haikuNetra ISSUE 1.2

Editor's Note

The first Issue (Issue 1.1) released on 10th September, 2023, had seen some amazing ku. I thank all the contributors who have adorned the Journal with their sparkling creations. The second Issue has seen an increasing number of submissions compared to the first. It was enriching to say the least, reading each and every work and touring along such fresh images. What was interesting this time is to receive a lot of haiku portraying self-reflective depth. That the ocean is just a five-letter word made the reading and evaluating process even more enlightening. In its second Issue (Issue 1.2), haikuNetra also looks forward to giving space and introducing a few new names in Haikai Literature. It's always encouraging to see newer poets trying their hand at haiku and exhibiting the eagerness to learn the craft.

– Daipayan Nair, Editor 

haikuManthan - The Commentary

broken shells

the dream creeps back

to the sea

       Robert Witmer

With “broken shells” and “the sea,” Robert gives the reader just enough detail to imagine the sight of waves surging over broken shells; their sound, the texture of wet sand, or perhaps pebbles, beneath her feet… The reader’s imagination completes the creative process that originated in the poet’s.

People around the world have contemplated broken shells at the edge of the sea. We have perhaps done so since we became hominids two million years ago. Robert’s nature images and human nature derive from the same primordial root. In the tradition of classic haiku, he orchestrates nature imagery to address our original human being.

Aristotle compares the imagination to a wax tablet, receiving the imprints of sensory images. Basho’s haiku express the moment as a synthesis of such images. Similarly, Robert expresses the here-and-now by engaging the reader's senses; and through them, her imagination. Robert’s haiku becomes meaningful to the reader because she involves her imagination in its completion. The reader’s experience at the water’s edge, from my standpoint, demonstrates what “the haiku moment” really means.

The concreteness of the nature imagery enjoins “the dream” in a juxtaposition of contrast. While the dream suggests the unreality of “the floating world,” the imagery of shells and the sea makes the dream seem real.

A second juxtaposition is based on comparison, a tacit simile. The dream is like broken shells being reclaimed by the sea. Whether the dream is like the ones that we often remember in fragments minutes after waking, or the dissolution of a lifelong goal, the reader’s imagination completes the poetic process.

Unlike classic haiku, this verse does not have a seasonal reference. The ku, however, expresses temporality in a different way --- through the shells’ erosion and the action of the waves. Through temporality, the shells and the dream express wabi-sabi, even without a kigo. Ultimately, Robert’s haiku evokes the reader's sadness, resignation or serenity as she imagines a dream dissolving. If haiku has a purpose, perhaps it is to facilitate this moment --- the haiku moment. Robert’s ku accomplishes this goal.

– Lev Hart, Co-Editor 

haikuRatna - Editor's Pick

up all night the stars say so what

              Peter Jastermsky

women's day

she asks mom how

to make a fist

              John Pappas

sudden breakup—

your explanation needs

an explanation

            Barrie Levine

 

in an ensō caught by the swirl of her hand the space

                                Kala Ramesh

you vanish

into the mist . . .

mossy rail ties

           Debbie Strange

a hope 

of my son's return

burnt grasses

           Arvinder Kaur

autumn storm

the italic font

in her letter

          Vladislav Hristov

on the bucket list clean water

                   John Hawkhead

forget-me-nots

the memory

that is always there

        Valentina Ranaldi-Adams

sunshower

the gray area 

between us

       Nalini Shetty

haikuPrakash - Enlightenment 

canyon

wall

the

tallness

of

time

       Alan S. Bridges 

the only bloom 

on a dogwood tree 

puberty 

       Randy Brooks 

oak canopy -

that last word

you planted

       Simon De Courcey 

a guru bead 

the beginning and end

of my finger rehab

       Elliot Diamond

mountain temple

the monkey shadows

in me 

         Lakshmi Iyer 

young again 

in a dream 

blue violets

       John Pappas

green leaf 

turning pale 

my guilt 

         Anamika Mitra

a leaf zigzagging

neither here nor there

my immigrant life

         Chen-ou Liu 

autumn rain 

the memory 

of being seen 

         Kelly Sargent 

a mosquito lands 

on my guitar neck 

sound of rain 

         Tomislav Maretić

so different

the fragrance of dawn . . .

retirement

         Rosa Maria Di Salvatore

Yerba Buena

the freshness of my morning 

dream 

        Aparajita Dutta Chatterjee

curlew cries in the distance between us 

                                            John Hawkhead

     

in the lap 

of a sycamore 

autumn clarity 

       Marilyn Ashbaugh 

skylark's song —

chasing a dream 

within a dream 

        Debarati Sen 

small clouds 

coming apart 

this solitude 

         Bryan Rickert 

reggae dance 

the sweet smell of myrrh

in his hair 

        Sharon Ferrante

sparrow's fading chirp 

the last time 

grandma called 

  

          Minal Sarosh 

voices 

silenced long ago

empty home

         Stephanie Zepherelli 

cicada 

how many more molts 

until I ascend? 

