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Seventy-seven luck haiku thread

The OutlawPoets were invited to post an unlimited number of poems to the lucky terms haiku thread.  The theme included lucky terms such as a rabbit's foot, an arrowhead, a 4-leaf clover etc.

The editors of Sketchbook selected their Monthly Haiku Choice from these submissions.  The Choice haiku are published in the September 2007 Sketchbook.

Jeffrey Woodward offered an encyclopedic folklore site that deals with worldwide charms, tokens, amulets as a useful resource:
http://www.luckymojo.com/luckyw.html.  The writers were also directed to this resource:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luck.

For posting convenience the haiku thread is reverse numbered. An author index is offered at the end of the poems

 

The Luck Haiku Thread

My new Daruma-san -
I paint his second eye,
he looks surprised.

In Japan, the most popular good-luck piece is an egg-shaped doll with a
fierce face and blank eyes, called Daruma-san. To make a wish on a
Daruma-san, you first give him the gift of sight by painting one eye. Then
you make your wish and wait. If the wish comes true, you reward your
Daruma-san by painting his other eye. With this second eye for a
wish-come-true he is said to have “both eyes open,” which means that there has been success in some endeavor.

#77 Zh.R.(Russia/USA)

 

laughing Hotei
clay belly worn smooth
from rubbing

#76. rm

 

We hit our Easter eggs
against each other - mine survives,
lucky me!

(Done in the Russian country villages.)

#75 Zh.R.(Russia/USA)

 

A child makes her wish
on an apple - pulls the stem
only lightly.

(If the stem remains intact, the wish will be granted.)

#74 Zh.R.(Russia/USA)

 

the coin
has been rubbed smooth
double-headed luck

#73 ts, Cdn
 

A fairy ring
on my lawn; stepping in
for good luck.

#72 Zh.R. (Russia/USA)

 

halfway into space
she defies K2's
death zone

(This is the mountain once considered cursed for female mountaineers:
http://www.dawn.com/2004/07/29/int11.htm
http://www.k2climb.net/story/stories/
50yearsofsummitsonaMountainnamedK2Jul312004.shtml)

#71. rm

 

horseshoe over the door
crucifix on the wall--
nothing left to chance

#70. mk, CA
 

morning Greyhound
the sun rises --
her tattoo peeks over her waistband

What's lucky about this you ask? Well, the observation made me feel
damn lucky. Observing and writing has it's privileges.

#69. mk, CA

 

roulette wheel --
he touches the luck pouch
in his pocket

#68. dpk, USA

 

angel charm
her fingers fly across
the test papers

# 67. TS Cdn.

 

a rabbit in the cage
the grass is coming by itself
two times a day

# 66. Ginka Biliarska, GB

 

Scaring away
a black cat, I lose
my talisman.

# 65. Zh.R. (Russia/USA)

 

what a happiness-
though in the meadow
there are only three-leaved clovers

# 64. Ginka Biliarska, GB

 

still
on the battlefield--
a soldier's runes

# 63. dpk

 

on a roll at last
he blows on the
loaded dice

# 62 rm

 

My Christmas luck:
we bump into each other
under the mistletoe.

#61 Zh.R. (Russia/USA)

 

jump time in March beat
mad hare zig-zags the fox run --
luck is a hole

# 60. mk, CA

dark clouds --
she gives him a kiss
for luck

# 59. Deborah P Kolodji, California, USA

 

Mom's old garter
graces her daughter's leg
happy days!

# 58. ts Cdn

 

yellow lehua blossoms
magic mana
for the dancers

The yellow lehua is very rare and said to be good luck to have them
growing around you...I have two it is sacred to the goddess of the
hula Laka

# 57. sbm Hawaii

 

green bells bloom
among weeds—my neighbors
forgive me

it is customary to give a 'green bouquet' for good luck
on St. Patrick's day, not to mention, it's lucky my neighbors forgive
me for not pulling weeds  . . . love.

Give the luck of the Irish to someone special by giving them green
flowers in March.

# 56. an'ya

 

crosseyed hoodoo moon
for a gravewise rabbit foot--
sinister mojo

# 55. mk, CA

 

At last she finds
her three keys on a ring...
in a frozen rain pool...

Three keys worn together symbolise the unlocking of the doors to
health, wealth and love.

# 54. Zh.R. (Russia/USA)

 

lunar eclipse
the ying yang
of good fortune

# 53. ts Cdn

 

heavy mist
water for my
wishing well

# 52. sbm Hawaii

 

his back to the augurs
he faces a setting sun --
the ides of March

# 51. mk, ca

 

pot o gold....
beans n brown sugar
cooked with hamhock

# 50. sbm Hawaii

 

Doing laundry -
in grandpa's pants pocket,
a dried acorn.

