Stella Pierides

.

in the mirror world
my reflection smiles back
bamboo shoots
.
NaHaiWriMo prompt: mirror

.

writing on the wall
the drum beat grows
faster

écriture sur le mur
le rythme du tambour s’accélère
rapidement
.
scriere pe perete –
ritmul tobei se accelerează
cu rapiditate
.

Virginia Popescu posts paintings on her FB page and invites poets to write a haiku on them. I wrote this haiku to go with Rembrandt‘s Balthazar’s Feast, and Virginia translated it into French and Romanian! Thanks, Virginia!

It is also a response to the NaHaiWriMo prompt: drums

.

rolling the tense head of his timpani set

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: drum

.

cloistered garden
scent of roses drifts
over the wall
.
NaHaiWriMo prompt: rose(s)

.

south wind
a ball rolls across
the lawn

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: green

.

sundial
waiting for the clouds
to move along
.
NaHaiWriMo prompt: sun/shine

.

dirty dishes
even after finger-licking
food

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: meal

.

ballgame prayer
knowing where
the portal lies
.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: ball

Inspired by article in Science Daily: see here

.

my garden
the grass longer
since yesterday
.
NaHaiWriMo prompt: power

.

orange flowers
how this bee loses
her head

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: orange

.

Included in Gabi Greve‘s blog Washoku Japanese Culture and Cuisine

.

fear not
these open skies -
trembling leaves
.
NaHaiWriMo prompt: fear

.

perigee
the heather moor holds
its breath

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: intimacy

.

happy tidings

arriving at the Black Sea

leaf from the Schmutter

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: water

.

ruby cheeks -
the color
of conscience

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: ruby

.

tidal flats
the breadth
of her patience

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: mother

.

watermelon seed

the root

of everything

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: root(s)

.

sun and showers

a line of cars stop and go

stop and go

.

NaHaiWriMo

.

spring first light
the history of the world
in bird song

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt

.

balmy breeze
one more stone
for my cairn

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: one kigo

.

pine

a line of breadcrumbs

climbs the trunk

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: tree

.

Anzac Day –

adding those who died

of a broken heart

.

This poem appears in the entry for Anzac Day, see Gabi Greve’s World Kigo Database here.

.

marshland storks –
this year too paths emerge
along the Schmutter
.
NaHaiWriMo prompt: local season

River Schmutter

.

earth day –
the darkness inside
leaf veins

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: earth day

.

light rain -
I leave the cherry blossom
to the birds

.

NaHaiWriMo promt: observation (3)

.

spring sky
on my screen
tag clouds

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: observation

.

spring night
the lit spire across
the valley

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: description/observation

.

searching your face
for my childhood friend
Welsh onion heads

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: cool/warm spring

For ‘Welsh onion head’ see Gabi Greve‘s World Kigo Database here

.

after the picnic
and the drive home
cool air

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: cool, autumn

Happy National Haiku Poetry Month, everyone!

.

toll house
the groundless optimism
of daisies

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: tax

.

shimmering heat -
pine-scented water
over glowing stones

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: shimmering heat

.

no longer entire-
his shrinking world

.

Micropoem on the NaHaiWriMo prompt: cats

My kitten Emile’s operation is coming up soon and this is also about taking his point of view, in advance…

.

rest-home yard
a garden swing
creaks

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: swing

.

mountains -
looking for my childhood
in buttercups

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: mountain(s)

.

spring tide
flocks of waders rise
and fall

.

‎NaHaiWriMo prompt:  water/earth/spring

.

Easter light
a seed
splits open

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: religious observance

.

the stillness between
this day and the next-
paschal lily

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: religious observance

.

April full moon –
instead of herself
her shadow

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: moon +

.

air traffic -
giving the kites room
to manoeuvre

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: Spring kigo, human activities

out of the fridge

the tortoise and I return

to the sun

.

hawthorn blossom -
the thorny issues no longer
matter

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: blossom

April rain -
this year too the water butt
half full
.
NaHaiWriMo prompt: rain

.

running scared -
April fool catches
his shadow
.
NaHaiWriMo Prompt: April fools

.

rice paper -
how often do I eat
my words

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: writing

.

growing old -
I get to know the back
of my eye
‘
NaHaiWriMo prompt: growing

.

theater night

my dress the same color

as the seats

NaHaiWriMo prompt: Theater

.

hanami
a girl asks
for cherries

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: cherry tree (viewing)

.

