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

It's a sign we're told
a promise, romance aside
it's basic optics

Ian Row

Today's Haiku

Source: The Age - the age.com.au
Submitted by KPM

Some birthday wishes
From unexpected quarters
Very surprising.

James Sutekh

I'm all for metric
but inching along sure beats
centimetering

Alison Lester

me: you get up first
you: nah-ah, you get up first
me: fine, be like that

Charlie & Ian Row

Fleeing bank robbers
Unlikely get-away car
Big yellow school bus

CRK

Of all the stresses,
deadlines and standards; the worst:
Pressure on ourselves

KPM

The protest marchers
gather; lost in the frenzy
buskers and beggars.

Ian Row

My letter reviewed
"Irrelevant narrative"
How very dare you?

Ian Row

Calendar haiku: May 2015

How wonderful
each things that I look at - and
springtime goes away

Kito (1740 - 1788)

Evening scene, Tone River by
Takahashi Kiroaki (1871 - 1945)

Elevator man
Cyrano de Bergerac
But I'm not Roxanne

CRK

Haiku for Nepal

your fading bellows
from the deep and dark rubble
your peace is our calm

Ramon Loyola

The traffic roars by.
A little red pineapple
ripens in the shade.

Alison Lester

Overheard: "it's the
unavoidable consequence
of the horror."

Ian Row

Out of cigarettes
The night is old and tiresome
Curl up with the boil :-)

James Sutekh

A praline inspired haiku

Praline (4x)
Please don't eat it just because
you can.

Cesca Alice & Ian Row

Do not speak to him
about his life... how dare you?
You do not know him.

CRK

sunset behind me
day well spent in fellowship
with humanity

Ian Row

New TV - Bluetoothed
within an inch of my life -
I'll never leave home

Ian Row

Holidays end soon
All those visits and time spent...
Can I start again?

KPM

Time starts now I'm told
Don't wait until your ready
They years pass like days

Ian Row

so sentimental
his very first backstabbing
#thingswemiss

Ian Row

Cosy apartment
North facing, close to PT
Suit small family

Ian Row

Wrapped in Mother's scarf
Holding tight with both his hands
Swinging on the swings

CRK

Bargain ignored: shirt
Fragrance unbought, despite squirt
Men's fashion sale time

Chris Gill

Prison death chamber
five straps on a long gurney
at one end... pillow

CRK

Author's note: It's terrible that capital punishment still takes place in Texas

Calendar haiku: April 2015

Cherry blossoms are falling -
and now between the trees,
a temple appears

Buson (1716 - 1784)

In a temple yard (1935) by
Yoshida Hiroshi (1876 - 1950)

Chocolate matzo
Next to Easter bunny cake
Whole Foods* Holy Week

CRK

*A natural foods upmarket grocery store in the US

Spotty, sleepy, pale
Young Chinese man whose t-shirt
tells me to DRIVE FAST

Alison Lester

You may or may not
believe me but there was a
time when I was mad

Ian Row

Holidays ahead,
Ripe with possibility
Time that's mine to waste.

KPM

blast from the past: you
dying star still shines so bright
million miles away

Ian Row

Clutching a bedspread
He leaps across a trash-crammed
street... March in Chicago

CRK

Meeting: itchy foot
is not on the agenda
Oh the agony

Ian Row

Running on empty
My energy has run out.
Same tomorrow then?

KPM

founding father dies
we don't speak ill of the dead
silence speaks volumes

Ian Row

Time will come when they
Realize I'm a precious
Historical resource

CRK

Durkheim and Paglia
Paper lacks references
A recurring dream

Ian Row

the random talent 
in the North makes up for
its isolation

Ian Row

Unsubscribe me
The Dalai Lama
People change

Ian Row

Hey. You. I'm dying.
Ok. But I've sprained something.
Carry me.

Charlie

Gargantuan spider
lives in the glove compartment
loves D'Angelo

Ian Row

Some events can change
everything you thought you knew...
rewriting the past.

CRK

"Ciao Bella," the man
Said to my uncle, who was
both flattered, and not

CRK

Runny hot chilli
fills the bowl - and then the splash!
Damn lunchtime shirt stain

KPM

Russell Tovey Redux

Don't for a moment
confuse you self with courage
Hegemonic fag

Ian Row

@russelltovey

Was it pride, relief?
Either way you're a lucky man
and not one of us.

Ian Row

Calendar haiku: March 2015

As on the plum comes
blossom after blossom, so
comes the warmth of Spring.

Ratsentsu (1653 - 1708)

Peacock by Tsuchiya Rakusen (Rakuzen)
(1896 - 1976)

Won't give his number
Last line of defence before
his iron dome

Ian Row

Leftovers salvaged
Tiger prawns, red curry paste
Almost red curry

Ian Row

Disinherited
"I am not your Dad,"he said
"You are not my son."

CRK

If I Cantaloupe
Olive fruitfully at home
Where can a Mango?

Chris Gill

300 dollars?
To fix the water heater?
Who needs to shower?

Charlie

The places I've been
Places I'll never ever
Someone else's life

Ian Row

Note to self - 
You cannot vacuum the cat
But you can try

Ian Row

Crazy cab driver
Pencil short of a pencil case
Somebody's father

Ian Row

strong death wish
some days so hard so easy
to slip away


Anonymous

Authentic Tony
I am sure what is worse
The devil you know

Ian Row

Calendar haiku: February 2015

No sky and no ground - 
Only the snowflakes that
fall without ceasing

Hashin (1864 - ?)

February, Winter Sky, 1924 by
Yamamura Toyonari (1885 - 1942)