HAIKU DIALOGUE – The Haiku Mind – Travel

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1. thank you tia for such a wonderful topic and stimulating all these wonderful traveling moments.

2. Juhu beach
   your face at sunset
   almost too beautiful
   .
   Tia said, ”…It is sometimes the beauty of our companions that we remember the most. I wonder if this is someone Marion has just met or if it is a romantic partner, perhaps even a child, in this memorable haiku.”
   .
   Thank you so much, Tia, for selecting this one. It was written from a photograph and my memories of a moment in Mumbai while travelling with my husband and two young children to a wedding in Delhi. It could have been about them, and I have deliberately left it so that this human-based reading can be made, but it is actually about the beautiful face of India in the setting sun (but don’t tell them that! 🙂 )

   marion

3. i enjoyed this…

   sand between my toes
   bringing some of the ocean beach
   back home with me

   Stephen A. Peters

4. Joel,
   Could it be that God created mosquitoes to give teenagers another reason to berate their parents?
   Loved your humour.
   Bisshie

5. learning to stay
   within the lines
   practicing cursive

   1. That needs to be entered on the other contact link at the top of the page for the school days prompt so that Tia will get it for next week. Definitely do it.

6. Ingrid, I forgot to add that your “time travel” is insightful and humorous and somewhere I hesitate to travel!
   I will investigate your link concerning the dam and fill my mind with the aftermath. Thank you.

   1. Ann, you’re welcome! But it does not make for happy reading.
      …
      Regarding ‘time’, I do appreciate Laurie Greer’s comment: “…we tend to ask “where” does the time go, as if it has it’s own special destination.”

7. My contribution re baptism at the Jordan River wasn’t selected but I was warmed by many listed.
   *
   gelato
   my child’s only memory
   of Rome
   .
   Pat Davis
   .
   I loved the childlikeness of this. We can plan a great trip but a child’s memory is selective. A simple pleasure in a city of riches. I was in Rome for a full day when I was nineteen. Thinking of Italy now in these hard times.
   *
   home village
   I find the man
   I used to be
   .
   Agus Maulana Sunjaya
   .
   I enjoyed thinking about this one. It could be interpreted in many ways.
   *
   sleeper train
   the muted glow
   of unknown cities
   .
   Andy McLellan
   .
   This brought back that feeling of a train at night. I thought the cuts were effective and “the muted glow of unknown cities” lyrical.

   *

   1. Thanks, Debbie, for commenting on my poem. It comes from an actual conversation between my grandchild and her father (my son). He took his family to Italy for three weeks. They saw many sights all over Italy, including in Rome. When he asked her what she liked best about the trip, she replied “the gelato”. I took some poetic license in writing “my child”, and referring only to Rome, but the message is still the same!

8. Thank you, Ingrid
   Seeing Hasankeyf was a wonderful holiday (obviously and sadly, never to be repeated).
   Thank you also to Laurie and Tia.

9. Such a gift to be part of this inspired and inspiring community. Thank you, Tia, and to Lemuel for your poetic post that left me breathless. And to Vincenzo Adamo for a treasured memory triggered by:

   lost in the woods –
   I put my ideas together
   for the return

   Happy to celebrate your safe return!

10. Wonderful to visit and revisit so many places! Thanks, Tia, for another sparkling selection; as always, I enjoy–and learn from–the variety of subject, approach, vocabulary, perspective.
    Just a few that stood out for me:
    *
    A breath of air
    the jasmine in bloom
    takes me home

    Un soffio d’ aria
    ll gelsomino in fiore
    mi porta a casa

    Kyoko Bengala
    *
    I grew up with brilliantly fragrant lilacs in our backyard; the scent still returns me to that place and time.
    *
    Amish buggy
    slowing down
    my racing thoughts

    Christina Pecoraro
    *
    I concur with the comments already made. I wish I could have this kind of slow-down every day.
    Beautifully, neatly crafted verse.
    *
    pandemic
    braving a trip to
    the grocery store

    Michael Henry Lee

    *
    Yes, “braving”; it gets eerie when things are so far off the usual. And the uncertainty in the air (along with other things) does make an ordinary errand a fraught expedition.
    *

    Alhambra
    from the hotel window–
    sleepless night

    Teiichi Suzuki, Japan

    *
    Yes–and when I visited Spain, I also found Madrid the true “city that never sleeps.”
    *
    time travel
    pondering my younger self
    in expired passports

    Ingrid Baluchi, Ohrid, Macedonia

    *
    I love this one–an unexpected side trip. I always find looking at old photos puts me in a particular state of dis-connection. And we tend to ask “where” does the time go, as if it has it’s own special destination.
    *
    in my mind
    Hasankeyf
    never submerged

