HAIKU DIALOGUE – Intoxication – Falling in Love – commentary

Intoxication with Guest Editor Deborah Karl-Brandt

It has been with us since time immemorial, and almost all of us have experienced it firsthand: intoxication. Endorphins produced in the body during exercise give us a feeling of happiness known as a “runner’s high,” and once again we are intoxicated. Intoxicants have been used to awaken our spirituality, make us forget physical hardships, or elevate our imagination to unprecedented heights. And yet intoxication has its dark side. In the coming weeks, we want to explore how legal intoxicants affect us, our brains, and our everyday lives. I invite you to join me on a journey into our everyday lives and our brains to explore intoxication.

Below is Deborah’s commentary for Falling in Love:

“Intoxication – Falling in Love” was a writing prompt that inspired a wide range of emotions, settings, and different types of haiku. From monoku to concrete haiku, we can enjoy many extraordinary haiku and perhaps even draw new inspiration from this diversity for our own writing.

courtship dance
i lecture the sparrows
about limerance

(Limerance: romantic infatuation or obsession)

Jahnavi Gogoi
Ajax, Ontario, Canada

We’ll start with a rather traditional piece that, with its tenderness toward even the smallest creatures, reminds me of the poems of the famous Issa. I really like the captivating images and the connection between love, people, and the sparrows. I even feel as if I’m the one teaching the sparrows a lesson. Haiku is about empathy and letting go of the ego. This haiku achieves that effortlessly.

a moth limps
closer to the flame
middle school crush

Gregory Longenecker
Pasadena, California

Does this wonderful haiku rely on powerful but overused imagery? Moths, candlelight, and high school crushes are all quite common motifs for describing love. So why is it still unusual? Because the author gives the setting an unexpected twist with just one word. A limping moth is unexpected. The resulting “aha” moment leads the reader to realize that this is an unexpectedly complex romantic relationship that has caused past heartbreak.

love drunk—
a honeybee waggle-dancing
in my womb

Adele Evershed
Wilton, Connecticut

This poem relies on fresh word choices and vivid imagery to create an effective love haiku. A ‘love drunk,’ clumsy bee performing the waggle dance to direct the womb’s owner toward its love interest is adorable and all the more memorable because bees are not often associated with love. Butterflies, roses, daisies, and forget-me-nots are frequently used as kigo – or serve the same function as kigo – to symbolize the emotional turmoil of love. This freshness, combined with an exceptional sense of where to pause in the poem, makes this poem something truly special.

the cartoon birds
swirling around our heads
assure us it’s love

Curt Linderman
Seattle

This poem also relies on fresh imagery. But it has many layers of meaning, some of which are rather somber. On the surface, it’s about young love (‘cartoon birds’). The transition into a new stage of life and a new reality unfolds lightly and harmoniously. But a darker interpretation is also possible. The ‘cartoon birds’ remind me of a traditional Disney movie, and I can’t help but wonder: can it really be love if cartoon birds have to assure me that it truly is love? What about inner truth? For me, the external pressure of a traditional society and the inner experience of the poetic “I” are in conflict with one another.

last night’s waltz
fluttering down the street
a cherry petal

Anica Marcelic
Zapresic, Croatia

This highly expressive haiku uses traditional imagery in a fresh context and effortlessly demonstrates that even frequently used imagery can be employed time and again with great success when combined with an unexpected, fresh approach. After a night spent dancing in harmony, a single cherry blossom petal (not even a whole, intact cherry blossom remains) is blown down the street into the unknown. We all feel this heartache, don’t we?

golden anniversary
table for two
at his headstone

Mike Fainzilber
Tel Aviv, Israel

This haiku derives its great emotional power from two powerful images. Image one (the first two lines) evokes a strong, positive emotional moment (marital bliss) through its choice of words. Image two counters this with a strongly negative emotional moment (grief and loss). The form and word choice are very skillfully crafted in light of the plot twist. One could almost say that the author is using a red herring. Highly story-driven, this haiku subjects the reader to the ultimate emotional whiplash.

too shy to speak
still I’m haunted
with “what if’s”

Mark Meyer
Mercer Island WA USA

As someone who tends to regret things and dwell on past actions, I can fully relate to this haiku. The haiku draws the reader in and encourages them to reflect on their own decisions and actions. We should confront our feelings in order to overcome our obstacles. Love is no laughing matter. There are risks you have to take – or you’ll pay the price. Ultimately, this poem reminds us that we shape our own path in life and that there’s always a price to pay – even if we choose to do nothing.

from sweet nothings to nothing desert night

Daya Bhat
India

This poem shows that even a form as minimalist as a monoku can gain power through the repetition of words. Wordplay, a poetic device, is often used in haiku to create humor, but here it creates a plot twist that leads us to a bitter truth. Truly a masterfully written poem.

24/7 never enough

Roberta Beach Jacobson
Indianola, IA, US

This extremely minimalist monoku is written in a very modern style. The use of the numbers ‘24/7’ lends the monoku a sense of freshness and excitement. Almost reminiscent of slang, the poem creates an intimate atmosphere, as if one were listening to the response of a very close friend. Nevertheless, the poem contains just the right amount of ambiguity to allow for multiple interpretations.

f
a
l
l
in love
g

Cezar Ciobica
Romania

We conclude this selection with a captivating concrete haiku. Even in this minimalist form, it contains two images that invite the reader to form an opinion. It also reminds us that nothing good lasts forever and that nothing can be achieved without running the risk of it causing us pain. Good and evil are merely perspectives, and highs and lows go hand in hand.

From butterflies in your stomach to the Chinese Butterfly Lovers, butterflies often symbolize the soul and love. Here is a small collection of love haiku that draw on the popular motif of the butterfly. Enjoy!

butterflies becoming moths her rejection

Bryan Rickert
Belleville, Illinois

 

fluttering butterfly
what the eyes tell
eachother

Minal Sarosh
Ahmedabad, India

 

butterfly exhibit
the ticket girl moves them
in my stomach

Mirela Brailean
Iasi, Romania

 

he takes
my hand
butterfly wings

Louise Hopewell
Australia

 

dance for two –
held her lest she lift off
in her butterfly dress

Dan C. Iulian
Romania

 

a slow dance…
i listen to the butterflies
with my eyes closed

un ballo lento…
ascolto le farfalle
con gli occhi chiusi

angiola inglese
Italia

 

a swarm of butterflies –
you take my hand in yours
on a walk in the park

Ana Drobot
Romania

Join us next week for our next prompt…

Bios

Guest Editor Deborah Karl-Brandt lives in Sinzig, Germany, with her husband, two rabbits, and a sizable collection of books. After completing her PhD in Scandinavian languages and literatures, she works as a freelance writer. Her works have appeared in numerous haiku and short poetry magazines and have earned her several honorable mentions, second place in the haiku competition at the 2021 Pula Film Festival, and the 6th Star Haiku Contest Overseas Grand Prize in 2025. Also in 2025, she was selected as a fellow for confluence. She has also served as a guest editor for Haiku Dialogue since 2023. Her new book, Wild Rabbit Moon, was published in 2026.

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

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Photo Credit:

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. Read past Haiku Dialogue posts here.