Haiku Windows: outhouse window
Haiku Windows
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 Submit an original unpublished poem (or poems) via our Contact Form by Sunday midnight on the theme of the week, including your name as you would like it to appear, and place of residence.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: computer display screen window
Now for the topic some of you may have been waiting for… the window that I stare at blankly every time I compose this little note… or perhaps it is staring blankly at me…
I look forward to reading your submissions.
Haiku Windows: outhouse window
outhouse window
just enough light
to read byCarole MacRury
Point Roberts, WA
Many of the submissions this week made me laugh out loud – this is an example of one of those… but this poem also leaves that gap I have mentioned before – the space that the reader fills in…
my dream house
from the outhouse window
out of reachHifsa Ashraf
Pakistan
This poem takes a more wistful turn, and although people love their wilderness cabins and summer cottages, most probably dream of houses that have indoor plumbing…
outhouse window
the spider itself
a carcass nowMike Gallagher
Lyreacrompane, Ireland
In my experience, outhouses are associated mostly with seasonal properties – we can imagine arriving to open up the place in early summer to discover what remains in the cobwebs that have over-wintered… among other things, a concrete reminder of the passing of time for all of us…
outhouse window
the spider spins a web
across the moonRon Moss
Here the moon can refer to the actual moon in the sky, as well as the possibly crescent moon-shaped outhouse window – this adds layers to the poem – also, if these poems are any indication, there are a lot of spiders in outhouses…
Here are the rest of my selections for this week:
sunbeams streaming
through the outhouse window
a Sears catalogAl Gallia
Lafayette, Louisiana USA
outhouse window –
looking in, two curious
chipmunksAngelee Deodhar
stained glass window
in the outhouse door
a blue moonArdelle Hollis Ray
Las Vegas, NV
windowless –
the warmth of sunshine
in the outhousearvinder kaur
Chandigarh, India
a long line
before the outhouse
face in the windowCarmen Sterba
yelling “hurry up” –
my sister knocks on the
outhouse windowCarol Raisfeld
outhouse window
enframing
a dying pinecezar florescu
March mud
the outhouse window
stuck shutChad Lee Robinson
Pierre, SD, USA
scenic view
of grandma’s cottage
outhouse windowChristina Sng
Singapore
outhouse window
a spider spins down
to another cobwebChristine Eales
UK
wishing
upon a star
outhouse windowClaire Vogel Camargo
USA
high in a digger pine
warm wasp nests hang –
outhouse windowclysta seney
california
outhouse window
catalogue page covers
the moonColleen Rousch
spring breeze
through the outhouse window
a whiff of wild strawberriesCorine Timmer
outhouse window
a grove of fruit trees
not yet in bloomDebbi Antebi
London, UK
Hoping for solitude
I read by moonlight
Outhouse windowElizabeth Lorayne
Newburyport, MA
outhouse window
cherry blossom rain
over the roofEufemia Griffo
first cigarettes
at the outhouse window
my father’s shadowGiovanna Restuccia
Italy
playing hide and seek
at the outhouse window
grandma’s smileHelga Stania
Switzerland
renovated outhouse –
a study now with chapbooks
by the windowIngrid Baluch
a flying squirrel
joins me
outhouse windowJoan Prefontaine
outhouse window box
I reach out
for a primroseKath Abela Wilson
Pasadena, California
early morning
the shudder of a spider’s web
in the crescent windowLiz Ann Winkler
old outhouse…
from the dusty window
a gecko observesvecchio capanno… dai vetri impolverati / un geco osserva
Lucia Cardillo
framing
the dusty outhouse window
morning gloriesLucia Fontana
Milan, Italy
at the outhouse window
only the silvery traffic
of snailsLucy Whitehead
Essex, UK
starry night
a glimpse of sky
through the outhouse windowLynne Jambor
outhouse window…
the poem in his head
waits for the moonMadhuri Pillai
the outhouse door
propped wide open…
boarded-up windowMarietta McGregor
outhouse window
a sit down view
of the lakeMarilyn Appl Walker
outhouse window –
the face of the next one
in the queueMark Gilbert
contrails
through the outhouse window
a paper planeMarta Chocilowska
the moon
within the moon
of the outhouse windowMichael Henry Lee
watching the sunset
from an outhouse window
barn owlMichael H. Lester
Los Angeles CA USA
spring peepers –
the moon within the moon
of the outhouse windowMichele L. Harvey
stargazing
he sees Venus
through the crescent moonNancy Brady
Huron, Ohio
outside the outhouse window the garden tree’s outstretched shadows
Olivier Schopfer
Geneva, Switzerland
outhouse window
hoping they’ll think
