HAIKU DIALOGUE – door to door – doorknob

door to door

With a nod to ‘Haiku Windows’, a past feature from when I first began this column, & also an idea suggested a long time ago by poet Laurie Greer, for the next several weeks we will explore some concepts relating to doors. Be inspired by these prompts – I can’t wait to read where they take you – & please note that there is no requirement to include the words of the prompt in the poems… enjoy! kj

next week’s theme: doormat

The welcome mat at the entrance to a building, where you are invited to wipe your shoes before entering – & this word can also be used to describe a submissive person…

I look forward to reading your submissions.

The deadline is midnight Pacific Daylight Time, Saturday May 15, 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Please use the Haiku Dialogue submission form below to enter one or two original unpublished haiku inspired by the week’s theme, and then press Submit to send your entry.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 the commentary for doorknob:

I will begin my comments with a note submitted by Jim Kacian of The Haiku Foundation:

This is just a reminder of Matsuo Allard’s classic poem (from his 1978 chapbook of monoku “Bird Day Afternoon”):

alone at 3:00 a.m. –  the door knob turning slowly

Thank you Jim!
(find the chapbook here: https://thehaikufoundation.org/omeka/items/show/2433)

long before
the doorknob’s movement…
dog’s tail

Mirela Brăilean
Romania

Many dogs will demonstrate their superior sense of smell, sight, or, in this case, probably, hearing – they can be an effective alert system to identify both friend & foe…

my little boy
skipping out of the kitchen
sticky doorknob

Paul Geiger
Sebastopol CA

In this delightful scene, the poet captures a form of childhood innocence – the child unaware of mess left behind – & the reader left to imagine the honey or peanut butter trail, & whatever happens next!

a long flight
the sliding doorknob
still says “occupied”

Sari Grandstaff
Saugerties, NY

A reader may be nostalgic for the days of air travel, but not for this situation – even on a short flight! The extra detail conveyed through word choice – ‘long’, ‘sliding’, ‘still’ – add to this poem, as well as the uncommon location of the scene – this may have been the only airplane in the submissions this week…

coronavirus
a bag with food
on the doorknob

Slobodan Pupovac
Zagreb, Croatia

Whether giving or receiving, wherever one resides in the world, this timely pandemic poem will resonate. Let it remind us all to be kind to one another, & to be grateful for our friends, family, & neighbours…

turn of the knob a new life

Tiffany Shaw-Diaz
United States

Most one-line haiku require a degree of interpretation, & can therefore often be interpreted different ways. Here, the poet makes it sound so easy – just walk through that door – but one gets the impression that there is a lot more to this story, on the path to that ‘new life’…

& here are the rest of my selections:

low winter sun

still warm after she left

the rusty doorknob

 

Agus Maulana Sunjaya

Tangerang, Banten, Indonesia

 

 

turning the knob back

to his youth…

old country farmhouse

 

Alan Harvey

Tacoma, WA

 

 

doorknob

pushed and pulled

all these years

 

Alan Peat

Biddulph, United Kingdom

 

 

turning the handle

for a moment I’m back

at the old house

 

Alex Fyffe

United States

 

 

heating plant – 

on a frozen doorknob

the sun reflection

 

Aljoša Vuković

Šibenik, Croatia

 

 

doorknob…

I still hang on 

to his words

 

Ana Drobot

Romania

 

 

quarantine

the serpent-shaped doorknob 

almost hisses

 

Anitha Varma

Kerala, India

 

 

wishing life

were doorknob simple

Do Not Disturb

 

Ann K. Schwader 

Westminster, CO

 

 

recluse – 

her shaky hand lingers 

on the doorknob

 

Anna Cates

Wilmington, Ohio

 

 

sliding doors 

no doorknob required 

for memories

 

Anna Maria Domburg-Sancristoforo

The Hague

 

 

claw prints 

on the doorknob – 

guests to my old house

 

Anna Yin

Ontario Canada

 

 

porch dust…

a to do list dangling

from the doorknob

 

Arvinder Kaur

Chandigarh, India

 

 

squeaky doorknob – 

the giggly twins

pretend to sleep

 

Baisali Chatterjee Dutt

Kolkata, India

 

 

abandoned farm house

wildflowers

and tulip door knobs

 

Bill Fay

Fox Island, WA, USA

 

 

grandma’s welcome sign

on the doorknob – 

breaking isolation

 

Bona M. Santos

Los Angeles, CA

 

 

public restroom

the wet

doorknob

 

Bryan Rickert

Belleville, Illinois USA

 

