HAIKU DIALOGUE – Allusion – Engaging with Other Forms – long list
Allusion with Guest Editor Allyson Whipple
Though the writing of haiku is often a solitary act, each individual effort is part of a centuries-old tradition that is bound up in a larger collective impulse. Allusion allows us to be in dialogue with both the past and present, focused within the world of literature or expanding out to broader cultural memory. Using allusion also reminds us that nobody creates in a vacuum; our poetic selves are comprised of all we have written, studied, and experienced. Over the next several weeks, we will focus on writing allusive haiku that foster our sense of a global haiku collective.
Below is Allyson’s selection of poems on the topic of Engaging with Other Forms:
Architecture
stone smiles
time’s teeth
gnawing at the edgeRashmi Mohapatra
Mumbai, India
The Rock Garden at the Ryoanj Temple
the invisible stone
in the temple’s garden
my new selfBoryana Boteva
Sofia, Bulgaria
Cinema
interstellar ensō
learning the language
of timeLee Hudspeth
United States
Spread-eagled horror
Bird flattens against phone booth
Alfred Spatchcock smashJohn Holder
United Kingdom
a lost memory lingers
on dying lips
rosebudTracy Davidson
Warwickshire, UK
grey skies
the trapeze artist
in full color
Eavonka Ettinger
Long Beach, CA, USA
Dance
swan lake …
the longing of
her returnMohammad Azim Khan
Peshawar, Pakistan
Digital Media
screen door
my trees morphed
into Minecraftsusan burch
Hagerstown, MD, USA
Illustration
“Red Riding Hood Meets Old Father Wolf”
Red’s wild hair
the wolf sinks
into submissionCorine Timmer
Faro, Portugal
Toad Illustrations of Matsumoto Hoji
once upon a hiccup,
a toadstool
swallowed my toadkarina klesko
Albuquerque, New Mexico
homecoming
recognising his master
he gives up the ghostW. G. Randles
Durban, South Africa
Literature
Around the World in Eighty Days
quarantine
around the world
with Phileas FoggPadma Rajeswari
Mumbai, India
Raymond Chandler
I confess to the death
of the shadowy figureMark Gilbert
United Kingdom
more airstrikes
the deepening red
of the poppyArchie G. Carlos
Minnesota, USA
a soft-dying day
the stirrings of autumn
on a wrought iron benchArvinder Kaur
Chandigarh, India
study mates
divvy up the reading list
one War, one PeaceMaxianne Berger
Outremont, Quebec
Music
“6 Pièces pour grand orgue: No. 1, Fantaisie in C Major, Op. 16, FWV 28”
the certitude
of a church organ
the rabbit’s noseRichard Straw
Cary, NC, USA
Sunday drive
my child wants to open
the car windowsMinal Sarosh
Ahmedabad, India
love in the sand unscrawls autumn wind
Fatma Zohra Habis
Algeria
the things I thought
I knew back then—
I got in my wayC. K. Crawford
United States
christmas eve
a chorus of sparrows
comes to a hushsimonj
United Kingdom
cream on boiling milk stirs my memories
Lakshman Bulusu
Princeton, NJ, USA
weathering storms
the moral of the story is . . .
i am what i amLakshmi Iyer
India
meeting the
man of my dreams—
virtual realityTerri L. French
Huntsville, AL, USA
capricious weather
back and forth through seasons
on Vivaldi’s scratched discMirela Brailean
Romaniaearly thaw
his violin trills
birdsongNeena Singh
India
sense of completion—
with Hallelujah to the top
in one breathMinko Tanev
Bulgaria
“(Looking For) The Heart of Saturday Night”
night waits
sitting in a diner
staring at a dishBill Crawford
Dallas, Texas
“It’s all Right Ma, I’m Only Bleeding”
darkness alone on our favorite bench at the break of noon
John S. Green
Bellingham, WA, USA
spring forest—
whistling with the birds
my Papageno heartSanjana Zorinc
Bjelovar, Croatia
“Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 27 No. 2 ‘Moonlight’: III. Presto agitato”
flower moon
behind the Japanese cedars
presto agitatoDaniel McKinley
Palmyra, PA, USA
heatwave petrol
she skateboards
through the swan shitC.X. Turner
United Kingdom
healing balm
a white butterfly
visits my dreamPaul Callus
Malta
Painting
strict parents
the pitchfork says home
by midnightStephen J. DeGuire
Los Angeles, CA, USA
“At the Seashore (Nad brzegiem morza)”
swelling waters
my mother’s voice
lost at seaJahnavi Gogoi
Ajax, Ontario, Canada
sculpture garden
the bent back
of a masterLaurie Greer
Washington, D.C.