it’s the other guyPeter Jastermsky
outhouse window
a cricket
on the chalk painted peoniesRadostina Dragostinova
Bulgaria
no outhouse window
a cobweb over the darkness
of the sitting holeRandy Brooks
colored leaves fall
autumn seen through
outhouse windowRehn Kovacic
privy window
my plumbing also
obsoleteRoberta Beary
County Mayo, Ireland
a hovering
cloud of flies
outhouse windowSari Grandstaff
Saugerties, NY, USA
outhouse
I cut a window
into the skySerhiy Shpychenko
Kyiv, Ukraine
outhouse window
a squirrel searches
for nutsSkaidrite Stelzer
Toledo, Ohio
outhouse window
between moon and me
the mansionSrinivasa Rao Sambangi
outhouse window
wishing the crescent moon
was biggerStephen A. Peters
outhouse window
the robin sings
skywardSudebi Singha
India
outhouse window
spider crawling
out or in?Susan Rogers
Los Angeles, CA, USA
outhouse window
the wind brushes
my cheeksTia Haynes
Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, USA
my friend moon
follows me even through
the outhouse windowTomislav Maretic
up-cycled –
the crescent window
of the potting shedValentina Ranaldi-Adams
Fairlawn, Ohio USA
deserted outhouse
moonlight on dry leaves outside
the windowVishnu Kapoor
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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I loved all the haikus on outhouse window but the one that really stood out for me and made me stop and think was:
outhouse window…
the poem in his head
waits for the moon
Madhuri Pillai
thanks for this, Vicki!
outhouse window
the poem in his head
waits for the moon
Reminds me of constipated Bloom on the toilet reading “Tidbits”.
Hilarious!
Another beautiful assemblage and congrats to all poets. Had difficulty in submitting in time and still believe readers can enjoy what i wrote in my closet here:
secret love
the long watch
through an outhouse window
ghost house
a cold flicker
from an outhouse window
Adjei Agyei-Baah (Ghana)
thanks for sharing!
Thank you for including one of mine, Kathy. I particularly like the poems by Ron Moss, Michael H. Lester, and Debbi Antebi.
thanks for this, Corine!
Here is another one:
–
moonlight
from the outhouse window
brief haiku
thanks again for sharing, Mark!
What a collection. I knew spiders would figure prominently, but there is still a wide variety. Thanks for including mine.
thanks for this, Nancy!
It was fun to read all these views from “outhouse windows”! I wish I could have thought of something good!
thanks Pat!
there is always next week…
Delighted to see my haiku lead into such a lovely selection, Kathy. Thank you. Mike Gallagher’s haiku struck a chord with me. Spiders and flies such a presence in outhouses. Love the deeper resonance with ‘itself a carcass now’. Perfect wording.
outhouse window
the spider itself
a carcass now
Mike Gallagher
Lyreacrompane, Ireland
thanks for sharing, Carole – & for submitting!
Thank you for your kind comments, Carole and thank you, Kathy for both the inclusion and the comments.
Congratulations to all the brave outhouse window haiku poets! Thank you for including one of mine, Kathy. Another unique theme. Outhouses are still much more poetic than modern day porta-potties!
thanks for this, Sari!
A great selection of verses, congratulations to everyone.
thanks Carol!
Thank for publishing mine, Kathy!
Love
marta
thank you for submitting!
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Wot, no dunnies! 🙂
.
Here’s one when I was an honorary Aussie poet and haiku writer:
.
.
the old dunny’s roof
no longer holding out the sky –
moonlit cobwebs
.
Alan Summers
Award credit: 3rd Prize, Canadian Writer’s Journal poetry competition (1995)
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Published:
Canadian Writer’s Journal Vol 12 No.3 (1995)
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and also:
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haijinx vol. I issue 1 (spring 2001)
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.
Australian dunny outhouse:
https://www.pentaxforums.com/gallery/images/52443/2_Image.jpg
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thank you as always, Alan, for sharing! I had never heard of a ‘dunny’ before…
Thank-you for publishing one of mine.
thank you for submitting!
Well, this week was my most productive (sorry) so far, because I have personal experience of the theme – I can remember my grandmother’s outside loo, and its rickety green door which wouldn’t shut properly. Actually I was expecting more of a poo-fest this week, I think we have been quite well-behaved. Thanks KM.
thanks for sharing, Mark!
Haiku for
a window of the outhouse –
a real challenge
🙂
.
congratulations to those who have done it
thanks for this, Tsanka!