Haiku Windows: window seat
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 Submit an original unpublished poem (or poems) via our Contact Form by Sunday midnight on the theme of the week, including your name as you would like it to appear, and place of residence.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: storm window
putting them up… taking them down… a detachable outer window put up in winter as insulation and to protect an inner window from the effects of storms…
I look forward to reading your submissions.
Haiku Windows: window seat
airplane window seat
the number of times
I have to say “excuse me”Olivier Schopfer
Geneva, Switzerland
It is worth it, of course, for the privilege of the view (and only having one immediate neighbour), or is it?
bay window
hydrangeas bloom
between chaptersRoberta Beary
The reader’s attention (both the reader in the poem and the reader of the poem) alternates between the words on the page and the garden view from the window seat… sounds perfect to me…
take off –
he pulls the shade
across my mountainsSkaidrite Stelzer
Toledo, Ohio
Here we have the unfortunate person in the next-to-the-window seat, who may have been looking forward to a partial view at least… the use of ‘my’ to describe the mountain view, and the fact that this happens at the beginning of the flight, both add to the scene…
window seat
grandpa smokes his pipe and
counts the passers-bySlobodan Pupovac
Zagreb, Croatia
Grandpa may wish he still had the energy to do more, but hopefully he can enjoy the luxury of relaxing, smoking his pipe, and keeping tabs on what others are doing…
Here are the rest of my selections for this week:
bus window seat
my mind roams along the contours
of distant hillsAdjei Agyei-Baah
Kumasi, Ghana
sharing my window seat
with half a dozen
snotty toddlersAngelee Deodhar
high speed –
the journey of the rain
on the windowAngiola Inglese
Window seat
Wherever
I goAnna Goluba
evening stroll –
a black cat sleeping
on a window sillAnna Maria Domburg-Sancristoforo
window seat –
a stranger’s reflection
smiles backArvinder Kaur
window seat
my purse becomes
my pillowBeverly Acuff Momoi
a window seat
for dreaming on the bus
out of townCarol Raisfeld
window seat
I watch my dreams disappear
through moving cloudsCelestine Nudanu
seated opposite
visit window, mother, son
LA County JailCharles Harmon
Los Angeles, California, USA
window seat
she asks where’s the
nearest
toiletChristina Chin
Kuching, Sarawak
window seat
a teddy bear
left behindChristina Sng
window seat
me and my cat
watching snowChristine Eales
UK
café window seat
the cycling sound
of his oxygenClaire Vogel Camargo
convent guest house –
from my window seat
white mountain meadowsCorine Timmer
window seat
holding off the loo
as long as possibleDavid Jacobs
London, UK
train window –
stories that unfold
without wordsDebbi Antebi
London, UK
faded pillow
on the window seat
her diaryDeborah P Kolodji
Temple City, California
and yet a window
closes every time he sits
beside another –Deirdre Hines
our passion flamed there
on that bay view window seat
fizzled by neglectDianne Moritz
is it my face
in a tram window or is
that a strangerDubravka Scukanec
window seat
a child smiles at me
from the sidewalkEufemia Griffo
journey to the past
I offer you
my window seatEva Limbach
Germany
wind sand and stars
a window seat
lost found and stolenFor memories of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry in Egypt.
