haikuNetra: haikuNetra ISSUE 1.3

Editor's Note

The streak of good and thoughtful haiku continues in the third issue of haikuNetra. This issue, like its predecessors, has witnessed submissions from a wide range of voices. It was a joy reading each and every submission, engaging in healthy and enlightening discussions with the contributors. haikuNetra takes immense pride in announcing its list of nominees for the Touchstone Award from Issue 1.1 and Issue 1.2, the templates of which have been shared on different social media handles. It's good to see many young haikuists (below 15 years) being open to receiving constructive feedback and showing the interest to submit to different journals in spite of repeated rejections. It only goes to ascertain the future of Haikai Literature being in safe hands.

– Daipayan Nair, Editor

haikuManthan - The Commentary

Rebecca Drouilhet understands that a kigo is worth a thousand words:

autumn dusk...

one child left spinning

on the merry-go-round

In a different haiku, “autumn dusk” might evoke such traditional connotations as stillness, peacefulness, or silence. The same kigo conjures a different set of associations, however, in the context of “one child left spinning / on the merry-go-round.” This disquieting image suggests traditional autumnal themes like loneliness, sadness, worries, abandonment and emptiness. Why does the child stay when everyone else has gone? Where are her caregivers? How does she feel about being alone? Is something wrong with this picture? Autumn has yet other associations, including the unknown, the unseen, and belief in spirits. Circuses, children and autumn are familiar themes for horror and the supernatural. Perhaps the little girl’s story has layers beyond layers. As a kigo, “autumn dusk” elaborates the child’s story through an array of potential meanings. Each reader inevitably sees the story in a unique way. Rebecca gives us the space to complete the creative process that she began.

Bakhtiyar Amini is similarly adept with kigo, though his use is very different:

waning moon

am I

a loser?

“waning moon’ is another autumnal kigo, similarly evoking emptiness, loneliness, and --- above all --- worry. Even as the poet shares his concern with the moon, however, he comes to terms with it. Through the kigo, the poet’s question is set against the endless cycle of seasons. The question shrinks in significance.

Or does it become more significant, when it is no longer merely personal, but part of the great cycle? Does the question become extrapersonal, asked one way or another in every place and time?

Between them, Rebecca and Bakhtiyar give us a master class on kigo’s potential to evoke layers of feeling and meaning.

– Lev Hart, Co-Editor

haikuRatna - Editor's Pick

rural road
one skater unzips
the dotted line

Debbie Strange

fall migration it all went south

Cynthia Anderson

choosing
my gravesite —
cemetery wind

Mona Bedi

what I never
want to hear
bombardier

Kathabela Wilson

closed casket
the questions I should
have asked

John Pappas

sudden rain
how easily I slip
into melancholy

Bryan Rickert

sunflower stalks...
a farmer in a tractor
tows a tank

Myron Lysenko

if sunrise
made a sound...
singing bowl

Tony Williams

my heirloom veil
longer
than our marriage

Barrie Levine

river mouth
her mother tongue
flows freely

C.X. Turner

winter night...
eating the rice harvested
in our backyard

K. Ramesh

first sign of spring mom's cherry blossom obi

Michael Smeer (Mikō)

