Haiku Windows: porthole
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 Submit an original unpublished poem (or poems) via our Contact Form by Sunday midnight on the theme of the week, including your name as you would like it to appear, and place of residence.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: window box
Spring must be just around the corner… there will be snow here in the Yukon for some time yet, but to help me get through these last few weeks of it, I look forward to the sweet sights and sounds of a window box, and whatever else this idea conjures…
I look forward to reading your submissions.
Haiku Windows: porthole
A brief overview – please include your name as you would like it to appear, as well as your place of residence, with your submission. Any submissions or revisions received after the Sunday midnight deadline will be disregarded. Also, your submission is to be previously unpublished – this includes anything public – online or in print – books, anthologies, journals, magazines, blogs, Facebook, and anything else that could be considered published and viewed by the public…
porthole
the sea and my face
both pale greenArdelle Hollis Ray
Las Vegas, NV
What a picture! Here we have the use of colour to depict very different connotations, and perhaps the face is reflected in the window… a spare use of words to deliver much information…
porthole
my days tinged
with blueDebbi Antebi
The idea that we are influenced by place, or where we find ourselves, even temporarily, is striking here… blue also denoting mood – so we feel the effects of a long sea voyage…
a killer shark
through a paper plate porthole
kindergartenMarilyn Appl Walker
georgia, usa
The phrase ‘paper plate porthole’ is pleasing, as is this original take on the theme… becoming more familiar with the history of residential school and its impact on First Nations families in Canada, I can’t help but also read a certain ominous tone here…
Here are the rest of my selections for this week:
porthole
the diver’s grin
against a shark’sAdjei Agyei-Baah
Kumasi, Ghana
rusting portholes
a crab swims through
the cabin doorAl Gallia
Lafayette, Louisiana USA
breaking
through the porthole
a dark visionAngelo B. Ancheta
Philippines
wave on wave –
splashes of salt
until the portholeAngiola Inglese
a quiet sea –
the full moon
in the portholeAnna Maria Domburg-Sancristoforo
submarine porthole
the turtle’s nose and mine
tip to tipAnthony Rabang
grandpa’s faraway gaze –
how my sun sets
in a porthole windowarvinder kaur
chandigarh, India
ferry horn
the island deflates
in the portholeCarmen Sterba
pacific northwest, usa
porthole surveillance
from the mermaid purses
sharks emergeCarol Jones
Wales
porthole photo –
a path on the sea
to the moonCarol Raisfeld
porthole
a pearl seeker
among starscezar florescu
narrowing
my view
a portholeClaire Vogel Camargo
pregnancy test…
through the porthole window
a shooting starCorine Timmer
pirate galleon
son at the porthole
making wavesDavid Jacobs
London, UK
tears
veil the coast –
ferry portholeGiovanna Restuccia
Modena (Italy)
no demarcation
between sky and sea
through the porthole windowHifsa Ashraf
Pakistan
seaside antiques
an old sailor runs fond hands
over a brass portholeIngrid Baluch
starboard
through our stateroom porthole
the starsKath Abela Wilson
porthole view
the moon and I
two ships in the nightKimberly Esser
Los Angeles, CA
portholes…
from one to the other
the dolphins stunts(oblò in fila … i giochi dei delfini / da uno all’altro)
Lucia Cardillo
cruise…
the infinity of ocean’s blue
through the portholeMadhuri Pillai
at the marina
new neighbors – the baby waves
through the portholeMarita Gargiulo
Hamden, CT
the porthole rolling
from side to side
dreaming of landMark Gilbert
storm force ten
in each porthole of a cruise ship
the captain’s hatMarta Chocilowska
rest stop
for a painted lady
ferry portholeMartha Magenta
England, UK
against orders
we open the porthole
second honeymoonMatthew Markworth
Mason, OH, USA
Lady Liberty
through both portholes
on mother’s sideMichael Henry Lee
starlight
through the big ship’s porthole –
seasick sailorMichael H. Lester
Los Angeles CA USA
porthole
ever looking aft
the emigrantMike Gallagher
a day of sail
the cat jumps
through the portholeNancy Brady
Huron, Ohio, USA
Washing machine porthole
the colors are mixed
of our clothesNazarena Rampini
Italy
flat calm
on the porthole cabin’s walls
dancing halos of lightOlivier Schopfer
Geneva, Switzerland
by the porthole
the many angles
of our conversationPat Davis
Pembroke NH
eyeing me
through the porthole
a porpoisePaul Geiger
Sebastopol CA
the ocean
beyond this porthole
one wave at a timePeggy Hale Bilbro
Alabama, USA
cabin fever
the expanse of ocean
through the portholeRachel Sutcliffe
sea mist
from the porthole
the world disappearsRehn Kovacic
rainy porthole –
my search for
unread booksRoberta Beary
County Mayo, Ireland
porthole window
the houseboat cat
peeks outRobin Smith
Wilmington, DE
deep dive…
the Titanic’s portholes
lit by search lightsRon C. Moss
Tasmania, Australia
porthole
tulip petals
drifting alongRosemarie Schuldes
playground wooden ship
through the porthole we spy
our parents’ wavesSari Grandstaff
Saugerties, NY, USA
the long way home
I look out for my native shore
through the portholeSerhiy Shpychenko
Kyiv, Ukraine
porthole view
now the sea
now the skySimon Hanson
Queensland, Australia
submarine
a face to face
with a sharkSlobodan Pupovac
Zagreb, Croatia
starlight through the porthole
my child makes
more than one wishStephen A. Peters
porthole
circling my thoughts
along edgeSudebi Singha
Kolkata, India
porthole star map
my fingerprint…
where Orion wasSusan Rogers
Los Angeles
a lover’s quarrel
interrupts the Seine
porthole voyeurTia Haynes
Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, USA
big waves…
the skyline dances
in the portholeTomislav Maretic
porthole…
a parade
of starsTsanka Shishkova
an adventure
on the sea…
portholes in a bookValentina Ranaldi-Adams
Fairlawn, Ohio USA
porthole
the expanse of blue
above and belowVandana Parashar
home coming
the sea never looked so serene
from the portholeVishnu 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.