Guliz Mutlu
gloomy face
even the window seat makes
no differenceHifsa Ashraf
Pakistan
staring at the faces
from my window seat –
a field of sunflowersIngrid Baluchi
Uganda
road trip
scanning the scenery
for a haiku momentJennifer Hambrick
window seat
behind old curtains
a page is turnedJoanne van Helvoort
her closed eyes –
I whisper for a tomato juice
from the window seatJohn Green
a gibbous moon
bulbed above the window seat
her belly’s soft curveJohn Hawkhead
window seat
puppy
school’s outJudith Hishikawa
window seat
reflecting her coy smile
first dateKaren Harvey
Wales
true love
he always gives me
the window seatKath Abela Wilson
Pasadena, California
views from seventh floor
brewery below crafting
balance of bitter hopsKathleen Mazurowski
sunrise
captures the moon
night train windowKen Olson
Yakima WA
a diary left
on the window seat
— summer’s endKimberly Esser
Los Angeles, CA
glassy canvas
beautified by small hands
near an empty window seatLoretta Diane Walker
window seat
only the glass
divides usLori Zajkowski
wheelchair…
from the window the sun
on her embroideriessedia a rotelle … dalla finestra il sole / sui suoi ricami
Lucia Cardillo
plane window seat
castles I build
in the cloudsLucy Whitehead
Essex, UK
window seat
how fragile the wing
shuddering in the windMadhuri Pillai
window seat –
a wind of rose petals
on the drying rackMargherita Petriccione
a bad cough
she watches friends at play
from the window seatMarilyn Appl Walker
georgia, usa
rush hour tram
in the window seats
faces unmovedMark Gilbert
window seat
closer to the action
of falling leavesMichael Henry Lee
dense fog –
wishing he hadn’t paid extra
for the window seatMichael H. Lester
Los Angeles CA USA
the window feeder
by my window seat…
popcorn afternoonMichele L. Harvey
At the window seat
the sound of raindrops
enters the heartMuskaan Ahuja
Chandigarh, India
drifting on daydreams
and clouds
window seatNancy Brady
Huron, Ohio
family repast
dad’s chair at the window
emptyNatalia Kuznetsova
Russia
bay windows
up and down the street
shiny shoes passpaul geiger
window seat
the man outside
points to his mouthPeter Jastermsky
fast food restaurant
a face covered in ketchup
in the windowRachel Sutcliffe
window seat
subliminal message
in her silent filmRadostina Dragostinova
Bulgaria
window seat
watching children wave
at the trainRehn Kovacic
bay view lunch…
sea lions fish
from the dockRobin Smith
Wilmington, DE
watching an eagle
watch me
window seat nookrobyn brooks
usa
long flight home
children in window seats
counting cloud angelsRon C. Moss
Tasmania, Australia
exit window seat
harder to pass through
the eye of a needleRon Scully
window seat storage bench
hopes and dreams
stowed hereRonald K. Craig
Batavia, OH USA
looking at the view
from my window seat –
already enjoying my tripRosa Maria Di Salvatore
River’s End
a paddle floats by
between french friesSandi Pray
wondering about
life in those tiny houses
airplane window seatSari Grandstaff
Saugerties, New York, USA
window seat bird watching cat
Simon Hanson
Queensland, Australia
view through the window seat
my ability to forgive
easierStephen A. Peters
tea for two
on the window seat
her favorite dollSusan Rogers
Los Angeles, CA, USA
rock/paper/scissors
calling dibs
on the window seatTerri French
after school
alone
on the window seatTia Haynes
Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, USA
listening to jazz…
this rain
on the train windowTomislav Maretic
window seat…
over the blossom tree
hair of veronicaTsanka Shishkova
family luncheon
sympathy flowers
on the window seatValentina Ranaldi-Adams
Fairlawn, Ohio USA
window seat
my fingers trace
the raindropsVandana Parashar
foggy
a little girl draws flowers
on the train windowVessislava Savova
empty space by the window
I left it for
my Invisible friendZuzanna Truchlewska
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 42 Comments
Comments are closed.
Hi KJ
i would like to submit mine for next weeks storm windows theme
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storm clouds
in her eyes-
i shut mine
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Thank you
thanks for your interest… please submit using the Contact Form above!
Thank you, Kathy, for your sensitive comments on these haiku. You chose a topic that writers interpret many ways. You describe so well the haiku voice and where the writer directs our attention. I am struck by two different types of haiku: in Deborah Kolodji’s haiku, the middle line is a pivot that brings our thoughts back to the first line and forward to the third. In Peter Jastermsky’s, the literal separation between the person in the window seat in the first line and the man outside is made even stronger. Each haiku is evocative and brilliant.
thanks so much for sharing this, Julie – I appreciate your kind words!
Thank you, Julie, foryour kind words regarding my window seat haiku.
Enjoy reading all the different interpretations. Thanks for the opportunity.
thanks for submitting, Kathleen, & for sharing this!
Well done to all poets, a wonderful selection and diversity, yet again 🙂
thanks Carol!
Congratulations to everyone
Great haikus
I agree, Eva – thanks for sharing!
All the colours of the rainbow on the window seats Kathy!
Well done.
thanks so much John!
So many different interpretations to enjoy. I liked Angiola’s
high speed —
the journey of the rain
on the window
Thank you again Kathy for including one of mine, and also for the several opportunities that, for me, require some research . . . outhouses (did they still exist . . . we have flying toilets in this part of the world), storm windows?! The Yukon maybe, not Uganda, though could be useful against the constant red dust . . . I’ve learned a lot from your Window adventures!
thanks for sharing this, Ingrid, & for submitting!
