HAIKU DIALOGUE – Simply a Winged Thing (1)

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1. Congratulations to all the poets here. I loved each poem, especially:

   Glasswing butterflies –
   all my secrets
   safely hidden

   Caroline Ridley-Duff
   UK

   This haiku immediately intrigued me because I didn’t know the glasswing butterflies. I really appreciated the juxtaposition: the image of the secrets hidden against this type of butterfly.

   pieces of sky
   on the wing
   peacock butterfly

   Marion Clarke

   I love the peacock butterfly. I can see it clearly. It evokes the vision of the butterfly instantly.

   drop of river
   off a heron’s wing
   solitude

   Marilyn Ashbaugh

   A pure moment of silence.

   northern lights this far south jewel beetles

   Ingrid Baluchi

   Amazing juxtaposition. This one caught my eye.

2. Thank you Craig. What a delightful and diverse list of haiku! Every poem whets my appetite for the upcoming short list next week. Picking a favorite was impossible, but here are a few that pulled at me and wouldn’t let go.

   jackdaws the character of smoke
   John Hawkhead
   UK

   Such an original line, ‘the character of smoke’, and I can see this in the bird as its black/gray coloring shifts in sun and shadow.

   the silence
   between goodbyes
   blackbird
   Alvin Cruz
   Philippines

   I’m crazy about blackbirds as my favorite, the red-winged blackbird, has a song that is unmistakable and one i welcome each spring. It fills the silence of this haiku.

   badlands
   a butterfly buffeted
   by the wind
   Terri French
   Huntsville, AL

   Fabulous jux, the reality and connotations of ‘badlands’, against a fragile butterfly. The ‘b’ sounds really hold this together nicely.

   drop of river
   off a heron’s wing
   solitude
   marilyn ashbaugh
   usa

   A lovely distilled moment, especially as it’s a moving river, not a pond, lake etc.

   a ladybug
   unfolds its wings …
   the edge of a page

   una coccinella
   spiega le sue ali …
   il margine di una pagina

   Daniela Misso
   Umbria, Italy

   Love ladybugs! I’ve seen this happen on the edge of a flower, but the added depth of ‘the edge of a page’ makes this personal and intimate to observer and reader.

   bats stirring what’s left of the light
   Polona Oblak
   Ljubljana, Slovenia

   Awesome, just imagining that black cloud emerging from where they come from to greet the fading light.

   reconnecting…
   a bee finds the hole
   in the screen
   Laurie Greer
   Washington, DC

   Evocative jux…and I love the fact the bee finds its way out/in, as so many haiku (including my own) speak of the trapped bee! This resonates on many levels of connection…

   buzzing of bees
   ripe figs thump
   in the afternoon
   Stoianka Boianova
   Bulgaria

   Had to say something about this one. it’s so sensory with sound, and the suggestion of texture and taste. I simply wanted to pick up one of those dropped figs and dig in!

   1. Thank you for commenting on my haiku, Carole!

   2. thanks for the mention, Carole.

      there’s yugen in your glasswing butterfly that i enjoy. never saw one live, though

3. Here are six of my favorites from this fine collection:

   drop of river
   off a heron’s wing
   solitude

   marilyn ashbaugh
   usa
   peacful poem. The only heron poem—my favorite bird
   .
   dragonfly wings my transparent lie

   Bryan Rickert
   Belleville, Illinois

   such understated truth
   .
   heat shimmer
   a blowfly resting
   on the street bin

   Meera Rehm
   UK

   visual beauty (for me anyway!)
   .
   moths
   fluttering by
   one thought after the other

   Marianne Sahlin
   Sweden

   I like the way the middle line acts as a swing; moths or, indeed, thoughts fluttering by
   .
   the shadow
   of her wingspan
   grounded

   Ron Scully
   Burien WA

   I’ve never thought of shadows as being ‘grounded’ but now I will forever. I saw an eagle with unlimited freedom but for it’s shadow.
   .
   tossing them up
   to watch them spin down
   maple seeds

   Sheila Sondik
   Bellingham, Washington

   Yes, yes, yes!
   .

   1. Thanks, John! Here we go again with childhood pleasures.

      1. oh yes, used to do the same!
         i was actually trying to write something about samara seeds but the words wouldn’t come right

         1. Something so magical about those spinning samaras!

   2. Thank you for commenting on my haiku, John!

4. So many fine haiku this week, but I really love this from Polona Oblak:

   bats stirring what’s left of the light

   ‘dusk soup’!

   1. much appreciated, John.

      being fond of corvids, i absolutely love your poem.
      ‘the character of smoke’, just wow!

5. Thanks Craig for the selection and I’m looking forward to seeing next week’s too. I would highlight Valentina Ranaldi-Adams’ postmodern haiku with a twist:-

   a cardinal stands out
   against the snow –
   Christmas card

   1. Thank-you Mark for commenting on my haiku.

6. Thanks to everyone who has shared their thoughts and reactions.

   A true dialogue is building.

   Please keep them coming.

