Haiku of the Day Theme for August 2025: The Colour Yellow
The colour yellow, in many ways, represents the dichotomy of life. It is well known for carrying both positive and negative connotations and is perhaps one of the most emotionally contradictory colours. Psychologists associate it with joy and energy, yet also caution that it can symbolize cowardice. Poetically, however, yellow is rarely linked to cowardice; instead, it is widely celebrated as a symbol of happy summers and warmth.
In India especially, yellow holds deep cultural significance. Marigolds are used extensively in festivals, filling every home with their exquisite presence. Mango, with its golden flesh, remains the king of fruits and is perhaps the most loved not only in India but around the world.
It was this fascination with yellow that sparked my curiosity and led me to explore how it has been treated in the world of haikai. What I discovered was equally captivating. This colour has been embraced by our poetic fraternity in multiple ways and to great effect.
Read on to catch a glimpse of yellow each day!
The Haiku of the Day feature displays a new haiku each day at the top of our home page. See also our Haiku of the Day Archive.
– Arvinder Kaur
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yellowing fields
hovering not hovering
the nankeen kestrels
Alan Summers
Publication credits:
Paper Wasp (Queensland, 1995); Snapshot Press Calendar (2010)
Collection: sundog haiku journal: an australian year (sunfast press 1997 reprinted 1998)
Award Credit: Runner-up, The Haiku Calendar Competition (Snapshot Press 2009)
Anthology credits: Haiku Dreaming ed. John Bird (Australia 2006); EarthRise Rolling Haiku Collaboration 2016 Foodcrop Haiku
Feature: Haiku Dreaming Australia Australia presents The Dreaming Collection (2017)
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Yellow-rattle meadow–
a two spot ladybird turning
my hand around
Alan Summers
Publication credit: Hermitage ed. Ion Codrescu (Romania, 2005)
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the bare tree
blue and yellow remnant
a forgotten kite
Alan Summers
Publication credits:
Haiku Spirit #6 (& article) Dublin, Ireland April 1996
Birmingham Words magazine Issue 3 (Autumn 2004)
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night jasmine
trying to find it…
the yellow half moon
Alan Summers
Publication credits: Presence 14 (2001)
Feature:
Cornell University, Mann Library, U.S.A. “Daily Haiku” poet October 2001
curated by Tom Clausen
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yellow intruder
standing on its head
humming bird feeder
haldi dooth.*
Yellow
Smears my teeth
Turmeric in milk is a health drink in India
The face of lies
Yellow
In her eyes
her favourite shade
Her saree
Yellow with roses
Just for fun as I wrote a huge array of haiku and haibun with yellow, and including classic Italian “giallo” crime stories as a theme:
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yellow butterflies
lime
against the grass
Alan Summers
Publication credit: Famous Reporter 10 (Tasmania 1994)
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childhood games–
I match a yellow shirt
with today
Alan Summers
Publication credit:
From the Icebox inbox – 26,
Hailstone Haiku Group (Japan, August 2012)
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crowded train a dozen yellows crackle
Alan Summers
Article: Slip-Realism across the single line of haiku (March 2023)
https://www.whiptailjournal.com/_files/ugd/61a9c9_68970067ed8f44808e990d97f73b88e6.pdf
Per Diem:
Colour, The Haiku Foundation, December 2018 curated by Shloka Shankar
Collection: Does Fish-God Know (YTBN Press 2012)
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bruises the yellow bowl’s forgotten sell-by date
Alan Summers
haikai/monostich series Mistero una volte
Weird Laburnum (November 2019) ed. Michael O’Brien
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And this haibun:
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The search for the colour yellow in art
Gamboge is the colour of ear wax, the smooth brittleness of hard toffee:
The corner sweet shop’s not there anymore, but trains still run, and one
boy has longer legs.
beyond the wardrobe
the last streetlamp of Narnia
becomes a tree
Alan Summers
Prune Juice, Journal of Senryu, Kyoka, Haibun & Haiga Issue 16 (July, 2015)
ed. Terri French
ANTHOLOGY CREDIT:
Journeys 2015, An Anthology of International Haibun ed. Angelee Deodhar
ISBN 978-1515359876
NOTE:
Gamboge is a yellowish-brown color and also a natural gum-resin derived from trees. It’s known for its bright, transparent golden yellow pigment, historically used in watercolors, varnishes, and even traditional medicine.