         Joshua St. Claire

moss-covered brick 

cloud shadows drift 

across a sundial 

        Jay Friedenberg

tree hollow –

the depth 

of our conversation

        Bonnie J Scherer

butterfly 

she hates to be 

pinned down 

       Allison Douglas-Tourner

the only life 

in the room 

a kitten's leap

      Adrian Bouter 

white peonies 

the talk between

me and me 

 

Anna Maria Domburg-Sancristoforo

soft breeze 

I hear bells from 

the other side 

      Sandra Regan 

millions of years...

a fossil brooch 

on her coat 

      Vladislav Hristov

how light 

is laughter 

tire swing 

       Lorelyn Arevalo 

silver dawn 

a snail etching 

its own path 

       Maire Morrissey Cummins

we are all alone 

in the end 

Sakura swirls 

       Mona Bedi 

waning gibbous

the problem

could be my heart 

       Tony Williams 

autumn leaves –

I go on with my 

negotiations

      Ana Drobot

market square -

a gypsy waving 

her coin skirt 

      Roman Lyakhovetsky

forest light the morning just out of reach 

                                            Julie Bloss Kelsey 

but then

i am here 

till then 

        Mike Gallagher

soiled hands

the weight of my prayer

to Gaia

        Dominic Willis

last line of hills 

in the rear view mirror

what you might have meant 

        Matt Robison

naming ceremony

bubbles 

on the baby's lips 

       R. Suresh babu

where all 

I have been ...

google lens 

      Aparna Pathak

the layers 

to this grief 

autumn forest 

      C.X. Turner 

blue jay song...

the length of 

a raindrop

      Dorna Hainds 

cold snap - 

knowing I'll never 

see you again 

      Juliet Wilson

bus ride 

the next stop 

my new life 

      Mueder Krieger 

visarjan -

how I wish to become 

a lotus today 

      Nalini Shetty

Zen garden

each sand particle 

contributes

       Valentina Ranaldi-Adams

summer dusting 

the spider crawls 

behind Buddha 

       Adjei Agyei-Baah

honeysuckle-

scent of home

in the distance

      Giuliana Ravaglia

high and low

of a jackdaw flight

my life 

     Beata Czeszejko

steady snow 

the garden Buddha's field 

of emptiness

      Marianne Paul 

a mother's lullaby

filtering through morning

whale song 

       Douglas J. Lanzo

end of summer

the flock migrating

back to summer 

       Sue Courtney

so warm his breast

pressed against my cheek 

baby jackdaw 

      Ruth Holzer 

embossed tissue—

what have we wrought

upon the tree?

      Nitu Yumnam

dewdrops before the shadow changes shape 

                                                   Margaret Walker

evening moon 

something more 

about her 

     Daniela Misso 

woodpecker

no one knows why 

the hard work 

     M.R. Defibaugh 

the road 

to my home town -

naked feet 

     Chittaluri Satyanarayana

reliving my vacation 

one receipt at a time 

                        petro c. k.

autumn flowers

all the scents 

of letting go 

     Lori Kiefer 

this wait

in silence ...