This Post Has 33 Comments
Comments are closed.
Inspired themes…I would never have thought to write a poem about portholes…and yet so many ways we all look at them. Good for the old grey matter.
Thank you for including mine in your selection.
thanks so much for sharing, Ingrid!
Thanks Kathy for including my haiku and to all poets for the wonderful verses.
thanks for this!
abandoned house
the moonlight fills
window box
Name – Sudebi Singha
City – Kolkata
Country – India
please submit using the Contact Form at the top of this post!
abandoned house
the moonlight fills
window box
Name – Sudebi Singha
City – Kolkata
Country – India
Thanks Kathy. I especially liked those which made me feel a little queasy (not really). Did you notice only one managed not to use the word ‘porthole’?
Good spot, Mark – and the poem in question I thought was one of the best:
submarine
a face to face
with a shark
Slobodan Pupovac
Perhaps Kathy could tease us one week and make it a rule that we cannot use the theme word.
Yes, a wonderful one by Slobodan Pupovac. Croatia is or used to be the second most visited country by NHK TV of Japan because of its haiku.
.
.
An interesting idea. I’ve often avoided adding the prompt word itself in the past.
.
.
it almost fills
my round window
red carnation
.
Alan Summers
.
Round windows
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Round_window
.
.
I will be vibrating, by a window, hopefully, and by a lunch table near you tomorrow. 😉
this is a huge topic – I will reply to all three comments quickly here – I don’t think I will be adding any more ‘rules’ (people often don’t follow them anyway!)… usually I think any poem written from a prompt is ok – even if the poem doesn’t have anything to do with the prompt, it was still inspired by it…
for my purposes here, however, the prompt is also the theme – so it is important to me that at least one meaning of the poem, & preferably the first, or most common reading of it, will directly indicate the prompt…
it is not necessary to use the prompt in the poem – there are other examples of this from previous weeks – I’m not sure if I have been clear – but I have developed a selection process of sorts… feel free to use the prompt in the poem, or not, as long as I recognize it in the poem!
& thanks so much for your comments – I would love to sit at a lunch table with all of you to discuss further!
Hi Kathy,
.
Oh, I wasn’t advocating any rules. The verse was really to remind David Jacobs that’d I’d be wearing a carnation tomorrow, although a 6′ 3″ Dutch looking geezer like me isn’t that hard to spot. 🙂
.
If you are on FaceTime, perhaps you could share a virtual Chardonnay. 😉
.
Alan
hope you have a great time!
Hi Kathy
My comment was more mischievous than anything else – certainly wasn’t suggesting a rule change for something that works so well as it is.
David
no worries David – I am open to suggestions anytime!
I agree a huge topic – in my head anyway – and perhaps for some of us part of the intellectual challenge – although for me mostly the challenge is just to manage to hit the theme.
thanks Mark – I would also like to emphasize that I think it’s truly wonderful that new work is being created because of this column, whether it meets my criteria to be included in the column or not…
What a great group of haiku. I feel as if I have been whisked from wave to the next! Perhaps still a little dizzy. Love them all! And thank you Kathy, for your comments on mine.
Marilyn
thanks for your comments, Marilyn – I couldn’t agree more!
Thank you, Kathy for including my poem 🙂 I always look forward to the new topic and your comments with big curiosity.
Best
marta
thanks Marta!
Thank-you for including mine. This one portrayed a vivid image with
a minimum of words.
porthole…
a parade
of stars
Tsanka Shishkova
thanks for sharing this, Valentina!
Dear Valentina, thank you so much!
I enjoy reading your haiku 🙂
good luck
Another fabulous collection, Kathy. Thank you for including one of mine.
*
porthole view
now the sea
now the sky
*
Simon Hanson
+
porthole
the sea and my face
both pale green
*
Ardelle Hollis Ray
*
Like these two together 🙂
*
deep dive…
the titanic portholes
lit up by search lights
*
Ron C Moss
*
such an eerie silence to this verse. Very nice.
thanks so much for adding your comments, Carol!
Wow! I feel like this was another particularly magical week in Haiku Windows. I really love all of the imagery presented. Thank you for including mine, Kathy. I was inspired by all of the cats last week.
-Robin
thanks for sharing, Robin!
Thank you Kathy for including one of my haiku among this wonderful selection. I feel like I am on a voyage reading these porthole haiku. I especially liked Nazarena Rampini’s and Tsanka Shishkova’s haiku.
thanks for sharing, Sari!
Dear Sari, thank you!
good luck
Oh boy, am I going to enjoy reading everyone’s poems on this wonderfully ongoing project. Thanks Kathy and all the poets!
.
Alan
thanks as always Alan!