HAIKU DIALOGUE – Looking Out – into our world

Looking Out with Guest Editor Marietta McGregor

The phrase ‛looking out’ can mean to be on the watch in case something unexpected should happen. We shout, “Look out!” if we see danger approaching. We build physical lookouts. They may take the form of tall steel and wooden towers used as vantage points to search for forest fires, a crow’s nest high on a ship’s mast, periscopes on a submarine, or wooden clifftop decks on headlands overlooking scenic coastal vistas for travelers’ photo stops. Human lookouts are people whose job it is to warn against hazards on land and at sea. ‛Looking out’ can also mean observing our surroundings. As well as our own finely tuned senses, we use a variety of instruments to help us see more of the world. Microscopes and electron microscopes allow us to scrutinise very small things. Medicine makes use of X-rays, ultraviolet light and radio waves for scanning the body. Binoculars and telescopes help us look out beyond the planet. From our earliest existence, we look outwards to the world for a holistic view, through our parents and other family members, teachers, books, radio, TV and the internet. Space beckons us. And, of course, we look out for each other, to help in times of need or stress.

prompt: Looking Out – into our world

Pioneered in the 1920s, television has established a firm place for itself in the modern world. Love it or loathe it, there’s no doubt the medium of TV has transformed how information and news is transmitted and received. From the earliest flickering black and white cathode ray tube set in a rectangular veneer box in one corner of the living room to pin-sharp computer screens and giant flat smart screens which splash wall-sized expanses with brilliant ultra-high definition color, television continues to evolve.

When I was growing up in Tasmania we didn’t own a TV set, although b&w transmission had made its memorable 1956 debut in Australia with a host announcing live, “Good evening. Welcome to television.” Instead, we played gin rummy, listened to radio serials or music, told stories, and read books, magazines and comics. What are your most memorable, moving or iconic televised moments? Coronations? Moon walk? Oscars? Death of a president? Can you imagine what a world without television would be like? I look forward to reading your haiku and senryu related to the medium of television and how we use it as a window to look out into our world.

The deadline is midnight Eastern Daylight Time, Saturday September 14, 2024.

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 & residence as you would like it to appear in the column. 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.

Join us next week for Marietta’s selection of poems on the topic of Looking Out – into our world…

Guest editor Marietta McGregor is a retired Tasmanian botanist and journalist who has made her home between Canberra and the scenic south coast of New South Wales for over four decades. A lover of the natural world since childhood, she went on to study natural sciences, and has worked as palynologist, garden designer, science journalist, editor, university tutor, education manager, and grants developer for the national wildlife collection. Her haiku, haibun and haiga have been widely published, have won awards and appear in anthologies.

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: Marietta McGregor

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.