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Please submit one or two original unpublished haiku inspired by the week’s theme by clicking here: Contact Form.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 campCristina 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 swellEdna 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 shortsIngrid 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 rainbowsLouise 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 starsMarilyn 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 balconyMohammad 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 floorNani 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
sRoberta 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 crowsAgus Maulana Sunjaya
Tangerang, Indonesia
ground apple –
a climbing worm
above the petiolemela a terra –
un verme arrampicato
sopra il piccioloAngiola Inglese
commotion…
grandma’s spectacles
perched on her headarvinder kaur
Chandigarh, India
retrospection…
a young cloud floats
in old pondAshish Singh
India
harvest moon –
only a slight ripple
from her fishing netAstrid Egger
tiny tidepool waves…
the little bluecrab boxes
with his shadowB.A. France
rodeo
guessing how long
he’ll keep his positionBakhtiyar Amini
drone’s eye
traffic crawl
into ribbonsBona M. Santos
Los Angeles, CA
above
below…
passionate nightBrăilean Mirela
river mist
a curve of egrets
rise above itBryan Rickert
old pond
the stars make room
for water liliescezar-florin ciobîcă
working overtime
doing nothing
lockdownCharles Harmon
Los Angeles, California
constellation –
a homeless man counts
his dreamsCherry A
Assam, India
hunter’s moon –
the bobtail squid
adjusts its flashlightCorine Timmer
power outage –
banjo concerts
in the basementDan Campbell
her light
reflecting in the pond…
Siriusla sua luce
riflessa nel laghetto…
SirioDaniela Misso
shooting star –
she puts more wood
on the campfireDebbie Scheving
Bremerton WA
dandelion
small suns bloom
in the greenDeborah Karl-Brandt
Germany
small boat
the Sagano train
above usDeborah P Kolodji
Temple City, California
spring twilight –
sitting below wisteria
above the wallDennys Cambarau
Italy
love on the beach
sunshine on your back
a fire through meDianne Moritz
those piano years –
treble and bass clefs
always in discordDorothy Burrows
U.K.
lying on the grass
we fly with a hawk
above the cloudsElisa Allo
looking for roots –
something extra
of the mirrorGiuliana Ravaglia
Bologna, Italia
seesaw –
my granddaughter and her
first loveGordana Vlašić
the whale twists 360°
as it breaches
I double down on yogaGreer Woodward
Waimea, HI
summer moon…
counting the stars
to forget youHassane Zemmouri
Algeria
peaks and troughs
no rope available
till the next blue moonHelen Buckingham
Somerset, UK
a hint of green
at the darkening sky
reflecting lakeHelga Stania
below
the blueness of sky
blackoutHifsa Ashraf
Pakistan
morning lament
a song sparrow above
chirps in agreementJackie Chou
Pico Rivera, CA USA
above
below
a duckJohn S Green
Bellingham, WA
longer nights
the children track shooting stars
out of our livesjohn hawkhead
UK
airplane sound –
in the empty street
they practice parkourJorge 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 butterflyJuliet Wilson
Edinburgh, Scotland
a corn moon
harvesting husks
for my pet goatsKanjini Devi
bowled over by waves
I hardly know which way
is upKaren Harvey
Wales
angel trumpet
I learn to pose
upside downKath Abela Wilson
Pasadena California
made up
to disguise
the yearsKathleen Mazurowski
morning drizzle…
a rainbow
in my eyesLakshmi Iyer
below zero
never sure when their parents’ icy silence
will snapLaurie Greer
Washington DC
last year’s leaves
under trembling water…
spring sprinklesLaurie Morrissey
the spin of moths
have you forgotten
your maskLisa Frank
below the bed
forgotten shoes
the sun sleeps in themLjiljana 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 belowLorraine Schein
Queens, NY
the sky
has no answers
but I keep lookingM. R. Defibaugh
parked car
from the oak above
magpie blessingsMadhuri Pillai
pilgrimage…
on the hilltop
a giant white cloudManoj Sharma
Kathmandu
cliff top…
the waves
seduce meMargaret Mahony
floating
above the pain
I dreamMargaret Walker
confinement –
I share my silence
with the moonMaria Teresa Piras
first bungee jump
this could be heaven
or this could be hellMarion Clarke
wilting lilies
under the overpass
a white bicycleMaxianne Berger
a mountain cottage
the peak reflection
in the bathroom mirrorMaya Daneva
The Netherlands
reflecting pond
a motionless cloud
meditates tooMichele L. Harvey
prayers –
how I cheat god
for heavenMilan Rajkumar
Imphal India
star portals
fireflies embody
the urge to GodMinko Tanev
deep night’s woes
impassible
the stars aboveMona Iordan
Bucharest, Romania
full moon…
the one above
its lake reflectionNancy Brady
Huron, Ohio
now blue
above the
silent streetsnancy liddle
Australia
full moon rises in me a high tide
Neena Singh
Chandigarh, India
early morning –
a skylark’s song
rises with the breezeNick T
UK
above forty degrees –
the brook disappears
with its songNicole Pottier
France
pine tree
a longing look
at the starsPalle Krishna Rao
India
stepping off the Ferris Wheel
the carnival
still rocksPat Davis
Pembroke, NH
swirling ideas head in the clouds feet on the earth
Paul Geiger
nightmare
just below the surface
risingPeggy 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 herePris Campbell
in mother hen’s eye
… an elliptical hawkR.Suresh Babu
India
how far from above
to the placid ground
the falling rainsRadhamani sarma
balloons in sky I send my dreams along
Rajeshwari Srinivasan
India
grass cushion
sangha of cicadas
chant with meRehn Kovacic
physics prof
the way he looks me
up and downRoberta Beary
County Mayo Ireland
below the foul line
the game comes down
above the rimron scully
lightning
heaven to earth
the poet’s penRonald 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 blossomsSankara Jayanth S
crossing the border
Mexican free-tailed bats
high above the fraySari Grandstaff
Saugerties, NY
your heart
across the river
celestial swansimonj
UK
parachuting
my feet getting closer
to the groundSlobodan Pupovac
Zagreb, Croatia
height check
my son takes
a new scaleSrinivasa Rao Sambangi
yin and yang
tell me
about the moonStephen Peters
dark clouds
anxious ants rush
along the pathStoianka Boianova
salt plains –
I gaze and gaze
at the sky belowSurashree Joshi
above the pier
and below
full moonSusan Rogers
Los Angeles
night drizzle –
the road shimmers
with neon lightsSushama Kapur
moon at the zenith –
night runway waiting
for a takeoffTeiichi 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-byeTomislav Maretić
between
the sky and the sea
migratory birdsTsanka Shishkova
Bulgaria
red flag
his hand on my thigh
under the tableVandana Parashar
ocean’s desire
to meet the sky…
a piece of cloudVijay Prasad
summer heat –
the needles of the old pine
they fall into the shadowsvincenzo adamo
dust
above and below
dustVishnu 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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