HAIKU DIALOGUE – Ad Astra – the universe
Ad Astra with Guest Editor Alex Fyffe
My name is Alex Fyffe, and I am honored to be the Guest Editor of Haiku Dialogue for the month of November. For this month, I would like us to look up and take inspiration from the vastness of outer space. Each week, in a series called Ad Astra (To the Stars), I will present a new topic based on the Great Out There, ranging from satellites to constellations. However, we will be avoiding our sun and moon, as they already get enough exposure in haiku, and, frankly, I think their egos are big enough as is. So we will focus more on their siblings and hopefully write some stellar haiku in the process. I look forward to reading all of your submissions each week.
next week’s theme: I haven’t been to a planetarium since I was in middle school, but the experience has still stuck with me through the years. Seeing the various stars of the constellations connected together to form a famous warrior, a giant bear, even a dipper or two — it helped me to see the universe in new ways. People have been organizing the chaos of existence for ages now, finding parallels between the limitless unknown and everyday life, writing the ordinary into the extraordinary. Look to the stars, especially to constellations or star clusters, for inspiration.
The deadline is midnight Central Time, Saturday November 13, 2021.
Please use the Haiku Dialogue submission form below to enter one or two original unpublished haiku inspired by the week’s theme, and then press Submit to send your entry. (The Submit button will not be available until the Name, Email, and Place of Residence fields are filled in.) With your poem, please include any special formatting requirements & your name as you would like it to appear in the column. A few haiku will be selected for commentary each week. 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.
below is Alex’s commentary for the universe:
Looking out at “the universe,” many of you set your sights on Orion, several were drawn to the comparison between stars and fireflies, and a few spent the night stargazing with owls:
Orion’s Belt …
holding up
his brother’s jeansFirdaus Parvez
India
open window
the firefly disappears
in the Milky WayMaya Daneva
The Netherlands
supernova…
the tawny owl
blinks onceGrace Galton
United Kingdom
Others found inspiration in children, seeing the expanding universe within an infant or in a child’s play:
child’s first smile expanding the milky way
Hifsa Ashraf
Pakistan
Beside the lake’s edge
My daughter sends waves rippling
Through Heaven’s riverGeoffrey Philp
Miami, Florida
On the other end, a number of you looked up to find loved ones that have left this life, turning grief into hope and beauty:
cot death
a small white feather
falls out of the starsJohn Hawkhead
Bradford on Avon, UK
after death
are we stardust
are you, dad?Christina Sng
Singapore
Thank you all for your wonderful submissions. I look forward to reading your “star clusters” haiku.
& here are the rest of the selections:
a van Gogh print
the widening galaxy
above the pinesPaul Cordeiro
Dartmouth, Massachusetts
in the celestial fabric
a rent
spilling starsChristopher Seep
United States
all the dreams
some of them mine
starry nightStephen A. Peters
Bellingham, WA, USA
milky way the kurta of a dervish twirls
Surashree Joshi
Pune, India
snow moon…
in the pale Milky Way
brilliant SiriusTsanka Shishkova
Bulgaria
outer space
our different kinds
of lonelinessDeborah Karl-Brandt
Bonn, Germany
constellations…
the river coursing
through our veinsJeff Leong
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
the Orion Arm
mother lights a lamp
in the pathway of starsLakshmi Iyer
Kerala, India
leaving the comfort zone millions of stars
Eva Limbach
Deutschland
the night sky trembles-
please don’t tell the stars
some of them are deadSarah Davies
Bedford UK
when you swim at night
you swim in fireflies
lonely under the starsZrinko Šimunić
Hrvatska
Milky Way…
my baby gives up
the pacifierFlorin C. Ciobica
Romania
stories at bedtime –
the request for a journey
galaxies awayGillena Cox
St James, Trinidad
owl hoots
I look directly into
a spiral of starsRoberta Beach Jacobson
Indianola, Iowa, USA
first freeze
