HAIKU DIALOGUE – Opposites Attract – hot/cold

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 – big/small

The deadline is midnight Pacific Daylight Savings Time, Saturday August 22, 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Please submit one or two original unpublished haiku inspired by the week’s theme by clicking here: Contact Form.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 hot/cold:

farewell tears
our handclasp
turns colder

Christine L. Villa

 

election over
warm handshakes
getting colder

Mohammad Azim Khan
Peshawar Pakistan

The poems submitted to this column can resonate with each other in various unpredictable & amazing ways – here the handshake & the handclasp can both be turning from hot to cold, but the details of an election & a farewell lend so much more to the story…

on the beach
your voice is full of
winter

Bakhtiyar Amini

The actual season may not be clear, but does it matter? Whether this poem is set in winter or summer, or some other time, it is the season of ‘your’ voice that matters…

the pup approaches
slowly, then backs away
adoption day

Claire Vogel Camargo
USA

Hot & cold at the same time, or rotating in succession – a unique submission that fully captures these opposites (& attraction!) in movement…

saying goodbye
the bittersweet taste
of cold coffee

Jackie Chou
Pico Rivera, CA USA

There were many beverages mentioned this week, & coffee was prominent among them… in this poem, the poet combines not just the temperature but also the flavour, & evokes emotion without stating it…

adjusting
the air conditioning again
hot flashes

Rehn Kovacic

A scenario many can relate to, & an original take on the prompt…

& here are the rest of my selections:

(I usually will make no changes, but this week I added an ‘h’ in ‘wiskey’, & an ‘s’ in ‘a bird’ song’ because this made sense to me…)

heatwave the sweat on beer cans

Adrian Bouter

 

the quietness
of summer heat
pine forest

Agus Maulana Sunjaya
Tangerang, Indonesia

 

heatwave ripples
Large Earth Bumblebees
fanning the home

(It was actually a small low hanging bird-box they took over!)

Alan Summers
Chippenham

 

Texas heat
cicadas rattle
the trees

Alex Fyffe, Texas

 

bitter cold –
a mint leaf
in the herbal tea

Angiola Inglese

 

wildfire sunrise
the morning cool
up in smoke

Ann K. Schwader
Westminster, CO

 

scorching noon –
a faint whiff of petrichor
from the window

arvinder kaur
Chandigarh, India

 

dry brush trees
before misty mountains…
a deep inhale

Astrid Egger

 

warm oolong
beside the open pages…
arctic adventure

B.A. France
Maryland

 

scorched summer
the chilling effect
of covid-19

Bona M. Santos
Los Angeles, CA

 

drops of cold sweat over my positive test

Brăilean Mirela

 

fire and brimstone
the sweaty preacher
dabs his brow

Bryan Rickert

 

rising dough –
the second wave
of winter

Carole Harrison
Jamberoo, Australia

 

endless summer
of our discontent
early winter

Charles Harmon
Los Angeles, California

 

the summer
of cold rain
global warming

Charlotte Hrenchuk

 

after our argument
taste of
cold coffee

Cherry A
Assam, India

 

icebreaker
we share
a joint

Clifford Rames
Freehold, NJ

 

bonfires on the beach –
the whiteness of the moon
so far away

falò in spiaggia –
il bianco della luna
così lontano

Daniela Misso

 

summer heat
even the bees too lazy
to fly

Deborah Karl-Brandt

 

summer brush fire
the movements
of smoke

Deborah P Kolodji

 

heatwave –
a broken ring
in the iced glass

Dennys Cambarau

 

glacier melt –
that fire within
her eyes

Dorothy Burrows

 

page turner
readers ignore
the whiteness of the page

Edward Dallas

 

playing
hot and cold –
torch lily

Ernesto P. Santiago

 

reconciliation drink
the sound
of a cracking ice cube

Eva Limbach

 

coffee mug
from hot to cold
haiku morning

Greer Woodward
Waimea, HI

 

burning cold
I dig my heels
in snow

Guliz Mutlu

 

brisk northeasterly –
the clothes linedance

Guy Stephenson

 

snowflakes…
the warm notes
of a bird’s song

Hassane Zemmouri

 

warp of snow
weft of petals
lovers weave

Helen Buckingham

 

at the beach
sitting on the sand
huddled in blankets

Helen Herr

 

warm sunlight…
I let go the memory
of his cold words

Hifsa Ashraf

 