Epitaphios
in the procession
he gives her lilacs

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: religious ceremony

.

morning walk
sweet song of a bird
I don’t know

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: sweet

.

gloaming
after gathering leaves
an early night

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: weather

.

sweating the neck of the clay water pot

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: water

April is not only the cruelest month. It is also National Poetry Month – for some of the world, anyway. Let’s not split hairs. We all want to celebrate poetry, so let’s do it. Poets, writers, publishers, readers, poetry lovers are planning get-togethers for poetry-related events: fests, readings, workshops, write-ins, stay-in-bed for poetry, day-dreaming…this kind of thing.

This is what I will be doing: I’ll be celebrating at ‘Couplets,’ a multi-author blog tour for April, to help promote poetry and poets for National Poetry Month. Co-ordinated by Joanne Merriam of Upper Rubber Boot Books  it is going to be a fe(a)st.  I am taking part and will be posting, besides my daily haiku, poetry-laden posts during the month. Come over to my web home and we’ll eat poetry words together!

Meanwhile, here are a few links to keep us going till then:

The Haiku Foundation: They say: “April 17, National Haiku Poetry Day, is a celebration of the genre of haiku, a kind of poetry whose origins date back a millennium in Japan; and more specifically, of English-language haiku, which has now been written for more than a century”. But you don’t have to wait till the 17^th! You can explore this wonderful site, founded by Jim Kacian, and enjoy the best haiku and haiku poets in the world.

While visiting THF, check out their Per Diem: Daily Haiku series. In March they post my selection of haiku of the senses: haiku by some of the best poets highlighting the interconnectedness of sensory experience (Per Diem can be found on the front homepage of the Foundation, at the bottom right-hand corner). In April they post  “Poems from Aotearoa, New Zealand haiku, featuring flora and fauna specific to those favored isles, and human activities, such as Anzac Day (April 25).” Editor: Sandra Simpson.

The Facebook page of National Haiku Poetry Month, or NaHaiWriMo, moderated by Michael Dylan Welch, has been running since February 2011. Although their haiku ‘month’ is February, they ‘haiku’ the whole year round. You can read or indeed “write at least one haiku a day, inspired by daily writing prompts”. The community is friendly and warm, encouraging…join them and surprise yourself! I have!

Poets.org has a page listing events and poetry resources here

Feel free to add/share any other events you may know of.

.

equinox
standing on my own
two feet

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: nature/equinox/earth

.

change of heart
on the back seat a single
rose

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: change

.

spring tides
the clay at the centre
of my being

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: arts and crafts

.

lazy Sunday
a choir boy misses
the bus

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: Sunday

.

fortune telling -
I study the flight patterns
of doves

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: luck

.

in my neighbors’ yard-
a blue tit pecks
his wisteria buds

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: hidden

.

Ides of March-
I cross the road
halfway

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: Ides of March

.

your touch
in the shape of this bowl -
Raku

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: gift; Joys of Japan: Raku

.

Cassiopeia -
in her laughing mouth
sparkle of a star

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: star

.

Fukushima sky
waiting for the first signs
of spring

.

.

your gentle glow
outshines this solar storm -
full moon

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: moon

.
wiping the plate clean forgiveness
.
NaHaiWriMo prompt: food

.

layers -

hidden behind her claws

angel wings

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: two sides

Language\Place Blog Carnival: Call for submissions to edition #14 on the theme of The Senses in Language\Place. If you have written a short story, a flash, a poem, a non-fiction piece involving any one of the five senses – or indeed any of the twenty one senses we humans are supposed to possess - this is the time to send in your link(s): see here

You haven’t written such a piece? Looking for inspiration? Visit The Haiku Foundation Home page for the Per Diem: Daily Haiku ; the NaHaiwriMo facebook page; they are sure to tingle your writing!

.

spring poppies -
not knowing who closed
her eyes

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: death of someone…

.

talking doll -
all those empty
endearments

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: doll

.

old paths
still the sound of crunching snow
underfoot

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: old

.

leap year
the rooster’s extra shrill
crow

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: leap year

.

snow at night –
the magic of a child’s
owl dream

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt

.

butterfly moon
the delicate structure
of white lies

.

.

spring dawn
a fox zips past
the gate

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: zip

.

homework –
drawing a big sun in bright
yellow

NaHaiWriMo prompt: yellow

.

stifling heat -
the judge‘s wig
drips

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: wig

.
lovebirds -
coming through their vent
scent of jasmine rice

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: vent

NaHaiWriMo prompt: #21 umbrella
. 
silk umbrella
how this butterfly hovers
over your head
..

