Haiku Dialogue

HAIKU DIALOGUE – Simply a Place to Dwell (1)

Simply with Guest Editor Craig Kittner

Simplicity is one gateway to a balanced mind.

The world sorely needs balanced minds to mitigate all this conflict.

Haiku is uniquely suited for the cultivation and dissemination of simplicity.

In this round of Haiku Dialogue I’m seeking works that invoke the simple perfection of a moment in time.

The successful haiku will be formed out of love for what is not everlasting, but impermanent.

Below is Craig’s selection of poems on the theme of simply a place to dwell:

A place to dwell is a simple physical need that all living creatures share.

A place to dwell is also a complex mental construction, where our physical and philosophical beings cohabitate.

Maintaining simplicity, lyricism, and the haiku spirit in the face of this is truly challenging.

Thank you all for joining me in our journey through weather, with wings, everyday activities, and around back home.

Here are this week’s selections.

I’ll be back with commentary on nine additional haiku next week.

tree house
handing my child a flower
to enter

Stephen A. Peters
Bellingham, WA

 

gone
with her zinnias
grandma’s cellar door

Cindy Putnam Guentherman
Loves Park, IL, USA

 

house-hunting
the kitten pacing
in his makeshift cage

Jackie Chou
United States

 

Memorial Day
my brother
comes home

marilyn ashbaugh
edwardsburg, michigan

 

two rooms
and the tide
more than enough

Ann Sullivan
Massachusetts USA

 

tree house
lower branches filled
with ancestors

John Hawkhead
UK

 

squatting
in a prefabricated house
cuckoo

Paul Callus
Malta

 

tree house
all that remains
of childhood

Alvin Cruz
Philippines

 

outback
stippled in starlight
the tent flap ajar

Marilyn Humbert
Australia

 

ancestral home
laburnum blooms
in the ruins

Arvinder Kaur
Chandigarh, India

 

converted wooden house–
knocking at the door
a woodpecker

Teiichi Suzuki
Japan

 

alpine hut
the wordless whisper
of timber

Helga Stania
Switzerland

 

new house
hired hands unload
our past

Ravi Kiran
India

 

mountain house –
a squirrel claims
the orchard

Daniela Lăcrămioara Capotă
Romania

 

country cottage
slowly losing the thatch
on my roof too

Tracy Davidson
Warwickshire, UK

 

far from the noise –
the walls of the room
chrysanthemum color

Nazarena Rampini
Italy

 

magnolias in the wind –
my hometown
a thousand butterflies

Steliana Cristina Voicu
Romania

 

mum’s house
wide open doors of
the rose’s scent

Samo Kreutz
Ljubljana, Slovenia

 

old age home
the arch of the gate
a rainbow

Sudebi Singha
Kolkata, India

 

venetian blind
listing every sound
of the garden

Sébastien Revon
Ireland

 

still raining –
the stain on the ceiling
looks like me

Laura Marino Trotta
Firenze – Italia

 

old house
barely enough buckets
for the raindrops

Keiko Izawa
Japan

 

applying
cream-colored trim
hint of honeysuckle

Alan Harvey
Tacoma, WA

 

saturday morning
sleep-over fort
the new cartoons

Curt Linderman
Seattle, Washington (US)

 

fixing up the old house laughs again

Christine Goodnough
Delisle, SK

 

homecoming –
the lit-up windows
dispel the dark

Natalia Kuznetsova
Russia

 

empty burrow
an old friend
who can’t be found

Cynthia Anderson
Yucca Valley, California

 

tenth floor balcony
the barn owl fledglings and i
flex our wings

Rupa Anand
New Delhi, India

 

day’s end
a folded blanket
on the sofa

Daniela Misso
Italy

 

lakeside cabin
through the screen door
a loon’s song drifts

Margaret Tau
New Bern, North Carolina

 

open screen
the housefly
now just a fly

Kerry J Heckman
Seattle, WA

 

beyond city limits
the tumbledown shack
with roses around

Keith Evetts
Thames Ditton UK

 