Thank-you Kathy. Always an honor to be published in your column.
thanks for submitting, Valentina, & for your kind words
Thank you for choosing my haiku again this week. Such a fun challenge.
Dianne Moritz
thanks for submitting, Dianne!
So many wonders hide every window … KJ, thank you for the selection!
thanks for this!
Aha!
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her closed eyes –
I whisper for a tomato juice
from the window seat
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John Green
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Is this who runs a fine workshop where Gary Evans attends?
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I can so relate to the verse, even if it’s nothing to do with the baddest hangover since the last one. 😉
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When I celebrated New Year’s Eve onwards for a straight three months (we did sleep at least six hours, and not booze every second) I’d start the day out with a pint of soda water (not sickly sweet stuff, the whisky n’ soda sans whisky) and a lot of angostura bitter.
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But I have gone the tomato route, and the Army route on occasion.
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warm regards,
Alan
Hello Alan,
Yes, Seren Fargo and I co-host the Bellingham Haiku Group, of which Gary Evans attends. Gary and I will car pool to the NW Haiku Annual conference in June.
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It’s funny you should comment on my haiku as I just yesterday watched your 15 minute
“Alan’s Haiku Journey” on YouTube. Then your TEDx presentation popped up so I had to watch that as well!
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I like to get a little extra vitamin C in me when flying to keep away the nastys . . .
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Cheers,
John
Cool! And you and Gary must know Carmen Sterba too? If so, small world, as we are former Haijinx buddies and also met in person at Kamakura, then stayed with Kris Moon, before going onto Tokyo. 🙂
wonderful! thanks to you both for the conversation…
Many thanks to you for being such an enthusiastic facilitator!
I do not know Carmen, but can’t speak for Gary.
thanks John!
Congratulations to all these excellent haiku poets! Thanks for including one of my window seat haiku. I too love the one you commented on by Roberta Beary. A window seat reading nook is so special. The haiku by John Green, Vessislava Savova and Susan Rogers were also favorites of mine.
Thanks, Sari!
Wondering about all the tiny things looking out the airplane window is fun indeed.
John
thanks for submitting, Sari, & for sharing this!
Congratulations to all and thank you for selecting one of mine, Kathy. I adore the poem by Roberta Beary.
bay window
hydrangeas bloom
between chapters
Roberta Beary
thanks for sharing this, Corine!
I adore Roberta’s haiku, too!
Thank you, Kathy. Amazing how many different takes on the same theme. Quality haiku!
I agree Ken – every week has been a delight! thanks, kj
Thanks KJ for including mine – I particularly liked Jennifer Hambrick’s and Madhuri Pillai’s.
thanks for sharing Mark!
Another great set of themed verses from everyone!
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I’d forgotten I’ve done so many in the past, but it isn’t surprising that we include windows, as we look out so often whether at home; work; bar or cafe; shop windows (inside and out) etc…
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window-rattling moon I stay up and turn blue
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Alan Summers
Publication Credits: From the haiku sequence “Perilune” pub. Blithe Spirit 23.2. 2013
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An unusual one:
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night train
a window screams
out of an owl
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Alan Summers
Bones – journal for contemporary haiku no. 14 November 15th 2017
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And an extra from the haibun called “The Beat is Back”
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He left to walk over to Bickford’s Cafeteria, on the middle block of West 42nd
Street; this is where Kerouac believes the greatest stage on Times Square
resides, he thought.
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In the window seat is a man bent around a chipped mug
containing thick dark syrup, he has typical eighteen hour shadow, around
his eyes, that matches the tone of his unshaven jaw line.
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someone kicks
a fridge full of things
shut again
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“Mind if I join yer?”
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The window man looks up, nods, sinks back into his syrup drink, but also
starts scratching his insect T-shirt.
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Alan Summers
Blithe Spirit 25.4 (November 2015)
http://area17.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/the-beat-is-back-haibun-prose-and-haiku.html
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And a very early one, who hasn’t seen cats dominate window seats during the Summer. 🙂
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open window
the cat dozes
half in half out
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Alan Summers
Presence issue 3 (1996)
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amazing work Alan – thanks as always, from Haiku Canada Weekend 2018 in Quebec, kj
Fabulous selections!
Thank you very much for including mine, Kathy!
It was much fun!
thanks for submitting, Christina!