The late Buddhist monk and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh could see water in all its transformations. Water in the form of a cloud would soon become rain, a river, the sea, and it would help grow plants and trees. The trees would flourish and become paper on which the haijin would write their poetry, so that the cloud (water) would eventually be contained within the poetry itself. Nothing can exist by itself. Let’s take a walk together to follow the different paths of water and see where they will lead us.
child’s play
the frog limps back
into the woods
Alex Fyffe
United States
ungrounded
naming all the trees
I know by heart
Allyson Whipple
St. Louis, Missouri
a loud roar beyond
the crocodile bark tree
dusk in the forest
Amoolya Kamalnath
India
green lake-
the maple whispers a lullaby
to the wandering moon
Anica Marcelić
Zaprešić, Croatia
a sapling then…
generations enjoy
the shade of this banyan
Anjali Warhadpande
India
.komorebi
all that still
……….is
Anju Kishore
India
a breath of pine…
entering the forest
enters me
Anne Fox
USA
spring sunrise …
how the oak swells
with birdsong
Annie Wilson
Shropshire, UK
under veil of moonlight the nakedness of cymbal
Arvinder Kaur
Chandigarh India
homeward bound
the tree outside my window
bursts into birdsong
Baisali Chatterjee Dutt
Kolkata, India
the earth moist
with leaf cover
dad’s baritone
Barrie Levine
United States
sparrow hawk
leaving the pine wood
scattering rain
Brian Kershaw
Yorkshire, England
even for the pear
tree split by the storm
blossom season
Bryan Rickert
Belleville, Illinois, USA
windfall fruit
the roundness
of belonging
C.X. Turner
UK
bark shedding
the leopard tree
changes its spots
Carol Reynolds
Australia
Mother maple
doula winds
deliver her seedlings
Caroline Giles Banks
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Lone trail runner
high-fiving
the trees
Caroline Ridley-Duff
UK
blackberries
a brown bear
tastes first
Cezar Ciobica
Romania
giant tree
the sloth arrives at the top
a week behind time
Chen Xiaoou
Kunming, China
distant branches
tickling
the moon
Cindy Putnam Guentherman
Loves Park, IL, USA
sudden wholeness –
I feel blood in the roots
sap in my veins
Cristina Povero
Italy
in the forest
of the night
tiger PJs
Cynthia Anderson
Yucca Valley, California
a mouse resting in the shade of a bonsai
Dan Campbell
Virginia
midnight in the glade –
a stag holds between its horns
the moon
Dan C. Iulian
Romania
at every step
another part of me . . .
fog in the forest
Daniela Misso
Italy
small i in the midst of redwood trees
Daya Bhat
India
favorite tree
the bear satisfies
an itch
Debbie Sterling
Oregon, USA
after the wildfire –
first heron
in the banyan tree
Deborah A. Bennett
Illinois USA
a willow
drapes over the fishes & me
the river bank
Dinah Power
Haifa, Israel
poison oak
hugging the redwood
a mistake
Eavonka Ettinger
Long Beach, CA
the oak tree
with a red paint mark –
summer’s end
Eva Limbach
Germany
around a young tree
creeping ivy towards the sun
the fateful friend
Goda Virginija Bendoraitienė
Lithuania
morning fog
sound of trees dripping
on fallen leaves
Govind Joshi
Dehradun, India
father’s family tree –
one branch of it
points to me
vaders stamboom –
één tak ervan
wijst naar mij
Guido De Pelsmaeker
Belgium
wooded path
I stop to hug
another tree
Helen Ogden
Pacific Grove, CA
forest silence broken
the chittering
of a startled squirrel
Ingrid Baluchi
North Macedonia
a broken branch…
buds still growing
on it
Ivan Ivančan
Zagreb, Croatia
taking the long way
to my volunteer job
falling magnolias
Jackie Chou
United States
flame of the forest
she picks fire with
bare hands
Jahnavi Gogoi
Canada
mother’s love of woods
beyond any description ~
sacred legacy
Jean Tubridy
Tramore, Co. Waterford, Ireland
your tiny leaves
fan the flames of my heart–
gingko love
Jennifer Gurney
US
stray sparks
the aspen billows
in wind
Jerome Berglund
Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
forest the breeze of shadows bathing
John S Green
Amman, Jordan
council cutbacks
the town’s oldest cherry tree
felled for firewood
John Hawkhead
United Kingdom
class play
the tall girl typecast
as the oak
John Pappas
USA
wind after rain petrichor through heart and soul
John Zheng
Mississippi
misty forest
whispering trees
show me the way
Jovana Dragojlovic
Belgrade, Serbia
one hand pressed
against the oldest oak
mother’s last pulse
Kathabela Wilson
USA
growing up —
the different seasons
in an almond tree
Kavitha Sreeraj
Hyderabad, India
bamboo grove path
regular footsteps
of the monk
Keiko Izawa
Japan
our old tree
bowed with apples
its unseen heart-rot
Keith Evetts
Thames Ditton UK
light touches the forest floor . . .
