HAIKU DIALOGUE – Opposites Attract – above/below

Opposites Attract

Hello – kj here – I will be taking the reins again for the next few weeks, with the theme ‘opposites attract’. The prompt each week will be a pair of opposites – feel free to be inspired by one or the other, or both! I hope this draws you towards excellent haiku – the way the compass, even in these uncertain times, will always settle on ‘North’…

                  quarantine
                  compass needle
                  spinning

                           kjmunro

next week’s theme:  OPPOSITES ATTRACT – loud/quiet

The deadline is midnight Pacific Daylight Savings Time, Saturday September 12, 2020.

Please submit one or two original unpublished haiku inspired by the week’s theme by clicking here: Contact Form. Please put Haiku Dialogue in the Subject box, & include your name as you would like it to appear, & your place of residence, with your poem. I look forward to reading your submissions.

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 above/below:

On behalf of Lori Zajkowski & the rest of The Haiku Foundation team, thanks as always for all the kind comments – I am choosing not to reply to each one, but know that I do read them & your words are so appreciated! I would also like to mention at this time that along with the poems that I select to comment on every week there are many other excellent haiku… thank you poets! kj

summer’s end
migrating birds above
the refugee camp

Cristina Apetrei

Here, at the end of summer, the birds move on, but the refugees do not… or perhaps they do, but not following a regular route the way the birds do…

turbulent seas
stomach rolling
with each swell

Edna Beers

A rough sea can be unrelenting when one is in the middle of it, especially below deck…

video conference
his smart collar and tie
over hawaii shorts

Ingrid Baluchi
Macedonia

A timely take on above & below, & a reminder for those of us who might be using video for physically-distanced business meetings…

lockdown
a child fills the footpath
with rainbows

Louise Hopewell

Sidewalk chalk drawings in the neighbourhood always seem to brighten the day… & not only during lockdown – what a joyful picture!

lost –
skyscrapers
instead of stars

Marilyn Ashbaugh
Wichita, Kansas

People used to navigate using the constellations… now, in urban areas at least, they are much more likely to look up to see familiar landmarks…

lunch time…
mother’s call
from the balcony

Mohammad Azim Khan
Peshawar Pakistan

In this poem, the poet describes a simple scene – perhaps from the neighbourhood or from memory – that encapsulates not only the prompt of above & below, but also a wonderful haiku moment…

have an appointment
to meet the boss
seventh floor

Nani Mariani

A unique take on the theme, looking at the hierarchy within a company as illustrated by the superior view from the higher office window…

elevator
stuck between floor
                                                                          s

Roberta Beach Jacobson

& further, on the way to the seventh floor, perhaps, we find we are either above or below where we thought we were headed…

& here are the rest of my selections:

pandemic heaven help us

Adrian Bouter

 

below zero
on the high wire
a murder of crows

Agus Maulana Sunjaya
Tangerang, Indonesia

 

ground apple –
a climbing worm
above the petiole

mela a terra –
un verme arrampicato
sopra il picciolo

Angiola Inglese

 

commotion…
grandma’s spectacles
perched on her head

arvinder kaur
Chandigarh, India

 

retrospection…
a young cloud floats
in old pond

Ashish Singh
India

 

harvest moon –
only a slight ripple
from her fishing net

Astrid Egger

 

tiny tidepool waves…
the little bluecrab boxes
with his shadow

B.A. France

 

rodeo
guessing how long
he’ll keep his position

Bakhtiyar Amini

 

drone’s eye
traffic crawl
into ribbons

Bona M. Santos
Los Angeles, CA

 

above
below…
passionate night

Brăilean Mirela

 

river mist
a curve of egrets
rise above it

Bryan Rickert

 

old pond
the stars make room
for water lilies

cezar-florin ciobîcă

 

working overtime
doing nothing
lockdown

Charles Harmon
Los Angeles, California

 

constellation –
a homeless man counts
his dreams

Cherry A
Assam, India

 

hunter’s moon –
the bobtail squid
adjusts its flashlight

Corine Timmer

 

power outage –
banjo concerts
in the basement

Dan Campbell

 

her light
reflecting in the pond…
Sirius

la sua luce
riflessa nel laghetto…
Sirio

Daniela Misso

 

shooting star –
she puts more wood
on the campfire

Debbie Scheving
Bremerton WA

 

dandelion
small suns bloom
in the green

Deborah Karl-Brandt
Germany

 

small boat
the Sagano train
above us

Deborah P Kolodji
Temple City, California

 

spring twilight –
sitting below wisteria
above the wall

Dennys Cambarau
Italy

 

love on the beach
sunshine on your back
a fire through me

Dianne Moritz

 

those piano years –
treble and bass clefs
always in discord

Dorothy Burrows
U.K.

