HAIKU DIALOGUE – Haiku Prism – Blue

Haiku Prism – A World in Color

During this dark time we could all use something to brighten up our weeks. I believe that each one of us carries an inner light that can be a source of solace for others. So let’s take that light and channel it through the magic and wonder of haiku to express our world in all its glorious colors. Let’s let haiku be our prism.

Each week I will be providing a new color for you to meditate on and write about. You do not need to name it in your haiku, simply let it be an aspect. You can take this in any direction you like from various flora & fauna, fruits & vegetables, clothing items, celestial bodies, household objects, etc…to various associated moods. Even think in related colors such as pink for red or gold for yellow. I am also happy to accept sub-genres including scifaiku and mythku.

next week’s theme: Green

Please send up to two unpublished haiku by clicking here: Contact Form, and put Haiku Dialogue in the Subject box. The deadline is midnight Eastern Standard Time, Saturday, April 18, 2020.

Selected haiku will be listed in the order they are received with a few chosen 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 can be added as blog comments.

Below is my commentary for Blue:

Blue is a color rife with emotion. It is the color of sorrow and faith, of wisdom and truth. The haiku presented this week certainly reflect this range and depth. I think it highlights as well the exceptional talent of our diverse community. A great thank you to each and every one of you for your submissions. You make Haiku Dialogue the success that it is. I hope this week finds you safe and healthy and that you will enjoy this deep dive into the color blue.

stealing berries
on her hands the stain
of that one small sin

Michele L. Harvey

Sometimes as children we don’t even mean to break the rules. The berries just look so tasty! I can imagine the little girl’s panic after delving into those delicious treats. There’s just no way to hide what she’s done! The interweaving of religious terminology brings a new dimension to this common scene and allows for multiple interpretations. A well-crafted senryu.

taupe sky
as far as our scanners
can see

C.R. Harper

Our blue skies are a hallmark of our planet’s atmosphere. What better way to represent an alien environment than to remove what is comforting and familiar and replace it with something so opposite to our way of life. Not only is there a sense of disorientation but also a resignation in the outlook of these explorers. An enjoyable alternative haiku.

wild violets . . .
my desires
in quarantine

Manoj Sharma

I know that in isolation my need for others and for connection has grown and that that need is only growing stronger by the day. Not only do I crave connection, I hope for life to return to normal, to a time when I didn’t fear a trip to the grocery store, to a time when I wasn’t daily checking a death toll. Much like wild violets, these desires for normalcy are vast and strong. None of us could have emotionally or mentally prepared for this, but we can continue to reach out and join in online communities like this one to keep us going.

sunlight
on a cresting wave
the complete OED

Laurie Greer

There are countless haiku about sunlight glinting off of water and the emotions it elicits inside of us, but I have yet to read one like this. We have the intensity of movement, the thrill of the blue wave as it peaks with the brilliance of light in that moment, combined with a dictionary. Yet, it works perfectly. If you have ever experienced this sight it can certainly feel like it encompasses all of language itself. How incredible then that all of this can be conveyed in eight words. Absolutely delightful.

The following are the rest of my selections. It is a joy every week to read your work, and if you have yet to submit your haiku or engage in the comments section below, I encourage you to take that plunge! Happy reading!

ocean ekphrasis
jotting down synonyms
for the color blue

Jackie Chou, Pico Rivera, CA, USA

 

bluewater sailing
a bell among the
outermost skerries

Randall Herman

 

big sky
all that blue
in my eyes

Stephen A. Peters

 

blue and white china
and no one to inherit
a service for twelve

Ben Teal

 

rain-washed sky
the blue lighter
in the child’s eyes

Mona Iordan

 

wheat fields…
the blue light
of cornflowers

Rosa Maria Di Salvatore

 

flowing river…
I dip my feet
in its rhythm

Muskaan Ahuja, Chandigarh, India

 

oh, his blues
van Gogh

Christopher Seep

 

coronavirus –
the blue of ambulance
beyond a curve

coronavirus –
il blu dell’ambulanza
dietro una curva

Dennys Cambarau, Italy

 

blue moon —
how often do i see you
smile

Willie Bongcaron

 

on the windowsill
the scent of agapanthus
staying home

sul davanzale
il profumo di agapanto*
restando a casa

*agapanto: flower of love, intense blue color and very fragrant

Angela Giordano, Italy

 

cookies
on blue willow plates…
nana-therapy

Pat Davis, NH

 

cornflowers
the perfume of
that lapsed friendship

Nancy Liddle

 

spring rain
the bluebird rejects
another nest box

Kristen Lindquist

 

isolation
her mood
shifts to indigo

Rehn Kovacic

 