haikuPrakash - The Enlightenment

moonless night
the winding path
of a glow-worm
Marilyn Ward

funeral eulogy —
my lover was also
a good wife
Antonio Mangiameli

airbnb
by the sea
hara-kiri
Kimberly A. Horning

hillwalkers
how many footsteps
make a track
Debbie Strange

dancing naked...
the infinity
of my freedom
Jovana Dragojlovic

backyard trees
the eastern sky
no longer mine
Lakshmi Iyer

fallen arches
this pressing weight
of the world
Bonnie J Scherer

psychopomp
a cabbage white leads me
deeper into the meadow
Joshua St. Claire

once full of life...
the old
newspapers
Daniel Birnbaum

old oak tree
we all complete
our journey
Sandip Chauhan

morning breeze
a pot marigold glowing
on the footpath
Tuyet Van Do

wheeled walker
the slow steps
to recovery
Hassane Zemmouri

as a bamboo bends...
his ego soars
like a fly
Genevieve S. Aguinaldo

tidelines
outgrowing the home
on my back
Cynthia Anderson

heat shimmer—
there is more to me
than my pain
Mona Bedi

fallen leaves . . . so much loss and birdsong

Timothy Daly

rusted knocker
grandma just knew
who was there
Minal Sarosh

summer grasses my tears

Kathabela Wilson

poem or prayer
the reddening leaves
of maples
John Pappas

rainbow
the bullet flies through
a rainbow
Myron Lysenko

harvest moon
a hut lantern lights up
the pond
Sue Wood

a water droplet
stable in the middle
of a lotus leaf
Radhika De Silva

fiddleheads
behind the shed
the song he never finished
Kelly Sargent

electric chair
the condemned man's tears
sizzling
John J. Dunphy

empty distances
mapping the interior
of a broken home
John Hawkhead

morning fog
a haiku
nowhere in sight
Rupa Anand

opening the door
to gatherings of leaves
a little less alone
Tony Williams

my chinky eyes
seeing the world
same as yours
Kalyanee Arandhara

our shared inheritance spring sunrise

Srini

incoming
cold front
... bombs
Jan Stretch

breezy woodland
I listen
to a sea of bluebells
Chen-ou Liu

nothing added
or taken away -
starry night
Alvin B. Cruz

fading photo
as young to me now
as he was then
Pris Campbell

the Buddha's face —
a puddle
before the rain
Mark Gilbert

autumn crocus
too late
for returns

Anna Maria Domburg-Sancristoforo

anaesthesia
grandpa mumbles
the broken lyrics
Zerine Wahid

getting the drop on me rain

Susan Burch

wooded walk
I almost forget
my to-do list
Colette Kern

losing the stream
losing myself . . .
at the estuary
Suraj Nanu

where have the leaves swept away?
weathered wrinkles

Nitu Yumnam

sudden rain...
a canna lily unfurls
its deep secret
Neena Singh

after the last guest leaves birdsong

Arvinder kaur

new day -
still travelling
without leaving
Giuliana Ravaglia

stopping midway
the hare looks equally
surprised
Biswajit Mishra

so soundless
this changing world
scudding clouds
Jay Friedenberg

war...
everything I can't
bring with me
Angiola Inglese

no cure
the deep end
of the ocean
Sharon Martina

white butterfly –
the nun goes from bed to bed

Guido De Pelsmaeker

fresh air
I breathe out
for the trees
Alice Wanderer

puja ghar laddus-
the scent of elaichi
in my fingers
Bidyutprabha Gantayat

sunflowers
rising and rising
a skylark's trill
Sue Courtney

smooth skin
and skinny limbs
the body I had
Jenny Shepherd

falling star . . .
I wish you could see
me
Jayson Dela Fuente

patches of green
in the dry grass
one-sided love
Maya Daneva

autumn mountains—
I want them to hear me say
magnificent
James Penha

the piercing
cry of a newborn
garbage bin
Nicoletta Ignatti

dusting off
all this grief
moth wings
C.X. Turner

paddy fields...
no walls to block
the full moon
K. Ramesh

first rain—
the apples
slowly rot
B. L. Bruce

pond adventure
the children return
with frog song
Michael Smeer (Mikō)

clearcut a tuneless cricket
Lorraine A Padden

I pray to the god
for Dad's resurrection
summer fog
Bipasha Majumder (De)

running...
one bomb crater
to another
Stephen Jarell Williams

ripples the power of one stone unthrown
Julie Schwerin

I take a break
from resting
curled leaves
Bee Jay

from a perch
on the fence
father's sky

Marilyn Ashbaugh

a spring cloud
once again
learning non-attachment
Dan Schwerin

sound of rain . . .
the forest clearing fills with
a woodlark's song
Lori Kiefer

daddy's gramophone
a waltz
down memory lane
Baisali Chatterjee Dutt

it takes a cold night
to bring us together
blankets of snow
Patricia Hawkhead

haikuDrishti - The Observation

first snow -
the yodeling newsboy
twirls his moustache

Hla Yin Mon

misty dawn
every colour fades
in me

Beata Czeszejko

the weight of you
on my lap -
centering

Jennifer Gurney

muddy feet —
rice gatherers count
the grains
Zvonko Jurcevic

the rhythm of
our sleepless feet
school day
Engin Gulez

hazy moon
the muffled sound
of a vinyl disc
Daniela Misso

another chapter
coming to a close—
third trimester
Shane Coppage

gran's sari
I see her gazing at me
from the mirror
Baisali Chatterjee Dutt

a love letter
in my old diary
remembrance day
Lori Kiefer

turning to leave cherry blossoms
Dan Schwerin

red-winged moth –
my child leaps out
of my lap
Jyoti Doley

rain of flowers
little hands shake
the creepers
Kumarendra Mallick

autumn dawn...
father-in-law's gasps fill
his loneliness
Amoolya Kamalnath

morning mist
the blackbird's song
seems louder
Tomislav Maretic

sudden hard rain
two mallard ducks
in a pop-up puddle
Wilda W. Morris

old mango tree -
a yellow-breasted kiskadee
at the topmost branch
Gillena Cox

cicada drone
the syncopated rhythm
of summer love
Marilyn Ashbaugh

afternoon wind
the pile of scrap wood
in the driveway
Goran Gatalica

hanging baskets
filled with flowers
spring breeze
Zaidee Pisani - Lysenko

the last train under a black cloud overcoats
Bee Jay

the lightness
of children's laughter
crimson leaves
Eavonka Ettinger

our rendezvous
today, the brook
with little to say
Julie Schwerin

worried about death...
the quiet boy walks
with his grandma
Stephen Jarell Williams

