July is proving just how hot and humid it can be, throughout much of the eastern and midwestern United States. With the help of f/k/a‘s Honored Guest Poets, haikuEsq offers summer distractions that we hope will bring more than momentary relief.
a sea breeze
through the oleanders–
long afterglow
the third-note rise
of a towhee’s song
fragrant breeze
Gershwin’s lullaby
magnolia petals ladle
fireflies
peggy willis lyles – To Hear the Rain & “a sea breeze” – Snapshots Haiku Magazine #10 (2001)
Warm breeze
the colt’s erection nuzzles
a daisy
Stifling heat
a palm frond suggests
there is a breeze
the backyard shade
a small gust brings coolness
and a white petal
George Swede
“Warm breeze” – from Taboo Haiku: An International Selection (2005)
“stifling heat” – The Heron’s Nest (Dec. 2005)
“backyard shade” – The Heron’s Nest (June 2006)
wilting hay –
thermals shift a kite
from row to row
afternoon heat
a chapel door
half open
matt morden
“wilting hay – ” Morden Haiku (June 17, 2006)
“afternoon heat” – Morden Haiku (July 8, 2006)
prairie breeze–
the girl’s ponytail
as she rides a horse
heat wave–
the cow’s udder
hangs in the pond
DeVar Dahl – “prairie breeze” – Shiki Monthly Kukai (Jan. 2006)
“heat wave” – from Basho Mem. Museum (English selections, 2005)
proud host
his orchard bursting
with fireflies
summer day
a seat in the movies
away from others
john stevenson
“proud host” – Some of the Silence
“summer day” – Upstate Dim Sum (2004/II)
summer breeze
the criss-cross of gull tracks
in damp sand
midday heat
one petal of the red poppy
sways
pamela miller ness “summer breeze” – The Heron’s Nest (Oct. 2000)
“midday heat” from Summerday, Puget Sound, a haiku sequence
in the beach breeze
my travels forgotten…
evening cool
a softly blowing
world-improving breeze…
fireflies flit
kobayashi issa, translated by David G. Lanoue