by Karen O'Leary from The Sound of Poetry Review

A haiku for going to work today

Sourced from the Internet

Just a casual look
I felt the woman judge me
by my shopping bag

Ian Row

Phone line silhouette
a bleak warning to others
flying fox - doesn't

Chris Gill

Photo by Chris Gill

Deep in the woods

by Peter Bakowski @PeterBakowski

One theory

by Peter Bakowski @PeterBakowski

Camden Street blossoms
The shy plums' blushing flowers
Spring gets a headstart

Ian Row

Postcards never sent
Moments best not remembered
Writing history

Ian Row

A haiku about election time

Election time, and
Tweede Dum and you know who
spin us 'til we puke.

Chris Gill

silent disco
keep your shit music
to yourself

Ian Row

Library music
Way too loud for this Grandma
Giving music space

Sue Ficke Siebert

A season's neglect
The courtyard is a jungle
Come let's go inside

Ian Row

A Laundry Day Haiku

Drowning in laundry
Too many clothes per capita
Unsustainable

Ian Row

Because my life sucks
I'll make your life suck as well
Karmic lollipop

Dawn Mok

'i' before 'e'
except after 'c'
with exceptions

Ian Row

In the restaurant
Would you like a table? No.
A lamp for 2 please.

HaikuD2
@HaikuD2

Friend request. Young kid.
Africa. A scam, you say.
Cute. Not cute enough.

Ian Row

my previous life
an ill fit, a size too small
my well is empty

Ian Row

she catches herself
talking to herself - been while
since we last spoke

Ian Row

Calendar Haiku: August 2016

There is not a place
to throw the used bath noises -
insect noises!

Onitsura (1660 - 1738)

Artwork: Seated Woman,
twentieth century, woodcut on paper by
Ohira Kasen (1900 - 1983)

a broken teapot
can't be fixed won't throw it out
until I'm ready

Ian Row

'Living document'

Run the risk you'll be written

out of history

Ian Row

Bitter winds shift
So too our hearts
As we grant love leave

I, Lady Bird
@_iLadyBird

trouble free cancer exam
on the way home
I acquire a diary

Minako Noma, 2011
Matsuyama, Japan

Tweeted by Haiku North America 
@haikunortham

I'm not here for your
amusement; Oh FFS.
Go on, make it quick.

Charlie

In Winter, it's hard
To recall a summer's warmth.
Old age forgets youth.

Judge The Poet
@judgethepoet

How poignant it is
A hoarder in denial
Says he can help you

Alison Lester

Black bard on the street
handing out hip hop lyrics
busking poetry

Carol Ruth Kimmel

Long slow desire
The flesh is willing, unfolds
Old habits die hard

Ian Row

Horoscope

Today's horoscope
A lifespan, life's plan, threatened
What if I said 'no'?

Ian Row

drought tolerant plants
gifts for an estranged mother
zero maintenance

Ian Row

Born a GMO
Natural like polyester
Innocent apples

Half Good Haiku
@HGHaiku

Exhausted by work
Crashing on  Friday night.
Restore me weekend!

Kenton Penley Miller

Charity chocolate

charity chocolate
only one box, only because I
thought he could be God

Ian Row

What made her different 
Is that she arrived as one
And not as many

HaikuD2
@HaikuD2

Ice cream disaster
An oil spill of French Vanilla
No complaints from cat

Ian Row

hornets nests
All my nightmares
learning to fly

Reka Jellema
@RekaJellema

Umpty-ump years old
and I still find myself just
a work of progress

Carol Ruth Kimmel

broken door bells
hidden behind each door
broken lives

Haiku Moments
@daviddayson

Hush now, Jealousy
Your music: so sad; so shrill
Hush now as I sing

Jeff Patterson

I dreamt of sunshine,
but woke to the sound of rain.
Can I dream all day?