bare wall–
the space between
each dotNalini Shetty
Mumbai, India
stormy sky
the cry of a crow
piercing my thoughtsAnnie Wilson
Shropshire, UK
“Distant View of Niagara Falls”
autumn earth
the waterfall
fills their livesSusan Farner
USA
an old wooden chair
its lone lit candle deepens
his blazing night withinLorraine Schein
Sunnyside, Queens, NY
ash rain…
another dove dissolves
in darkAdele Evershed
Wilton, CT, USABasque bombing
the black and blue dust
still airborneRavi Kiran
IndiaGernika cries
in hell an eye on you
stars respondBittor Duce Zubillaga
Basque Country
closing the gate the dryad I was weeping
Sharon Ferrante
Florida, USA
crossroads diner
lattice-crust pie
just like homeSteve Bahr
Roseburg, OR, USAnocturnus strix
virtually everyone
seems connectedC.R. Harper
United States
“Number 1, 1950 (Lavender Mist)”
macro to micro —
lost in the vast depths
of lavender mistMark Meyer
Mercer Island, WA, USA
plucking a blue note
out of the sky —
the old guitaristLori Kiefer
United Kingdom
Paris in the rain
young woman loses grip
on her lover’s armMargie Gustafson
Lombard, IL, USA
potato eaters
the way my grands
put pa through schoolSubir Ningthouja
Imphal, India
“Scorned as Timber, Beloved of the Sky”
flourishing when the men leave her alone
petro c.k.
Seattle, WA, USA
“Self Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird”
Frida’s self-portraits
my confessional poems
our untweezed eyebrowsJackie Chou
United States
thorn and the lover
she pretends to do one thing
but does the otherKala Ramesh
Chennai, India
arles
backed by a bright sun
a farmhand strews out new lifeGuido De Pelsmaeker
Holsbeek, Belgiummuddy fields—
his shadow stretches
beyond the ploughNitu Yumnam
UAE
“Squares with Concentric Circles (Color Study)”
more colours
than I can count…
Kandinsky sunsetShloka Shankar
Bangalore, India
sleeping village
my dream climbs up
the cypress toward heavenChen Xiaoou
Kunming, Chinacypress tree
reaching the stars…
his barred windowMadeleine Kavanagh
Northern California, USAstar by star
the night descends
winter lonelinessMona Bedi
Delhi, India
you and I
and stars over the river …
our first nightNatalia Kuznetsova
Russia
“Still Life with Bowl of Fruit and Lemons”
a fruit bowl
as unhappy as Gauguin
with the rotBiswajit Mishra
Canada
“Still Life with Dead Game, Fruits, and Vegetables in a Market”
still life
looking through pictures
of the deadJohn Hawkhead
United Kingdom
“A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte”
school field trip:
leaning in
to see the dotsCharles Harper
Yokohama
summer stars
behind van gogh’s vase
a cricket songGovind Joshi
Dehradun, India
grandma’s farm
the dog claps back at
distant thunderAJ Johnson
Stephens City, VA, USA
all but vanished . . .