 

class project – 

doorknobs

now coat hooks

 

Carol Reynolds

Australia

 

 

stuck at the doorknob – 

plucking courage

to face the music

 

Cristina Povero

Italy

 

 

just the ivy

holds the doorknob – 

old house

 

Daniela Lăcrămioara Capotă

Romania

 

 

homecoming – 

a bag of walnuts 

on the doorknob

 

Daniela Misso

Italy

 

 

door handle

I give her an

elbow greeting

 

Deborah Karl-Brandt

Bonn, Germany

 

 

spare room

the doorknob falls off

in her hand

 

Deborah P Kolodji

Temple City, California

 

 

Lockdown

the sun sometimes peeks

through the clouds

 

Dejan Ivanovic

Lazarevac, Serbia

 

 

after a storm

she turns the doorknob

with shaky hands

 

Devoshruti Mandal

India

 

 

change

i reach for the

doorknob

 

Didimay D. Dimacali

Norwalk, California USA

 

 

on the doorknob

traces of their visit – 

sticky fingers

 

Dorothy Burrows

United Kingdom

 

 

Mother’s Day 

a bunch of lavender 

on the doorknob

 

Elisa Allo 

Switzerland

 

 

washing your fingerprints

from my doorknob

early summer rain

 

Eva Limbach

Deutschland

 

 

do not disturb sign

two butterflies mating

on the doorknob

 

florin c. ciobica

Romania

 

 

on the tiptoes – 

a toddler reaches for

the world

 

Franjo Ordanić

Croatia

 

 

third door needs

a knob

another budget

 

Germina Melius

Saint Lucia

 

 

after an argument

lovingly the doorknob

opens the door

 

Gordana Kurtović

Croatia

 

 

moving day

I lock our old house

for the last time

 

Greer Woodward

Waimea, HI

 

 

brass doorknob

the shine 

of many hands

 

Helen Ogden

Pacific Grove, CA

 

 

pricking up her ears

the stable door’s iron latch

stiff with rust

 

Ingrid Baluchi

North Macedonia

 

 

doorknob…

my old password

spring kanji

 

Ivan Gaćina

Zadar, Croatia

 

 

doorknob

I’m raising my grandson

to open the door for us

 

Ivica Mlinar

Croatia

 

 

the doorknob tracks

who’s come…

who’s gone

 

Jim Niffen

South Dakota US

 

 

whodunnit dream…

i wake up with a start

hearing the doorknob turn

 

Joe Sebastian

Chennai

 

 

leaving

one turn is all

it takes

 

John S Green

Bellingham, WA

 

 

uncle’s arrival

the rusty latch

to his wallet

 

John Hawkhead

UK

 

 

knobs

turning

time

 

Kanjini Devi

The Far North, Aotearoa NZ

 

 

no need to hang 

a do not disturb sign

isolation rules

 

Karen Harvey

North Wales

 

 

doorknob – 

only the push

and pull

 

kash poet

India

 

 

my wish to live 

in the emerald city 

our amethyst doorknob

 

Kath Abela Wilson

USA

 

 

night hospital

the cold gloss

of morgue’s doorknob

 

Keiko Izawa

Japan

 

 

worn brass knob

turning and returning

a catch in her throat

 

Keith Evetts

Thames Ditton, UK

 

 

wedding toast

the clink of new rings

on new doorknobs

 

Laurie Greer

Washington, DC

 

 

closing time

the back soon sign

tangled in cobwebs

 

Louise Hopewell

Australia

 

 

locked door the doorknob somehow turning

 

M. R. Defibaugh

Virginia

 

 

lifting the child

to turn the doorknob 

her triumphant smile

 

Madhuri Pillai

Australia

 

 

Self-Quarantine 

my neighbor’s dog paws 

at the doorknob

 

Manoj Sharma

Kathmandu, Nepal

 

 

doorknob – 

a bag of chokos 

neighbour’s harvest

 

Margaret Mahony

Australia

 

 

adjoining room

the doorknob

slowly turns

 

Margaret Walker

Lincoln, NE, USA

 

 

guests at home – 

perfume of sanitizer

on the doorknob

 

Maria Teresa Piras

Serrenti, Italia

 

 

turning

with our elbows

doorknob

 

Marilyn Ashbaugh

usa

 

 

how small

this doorknob 

after all

 

Marion Clarke

Warrenpoint, Northern Ireland

 

 

tarnished reputation…

polishing the doorknob

with white cotton fingers

 

Mark Gilbert

UK

 

 

Eastern bluebird’s song

I forget to sanitize

the door knobs

 