bedroom eaves dropping icicle fringes

Ingrid Baluchi
Macedonia

 

cooling
in the moonlight
frog song

Isabel Caves
Auckland, New Zealand

 

snow shovel
in my hands
mug of cocoa

Janice Doppler
Massachusetts, USA

 

relentless heat
slipping into hibernation
my garden and I

Janice Munro
Canada

 

harmattan…
unfolding the
blanket warmth

Jibril Dauda Muhammad
Bwari Abuja, Nigeria

 

for my black tea
a cream splash and one ice cube
morning pod cast

John S Green
Bellingham, WA

 

morning cold –
in the silence
the steam of the tea

Jorge Alberto Giallorenzi

 

cooling off
in a waterfall curtain
her angry words

Kanjini Devi

 

heated argument
she gives him
the cold shoulder

Karen Harvey

 

radiology
his gift shop blanket
shivers while I wait

Kath Abela Wilson
Pasadena, California, USA

 

garden hose
taste of heaven
on dog days

Kelli Lage

 

baked alaska
another piece crumbles
off the arctic ice shelf

Kimberly Esser
Los Angeles, CA

 

melting permafrost
the temp work
of sinking wells

Laurie Greer

 

sweating
his glass of iced tea
blind date

Lorraine A. Padden

 

winter sunshine
the up-side-down shadow
of a palm tree

Louise Hopewell
Australia

 

unmasked
the warmth
of a smile

m shane pruett
Salem, OR, USA

 

war zone
cry of a newborn
from a makeshift tent

Madhuri Pillai

 

chill
melting
hope

Margaret Walker

 

ghost peppers
next to the cucumbers
summer harvest

Marilyn Ashbaugh
USA

 

             c o o l
    in the slipstream
          of myself

Mark Gilbert
UK

 

38 below
with the windchill
my father’s birthday

Maxianne Berger
Outremont QC Canada

 

hot mid-day
the smell of the tar
hit by the hailstorm

Maya Daneva
The Netherlands

 

party punch…
his apples meet
her oranges

Michele L. Harvey

 

hushed dusk…
the glowing PPE
she wears

Milan Rajkumar
Imphal India

 

heatwave
in the courtroom…
cold faces

Neena Singh
Chandigarh, India

 

summer pasture –
only the cows’ tails
are moving

Nick T
UK

 

hot water spring –
a mountain breeze
ruffles my hair

Nicole Pottier
France

 

one cup of latte
circles the fire
in a homeless camp

Pat Davis
NH

 

Arizona summer
air-conditioner off
in the pueblo

Paul Geiger

 

winter sun –
a broken bough
rots on the leaves

Peter Adair
Northern Ireland

 

hot then cold my body fights

Pris Campbell

 

melting ice
two leaves sprout
beneath the rock

Rajeshwari Srinivasan
India

 

reheating
cold leftovers
day moon

Rashmi VeSa

 

windy night
the candles’ bow shape flame
firing arrows

Robert Kingston

 

softballs in July
to
snowballs in December

Roberta Beach Jacobson

 

burnt toast
in the dog bowl
my temper cools

Roberta Beary
County Mayo Ireland

 

fevers rising the cold walls between us

Robin Anna Smith

 

hot hot hot
cold cold cold
school reopenings

Ronald K. Craig
Batavia, OH USA

 

graffiti echoes
through the hot tunnel released
into sunflowers

Sari Grandstaff
Saugerties, NY

 

cannes effing hot in the c tap

simonj
UK

 

flamenco dance
an ice cube
in a glass of whiskey

Slobodan Pupovac
Zagreb, Croatia

 

global warming
without Mother Earth
all that’s left is the moon

Stephen A. Peters

 

summer day
the crackle of ice
in the tea

Steve Tabb

 

broiling hot night –
a fax on my desk
vomiting words

Teiichi Suzuki
Japan

 

chilly day…
the velvety touch
of mom’s scarf

Tsanka Shishkova
Sofia, Bulgaria

 

cigarette burns
on her bare skin
his cold gaze

Vandana Parashar

 

triple-digit day
Mama’s frozen peaches
in the worm bin

Vicki Miko

 

all her smiles
in the past tense…
winter night

Vijay Prasad

 

winter night
her thoughts
keep me warm

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.

The Haiku Foundation reminds you that participation in our offerings assumes respectful and appropriate behavior from all parties. Please see our Code of Conduct policy.