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HAIKU DIALOGUE – Poet’s Choice – pathway

Welcome to Poet’s Choice!

Let’s talk about haiku! You are invited to respond to photographs – I will share a photo each week as a prompt for your writing…

For this series, each poet may send one haiku on the week’s theme, and it will be included in the blog post. There is no selection process. The haiku appear in the order in which we received them.

Submit an original unpublished poem via our Contact Form by Saturday midnight on the theme of the week, including your name as you would like it to appear, and place of residence. (If you send more than one poem, only the first one will be posted.)

Please note that by submitting, you agree that your work may appear in the column – neither acknowledgment nor acceptance emails will be sent. All communication about the poems that are posted in the column will be added as blog comments.

next week’s theme:  

The deadline for this theme is midnight Pacific Time, Saturday 14 September 2019.
I look forward to reading your submissions.

Poet’s Choice:  pathway

Here are the submissions for this week:

sticks & stones I learn to compartmentalize

Robin Anna Smith

 

how far
I’ve come
cobbled road

Jean Holland

 

step by step
stone by stone
autumn light

Maria Concetta Conti

 

following
mom’s footsteps
pebble road

Jackie Chou
Pico Rivera CA USA

 

illusory
the cobble stones
triggers her vertigo

Christina Chin

 

waiting to be
picked up…
footprints

Lakshmi Iyer

 

burning fields…
puddles of spring water
in the desert

Francesco Palladino

 

weeds through the cracks
some of my regrets
linger

Stephen A. Peters

 

the road less traveled
led me to where
I was meant to be

dianne moritz

 

wearing them quite effortless
filling them…not so much
father’s shoes

Anjali Warhadpande

 

today’s last stop oh, the texture of this journey

Risë Daniels

 

step by step
the mosaic
of my life

Aljoša Vuković
Šibenik, Croatia

 

white matter disease
the neural pathways it takes
to tie shoes

Autumn Noelle Hall

 

stone garden
each raindrop
another color

Guliz Mutlu

 

poems in motion
hop skipping corners
of path way

Radhamani sarma

 

decisions afoot
stone stop signs surrounding squares
urban wilderness

Sherrod Taylor

 

green shoots
between the stones
a new journey

Xenia Tran

 

dementia
between the stones
a little green

Marilyn Ashbaugh

 

thin leather
contained steps
on cobble

nancy liddle

 

after midnight
weaving down the walk
on spike heels

Barbara Tate

 

so many gone…
a crooked x
marks the spot

Marietta McGregor

 

morning light
my mind pause
in the hopscotch

Neni Rusliana
Indonesia

 

shoe bite…
we don’t know what others
are going through

Vandana Parashar

 

spring leaf
a sheet memoir
of his life

Eva Su

 

path of stones –
new shoes
unknown footprints

vincenzo adamo

 

lollypop
my shoe stuck
to the quay

Pris Campbell

 

contemplating
the cobblestones –
my thought patterns

Sari Grandstaff

 

rocky horizon
hanging on the laundry line
everything we own

Babs McGrory

 

stepping stones across the pond the stars

john hawkhead

 

stones laid
end to end
my life’s path

Michele L. Harvey

 

warm hands –
the smell of each stone
becomes home

Carmela Marino

 

sound of footsteps
cutting through the fog
weathered memories

SD Desai

 

walking shoes
his geometric path
her quilted quips

Christina Pecoraro

 

do these shoes
look okay with these pants?
not more weeds!

joel

 

next step…
pebbles smooth beneath
my feet

Anitha Varma

 

someone sat on
cobbled path, plants grown between –
shoes on legs

Aju Mukhopadhyay

 

clip-clop
clip-clop
cobblestones

Olivier Schopfer
Switzerland

 

that song in her head
she dances carefully
across the lane

Rehn Kovacic

 

wandering –
the pilgrim wears
the perfumes of the world

girovagando –
il pellegrino indossa
i profumi del mondo

Angela Giordano
Italy

 

walking alone…
memories of ancient steps
on those pebbles

Rosa Maria Di Salvatore

 

ah perfect
let’s play
hopscotch

Paul Geiger
Sebastopol CA

 

the wall of illusion –
my quest of a good haiku
at wit’s end

M.S.Chintak

 

