HAIKU DIALOGUE – Paradigm Shift – the artifacts of wind
Paradigm Shift with Guest Editor Craig Kittner
“Learn about pines from the pine,” Bashō advised.
Why do you think he said that?
Animism is a birthright of haiku.
However, western culture, despite all its scientific knowledge, tends to put human experience on some rarefied plane, separate and above all the other beings and forces of the universe. An ego-laden, anthropocentric attitude that would write off learning from the pine as anthropomorphism and personification.
How does this impact your writing?
Can you shift your perspective away from the human and dress yourself in the consciousness of another form?
next week’s theme: the silence of satellites
Although it may be quiet, not a single moment on earth can be truly silent. You need the vacuum of space for that.
The deadline is midnight Eastern Daylight Time, Saturday July 17, 2021.
Please use the Haiku Dialogue submission form below to enter one or two original unpublished haiku inspired by the week’s theme, and then press Submit to send your entry. (The Submit button will not be available until the Name, Email, and Place of Residence fields are filled in.) With your poem, please include any special formatting requirements & your name as you would like it to appear in the column. 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 Craig’s commentary for the artifacts of wind:
balanced rock
another grain removed
from its slim pedestalKathleen Vasek Trocmet
Texas, USA
The rocky artifacts of wind seem so solid to human eyes. Yet the force that sculpted them continues to wear them away. Even the hardest of earthy substances are temporary. This is very haiku!
hurricane season…
the steady breeze that tells us
a storm is comingEd Bremson
Raleigh, NC
Some artifacts are ephemeral. For example, the trepidation that lives in those who have experienced the full extent of the wind’s fury. Natural wisdom requires respect for nature’s ability to destroy.
memorial fountain
wind dashes the orderly
flow of griefLaurie Greer
Washington, DC
Consider how often we speak of wind as if it has emotion and intent. I just did it above in referring to the wind’s fury. Despite all our scientific advances, we are still helpless in the face of certain forces, and we find that hard to accept. So we scramble to find words that dispel our discomfort. Grief, like wind, does not bow to our will.
twilight breeze
across the pond
wrinkles the moonRon Degler
Los Angeles, California
The moon should serve as a constant reminder of the rare gifts of our planet. That lifeless rock, so close to us but so different. Yet in the mind of the poet, the wind can touch even the moon and create a lasting impression. An artifact worthy of dreams.
winter moor—
a solitary hawthorn
bonsaied by the windClaire Ninham
North Yorkshire, UK
I love the use of bonsai as a verb here. A quirky turn of thought that gives this haiku such originality. There’s an irony here too. As a way of art, bonsai mimics what the wind does to trees. Yet the poet turns that on its head, to say the wind is doing what we do.
charred foothills
the unchecked fury
of sundownersCynthia Anderson
Yucca Valley, California
Back to the wind’s fury. Paired with fire, is there any better reminder that we are not separate from nature? Another reminder, in this world of dynamic forces, that all is temporary and all vulnerable.
overlook—
the breath of earth
upon my mouthVictor Ortiz
Bellingham, WA
Well might we say that the wind is the earth’s breath. If it weren’t for wind, life, in all its glorious complexity, would not have spread across the planet. Without that biological complexity, we would never have evolved. Perhaps you’ll forgive the conceit, but one could say that people are the ultimate artifacts of the wind.