the frosty sparkle
of starsPeggy Bilbro
Alabama
night swimming
over my head
the Milky WayKristen Lindquist
Camden, ME, USA
a speck in the galaxy
awaiting my turn
to explodeKünney
Richmond, VA
a galaxy
in a shell
filled with sandTony Williams
Scotland, UK
cosmic extinction
a poacher’s shadow
on the horizonRichard Matta
San Diego, California
cold night
a shooting star pierces
Orion’s BeltTeiichi Suzuki
Japan
endless sea
an empty kayak drifts
into the Milky WayBruce Feingold
Berkeley, CA, USA
Milky Way
throwing more wood
into the fireBakhtiyar Amini
Germany
each feather lands
on a Galilean moon
pillow fightAlan Summers
England
small labyrinth –
the universe revolves
in a snail shellNicole Pottier
France
offshore sailing
stars I remember
from my childhoodPris Campbell
US
stars –
how they resemble
porch lightsDan Campbell
Virginia
Cassiopeia
the dark mirror
of the pondHelga Stania
Switzerland
planetarium
my son admires
Saturn’s hula hoopTracy Davidson
Warwickshire, UK
on the tip
of Orion’s sword
fireflyTerri French
RV
the nearness of you stardust
Caroline Giles Banks
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
the view from Mars
another notch in
Orion’s beltPat Davis
Pembroke, NH USA
spiral arms our warm embrace
Bryan Rickert
Belleville, Illinois USA
milky way
a forest
of starsAmrutha Prabhu
Bengaluru, India
breaking up —
all the space i need
above meAlan Peat
Biddulph, United Kingdom
hilltop hut …
below the milky way
a candle flickersSubir Ningthouja
Imphal, India
tracing the Milky Way
in the night sky–
the open roadLafcadio
USA
a stellar tailwind
spinnin’ on the edge
of a blue starVicki Miko
California
summer forest
fireflies drift in and out
of the Milky WayRavi Kiran
India
Kuiper belt
all of this ice
between usDeborah P Kolodji
Temple City, California, USA
Milky Way
revolving within me
revolving with meMinal Sarosh
Ahmedabad, India
Milky Way
with a billion small suns
I listen to my heartLjiljana Dobra
Croatia
infinite sky
may be a star knows
my nameAnna Maria Domburg-Sancristoforo
The Hague, Netherlands
lullabies
for a billion stars
the past still livesAlfred Booth
Colombes, France
Sirius rising
an owl’s flight vanishes into
a burial groundRicha Sharma
India
cemetery flowers
a dewdrop holds
the Milky WayMeera Rehm
UK
roadside kitchen
a splash of the Milky Way
on her doughਸੜਕ ਕੰਢੇ ਰਸੋਈ
ਆਟੇ ਉੱਤੇ ਦਿੱਤਾ
ਆਕਾਸ਼ ਗੰਗਾ ਦਾ ਛਿੱਟਾArvinder Kaur
Chandigarh, India
the mother’s death –
in the Milky Way
more lightDan Iulian
Bucharest, Romania
the universe expanding my isolation
Rich Schilling
Webster Groves, Missouri
a cicada’s call
pierces the nebula …
River of HeavenNeena Singh
Chandigarh, India
supernova
a bit of stardust
in all of usMona Bedi
Delhi, India
star gazing
I step into
a blackholeMohammad Azim Khan
Peshawar Pakistan
the Milky Way making new wishes on old stars
M. R. Defibaugh
Chesterfield, VA
late night latte
the endless stars
in her eyesKanjini Devi
The Far North, Aotearoa NZ
browsing the App Store
Dad’s old book on the heavens
needs an updateCarol Reynolds
Australia
school star party
the telescopes aligned
in the bus circleSari Grandstaff
Saugerties, NY
a baby’s fingers
clench nothing
a star implodesMark Gilbert
UK
Voyager 1
reflected in a sunbeam
a single blue pixelGary Evans
Stanwood, Washington
wind chimes
the chill
of incandescent starsKeith Evetts
Thames Ditton UK
starry night
my cat’s Milky way
of lifeTomislav Sjekloća
Cetinje, Montenegro
Orion’s belt
asking for extra time
at the beach barRobert Kingston
Chelmsford, United Kingdom
Milky Way –
I search for
mineAna Drobot
Romania
a thousand stars
on her midnight blue sari
moon face(sari – traditional, Indian garment worn by women, measuring 6m in length)
Baisali Chatterjee Dutt
Kolkata, India
solar system—
wild bees gravitating
toward the daisyAnthony Rabang
Philippines
prussian blue and burnt umber
my brush searches
for infinity…Claire Ninham
North Yorkshire, UK
expanding universe –
how do I hold myself
togetherSusan Burch
Hagerstown, MD
rehydrated tea
from a vacuum-sealed pouch
this expanse of starsJoshua Gage
Cleveland, OH
Ursa Major –
the seven petals
of the clematisAngiola Inglese
Italia
starlit snow-
my footprints tracked by
the Great BearDorothy Burrows
United Kingdom
star gazing . . .