a flitting butterfly

    Naomi G. Tangonan 

haikuDrishti - The Observation

still windchimes...
yet another cop
on administrative leave 
          

 Joshua Gage 

warm summer day 

my mother's hands 

shelling peas  

         Joseph P. Wechselberger

poll preparations
her name disappears 
from the voters’ list 
          

Amita Paul 

evening out 

a touch of gulab attar 

behind each jhumka 

       Rupa Anand 

writing 
the word cancer 
crossing it out

      Roberta Beach Jacobson

ripe plums for sale 

the village women dig deeper

in the bin 

      Barrie Levine

city rush...
a mosaic pepper bagful 
falls off the stall 

    Steliana Voicu 

trundling stare

my imaginary friend

has gone off the rails 

     Mark Gilbert 

musical notes 
across the power lines 
spotted doves 

     Tuyet Van Do 

moist sand 

in each cupped hand

a mussel 

     Kanjini Devi

late winter sales . . .
buying a pullover
I don't like

    Rosa Maria Di Salvatore 

cherry picking 

a dapple of sunshine

through her braid 

     Kelly Sargent 

carpet moth 
she asks me to tread 
more carefully 

     John Hawkhead

out of ink

a seabird circles

a cuttlefish

     Marilyn Ashbaugh

smoke room—
the scent-filled breath 
of her arrival 

    Kalyanee Arandhara

operation theatre —

the flickering

of a red light bulb 

     Debarati Sen

pajama
hanging behind the door
your shadow 

    Nani Mariani 

at the lagoon 

making mischief 

feral pigs 

    Marilyn Humbert

autumn leaves 
tumbling down 
fiery dancers 

    Carolyn Crossley 

traffic jam

a penguin trundles

its chick elsewhere

    Debbie Strange

old mate's cafe 
her crunchy cookie bite 
recites the poem 

    Gopal Lahiri 

jellyfish

whenever I see mother 

multitasking

    Minal Sarosh

snuggling into 
mom's hand knit poncho 
autumn chill 

    Arvinder Kaur

almost no moonlight left now champagne flute

    Joshua St. Claire 

back to school sign 
the drooped head 
of a sunflower

   Jay Friedenberg 

break of day –

something 

to crow about

   Bonnie J Scherer

new resident
I welcome another
biography

     Pat Davis

old photo 

what our smiles have 

become 

     Timothy Daly 

for unknown reasons leaning pine

      Cynthia Anderson

jumping 
on the trampoline
hailstones

     Guido De Pelsmaeker

morning doves 

I bring my attention back 

to the flow of chi 

      Sandra Regan

autumn crocuses 
she kneels 
on the warm earth 

     Vladislav Hristov 

thick kajal 

on her eyes 

the great tit 

     Sreenath

gleaming...
a snail shell 
full of rain 

   Maria Teresa Sisti 

keyboard warr_or

a letter escapes

h_s gr_p

   Lorelyn Arevalo

beach kiting...
the heron lifts a length 
of seaweed 

    Richard L Matta 

old melody—

the constant tap 

of dad's foot

    Mona Bedi 

low tide...
belongings washed up 
in a doorway

    Tony Williams

holding

my first butterfly -

origami 

    Ana Drobot

bran flakes in my cup morning cloud 

   Bernadette O'Reilly 

hissing frother - 
the coffee girl pins up
her spilled hair bun 

Roman Lyakhovetsky

floral socks –

I teach my doll 

to read 

     Angiola Inglese 

constellations
yet to be named 
your skin 

    Matt Robison 

sudden rain

the hawker overturns

ice cream cones 

    R. Suresh babu

winter seclusion
photos deleted
from the bin 

     Aparna Pathak

past suffering

rising to the surface 

ghost slug 

      C.X. Turner 

sometimes the moon –
a half-bitten cookie 
in my breakfast plate

     Gillena Cox 

starry night 

her long black curls 

between my fingers

      Dorna Hainds

house sparrows 
nesting in the eaves - 
childhood memories 

      Juliet Wilson

no trespassing —

a raven on the site 

pecks for worms 

Mueder Krieger

the headmistress
pinches a pupil's ear...
flag salute 

     Hassane Zemmouri

harvest song -

warmth of her breath

on the golden grain 

    Nalini Shetty

captcha question
a robot checks
the I AM box 

     Valentina Ranaldi-Adams

meditating 

by the winter lake

the angler 

   Bidyutprabha Gantayat

floor tiles 
aligning every step
my thoughts

    Joevit Prado

a cop's bouncing belly hot street chase

     Adjei Agyei-Baah

daughter's first playdate
feral ponies frolicking 
in a dandelion field 

      Douglas J. Lanzo

honeysuckle

the laughter of children

climbing a fence

     Sue Courtney

open window inside outside a ruckus of geese 

     Marianne Paul 

banana hand...
her walk 
after ballet 

     Genevieve S. Aguinaldo

reaching 

the clifftop...

my tree hug 

    K. Ramesh 

first spring dawn —
the widening jaw 
of granny's smile 

    Pragyan Mishra 

winter's palette

a dash of paprika 

in my chowder

    Michelle V. Alkerton 

before the war my grandmother's lace handkerchief

      Isabella Mori

sunny day 
anything 
can go wrong 

     Jerome Berglund

eyebrow threading

the glass roof pattern

in the local mall 

    Jenny Shepherd

deep ruts in red clay roads 
untended 
headstones on the hillside

     Margaret Walker

bumper crop...