NaHaiWriMo prompt: #20 talus
.
gravity
a landslide settles into a scree
on her jowls
.
NaHaiWriMo prompt #19 sandals
.
hung out to dry
on the clothesline
Hermes’ winged sandals

.

skipping stones -
a walnut rattles
downhill

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: rattle

.

food queue biting its tail around the block

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: queue

.

fighting for space
in our childhood rockpools -
sea anemones

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: pool

.

near the stage
the illusion fades –
moth moon

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: opera

Red Boat

.

.

nightingale song –

life becomes

lighter

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: nachos/love (n)

.

almond blossom
my neighbor pounding cloth
all night

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: laundry

.

kitchen drama
the catfish jumps out
of the frying pan

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: kitchen

.

fruit jam
two apples roll
away

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: jam

.

ice house
storing her gall
for all seasons

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: ice

.

after the snow melt-
the snowman’s hat
a bit smaller

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: hat

.

longitude

east by degrees too numerous

to measure

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: grief

.

freeze frame-
the snowman at my door
speaks

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: frame

.

breakfast-

a hen gathers her chicks

under her wings

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: egg

.

cold snap -
a stray dog bares his teeth
at the wind

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: dog

.

waxing gibbous
this catfish stays
in the deepest pool

NaHaiWriMo prompt: catfish.

.

quay dawn
twelve cats waiting
for the fishing boat

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: boat

.

bare tree
in its core dreams
of apples

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: apple

Today is the beginning of the second year of NaHaiWriMo! I look forward to another year of writing one haiku (and more) a day! Gratitude to Michael Dylan Welch and all the people in the Fb Community for making it possible.

.

lime-scented
a gentle breeze blows through
syllables

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: nahaiwrimo (!)

.

white sails
her billowing
skirt

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: wind

.

chicks hatching
if only we knew
the time…

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: birth/death

.

silent evening
I lift the cover off
the water butt

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: water

.

white rose –
a falling petal catches
the light

This poem is the result of two prompts:

1: NaHaiWriMo,  Annie Juhl’s  prompt: metaphor

2: Katherine Gallagher, writers’ workshop prompt: ‘one petal in a full-blown rose’

.

still swaying last year’s eucalyptus

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: one-line haiku

.

spring clean -
in the dragon’s gullet
moon dust

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: dragon

A Happy New Year of the Dragon!

.

dark moon
balanced finish of a wine
long forgotten

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: taste

.

shooting stars
all you need to know about
sciatica

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: pain

.

eating alone -
I measure the distance
to the moon

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: food/eating

.

song of the earth
a blackbird sings
the first notes

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: music/song

.

wintersweet -
shifting my weight
to the other foot

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: narrowing focus.

.

before the rain -
the air fills with the scent
of rain

.

before the rain the scent of rain

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: scent/smell

.

handiwork -
snowball by snowball
we receive winter

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: hands

1
daydream
frost flower
garden
2
foot mirage -
trickling water from the hot
water bottle
3
daydream
how time
flies!

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: daydreaming

time and time again
clocks render me
speechless

.

time piece
a kitten knows when it’s time
to eat

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: here and now (time)

1
long after you left
your warmth on the feather
cushion
2
after the rain –
a ball of fur on
the sunlit sill

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: fur/feather

.

at my door
singing out of tune
three kings

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: January first week

1
all the way
across three generations
Forget-me-nots
2
silver clouds -
on the second day
we argue
3
singing the alphabet
on the way home
good-luck cat
4
nature programme
my kitten searches for birds
behind the telly

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: family / friends

It is January and time for noticing, for paying attention to, well, whatever attracts our attention on a daily basis and writing a small poem, sentence, something about it – what is called a small stone. It is not difficult, believe me. The world calls to us all the time; in the words of Mary Oliver,

“The world offers itself to your imagination,

calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting-“

From Wild Geese, Mary Oliver’s poem in Wikipedia

Let‘s not be deaf to it this year. Let’s start small, noticing one thing at a time, writing a small stone.

If you’d like to join in, take a look at the founding fathers, ooops, founding couple: Fiona and Kaspa’s site here  They explain everything… And you can even get a lovely badge from their site for your blog. I will be getting one soon myself…

 .

Oh yes, I almost forgot, here is the distillation of today’s noticing in the form of a haiku:

. 

first day

the rootedness

of everything

.