the white wolf
I feedVeronika Zora Novak
Toronto, Canada
“Untitled (Purple, White, and Red) by Mark Rothko”
colour fields —
morning thundercloud
crowns a montana skyMargaret Anderson
Vancouver, BC, Canada
“Vue de toits (Effet de neige)”
from my attic room
enjoying the suspended time
Effet de neigeCristina Povero
Italy
Picassso’s muses
the weeping woman
another scornedAndrew Pineo
Exeter, NH, USA
Printwork
in Kanagawa
the fishermen forget
to fishJoseph Chiang
Canada
trapped in a frame
the blue cat dreams of living
nine lives in 3-DJenny Shepherd
London, UK
Sculpture
Kurashiki’s canal
— memories burnished
in two bizen-ware cups.Tim Chamberlain
Tokyo, Japan
the bust from Amarna
an account of the lost eye
on her lipsSumitra Kumar
India
between wars
not knowing head from toe
dream as artAnne Fox
Broomes Island, MD, USA
column of hourglasses —
the sand of time binds
earth to skyDan C. Iulian
Romania
“Jason with the Golden Fleece”
golden fleece
too rich
for my bloodJerome Berglund
New Orleans, LA, USA
utopian dreams
of evolutionary endpoints—
grasping for the moonJonathan English
Washington, D.C.
the golden nose
of the big bronze bear—
rubbed for luckTony Williams
Scotland, UK
Theater
her shadow waits —
the shoji creaks
against the sunriseEclo
Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, UK
evening news
a friend brings the sound
of conch shellsRichard L. Matta
San Diego, CA, USA
Join us next week for Allyson’s commentary on additional poems…
Bios:
Guest Editor Allyson Whipple is the author of the haiku chapbook Postcards from Texas (Cuttlefish Books), as well as two free-verse chapbooks. She is the founding editor of Haiku Girl Summer and currently serves as the managing editor of Frogpond, and is at work on her reference work The Culinary Saijiki.
Assistant Editor Lafcadio, a former teacher, now works from home writing, editing and proofreading study guides for nursing textbooks. She lives in Tennessee. She has written poetry for a long time but a couple of years ago fell in love with Japanese micropoetry and hasn’t looked back. Lafcadio has been published in a number of journals and anthologies. She writes under the nom de plume of Lafcadio because nom de plume is so fun to say. You can read her poems on Twitter (X) @lafcadiopoetry or BlueSky @lafcadiobsky.
Assistant Editor Vandana Parashar is an associate editor of haikuKATHA and one of the editors of Poetry Pea and #FemkuMag. Her debut e-chapbook, I Am, was published by Title IX Press (now Moth Orchid Press) in 2019 and her second chapbook Alone, I Am Not, was published by Velvet Dusk Publishing in April 2022.
Lori Zajkowski is the Post Manager for Haiku Dialogue. She lives in New York City and enjoys reading and writing haiku.
Managing Editor Katherine Munro lives in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, and publishes under the name kjmunro. She served as Membership Secretary for Haiku Canada for ten years, and her debut poetry collection is contractions (Red Moon Press, 2019). Find her at: kjmunro1560.wordpress.com.
Portrait by Laurel Parry
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.
Photo Credit:
Banner photo credit: “Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals”, mid 1700s. Attributed to Tatebayashi Kagei (Japanese, active mid-1700s). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund 1960.183.
Haiku Dialogue offers a triweekly prompt for practicing your haiku. Posts appear each Wednesday with a prompt or a selection of poems from a previous week.
Comments (27)
Comments are closed.
Sorry to be so late to reply, but this was such a wonderful prompt. I’m grateful to be amongst those selected, Allyson. This was such a treat to read.
I was glad to see Mark Gilbert add his who-ku collection:
The Big Sleep
Raymond Chandler
I confess to the death
of the shadowy figure
Mark Gilbert
United Kingdom
This week’s ekphrastic prompt was a great learning experience! Enjoyed the links to various art forms and the haiku responses from poets. Thank you Allyson and the THF team behind this thoughtful exercise. Grateful to have my poem included in this amazing list.
What a delight to read this collection of haiku! I enjoyed every one. This series on allusion has been most stimulating. Thank you Allyson, and all the participants.
