HAIKU DIALOGUE – Going for a Walk – on top of the world (mountains) – long list

Going for a Walk with Guest Editor Deborah Karl-Brandt

The late Buddhist monk and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh could see water in all its transformations. Water in the form of a cloud would soon become rain, a river, the sea, and it would help grow plants and trees. The trees would flourish and become paper on which the haijin would write their poetry, so that the cloud (water) would eventually be contained within the poetry itself. Nothing can exist by itself. Let’s take a walk together to follow the different paths of water and see where they will lead us.

Below is Deborah’s selection of poems on the topic of on top of the world (mountains):

misty mountain top
a swallowtail and I
bathe in sky

Adele Evershed
Wilton, Connecticut

 

when I look
the mountain moves
cold to the core

Alex Fyffe
United States

 

at the peak
cloudscapes redefine beauty
I am so small

Alfred Booth
Lyon, France

 

trail to the top
horse poop blossoms
with blue butterflies

Allison Douglas-Tourner
Victoria BC

 

late-night whiff
of mountain laurel
I remember when . . .

Allyson Whipple
St. Louis, Missouri

 

blue mountains
the weight of solitude
on my path

Anna Maria Domburg-Sancristoforo
The Hague, Netherlands

 

mountain peak –
your beauty transcends
the swirling mists of time

Anne Curran
Hamilton, New Zealand

 

mountain peak …
vertigo on the edge
of an eagle’s cry

Annie Wilson
Shropshire, UK

 

rice terraces
a farmer grappling
with the frosty night

Anthony Rabang
Philippines

 

footprints zigzag
up and down the hill shrine
light snow

Arvinder Kaur
Chandigarh India

 

sour sweet
taste of an early apricot
Nagano hills

Ashoka Weerakkody
Colombo

 

continental divide—
our long-distance affair
falling apart

Barrie Levine
USA

 

lichen patterns
on mountain boulders
… rock art

Barry Smith
New Zealand

 

hike to the teahouse
a chipmunk stops
with folded hands

Biswajit Mishra
Canada

 

indigo crumbs wrens tʃetʃeing

Bittor Duce Zubillaga
Basque Country

 

viewing them
from the mountain top–
mountains on the moon

Bryan Rickert
Belleville, Illinois

 

starting out stronger mountain mist

C.X. Turner
UK

 

rare flowers
lead me off trail—
other peaks and pinnacles

Caroline Giles Banks
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

 

mountain temple
in every praying
scent of resin

Cezar Florescu
Romania

 

mountain weeds
the path to grandma’s tomb
becomes so blind

欲寻祖母坟
怎奈漫山生野草
路径难分辨

Chen Xiaoou
Kunming, China

 

blanket on the ground
distant mountains
almost a hug

Cindy Putnam Guentherman
IL, USA

 

beechwood –
a 280-year-old tree
whispers stories

Cristina Povero
Italy

 

the prestige
of ski-jacket lift tickets
zipping up & down

Curt Linderman
Seattle

 

looking back
the mountain I climbed
higher than I thought

Cynthia Anderson
Yucca Valley, California

 

carved by wind
and rain –
the face of a mountain

Dan Campbell
Virginia

 

mountain trail –
the long shadow
of a pilgrim

Daniela Misso
Italy

 

mountain and i
casting off layers
morning yoga

Daya Bhat
India

 

half way up
I stop climbing
out of breath awe

Debbie Sterling
Oregon, USA

 

the mountaintop
she will never reach
sundown

Deborah Beachboard
Adna WA United States

 

unfolding spring
white pine candles
lighting the trail

Deborah Burke Henderson
Ashland, Massachusetts

 

crying bird
at the pine tree
water falls

Dexter Manalan
Philippines

 

no road to reach
the mountain fire
forging ahead

Eavonka Ettinger
Long Beach, CA

 

the alps
shoulder my memories
your last wish

Eleanor Dean
Massachusetts, United States

 

up a canyon
footsteps stop…
the sound of a breeze

Emil Karla
France

 

snowy mountain
warm
your name’s echo

Fatma Zohra Habis
Algeria

 

mountain marriage
the bride
in a palanquin

Govind Joshi
Dehradun, India

 

