    Simple but wonderful! Or it it? Virginia Woolf did this to kill herself as society we distance ourselves from those suffering from mental health issues. What is it like to prepare to lose our life by design?

    .
    virginia woolf loading stones to kill herself
    http://virginiawoolfblog.com/when-virginia-went-missing/
    .
    .
    I feel tearful as we have lost at least two beloved haiku poets to water.
    .
    .

     
    sea lichen
    on my arm
    a new tattoo
    .
    Hifsa Ashraf
    Pakistan
    .
    .
    Ah, the creatures that adorn us, if only for a moment. Love the tactile moment!

    .
    .

     
    fading light
    the neap tide
    slips between our toes
    .

    John Hawkhead
    .
    .
    Ah, the neap tide between our toes, such a powerful moment, as it’s the circling moon that does that.
    .
    .

     
    beach party
    the feel of my shoes
    in my hand
    .
    Kath Abela Wilson
    Pasadena and Santa Barbara, California
    .
    .
    An interesting and highly effective switch of footwear held by our hands, as we connect further with our planet, and with a beer or two, I hope!
    .
    .

    Indian Ocean
    I touch my childhood
    on its shore
    .
    Madhuri Pillai
    .
    .
    I love the last two lines, and especially up against an ocean, reminding us of our origins perhaps.
    .
    .

     
    rough seas
    she wears his old jacket
    still holding her
    .
    Margaret Bissell Walker
    .
    .
    Rough seas, both literally, and metaphorically, where our old jacket (which could be our body in later years) still holds us as we travel our life year by year.
    .
    .
     

     
    the slither
    of a fresh oyster
    seaside lunch
    .
    Marietta McGregor
    .
    .
    I still remember my first oysters, and forever addicted. Perhaps because I was deserted at Christmas time, and all alone in a foreign country. Primordial? Who are you calling a primative! 🙂 A great sensation, for some of us, or deeply disturbing.
    .
    .

     
    beach towel
    shells with ripples
    shells without
    .
    Marilyn Appl Walker
    .
    .
    Neat touch of repetition and observation!
    .
    .

     
    smooth pebbles
    skim the surface…
    beachcomber
    .
    Marilyn Ashbaugh
    Edwardsburg, MI
    .
    .
    To be Robinson Crusoe, with just one close companion perhaps?
    .
    .

     
    fading scar
    running my fingers
    along the shell’s fracture
    .
    Mark Gilbert
    .
    .
    The switch between one raised carapace (poetic license) and another. Great comparision of sensations. And do we not bleed?
    That’s an allusion to the great play about prejudice called ‘The Merchant of Venice’.
    .
    .
     
    sunbathing
    a child places mud pie
    on father’s back
    .
    Marta Chocilowska
    .
    .
    Another great sensation, that of the mudpie on our back, expected or otherwise!
    .
    .

     
    pull of the tide –
    the slither of seaweed
    around my ankles
    .
    Martha Magenta
    England, UK
    .
    .
    The two sensations, that of the tide’s pull (the pull of our orbiting moon also) and the shifting, turning, and pulling back of seaweed. Wonderful, or disturbing, take your pick!
    .
    .

     
    fragments caught in bladderwrack –
    wood and shell
    line and hook
    .
    Mary Ellen Gambutti
    .
    .
    Wonderful, I mentioned bladderwrack earlier! Great word choice!
    .
    .

    moultrie creek
    feeling the loss
    of an eagle
    .
    Michael Henry Lee
    Saint Augustine  FL
    .
    .
    Fascinating contrasting images. Was this the awesome Sea eagle? But no, this is the time of a treaty between new European peoples and Native Americans. Was it honored? When we touch other cultures, do we not bleed or make others bleed. Deeply though provoking.
    .
    .

     
    tag and release –
    memories of the seashore
    slip through my fingers
    .
    Michael H. Lester
    Los Angeles CA USA
    .
    .
    The use of the verb ‘slips’ is deeply moving and emotive.
    .

    pelting rain…
    the young sailor
    clutches a steel rail
    .
    Michael Smeer
    Haarlemmermeer, The Netherlands
    .
    .
    The sensation of steel, especially in cold wet weather, is very distinctive, as I recall in a Force 8 Gale on a tiny ship.
    .
    .

     
    reaching sea and sky starfish
    .
    Peggy Bilbro
    Huntsville, Alabama
    .
    .
    Wonderful monoku (one line haiku)!
    .
    .

    summer fling
    the seaweed’s
    slippery kiss
    .
    Rachel Sutcliffe
    .
    .
    Wonderful play on ‘kiss’!
    .
    .

     
    starfish
    in the palm of her hand
    no grip left
    .
    Randy Brooks
    .
    .
    Starfishes are so iconic as the water reflects the stars, and we call our craft that go into deep space as ‘ships’, and we hope our grip on all things stay firm.
    .
    .

     
    straining sand
    between his fingers
    talking to a girl
    .
    Rehn Kovacic
    .
    .
    An intriguing verse, using the device of ‘two “ings”’ and whether the opportunity to talk intelligently to another gender is lost or won.
    .
    .

     
    first autumn day…
    a sea duck faintly touches
    the waves
    .
    Réka Nyitrai
    .
    .
    Delightful light play which recalls Basho’s famous hokku (not a haiku, he never wrote one in his lifetime) of:
    .
    .
    海暮れて鴨の声ほのかに白し
    .
    umi kurete kamo no koe honoka ni shiroshi
    .
    darkening sea-
    the cries of wild ducks
    faintly white
    .
    Trans. Sonia Coman
    .
    .

