HAIKU DIALOGUE – Resolutions – Failure (1)

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1. Thanks John for selecting my Haiku. And to all the those whose haiku was selected, congratulations. And the images in these haiku shine like morning gold threads and capture the readers attention to read them again and again.

2. Thank you so much for including my haiku
   my voice
   silenced long ago
   you are still talking

   I really enjoyed reading all the haikus but there are a couple that really stole my heart:
   half moon—
   all those words
   that you didn’t say

   Daniela Lăcrămioara Capotă
   Romania

   ungiven caress—
   the silence of a crocus
   in the snow

   Daniela Misso
   Italy

   and one person that I see often on here:
   listing a mixer
   for sale on eBay
   never opened

   Barrie Levine
   Massachusetts, USA
   It’s fun to watch for Barrie’s haiku. Not only do they really resonate for me but he is al so from Massachusetts.
   Thanks to all the poets…I loved reading them all.
   Vicki Vogt
   Watertown, MA USA

3. Thank you for including my haiku in your long list! There were so many other haiku that really struck a chord with me, but a few did particularly stand out. Just to note two of them:

   my ambition to walk
   the entire length of Japan
   only a dream
   by kris moon kondo…perhaps the regret of old age? Certainly not only meets the theme but leaves the reader with a strong visual image of the writer’s desire.

   pregnancy
   her vision vanishes
   without a heartbeat
   by Jan Stretch…this hits hard and lasts, a poem that I can’t easily get out of my mind.

4. I am baffled. Isn’t there usually a prompt due tonight, Jan. 28th? I don’t see one.

   1. Hi Seretta,

      Beginning with the new year, Haiku Dialogue has begun a new format. Each prompt is now a two-week cycle. The first week, the editors lists their ‘long list’ of selections without comment. The second week the top selections with comments are listed. So there is a prompt due only every other Saturday by midnight now.

      Thanks for asking.
      John

5. While these are all wonderful, I think this is my favorite:

   seven summers
   he is still searching for me
   in every woman

   Vandana Parashar
   India

6. Thanks much, John for including my haiku in this long list of “Failure” selection.
   A great read.
   I particularly liked

   failing
   to pay proper respect
   the sun has set

   Hla Yin Mon
   Yangon, Myanmar

   I so relate to this.

   And

   school report card
   i wish i were
   not a bully

   Christopher Calvin
   Kota Mojokerto, Indonesia

   I like this for accepting a past mistake which is the first step towards a new reformed life.

   1. Thanks for your contributions, Govind.
      Enjoy your weekend,
      John

      1. You are welcome, John. And likewise.

7. I agree with Eavonka Ettiger, most of these haiku resonate with me. I think it’s easier to dwell on the failures with regrets, or maybe it’s just me.

   One I particularly liked was Eleanor ‘s monoku of writing and rewriting letters of grievances, but this may be less of a failure than a therapeutic way to get out hurts and negative feelings as long as the letters are not sent. During a separation and divorce, I had a journal of “letters not sent” which got out toxic emotions without hurting the person(s) to which they were directed. Eventually I destroyed the journal, which also had positive entries as well. For that time it helped me through a rough time. Eleanor, I wish a positive outcome for you.

   Jelive ‘s haiku
   pondering on
   the chancesth
   I didn’t take
   again speaks to me as looking back and the regrets I might have as the failure.

   Congratulations to all the poets. Well done to all. I was impressed by them. I be reading and rereading them throughout the week.

   My failure to submit this week is not a regret. I got to finally travel to, finally meet my newest grandson, and spend time with my son and his wife before returning home.

   1. Hi Nancy,
      Congratulations on your grandson! I have a grandson who is my only grandchild. He is 13 months old.

      I think poetry in general is a form of therapy. I write haibun and others styles of poetry as well in addition to haiku.

      1. Hi John,
         Isn’t having a grandchild wonderful? A thirteen-month old is a fantastic time of It life…toddling around, learning to speak, and understands more than he can say. It just changes one’s perspective, and for myself, it makes me want to help build a better world for them. My husband and I have six between us, and they range from a sophomore in college to a three-month old.

         It also gives me, at least, a greater writing perspective and does work as therapy. I find I write all sorts of poetry and keep trying to understand more..

