The smell of pancakes
still softly lingering in
the mid-afternoon

Bare trees - 
A crisp view 
of the neighbors

Warm October Series

Summer stored
on a low shelf - 
Warm October

Warm October day
The beach gear somehow seeming
inappropriate

Pumpkin spice latte
on a warm October day - 
Mingling seasons

Cold Sunday mornings
Daddy reading the paper - 
The open oven

Children's hospital - 
In the waiting area
the sleeping fathers

The Montauk Daisies'
discouraging company
dismissing summer's

Cabanas

Rows of cabanas
Silently watching children -
Low flying airplanes

Digging sandy holes
Watching her make friends with ease - 
Finding more shovels

The sandy walkway
past the opened cabanas - 
Colored plastic cups

The cabana's court
Children playing baseball
Spraying sand

Summer's last chapter - 
Nightfall's heavy company
entering early. 

The closed carnival
Truck by truck - the empty train
station parking lot.

----

Procession of trucks - 
The sleeping carnival rides
folded on their backs.

I wrote this after watching Doc McStuffin's with my daughter. I'm sure other parents can relate: 

Children's t.v. show - 
The mom with a clean house and
time to read a book. 

My dormant camera.
His marvel burnt in my mind - 
One birthday candle.

Painting the blue walls - 
Behind the outlet cover
a little girl's room. 

Childhood friend - 

My son smiling

at his. 

New house - 
we fill it with
our home. 

A nightmarish night - 
The cardinal's song averting
the next tragedy. 

Replanting weeds
in a fresh flower bed - 
The new homeowner

The quivering haze
of charcoal - Summer's spirit
suddenly slips in. 

Lying on the air
like flat, fractured clouds - 
the dogwood's flowers. 

When I was young,
believing I could find
the setting sun. 

Spring rain - 
The blue jay breaking
the clouds. 

Spring rain - 
Children running
between puddles. 

Potting marigolds.
My daughter preferring the
company of friends. 

Last year's turnip greens -
Tall stems with yellow flowers.
Beautiful neglect. 

Painting my plate with
runny egg yolks. Just the way
dad would have liked them. 

Sweeping in the sun -
Dirt I thought the spring rain would
wash away for me. 

Overnight
the grass wears
the forsythia's grace

The forsythia
soundlessly showers petals - 
Budding azalea. 

Footbridge Series

Picture and poems are from our hike at Shu Swamp preserve on Long Island, NY. 

Footbridge - 
she walks
over water. 

Footbridge - 
through the slats
murky water. 

Footbridge - 
We play pooh sticks
in each silent creek.

Footbridge - 
On either side, the wide leaves
of the skunk cabbage.

Some Haiku From My Morning Walk

Cars in procession.
The smell of onion rings from
the corner deli.

----

Pale morning sky - 
so clear the half moon
an unsightly blemish.

----

Blooming tulips
Nature's lollipops
so many flavors. 

Dismissing this day - 
Too many pieces of me
chiseled and borrowed. 

Rusted staples crowd
the worn telephone pole - Old
lost cats and yard sales. 

Cold April Series

Cold April - 
I wake to the whisper
of radiators. 

Cold April -
His jacket hanging
on its hook. 

Cold April - 
My winter jacket
left in the car. 

Cold April - 
The buds decline
our company. 

Cold April - 
My landlord blames the dogs
for the brown grass. 

Counting syllables
on my fingers - my hand in
my jacket pocket. 

Gazing past the bay -
I pretend the clouds are hills
on the horizon. 

I took this picture at Caumsett State Park here on Long Island. Here are some haiku based on the picture. I think writing about a photo is a great haiku exercise. Please feel free to write a haiku (or any kind of poem) of your own and post it in the comment field. 

Running off the path - 
She pretends she doesn't hear
me calling her back.

-----

Running off the path - 
I call my daughter by my
sister's name. 

Some Haiku About the Forsythias

Tangled barren trees.
Blazing beyond this stillness - 
The forsythias.

Tangled barren trees. 
Soft yellow clouds float beyond - 
The forsythias.

The forsythias -
smalls suns
on a gray day. 

The forsythia
at dusk. My dog lays beneath
its burning branches. 

Doctor's waiting room -
gray clouds outside the window
and fluorescent lights. 

Slowly surfacing
from night's narcosis - 
The choice we've made. 

Roosevelt's statue

leading the cherry blossoms - 

Cold April rain. 

This is a picture of my town's statue of Teddy Roosevelt. I live in Oyster Bay which is where Teddy Roosevelt lived as well. I couldn't get a picture of the statue when I wrote this haiku in the car on rainy day, but this was taken the day after when the skies were clear. 

Young cherry blossoms
hang in the mist - their petals
startle the grayness. 

Losing dimension
in a pool of pollen - the
forgotten flowers.

My father's tattoos - 
Naked ladies and dragons.
His long sleeves rolled up. 

His boots left outside - 
Caged in old leaves
from autumn. 

the flowers you sent

already

fading

My old stuffed dog toy
in my daughter's playroom - She
gives him a new name. 

A pile of papers
from my daughter's school - 
A coffee coaster.

Brushing her wet hair - 
We linger long after the
tangles come undone. 

Season's first flower - 
She sweetly picks it for me,
certain it will grow. 

Seeking the comet
on the horizon. We face
the wrong direction. 

Checking on the kids - 
Their figures fuse with the dark.
Soft breath - Whispering sheets 

Soft, starless twilight.
High, pale moon. Before bed, my
kids on their swings - Spring

Up to bed early - 

His empty chair still impressed

with his company.

Winter's gray stays - like

heavy gravity crushing

earth's inclination.

This picture was taken yesterday at the end of my jog at a local preserve here on Long Island. Every day I wake hoping for a warm spring day, but Winter still has a firm grip on us here. The grayness of the woods just confirmed that for me.

Please write and share your haiku about this picture. Have a good week!

Recording Haiku Moments

My only and favorite time to write is early in the morning. I rise at 5:30 and sit to write for about an hour depending on the morning. I normally use my writing time for Haiku's. Many of my haiku's are about early morning, partly because I find that time of day so inspirational, and partly because I have trouble remembering the haiku moments from the day before. When I walk away from my computer and begin my day, the haiku moments come flooding into my mind and go out just as fast as they came.

I realize I need to start writing down the moments I wish to write about throughout the day. I love using paper and pen, but its not practical for me to use at any given moment. I could be at the playground chasing my daughter while holding my son and by the time I have a chance to get to a notebook, the idea would most likely be gone. However, I always have my phone with me no matter where I am or what I am doing, so going forward I plan to jot down my haiku ideas there. I plan on emailing myself the ideas or using a program like Evernote. I am also going to try to squeeze in some more writing time before bedtime, that is, if I can keep my eyes open by that time.

How do you record your haiku moments? How often during the day do you try to sit down to write?

The sunrise sparkling

behind the hill. Bare trees still

immersed in the night.

When you look into my backyard from the kitchen, there is a hill which leads up to another street. On that hill are beautiful trees with birds flying about. I love to look out the window each morning and see the sun rising from behind the hill.

While this is not a picture of the hill I see each morning, here is a picture of a similar scene which you can use to write your own haiku. I look forward to your posts. I am curious what each of you will focus on from the picture, or perhaps you'll write about an emotion or memory which arises when you see this picture.

Photo credit: Captured_By_Anoop / Foter.com / CC BY