Haiku Windows: sunroof 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 Submit an original unpublished poem (or poems) via our Contact Form by Sunday midnight on the theme of the week, including your name as you would like it to appear, and place of residence.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: office window
I work at home, so my office window looks out on my snowy backyard… a friend’s office overlooks the mighty Yukon River – she saw the competitors in the recent Arctic Ultra race trot by… plans are underway for an 8-storey building, the highest in Whitehorse, but another friend works on the 28th floor in downtown Vancouver – what is your view?
I look forward to reading your submissions.
Haiku Windows: sunroof window
There are many moons in the window this week… but several surprises as well, as always… I can rely on poets to take the theme to places I have not thought of… this week I select 4 poems to highlight the kind of simplicity of language that can lead to a successful haiku – in each of these a scene is clearly drawn, and each implies without fully explaining…
a drop of rain
on the sunroof window –
first day of schoolGiovanna Restuccia
the weather is used here to set the mood – the holidays are over…
new argument
the sunroof window
remains shutNatalia Kuznetsova
Russia
spouses argue, parents and children argue – closed windows can keep an argument more private – or is the argument about opening the sunroof?
car broke down –
from the sunroof
clouds travelingNazarena Rampini
Italy
we do not know where the car has broken down, or for how long – only that it and its passengers are no longer traveling…
holiday traffic
through the open sunroof
the sound of the seaRachel Sutcliffe
slow-moving traffic driving to the seaside, and/or, the sound of traffic is replaced by the sound of the sea…
Here are the rest of my selections for this week:
open sunroof
the voice of the wind
rougher and rougherAdjei Agyei-Baah
open sunroof
the giraffe licks
a wide-eyed faceAl Gallia
Lafayette, Louisiana USA
graduation
we puff cigar smoke
through the sunroofandrew shimield
with the wind arrives
the smell of rain –
sunroof window(col vento arriva
l’odore della pioggia –
finestra del tetto apribile)Angela Giordano
leaky sunroof –
a guest from my motherland
brings raindropsarvinder kaur
Chandigarh, India
starry night…
beyond the sunroof
so much spaceCarol Jones
Wales
sunroof
my hair tries
to escapeChristina Sng
Singapore
open sunroof
the breeze ruffles
my fantasiesClaire Vogel Camargo
showroom tizz
the ferrari sunroof
stuck againDavid Jacobs
London, UK
sunroof window –
the blanket of snow
I carry homeDebbi Antebi
London, UK
the sound of dreaming
beneath a swaying willow
sunroof windowDon Wentworth
Pittsburgh, PA
sunroof window
a child draws in the air
a little starEufemia Griffo
our first date
in the moonlight
under a sunroofGenie Nakano
Hawthorne, CA
valentine’s day…
through the sunroof
heart shaped cloudHifsa Ashraf
Pakistan
new year’s eve
using our sunroof
for moonviewingKath Abela Wilson
heading home
sunroof wide open
whistling dixiekatherine stella
river falls wisconsin u.s.a
sunroof broken
still able to see enough
stars to make a wishKimberly Esser
Los Angeles, CA
marital compromise –
sunroof half open,
sometimes half closedLee Nash
open sunroof
his tongue hanging loose
Fido drinks in the windMadhuri Pillai
grandma’s visit
blowing bubbles
out the sunroofMarilyn Ashbaugh
Edwardsburg, Michigan
after the accident…
seeing stars
through the sunroofMark Gilbert
smooching
in a bowl of stars –
panoramic sunroofMartha Magenta
England, UK
open sunroof she finally says yes
Matthew Markworth
Mason, OH, USA
sunroof window –
much like his ex-fiancé
it lets in anythingMichael H. Lester
Los Angeles CA USA
just a quick glance
at an age-old star
sunroof windowMichael Stinson
sunroof window…
the breeze caresses
my toesNancy Brady
the moon
our travelling companion
open sunroofOlivier Schopfer
Geneva, Switzerland
sunroof window ajar
catching & releasing
pale-amber starspamela a. babusci
rochester, ny usa
from back seat
to sunroof
a bark toward the skyPat Davis
Pembroke, NH
sunroof
window left open
cat baskingpaul geiger
sunroof night…
the moon and stars
ride shotgunPeter Jastermsky
moon roof open
pear blossoms
on the empty seatRandy Brooks
open sunroof
i correct
my postureRoberta Beary
County Mayo, Ireland
driving with the sunroof
open in winter –
hot flashesRobin Smith
Wilmington, DE
Star Wars drive-in
a stormtrooper pops open
the sunroof windowRon C. Moss
even grandma
lets the music fly
sun roofSandi Pray
on prom night
the girls’ ribbons streaming
from the limousine’s sunroofSari Grandstaff
Saugerties, NY, U.S.A.