cyclone
the last player swings
his bat
Bipasha Majumder (De)

crickets
the pivot
between
Daya Bhat

trading recipes
over the fence
braided river
Lorraine A Padden

incessant rain
the village floods
with wellies
Michael Smeer (Mikō)

autumn mist
the stag disappears
into the woods
B. L. Bruce

Milky Way...
hostel boys switch off
the torch lights

K. Ramesh

express lane
strung blue lights
imitate a tree
Jerome Berglund

heavy backpack . . .
the light wings
of a butterfly
Rosa Maria Di Salvatore

this longing
of an empty nester
gathering dusk
Lorelyn De la Cruz Arevalo

moon-viewing ...
wondering about
his dark side
Natalia Kuznetsova

tan lines
time in the sun
fading
Elizabeth Crocket

escaping
only the sound of air
lab rat
C.X. Turner

prickly neighbor
I listen to her need
to tell the story
Randy Brooks

moonlight
entering his tent...
squeak of flip-flops
Maya Daneva

the pin drops
the faintest ping
as it hits the floor
Jenny Shepherd

from the high branch
a leaf fluttering
in adagio
Mark Meyer

oriental bazaar
a new incense tickles
my nose
Christa Pandey

beautiful morning
I catch a few lyrics
from a passerby
Sue Courtney

dancing dragonfly...
a wayward stroke
on guitar
Bidyutprabha Gantayat

cuckoo's call -
the cheer
in grandma's face
Guido De Pelsmaeker

her mind made up
overnight the ginkgo
drops its leaves
Sharon Martina

wind in the gray sky last dahlias

Angiola Inglese

onomatopoeia
the dee dee dee
of a chickadee
Jay Friedenberg

Navaratri—
the priest tests speakers
for mantra
Biswajit Mishra

warming up
by your side -
hot chestnuts
Lavana Kray

lottery tickets
a rusted corner
of granny's trunk
Arvinder Kaur

crisp autumn air...
grandson cuddles me
at the school gate
Neena Singh

for how long to keep it bottled up
fermenting cider

Nitu Yumnam

milkweed floss
drifting under
a raptor's shadow
Colette Kern

on top of spaghetti somebody's sneeze

Susan Burch

fresh mehendi —
a few hand gestures
zipping up her blouse
Zerine Wahid

stone-still
the watchful
kookaburra
Marilyn Humbert

eager sun
between briars -
last fox home
Simon De Courcey

community table—
the lamb stew bubbling
with innkeeper's tales
Barrie Levine

our secret tryst
a grove filled
with blue asters
Pris Campbell

cloudless sky
the beggar peers
inside his cup
Alvin B. Cruz

the millipede ... then me

Jan Stretch

archive–
a book of ethics
in a dusty shelf
Kalyanee Arandhara

between wind
and window gap
a drawn-out conversation

Tony Williams

a pop art
of dialects
Indian train

Rupa Anand

quiet morning
I watch the spider
on your shoulder
Sharon Ferrante

a boat rests
on a wave of sand
lake bed
Robert Witmer

street kitten
the letter carrier lifts
her mailbag
John J. Dunphy

midday sunflowers
my third-grade teacher
reads my poem to the class

Kelly Sargent

spiking my blood sugar treacly tanka

Peter Jastermsky

magenta sunset
mother unties
her silk scarf
Sue Wood

snow
piling in trenches
dead soldiers
Myron Lysenko

little cliques
on the college campus
white china roses
Jackie Chou

after rain
the nearby squeak
of a wheelbarrow
Mike Gallagher

swifts
between us
this song and dance
Bryan Rickert

event horizon
slipping into something
less comfortable
John Pappas

indigenous flower
she wears mother's
wedding dress
Kathabela Wilson

deer antlers
his first love letter
full of exclamations
Minal Sarosh

lovers' tiff
the cat moves
house
Wanda Amos

busy metro
the young girl lost
in her book
Timothy Daly

false spring —
a misplaced love letter
in my mailbox
Mona Bedi

shrink wrap
my big mistake
never far
Cynthia Anderson

acacia leaves—
fingers intertwined
at midnight
Genevieve S. Aguinaldo

henna night candles...
the drowsy cousins
rub their eyes
Hassane Zemmouri

november romance the sea churns white
Isabella Mori

home flight ...
a Tasmanian tiger
in the toy box
Tuyet Van Do

Labor Day—
the weary woodman