See also NaHaiWriMo prompt: New Year’s day/beginnings

1
New Year‘s walk
pampas grass plumes
rustle
2
so  much is clear
this year too in my purse
the tides tables

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: New Year resolution/review

1

packing tackle
the fishing line teasing
the cats
.
Inspired by Jane Reichhold’s ‘frayed rope’
.
2
a shape no other
than the humble horseshoe
four-leaf clover
.
Based on Cherie Hunter Day’s ‘a skull no bigger‘

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: Influence (another poet/haiku) This is the prompt:

Write a haiku based on/influenced by another poet’s haiku. I know, I know, we are always under someone’s influence, but still! Anything goes, except ‘old pond’

If you are stuck for choice, have a look at the link below, the Haiku Foundation’s Montage Archive, where the work of haiku poets is juxtaposed in relation to a theme, for instance, The Little Truths  or any other comparative haiku piece. Or, pull on the ‘frayed rope’ here
See you there!

.

against loss
sewn into the mattress
gold coins

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: gold/silver/coins

.

what might have been
but for frangipani blooms
December evening

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: taking stock

.

oiling

the wheel of fortune

horseshoe

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: oil

.

peace and joy -
on the Christmas tree
a red felt heart

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: Good-wishes-ku

Happy Christmas and a Merry, Healthy and Joyous New Year!

.

This haiga, using my haiku, was created by renowned haiga artist  Kuniharu Shimizu. Kuni-san is also priest of Tenrikyo, advisor to the  World Haiku Association, and judge of their haiga contests. I feel most honored that one of my snowman haiku was included in his current series of Snowman haiga.

The haiga is accompanied by a lovely commentary on his own blog, seehaikuhere. Click and see.

.

1
tree of life
a stray gene from
Andromeda
2
olive tree
as blessed as it is
humble

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: Tree

December 23 prompt: All about trees. From frankincense trees, to olive and fig trees, Eucalyptus, Jacaranda, cinnamon, Christmans trees, take your pick!
I saw this piece of news re frankincense tree

.

cosmic cushion –
pulling the darkness out
pin by pin
.
moment of stillness
just before the light changes
direction

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: solstice. The actual prompt ran like this:

Solstice (what else?), cosmic time, longest/shortest day, cosmic light… .
.
A haiku I love by Svetlana Marisova:
.
incoming tide …
the writing fills
both sides
..
More of her poems in the recently created page here (The link takes you to the Haiku Foundation page with several of Svetlana’s poems. Go and see!)

.

1
funicular inner monologue bursting out in laughter (ku-ku)
2
snow storm
all the pigeons become
doves
(cuckoo-ku)
.
My haiku plays with the misperception that pigeons are grey and doves white. I came across a site with pictures that corrected me (at least) for good: here

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt runs as follows:

December 21 Prompt: Let’s have some serious fun. Pick a genre from Michael’s essay „ku-ku: Because You Can’t Have Enough Haiku“ and write a haiku in that genre. Please indicate which one you’ve picked, eg chai-ku.
See here

.

count-down to solstice
two cormorants dry their wings
in the sun

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: numbers

.

sheltering
under your wings
fly

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: refuge

.

melting
the snowman on the patio
now kneels

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: knee

.

avalanche
the sound comes before
the fury

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: snow

.

layer after layer
the same old stink -
onion

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt (by Yours, truly): onion (s)

.

wild winter roses
the impersonal color
in your cheeks

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt:  Haiku involving color

I’d like to share a haiku I read today on the Haiku Foundation site Archive (HaikuNow! winning poem, First Prize for 2011):

.
Indian summer
mother dyes her graying hair
the color of straw

.
—Tom Painting (USA)

For more winning Haiku and an excellent analysis see the Haiku Foundation Archive

.

pines along the shore
and the sea unfolding -
so cold this winter

.

I hope this poem conveys something of the difficult situation that Greece is facing…

.

Today’s NaHaiWriMo prompt (by Yours truly) as follows:

You are/were on holiday in Greece and this is how your haiku senses sing about /remember it…

By the way, you may know Shamrock, #17 had a Greek focus, with several haiku translated by its editor, Anatoly Kudryavitsky. You can find it here:

From the same issue, I copy a haiku by Giorgos Seferis, transl. Anatoly Kudryavitsky.

empty chairs
the statues returned
to another museum

.

.

winter gusts
again the broken window
rattles

.

I copy below today’s prompt for NaHaWriMo that I posted earlier on their FB site. It occurs to me that I should have collected the prompts as I posted them over there in this site too – it is so exciting and an honor to be doing this! Anyway, at least today’s:

December 13 prompt: Write a haiku that tells a story…

Issa:
.
mopping sweat–
at his tomb I tell my story
then go
.
Trans. David Lanoue. See more here

Also, if you have the time, you might like to have look here

Curious? Interested? Wondering about tomorrow’s prompt? See  here.