the scarecrow

gets new dress 

     Sanjay Kumar Sanan

moon glue a snail reaches the pansies bed 

     Ella Aboutboul

new moon 
the toddler of a refugee 
starts laughing

    Mircea Moldovan

hot afternoon

the dog lies down 

in my shadow

    Wilda Morris 

twin trees 
between high-rise towers 
twilight town 

    Alice Wanderer

sunset-

my dream runs on the old train 

   Nicoletta Ignatti 

a cormorant skims

the yellowed lily pads 

summer's end 

     Susan Farner 

city buses 
coming and going 
morning meditation

      Lori Kiefer

overhead terns a d j u s t ing their kerning 

    petro c. k.

haikuJyoti - The Third Eye

 

 

      

 

 

 

               

 storm watch

    waiting

      for a diagnosis

 

            Colette Kern

 

 

 

 

hydrangeas
by the leaning fence
her 80th birthday

  Susan Farner

 

 

 

 

 

lantern moon

the light in my father's

final words

 

Lori Kiefer

 

 

 

 

old face -
a new line
every year 

   Chittaluri Satyanarayana

 

 

 

 

memories of home

growing more distant

honking geese

 

 petro c. k.

 

 

 

 

chilled toes
the summer slippers
sailing on
 

 Ella Aboutboul

 

 

 

 

the wild cat

that didn't show up -

cancer cells

 

 Amoolya Kamalnath

 

 

 

 

I find my way—
the tracery
of a blind gull
 

 Sharon Ferrante

 

 

ear doctor's windows azalea trumpets

 

Alice Wanderer

 

 

 

 

mist covered trees

our son measures himself

against his dad

 

 Baisali Chatterjee Dutt

 

 

 

 

migrants...
the autumn wind
caresses them too
 

Nicoletta Ignatti

 

 

 

 

slow healing . . .

looking for trees

in bloom

 

 Daniela Misso

 

 

 

 

deceased's wall...
influx of greetings
on her birthday
 

 Sanjay Kumar Sanan

 

 

 

 

anthurium

the older flowers

turning green

 

 Mona Iordan

 

 

 

 

haiku journal
so often friends' names follow
poems I love
 

 Jenny Shepherd 

 

 

 

 

answering machine

the voices 

we've lost

 

Corey D. Cook

 

 

 

 

bloodthirst just another day at the office 

 

Isabella Mori

 

 

 

 

a lone apple tree
I stop
at the red light
 

R.I. Károly

 

 

 

 

seahorse birth

hundreds of eyes

fanning out to sea

 

Douglas J. Lanzo

 

 

 

circle of mushrooms
the faraway friends
who never write
 

 Ruth Holzer

 

 

 

 

a lot of ifs Johnny Appleseed

 

  Jerome Berglund

 

 

 

 

long drive...

the routes on the map

shorter

 

 Vidya Shankar

 

 

 

 

broken clasp —
Mom's cool hand
on my forehead
 

Allison Douglas-Tourner

 

 

 

slow-wave sleep

        beneath a lily pad

the lake's sway 

Marianne Paul

 

 

 

 

earth mother
she always comes back
with flowers
 

Sue Courtney

 

 

 

 

distant thunder the ears of deer

 

 Adrian Bouter

 

 

 

 

bride's laugh...

drop of water

on a cactus

 

Genevieve S. Aguinaldo

 

 

 

cosmos flowers
the dark matter
inside of me 

Tomislav Sjekloća

 

 

 

 

her red bindi

still in a corner

of the mirror

 Neena Singh

 

 

 

message after years
so sour
the lemon sherbet 

Irena Szewczyk

 

 

 

 

bombed-out buildings all the versions of me

 

Peter Jastermsky

 

 

 

 

wars

lined up side-by-side

cemetery

 

Roberta Beach Jacobson

 

 

 

 

full moon to full moon his mood swings 

 Kala Ramesh

 

 

 

 

rope swing . . .
the day her shoes
scraped the ground
 

Barrie Levine

 

 

 

 

creativity

a bumblebee

thuds into the window

 

 Mark Gilbert

 

 

 

 

migrating geese
the weight of lost lands
in their call
 

 Lakshmi Iyer

 

 

 

 

a crow on top

of the ex-mayor's billboard

autumn deepens

 

 Chen-ou Liu

 

 

 

bitter cold street —
the only scrunch
of my footsteps
 

 Linda L Ludwig

 

 

 

 

first day of kindergarten

the reach

of pumpkin tendrils 

 Kelly Sargent

 