Soba hotela
Jutarnje Sunce stvara
rasvjetnu scenu

Hotel room
The morning sun creates
the lighting scene

Zrinko Šimunić

 

Fighting for its life
Amidst stop signs made of stone
The brave grass survives

Margie Gustafson

 

path of pebbles
leaving behind
silence

Kumarendra Mallick

 

noon breeze
between cracks in the pavement
a moth carcass

Agus Maulana Sunjaya

 

dental surgery –
the missed opportunity
to brush

Robert Kingston

 

burdock hooks
on the moccasins
dandelion rosettes

simonj
UK

 

sacred spaces
who knows who lies below
no shoes here

Vishnu Kapoor

 

dandelion sprouts
between the cobblestones
Diagon Alley

Susan Bonk Plumridge

 

patriarchal shadow overstepping my double helix

Hifsa Ashraf
Pakistan

 

matching the patterns
cut from different cloths
wedding quilt

Laurie Greer

 

green weeds
on stone pavement
counted passers

Slobodan Pupovac
Zagreb, Croatia

 

stone walkway
the softness
of old shoes

Steve Tabb

 

old sidewalk
fresh twigs lead
me home

Sudebi Singha

 

narrow territories
how I let the light
in

Neelam Dadhwal

 

cobblestone pathaway
he did mind about the gap
between my teeth

Sanela Pliško

 

old town path
flowers grow and survive
between pavers

Tsanka Shishkova

 

damn weeds!
caused one ugly OCD
episode

Franjo Ordanic

 

loose stones
three millennia of dust
between my toes

Peggy Hale Bilbro
Alabama, USA

 

bumpy road
jumping in with both feet
will I ever learn

Karen Harvey

 

crossing the street
you stand in awe –
some patterns

Adrian Bouter

 

altair design
the patience required
to fill in the patterns

Ingrid
Macedonia

 

empty honeycombs
dad always notices
solely my faults

Radostina Dragostinova

 

those missing pieces in life’s jigsaw puzzle catch-22

Madhuri Pillai

 

a long pathway –
jacaranda blossoms fall
on mother’s footprints

arvinder kaur
Chandigarh, India

 

bumpy path
beginning and end
of the life

Ljiljana Dobra
Sibenik Croatia

 

each word a stone
set to save the world
green grows through

Kath Abela Wilson
Pasadena, CA

 

sunlight –
a grass without a name
among the pebbles

Maria Teresa Piras

 

chipped moon
even the cemetery stones
are patchwork

wendy c. bialek

 

each painstaking pebble
perfectly placed he lives
in fear of a growth spike

Helen Buckingham

 

symmetries:
another step and our eyes
will meet again

Elisa Allo

 

Vrbnik wheel
step by step I’m learning
curved Glagolitic

(Note: Vrbnik wheel made of sea pebbles, teaches the old Croatian alphabet called glagolitic script. The rosette is a circle divided into eight identical fields. All glagolitic letters can be derived in them.)

Dubravka Šćukanec
Zagreb, Croatia

 

distracted by weeds
journey’s first steps
follows directions

Kathleen Mazurowski

 

liar steps:
I pick up the silence of the days from the ground

passi bugiardi:
raccolgo da terra il silenzio dei giorni

Giuliana Ravaglia

 

seeds of protest
finding the cracks
in the system

Margaret Walker

 

flagstone path
between my toes
the scent of thyme

Astrid Egger

 

birds drop seeds
in the smallest places
a bit of green

Carmen Sterba

 

rocks cracks green cracks rocks
rocks cracks roots cracks rocks
rocks rocks earth rocks rocks

John S Green

 

stepping on gray stones
through the labyrinth I walk
practicing patience

Trilla Pando
Houston, USA

 

another one
for the monument
the god of lilies

Alan Summers
Rockhampton, England

 

forgotten path…
out of the blue the scent
of childhood

cezar ciobîcă

 

walking,
the autumn
on tiptoe

camminando,
l’autunno
in punta di piedi

Angiola Inglese

 