Emei Shan
a tea house
at every temple

Helen Ogden
Pacific Grove, CA

 

flip flops
on the Great Wall
the beggar walks with me

Helene Guojah
UK

 

a deep breath—
my sweat moistens
the alpine rose

Helga Stania
Switzerland

 

courage-teacher
out of the mist the mountain
gets its say

Herb Tate
Jersey, UK

 

sacred mountain
each thought becomes
a hymn

Hifsa Ashraf
Pakistan

 

path to Golden Rock
each footstep a dream
of her mother

Hla Yin Mon
Yangon, Myanmar

 

stiff knees . . .
on the steep descent
a butterfly’s broken wing

Ingrid Baluchi
North Macedonia

 

way to school –
a goat path disappearing
into the clouds

Ivan Georgiev
Germany

 

adjacent mountains
our longing
to be side by side

Jackie Chou
United States

 

hilltop dawn
floating above the clouds
wild orchids

Jagajit Salam
Imphal, India

 

thin air
a sudden vision
of shangri-la

Jahnavi Gogoi
Ajax, Ontario, Canada

 

Lake Louise
mountains of turquoise ice
in its DNA

Jan Stretch
Victoria, BC, Canada

 

mountain climbing
my father relearns
how to walk

Jenn Ryan-Jauregui
Tucson, Arizona USA

 

dinosaur footprints
on a mountainside
prehistoric uplift

Jennifer Gurney
US

 

racing a bear
up the mountain—
berry pickers

Jenny Mattern
Montana

 

breathless climb
an unseen flute playing
lifts me up

Jenny Shepherd
London, UK

 

taking
the first step
tying my shoes

Joevit Prado
Boracay Philippines

 

mountain path
in crystals of frost
the call of stars

John Hawkhead
UK

 

two of us
recalling the views
from various peaks

John Stevenson
United States

 

mountain pass snapshot wind blows away my cap

山口照風吹跑我的帽

John Zheng
Mississippi

 

last step…
mountain fog covers
my trophy

Jovana Dragojlovic
Serbia

 

mountain top
I can see clearly
where I strayed

Kanjini Devi
The Far North, Aotearoa NZ

 

dad’s applause
on my climb
cicadas

Kathabela Wilson
USA

 

hilltop breeze
the cherry petals stroke
fuji’s peak

Keiko Izawa
Japan

 

Boulder Mountains
truckers heads-down
playing pinball

Keith Evetts
Thames Ditton, UK

 

at the top of the
fell blue twilight – nothing to
talk about

kiti saarinen
Finland

 

atop the mountain
clouds and i
passing time

Lakshman Bulusu
Princeton, NJ, USA

 

the land(slides) moving mountains of debris a dark tourism

Lakshmi Iyer
India

 

mountain moon
the aura
of the summit

Laurie Greer
Washington, DC

 

in the mist
of the mountains we shared
my brother’s soul

Linda Schwab
Unites States

 

full moonlight
silvering leaves
the trail down

Lisa Billa
San Jose, CA, USA

 

mountain top
the path leading me
anywhere

Lori Kiefer
UK

 

a broken branch
breaks my fall —
climbing partner

Lorelyn De la Cruz Arevalo
Bombon, Philippines

 

our pace of reconciliation sawtooth

Lorraine A Padden
San Diego, California

 

from atop Delphi
you can foretell the future
by its ruins and clouds

Lorraine Schein
Sunnyside, Queens, NYC

 

O-bon festival
a plea for aid
all along the way

Luciana Moretto
Treviso Italy

 

second and third thoughts
swirling higher
mists of this mountain

Luke Brannon
Washington State

 

grandma’s spirit
her ashes soar
at the summit

M. R. Defibaugh
United States

 

grief
another mountain
I cannot move

Madhavi Karri
India

 

breathless
I am but a dot
above the vista

Margaret Mahony
Australia

 

end of the trail
the loud applause
of a waterfall

Margaret Tau
New Bern, NC

 

to climb Mt. Fuji
2000 yen admission
no poet discount

Margie Gustafson
Lombard, IL USA

 

60 SPF
the trail to the summit
so much slower

Maxianne Berger
Outremont, Quebec

 

my sons’ voices
running up the hill
ahead of my parents

Maya Daneva
The Netherlands

 