 

 

 

between clouds a crane's worth of blue

 

 Marilyn Ashbaugh

 

 

 

 

sound of waves
a fisherman takes me
to the flamingos
 

 K. Ramesh

 

 

 

 

palimpsest —

this word by word erasure

of my former self

 

 Debarati Sen

 

 

 

 

 

oxbow lake
how we travel together
what we leave behind
 

 John Hawkhead

 

 

 

bald eagle

in the lake

in the sky

Kanjini Devi

 

 

 

 

crawling in the war zone ideas

Kalyanee Arandhara

 

 

 

 

summer's end
a bowl of fiddleheads
left in question
 

 Ron Scully

 

 

 

 

lifting the lid

a green frog

in the bowl

 

 Marilyn Humbert

 

 

 

desert highway
all to myself
the Milky Way
 

Bryan Rickert

 

 

 

 

the curved backs

of their school satchels

assembly line

 

 Kavita Ratna

 

 

 

 

sea stacks
giants once lived
here
  

Debbie Strange

 

 

 

 

dawn light

on a mynah's beak

dew drops

 

Arvinder Kaur

 

 

 

 

tidal estuary
the slow sweep
of a sturgeon's fin 

 Jay Friedenberg

 

 

 

 

singing in the car

her dying mother

tongue

 

 Timothy Daly

 

 

 

 

closely knit
what we stitched together
u n r a v e l s
 

 Bonnie J Scherer

 

 

 

 

some do some don't nightingale

 

 Joshua St. Claire

 

 

 

 

head-on collision

the shockwaves

between galaxies

 

Cynthia Anderson

 

     

 

 

staring
into his soul
soft light

 Ernesto P. Santiago

 

 

 

 

all that remains

of my mother – unopened

4711

 

Hla Yin Mon

 

 

 

 

waking up
the pain
from my father's ring

Vladislav Hristov

 

 

 

neem trees shading a path to the past 

 

Srini

 

 

 

 

rose bloom
mom cheers on
her other kids
 

 Richard L Matta

 

 

 

 

thunderstorm

the sound

of her bruises

 

Lorelyn Arevalo

 

 

 

 

last local train —
this urge to desert
everything

Raja Chakraborty

 

 

 

 

empty arms

long to hold grandniece

autumn rain

 

 Bernadette O'Reilly

 

 

 

 

 

I wish
I'd said more...
their freshly-picked funghi
 

 Tony Williams

 

 

 

 

refugee stories 

tumbleweeds stuck

in razor wire

 

 Roman Lyakhovetsky

 

 

 

 

black coffee –
turning the pages
of my diary

Ana Drobot

 

 

 

 

cutting

the amaryllis

clouds

 

        Angiola Inglese

 

 

 

 

fractals
sycamore boughs bend
into sunlight
 

Marilyn Ward

 

 

 

 

 

dandelions wishing you were here

 

Susan Burch

 

 

 

his pressed lips

on my point of view

withered reeds

 

Aparna Pathak

 

 

 

 

her teardrop
running into itself
heavier rain

 Dorna Hainds

 

 

 

 

breaking down

the oxygen tube taped

to her skin

 

 C.X. Turner

 

 

 

 

autumn sunset
grandpa refills
his clay chillum
 

 R. Suresh babu

 

 

 

 

dragonfly wings

unequivocal we are

to each other

 Bipasha Majumder De

 

 

 

 

rainy day
the faintness of jazz
in birdsong

 Alfred Booth

 

 

 

blurring

what is what is not

her brushstrokes

 

 Nalini Shetty

 

 

 

 

mid-september
these irrelevant phases
of the moon
 

Jelena Kenić

 

 

 

 

sleeping

on the cold ground

maple leaves

 

Mueder Krieger

 

 

 

 

so much
for the wildflower meadow -
new supermarket

Juliet Wilson

 

 

 

 

cemetery bench

the connection between

lost souls

 Elizabeth Crocket

 

homeless man
adjusting to the tune
of mosquitoes
 

Adjei Agyei-Baah

 

 

 

 

arranging her pupils

for the annual picture

ikebana

 

Hassane Zemmouri

 

 

 

 

talking again
to his silence -
chinese shadows

 Giuliana Ravaglia

 

 

 

crochet hook

your pattern of lies

unravels

 

Valentina Ranaldi-Adams

 

 

 

 

serendipity
the word I learned
meeting you
 

 Beata Czeszejko

 

 

 

 

following the bull

 

                 an entourage

 

                                     of egrets

Wanda Amos

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