Not in line
nor a perfect oval
just a human

Nadejda Kostadinova

 

summer job
the weight of
father’s shoes

Roberta Beary
County Mayo Ireland

 

dappled sunlight
trying to fit together
like and unlike

Claire Vogel Camargo

 

counting stones
he never makes
eye contact

Nancy Brady

 

tiny pawprints
between cobblestones…
gibbous moon

Theresa A. Cancro
Wilmington, Delaware, USA

 

bent shadow –
the slow journey
no crowds

Lemuel Waite

 

just before
he advances
the bishop pauses

Susan Rogers
Los Angeles, CA USA

 

through the door
to fairyland
ancient paths
for young feet

Greer Woodward
Kamuela, HI

 

 

Katherine Munro lives in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, and publishes under the name kjmunro. She is Membership Secretary for Haiku Canada, and her debut poetry collection is contractions (Red Moon Press, 2019).

This Post Has 49 Comments

  1. I enjoyed all of the haiku this week very much.
    I was drawn to how the diamond shaped stone patterns looked like the markings on a chessboard and the feet looked like they were about to move diagonally, like a bishop on a chessboard. Then the more I thought about the bishop moving forward, I felt another layer of ambiguity under the idea of “advance” and how advances can be unwarranted. It was interesting how there were so many different interpretations of the patterned stones in this image.

    I liked the simplicity of

    sticks & stones I learn to compartmentalize
    Robin Anna Smith

    I like how the light filters into the frame for this haiku 

    step by step
    stone by stone
    autumn light
    Maria Concetta Conti
     
    This haiku evoked an image I thought of too, the weeds coming up through the cracks. Nice how the persistent weeds evoke regrets. 

    weeds through the cracks
    some of my regrets
    linger
    Stephen A. Peters
     
     
    Cool use of the term mosaic here and I like how the design represents a life.
     
    step by step
    the mosaic
    of my life
    Aljoša Vuković
    Šibenik, Croatia
     
     I really like how this haiku connects the stones and the green to a mind…the stones being the opaque, hard to remember places in our memory and the green being the living remembrance. Nicely done.
     
    dementia
    between the stones
    a little green
    Marilyn Ashbaugh
     
     
     
    The complexity and intricacy of our thoughts…beautifully evoked here.

    contemplating
    the cobblestones –
    my thought patterns
    Sari Grandstaff
     
     
    This one catches me. The stars are beyond the frame in this image, but then they are indeed beyond the frame of our earthbound pathways. I also like how the haiku leaps from stone to stars in one line.

    stepping stones across the pond the stars
    john hawkhead
     
    cool cacophony! 

    clip-clop
    clip-clop
    cobblestones
    Olivier Schopfer
    Switzerland
     
     I can just imagine the ancient steps…nice haiku.

    walking alone…
    memories of ancient steps
    on those pebbles
    Rosa Maria Di Salvatore
     
    Love the levity here. And the invitation to play.

    ah perfect
    let’s play
    hopscotch
    Paul Geiger
    Sebastopol CA
     
     
    How interesting and unexpected, the moth carcass left behind. I love the focus and the detail here. 

    noon breeze
    between cracks in the pavement
    a moth carcass
    Agus Maulana Sunjaya
     Love this one. Narrow and brief yet luminous.

    narrow territories
    how I let the light
    in
    Neelam Dadhwal
     
    I like the story suggested here. So much more is hinted at in the space between. The gap connects the pathways.

    cobblestone pathaway
    he did mind about the gap
    between my teeth
    Sanela Pliško
     
      
     Love the optimism of the green that grows and saves despite the stones.

    each word a stone
    set to save the world
    green grows through
    Kath Abela Wilson
    Pasadena, CA

     Even though the sunlight illumines the grass, it is still humble and unknown. Ahhh the anonymity of grass..
    sunlight –

    a grass without a name
    among the pebbles
    Maria Teresa Piras

     I like the juxtaposition of the chipped moon, an almost stone-like moon, and the patchwork stones. Nice use of “patchwork”

    chipped moon
    even the cemetery stones
    are patchwork
    wendy c. bialek
     
     
    Wow. This haiku carries a linguistic history lesson. I never heard of a Vrbnik wheel. Or even Glagolitic letters. How wonderful the wheel is made of stones and divided into patterns or fields.