Thank you for including my haiku. It’s fascinating seeing the wide variety of source material, and of course a pleasure to be introduced to new or unfamiliar work.
Ekphrastic responses in literature traditionally described or summarised the work of interest, which is difficult in a form such as poetry and especially haiku. But allusion isn’t ekphrasis. Still, I see some of that in Guido De Pelsmaeker’s haiku inspired by Van Gogh’s ‘The Sower’:-
arles
backed by a bright sun
a farmhand strews out new life
More common is a response to the work, sometimes a personal response, and some tried to respond to the work as a whole rather than one aspect, such as mine, and also Charles Harper’s recollection about Seurat’s ‘A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte’:-
school field trip:
leaning in
to see the dots
Ekphrasis and allusion can put the original work into some kind of wider context, such as Anne Fox’ response to ‘Hat’:-
between wars
not knowing head from toe
dream as art
It’s interesting seeing poets’ attempts to respond to abstract art. Similarly, it should be tough to reference a piece of music with no lyrics other than through the title. In the past I’ve tried to capture the essence of sound or music in words and it is an interesting exercise.
stay tuned, Mark – there is more music to come in the future of Haiku Dialogue! cheers, kj
I get inspiration from music quite a lot so I thought I’d give it a rest this week, but will be interested in this in the future.
First time I’ve encountered a long list of this method and it made a great read this week. Thank you!
Thank you, Allyson, for including my ‘colour fields’ (Mark Rothko) haiku! I was excited to see it included with so many wonderful poems reacting to such diverse forms of art. These dialogues have opened my eyes to the global reach of haiku.
(P.S. Please note that I live in Vancouver, BC not Victoria. :-) Thank you!)
Whoops, sorry about that, Margaret! Not sure how I made *that* particular error. I know they’re quite different places!
No worries! Thanks for correcting it.
correction made – thanks for letting us know, kj
Thank you, Allyson for including my “butterfly” haiku in this selection. I would say that my “White Butterfly” song was more or less a blind choice, attracted to it by the title; then falling in love with it straight away as soon as I listened to it. ~ Congratulations to all featured haijin.
strict parents
the pitchfork says home
by midnight
/
Stephen J. DeGuire
Los Angeles, CA, USA
.
The humor in this one brought a smile to my face. Even though I didn’t know the title of the painting, the haiku instantly brought the correct painting to mind.
Thank you Valentina for commenting on my piece. I’m glad it brought a smile to your face!!
Allyson, I do like how you grouped the haiku. It must have taken you a long time.
Yes, it was a little extra effort, but ultimately was well worth it!
I actually had started keeping track of the various genres during the initial reading phase entirely for my own interest. And since I was using a spreadsheet it was fairly straightforward to sort things by their respective category. Having a system definitely helped.
Valentina and Allyson,
I agree with you that it was a unique way to group the haiku. It really was eye-opening and expanded my mind to allusions and connections to different artistic forms.
Thank you, Allyson for posting my “Starry Night” response. I am intrigued by both the similarities and differences in Chen Xiaoou’s and my haiku:) I am happy you posted them together. I enjoyed reading these marvelous poems and intend to reread them. Thank you, Kj, Lafcadio, Vandana and Lori.
Eavonka Ettinger’s haiku, “grey skies…” resonates…a rich imagery.
Thank you, Madeleine. It is a film full of amazing imagery.
Eavonka, I’m looking forward to watching it. 😊
I’m constantly fascinated by the ways in which people can create work so similar and yet so different! I also love seeing the different facts of a work which capture different people’s attention.
Allyson, yes, I agree and appreciate this opportunity to learn more about these works:)
I particularly enjoyed the exciting theme. Reading the selected poems doesn’t make me tired. Their meaning and messages are both inspiring and rich. I am pleased that my poem has been chosen. I appreciate it, Allyson!
Thank you for sharing your work with us, Mirela. I agree, I received some rich, meaningful poems!
Great grouping of poems.
I’m glad these resonated with you, Jerry!