Mount Koubru—
sound of a Maibi’s handbell
in the mist

Milan Rajkumar
Imphal, Manipur, India

 

the litter
they leave behind
silent mountain

Minal Sarosh
Ahmedabad, India

 

after rain…
a stranger gives me half
from his sandwich

Mircea Moldovan
România

 

in dark hollows
Hell’s oil cauldron bubbles…
his whisper echoes

Mohua Maulik
India

 

mountain mist–
where we come from
where we go

Mona Bedi
Delhi, India

 

goosebumps in gingham . . .
savor with the smörgåsbord
the tea pickers’ song

Monica Kakkar
India

 

way to Adam’s peak
a swarm of butterflies
along with me

Nalini De Silva
Sri Lanka

 

misty ascent —
what lies beyond
keeps calling

Nalini Shetty
Mumbai, India

 

still talking about
the mountains climbed…
winter chill

Neena Singh
India

 

gunshot!
a mountain goat
goes silent

Nitu Yumnam
India

 

hiking trail –
golden eagles fly
over mountain ranges

Paul Callus
Malta

 

bet you won’t —
I climb Stone Mountain
to the moon

Pris Campbell
US

 

huge mountain –
still a little squirrel
steals the show

Ram Chandran
India

 

no path
the rest of the way
rocky top

Randy Brooks
Taylorville, IL, USA

 

three generations
in the mountain
they catch air

Refika Dedić
Bosnia and Herzegovina

 

breathing from
my fragmented body
a night mountain

Richa Sharma
India

 

hikers’ voices
almost drowned out
a mountain stream

Richard Straw
Cary, North Carolina

 

hiking boots
how our adventure
begins

Roberta Beach Jacobson
Indianola, Iowa, USA

 

mountains walk . . .
along a narrow path
our first kiss

Rosa Maria Di Salvatore
Catania (Italy)

 

mountaintop
always around next bend
dad leads me on

Ruth Happel
United States

 

mountain gorge
following in the footsteps
of the partisans

Ruth Holzer
Herndon, VA

 

an ant
crawling down the mountain
a shaolin monk

Ryan Carba
Philippines

 

Himalayas
a jeweled tiger leaps
into the sky

Sandip Chauhan
United States

 

mountain hut
for a while the roof
clouds

Satyanarayana Chittaluri
TGMS, Gundlapally, Nalgonda

 

a mini-iris
in a granite crevice
reaches for the sun

Sigrid Saradunn
Bar Harbor, Maine

 

mountains
my thoughts in and out
of myself

Stephen A. Peters
Bellingham, WA

 

summiting
to pose for photos
Diamond Fuji

Stephen J. DeGuire
Los Angeles, CA

 

fragrant ascent
at the beginning of the road
wild strawberries

Stoianka Boianova
Bulgaria

 

himalayan trek
an eagle’s shadow
surfs in the stream

Subir Ningthouja
Imphal, India

 

leaving the trail crow shadows

Sue Holmes
San Diego, CA

 

Immaculate silence
of the mountains
I find my voice

Sudha Devi Nayak
Bhubaneswar India

 

uphill drive
our taxi driver plays
his hometown songs

Sumitra Kumar
Chennai, India

 

inching the peak
of the spring mountain . . .
sunset beams

Suraj Nanu
India

 

unfamiliar trail
people from familiar
places meet

Susan Farner
United States

 

top of the mountain –
our shadows wave from
the lower clouds

Tomislav Maretic
Zagreb, Croatia

 

mountain trek
I forget everything
but my blisters

Tracy Davidson
Warwickshire, UK

 

in old winter boots
the old climber climbs and climbs
to the second floor

Urszula Marciniak
Poland

 

our indiscretions
the wind tells it all
to the mountain

Vandana Parashar
India

Join us next week for Deborah’s commentary on additional poems…

Guest Editor Deborah Karl-Brandt lives in Bonn, Germany, with her husband, two rabbits and numerous books. After her PhD studies in Scandinavian languages and literatures, she now works as a freelance author and poet. One of her poems won 2nd place in the 2021 Pula Film Festival Haiku Contest. Her poems have most recently appeared in Prune Juice, Kingfisher, First Frost, Frogpond, Failed Haiku and Tsuridoro. If she is not outside for a long stroll or to do some birdwatching, she is an avid reader who is currently exploring Chinese Xianxia Webnovels.

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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Photo Credits:

Banner photo credit: Andreas Brandt

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.