    Vrbnik wheel
    step by step I’m learning
    curved Glagolitic
    (Note: Vrbnik wheel made of sea pebbles, teaches the old Croatian alphabet called glagolitic script. The rosette is a circle divided into eight identical fields. All glagolitic letters can be derived in them.)
    Dubravka Šćukanec
    Zagreb, Croatia
     
      Something captivating in the simple repetition of these words. Words like stones repeated on patterned pathways. Hypnotic. Like a mantra.

    rocks cracks green cracks rocks
    rocks cracks roots cracks rocks
    rocks rocks earth rocks rocks
    John S Green
     
     
    Avoiding the cracks perhaps? I like the idea of walking on tiptoe. 

    walking,
    the autumn
    on tiptoe
    camminando,
    l’autunno
    in punta di piedi
    Angiola Inglese
     
     
     
    I like the like and unlike here…And the dappled sunlight is beautiful.
    dappled sunlight

    trying to fit together
    like and unlike
    Claire Vogel Camargo
     
      
    I can see the door open. It does seem like this could be a mystical path to another dimension. 

    through the door
    to fairyland
    ancient paths
    for young feet
    Greer Woodward
    Kamuela, HI
     
     

    1. Thank you Susan for noticing my haiku, where I tiptoe along with the autumn that comes forward ….

    2. Thanks for including miné, Susan, and so happy you saw the open door. Alice had the coolest way of getting Somewhere Else with the rabbit hole. To my way of thinking, another dimension is always right next to you: all you have to do is put your arm around its shoulder.

    3. Thank you Susan Rogers for your wonderful comments on my submission:

      I like the juxtaposition of the chipped moon, an almost stone-like moon, and the patchwork stones. Nice use of “patchwork”

      chipped moon
      even the cemetery stones
      are patchwork
      wendy c. bialek

    4. Thanks, Susan. Comments are always highly appreciated. Did you notice my intention to make it look like a weed bursting through the rocky terrain and the paved surface?! Your comments were a surprise but I agree with the mantra feel…

  2. I love all the haiku presented. I was struck by Elisa Allo’s “geometry of life” … a very deep haiku
    symmetries:
    another step and our eyes
    will meet again

    it’s still …

    dementia
    between the stones
    a little green
    Marilyn Ashbaugh
    così vero…

  3. I didn’t contribute this week as I struggled to get what I was trying to create on paper, but enjoyed the reading as always.
    *
    seeds of protest
    finding the cracks
    in the system
    *
    Margaret Walker
    *
    Needs no commentary as it says it all.
    *
    chipped moon
    even the cemetery stones
    are patchwork
    *
    wendy c. bialek
    *
    A lovely poetic image.
    *
    cobblestone pathaway
    he did mind about the gap
    between my teeth
    *
    Sanela Plisko
    *
    Intriguing story here.
    *
    stone garden
    each raindrop
    another color
    *
    Guliz Mutlu
    *
    Loved the garden reference and color.
    *
    white matter disease
    the neural pathways it takes
    to tie shoes
    *
    Autumn Noelle Hall
    *
    So true and clever use of the prompt.
    *
    sticks and stones I learn to compartmentalize
    *
    Robin Anna Smith
    *
    Double meaning when I remember the old childhood saying.

    1. Debbie –

      Thank you so much for the kind words! I will look forward to reading your entry for the coming week.

    2. Thank you for including my poem, Debbie–I hope the paper Universe opens to your creations!

      Autumn

    3. thanks Debbie for the recognition you have given to my submission:

      chipped moon
      even the cemetery stones
      are patchwork
      *
      wendy c. bialek
      *
      A lovely poetic image.