Weary clothesline
Waiting for the rain
To pass

Rashmi Buragohain
India

 

sudden showers
our first night
in temple ruins

Padma Rajeswari
Mumbai, India

 

room with a view
a dry leaf bed
in the bug hotel

Lori Kiefer
UK

 

nobody knows
that I’m talking to the moon….
tree house

Mircea Moldovan
România

 

sod house
prairie dreams
still hold

Mike Stinson
Nebraska USA

 

moving out
unable to look at my wife’s
set of keys

Maya Daneva
The Netherlands

 

dispute moon
another tent city
rises…

Adele Evershed
Wilton, Connecticut

 

blanket castles …
when fierceness
came easy

Firdaus Parvez
India

 

spider’s web
in the guest room
catching sunlight

Annie Wilson
Shropshire, UK

 

front door –
sparrows build a nest
on the welcome wreath

Valentina Ranaldi-Adams
Fairlawn, Ohio USA

 

the place where
my childhood lives…
tree house

Mona Bedi
Delhi, India

 

hummingbird nest
over our front door
we bow to enter

Kathabela Wilson
USA

 

wind whistle-
the heat of the cherry tree
inside the room

Angiola Inglese
Italia

 

hooting owl
my footsteps echo
down the hall

David Josephsohn
North Carolina, USA

 

big enough
to contain dreams
a room of my own

Cristina Povero
Italy

 

fresh breath of ants
old terracotta tub
of garden mint

Helene Guojah
UK

 

hermit crab shell
the emptiness
after years of living

Susan Burch
Hagerstown, MD

 

locked
in our music box
la vie en rose

Rita Melissano
Illinois, USA

 

sky blue tarps
socks hanging
in straight lines

Jonathan Epstein
USA

 

tree canopy
the glowing green light
of childhood

Jonathan English
Washington, DC

 

jungle stay
the modern tent’s creak
in a thrush’s whistle

Amoolya Kamalnath
India

 

home from vacation
the front door sticks
a little bit

Sari Grandstaff
Saugerties, NY

 

Join us next week for Craig’s commentary on additional poems, & our next prompt…

 

Guest Editor Craig Kittner claims a round-earther identity as an alternative to the ones the world would impose. While their feet feel the earth, their ragpicker mind works the trash heap that’s their brain, pulling out words. Origami Poems Project, Shot Glass Journal, bottle rockets, and Acorn have recently hosted his work.

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.

Please note that all poems & images appearing in Haiku Dialogue may not be used elsewhere without express permission – copyright is retained by the creators. Please see our Copyright Policies.

This Post Has 22 Comments

  1. This fascinating haiku by Rita Melissano keeps singing in my mind.
    I can hear a lovely music box echoing and yet who dwells there? Perhaps the poet herself? With who? The world inside is songful, positive, tender, thoughtful and safe (locked in) ….I think of it as a choice, to see and hear the world in a positive and protective way, still acknowledging a sadness, in life, but creating sweetness and serenity “en rose” that can be found in the midst life. An unusual haiku that draws us into itself!

    locked
    in our music box
    la vie en rose

    Rita Melissano
    Illinois, USA

  2. Thank you so much for choosing my haiku.
    Congratulations to everyone!

  3. Thank you so much for choosing my haiku. It’s a great encouragement.

  4. this haiku by Jackie has been resonating in my mind since the moment I first read it

    house-hunting
    the kitten pacing
    in his makeshift cage

    Jackie Chou
    United States

    The surprise of a pacing kitten in this situation is so moving,
    The haiku evokes layers of meaning. It applies to all of us,
    in a larger sense! All of us have felt like this, when
    in between houses (or relationships, situations, or occupations).
    What a brilliant choice of a “dwelling”. It is temporary.
    And is both psychological and actual.
    a “makeshift cage”. This is an unforgettable poem, that stays with me.