& here are the rest of the selections:
spring zephyr …
caressing the wounds
of a barren treeबसंत की पुरवाई …
एक बंजर पेड़ के
जख्मों को सहलातीTeji Sethi
India
bent but not broken meadow grass
Deborah Karl-Brandt
Bonn, Germany
sand dune —
the wind becomes
topographicChristopher Peys
Los Angeles, CA
windy night-
mumma’s duppata blows
towards the starsMuskaan Ahuja
Chandigarh, India
untangling the songs
knotted up in my hair…
the wind’s many giftsBaisali Chatterjee Dutt
Kolkata, India
all I’ve stood for
stone arches
slowly erodingTerri L. French
Full time Rver
desert wraiths
conjured by the wind
shapeshiftingLyntha Nelson
Colorado, USA
trade winds–
the scent of
cinnamon lingersLafcadio Orlovsky
USA
may fifth
koi carp kites
gulping down windIngrid Baluchi
North Macedonia
winding
ladder to heaven–
a tornadoTeiichi Suzuki
Japan
spinning backwards
into childhood
paper pinwheelRavi Kiran
India
hot morning…
his voice
in the windRosa Maria Di Salvatore
Catania (Italy)
river wind…
heat carries the buzz
of unknown livesAlan Summers
England
sand-laden wind
caressing the rock formation
the moonriseCorine Timmer
Faro, Portugal
summer sky
reshaped
a small cloudSlobodan Pupovac
Zagreb, Croatia
a rush of empty wind
the lowest bar
goes lowerJohn S Green
Bellingham, WA
desert varnish…
how the wind captured
culture in timeRichard Matta
San Diego, California
tornado warnings …
a silent prayerBa Duong
Florida, USA
I sit by her grave
among leaves-
how she loved the windMargaret Mahony
Australia
tree branches
scratch the passing wind
leaving sighsCarl Maier
Las Cruces, New Mexico
twig-by-twig
new home
flies awayRoberta Beach Jacobson
Indianola, IA, USA
same nightmare
filmy curtains heavy
with a hanging moonAnitha Varma
India
wind bent tree
kissing mother earth
strong root tiesHla Yin Mon
Yangon, Myanmar
old clothes
brushed by the wind –
new scarecrowNicole Pottier
France
pine tree…
the sound and scent
of wind in meNeena Singh
Chandigarh, India
westerlies …
the silent snow
loses its calmMeera Rehm
UK
howling wind…
the weight of grief
in flattened cropArvinder Kaur
Chandigarh, India
star dunes
the shifting shape
of windblown sandHelen Ogden
Pacific Grove, CA
hot desert wind
suckles top soil
weeds grow tap rootsChrista Pandey
Austin, TX, USA
his whistle . . .
a fallen rose
stirs in the puddleKavitha Sreeraj
Hyderabad, India
winds wester
the one cloud 千代 captured
on a polaroidsimonj
UK
storm leaves
no words for
inside out umbrellaKathleen Mazurowski
Chicago, IL
swirling wind
the weightlessness
of the eagleLouise Hopewell
Australia
littering
and sweeping by turns
the wind picks upMaxianne Berger
Outremont, Québec
spindrift
the upturned dinghy
in a shroudKeith Evetts
Thames Ditton UK
another shape
of this foreign land
winter gustAgus Maulana Sunjaya
Tangerang, Banten, Indonesia
gusts of wind
an old man straightens
the scarecrow’s headPadma Rajeswari
Mumbai, India
Lockdown winds
withered leaves
uncrushed on pavementPrit Khullar
India
east wind
the pines bow
to nothingZahra Mughis
Lahore, Pakistan
horizontal –
the hawthorn tree
after a hooleyDorothy Burrows
United Kingdom
on the playground
an empty juice box
battered by the windSari Grandstaff
Saugerties, NY
weathercock
getting my direction
each dayMona Iordan
Bucharest, Romania
westerlies
dethrone blooming rose
and fly it to earthPadmini Krishnan
Singapore
shapes the wind
the impervious mountain –
my disheveled springmodella il vento
l’impervia montagna –
mia scapigliata primaveraGiuliana Ravaglia
Bologna ( Italia)
where the wind begins
sorting maple leaves from words
comes between usRon Scully
Manchester, NH
stirring up water
the wind
finds new shadesCristina Povero
Italy
an egret’s plume
the airs and graces
of windDebbie Strange
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
behind the bay breeze what it leaves
Pippa Phillips
United States
wind weathered stone
the delicate arch
of my mother’s lifeKath Abela Wilson
United States
aftermath . . .
path of a cyclone
strewn with silenceBarrie Levine
Wenham MA USA
Pacific cypress
contorted branches
mimic the windGary Evans
Stanwood, Washington
weathered by
wind and sand …
the mountaineerKaren Harvey
North Wales
daybreak
Chinook winds fill
a boxcarP. H. Fischer
Vancouver, Canada
spring breeze
corn leaves tickle the armpit
of a scarecrowAdjei Agyei-Baah
Ghana/New Zealand
bumming a ride
a fresh petal
on the wind’s backSandra St-Laurent
Yukon, Canada
summer solace
the whoosh of sudden wind
in tall grassSusan Rogers
Los Angeles CA
Craig Kittner has lived a lot of places. Fourteen at last count. He was reared, for a while, in Illinois. Then North Carolina. Providence saw the start of some interesting things that DC helped solidify. Now he lives kind of near the sea and is compelled to ramble and write.