  4. Wow! Each week the time to read gets longer.
    Thank you everyone for the journeys.
    I picked these solely based on connection.
    .
    Thank you for the KJ for the photo.
    .
    .
    sticks & stones I learn to compartmentalize

    .
    Robin Anna Smith
    .
    .
    burning fields…
    puddles of spring water
    in the desert
    .
    Francesco Palladino
    .
    .
    white matter disease
    the neural pathways it takes
    to tie shoes
    .
    Autumn Noelle Hall
    .
    .
    stone garden
    each raindrop
    another color
    .
    Guliz Mutlu
    .
    .
    after midnight
    weaving down the walk
    on spike heels
    .
    Barbara Tate
    .
    .
    so many gone…
    a crooked x
    marks the spot
    .
    Marietta McGregor
    .
    .
    morning light
    my mind pause
    in the hopscotch
    .
    Neni Rusliana
    Indonesia
    .
    .
    lollypop
    my shoe stuck
    to the quay
    .
    Pris Campbell
    .
    .
    contemplating
    the cobblestones –
    my thought patterns
    .
    Sari Grandstaff
    .
    .
    stepping stones across the pond the stars
    .
    john hawkhead
    .
    .
    stones laid
    end to end
    my life’s path
    .
    Michele L. Harvey
    .
    .
    sound of footsteps
    cutting through the fog
    weathered memories
    .
    SD Desai
    .
    .
    clip-clop
    clip-clop
    cobblestones
    .
    Olivier Schopfer
    Switzerland
    .
    .
    walking alone…
    memories of ancient steps
    on those pebbles
    .
    Rosa Maria Di Salvatore
    .
    .
    ah perfect
    let’s play
    hopscotch
    .
    Paul Geiger
    Sebastopol CA
    .
    noon breeze
    between cracks in the pavement
    a moth carcass
    .
    Agus Maulana Sunjaya

    .
    .
    patriarchal shadow overstepping my double helix
    .
    Hifsa Ashraf
    Pakistan
    .
    .
    matching the patterns
    cut from different cloths
    wedding quilt
    .
    Laurie Greer
    .
    .
    stone walkway
    the softness
    of old shoes
    .
    Steve Tabb
    .
    .

    a long pathway –
    jacaranda blossoms fall
    on mother’s footprints
    .
    arvinder kaur
    Chandigarh, India
    .
    .

    Vrbnik wheel
    step by step I’m learning
    curved Glagolitic
    .
    (Note: Vrbnik wheel made of sea pebbles, teaches the old Croatian alphabet called glagolitic script. The rosette is a circle divided into eight identical fields. All glagolitic letters can be derived in them.)
    .
    Dubravka Šćukanec
    Zagreb, Croatia
    .
    .

    another one
    for the monument
    the god of lilies
    .
    Alan Summers
    Rockhampton, England

  5. This group of haiku gave me room for thought.
    .
    step by step
    the mosaic
    of my life
    .
    Aljoša Vuković
    Šibenik, Croatia
    .
    counting stones
    he never makes
    eye contact
    .
    Nancy Brady
    .
    contemplating
    the cobblestones –
    my thought patterns
    .
    Sari Grandstaff

  6. Even more good ku than ever this week, to my mind – well done everyone. The two that really stand out for me though are – Robin Anna Smith’s:
    .
    sticks and stones I learn to compartmentalize
    .
    what a great opening to the set!
    .
    and, yet again, Roberta Beary managed to touch a deeply embedded nerve with:
    .
    summer job
    the weight of
    father’s shoes

  7. I enjoyed reading this collection. So many perspectives!

    lollipop
    my shoe stuck
    to the quay
    Pris Campbell

    I loved this one. I had to look again at the photo – but then I “saw” it. Great eye, Pris!

    ………

    contemplating
    the cobblestones –
    my thought patterns

    Sari Grandstaff

    Definitely one to which I could relate!

    ……..

    dementia
    between the stones
    a little green
    Marilyn Ashbaugh

    Poignant and far too true!

    ………

    clip-clop
    clip-clop
    cobblestones
    Olivier Schopfer

    Like some nursery rhymes – it is simply fun to read aloud!

    1. The formatting separating each line did not work. So sorry. Makes it difficult to separate the haiku from the comments!

  8. Among these seemingly effortless haiku I would mention Hifsa Ashraf’s intriguing
    .
    patriarchal shadow overstepping my double helix
    .
    and Olivier Schopfer’s atmospheric
    .
    clip-clop
    clip-clop
    cobblestones
    .
    – a rare example of onomatopoeia in poetry.

