haikaiTALKS: a saturday gathering! 10th May 2025

haikaiTALKS: Onomatopoeia | a saturday gathering under the banyan tree

host: Srinivasa Sambangi

10th May 2025

haikaiTALKS: a saturday gathering under the banyan tree

Your host for haikaiTALKS: Srinivas Sambangi

haikaiTALKS 10th May 2025

Punctuation words in haiku:

Recently I came across an interesting and lengthy essay by Randy Brooks (published in Frogpond Issue 46. 1. On punctuation words in haiku. The link of the essay is given as a reference for further reading.

I have provided another link on punctuation marks in haiku by Michael Dylon Welch.

This week, our focus is on punctuation words, not punctuation marks.

Michael Dylon Welch categorises punctuation mainly into three types: 1. Punctuation of pause 2. Punctuation of Relationships 3. Punctuation of tone or voice.

1. Punctuation of pause:

Pause punctuation includes the comma, semicolon and period.

Examples:

munching cookies the commas in our conversation

        -- Sanjukta Asopa Frogpond 37:2 (2014)

In this beautifully crafted haiku, “munching cookies” becomes the pauses, the commas in our conversation. The conversation is not urgent, but the cookies give those involved a short break in the give-and-take rhythm of the conversation.

Birds huddled on fence

     like a long row of commas

         punctuating snow.

                        -- Dolores Malaschak Modern Haiku 2:1 (1970)

In the above example, the word “commas” is used because of its visual similarity to something seen. The birds are like a long row of commas.

beneath contrails

I rake leaves

into semicolons

      -- LeRoy Gorman Wind Chimes 17 (1985)

2. Punctuation of Relationships:

This type of punctuation shows the relationships as well as providing pause. These marks include the colon, the dash, and the ellipsis. These pauses are also endowed with specific qualities of relationship. The colon, for example, marks expectation or addition—and says, essentially, that this equals that, which is often too heavy handed. In haiku, both the colon and the dash show some sort of spatial relationship between the actuality of what precedes and follows the punctuation mark. The ellipsis, though, typically suggests the passing of time (however quickly) in a haiku. The ellipsis can also indicate contemplation rather than passing time.

Paper-white winter sky

the crow becomes a dash

then a dot

       -- George Swede Frozen Breaths: A Collection of Haiku (1983)

In this haiku, the narrator is observing distant birds in the sky and sees punctuation marks.

new headstone

all that matters

in a dash

     -- Joe McKeon A New Resonance 10, 2017

Cloudburst

the interruption

of em dashes

      -- Kat Lehman Petrichor 21, 2022

ordering my tombstone:

the cutter has me feel

his Gothic “R”

     -- Raymond Roseliep Modern Haiku 12.2, 1981

Michael Dylon Welch says:

“The ellipsis, though, typically suggests the passing of time (however quickly) in a haiku. The ellipsis can also indicate contemplation rather than passing time.”

Gita chanting

  birds become

the ellipsis

  --- Kala Ramesh Akita International Haiku Award, September 2014, Honourable Mention

you and I this winter ellipsis

       -- Stella Pierides Modern Haiku 46:1 (2015)

3. Punctuation of tone or voice:

The third type of punctuation indicates tone or voice. These marks include the exclamation mark, indicating surprise or emphasis, and the question mark, indicating questioning or doubt. Both are relatively rare in haiku.

a single black hair

makes a question mark

on the bar of soap

-- James O’Neil, Frogpond 2:2 (1979)

summer rain

all exclamations

end in full stops

-- Srinivasa Rao Sambangi Chrysanthemum, Issue #31, 2023

Looking forward to see your haiku this week with punctuation words. Do not post haiku with punctuation marks. You know the difference

Ref:

Frogpond 46.1 Winter 2023

https://www.graceguts.com/essays/punctuation-in-haiku

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KIGO WORDS

Shall we please try to include a kigo word in all the poems we share here?

Give the season and the word—under your poem. 

I'm quoting Lev Hart's request here: "This week’s goal is to compose two verses with toriawase, blending wabi, sabi, karumi, mono no aware, and/or yugen. Tell us which aesthetic concepts you mean to express in a line below the verse. Strive for originality. Avoid stock phrases and shopworn images."

For seasonal references, please check these lists:

“A Dictionary of Haiku Classified by Season Words with Traditional and Modern Methods,” by Jane Reichhold:

https://thehaikufoundation.org/omeka/files/original/7fb6654a1dfd1afef97369da920530f8.pdf

indian subcontinent SAIJIKI:

https://www.trivenihaikai.in/indian-saijiki

The Five Hundred Essential Japanese Season Words:

http://www.2hweb.net/haikai/renku/500ESWd.html

The World Kigo Database:

https://wkdkigodatabase03.blogspot.com/

The Yuki Teikei Haiku Season Word List:

https://yths.org/season-word-list/

**

Thank you for this post, Srinivas.

I hope our poets take the challenge and create a haiku on these lines!

Dear Members,

Please give your feedback on others' commentary and poems too. _()_

We are continuing haikaiTALKS in a grand way!

Keep writing and commenting! _kala