 

lying on the grass
we fly with a hawk
above the clouds

Elisa Allo

 

looking for roots –
something extra
of the mirror

Giuliana Ravaglia
Bologna, Italia

 

seesaw –
my granddaughter and her
first love

Gordana Vlašić

 

the whale twists 360°
as it breaches
I double down on yoga

Greer Woodward
Waimea, HI

 

summer moon…
counting the stars
to forget you

Hassane Zemmouri
Algeria

 

peaks and troughs
no rope available
till the next blue moon

Helen Buckingham
Somerset, UK

 

a hint of green
at the darkening sky
reflecting lake

Helga Stania

 

below
the blueness of sky
blackout

Hifsa Ashraf
Pakistan

 

morning lament
a song sparrow above
chirps in agreement

Jackie Chou
Pico Rivera, CA USA

 

above
below
a duck

John S Green
Bellingham, WA

 

longer nights
the children track shooting stars
out of our lives

john hawkhead
UK

 

airplane sound –
in the empty street
they practice parkour

Jorge Alberto Giallorenzi

 

summer storm –
an eagle flying
above the clouds

(eagles are the only birds that look for shelter flying above the clouds when there is a storm)

Julia Guzmán

 

heat haze
above the traffic jam
a white butterfly

Juliet Wilson
Edinburgh, Scotland

 

a corn moon
harvesting husks
for my pet goats

Kanjini Devi

 

bowled over by waves
I hardly know which way
is up

Karen Harvey
Wales

 

angel trumpet
I learn to pose
upside down

Kath Abela Wilson
Pasadena California

 

made up
to disguise
the years

Kathleen Mazurowski

 

morning drizzle…
a rainbow
in my eyes

Lakshmi Iyer

 

below zero
never sure when their parents’ icy silence
will snap

Laurie Greer
Washington DC

 

last year’s leaves
under trembling water…
spring sprinkles

Laurie Morrissey

 

the spin of moths
have you forgotten
your mask

Lisa Frank

 

below the bed
forgotten shoes
the sun sleeps in them

Ljiljana Dobra
Croatia

 

lichen ensuring an unmarked grave

Lorraine A. Padden
San Diego, CA

 

from the plane’s window
I see only clouds above
become clouds below

Lorraine Schein
Queens, NY

 

the sky
has no answers
but I keep looking

M. R. Defibaugh

 

parked car
from the oak above
magpie blessings

Madhuri Pillai

 

pilgrimage…
on the hilltop
a giant white cloud

Manoj Sharma
Kathmandu

 

cliff top…
the waves
seduce me

Margaret Mahony

 

floating
above the pain
I dream

Margaret Walker

 

confinement –
I share my silence
with the moon

Maria Teresa Piras

 

first bungee jump
this could be heaven
or this could be hell

Marion Clarke

 

wilting lilies
under the overpass
a white bicycle

Maxianne Berger

 

a mountain cottage
the peak reflection
in the bathroom mirror

Maya Daneva
The Netherlands

 

reflecting pond
a motionless cloud
meditates too

Michele L. Harvey

 

prayers –
how I cheat god
for heaven

Milan Rajkumar
Imphal India

 

star portals
fireflies embody
the urge to God

Minko Tanev

 

deep night’s woes
impassible
the stars above

Mona Iordan
Bucharest, Romania

 

full moon…
the one above
its lake reflection

Nancy Brady
Huron, Ohio

 

now blue
above the
silent streets

nancy liddle
Australia

 

full moon rises in me a high tide

Neena Singh
Chandigarh, India

 

early morning –
a skylark’s song
rises with the breeze

Nick T
UK

 

above forty degrees –
the brook disappears
with its song

Nicole Pottier
France

 

pine tree
a longing look
at the stars

Palle Krishna Rao
India

 

stepping off the Ferris Wheel
the carnival
still rocks

Pat Davis
Pembroke, NH

 

swirling ideas head in the clouds feet on the earth

Paul Geiger

 

nightmare
just below the surface
rising

Peggy Hale Bilbro
Huntsville Alabama

 

Star star star star star.
Over my shoulder, you point
out your favorites.

Pippa Phillips

 

angels…
preacher says up there
mother says here

Pris Campbell

 

in mother hen’s eye
… an elliptical hawk

R.Suresh Babu
India

 

how far from above
to the placid ground
the falling rains

Radhamani sarma

 

balloons in sky I send my dreams along

Rajeshwari Srinivasan
India

 

grass cushion
sangha of cicadas
chant with me

Rehn Kovacic

 

physics prof
the way he looks me
up and down

Roberta Beary
County Mayo Ireland

 

below the foul line
the game comes down
above the rim

ron scully

 

lightning
heaven to earth
the poet’s pen

Ronald K. Craig
Batavia, OH USA

 

the mask
      below the chin…
      what does it mean!?

Rosa Maria Di Salvatore

 

for her hair
she picks
fallen cherry blossoms

Sankara Jayanth S

 

crossing the border
Mexican free-tailed bats
high above the fray

Sari Grandstaff
Saugerties, NY

 

your heart
across the river
celestial swan

simonj
UK

 

parachuting
my feet getting closer
to the ground

Slobodan Pupovac
Zagreb, Croatia

 

height check
my son takes
a new scale

Srinivasa Rao Sambangi

 

yin and yang
tell me
about the moon

Stephen Peters

 

dark clouds
anxious ants rush
along the path

Stoianka Boianova

 

salt plains –
I gaze and gaze
at the sky below

Surashree Joshi

 

above the pier
                                and below
                                               full moon

Susan Rogers
Los Angeles

 

night drizzle –
the road shimmers
with neon lights

Sushama Kapur

 

moon at the zenith –
night runway waiting
for a takeoff

Teiichi Suzuki
Japan

 

amavasya
my scars eclipsed
for a night

(amavasya is a Sanskrit word for the New Moon)

Teji Sethi

 

touching my shadow
at the bottom of the sea…
we say good-bye

Tomislav Maretić

 

between
the sky and the sea
migratory birds

Tsanka Shishkova
Bulgaria

 

red flag
his hand on my thigh
under the table

Vandana Parashar

 

ocean’s desire
to meet the sky…
a piece of cloud

Vijay Prasad

 

summer heat –
the needles of the old pine
they fall into the shadows

vincenzo adamo

 

dust
above and below
dust

Vishnu Kapoor

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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