8. So many beautiful poems! Thank you, John, for including one of mine.

   A few of my favourites:

   I gave it my all
   this heated attempt to melt
   10 pounds from the earth

   Shelli Jankowski-Smith
   Massachusetts, USA
   This powerful turn of thought had me read the poem a few times and then connect with a sense of wonder. Yeah, where does lost weight actually go? I love it.

   adding
   an extra notch . . .
   Orion’s belt

   Lori Kiefer
   London UK
   This image is immediate, palpable and speaks for itself. I love the metaphor!

   pregnancy
   her vision vanishes
   without a heartbeat

   Jan Stretch
   Victoria, Canada
   Firstly, Jan, we are neighbours! I am on Salt Spring Island. This poem really hit my heart. The way you pair the sense of hearing and seeing is powerful. It may not be autobiographical, but if it is, I am sorry for your loss.

   1. Thank you so much Marcia. Glad you like it! Lori 🧡

      1. Thank you John for including my haiku among another great collection this week! Love the theme!

   2. Thanks for your kind mention of my haiku Marcia, I’m glad you enjoyed it! 😊🙏🏼

   3. Thanks for your excellent comments, Marcia.

9. Thank you John, for including one of my haiku among this stellar grouping! A very resonant theme. I enjoyed so many… here are a couple that I kept circling back to:

   old recipe
   burnt cookies
   in a new oven

   Dubravka Šćukanec
   Hrvatska
   Sometimes that mismatch between old and new is disappointing. I recently got a new oven after 25 years with my old one, and can relate to this!

   social outcast
   a thousand flamingoes
   walk away

   lev hart
   Calgary, Canada
   A sad idea, but this unlikely image just delighted me. A thousand flamingoes… that’s really getting the cold pink shoulder from a big crowd!

   1. Thanks for the effort to comment, Shelli!

10. This one also stands out for me:

    my best intentions
    languish upon countertop
    last year’s air fryer

    Jenn Ryan-Jauregui
    Tucson, Arizona USA

    An exquisite portrayal of the mundane. Comedy with an ironic note. That air fryer is worthy of a whole series of tv sitcoms. 🙂

    1. Ha! We just got an air fryer and my wife had it cleaned in 20 minutes and we used three nights in a row. There is a haiku friend on Facebook who posts about her air fryer dishes which inspired me to get one. I love to cook . . .

    2. . . . but I have to say that I think Jenn’s leaving out of the definite article in L2 was a mistake : we used to call this sort of language use “Tontoism” or “Tonto Speak” (after the Lone Ranger’s friend). It makes the ku sound like a spoof. an imitation of Japanese or other languages. I don’t know if that was intentional or not.

       It would be so easy to get rid of that superfluous “top” Of course anything on the counter is on the countertop. Where else could it possibly be?

       I’d suggest:

       my best intentions
       languish upon the counter
       last year’s air fryer
       .
       (Ha, John, You could write a recipe book ,”My Year with an Air Fryer”. Sure to be a best seller. 🙂 )

11. featured haiku
    can’t find
    my entry

    Ruth H. Hermosa
    Gloria, Oriental Mindoro, Philippines
    .
    Ouch! This senryu resonates for me and I’m sure many others have had this experience, too. Here (in the view of the ‘I’ of the ku ) is the moment of imminent failure, the moment immediately before one is faced with the fact that one’s entry is not among the chosen ‘featured haiku’ entries.

    There is suspense. This verse is short, simple and cinematic, too, for this reader: I can easily see the facial expressions of the “I” of the ku changing from expectation to disappointment to a sense of failure (however short) as if I was filming her, close up.

    Smoothly done, Ruth. This ku stands out for me among many excellent entries..

    1. Yes, we all do the scroll to see if our haiku will appear among the editor’s selections. I understand the wide swing between disappointment and joy.

12. It’s so odd how much I enjoyed all these “failures”. Probably because I can relate to them all so well.

    Thank you, John, for including mine! I had a slightly different read on one of my favorite poems:

    unarranging
    another meet up
    depression

    C.X.Turner
    United Kingdom

    For me, as someone who also suffers from depression and anxiety, this one felt far more about how the disease disassociates me from socializing with anyone. But now that I think about it, that is still a relationship breakdown, eh?

    1. Yes, I think so. But not necessarily romantic ones.
       Thanks, Eavonka for your post.

13. Thank you John for including my haiku. Just loved this weeks theme

    ash moon.
    I can’t make you love me
    if you don’t

    Susan Burch
    Hagerstown ND

    Very poignant, struck a chord with me..