  9. Dear Kathy, warm greetings. Delighted to see mine here, thanking you for including mine here, in this wonderful platform

    this week, my favorite of so many . A practical observation well portrayed here.

    dental surgery –
    the missed opportunity
    to brush

    Robert Kingston

  10. Enjoyed each one.

    Special appreciation to:
    .
    patriarchal shadow overstepping my double helix
    .
    Hifsa Ashraf
    Pakistan
    .
    and
    .
    matching the patterns
    cut from different cloths
    wedding quilt
    .
    Laurie Greer
    .
    My mind was exploring current and former paths without yielding a haiku, yours did. Thank you.

    1. There’s something wonderfully warm and cozy about a wedding (or any other) hand-sewn quilt. The love, thought and effort put into a patchwork quilt, either a project on your own, or as a group endeavour, brings back for me some lovely, convivial memories:
      .
      matching the patterns
      cut from different cloths
      wedding quilt

      Laurie Greer

  11. These all made for good thoughtful reading. This is my favorite:

    patriarchal shadow overstepping my double helix

    Hifsa Ashraf
    Pakistan

  12. Great compilation! I will read further when time allows. I am especially taken with Roberta Beary’s and Michele Harvey’s haiku.

    stones laid
    end to end
    my life’s path

    Michele L. Harvey

    *****

    summer job
    the weight of
    father’s shoes

    Roberta Beary
    County Mayo Ireland

  13. So many good ones. I especially like

    seeds of protest
    finding the cracks
    in the system

    Margaret Walker

    Perfectly written!

  14. white matter disease
    the neural pathways it takes
    to tie shoes

    Autumn Noelle Hall

    this one really stands out: such a brilliant use of the different elements of the picture!
    *
    altair design
    the patience required
    to fill in the patterns

    Ingrid
    Macedonia

    I love this one too–thank you for introducing me to Altair!
    *
    Vrbnik wheel
    step by step I’m learning
    curved Glagolitic

    (Note: Vrbnik wheel made of sea pebbles, teaches the old Croatian alphabet called glagolitic script. The rosette is a circle divided into eight identical fields. All glagolitic letters can be derived in them.)

    Dubravka Šćukanec
    Zagreb, Croatia

    Wow–didn’t know this either. Beautiful how you have put it together.
    *
    seeds of protest
    finding the cracks
    in the system

    Margaret Walker

    so clever and apt–I love those weeds as resisters!
    *

    1. Hello, Laurie
      Thanks for your kind comment. Have fun if these books are still around!
      Roger Burrows, English, used the tessellated patterns in Islamic art to produce a stunning range of outlines for children to enjoy colouring in. Laborious work, but the finished pages were well worth the effort. Not sure it was so great on the eyes, but a lot better than kids being glued to their gaming devices these days.
      Ingrid 🙂

    2. Laurie,

      Thank you for your kind words! (I think the idea of “resisting the system” often comes a bit too naturally for me. 😱)

    3. Hi, Laurie! Thank you so much for your high praise for my poem. I may just have to keep “brilliant” for my curio cabinet of best compliments.

      I loved the way I could feel the texture of the fabric in your quilting haiku–I admire all the fine stitches holding its piecework together!

      I also share your admiration for the other haiku you selected this week.

      Much appreciation,

      Autumn

  15. Looks like mine wasn’t received this week (sent it Friday night) or maybe the different formatting somehow messed it up. Anyway here it is (probably show up a mess if you are reading from your phone)

    home
    of
    comforts
    the
    away
    a stone path winding

    1. Formatting messed it up so here it is a one liner:

      a stone path winding away the comforts of home

    2. sorry, Rich – your poem was not received – thanks for adding it here, & I can only suggest Craig’s instructions:
      please make sure you see the following message: “Thanks for contacting us! We will get in touch with you shortly.” before you close your browser window or move on to another website. This ensures that your message went through.
      thanks for your understanding! kj

      1. No problem kj. I tried to use a bunch of spaces before words for a different kind of look and it just ended up a mess of words so I won’t try that again. I’ll always wait for the “contacting us” message in the future.

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