HAIKU DIALOGUE – Opposites Attract – big/small
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 – day/night
The deadline is midnight Pacific Daylight Savings Time, Saturday August 29, 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Please submit one or two original unpublished haiku inspired by the week’s theme by clicking here: Contact Form.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 big/small:
between two small cedars a hundred boxcars full of coal
John S Green
Bellingham, WA
Here we have a contrast between living trees & coal, & perhaps the eons of geologic time & the time it takes for a tree to mature, & then the human element of industry… complex ideas & implications from a ten-word poem…
tremors
in the small hours
waiting for the big oneLaurie Greer
Washington, DC
A few years ago, in Whitehorse, Yukon, a 6.2 was followed by 6.3 – & then the waiting begins… is a larger earthquake next? Or is this it for now? The extra detail of ‘small hours’ adds another dimension to the poem & the prompt…
beneath Andromeda
pondering
ticksMark Gilbert
UK
An initial reading may lead the reader to the celestial Andromeda – a study of big & small – but (thanks to an Internet search) ‘Andromeda’ can also refer to a deer-resistant shrubbery, & deer are known to carry ticks…
spring rains a fistful of bolivars
simonj
UK
No topic is off limits in haiku. Many submissions each week can be concerned with similar subjects, so the ones that are different catch the eye. This poem is an example, suggesting international trade & fluctuating currencies…
& here are the rest of my selections:
world news –
she feeds the baby
at her breastAdrian Bouter
a kestrel
dots the sky
winter sunAgus Maulana Sunjaya
Tangerang, Indonesia
we live out our spans
the butterfly and the gate
making their own bond(Note: gatekeeper butterfly – During the UK butterfly watch this fascinated me that we had a gatekeeper by our back garden’s gate, as if guarding it.)
Alan Summers
Buddleia Lane, England
yoga class
trying to become the peace
between breathsAnitha Varma
one small bright leaf
the wide sky
tightensAnn K. Schwader
Westminster, CO
water stories…
the dance of river waves
in her pitcherarvinder kaur
Chandigarh, India
heavy salt air…
miles from shore
the night sky expandsB.A. France
looking for myself
the sun fitting into
a raindropBakhtiyar Amini
first school day
a child holds on
to her mother’s handBona M. Santos
Los Angeles, CA
the summer sky in the deep of the fountain
Brăilean Mirela
making a way
through the thicket
the slightest breezeBryan Rickert
Our entire lives –
I park the U-Haul by trucks
twenty times biggerCarlos Antonio Pittella
Michigan, USA
football lily –
the fading smell of
a powder puffCherry A
Assam, India
vaccine syringe
hope for a nation
with small pricksChrista Pandey
thirsty sparrow sipping cold rain
in a pasture hoof printDan Campbell
pumpkin in the garden –
the eyes of a child
wide openzucca nell’orto –
gli occhi di un bambino
spalancatiDaniela Misso
sunset
my shadow larger
than myselfDeborah Karl-Brandt
Thunder
On the horizon
The dog snoresDenny Stern
this pandemic
backyard barbecues
for oneDianne Moritz
the best gifts
are in small packages –
his mother’s tall taleDorothy Burrows
UK
crescent moon
my son’s hand
between mineElisa Allo
the oars
in a sea of words
punctuationGreer Woodward
Waimea, HI
no big deal
friends call me
the peaGuliz Mutlu
shooting star…
the sky is so vast
for just one wishHassane Zemmouri
Algeria
backyard spider
slung between two loungers
catching fliesHelen Buckingham
Somerset, UK
Small worries
Loom large
In the darkHelen Ogden
Pacific Grove, CA
the locomotive hisses
his little handHelga Stania
war cemetery –
the big shadow
of a small graveHifsa Ashraf
Pakistan
slow thaw
the giant tracks
of a mouseIngrid Baluchi
Macedonia
the loudest voices
from the tiniest throats
sparrow chorusJackie Chou
Pico Rivera, CA USA
pulling a suitcase