    1. ‘ash moon’ is very effective in this poem.
       Thanks, Margaret

14. O wow! I have to ponder for every poem. Best regards to all the contributors.

15. John, thank you for including my poem on your long list. There were quite a few that stood out to me. Here are my comments on three of them.

    the spring hills
    rectus abdominis
    further and farther away

    simonj
    UK

    ~ I love the metaphor of winter weight gain followed by the scientific anatomical term for what the hills have covered up. The use of both ‘further’ and ‘farther’ made me stop and think as well.

    all the books
    I’m still not reading
    social media

    Eavonka Ettinger
    Long Beach, CA

    ~ I was caught in a delightful loop by this poem, reading it two ways. As the prompt was ‘failure’ it must mean that social media is taking up book reading time, rather than ‘so many books, who has time for social media?’

    cookie jar
    the resolve
    crumbles

    Ravi Kiran
    India

    ~ says it all in very few words. The image of resolve crumbling along with the cookie that will be eaten is perfect.

    1. Thank you so much, April, for your incisive commentary! You read me so clearly. 😊

    2. Ty April. I’m still thinking about ‘further’ and ‘farther’!

    3. Wonderful comments, April.
       Thanks,
       John

16. So much to enjoy here! My personal favorite:

    adding
    an extra notch . . .
    Orion’s belt

    Lori Kiefer
    London UK

17. Several fun ones — or maybe not — about dieting:

    healthy diet: day 4
    she looks for will power
    in a chip bag
    Pam Joy
    Southeast Alaska

    In our family, we say Will Power, and then wonder who he is.

    and

    I gave it my all
    this heated attempt to melt
    10 pounds from the earth
    Shelli Jankowski-Smith
    Massachusetts, USA

    It’s got to go somewhere, I guess.

    I love this one too:

    sharing day
    a kitchen full
    of ants
    Sherry Grant
    Auckland, New Zealand

    Thank you for this variety of failures, John, and for including one of mine. So glad I’m not alone.

    1. Thanks for mentioning one of my haiku Ingrid, I’m glad you enjoyed it! 😁

    2. Thanks, Ingrid, for your comments. We are never alone in our failures!

18. John, I really appreciate being among the selections for this theme. Thank you very much. (FYI, I noticed that the ‘l’ is missing on my first line as the word was ‘loud’).

    [l]oud mooing…
    the dung beetle blunders
    into milling hooves

    Al Gallia
    Louisiana USA

    1. Oh, no. Sorry about that, Al. I’ll ask to have it corrected asap.
       All the best,
       John

19. Odličan posao gospon Green, hvala Vam puno!

    1.
    između mene i moje misli rupa u zidu

    S.Eta Grubešić
    Bukovac, Srbija
    ————–
    Dvolinijski haiku… Moja
    omiljena forma. Bravo, Eta!

    2.
    stari recept
    izgoreni kolačići
    u novoj pećnici

    Dubravka Šćukanec
    Hrvatska
    ————
    Šteta, ako su zdravi kolačiči, ako su “gurmanski”, i nije baš… 🤗

    3.
    prekinuta veza
    nedovoljno kintsugija
    za popravak antike

    Mona Iordan
    Rumunjska
    —————
    Ah, ta antika… 😁
    Bravo, draga Mona!

    1. Thanks so much for your comments, Zdenka Now I need to translate them!

    2. Thanks you, Zdenka, for mentioning my haiku ! Glad you enjoyed it.

20. Thanks John for another intriguing selection. Two poems in particular grabbed my attention:

    fifty-third
    lap of the sun
    still not found myself

    Tracy Davidson
    Warwickshire, UK

    I love poems which make me stop and think which is exactly what happened here. Thank you Tracy for using such an interesting phrase.

    dry spell
    no ripples
    in the frog pond

    Caroline Giles Banks
    Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

    I find Caroline’s poem open to so many interpretations. Has the pond dried up? Perhaps it’s an imaginary pond and the ripples refer to lines of poetry? There’s lots here to excite my imagination.

    1. Thanks, Nick for highlighting two of your favorites. well played by Caroline on the ripples of poetry you reference!

21. Thank you John for including me on this list of successful haiku about failures! These three haiku resonated with me. I love the word choices here in all three. Each one became part of a haibun in my mind when reading them:

    stretching the truth …
    my new yoga mat
    gets a workout

    Bonnie J Scherer
    ~~~~~
    missed voice mail
    his final tag
    you’re it

    Lorraine A Padden
    ~~~~~
    my poor
    choice of words
    hunger moon

    Bryan Rickert
    ~~~~~
    ~~~~~

    1. Thanks for your appreciation of my poem! I’d love to read your haibun if you write one. You’ll find me on Facebook. 🙂

    2. I have been writing a lot of haibun. Drifting Sands just had a call for collaborative haibun . I did one with a friend and it will appear in the next issue.
       Thanks for commenting, Sari.

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