across the Milky Way
with a mobile appDejan Pavlinović
Croatia
lockdown…
sulle rive dei suoi occhi
l’ universolockdown…
on the banks of his eyes
the universeGiuliana Ravaglia
Bologna (Italia)
a flight of starlings
curls into the dusk …
I count the starsAnnie Wilson
Shropshire, UK
stargazing
I name them all
for youValentina Ranaldi-Adams
Fairlawn, Ohio USA
expanding universe –
filling with haiku
my blank spaceLuisa Santoro
Rome, Italy
November meteors…
not enough to make
all my wishesElisa Allo
Zug, Switzerland
glowing
on the garden snail
milky wayRoberta Beary
County Mayo Ireland
the one
that got away
shooting starMargaret Tau
New Bern, NC
summer triangle
each of us wishes
on a different starKath Abela Wilson
Pasadena, CA
dark matter spilling into the Milky Way on the water
Pippa Phillips
United States
clear of city lights
we begin to connect
the dotsP. H. Fischer
Vancouver, Canada
Hayden Planetarium
laser-hiking
the galaxyGreer Woodward
Waimea, HI
dark matter
the way we avoid talking
about vaccinesSusan Rogers
Los Angeles
Guest Editor Alex Fyffe teaches high school English in the Houston area. Although he has been writing haiku off and on for a decade, he only started submitting his work during the Global Event known as 2020. Since then his haiku and senryu have been published in various journals, including Frogpond, Modern Haiku, Failed Haiku, Akitsu Quarterly, and the Asahi Haikuist Network. Alex’s first glimpse of haiku was in a collection of writings by Jack Kerouac, and he found the work of Issa while studying abroad in Japan, but he didn’t fall in love with the haiku until he discovered the free-form work of Santoka Taneda. Currently, Alex uses haiku in the classroom to ease students into poetry and build their confidence as readers and writers. Alex also posts haiku on Twitter @AsurasHaiku.
Lori Zajkowski is the Post Manager for Haiku Dialogue. A novice haiku poet, she lives in New York City.
Managing Editor 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). Find her at: kjmunro1560.wordpress.com.
The Haiku Foundation reminds you that participation in our offerings assumes respectful and appropriate behavior from all parties. Please see our Code of Conduct policy.
Please note that all poems & images appearing in Haiku Dialogue may not be used elsewhere without express permission – copyright is retained by the creators. Please see our Copyright Policies.
This Post Has 32 Comments
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Thank you Alex for including my poem!
So many lovely poems, happy to be thinking about the unfathomable!
I love these:
all the dreams
some of them mine
starry night
Stephen A. Peters
Bellingham, WA, USA
supernova
a bit of stardust
in all of us
Mona Bedi
Delhi, India
stories at bedtime –
the request for a journey
galaxies away
Gillena Cox
St James, Trinidad
infinite sky
may be a star knows
my name
Anna Maria Domburg-Sancristoforo
The Hague, Netherlands
Sirius rising
an owl’s flight vanishes into
a burial ground
Richa Sharma
India
a galaxy
in a shell
filled with sand
Tony Williams
Scotland, UK
small labyrinth –
the universe revolves
in a snail shell
Nicole Pottier
France
A lovely theme and some powerful and beautiful responses. Congratulations to all the poets! Many thanks, Alex, for including my poem. Thanks to Kj and Lori too! As usual, I admired a great many of the poems. One that particularly appealed to me was…
a flight of starlings
curls into the dusk …
I count the stars
Annie Wilson
Shropshire, UK
Such a beautiful image that captures the wonder of murmurations!
Welcome Alex! I love your theme for this month. My mind and heart are always in the stars. I particularly like these poems:
a van Gogh print
the widening galaxy
above the pines
Paul Cordeiro
Dartmouth, Massachusetts
I am always fascinated by the way van Gogh saw his world. He gave us a gift with his vision.
……
endless sea
an empty kayak drifts
into the Milky Way
Bruce Feingold
Berkeley, CA, USA
I love the way Bruce has connected the sky with the sea.
……
I have to mention two more that are lovely. Baisali Chatterjee Dutt’s stars on a sari rather than in the sky, and Alan Summer’s pillow fighting children on their space themed bedcovers. Stars are wherever we look!
What a lovely collection! Thank you Alex!
Cheers Peggy! 🙂
Peggy said:
“…pillow fighting children on their space themed bedcovers. Stars are wherever we look!”
each feather lands
on a Galilean moon
pillow fight
Alan Summers
What an inspiring theme and sparkling collection of haiku! Thank you, Alex, for including mine.
I thought Annie Wilson’s starling and Anthony Rabang’s wild bee imagery particularly beautiful, and Susan Rogers’ dark matter haiku very strong.
Another one stood out for me as it totally represents the world through a “child’s eyes” – exquisite!
planetarium
my son admires
Saturn’s hula hoop
Tracy Davidson
Warwickshire, UK
I loved reading them all.
1.
November meteors…
not enough to make
all my wishes
Elisa Allo
Zug, Switzerland
I can sure identify with this one!