reaches his cot
Sandip Chauhan

trailing to infinity reflections on the lake

Stephanie Zepherelli

ocean rise
the samphire
between our toes
Joanna Ashwell

rat-a-tat-tat
a pileated woodpecker
fine-tunes its drill
Bonnie J Scherer

tin wedding
the honorable seat
of surrogate mother
Bakhtiyar Amini

hormonal pills
spitting
watermelon seeds
Camela Marino

wooly bear
the posture of a toddler
learning
Pat Davis

campfire night
the hearth carries ashes
of our conversation
Anwitha Sudeep

produce market
a boy copies mommy
thumping melons
Joseph P. Wechselberger

autumn shapes
a pregnant cow
adjusts her weight
Lakshmi Iyer

rain boots
missing
our walks
Jovana Dragojlovic

sea wolf
I wasn't expecting
to find you here
Debbie Strange

double dutch
the girls' pigtails
uncurl—
Kimberly A. Horning

morning mist
she gently wipes
cataract eyes
Marilyn Ward

haikuJyoti - The Third Eye

b o r n

collecting

l a b e l s

b e f o r e

s h e

i s

C. X. Turner

getting old
I repeat the phrases
mother used
Marilyn Ward

dragonfly buzzing backwards evolution
Kimberly A. Horning

ethno music
the calling
of my roots
Jovana Dragojlovic

dung-splattered street
an ektara tunes
the godhuli
Lakshmi Iyer

early monsoon

...a drop

stains my jeans

Anwitha Sudeep

plumes
of pampas grass
awaiting the goddess
Amita Paul

sourdough
my son falls asleep
on the sick sinus
Camela Marino

valley retreat
the way you
navigate silence
Joanna Ashwell

putting his blanket
back in the chest
damping off
Joshua St. Claire

blackberry harvest
on my skin a tattoo
of the thorns
Daniel Birnbaum

molten serpent
the grudge
I let go
Sandip Chauhan

nightingale no matter how blackbird

M. R. Defibaugh

funeral
I can't
move on
Isabella Mori

bullying learning to love learning to hate

Hassane Zemmouri

sunday sunlight -
my kids trying the old cradle
from my childhood
Steliana Voicu

her mind
after the baby—
cornfield rats
Genevieve S. Aguinaldo

pile of rubble
every war a stone
in my heart
Cynthia Anderson

nursing the bruise of heartbreak blue violets
Mona Bedi

airport bus
held up
by her eyes

Timothy Daly

knitted pouch
the agile jump
of an orphaned joey
Wanda Amos

end of spring —
the books in father's library
I didn't read
Minal Sarosh

sunlit bath
scrubbing harder
darkens the scars
Patricia Hawkhead

earsplitting my head
Kathabela Wilson

dune grass
as if it too
waves goodbye
John Pappas

sheet clouds
not one break
in her lie
Bryan Rickert

the new king
a gloved hand waving
at limbless veterans
Mike Gallagher

sunlight through the slats
an acceptance letter
wedged between junk mail

Jackie Chou

explosion
on an energy grid
winter chill
Myron Lysenko

jellyfish dance the poison in every jiggle

Peter Jastermsky

calm water-
she counts the clouds
dissolving
Radhika De Silva

coronation
the monarch
unfolds its wings
Kelly Sargent

"I'm not armed"
sign held by
the hitchhiker
John J. Dunphy

juggling
flaming torches
the child's eyes
Robert Witmer

twinflowers the duality of (our) nature

Debbie Strange

mother . . .
your tanchoi sari
the softness of warp
through the weft
Rupa Anand

at sea
all the bits
of a broken moon
Tony Williams

first date...
a horse races
back to the barn
Jan Stretch

summer ending
scud clouds carry off
scraps of thought
Chen-ou Liu

forget-me-nots
the war nowhere close
to the end
Alvin B. Cruz

pressed bouquet...
each petal holds
our memories
Pris Campbell

sagging pockets . . .
grandfather's cardigan
full of change
Barrie Levine

paper cut -
my memory
draws blood
Jahnavi Gogoi

morning
through light and shadow
a blackcap
Anna Maria Domburg-Sancristoforo

bedtime prayer
rosary beads click
click click
Marilyn Humbert

banyan stump —
another fancy tale
of my ancestors
Zerine Wahid

hangnail moon
filing
for divorce
Susan Burch

dusty earrings
all the joy
I used to wear
Colette Kern

dream scatters
in the rumblings