Carrying a dried Acorn is believed to give the gift of youth to the
wearer. It can also be used for wealth and attraction of the opposite
sex.

49. Zh.R. (Russia/USA)

 

Queen of Hearts
unlucky in love...
off with his head

# 48. sbm Hawaii

 

they fed the groom
crescents under the stars
she waits within

*The Crescent and Star: This symbol is a powerful love talisman that
also symbolizes sexuality, wisdom and well being.

# 47. ts Cdn

 

a beetle
crawled over her shoes
she scans obits

*The Curtin University of Technology, Perth WA sates: It is bad luck
if a beetle crawls out of your shoe and when a beetle crawls over
your shoe it foretells death.

# 46. ts Cdn

 

# 45. Omitted

under which ice surface
do you wait?
humble loon

*On June 30th 1987 this coin "the loonie" replaced the one dollar
banknote. In the 2002 Winter Olympics the loonie became infamous and
lucky.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loonie

# 44. tm CA

 

kissing the baby's hand
my lips brush against
the jet bracelet

I don't know if this is international, or specific to T&T but; In T&T
a jet bracelet linked in gold is placed on the baby's wrist to ward
off negative forces.

# 43. gillena TT

 

My Russian hosts
beg me to have a third drink:
"God loves Trinity"

Trinity is "Troitsa" in Russian, and another meaning of the word is
"trio" and anything that comes in three or done three times. In Russian,
number "three" is "tri" (read as "tree"), as in Trinity. The haiku's last
line is a Russian saying (translated word for word), and it means that three
is a lucky number and anything done three times is good for you and it
will bring you good luck. Or should I translate it this way:

My Russian hosts
beg me to have a third drink:
"God loves things in threes." ?

That, probably, is better - less confusion, I assume.

# 42 Zh.R. (Russia/USA)

 

helping hand
a golden charm depended
maloccio

In Italian language, the evil eye is called "maloccio". If someone
has given you evil vibes, there is a hand sign to perform, which is
believed to keep the evil spirits away from you. There is also an
amulet that you can wear (or hang somewhere like keychain, car mirror
etc) that protects you. It's called the "mano cornuto" "hand-horn".

# 41. Judith Gorgone

 

No luck for me
at finding arrowheads.. .
Unlucky future ahead?

# 40 Zh.R. (Russia/USA)

 

mother's garter
slips easy over the thigh
on the new bride

The custom of 'something old, something new, something
borrowed and something blue' hold well in T&T Wedding garters -
images http://tinyurl. com/2vwfjl

# 39. gillena TT

 

under the arc
of a rainbow,
the chicory is blue

# 38. jw, USA

 

her bridal dress—
the white heather gleams
in the moonlight

*The finding and picking of white heather is considered lucky in
Scottish traditions. This is partly due to its scarcity and also due
to the belief that white heather grows on ground where no blood has
been shed. This idea was made popular by the Victorians.

http://www.treesforlife.org.uk/forest/mythfolk/heather.html

# 37. tm, CA

 

First crocus...
Shopping for a husband,
I buy five talismans.

# 36. Zh.R. (Russia/USA)

 

long trip...
white sheep in the meadow
relieve the heart

# 35. ro

 

After scaring
the black cat off my path,
I trip and fall.

# 34. Zh.R. (Russia/USA)

 

clink of cutlery
*blackeyed peas and rice
New Years Day

* For Trinidad and Tobagonians, blackeyed peas and rice cooked
together called a 'blackeye peas and rice cookup' is thought to bring
good luck in the coming year.

# 33. gillena TT

 

rainbows
the silver lining
encasing each tear
finally
a pot of gold

# 32. Judith Gorgone, US

 

eyes closed fingers crossed
after sighting
the shooting star

# 31. gillena TT

 

light
casting a rainbow
beyond the tears

# 30. Judith Gorgone, US

 

fingers crossed
to hear
the results of the lottery

# 29. gillena TT

 

bowed head
curled bamboo stalks tied
with red ribbon

* actual plant name is "lucky bamboo" the Chinese word for prayer
and bamboo sound alike. This plant is considered to be lucky in Feng
Sheui, the Chinese practice of the placement of objects in a space to
create harmony. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feng_Shui
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracaena_sanderiana

# 28. tm

 

a t-boned Chevy
in the intersection --
fuzzy dies on the road

# 27. mk, ca

 

open fan-
ladybug* round and round
the rose

* some people also use the name ladybird

In many countries ladybugs are a sign of good luck. They are
considered lucky because ladybugs save crops from bad pests (aphids).
Farmers everywhere consider them lucky. All roses get aphids and
ladybugs eat aphids.
http://www.dierinbeeld.nl/animal_files/insects/ladybug/index.html

# 26. tm

 

neutralized
between the holy 2 and 7 -
two zeroes

#25. ro, IL

 

Talismans on sale -
trying to guess
which one's the luckiest.