7. Thank you Craig for publishing my haiku. A delightful theme, I loved each poem.

8. What a wonderful collection of poems! I was struck by so many, but though I’m not the first to mention it, I would be remiss not to further applaud

   escaping
   from the magician’s hand
   a white dove

   Mark Gilbert
   UK

   This poem instantly transported me to my love affair with magic which still persists within me.

   1. I’m glad this flew with a few!

9. birdbath sky
   a pair of jays
   paired
   /
   Ann K. Schwader
   Westminster, CO United States
   /
   This haiku has interesting word choices. The word “birdbath” is an unexpected adjective to describe the sky. The words “pair” and “paired” are
   effective use of repetition.

10. A fine yield from the week’s prompt, with the prospect of more to come… Thanks to Craig and the team for all the work.

    I lingered over:

    the silence
    between goodbyes
    blackbird
    — Alvin Cruz

    I’m a sucker for anything with a blackbird’s song in it and this poignant verse of five words hit the spot.

    the ladybird
    without spots
    a ladybird
    — Ruth Holzer

    …talking of spots…thoughts of diversity, affirmation, ‘changing one’s spots’ (dangerous ground…), even a zitty teen becoming a flawless peach…. I like Ruth’s work a lot.

    potato planting…
    a thin wind
    fetches a robin
    — Tony Williams

    Our beloved British robins appear out of nowhere, often on the lookout for a quick worm, sometimes out of sheer curiosity that seems like friendliness to us (one wanted to see what I was doing in the garage the other day). They lead appalling dissolute lives, but they are our favourite bird….

    rising condor
    my fingers quivering
    with his
    — Harrison Lightwater

    A sense of soaring in unison with the majestic bird, its wing-tips quivering in the thermal. Lovely.

    heat shimmer
    a blowfly resting
    on the street bin
    — Meera Rehm

    Ah, the heat!

    wood ducks
    but not today
    whistling reeds
    — Ann Sullivan

    I love the tone of hope and resignation and hope again, with a touch of haikai humour

    pegging the sunset
    on a line . . .
    tree sparrows
    —Lori Kiefer

    Imaginative and pictorial, evoking an immediate image in anyone’s back yard.

    My impression is that haiku/senryu are getting ever more minimalist. The purity comes through.

11. Craig, thank-you so very much for publishing my haiku. It is always a pleasure
    to be published. Thank-you to Kathy, Lori, and the Haiku Foundation for all the efforts on this column. Congrats to all the poets.

12. What a lovely collection to send my imagination winging! I look forward to seeing the ones you selected for comment next week.

    I loved this one by Terri because I know those western winds too well from my western childhood spent being blown around.

    badlands
    a butterfly buffeted
    by the wind

    Terri French
    Huntsville, AL
    .

    This one by Nitu broke my heart. It tells of too many tales in our insane world.

    evacuation —
    a dove’s blood-stained feather
    at the border

    Nitu Yumnam
    India
    .
    And finally this one from Jackie to give us some hope.

    Zen garden
    A butterfly leads the way
    through the gate

    Jackie Chou
    United States

    1. Thanks for the mention, Peggy! Appreciated. True, it is a bit poignant. Wrote this for those who have recently been through evacuation. Glad it moved you the way it moved me.

13. Two that caught eye on the way through that I thought worthy of an extra mention.

    nowadays
    collecting dust
    butterfly net

    Keith Evetts
    Thames Ditton UK

    bats stirring what’s left of the light

    Polona Oblak
    Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Put together I felt they tell a remarkable story.

    1. Thanks, Robert! Appreciated.

    2. thanks for the mention, Rob, and yes, i also see a renku-like link between these two.

       i must admit i had to spend some time with your watercolour dragonfly in an updraft but it proved rewarding

       1. Thank you Polona. Pleased my dragon fly reached you.

          between spots the dragonfly’s own dot to dot

          Loved our renku spell.

14. Thank you, Craig for considering mine loving the themes.

15. I am still reading… but this one caught my eye, a perfect illustration of what I said about magic… smiles…

    escaping
    from the magician’s hand
    a white dove

    Mark Gilbert
    UK

    Wonderful !

    1. I loved this one too. Well done, Mark!

       1. Thank you!

    2. I’m glad you liked it!

16. I just love the airy lightness and magic of these responses and choices. So perfect for winged things! I will keep reading but there are too many already already to quote! These caught my eye right away!

    ours
    for a little while
    dragonfly

    Vandana Parashar
    India

    double-decker bus —
    from open arms
    a butterfly takes flight

    Nitu Yumnam
    India

    petals fly
    the butterfly knows
    its route

    Bakhtiyar Amini
    Germany

    and
    Jackie Chou. !!

    Zen garden
    A butterfly leads the way
    through the gate

    Jackie Chou
    United States

    ….So delightful!!

    1. Thanks for the mention, Kathabela. Glad you liked it.

17. So many lovely moments captured here. I love Annie Wilson’s moth moment. Lori Kiefer’s struck me at once with her sparrows pegging the sunset which is a brilliantly observed moment. Lori, I have just recently written about sparrows unpegging blossom! It’s below for you – we both love these companionable little birds.

    April showers –
    sparrows in the cherry tree
    unpegging blossom

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