.

reading room
the soft tapping
of laptop keys

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: Book(s)/reading

.

for a clear head
malt, hops, yeast, and water -
old brewer’s trick

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: recipe-ku

.

moonlight -
below the Acropolis
a man sells drachmas

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: place names

.

dissecting her heart
they find the sea and the crater
of an old volcano

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: heart

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

..

.

driving rain

through the porthole

sight of land

.

painting by Maria Pierides (www.mariapierides.co.uk)

haiku by Stella Pierides

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: weather/painting by Maria Pierides: Driving rain

.

one-breath poem
cut short
by a cough

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: breath/air

.

a branch of pine
broken in the storms
Christmas tree

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: gift

.

winter wind –
feathers and fishbones shift
inside the eyrie

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: nest

.

lighthouse -
on the way we observe
the inner light

.

false log beams
I wonder who is holding up
the ceiling

.

NaHaiWriMo prompts (by Stella Pierides, by the way!) lighthouse/beam

.

suckling
at the mouth of the river
ocean

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: tongue, mouth

.

advent wreath –
wax spreading on the table
counts down the days

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: garland or wreath

.

weaver’s hut –
by the loom a goat chews off
threads

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: carpet

.

homesick -
a tree bends
towards the light

.

NaHaiWriMo November 2011 prompt: a photo prompt by Carlos Colon, also known as Haiku Elvis. You can find him on Facebook here and on twitter here.

.

soft afternoon light -
from behind open curtains
purr of a kitten

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: a 5-7-5 haiku

.

dance studio -
learning to ignore
wrong moves

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: dance

.

crisp
autumn
leaves
musical
chairs

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: write a five-word haiku in five lines

.

in synchrony -
only now her silver thimble
fits my finger

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: heirloom/antique tool

.

ten-week-old kitten
how the world calls out
to you!

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: relationships

.

breaking bread
the sound of glass clinking
against glass

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: thanksgiving

.

grilled sardines
beyond the pines
whispering sea

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: holiday food

.

knowing how we fail
I keep my eye on the ball
pilgrims

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: ball games

.

off the isle of Skye -
two whales break
the surface

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: joyous event

.

kindness -
collecting the acer
from the grass

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: weekend activity

.

once again
she inverts the hourglass –
Cinderella

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: deadlines

.

late grapes –
birds making a meal
of the vine

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: feeding birds

.

moving house –
my mother’s tea plates clink
inside the box
.

(I am finally moving house tomorrow! I did wrap those plates in extra paper!)

.

siesta
my sister and I peep through
half-closed shutters

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: childhood memory.

.

lunch
a fishbone swims down
my throat

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: bad luck

.

running along
the rim of the crater –
old soldier

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: veterans

.

weeping meadow -
every time love loses
its dream
.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: scene from a movie

.
Inspired by Theo Angelopoulos’ film The Weeping Meadow (watch the trailer)

.

volcanic ash -
the taste of the market
fallout

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: natural disasters

.

Mars swallows –
we beam them down
for winter

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: scifi ku

.

dark moon–
at the foot of the Parthenon
last throw of the dice

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: gambling

.

flowering–

on your face the ghost

of a smile

.

@CuentoMag #165, 5 November 2011

.

changing gear –
instead of inscribing
I tweet

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: social media

.

Rosetta Stone -
a life
in three languages

.

(Why is this not a senryu? It is, too!)

NaHaiWriMo prompt: ancient Egypt

.

cactus needle –
loneliness turned
inside out

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: tactile

.

under the red maple
red maple –
autumn’s harvest

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: autumn foliage

.

ant lines -
weaving a pine needle
necklace

.

NaHaiWriMo extension; prompts this month by Carlos Colon: sweet indulgence

.

.

no-go area –
her recipe-book
on the top shelf

.

NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: secret

.

on her tombstone dove
two snails
mating

.

NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: cemetery

.

telegraph wires –
swallows too are waiting
for your news

.

Nahaiwrimo extension 2011; prompt: migrating birds

.

charred blankets -
the doll
still smouldering

.

NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: consequences of war

.

chill wind -
remembering
the things I forget

.

NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: frightening

.

winter’s beginning –
last year’s coat
two sizes larger

.

Or,

winter’s beginning –
last year’s coat
two sizes too big

.

NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: beginning

.

when you blush -
the faintest shade of pink
above the horizon

.

NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: dawn

.

squall –
learning to blow
against the wind

.

NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: windstorm

.

as if the word for peace were war cloudy skies

.

cloudy lens –
looking without
seeing

.

NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: peace

.

curling
against your warmth
ebb tide

.

NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: place of peace

.

perfume wars -
her statement still lingers
in my study

.

NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: scent

.

gut feeling –
blinking
the third eye

.

NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: belly

.

nightfall -
losing the certainty
of youth

.

NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: dusk

Two one-line haiku

.

the unrelenting waves under your pillow

.

portentous below the belt oracles

.

NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: one-line haiku

.

hairline -
wading on the riverbank
terns

.

NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: baldness

.

never too late -
listening to the silence
of the moon

.

NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: late/too late

.

such innocence
the soft curve
of your lip

.

NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: innocence

.

last kiss
i unplug
the telephone

.

NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: kiss

.

rose-tinted clouds
in Broadstairs -
marshmallows

.

NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

.

missing you -
on the ocean floor
conch shells

.

NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: telephone.

.

on this spot
the sun has been –
moonshine

.

NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: loss

.

balance -
perched on a wire a dove
and a crow

.

NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt Pris Campbell: beauty

.

out of Ithaca –
a poem about
life

.

NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: journey

.

moving house –
a snail and the same old
me

.

NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: home

.

bamboo screen -
not a single
butterfly

.

NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: butterflies

.

gnarled olive
the tenderness of human
love

.

NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: courtship etc

.

coming home -
the garden has forgotten
my hand

.

NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: sabi

.

sunrise -
the singular beauty
of a rose petal

.

NaHaiWriMo extension 2011. New prompter, Pris Campbell, prompt: awe

.

crocus-
cutting your first
tooth

.

NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: beginnings

.

making ends meet –
I sew an extra button
on my waistband

.

NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: ends

.

harvest festival
the last apples before
the Fall

.

NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: celebration.

.
.
.
.
harvest -
so much food for
the soul
.
.
.
.
.

.

.

.

.
.
NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: harvest.
September challenge 19 Planets.

.

autumn circus -
keeping all her juggling-balls
in the air

.

NaHaiWriMo extension 2011; prompt: circus

.

so many bees
on the Autumn Joy…
Octoberfest
.
Autumn Joy = one of the sedum family (flower)

Oktoberfest: oh well…

NaHaiWriMo extension 2011, prompt: autumn flowers.

.

….

.

.

.
setting sun -
I too let go of
attachments
.
.
.#.

Thinking about this haiku, hm, it seems better without the ‘my’. I’ve made the change in the haiku, but not in the haiga.

photo: Hermann Mueller; haiku: Stella Pierides.

NaHaiWriMo extension 2011 prompt: sunset

Taking part in Rick Daddario’s 19 Planets September challenge (almost there!)

.
.
.
.
.
growing up -
I learn to live
with the tides
.
.
.
.
.

NaHaiWriMo extension 2011, prompt: beach.
Taking part in Rick Daddario’s 19 Planets September challenge.

.

.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
…

..

….

.

.

NaHaiWriMo extension 2011: animals

Taking part in Rick Daddario’s 19 Planets September haiga challenge.
.
.

.

your patience -
the way a river
cuts through rock

.

NahaiWriMo extension 2011. Prompter: Johnny Baranski, prompt: river(s).

.

what I know
each lake has its own
full moon

.

This haiku was written in response to a prompt for  a haiga using Margaret Rosenberg’s artwork. You can see the whole artworld + haiku (haiga) in here

.

through the fog -
mountains of orange
pumpkins

.

NaHaiWriMo extension 2011: mountains

.

summer -
this bee
gets lost again

.

NaHaiWriMo extension 2011: Haynaku

.

in this asphalt jungle
money grows on trees -
blood moon

.

NaHaiWriMo extension 2011: prompt ‘asphalt jungle’

.

lucky charm -
on the crest of the wave
sound bubbles

.

NaHaiWriMo extension 2011: luck

.

blood moon

how the light changes

direction

.

NaHaiWriMo extension 2011, prompt: moon viewing.

,

.

.

.

.

.

.

laying nets they beat
olives from the trees
merciful moon

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

this old city

a river runs through

its heart

 .

Taking part in Rick Dadario’s 19 Planets September Challenge: A Haiga a day, or every few days … .

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

..
..

..

.
angel
meeting the endless
light
.

.