Chris Gill

Smokers hunched over
Their cigarettes in the hope
Their ends will warm them

Kenton Penley Miller

Between where you are
and where you need to be
one dangerous step

Chris Gill

Aphrodisiac
Japanese books of all kinds
Kinokuniya

Carol Ruth Kimmel

for Leah, William Schoen, Laura and Dwight

Shadows make more legs
on non web-spinning spiders
claiming her new house

Carol Ruth Kimmel

for Linda Rogers

Words with friends

Words with friends
I smell a word generator
Silence with friends

Ian Row

Home

This house is my home
I think I'll stay forever
You are like my house

Ian Row

dementia unit
the old therapy dog
remembers everyone

Joan Prefontaine 
@haikueveryday

My niece sleeps like she's
Halfway through a discus throw
Or figure skating

Alison Lester

empty frames hanging
family history gone
staring - ugly walls

Mandy Bontius @AylaMey

After all
this time -
butterflies

Ian Row

I dream of father

We're hanging a framed picture

So much space to fill

Ian Row

you are no longer
the source of my happiness
and unhappiness

Dawn Mok

A haiku for Dawn Fraser

well well well
why don't you tell us
what you really feel

Ian Row

platform number one
'stand behind the yellow line'
a couple suck face

Ian Row

Calendar haiku: July 2015

Through the town

a little stream is flowing - 

willow branches hanging down

Shiki (1867 - 1902)

Artwork: Benkei Bridge, 1940
by Yoshida Toshi (1911 - 1995)

walking down the street
last night I saw a fox
using the crosswalk

Rosemary
@haikutaxi

And then we were 9!

Happy Birthday to us and thank you heaps to everyone who hot crossed for us over the last 12 months. Here's the blogroll for 2014/2015:

Alison Lester
Anna Grace
Anna Hyland
Anonymous
Buson
Carol D'Cruz
CRK/Carol Ruth Kimmel
Cesca Alice
Charlie (the cat)
Chris Gill
Dawn Mok
Douglas Martin
Gonsui
Grant Lee Phillips
Hashin
Ian Row
James Sutekh
Jeff Patterson
Jenny Morris
Jim McKay
KPM/Kenton Penley Miller
Kito
Leah Billeam
Mary K Witte
Michael Leunig
Michael Stipe
Natsume Soseki
Onitsura
Orlando
Ramon Loyola
Ratsentsu
Rick Roth
Rocket
Rocky
Sarah Rae
Sharon Lee
Soin
SVU
Teishitsu
Tom Gilroy
Virginia Gay
William Schoen

and then some days with
out any clear reasons why
it's just easier

Ian Row

When deciding to
play the game it is best to
first consider the prize

Ian Row

On the opposite
ends of the tram. Did you 
see me not see you?

Ian Row

Shopping mall busker
in his bed, his curled up dog
Harmony vocal

Ian Row

Watched kettle never
boils... watched cell phone never rings...
where's that text message?

CRK

A school assignment
torns to shreds on carriage floor
formal unlearning.

Chris Gill

It feel so cold here
But it warms me to know it's
worse in Canberra

KPM

St. Partrick's Church, Chicago

Make a joyful noise
melody and harmony
sing those Gospel songs

CRK

Haiku 5 Day Challenge 5

Day 1.
Book of Kells Exhibition, Dublin

skilled in word and deed
turning darkness into light
Pangus confronts him

Day 2.
President Obama at Charleston funeral

a church full of grief
the President mourned with them
t'was amazing grace.

Day 3.
Sunday in Chicago

a day filled with song
church, theatre and lounge room
such rich harmony

Day 4.

woken by my dreams
Nico Geoffrey Jannekke
Perhaps I'm homesick

Day 5.

my Travelsim blues
sorted Facebook and U tube
a silver lining

Leah Billeam

Trying now to make
international phone calls
G.d. foreign sim

CRK

Wish I didn't go
looking; now all I see
your pic in hi-res.

Ian Row

such a long battle
and it came down 5 to 4
equal dignity

Leah Billeam

Hidden gin bottle
in the baptismal font...
all kinds of Spirit

CRK

Feeling healthy but
ancient...  just what do I mean...
I mean the long view

CRK

Frosty morns, cold days.
Layers of clothes off and on.
Winter can rack off.

KPM

Ceiling fan details
sunlight through Venetian blinds
resting a back back

CRK

Haiku 5 Day Challenge 4

Day 1.