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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This Post Has 13 Comments
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Thank you Craig for including my haiku here this week. Really enjoying reading your comments and selections each week.
Congratulations to all the poets featured this week! Another thought-provoking and lovely selection of poems. I’m delighted to have mine in the mix. Many thanks, Craig, for the inspiration and for your insightful commentaries. Thank you also to Kj and Lori for the administration.
I admired a great many poems this week. I was particularly moved by Laurie Greer’s poem for the way Laurie had managed to evoke emotion, place and a sense of movement. I could hear the fountain too. Fabulous!
I also loved the following poem, for both its cinematic impact and the way it engaged my curiosity. I wanted to know the story that went with the poem. Beautiful!
windy night-
mumma’s duppata blows
towards the stars
Muskaan Ahuja
Chandigarh, India
I look forward to reading next week’s column!
While “mumma’s duppata blows towards the stars” is a redeeming feature, windy-blows and night-stars are somewhat tautological.
It’s not always easy to get everything right in haiku/senryu, but I could picture and enjoy the image well enough. I can also imagine the emotion that went with it.
Thank you, Craig, for selecting and commenting on my haiku. The local, characterful hawthorns – twisted and sculpted by the elements – are a constant source of inspiration.
I have really enjoyed reading the other poets’ interesting and diverse interpretations of this evocative theme.
The poetry of almost saying nothing and yet…
gusts of wind
an old man straightens
the scarecrow’s head
Padma Rajeswari
Mumbai, India
.
stirring up water
the wind
finds new shades
Cristina Povero
Italy
.
And yet, they resonate so incredibly strongly with me.
warm regards,
Alan
Loved Alan Summers “river wind”. “the buzz of unknown lives” is a line that captures the imagination .
Dear M,
Thank you for your kind comment! It was a solo walk/ginko along the River Avon section in and around Chippenham, Wiltshire, England UK. The wonderful fields and woodlands are owned by a charity founded by Mary Tudor, Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death in 1558!
river wind…
heat carries the buzz
of unknown lives
Alan Summers
England
Delighted to be included this week. Thank you, Craig, and to all those behind the scenes helping to make these series such an interesting challenge. A fascinating read from all the poets.
Looking again at Zahra Mughis’ submission, I see several layers of meaning, and wondered if the direction of wind had particular significance?
east wind
the pines bow
to nothing
Maybe a lesson that Nature is, in the end, the most powerful ‘entity’ to which we should all ‘bow’.
The east wind in Japan certainly has an intriguing journey, surviving as a kigo!
first strong south wind in Spring, haru ichiban 春一番
this is followed by second, third and fourth South wind
….. haru niban 春二番, haru sanban 春三番, haru yonban 春四番
This is usually quite a strong storm or gusty wind on the coast of the East side of Japan, toward the end of February. It used to be a kind of negative kigo, pertaining to the hardships of the fishermen in Nagasaki. Later on, it became more positive, since after haru ichiban, we know that spring is coming.
East wind (kochi 東風)
strong East wind (tsuyogochi 強東風)
morning East wind (asagochi 朝東風)
evening East wind (yuugochi 夕東風)
real East wind, magochi 正東風
larks East wind, hibarigochi 雲雀東風
plum blossoms and East wind, umegochi 梅東風
cherry blossom and East wind, sakuragochi 桜東風
from Dr Gabi Greve
Thank you Craig for including my haiku. It is a joy to read all poets work each week.
I sit by her grave
among leaves–
how she loved the wind
Margaret Mahony
Australia
A deeply poignant haiku.
Yes, and the way the rhythm picks up pace in line 3, and dances, makes me feel the memory of happiness pervading the grief of loss.