behind dad
pulling a suitcaseJanice Doppler
Massachusetts, USA
space objects…
colliding with my face
a winged grasshopperJanice Munro
Canada
his smile…
trapped in portrait
a younger version of meJibril Dauda Muhammad
Bwari Abuja, Nigeria
just passing through
a bluebottle
on my handjohn hawkhead
midday sun –
the dust of my beard
in the beam of lightJorge Alberto Giallorenzi
a big rock –
in the zen garden
I forget life obstaclesJulia Guzmán
ancient birch tree –
ants patrol up and down
the trunkJuliet Wilson
Edinburgh, Scotland
a starry night in the lake in my eyes
Kanjini Devi
at the foot
of an apartment block
ants nestKaren Harvey
North Wales
making
mountains of molehills
a swarm of antsKath Abela Wilson
Pasadena, California
the day when his hand
will fit in mine
father/daughter walkKimberly Esser
Los Angeles
her last words for the rest of his life
Lorraine A. Padden
San Diego, California
June morning bird song –
a small sweet voice ascending
to the sky’s expanseLorraine Schein
Queens, NY
autumn notes –
white herons pause
in the plow’s furrowsLuisa Santoro
Italy
shuffling steps hanging loose once perfect fit
Madhuri Pillai
small hands
hold our future
voteMargaret Walker
end of holidays –
the immense sea
in closed eyesMaria Teresa Piras
an ant
the skin can be bumpyMariani Brew
endless summer too short
Marilyn Ashbaugh
Lake Christiana, MI
a toddler
on each toe…
Festival of the GiantMarion Clarke
dawn croak…
so much estuary
for just one heronMark Miller
world map
on a wooden slice
my fridge magnetMelanie Vance
Texas
tiny fingers
wrapped around my pinky…
the world turnsMichele L. Harvey
lofty shrine…
I see myself
looking down at meMilan Rajkumar
Imphal, India
small family
the girl draws a picture
of her motherMinal Sarosh
Ahmedabad, India
a rainbow –
the bridge of lovers
on the horizonMinko Tanev
oak tree…
a mushroom
under its careMohammad Azim Khan
the little girl
big secrets well kept
by her dollMona Iordan
chance meeting…
his childhood crush
no longer littleNancy Brady
graveyard
stone reads
Baby Smallnancy liddle
sacred mountain
from the window –
my small eyesNeena Singh
Chandigarh, India
stargazing –
his tiny hand
in mineNick T
Heading for the hills
Problems in rear-view mirror
Look smallNickala Torkington
morning prayer –
rising with the mist
echo of the bellsNicole Pottier
France
sunny day
a little boy riding
on his dad’s shouldersOlivier Schopfer
Switzerland
yes instead of no
that little white lie
from long agoPat Davis
NH
larder empty a hole for his big toe
Pris Campbell
high rise apartment…
only the ground floor
quarantinedR.Suresh Babu
India
the big questions of a small voice gushing hydrant
Rashmi VeSa
vast desert
sand colored lizard
passes unnoticedRehn Kovacic
a dream planted
with a pine seedling
daughter’s birthRicha Sharma
tide pool
my lover
an ocean
awayRoberta Beary
County Mayo Ireland
lottery ticket
washes up on the shore
uncharted seasRon Scully
teacup left out in the rain
a water strider
on top of the worldSari Grandstaff
summer morning
a thrown pebble
wrinkles the calm seaSlobodan Pupovac
Zagreb, Croatia
laughter in the playground
seeing myself
as I used to beStephen A. Peters
ancient statues
support the sky
an ant on the roadStoianka Boianova
post surgery –
mom learns to take
baby stepsSurashree Joshi
Tokyo Bay
surfers sliding through
Hokusai’s waveTeiichi Suzuki
Japan
old age home –
grandma knits
tiny mittensTeji Sethi
dusk
the first little flakes
of a big stormTim Cremin
Andover, Massachusetts
prayer candle
under the dome of heaven
cosmic silenceTsanka Shishkova
Sofia, Bulgaria
too big to fit
in a paw-shaped puddle
super worm moonVandana Parashar
the shape
of a young girl’s fingers
coiled sweetgrassVicki Miko
in the cup
the tea sways –
stormy seavincenzo adamo
many stars
only one candle
against darknessVishnu 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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