HAIKU DIALOGUE – Opposites Attract – loud/quiet
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 – here/there
The deadline is midnight Pacific Daylight Savings Time, Saturday September 19, 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Please submit one or two original unpublished haiku inspired by the week’s theme by clicking here: Contact Form.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 loud/quiet:
This selection includes poems that illustrate exceptional word choice, wonderful topics for the prompt this week, & originality. All can be read a variety of ways, all leave something for the reader to figure out, & every word adds something to the poem – enjoy!
taking a shower
he sings
sound of silenceDeborah Karl-Brandt
This poem is a humorous take on both loud & quiet, & the reader may get the impression that the narrator might prefer actual silence…
no birdsong
the sky loud
with smokeDeborah P Kolodji
Temple City, California
Here is an interesting word choice – the sky is described as being ‘loud’ with something that is not normally thought of as loud… for many the message may be not only loud but urgently clear – & our hearts go out to all those affected by wildfire…
mime artist…
a big round
of applauseMohammad Azim Khan
Peshawar Pakistan
A poem that effortlessly encompasses both sound & the lack of it…
kids with hearing loss…
I teach them
the sign for noiseR.Suresh Babu
India
In this poem the poet writes on a more serious topic, but also effortlessly combines both sides of this pair of opposites in an original way…
full moon
the bartender pours one
for himselfStephen A. Peters
The reader may wonder about the full moon influencing the bartender’s decision – there are reports of increased unusual behaviour at this time – or maybe this choice has more to do with the patrons’ behaviour…
& here are the rest of my selections:
promise –
a rainbow spans
the waterfallAdrian Bouter
cacophony
at the bird feeder
summer skyAgus Maulana Sunjaya
Tangerang, Indonesia
stillness of morning…
broken by cawing crow and
riotous blue bellsAlan Harvey
Tacoma, WA
old monk awaken
cricket song
fills your bowlAlbert Schepers
Canada
stillness
the cricket’s insistence to speak
on my behalfAlegria Imperial
quiet evening –
deafening noise
of a scootersera di quiete –
rumore assordante
d’un motorinoAngiola Inglese
breathe in breathe out
the sound of a bee colliding
with the window paneAnitha Varma
in the silence
crickets left
snowAnn K. Schwader
Westminster, CO
night swim –
just the splash
of breast strokearvinder kaur
Chandigarh, India
briefest moment
after the neighbor’s lawn crew
quits…B.A. France
quiet hour
the doctor on duty’s phone
keeps ringingBakhtiyar Amini
Amtrak quiet car
Tchaikovsky plays
on my headsetBona M. Santos
Los Angeles, CA
the quiet
from priest’s voice
military burialBrăilean Mirela
dusk
the owl’s silent
strikeBryan Rickert
the silence that remains
when the majority
speakCarlos Antonio Pittella
Mason, MI, USA
the hum of the fridge alone at last
Carol Jones
quiet wedding
the high-pitched love song
of a tree cricketcezar-florin ciobica
ever so quietly
tippy toe
on the creaky floorCharles Harmon
Los Angeles, California, USA
flickers raucous cries
silent
first frostCharlotte Hrenchuk
morning quietness –
in the distance
call of a muzzeinCherry A
Assam, India
sound of the sea…
an old man leans in
to hear his wifeClifford Rames
Freehold, NJ
end of lockdown –
the sound of the first airplane
so loud, so loudCorine Timmer
city concert –
jackhammer crescendo
at six a.m.Dan Campbell
deep valley –
echoes of hunting shots
then silencevalle profonda –
echi di spari da caccia
poi il silenzioDaniela Misso
sea cave
I want to shout out
to the boatDavid Gale
Gloucester, UK
library reading room
the sounds of pages turning
and an el trainDavid Oates
Athens, Georgia
deafening –
his stony
silenceEdna Beers
summer dusk –
the din of silence
after the rainElisa Allo
autumn mist
even the crows
fall silentEva Limbach
Germany
change in the wind
I snap my yellow raincoat
shutGreer Woodward
Waimea, HI
calm morning…
a bird’s twittering
sweetens my sleepHassane Zemmouri
Algeria
out with the old
in with the
earplugsHelen Buckingham
Somerset, UK
refrigerator hum
unnoticed until
it stopsHelen Ogden
Pacific Grove CA
lull of the wind
from tree to tree
raven chatterHelga Stania
icebreaker…
a crow cawing, outside
the polling stationHifsa Ashraf
Pakistan
tomcats…
tail-twitching decibels
before the lungeIngrid Baluchi
Ohrid, Macedonia
gull’s cry
living without
your love motherIsabella Kramer
Lower Saxony, Germany
tick-tock clock
the silence between us
amplifiedJackie Chou
Pico Rivera, CA USA
Mount Vesuvius
the quietness of
her angerJanice Munro
Canada
the door slams shut