I remember to breathe
Kimberly Kuchar
Austin, Texas
an old oak
during the full moon–
last photo
Krzysztof Kokot
Poland
forest bathing
we inhale and exhale
the sounds of earth
Lakshmi Iyer
India
orb web
the heart of a snag oak
still beating
Laurie Greer
Washington DC
alone in the woods
swarmed by a gang
of turkeys
Lev Hart
Calgary, Canada
forest walk
I learn to be
more tree
Lori Kiefer
UK
rainforest
a crimson heath climbs
to the light
Lorraine Haig
Tasmania, Australia
gnarled roots
the view from
a bedroom window
Lorraine A Padden
San Diego, CA
hiding high in a tangle
of lilypilly branches
children’s laughter
Louise Hopewell
Australia
eye-opener in the grove
fiddlehead fern…
her mournful April
Luciana Moretto
Treviso Italy
childhood game
our home base
always an oak tree
Madeleine Kavanagh
United States
that one idea
growing into a forest
banyan tree
Madhavi Karri
India
miles away
the pull of a river red gum —
i smell its breath
Madhuri Pillai
Australia
first school play
my daughter is a
magnificent tree
Margie Gustafson
Lombard, IL USA
evening wind
willows are revealing
their secrets
Marianne Sahlin
Sweden
understory
the birch
speaks first
marilyn ashbaugh
edwardsburg, michigan
stumped
trying to write haiku
I go to the pine
Marion Clarke
Warrenpoint, Northern Ireland
Texas heatwave
under the shade of a live oak
my parents’ grave
Mark Meyer
Mercer Island WA USA
60th reunion
the cottonwoods
still whispering
Maxianne Berger
Outremont, QC
last maple leaf
i catch it
in my haiku
Meera Rehm
UK
Judas trees in flower
the promise
of winter’s end
Mike Fainzilber
Rehovot, Israel
deep in the forest
my monkey mind
takes a seat
Mike Stinson
Nebraska, USA
autumn’s showcase—
the forest filled with
glowing embers
Milan Rajkumar
Imphal, India
gusting wind
a neem tree bursts
into parrots
Mona Bedi
Delhi, India
mountain trek —
wherever I look
sound of the waterfall
Muskaan Ahuja
Chandigarh, India
wintry skies…
deer walk out of the forest
to feed
Nancy Brady
Huron, Ohio
the silent song
of moss-draped trees…
forest trail
Neena Singh
India
adoreboretum
Nick T.
Somerset, England
sheltering generations
in its embrace
old banyan
Nitu Yumnam
India
for a drop of stolen sap
under the shade
of a date palm tree
Padmini Krishnan
United Arab Emirates
light breeze
a willow weeps
with me
Patricia Hawkhead
United Kingdom
standing below
redwood trees I contemplate
possibilities
Paul Callus
Malta, Europe
sizzling sun…
that cool curl of air
beneath tall pines
Pris Campbell
USA
temple banyan
the black ants circumambulating
at brahma muhurta
R. Suresh Babu
India
backyard mango tree –
chirping sparrow
answers rustling leaves
Ram Chandran
India
pine forest
all the furniture
that wasn’t made
Ravi Kiran
India
“timberrrr!”
