haikuworkshop

two from the train

noreply@blogger.com (extraspecialbitter) — Fri, 12 Aug 2005 23:00:00 +0000

knock knock! who’s there?

chance of rain —
a crow perched
on a satellite dish

summer clouds —
the dog stretches
then lies back down

blackbird in Belize

noreply@blogger.com (extraspecialbitter) — Wed, 30 Mar 2005 19:22:00 +0000

Has it already been more than a month since any of us has posted to haikuworkshop? Sigh.

I’ve been wrestling with the image of blackbirds in Maya Beach, Belize, where Mary and I recently spent 9 very pleasant, winter-free days. I was struck by the fact that so many of these pitch-black birds seemed undisturbed by the hot sun. If I were a blackbird in a tropical climate, I’d be nocturnal!

A related haiku began:

Maya Beach sunrise —
the blackbird’s
long shadow

Then I decided that it wasn’t all that important to note the specific place, and that it was redundant to describe a shadow at sunrise as “long”. I wonder, however, if I’ve taken my editing a bit too far...

sunrise —
blackbird’s
shadow

february snow

noreply@blogger.com (chaba) — Mon, 21 Feb 2005 16:12:00 +0000

happy new year folks!

it seems that life circumstances tend to offer more or less time for haiku...

sometimes more...

sometimes less...

i've been playing with the following for a few weeks now:

february snow i stir coffee with a second cube of sugar

february snow i stir coffee with a second sugarcube

february snow into my coffee another cube of sugar

a second cube of sugar
turns with the spoon
february snow

or should i be thinking of a second cup of coffee?

second cup of coffee
wind stirs the new snowfall

i hope to be here more often...

Downtown Crossing

noreply@blogger.com (extraspecialbitter) — Fri, 21 Jan 2005 15:29:00 +0000

Mary took this photo for Subway Serenade, but at the time I had no haiku to accompany it. I’m still not sure that this attempt distinguishes itself from the photo enough to be a worthy complement, but I offer it nonetheless.

Downtown Crossing —
a lunch date
with the pigeons

Tulips

noreply@blogger.com (sangeet) — Sat, 15 Jan 2005 17:13:00 +0000

tulips in a glass vase
leaning
into the light

Sangeet

airport security

noreply@blogger.com (extraspecialbitter) — Tue, 04 Jan 2005 16:27:00 +0000

My twenty-one year-old daughter has a knack for entering a new situation with an impressive combination of focus and curiosity. This often manifests itself as an embrace of the immediate present to the exclusion of the recent past, or at least that’s the way it would seem to her overly sensitive Dad.

Case in point: when I brought her to Bloomington, MN to start her freshman year of college over three years ago, we had a wonderful day moving in and getting to know the campus. She was tearful when I had to say goodbye, but quickly cheered up when her roommate came by to accompany her to dinner. The two of them walked toward the cafeteria chatting up a storm, while I quietly walked toward my rental car in the opposite direction. I kept peering over my shoulder, secretly hoping that she would do the same. She didn’t.

The same thing happened yesterday when I brought her to Logan Airport after a very pleasant holiday visit. We said goodbye at the security gate, and that was it: she walked forward while I lingered and sighed.

I’ve been trying to capture this bittersweet moment without being overly sentimental or resorting to cliches. The obvious solution would be to simply report the facts:

passing through security

my daughter

doesn’t look back

“Doesn’t look back”, as a figure of speech, seems too weighty, therefore even though it’s an accurate description, I think of it as too distracting.

airport security —

my daughter doesn’t see me

wave goodbye

This is also accurate, although I wonder if it’s too much of an “awww” moment.

winter rain —

my daughter doesn’t see me

wave goodbye

“airport security” replaced with a seasonal reference. I don’t like this as much as the second. Back to the cooling board...

the light goes on

noreply@blogger.com (extraspecialbitter) — Wed, 29 Dec 2004 19:08:00 +0000

Mary took this photo about two years ago when we were compiling material for "Subway Serenade", but I've never managed to write a haiku worthy of it. Would anyone like to take a try?

Here's an old one dating back to the earlier days of the Shiki list:

an artist’s bedroom —
four bare walls
and a broken light

Paul

3 misc

noreply@blogger.com (sangeet) — Sat, 27 Nov 2004 00:30:00 +0000

too busy to notice
the colours of autumn
disappearng..

new resolution after
new resolution
on paper..

