Per Diem for February: Worker’s Haiku
For February our guest editor Matthew Paul celebrates the joys and travails of the working(wo)man’s plight. Here’s what he offers by way of introduction:
Like Issa’s celebrated turnip-puller pointing the way with said vegetable, the worker has featured as a solitary figure in many fine haiku/senryu down the years. In these selections that I’ve made, the poets depict a variety of professionals hard at it or not, as the case may be: barber, bookseller, chauffeur, dentist, doctor, gravedigger, mechanic, policeman, postman, waitress and many others – even an estate agent. Some clearly relish their work; whereas others find all kinds of ways to make the daily grind that little bit more bearable than it might otherwise be. Not surprisingly, some appear more competent than others. Some are captured in a quiet, off-guard moment when his or her concentration on the matter in hand has temporarily lapsed, perhaps when the boss isn’t looking. We’ve all been there. Some are beavering away indoors; others are out in all weathers. Whatever the scenario, each of these lovely haiku tells a story, whether comically, poignantly and/or beautifully. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
Matthew Paul
We’re all workers in some sense, and the range of experiences, accomplishments, wages and woes offer us a kinship even as we seek to move beyond our daily efforts. Enjoy!
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reading poetry
in the garden
summer school
for the teachers
wife in labor
the husband mimics
breathing exercises
gathering eggs
pausing to admire
new born chicks
a stain on the floor
…my mum makes
jam
snow melting
in March . . .
my mother’s new smile
in honor of the caregivers
(Time of Singing, 2003)
a queen bee dies –
the honey overflowing
out of the honeycomb
behind the steam
her smiling face
of welcome
humid earth –
the stuck bee struggling
to fly up
NaHaiWriMo #19 August – humidity
writing an essay
all I deleted
to say what I mean
Good one, Lorin.
This refers to our vineyards at Nashik, near Pune.
harvesting grapes . . .
the season slips through
her fingers
I remember Peggy Willis choose this for Magnapoets January print edition 2009 ^_^
_kala
stubble fields
an old cane cutter
rubs his chin
http://users.mullum.com.au/jbird/dreaming/ozku-F-other.html#SIX
– Lorin 😉
Glad to see some fine haiku posted here in response to the theme for the month. 🙂
Matthew
apple blossoms…
the queen-bee swarms out
on a tree trunk
through thick fog
the lollipop man’s
open arms
.
inspired by today’s poem…
spring sunshine
the stylist gives her scissors
a practice snip
Marilyn Appl Walker
Acorn #26, 2011
shoveling . . .
scent of mint
through snow
Time Of Singing
25th Anniversary Volume
1998
morning glories –
even the fence surrenders
before their work
Working hardly
the forester havn’t time
to see his own wood
rain on the skybridge–
the surgeon’s rumpled scrubs
and bowed head
Billie Wilson
South by Southeast 16:3 (2009)
sod-turning…
a ceremony of high heels
and business suits
January*NaHaiWriMo–#soil
Looking forward to the new collection.
good day of work
Emmylou Harris sings
my evening prayers
Thank you, Ellen