sunroof window
pillar of dust
inside a beam of lightSerhiy Shpychenko
Kyiv, Ukraine
downpour
streetlights splashing
over the sunroofSimon Hanson
Australia
a plantpot satsuma rides shotgun
its ripening fruit through the roofsimonj
UK
open sunroof
an unwished bird’s gift
from the skySlobodan Pupovac
Zagreb, Croatia
spring sky
opening the sunroof window
to let it inStephen A. Peters
a bird flipped
through the sunroof
summer heatTerri French
sunroof
I roll back
the moonTia Haynes
Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, USA
sunroof window
opened… the boy enjoys
his spinning pinwheelTomislav Maretic
sunroof
my daughter asks
for a moonroofTsanka Shishkova
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
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class task
slow pace of the hoe
of the old farmer
last lesson hour –
elementary school children
they leave the gym
first snowflakes –
all the attention of the students
towards the window
Sorry Karen, I’m not sure I posted on the right page, maybe this is it?
compito di classe
lento ritmo della zappa
del vecchio contadino
ultima ora di lezione –
i bambini delle scuole elementari
lasciano la palestra
primi fiocchi di neve:
tutta l’attenzione degli studenti
verso la finestra
please use the link to the Contact Form at the top of this post (& it’s Kathy… or kj)
My first ‘published’ haiku! How proud I am to have been included from so many international submissions. Thank you.
congratulations, Al! thanks for submitting!
Dear Al,
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Have to say I really loved your haiku!!!
🙂
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open sunroof
the giraffe licks
a wide-eyed face
.
Al Gallia
Lafayette, Louisiana USA
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Simple yet evocative, straight from the opening line, with a tantalising middle line, and a wonderful ‘reveal’ 🙂
http://area17.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/haiku-and-reveal-device-to-create.html
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Your haiku is one of those that a must-read when we need a pick-me-up!
🙂
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They are wonderful creatures, I envy my wife who worked in the Serengetti, and saw them often. Alas her wonderful giraffe haiku isn’t published in a magazine (yet), but in other types of media. So here’s an imagined one for you.
🙂
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ice-crystal clouds
a sudden urge to find
the nearest giraffe
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Alan Summers
Publication Credits: Blithe Spirit 23.3 (August 2013)
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thanks again for sharing, Alan – your comments add so much…
best, Kathy
Thank you for including my poem. I’m continuing to enjoy the variety in your choices!
Best,
Robin
thanks Robin!
Thank you Kathy!
couldn’t do this without all the submissions from you poets!
kj,
many thx for including my haiku with all the other
wonderful works. blessings, pamela
thanks for submitting, pamela!
Thanks for including mine, Kathy. I may suggest that my local writer’s group use it as the first line for a short story competition (a blind collaborative haibun?).
a wonderful idea – haiku windows rippling through another genre… good luck with this Mark!
I especially liked Christina Sng’s and Genie Nakano’s – both expertly done.
thanks for sharing, Mark
Thank you for selecting my haiku Katherine.
very beautiful all
thanks Angela!
Another batch of delightful verses. I look forward to reading them.
Many thanks for including my verse, Kate.
*
Smashing verse, Alan.
Thanks Carol!
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The driver was simply wriggling their fingers as it was an incredible hot Summer day in a central part of Bristol (SW English city). A way of cooling down, perhaps keeping in contact with nature, and definitely a sensual respite from a polluted hot Summer day. 🙂
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Interestingly enough a handful of readers interpreted or perhaps re-interpretated the fingering of the breeze into one of an obscene gesture. The driver, a woman, if I recall rightly, was just catching some of that breeze while caught up in a dumb traffic jam. 🙂
one of my favourite things about poetry is how interpretation can vary – thanks for sharing this, Alan!
thanks for this, Carol!
Thank you, Kathy, for including one of my sunroof haiku. So many wonderful haiku this week! Thank you for selecting, commenting on and curating these haiku windows. I look forward to each week’s rendition.
thank you Sari!
Another set of wonder, excellent and amazing poems, around sunroofs this time.
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I remembered I did one years ago, and how, despite technology, most of us still try to ‘connect’ with the natural world.
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traffic jam
a driver fingers the breeze
through the sunroof
.
Alan Summers
Publication credits: Snapshots 2 (1998); tinywords.com (2002)
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Anthology: The New Haiku (Snapshot Press, 2002)
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Feature: Travelogue on World Haiku Festival 2002 , Part 2 (Akita International Haiku Network 2010)
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thanks for this, Alan – very nice!
Thanks for selecting one of mine. Nancy brady
thanks for submitting, Nancy!
Meanwhile, beautiful work, everyone. Kudos.
Office Window
missing my bus
to watch the sun set
office window
out my office window —
the reflections
of office windows
out my office window
faceless workers framed
in office windows
Apology, I meant to submit my office window haiku, not post in the comments! And I can’t delete the comment! Re-submitting.
no worries, Amy – glad you found the Contact Form!