Her left eye
different from the right
black and blue

Niki Curatti

 

zoo . . .
a small boy searches for
a Smurfette

Ivan Gaćina, Zadar, Croatia

 

we’ll meet again. . .
a forget-me-not placed
in a ‘get well’ card

carol jones

 

blue …
deep silence
in me

Daniela Misso

 

blue moon
never standing
more alone

Michael Henry Lee

 

quiet sea …
every thought becomes
tiny

il mare calmo … ogni nostro pensiero / rimpicciolisce

Lucia Cardillo

 

domestic abuse
I watch as the sky
turns black

Vandana Parashar

 

walking blue room
to another blue room
self-isolation

Pamela A Babusci

 

solitude..
my eyes open
to the sky

Hassane Zemmouri

 

blown from its nest
the whole sky
in a robin’s egg

Bryan Rickert

 

running late
blue light
fills my car

Jason Freeman

 

second thoughts
as the sapphire ring
Itches her finger

Rajeshwari Srinivasan

 

uncertain when
we will ever meet again
forget-me-nots

Olivier Schopfer, Switzerland

 

Postpartum
blues
I didn’t know…

Jessica Wheeler

 

buttercup . . .
when we once
were stars

Veronika Zora Novak

 

blue covers
of my new book –
mother’s eyes

Zdenka Mlinar

 

the crack of blue
in the thawing sky
my bones

Lisa Anne Johnson

 

long trail
…………to oasis
desert bluebells

Deborah P Kolodji, Temple City, CA

 

watching the clouds
from inside
blue skies

Christina Chin

 

crossing the range
those distant blue hills
really green

Carol Reynolds

 

the blues in the night…
I put mood indigo
on the turntable

Mark Meyer

 

ashes scattered
on the hillside
forget-me-not

Leslie Robert

 

the dance
of periwinkle buds
it’s a boy

Isabel Caves

 

moonlight
my baby’s eyes
match mine

Margaret Mahony

 

ripped jeans
her threadbare plea
to fit in

Rashmi VeSa

 

blue sky…
the cat fixing
it in its eyes

Lakshmi Iyer

 

I awake
in a gravelly haze…
Satchmo’s voice

Ann Rawson

 

the long wait
till our next
blue moon

Peggy Hale Bilbro, Alabama, USA

 

a ribbon
in my lunch box
morning glory

Agus Maulana Sunjaya, Tangerang, Indonesia

 

blue iris ……
I forgot
the color of the sky

Angiola Inglese

 

leap of faith –
baby bluebird’s
first flight

Edna Beers

 

breaking through
to blue
jay

Ann K. Schwader, Westminster, CO

 

deep blue
the color of her eyes
and my rejection

paul geiger, California

 

sapphire brooch
pinning grandma’s love tale
to my lapel

Marisa Fazio

 

winter’s eve
purrs from under the blue
blanket

Roberta Beach Jacobson, USA

 

ink smear
botching yet another
letter of apology

clifford rames, Freehold, NJ

 

baby-blue yarn
a perfect sphere
if I blur my eyes

Althea Meer

 

bluebell path
we settle on
positive topics

cezar-florin ciobîcă

 

housebound thoughts
a swarm of morphos
on the tree trunk

Hifsa Ashraf, Pakistan

 

blue cross
my pets become
their pets

Radhamani sarma

 

neighbour’s new arrival
a gift for the baby
in traditional blue

Madhuri Pillai

 

the black feather’s
blue edge
twilight

Louise Hopewell

 

three-year-old grandson
requests a blue one
Covid-19 mask

Shirley Brooks

 

blue ribbon
tying my happy days
together

Eufemia Griffo

 

lavender lotion
the azure lace
of her thong

Joshua Gage

 

working from home
nothing but blue skies
on my screen saver

Kimberly Esser, Los Angeles, CA

 

Holy Saturday
another cloud drifts
across the blue

Frank Tassone

 

cloudless day
but nowhere
to go

Bona M. Santos, Los Angeles, CA

 

all the silence
in the blue hour
sheltering in place

Don Miller

 

grape hyacinth
the child I once was
in the garden

Xenia Tran

 

this ache
to be loved. . .
cerulean blue

Terri French

 

city streets…
the blues
on every block

Margaret Walker

 

on both sides
of the barbed wire
wild blueberries

Rich Schilling, Webster Groves, MO

 

stay-at-home
hokusai’s great wave
in my small cup

Kath Abela Wilson, Pasadena, California

Guest Editor Tia Haynes resides in Lakewood, Ohio, near her beloved Lake Erie. She was featured in New Resonance 11: Emerging Voices in English-Language Haiku and has appeared in journals and anthologies worldwide. Much of her inspiration comes from the landscape and people of the American Midwest as well as life with her two small children. Her chapbook, leftover ribbon, (Velvet Dusk Publishing) is available on Amazon. Follow her on Twitter: @adalia_haiku

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).