Taking part in Rick Daddario’s 19 Planets September Challenge: A Haiga a day, or every few days …

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
……

.

.

.

.

.

.
.
.
.
.
.

.

….

.

.

.

.

.

..

.

.
blue moon
which came first the fall
or the apple?
.
(Leaving Ammersee)

Taking part in Rick Daddario’s 19 Planets September Challenge: A Haiga a day, or every few days …

.

waiting for the tide -
fishing boats line
the harbour

…

I was thinking of Wells-next-the-Sea, but please feel free to supply your own harbour …

NaHaiWriMo: vacation memories

.
school days -
counting sparrows
in the yard
.
NaHaiWriMo extension 2011: school days

.

waiting
for the fish to be caught
frying pan
.

The artwork in this haiga was originally a photograph taken by Hermann Mueller in Diessen am Ammersee, a small town on the shores of the lake. Diessen is famous for its Baroque gem of a Church, its community of artists and craftsmen, its yearly world-famous ceramic market, and its fish. Fish nurseries have been flourishing for a number of years here. The couple in the picture is a wood-carved sculpture on the lane leading to the lake promenade (I hope to find out the name of the artist or at least the owner of the sculpture and will be posting it here).

.

Taking part in Rick Daddario’s 19 Planets September Challenge: A Haiga a day, or every few days …
.
.
.
.

.
apple orchard –
on the picnic blanket
spilt wine
.
NaHaiWriMo extension 2011: picnic.

.

.
plain sailing?
once again we run into
trouble

NaHaiWriMo: games. Leaving Ammersee.

Taking part in Rick Daddario’s 19 Planets September Challenge: A Haiga a day, or every few days …

.

between us

.

between us -

this sunset is also

a sunrise

.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: sunrise

Taking part in Rick Daddario’s 19 Planets September Challenge: A Haiga a day, or every few days …

.

.

.

….

NaHaiWriMo prompt: weekend. Lake Ammersee.

Taking part in Rick Daddario’s 19 Planets September Challenge: A Haiga a day, or every few days …

. 

Having lived by the lake Ammersee for ten years, we are now moving further inland. These photos with haiku/haiku within a photo (haiga) are our way of capturing our last autumn walks by the lake.

(I will be posting them on Flickr too, set: ‘leaving Ammersee.’)

Inspiration also through NaHaiWriMo extension prompt: weekend.

Taking part in Rick Daddario’s 19 Planets September Challenge: A Haiga a day, or every few days …

.

.

.

.

September drizzle -
on my wall calendar
the page for August

.

NaHaiWriMo extension 2011/prompt: calendar

.

leaving a trail
of crumbs for the way back
history lesson

.

Prompt: photo of wine cellar, NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

.

shower of sparks
last year‘s pine cones
giving up the ghost

.

Prompt: campfire. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

.

rice fields after the harvest caesium

.

refusing to draw
the plow, water buffalo –
caesium fields

.

Prompt: environmental concerns haiku. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

.

just because
the sky is navigable –
thistledown

.

Prompt: just because. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

.

baring his teeth
the hobbling dog –
harpsichord

.

This month’s prompter, Terri Hale  French, suggested we use a randomly generated haiku by the haiku generator (a JavaScript Haiku application) to work on our own haiku. I did. The result is the haiku above. You can see the original, software generated haiku below:
.
harpsichord sickens
dense snowstorms hobbling dogs
wailing, formless

.

Aegean heat -

in the animal shelter

an eery silence

.

Prompt: natural disasters. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.

.

against the fence
a forgotten willow broom
buds

.

Posted on Stella’s Stones

Participating in NaHaiWriMo February 2011

.
white dove!
you bring an olive branch
to my heart
.

Posted on Stella’s Stones

Participating in NaHaiWriMo February 2011

.
over the school gates
marble owl –
twelve times table

.

Posted on Stella’s Stones

Participating in NaHaiWriMo February 2011

.
growing up –
from my daughter’s room
the sound of bongos

.

Posted on Stella’s Stones

Participating in NaHaiWriMo February 2011

.

vacant stare
through the bars
a lost world
.

(echoes Rilke’s The Panther)

Posted on Stella’s Stones and Facebook.

Participating in NaHaiWriMo February 2011

.
spring mist:
suspended over the lake
cotton balls

.

Posted on Stella’s Stones and Facebook.

Participating in NaHaiWriMo February 2011

.
alarm bells disturb
haiku in progress –
burning sardines
.

Posted on Stella’s Stones and Facebook.