When I treadmill jog
My skeleton takes off first
Skin's a beat behind

Day 2.

The tiger's shoulders
Rise and fall like cardboard waves
In a pantomime

Day 3.

These are my children
They both look like their father
Sometimes it's lonely

Day 4.

So many Yodas
Busking, appearing to float, no
imagination

Day 5.

How to make it clear?
Worry is not the same as 
Disappointment. child

Alison Lester

The new USB
Don't ask and you don't receive
It's Christmas in June

Ian Row

Haiku 5 Day Challenge 3 - A Collective

i.
hearts break to open
so you choose Love even when
Love doesn't choose you

Dawn Mok

ii.

iii.
pack, unpack
seals break, facilitating
emptying

Dawn Mok

iv.
Close behind bare trees
shiny grey - my steps disturb
the sky on the ground

Chris Gill

v.
Whatever happens.
Still the bird will sing. Voices
in the soft morning.

Sarah Rae

vi.
Sitting in my room
Thinking about the future
Soon to be sixty

William Schoen

vii.
should I sit up front
or in the back? split second
uber etiquette

Dawn Mok

What's all that racket?
I forgot to feed the cat
Sometimes it happens

Ian Row

Facebook love

Haiku 5 Day Challenge 2

Day 1

Haiku every day
for five days... how frightening
Leah, you're up next

Day 2

"When did I write all
this stuff in a long life of
never writing?"

*inspired by a poetry reading by American poet, Louise Gluck

Day 3

Make my enemy
a sword of gold... but give me 
forged and sharpened steel

*inspired by Alexander the Great

Day 4

No real value 
crystal... not precious gemstones
magnifying glass

Day 5

Chris with pirate eyes
and earrings... protector of 
that beautiful girl

CRK

Haiku 5 Day Challenge 1

Day 1.

Filtering through cloud

Like light through Venetian blinds

Sunrise takes it time

Day 2.

All year round tree sleeves

This is a nice neighbourhood

No possums allowed

Day 3.

The traffic curls past

No one cares for the dead cat

Inside, a boy wakes...

Day 4

Dream in wide format

No sordid details were spared

People I don't know

Day 5.

That there will be 

more of us and less of them 

is the white man's fear

Ian Row

A twinset about small talk

i.
Small talk
with the guy from HR
I'm on auto

Ian Row

ii.
This weekend's footy,
the kid's school concert, home life:
Banal office chat.

KPM

A twinset about seagulls

i.
One legged seagull
set to starve unless we stage
an intervention

Ian Row

ii.
Tiny gulls severe
limbs for sympathy and chips
Don't be taken in.

KPM

A good night haiku for you

'The warm bed beckons
The night an endless canvas
The mind rides the stars.'

Ramon Loyola

Source: The Internet

Recuperation
Rest meant to restore myself
Need more ZING! here please

KPM

A simple 'thank you'
honest and heartfelt, dismissed
A lesson unlearned

Ian Row

An unopened letter
houses a public secret
that's just between us

Ian Row

8 friggin degrees
Alpaca blanket beats half
hearted split system

Ian Row

Calendar haiku: June 2015

Swaying, swaying,
as springtime goes away - look -
in the fields, the grasses!

Issa (1763 - 1828)

Drying Yuzen at Katsura River by
Kotozuka Eiichi (1906 - 1979)

I'm so glad you're home.
Watched Rio on DVD.
No, that's about it.

Charlie

She told him what they
said about him... their parents...
he tries to forget

CRK

dead, the bat hangs
the wrong side up, fried, between
the power lines

Ian Row

Death shatters young lives.
Dreams hollowed out by life:
Time out for Pollyanna.

KPM

her squeaky runners
announcing her arrival
she heard what you said

Ian Row

my rear view mirror -
the wife in her niqab; she
doesn't look happy.

Ian Row

Friday night PT
Can't get home fast enough
Riding without you

Ian Row

I love you, she said
Please put me back together,
he pled. And she did.

Ian Row

Ice and water

Source: the Internet

The righteousness of 
BMW drivers;
women are the worst

Ian Row