    How we can all connect with something greater than ourselves and in the smallest way?
    .
    .

    starfish shore
    the baby touches
    her reflection
    .
    Roberta Beary
    County Mayo Ireland
    .
    .
    Wonderful first line! Isn’t it amazing when creatures are fascinated by reflections, not yet knowing, at first, they are seeing themselves for the first time?

    .
    .

     
    the brief caress of a moon jelly lingering burn
    .
    Robin Smith
    .
    .
    I’ve never been stung by a jelly fish despite living in Queensland, Australia. How we are burnt by passing interactions, human or otherwise, I flinch from my memories as a young and insensitive male.
    .
    .

     
    stranded jellyfish
    running my fingers
    round baldness
    .

    simonj
    UK
    .
    .
    Great coupling of images!
    .
    .

     

     
    patterns in the sand
    some of my childhood
    between my toes
    .
    Stephen A. Peters
    .
    .
    Wonderful phrasing!
    .
    .

     
    a butterfly
    on her belly on the beach –
    she still didn’t notice
    .
    Tomislav Maretic
    .
    Beautifully observed.
    .
    .

    .
    .

    high tide
    my fingers find the gap
    between his
    .
    Vandana Parashar
    .
    .
    Deeply romantic!
    .
    .

     Wow, what a journey through the arena of ‘touch’!
    .
    .
    warm regards,
    Alan

    1. It’s very generous of you, Alan, to share your comments and impressions. Thank you very much!
      Love,
      Marta

    2. Hi Alan
      Thank you for the comment on my verse, much appreciated 🙂
      I know its been said before, your write-up’s are of immense value, I can liken the reading to being in a class room, many thanks.
      *
      carol

    3. thanks as always, Alan, for your insight & generosity, & to all the others for the comments here – just quickly want to mention re: Anthony Rabang – jellyfish paired with vinegar – I googled this to learn that vinegar is effective with stings… in case anyone has that misfortune!

      1. Kathy, you are so right, I forgot that one. I’ve been lucky to have never been stung by jellyfish, despite the fact they’ve been prevalent in Queensland waters. Vinegar is a wonder liquid for household chores, which I use almost every day, including the occasionally burnt pan! 🙂

  12. Kathy, this column has inspired me to write new haiku every week. Thank-you for being my muse and for including one of mine this week.

  13. Another delightful arrangement of poems, congratulations everyone 🙂
    Many thanks Kathy for including one of mine. This session has been a wonderful experience.
    I’m looking forward to reading your choices and commentaries next week.

  14. Thanks, Kathy. My favourites this week:

    digging in my heels
    the give and take
    of the tide

    Holli Rainwater
    Fresno, OH USA

    spring lake
    its icy grip
    on our ankles

    Ruth Powell

    heading home
    flip flops shed
    the last grains of sand

    Karen Conrads Wibell

    It’s been fun to experience the shore through all five senses 😊

  15. Another great selection to read – the one that stays with me this time is Greer Woodward’s “learning to float” Thanks for including mine.

    1. Thanks, Pat. I’m glad you liked my haiku. Kathy’s assignment brought back this sweet memory which was fun to revisit. Thanks, Kathy

  16. Oh, Katy, I’m really excited about this new choice with your comment. I’m born at the sea and I always live by the sea in winter, it’s so beautiful. I have read many beautiful haiku in this selection, congratulations to all the participants
    angiola

  17. I am thrilled to have one of my haiku included here, Kathy, thank you. I too love Greer Woodward’s that you commented on. That feeling of your dad’s hand on your back as you are learning to swim – will he take it away or won’t he? I also particularly enjoyed the haiku by Will Nixon, Terri French, Randy Brooks, Pat Davis and Deb Kolodji. Many, many here to savor. Looking forward to mountains now, as I live in the mountains.

  18. Thanks so much Kathy and thanks for the comment. Wonderful selection this week! Congratulations everyone. I don’t have much experience of mountains but am looking forward to the challenge and the change of scenery.

  19. Thank you so much, Kathy. This has been a delightful experience. I’ve printed it out and intend to spend the afternoon with some wonderful poets. Thanks everyone for sharing and caring.

  20. Thanks Kathy for including mine.
    I especially liked what Bob Whitmire wrote:
    .
    receding wave
    the world slips
    from under my feet
    .

  21. Squishy mud and gritty toes . . . what a variety this round, some amusing, and this one, which I found sad, even after researching the verb used by dl mattila:
    .
    lost dolphin
    the laying-on
    of hands
    .
    So pleased that mountains are coming up next, and thank you, kj, for choosing one of my shoreline feelies.

  22. Thanks so much Kathy, your empathy for the quake casualties and those affected is very much appreciated.
    Congratulations everyone for this week’s wonderful selection!
    Thank you so much for commentary! 💕
    Have a great week ahead,

    1. still thinking of you & your part of the world with news of yet another quake – stay safe!

  23. Thanks Kathy for including mine in this collection of “touching” haiku. Loved Martha Magenta’s slithery kelp. Reminded me of being in Lake Michigan oh so long ago. Excellent haiku all. Now to pack for the mountains.

  24. Thanks kjmunro for adding one of my to this tasty collections. I have really enjoyed being at the shore and look forward to the new challenge!

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