2.
breaking up —
all the space i need
above me
Alan Peat
Biddulph, United Kingdom
That is a melancholic one, still there is a wry humour in it.
3.
a baby’s fingers
clench nothing
a star implodes
Mark Gilbert
UK
I could see this so well, the baby – perhaps in his crib in the porch, trying to grab a stars … A star somewhere is imploding while this is going on…Lovely…A cosmic event and zooming in to a baby in his crib.
4.
a flight of starlings
curls into the dusk …
I count the stars
Annie Wilson
Shropshire, UK
I found this image totally delicious, especially that of the starlings “curling” into the dusk…I loved this picture…Thanks for sharing, Annie Wilson.
5.
the Milky Way making new wishes on old stars
M. R. Defibaugh
Chesterfield, VA
That is so true…! Lovely! 👍🏻👌🏻
6.
expanding universe –
how do I hold myself
together
Susan Burch
Hagerstown, MD
That one is so evocative…gave me.goose bumps….No words to explain… Speechless!
7.
planetarium
my son admires
Saturn’s hula hoop
Tracy Davidson
Warwickshire, UK
This is brilliant…Such delicate humour…Couldn’t stop smiling…👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
I am sorry about some typos which got into my comment above.
Anitha.
Thank you Anitha for your comments on mine.
Such beautiful haiku. It was a pleasure to read all of them. Thank you Alex for mentioning mine. 🙂
Thank you for submitting! I enjoyed all of the Orion’s belt poems this week, but yours made me smile.
That was the intention Alex. My younger brother was always trying to wear my older brother’s clothes and him being tiny it was fun to watch.
supernova
a bit of stardust
in all of us
/
Mona Bedi
Delhi, India
/
I like to think that this is true.
Oh it’s true, we are made of stardust, and none of us are native to this planet. We are just lucky no big entity has revoked our passports! 🙂
stardust . . .
the humans quietly
reassemble
Alan Summers
Stardust Haiku Issue 41 – May 2020 ed. Valentina Ranaldi-Adams
Very true–thank you for sharing, Mr. Summers! We are all constantly transformed and transforming matter…
Thanks Alex! 🙂
Coincidently, just found this quote:
“It is totally 100% true: nearly all the elements in the human body were made in a star and many have come through several supernovas.”
– Dr Ashley King
https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/are-we-really-made-of-stardust.html
dark matter
the way we avoid talking
about vaccines
Very nice, Susan Rogers!
*
Thank you Alex, for including mine, and congrats all haijin! I look forward to this every week, savouring each haiku with a freshly brewed cup of organic coffee _()_
Thank you for sending in your poem! And I agree, this poem from Rogers hits in an interesting way, how the second part changes our understanding of the words “dark matter.” I thought it was powerfully done. Some other covid-related poems didn’t make the cut, but this one felt fresh and sharp.
Your words lit the dark measure of my day. Thank you Alex!
Thank you so much Kanjini Devi!
I like yours a latte too!!
A light night decaf latte for me and twinkling steamed oat milk stars
cot death
a small white feather
falls out of the stars
/
John Hawkhead
Bradford on Avon, UK
/
This one is heartbreaking.
So true… makes you take a deep breath while reading it.
Thank you Valentina and Sandra – I’m really glad you like this – it covers a lot of space in our family
Welcome Alex. Thank-you for posting my haiku. Congrats to all the poets.
You’re very welcome. And yes, Hawkhead’s poem was a major standout for me, starting with those terrible words, “cot death,” the impact of which is already a lot, but then followed by this hauntingly beautiful image of “a small white feather” falling “out of the stars,” taking us in a single breath from the horror of sudden, tragic loss to the implications of cosmic divinity. At least, that’s how I read it, as though the infant had become an angel flying through the universe, finding some comfort in that thought.
Thanks Alex – love your reading of it!
Thank you Alex for including my haiku. Congratulations to all the poets here! My school’s star party is coming up next week. I loved this poet’s haiku. I thought it was a unique interpretation of the theme:
a thousand stars
on her midnight blue sari
moon face
(sari – traditional, Indian garment worn by women, measuring 6m in length)
Baisali Chatterjee Dutt
Kolkata, India
Happy to have your poem here. I have never been to a star party before–hope you have fun!
Thank you Alex for including mine.
When I taught at middle school I accompanied the third year to the planetarium, for me it was a fascinating experience every time more …
I look forward to taking my daughter sometime when she’s older. I know there are planetariums in my future! I know your poem this week already used the theme of a constellation, but I look forward to seeing what you submit for the star clusters/constellations prompt, too.
Welcome Alex
Great theme.
Thank you for including mine.
You’re welcome–feel free to take another hour at the beach bar, if you like; you earned it!