Monday, October 9, 2023

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





****** 


© All copyrights belong to the contributors.






No comments:

Post a Comment

haikuNetra ISSUE 1.4

  Editor's Note We received a bulk load of submissions for the fourth Issue. Each haikuist has submitted his or her best for this Issue....