    Ann Rawson

    *
    Ditto to Ingrid’s comments. Tragic at so so many levels. There’s a wonderful novel by Anne Michaels, The Winter Vault, that has unforgettable descriptions of the Aswan Dam and all it destroyed. I’ve never thought about dams the same way since reading that.
    *

    lost in London —
    the exhilaration
    of a strange street

    Mark Meyer

    *
    Reminds me of being lost and excited/terrified in the labyrinthine streets of Athens on my first trip abroad.
    *
    selling maps
    his face lined with all the streets
    he has travelled

    Marisa Fazio

    *
    I can see this clearly. I love the connection between geographical and life journeys. We are mapped by both.
    *

    dandelions…
    the way my wishes
    travel by air

    arvinder kaur, Chandigarh, India

    *
    There are so many dandelion haiku out there, yet this one makes it all fresh once again. A lovely, graceful ku.
    *
    from galaxy to galaxy
    the time it takes
    neurons to fire

    Ronald K. Craig, Batavia, OH USA

    *
    love the visual associations and the link between the way out there and the deep inside. All one!
    *
    Thanks to everyone for this rich experience.

    1. Laurie always gives me much to think about in her comments on her chosen poems. Not only in-depth understanding and a lateral way to ‘see’ through what has been published, but I find myself making notes to catch up with her inspired reading. Thank you!

       And thank you to the haiku foundation team, Tia, Lori Z and KJ for creating these opportunities, and including one of mine this week.

    2. Thanks so much Laurie. Thanks Tia.

    3. Thanks,Laurie, for impressive comment.

    4. Thank you, Laurie.
       Ron

    5. Thanks Laurie for noticing and appreciating

    6. Thanks,Laurie Greer, for commenting on my poem.( cuore)

11. Thank you for including my travel haiku in the collection this week! It is nice that we can still “travel” through sharing haiku even though we cannot travel for real at the moment due to the new virus. I was quite struck with this haiku:

    Alhambra
    from the hotel window–
    sleepless night

    Teiichi Suzuki, Japan

    Brought back memories of my visit to Granada on study abroad in college many many moons ago. A very ethereal haiku to my mind – just lovely!

    1. Sari, Thank you for your comment sharing a wonderful experience.
       I watched the lighting-up of the palace from the hotel window. It was a memorable scene.
       After that, I spent a restless night.

       Alhambra
       when I close my eyes
       the Moor whisper

12. in my mind
    Hasankeyf
    never submerged

    Ann Rawson

    Ah yes…Ilisu dam (S.E. Turkey) is destroying thousands of years not only of amazing architectural heritage, but a whole ecosystem, a spectacular tourist attraction, a nature reserve for a variety of flora and fauna (particularly rare bird life), with caves that in their 12,000 year old history right up until the reservoir’s filling, have provided shelter and a way of life for mainly Kurdish shepherds with their well established livelihood. Where have these people been repatriated? In the most ugly, crowded, environmentally unfriendly high rise blocks of poorly constructed flats that disfigure the landscape, backed up against hills and exposed in summer to crippling high temps, with barely a stitch of greenery.

    Where and why were you hiding, UNESCO?

    Ann’s sad haiku is one about which I feel strongly, not only because this family was partly involved in the controversial construction, but because in 40-odd years of an otherwise blissful marriage, my dams engineering husband and I have still to reach a happy state of understanding about the massive consequences – some beneficial, many destructive – of so many such projects.

    The world needs water and power, but not through these hugely politically-motivated schemes that fail to deliver to those who need it most.

    There has been much written about Hasankeyf, but as it happens, a BBC article published just today lays out the pros and cons of similar dams and hydro-electric schemes, which some may be interested in reading:-

    https://www.bbc.com/news/business-51459930

13. Beautiful poems. Congrats poets. Every poem is a gem. i loved reading them and my best wishes to each one of you, and the selection is the best. i would like to share my thoughts on few poems i could connect with

    my mother’s funeral
    a journey to a never seen
    destination

    Aljoša Vuković, Šibenik, Croatia

    The poem very subtly brings out the pathos and a sense of loss. The death of mother makes you directionless, pointless and aimless in life. Your mind wanders. You feel out of place, out of situations, out of your self. The fear of travelling alone in your life without her presence, and mother…the word ‘mother’ fills your heart with feelings and emotions. And daughters always miss their mothers. They need them, their support, their guidance. You can’t travel this journey of you life without your mother. Thank you poet for this haiku

    rocky point sunsets
    never finished painting
    all your moods

    wendy c. bialek, az, usa

    Beautiful haiku. Nature, landscapes , the birds, the animals are the best works of the creator, the God. They inspire man to recreate them with his imagination and creativity. When man very keenly observes the work of God, he realizes the flaws in his own work. This is very true of an artist who worships his art. He travels, goes out into the lap of nature to get inspired, to fill colours in his painting, to complete his masterpiece. Wonderful Haiku poet