Maya Daneva

The Netherlands

 

 

uncle’s funeral…

the rusted doorknob 

of our ancestral home

 

Meera Rehm

UK

 

 

dummy doorknob

spins childhood memories

Jack & Jill bathroom

 

Melanie Vance

USA

 

 

newspaper 

the thump on the door

brings more worry

 

Michael S Brock

Tennessee

 

 

dangling from the door knob

my daughter’s baby tooth 

sufficiently loose

 

Michael Henry Lee

Saint Augustine Florida

 

 

long gone

curdled verdigris

on the doorknob

 

Mike Gallagher

Ireland

 

 

key is with me – 

note with a shoestring 

on her front doorknob

 

Milan Rajkumar

Imphal, India

 

 

grandma’s room

the doorknob rusted

without use

 

Minal Sarosh

Ahmedabad, India

 

 

rusty doorknob

at the parental home

the only sound

 

Mira Jungić

Sisak, Croatia

 

 

family house…

the doorknob 

I never changed

 

Mohammad Azim Khan

Peshawar, Pakistan

 

 

the open sign

on the salon’s doorknob

finally…

 

Mona Bedi

India, Delhi

 

 

dull night

the shiny doorknob

of the pub

 

Mona Iordan

Bucharest, Romania

 

 

antique doorknob

the skeletons 

in her closet

 

Nancy Brady

Huron, Ohio, USA

 

 

childhood home

hand on the doorknob

I unlock memories

 

Neena Singh

Chandigarh, India

 

 

a touch of class

in an old friend’s new home

glass doorknobs

 

Olivier Schopfer

Geneva, Switzerland

 

 

stretching sleeves to open doors

 

P. H. Fischer

Vancouver, Canada

 

 

a brass doorknob 

shines through the debris 

8.1 earthquake

 

Padma Rajeswari

Mumbai, India

 

 

old farmhouse

a coat on every

doorknob

 

Pat Davis

Pembroke, NH USA

 

 

sleigh bells 

still on the door knob

merry Cinco de Mayo

 

Peggy Hale Bilbro

Huntsville, Alabama

 

 

doorknob

turning

the world

 

Pippa Phillips

United States

 

 

trees trimmed – 

solicitors hang out

all down the street

 

Pris Campbell

USA

 

 

butterfly

on the doorknob

spring reflections

 

Ravi Kiran

Hyderabad, India

 

 

doorknob

circular flow in the human head

 

Refika Dedić

Bihać, Bosnia and Herzegovina

 

 

white sock 

on the doorknob 

college tradition

 

Rehn Kovacic

Mesa, AZ

 

 

black bra

hanging from the doorknob

retired

 

Ron Scully

Manchester NH

 

 

brass beehives 

and the eighth door handle 

lignum vitae 

 

simonj

UK

 

 

coming back alone

I turn

the sticky doorknob

 

Srinivasa Rao Sambangi

Hyderabad, India

 

 

family reunion

the stick of the door lock

now and then

 

Stephen A. Peters

Bellingham, Wa. USA

 

 

doorknobs – 

we shake hands with them

on entry and exit

 

Stoianka Boianova

Bulgaria

 

 

final

hair makeup 

polished doorknob

 

Subir Ningthouja

Imphal, India

 

 

derelict building

from the doorknob’s hole

a fresh twig

 

Sudebi Singha

Kolkata, India

 

 

from knob to lever accommodation

 

Susan Farner

United States

 

 

the doorknob turns

as she slips into light…

last stop

 

Sushama Kapur

Pune, India

 

 

worn-out card key –

hesitating to turn 

the doorknob

 

Teiichi Suzuki

Japan

 

 

farm auction

the crystal door knob

brings two dollars

 

Tom Bierovic

DeLand, FL, USA

 

 

the one doorknob 

he forgot to wipe down…

a killer caught

 

Tracy Davidson

Warwickshire, UK

 

 

moving day

I pull the door shut

on my childhood

 

Valentina Ranaldi-Adams

Fairlawn, Ohio USA

 

 

doorknob ballet slippers

the daughter who will never

come home

 

Veronika Zora Novak

Toronto, Canada

 

 

this time

they tell us

the doorknob falls out

 

Wendy C. Bialek

az, usa

 

 

the door knob turns

the pain of knowing 

it’s not you

 

Wendy Gent

UK

 

 

the new neighbors

and a new gossip – 

golden door knobs

 

Wiesław Karliński

Namysłów, Poland

 

 

a doorknob

ancestors’ prints

on my fingers

 

Zdenka Mlinar

Hrvatska

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.

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