Participating in NaHaiWriMo February 2011

.
cherry blossom–
old cat smiles at the blackbird
eating her food

.

Posted on Stella’s Stones and Facebook.

Participating in NaHaiWriMo February 2011

.
at the traffic lights
selling mountain rose:
boy with arrow
.

Posted on Stella’s Stones and Facebook.

Participating in NaHaiWriMo February 2011

.
school –
the smell of new books
on my desk

.

Posted on Stella’s Stones and Facebook.

Participating in NaHaiWriMo February 2011

.
origami –
unfolding a poem
I fold a haiku
.

Posted on Stella’s Stones and Facebook.

Participating in NaHaiWriMo February 2011

.
lullaby
louder than drizzle –
tea leaf song

.

Posted on Stella’s Stones and Facebook.

Participating in NaHaiWriMo February 2011

.
geranium
red petals …
for nails

.

Posted on Stella’s Stones and Facebook.

Participating in NaHaiWriMo February 2011

.
exchange –
my laptop
for a butterfly

.
Posted on Stella’s Stones and Facebook.

Participating in NaHaiWriMo February 2011

.
have you thought
of your effect on us?
full moon
.

I wrote this haiku trying to understand aspects of (by skirting close to) Issa’s poem, posted as an epigraph on the Red Dragonfly blog http://haikuproject.wordpress.com/

Posted on Stella’s Stones and Facebook.

Participating in NaHaiWriMo February 2011

.
spring tides –
a full moon halo
for my walk

.

Posted on Stella’s Stones and Facebook.

Participating in NaHaiWriMo February 2011

.
in the garden
a bush warbler serenades
plum tree blooms

.
Posted on Stella’s Stones and Facebook.

Participating in NaHaiWriMo February 2011

.
too old now
to dance the sugar plum
fairy

.
Posted on Stella’s Stones and Facebook

Participating in NaHaiWriMo February 2011

.
in my basket
a mud crab’s
oyster shell home
.
Posted on Stella’s Stones and Facebook

Participating in NaHaiWriMo February 2011

.
spring evening
collecting nectar from
your lips
.

Posted on Stella’s Stones and Facebook

Participating in NaHaiWriMo February 2011

.
hearing swallows sing
a blind woman
smiles
.
Posted on Stella’s Stones and Facebook

Participating in NaHaiWriMo February 2011

.
good luck–
in my tea cup cloud hugging
full moon
.

Posted on Stella’s Stones and Facebook

Participating in NaHaiWriMo February 2011

.
raining frogs
Basho
in the clouds
.

Posted on Stella’s Stones and Facebook

Participating in NaHaiWriMo February 2011

.
old story
on my desk twelve pens
in search of haiku

.

Posted on Stella’s Stones and Facebook

Participating in NaHaiWriMo February 2011

.

inkstone
the ebb and flow
of my Muse
.

Posted on Stella’s Stones and Facebook

Participating in NaHaiWriMo February 2011

.

worlds’ edge

shoals of flying fish

by the lakeshore

.

Posted on Stella’s Stones and Facebook.

Participating in NaHaiWriMo February 2011

.

empty dollhouse
the cello in the corner
moans

.

Posted on Stella’s Stones and Facebook

Participating in NaHaiWriMo February 2011

.

mirage
sun streaming through the curtain
lights up the oil lamp

.

Posted on Stella’s Stones and Facebook.

Participating in NaHaiWriMo February 2011

.

citrus grove
playing with the sun
scents the Aegean

.

Posted on Stella’s Stones and Facebook.

Participating in NaHaiWriMo February 2011

.

fresh baklava
I wish it were
a photograph

.

Posted on Stella’s Stones and Facebook.

Participating in NaHaiWriMo February 2011

.

found purse
birthday girl with doll
beaming

.

Posted on Stella’s Stones and Facebook.

Participating in NaHaiWriMo February 2011

.

meditation
in my cupped hands
a hummingbird

.

Posted on Stella’s Stones and Facebook.

Participating in NaHaiWriMo February 2011

.

daybreak
the taste of tangy sweet apple
on my tongue

.

Posted on Stella’s Stones and Facebook.

Participating in NaHaiWriMo February 2011

.

Nile grass
a camel crosses
a cloud of stones

.

Posted on Stella’s Stones and Facebook

.

spring bulbs
the touch of mother’s hand
on my shoulder

.

Published on Stella’s Stones and Facebook

.

clay and water
the fertile Nile
sprouting seeds

.

Posted on Stella’s Stones and Facebook.