    emerald fields—
    through country roads
    grandma’s history lessons

    Madhuri Pillai

    I always tell my students….’If the banyan tree could speak, it would replace all your teachers, and teach you history better than anyone because they are a witness to all the events in History, standing there even more than a century’. The poet visits her countryside, walking through those Emerald fields and remembers her Grandma. The lessons of her Grandma about the fields, the seasons, the people, the festivals, the Gods, the music, the art and the celebrations. Wonderful Haiku Poet

    father’s homeland
    i bow my way past
    faded headstones

    Roberta Beary

    How beautifully the poet captures his love and respect for his homeland and his ancestors. The epitaphs on the headstones might have faded but not the memories. Travel connects you to your homeland, the history of your family, the memories of your ancestors. Beautiful poem. Good wishes Poet

    train journey
    the scent of snow
    from an open window

    viaggio in treno
    il profumo della neve
    da una finestra aperta

    Eufemia Griffo

    When the train crosses the border and enters your territory, your homeland. What comes to you are the sights, the smells and the beauty of your homeland. You fill in your heart and mind with these sights and smells. You take a long breath….Just one long breath of this beauty and close your eyes in peace. What a wonderful feeling!!!….Beautiful Haiku Poet

    selling maps
    his face lined with all the streets
    he has travelled

    Marisa Fazio

    Wow….a beautiful poem. The map seller faced line with the streets and landmarks of the place. I can imagine the poet looking at his face and imagining this Haiku. The confidence of this man who knows the place so close and the streets so well, that we sometimes envy them for it. Wonderful Haiku Poet. The imagination of the poet is so powerful…..i mean i say another ‘WOW’

    sleeper train
    the muted glow
    of unknown cities

    Andy McLellan

    Even grown ups would love to sit by the window seat…and when we book our travel, we book the window seat. And sleep doesn’t come so easily…we love to peep through the window and register all those beautiful sights in our mind and memories. And travelling by a sleeper train offers us a very rich experience of the sights of the cities. Wonderful Haiku Poet

    dandelions…
    the way my wishes
    travel by air

    arvinder kaur, Chandigarh, India

    I can imagine the dandelion flying in the air. It goes up and up, comes down and again lifts up. We don’t like it falling, and we sometimes go under it and blow our breath to keep it flying in the air . The poet loves the freedom to be a dandelion, to fly in the air, to touch the branches of the trees, to go beyond…… Wonderful Haiku Poet.

    Good wishes to each one of you poets. I couldn’t comment on other poems but i love them equally for the imagination of the poets and also their experiences. I hope i could justify my interpretations of the poems with my experiences. Thanks you Tia Maam for the selection. Good wishes Poet

    1. Thank you for participating with such beautiful and personal commentary! I’m sure every poet appreciates the time you have taken to comment on their work and for all your uplifting words of affirmation.

    2. Thank you R.Suresh for commenting on my haiku. Such beautiful and thoughtful words. Thank you Tia. All the haiku have been a delight to read.

    3. What a delight to read your commentary on the poems. Thank you Suresh, very much appreciated.

    4. thank you, r. suresh babu, for your commentary on my poem, you have taken in all the beauty of my words that i could hope for.

14. I sure enjoyed reading these, thanks to all. I would like to share two about working in Kenya
    #####
    the laundromat,
    a well worn path
    to a rocky river
    #####
    food market,
    skating on a rink
    of tossed bananas

    1. Thank you for sharing your own wonderful haiku!

    2. I love the bananas! Clever and—-true!

    3. Having visited Kenya (Eldoret), your haiku make me smile because they,are so fitting. What a beautiful country.

15. What a great collection of trips, vicarious or not. I loved the truth of summer romance flip flopping, the out of the world travel, and so many more. Considering all the travel that may not happen now, I will check out some armchair travel. Well done all. Thanks, Tia, for adding mine to this haiku group this week.

    1. It does feel like right now I will also be traveling via the work of others. There were many submissions about the coronavirus. I’ve even had some of my own plans cancelled. I’ve been writing along to the prompts as well though and it is wonderful to revisit places I haven’t thought about in years.