beavers chew
a logger’s next meal
Rhoda Tripp
Allegan, MI, USA
picking up
the mystic’s words
tree nuts
Richa Sharma
India
a small tent
the sound of wind
in tall trees
Richard Straw
Cary, North Carolina
prayers
reaching for the sky
ancient oaks
Rita Melissano
USA
weeping willow
intertwined with
my irish twin
Roberta Beary
County Mayo, Ireland
the long arms
of an ancient banyan
holding me
Rupa Anand
New Delhi, India
spotted fawn
in dappled forest-
invisible
Ruth Happel
United States
on the taiga
stunted spruce trees
north wind
Ruth Holzer
Herndon, VA
his drunken stumble
up a stairway
dryad’s saddle
Sangita Kalarickal
United States
sacred stump
in the old growth forest
we follow the signs
Sari Grandstaff
Saugerties, NY, USA
huge tree
twittering his identity
a small bird
Satyanarayana Chittaluri
Kalwakurthy, Telangana, India
magickal pine
I gift my cloak
to the forest floor
Sharon Ferrante
Florida, USA
giant baobab
telling stories about
mother
Shruti Patel
Switzerland
looking beyond
the willow 彼方 so much light
inside the coffin
simonj
UK
the carpet
I can’t step on …
jacaranda flowers
Sreenath G.
India
autumn forest –
instead of photographs
I take fir-trees cones
Steliana Cristina Voicu
Ploiesti, Romania
saving lives
from perches on high
tree sitters
Stephen J. DeGuire
Los Angeles, CA
wind bells
whisper of lovers
under tangerine tree
Stoianka Boianova
Bulgaria
cicadas stop
wrens taking over
summer bush walk
Subhashini Jayatilake
Sydney, Australia
Pando
a whale’s belly quivers
on the beach sand
Subir Ningthouja
Imphal, Manipur, India
magnificent tree
bows down in prayer
on an unvisited tomb
Sudha Devi Nayak
Bhubaneswar India
sweetgum trees
beauty lost
in the beasts
Susan Farner
USA
stone Buddha
under gigantic cedar trees
in meditation
Teiichi Suzuki
Japan
heart of the woods
the hedgehog we rescued
returns home
Tracy Davidson
Warwickshire, UK
The silence of
a fir forest,
only fungi sigh
Tracey Foster
United Kingdom
crisp cold morning
neighbor’s mulberry tree
littering my back yard
Tuyet Van Do
Australia
instead of that tree
knowing our June secrets
now a diary
Urszula Marciniak
Poland
dense forest . . .
home to the legend
of bigfoot
Valentina Ranaldi-Adams
Fairlawn, Ohio USA
summer rain
a few stray branches burst
free from the topiary
Vandana Parashar
India
dancing
wind caresses her body
tree shadow
Vicki Vogt
Watertown, MA USA
strong winds
the conformed symmetry
of rain trees
Vidya Premkumar
Kerala, India
forest walk
i pick myself
from a fallen leaf
Vijay Prasad
Patna, India
mango tree
cuckoo’s song deepens
its shade
Vipanjeet Kaur
Chandigarh, India
desert palm
missing cool shadow
of banyan
Vishnu Kapoor
Chennai, India
campfire sparks flying
falling into the eucalypts
a star
wanda amos
Australia
Guest Editor Deborah Karl-Brandt lives in Bonn, Germany, with her husband, two rabbits and numerous books. After her PhD studies in Scandinavian languages and literatures, she now works as a freelance author and poet. One of her poems won 2nd place in the 2021 Pula Film Festival Haiku Contest. Her poems have most recently appeared in Prune Juice, Kingfisher, First Frost, Frogpond, Failed Haiku and Tsuridoro. If she is not outside for a long stroll or to do some birdwatching, she is an avid reader who is currently exploring Chinese Xianxia Webnovels.
Lori Zajkowski is the Post Manager for Haiku Dialogue. A novice haiku poet, she lives in New York City.
Managing Editor Katherine Munro lives in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, and publishes under the name kjmunro. She is Membership Secretary for Haiku Canada, and her debut poetry collection is contractions (Red Moon Press, 2019). Find her at: kjmunro1560.wordpress.com.
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Haiku Dialogueoffers a triweekly prompt for practicing your haiku. Posts appear each Wednesday with a prompt or a selection of poems from a previous week.