this room fills
with silenceJohn S Green
drive-in movie –
looking at the policeman
the child raises the glassJorge Alberto Giallorenzi
the quiet steps
of a red deer –
maple leaves fallingJulia Guzmán
meditation class
the constant
ticktockKanjini Devi
fire smoke
behind closed windows
wind chimesKath Abela Wilson
Pasadena, California
search helicopter
drowns
rescue tearsKathleen Mazurowski
Chicago, IL
silent night…
the rumble of waves
inside herKavitha Sreeraj
Hyderabad, India
Hello Kitty fireworks
a mute girl’s
talkative eyesKeiko Izawa
two mice one roar
Kevin Henry
crisp fall breeze
his silent treatment
says it allkimberly dawn
lakewood, ohio
a fox barks
somewhere in the dark
before dawnKristen Lindquist
the murmuring
of the baby in the cradle
amidst mother’s callsLakshmi Iyer
panic button
the sound of children
being too quietLaurie Greer
Washington DC
snoring
throughout the house
baby monitorLorraine A. Padden
San Diego, CA
playgrounds re-open
the excited chatter
of lorikeetsLouise Hopewell
into the city pause birdsong…
m shane pruett
Salem, OR, USA
leaving behind a peach streaked sky screeching cockatoos
Madhuri Pillai
my children laughing
in my dreams…
I wake to silenceMargaret Mahony
whispers
brushing
my hairMargaret Walker
family quarrel –
snowflakes
fall silentMaria Teresa Piras
deadbeat dad…
a daughter
with his djembeMarilyn Ashbaugh
Hawaiian shirt
he cradles a corner
of the roomMark Gilbert
UK
a sudden laugh
sensei shatters
the zazen silenceMark Meyer
falling snow
muffles the fir trees
the loons answerMaxianne Berger
a piano lesson
all those notes
my son skipsMaya Daneva
The Netherlands
my morning sneeze
even my dog is silent
for a minuteMelanie Vance
retired vintner picks
& tastes a plump arbour grape –
lucid singing moonMichael Dudley
straining to hear
her whispered whinny…
screech owl callMichele L. Harvey
isolated street…
alarm of a covid
ambulanceMilan Rajkumar
Imphal, India
hope…
my voice echoing
in an empty roomMinal Sarosh
Ahmedabad, India
the wind is blowing
under the porch of the house
the bird is silentvjetar fijuče
ispod trijema kuće
ptičica šutiMira Jungić
Sisak, Republic of Croatia (Hrvatska)
17-year cicadas…
the buzzing
of tinnitusNancy Brady
Huron, Ohio
drunken old photo
breaks into
loud guffawsnancy liddle
australia
summer night
in cadence with you
the dog snoresNeena Singh
Chandigarh, India
dripping rain –
a few tears wrinkle
the pondNicole Pottier
France
silence
just after the blackbird
whistling(inspired by Wallace Stevens)
Olivier Schopfer
Switzerland
ICU
heart rate monitor
beating nonstopPalle Krishna Rao
angelus
the bell-ringer signs
to his apprenticePat Davis
Pembroke, NH
roar of the surf
he shoots the curl
unheardpaul geiger
between cicada songs star whispers
Peggy Hale Bilbro
Huntsville, Alabama
Birdsong four gunshots silence birdsong
Pippa Phillips
St. Louis, United States
sea at last
the gentle river
learns to roarRajeshwari Srinivasan
India
cat
attempts a roar
only yawnsRehn Kovacic
foofaraw
a bubble rambles
under iceRicha Sharma
in between…
each drop
drumsticksRobert Kingston
Chelmsford, UK
cussing up a storm
anger management
coachRoberta Beach Jacobson
Indianola, Iowa, USA
the crack of lightening
the moment after
we catch our breathron scully
accident victim
passes
Doppler effectRonald K. Craig
Batavia, OH USA
night in the country…
so loud the chorus
of the cricketsRosa Maria Di Salvatore
a trapped cricket
echoing off the lockers
empty school hallwaysSari Grandstaff
Saugerties, New York
dampening
the squeaky pedal
pianofortesimonj
UK
moonlight
on the surface of the calm sea
fish jumpSlobodan Pupovac
Zagreb, Croatia
fireworks
between bursts
the great horned owlStephen Kusch
evening forest
after my whistling –
song of a blackbirdStoianka Boianova
howling winds –
all I hear
is your heartbeatSurashree Joshi
after the wildfires
the lament
of songbirdsSusan Rogers
Los Angeles
a pause
before the downpour –
the fries sizzleSushama Kapur
in the still attic
forgotten old insect net –
cicada’s chorusTeiichi Suzuki
Japan
crack of dawn
an echo of
a prayer conchभोर की बेला
शंखनाद
की गूंज(this ku has a Hindi translation below)
Teji Sethi
India
ancient temple
listening to its bell
not ringingTim Cremin
Andover, Massachusetts
a tin can
rolling on the asphalt –
songs of the ZephyrTomislav Maretić
thunderstorm
someone is singing a lullaby
in the beach hutTsanka Shishkova
Bulgaria
the ping-pinging
of Pachinko balls
hailstormValentina Ranaldi-Adams
Fairlawn, Ohio USA
gunshot…
the silence swallows meVandana Parashar
torrential rain…
a mud doll silently returns
to mudVijay Prasad
winter thunder –
the sky
a broken mirrorvincenzo adamo
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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