Haiku Windows: airplane window
In the book Haiku: The Art of the Short Poem, editors Yamaguchi and Brooks quote David Lanoue: “A haiku is a window”…
In the following weeks we will look at (or through?) the many possibilities raised by this thought – and you’re invited to join in the fun! Submit an original unpublished poem (or poems) via our Contact Form by Sunday midnight on the theme of the week, including your name as you would like it to appear, and place of residence. I will select from these for the column, and add commentary.
next week’s theme: waiting room window
While we wait to see if the groundhog sees its shadow, we will explore the sights and sounds through the waiting room window – whether for an appointment or an interview, in a downtown high-rise office tower or a busy hospital, the principal’s office, a railway station, or a small-town dentist office – we wait…
I look forward to reading your submissions.
Haiku Windows: airplane window
It is extremely rewarding to me to know that new poems are being written as a result of this project, and many people have also let me know that they are enjoying reading my selections in this column, so thanks to you all for that!
Please try to remember to include your name as you would like it to appear, plus your place of residence, after your poem(s) in the contact form!
This week we have many different takes on ‘clouds’ as well as the fear of flying – but first:
airplane window –
a child asks me
where country borders areLeonardo Lazzari
Italy
Isn’t it so like a child to ask a simple, straightforward question? Yet, the simple, straightforward answer eludes us, and the complex possibilities resonate…
taking off…
our world
of dollhousesOlivier Schopfer
Geneva, Switzerland
Here we find a link to last week’s theme – well done! This may not be possible every week, but it certainly works here…
a child’s fingers
walk the sunrise
airplane windowSandi Pray
A description of another child, again behaving in a way that is both believable and poignant. I particularly like the poetic phrase ‘walk the sunrise’, which is perhaps what each of us does every day…
cruising height
Carina in a dark sky
out to starboard wingSimon Hanson
Queensland, Australia
The poet includes a specific reference here that I chose to look up. I had inferred that this is a constellation, and I learned that it is related to the myth of Jason and the Argonauts who searched for the Golden Fleece, and it is seen in the southern hemisphere. The more information the reader can bring to a reading of any poem, the better – now, for me, the flight in this poem is a quest of some kind…
Here are the rest of my selections for this week:
airplane window
the clouds in my eyes
streaked with tearsAmy Losak
NJ, USA
half asleep
the wing tip in and out
of cloudandrew shimield
up there
looking down
keeps me groundedArdelle Hollis Ray
Las Vegas NV (USA)
long flight
chapter by chapter
I read the cloudsBarbara Kaufmann
yellow stubble quivers
on the field – pilot announces
departureCraig Kittner
Wilmington, NC
behind the plane window
my hometown shrinks
into nothingDebbi Antebi
window seat…
river snakes
and lion lakesDeborah P Kolodji
Temple City, CA
aviophobia
in the tiny window
a tiny holeEva Limbach
airplane window
on the other side of clouds
my fearGiovanna Restuccia
glints of sunrise
on airplane window
homecomingHifsa Ashraf
Pakistan
counting sheepbacks –
now fast asleep against
the airplane windowJoanne van Helvoort
The Nederlands
window seat –
searching the ocean for clues
to my new countryJudt Shrode
Tacoma WA, USA
outside my window
blades spinning faster
up, up, and… awaykatherine stella
river falls Wisconsin, u.s.a.
red-eye flight
everyone closes
their shuttersLee Nash
blurred window
farewell tears
cloud my eyesMadhuri Pillai
air sickness –
the clouds inside and out
of the windowMargherita Petriccione
airplane window –
finally I put my worries
into perspectiveMaria Laura Valente
airplane window –
my son’s eyes
so far awayMaria Teresa Sisti
airplane window
my toddler blows a kiss
to grandmaMarilyn Appl Walker
airplane window
I knit
in sunset huesMarilyn Ashbaugh
Michigan, usa
window seat
my selfie photobombed
by the setting sunMarion Clarke
plane descent
church bells can be seen
swingingMarta Chocilowska
she ignores the glare
from the airplane window…
breastfeedingMichael H. Lester
airplane window
stitched together
the farms of my hometownNicole Tilde
Shady Dale, Ga.