    I also love Valentina’s haiku which, yes, is so in tune with mine.
    We have both felt the closeness of a nest

    front door–
    sparrows build a nest
    on the welcome wreath

    Valentina Ranaldi Adams
    Fairlawn, Ohio, USA

    What makes this especially wonderful is the placement
    of the nest in the “welcome wreath”! This is so easy to see and remember.
    and means so much. And it is exactly the kind of place the the sparrows like
    to nestle into.

  5. What a varied selection to a fascinating theme! These haiku became favorites because of how they all left something for the reader to bring to finish the haiku. I love the power of suggestion, rather than telling or showing it all.

    alpine hut
    the wordless whisper
    of timber

    Helga Stania
    Switzerland

    Felt drawn to this one for all the untold stories the timber held, not to mention the alpine setting. I’ve visited isolated alpine cabins and can read a lot into this one.

    empty burrow
    an old friend
    who can’t be found

    Cynthia Anderson
    Yucca Valley, California

    Enjoyed for its clear image and juxtaposition. I photograph prairie dog burrows a lot and really felt the resonance of loss against what might be an empty burrow.

    day’s end
    a folded blanket
    on the sofa

    Daniela Misso
    Italy

    So inviting! One doesn’t know what comes next. It’s up to the reader to decide in regards to a blanket and sofa awaiting one at the end of day. Love this!

    open screen
    the housefly
    now just a fly

    Kerry J Heckman
    Seattle, WA

    Another favorite! A little miracle as often those houseflies don’t ever gain their freedom!

  6. something striking and admirable in the following haiku by Jonathan English
    the image is quite catchy, kudos to the writer

    tree canopy
    the glowing green light
    of childhood

    Jonathan English

    Washington, DC

  7. Thank a lot Craig Kitteen !!!
    I really happy to be in this selection in so a good company !
    Congratulazioni to all !

  8. Thanks to all who contributed poems this week, I sure did enjoy reading them, especially the ones on treehouses!

  9. Stephen A. Peters’ haiku brought a smile to my face. I could imagine that instead of a password, a flower to allow a father into the tree house for a day of shared play.
    tree house
    handing my child a flower
    to enter
    Stephen A. Peters

    Congrats to all the poets for such memorable homes simply expressed. Thanks to KJ and Lori for doing such phenomenal jobs behind the scene.

  10. hummingbird nest
    over our front door
    we bow to enter
    /
    Kathabela Wilson
    USA
    /
    The subject matter of this one is similar to my haiku this week. This shows
    that birds building nests near front doors is a common experience.

  11. A great selection Craig.
    Particularly like …..

    alpine hut
    the wordless whisper
    of timber

    Helga Stania
    Switzerland

  12. Thanks Craig for selecting my haiku and congratulations to all for inspired haiku. I particularly liked Kerry J Heckman’s

    open screen
    the housefly
    now just a fly

    A fine use of simplicity to show us what we see and hear everyday but may not always recognise. A proper haiku!

  13. Congratulations to all featured here.

    I was especially taken with Marilyn’s “outback”.

    outback
    stippled in starlight
    the tent flap ajar

    Marilyn Humbert
    Australia

    Stay inspired!
    Michelle

    2. Thank you Michelle, I appreciate you taking the time to comment. Thanks to the selctors to for choosing my poem to be part of this project

  15. Craig, it is always a pleasure to have a haiku in this column. Thank-you. I also wish to thank Kathy, Lori, and the Haiku Foundation for their efforts. Congrats to all the poets that were chosen.

  16. Congratulations to all the poets here and thank you for including my haiku among these! Home is a simple yet expansive theme for haiku. I especially appreciated this haiku as I have written haiku about hermit crabs and their fascinating way of finding a home but this is one I only wish I could have written so beautifully. A real gem that strikes a chord on so many levels:

    hermit crab shell
    the emptiness
    after years of living

    Susan Burch
    Hagerstown, MD

  17. Thank you, Craig Kittner, for adding my haiku to this delightful list. Congratulations to all featured here.

  18. Thanks for sharing my verses. Congratulations to all the authors , so many beautiful stories .

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