Sangeet 27-11-2004

veterans day

noreply@blogger.com (chaba) — Thu, 11 Nov 2004 20:55:00 +0000

Veterans day
new leaves cover
last year's debris

drag

noreply@blogger.com (extraspecialbitter) — Tue, 09 Nov 2004 02:30:00 +0000

Mary took this photo as part of our Subway Serenade presentation for HNA 2003 in New York, but I never managed to write a haiku that I thought was worthy of it. A year and a half later, I thought I'd try again. C&C would be appreciated.

out in the fresh air
the old woman takes a long drag
on her cigarette

Bad reception..

noreply@blogger.com (sangeet) — Sat, 06 Nov 2004 20:12:00 +0000

What do you think? Do any of them work? If they do, which works best?

bad reception -
our conversation
stopped

bad reception
our conversation
in mid-air

bad reception
our conversation
stopped in mid air

Thanks,
Sangeet

pumpkins face

noreply@blogger.com (chaba) — Sat, 06 Nov 2004 18:16:00 +0000

gone
the pumpkins face
eaten by squirrels

extra innings

noreply@blogger.com (extraspecialbitter) — Tue, 26 Oct 2004 15:45:00 +0000

Living in Boston, the enormity of the Red Sox' success in the playoffs makes it difficult to write haiku with any sort of objectivity. In this case I tried to see things as my dog might. She doesn't care much for baseball, but in the NBA she's a big fan of the Minnesota Timberwolves...

extra innings
I ignore
my pacing dog

geese flying

noreply@blogger.com (chaba) — Mon, 25 Oct 2004 01:25:00 +0000

digging holes
i hit a rock --
the sound of geese overhead

man with flower basket

noreply@blogger.com (chaba) — Tue, 19 Oct 2004 18:13:00 +0000

man with flower basket
keeps elevator doors from closing

unlit match

noreply@blogger.com (chaba) — Sun, 17 Oct 2004 12:35:00 +0000

one more unlit match rolls to the side of the oven

rain out

noreply@blogger.com (extraspecialbitter) — Fri, 15 Oct 2004 12:33:00 +0000

Mary took this photo during a Pawtucket Red Sox game in July, but it seems even more poignant now that their parent team is struggling to regain some post-season momentum at Fenway. I have to wonder if this particular haiku is too time and place-specific to have any universal appeal. On the other hand, how could I not write it?

rain out --
one more day to dream
in October

and a variation (split infinitive and all):

rain out --
one more day in October
to dream

sleepy swinger

noreply@blogger.com (extraspecialbitter) — Fri, 15 Oct 2004 02:29:00 +0000

This photo, taken by my wife Mary, has been accompanied by two haiku, but none that would stand on its own without the photo. The first - intended as the haiku portion of a sort of photo-haiga - was:

Boston Common
even a swing musician
has to sleep

Even though I still chuckle when I read it, I can't help but think that this is more of an explanation of the photo than a complement to it. The second was the final link (ageku) of the renku "walking blues", recently published in the web journal "Simply Haiku":

deep sigh
a roll of dice

As is typical of renku, this is more of a "link and shift" from the photo than it is a companion haiku. Ideally I would like to write a haiku that captures the moment in parallel with the photo, something that seems elusive at the moment...

Paul

spider web

noreply@blogger.com (extraspecialbitter) — Fri, 15 Oct 2004 00:35:00 +0000

morning commute --
a freshly spun
spider web

(photo by my wife, Mary Melodee Mena :^)

one liners

noreply@blogger.com (sangeet) — Thu, 14 Oct 2004 22:18:00 +0000

I was experimenting recently with one liners (with photos) - you can view them here and your thoughts are welcome:

one liners

-Sangeet

headlights

noreply@blogger.com (sangeet) — Thu, 14 Oct 2004 22:13:00 +0000

this is an older one of mine.. does it work?

headlights
the dressed up young woman
stopping suddenly

sangeet (3-5-2004)

gnat (2)

noreply@blogger.com (extraspecialbitter) — Wed, 13 Oct 2004 21:38:00 +0000

Here's an idea I had for a "concrete" version of John's "gnat" haiku, something that I must admit is totally foreign to me:

http://www.haikupoet.com/gnat.html

Does it make any sense at all?

Paul

heavy sigh

noreply@blogger.com (extraspecialbitter) — Wed, 13 Oct 2004 21:38:00 +0000

Here's one I wrote yesterday:

heavy sigh --
headlights reflected
in the rain-soaked pavement

I was attempting to evoke a feeling of wabi, or at least melancholy, but I think I only acheived a feeling of melancholy myself for not having quite evoked it. I'm not sure the image of headlights on wet pavement is quite strong enough. :^(

Paul

woodear mushroom

noreply@blogger.com (chaba) — Wed, 13 Oct 2004 21:27:00 +0000

woodear mushroom on a tree
the wind makes its way
through

gnat

noreply@blogger.com (chaba) — Wed, 13 Oct 2004 11:59:00 +0000

gnat
into and out of my face