16. Journeys have an expected ‘out-and-back’ notion about them. With travel, actual or vicarious, the sojourner returns to the familiar but transformed. Maybe with sand from the beach clinging, or nostalgic sensory data, or even an awareness one’s time scale has changed.
    The wanderer becomes the poet begetting the poem, like a breath.
    .
    This is truly a lovely collection of haiku, thanks for the poets and deep appreciation for the curators.
    .

    father’s homeland
    i bow my way past
    faded headstones
    .
    Roberta Beary
    .
    .
    from galaxy to galaxy
    the time it takes
    neurons to fire
    .
    Ronald K. Craig, Batavia, OH USA
    .
    .
    mind travel
    ……looking for a place to land
    .
    Edna Beers
    .
    LW 11-03-20

    1. Thank you, Lemuel.
       Ron

17. So many here that I especially enjoyed – often because of similar experiences. Here are a few:

    father’s homeland
    i bow my way past
    faded headstones

    Roberta Beary

    My father was a genealogy buff – we spent many a childhood vacation exploring old cemeteries, some quite beautiful. This is a touching poem.

    beach vacation
    teen hearts
    flip-flop

    Roberta Beach Jacobson

    Love the play on words with “flip-flop”; and a bit of “summer romance” was exactly what we hoped for as teens at the beach.

    dandelions…
    the way my wishes
    travel by air

    arvinder kaur, Chandigarh, India

    This is simply beautiful. Dandelions as “wishes” – perhaps so many wishes or the sense that the wishes are being blown away. Multiple interpretations!

    lost in London —
    the exhilaration
    of a strange street

    Mark Meyer

    Maybe a “wanderer” here who is thrilled by the unexpected finds on a street off the beaten path than the usual tourist sights? (The kind of travel I love!)

    home village
    I find the man
    I used to be

    Agus Maulana Sunjaya, Tangerang, Indonesia

    So many interpretations in this seemingly simple ku. One wonders if the experience is a good one? Did he return to his home village for that purpose? The reader is left wanting to know more.

    my mother’s funeral
    a journey to a never seen
    destination

    Aljoša Vuković, Šibenik, Croatia

    Perhaps at least two interpretations here. Not only has the mother’s death taken her elsewhere – but the death of one’s mother is also a “journey” for her children, regardless of their age.

    These are just a few that reminded me of my own experiences – or stood out for me in other ways! There are many others I enjoyed – I just selected a few.

    1. Thanks for your kind comments Margaret !

    2. Thank you Margaret for sharing!

    3. Thanks, Tia, was a nice trip with you and the many good authors !

18. coronavirus
    travelling
    vicariously
    .
    Olivier Schopfer, Switzerland
    .
    This topic is one of the most relevant topics of the day. This haiku does a good job of expressing caution and fear with just three words.

    1. Thank you so much, Valentina. I had planned to visit Italy at the end of March but my flight was cancelled, and I had to postpone my trip. Therefore “travelling vicariously”.

19. Thanks for choosing my haiku, Tia.
    A beautiful collection!

    1. You are welcome Rosa 🙂 Having travelled several time to Paris I felt a great connection to your haiku. It brought back many fond memories 🙂

20. Thank you Tia for selecting one of mine.
    I enjoyed reading the top four, along with your commentary.
    I will pop back later to read the rest.
    Well done everyone!

21. Very nice. I sent 2…what happened?

    1. I did receive your submissions. I hope to see you submit again this week!

22. What a delightful collection. Thanks for choosing my poem Tia.

    Loved all the four that have been commented upon. Well chosen.

    last train home –
    in a moonless night
    I carry my own light

    Benedetta Cardone

    Cuban vacation
    communing with crows
    far from home

    Janice Munro

    father’s homeland
    i bow my way past
    faded headstones

    Roberta Beary

    Loved the images. Worked for me immensely

    1. Thanks 😊

    2. Thank you, Arvinder 🙂

23. Cuban vacation
    communing with crows
    far from home
    .
    Janice Munro
    .
    The familiar in the faraway, all in a euphonic verse.

    1. Thank you 🙂 The crows were one of the highlights of a trip I made to Cuba years ago. They were similar to crows at home but also had distinctive features and personalities.

24. What a trip – thanks, everyone!
    I especially liked Christina Pecoraro’s poem:
    Amish buggy
    slowing down
    my racing thoughts
    One of my sons lived in Amish country for awhile. When we visited him, we experienced travel behind Amish buggies so this poem’s message is quite real for me. I like the tension between “slowing down and racing”.
    john hawkhead’s poem has a magical mood, a strong image, and so much fun to read and reflect on:
    Tokyo traffic
    a man with a neon wand
    turns cars into mist

    1. I used to live near Amish country and would see buggies frequently. My university even offered a course in Amish studies that I signed up for which was just fascinating. A great haiku. And I agree that john’s haiku has a magical quality to it. That is a great word for it!

    2. Thank you Pat and Tia for your ‘magical’ comments. I was lucky enough to travel in Japan last year and this scene met me on a Tokyo side street. Many policemen and municipal workers carry these neon wands to wave traffic through roadblocks or works and this guy was standing in a swirl of steam, mist and smoke – he seemed to be waving us into another world…

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