cloudy airplane window
he will never leave
his wifepamela a. babusci
our first flight
I give my child
the window seatPat Davis
Pembroke, NH USA
airplane window
his face filling
with cloudsPeter Jastermsky
night flight
moonlight draws the contours
of the Gulf of TriestePolona Oblak
Ljubljana, Slovenia
plane window
the fields we once
played chase inRachel Sutcliffe
a horizon of clouds
beyond the airplane wing
after the funeralRandy Brooks
sky dive –
the pilot’s window
w
a
v
eRoberta Beary
County Mayo, Ireland
soldiers stare out
as their plane nears the gate
family reunionsRobin Smith
Wilmington, DE
flying over Capri
I think I see
two lovers kissingRosa Maria Di Salvatore
airplane window
the glass on the folding table
is filled with lightSerhiy Shpychenko
Kyiv, Ukraine
33,000 feet
clouds and rivers
flowing to the seaSheila Sondik
first flight…
our son with his nose
to the windowSusan Constable
above the clouds
my reflection
on the wingsTia Haynes
Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, USA
dream vacation –
in the window seat
a sleeping spouseValentina Ranaldi-Adams
USA
Katherine Munro lives in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, and publishes under the name kjmunro. She is Membership Secretary for Haiku Canada and an Associate Member of the League of Canadian Poets. She recently co-edited an anthology of crime-themed haiku called Body of Evidence: a collection of killer ’ku.
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outside the doctor’s…
my child rewrites the alphabet
to spell his disease
*****
waiting room window…
my child tells the politician
a fairy tale
****
waiting room window…
my child talks about the politician
being Prince Charming
****
waiting room window…
a teenager stops a fairytale
wondering if Cinderella had acne
****
waiting room window…
I count stars and my daughter
counts her acne
I really can’t help the last word coming separately, but it’s all in one line, I promise 🙂
You know what I mean. Pls do get back if any confusion :))
please use the contact form!
For what?
if you want your poems to be considered for Haiku Windows: submit an original unpublished poem (or poems) via our Contact Form by Sunday midnight on the theme of the week, including your name as you would like it to appear, & place of residence…
cold shadows
on her new year’s face
in the window
Paul Geiger
Sebastopol CA
glad to see you found the contact form, Paul!
kjMunro.
This week, (airplane) my submission was not picked up, and I never received a confirmation email from you that it arrived.
Previously, when my submission was picked up I received confirmation of receipt and acceptance.
I know you and the poets are working through the process, and we all need to be flexible.
In the future, can I trust that if my submission is not accepted I simply will not get any affirmation of receipt as well?
Warm Regards
Jan in Texas
Thanks for writing, Jan – I understand that acknowledgement of receipt notifications were sent for the Workplace Haiku feature, but I have decided against that, at least for now… I will be sending acceptance emails only.
thanks for your understanding, Kathy
Thanks for sorting that, kjmunro.
Warm Regards
Jan
many thx for including my haiku among so many
wonderful haiku/poets!
blessings, pamela a. babusci
thanks to you & all the other poets for submitting, pamela!
see something
feel something
………Jane Hirshfield
thanks for this Mike!
Cograts to everyone. A beautiful selection! 🙂
thanks Leonardo!
I thank you for publishing my haiku… I am very happy!
thanks Rosa!
Lovely selection and I’m so proud and grateful to be among a great group of poets. Thanks!
thanks for this Amy!
I really like all you have chosen, Katherine. So impressed!
Thank you for your hard work and next week theme 🙂
Marta
my pleasure, Marta – the results are worth the effort!
Nice choice!, One more striking than the other! I feel intimidated and spurred on!
spurred on, I hope… to keep writing! thanks for this!
Thank-you for publishing one of mine. I enjoyed the one written by Marilyn Ashbaugh.
thank you, Valentina!
thanks for this, Valentina!
Another lovely selection. I am really enjoying seeing so many different views on the same subjects.
Thank you!
Same here, Robin – thanks!
As a person who has never been, and doubt I will ever get on a plane I can connect
with Giovanna Restuccia’s verse., nice one.
All the verses are a treat to read.
thanks for this, Carol!
Wonderful selection. Will keep coming back!
Alan
thanks Alan!