a hornbill's call
Suraj Nanu

flyer in hand
she tells her teddy
it's time to leave
Nitu Yumnam

kneading flour
I pour water
on old hurts
Neena Singh

resume

—

describing

what I used to be

Joseph P. Wechselberger

parents' gift —
my wristwatch
turns back time
Adrian Bouter

night rain
shaking stars
off her hair
Arvinder Kaur

honking geese
the ragged edge
of a summer cloud
Jay Friedenberg

long shadows
my manager extends
the work time
Pragyan Mishra

bare trees in winter
living from paycheck
to paycheck
Sharon Martina

in the nest
by my front door
a strand of police tape
Alice Wanderer

bride
carrying a rainbow
rangoli
Bidyutprabha Gantayat

the conversation
we need to have . . .
butterfly weed
Sue Courtney

toddler's shaved head –
the curse and blessing
of wildfires
Christa Pandey

viewing myself
in a fisheye lens
raindrop
Jenny Shepherd

rusty lock...
yet another try
to accept his apology
Maya Daneva

Alzheimer's-
dad asks me
my mom's name
Nicoletta Ignatti

the wren's garden
chattering in case
I forgot
Randy Brooks

bonfire
we throw in
regrets
Elizabeth Crocket

looming storm ...
tired of half-truths
and white lies
Natalia Kuznetsova

south-west wind . . .
a new fragrance
on my hair
Rosa Maria Di Salvatore

low clouds -
how many laughs from dad
I carry inside
Maria Teresa Sisti

golden oriole song...
the farmer's baby asleep
in the tree shade
K. Ramesh

pre-election rally
all the transformations
of a cloud
Samo Kreutz

the whites
of the dog's eyes
gibbous moon
B. L. Bruce

cold autumn breeze
a feral cat twirls
with the leaves
Michael Smeer (Mikō)

marginalia
he opens a conversation
with King James
Lorraine A Padden

fresh start unlearning freshness

Daya Bhat

a train derails
from the track -
addiction clinic
Valentina Ranaldi-Adams

hyacinth blooms
her curly hair locks
entice me
Bipasha Majumder (De)

heartbeats
the war spreading
inside and out
Stephen Jarell Williams

labyrinth
my own pace added
to the path
Julie Schwerin

handing over
this heart of mine
ladybug
Eavonka Ettinger

a newspaper
on the picnic rug
hospital garden
Bee Jay

mossy rocks
the smiles of monkeys
as we toss coins
Zaidee Pisani - Lysenko

twinkling star...
stuck to his nose
cherry blossom
Dorna Hainds

with or without a blood moon war

Roberta Beach Jacobson

home visit
a tire swing scar
on the oak's limb
Marilyn Ashbaugh

newspaper wrap -
the blood-stained hands
of a fishmonger
Gillena Cox

daylilies
mother's dislike
had a reason
Wilda W. Morris

spiderweb
the approaching buzz
of a stink bug
Tomislav Maretic

summer morning -
the glow of a flameback
in flight
Amoolya Kamalnath

Diwali
refueling the lamps
deep within
Kumarendra Mallick

whites of xewali spread cupid's spell

Jyoti Doley

pushing apples
off the branch
harvest moon
Dan Schwerin

at the end
of the bellflower path
ear clinic
Lori Kiefer

standing ovation
she limps back
to the greenroom
Baisali Chatterjee Dutt

this desire
to cling to you
wilted leaf
Debarati Sen

autumn stream
the same stones
other stones...
Mircea Moldovan

acceptance—
taking the long
way around
Shane Coppage

summer is over
fallen London Plane leaf
in the driver's seat
Kathy Watts

leaves turn red . . .
a desire
to be younger
Daniela Misso

the road
I've always taken
fallen leaves
Engin Gulez

autumn rain
the glistening
on asphalt
Nancy Brady Smith

turkey feather
pinioned to a post
walker's whim

JL Huffman

yoga
with my fourth-grade class –
balancing act
Jennifer Gurney

flying birds:
how swift
is our passing
Beata Czeszejko

an autumn leaf
here and there . . .
my bestie's return
Malgorzata Formanowska

what lies beyond
the horizon
whale song
Lorelyn De la Cruz Arevalo

technically can
probably shouldn't
thin ice sign
Jerome Berglund

******

haikuNetra

Thursday, November 16, 2023

haikuNetra ISSUE 1.3

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