# 24. Zh.R. (Russia/USA)

 

street racing Mom's car
St. Christopher
slides sideways

#23 rm

 

pointing at a rainbow...
cancels out
its good luck charm

# 22. shanna

new baby...
blue eyes shine from
the sweater

# 21. ro

 

without a penny
or a wish,
a fountain

# 20. jw, USA

 

wishing well greetings--
clearing up the dry hole
of lots of money

# 19. db, UK

 

My health is good she says
and spits three times
over her left shoulder.

The Russians spit over their left shoulder (not really spit wet, but say three times "tfoo, tfoo, tfoo" - the sound of spitting) in all those cases when Americas knock on the wood. I personally am not superstitious at all. But if I say, for instance, something like "my health is real good" at the presence of a Russian friend, I would be told, "spit three times over your shoulder". And I have to do that, otherwise the person would feel bad thinking that something may happen to my health. She won't really be scared, but she would feel uncomfortable and that would make me feel uncomfortable too. So, it's the only case when I do what is customary to do for Russians in a conversation. It practically has become a habit for the Russians.

# 18. Zhanna P.Rader (Russia/USA)

 

long trip
a child's shoe dangles
from the car

# 17. ro

 

mother's meatloaf-
grandfather knocks
on wood

# 16. tm, CA

 

new couple...
squeezing a coined dough
on the door of dreams

# 15. ro

 

his leather jacket
proclaims him a Cobra
snake earrings at church

# 14. ts

 

alpha and omega-
where the praying mantis* kneels
are angels present?

* The sighting of a praying mantis is believed to bring luck. Japan,
Africa and China believe this. And many parts of Europe say that
seeing a Mantid is lucky and that a Mantid kneels when angels are
near.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha_and_Omega
http://forum.insecthobbyist.com/mantids/messages/1766.html
http://www.nwf.org/nationalwildlife/article.cfm?
issueID=79&articleID=1144
http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/Entomology/courses/en507/papers_1999/
feldman.htm
http://www.desertusa.com/mag06/feb/mantis.html

# 13. Terra Martin, CA

 

I'd kissed the stone...
the barman pours me
a Guinness

# 12. Rich Magahiz, US

 

in the moonlight
white elephant trumpets—
jungle drums

* Thai culture believe a white elephant brings good luck.
http://exn.ca/Stories/1999/01/04/57.asp

# 11. Terra Martin, CA

 

broken mirra.....
seven years
creating separate reflections

# 10. shanna Hawaii, US

 

all-seeing eye
the barn owl stalks
it's prey

#09. Terra Martin, CA

 

my horoscope shows
the lucky number seven
snake's eyes for me

# 08. ts, CA

 

rabbit's foot
pussy willow in bud
under blue sky

# 07. Terra Martin, CA

 

clover?
three once more three
and then four

# 06. Jeffrey Woodward, US

 

inch worm arches along
the twig
horseshoe on door

# 05. Terra Martin, CA

on my casket
a silver cross gleams
driven through my heart

# 04. John Daleiden, US

 

family picnic
pitching horseshoes
he rings one

# 03. Betty Kaplan, US

 

a sky's worth of tears
one red chunk of
Uluru

[http://www.theage. com.au/articles/ 2003/03/07/ 1046826515667. html]

# 02. Rich Magahiz, US

 

in the meadow
emperor tulips bloom--
a three leaf clover

# 01. john daleiden, US

 

 

Alphabetical Author list of luck haiku thread

A = an'ya, US: 56
Gb = Ginka Biliarska, GB: 64, 66
db = Daniela Bullas, UK: 19
Gc = Gillena Cox, TT: 29, 31, 33, 39, 43
jd = John Daleiden, US: 01, 04
jg = Judith Gorgone, US: 30, 32, 41
bk = Betty Kaplan, US: 03
dpk = Deborah P Kolodoji, US: 59, 63, 68
mk = Michael Kleiza, ca: 27, 51, 55, 60, 69, 70
rm= Rich Magahiz, US: 02, 12, 23, 62, 71, 76
tm = Terra Martin, CA: 05, 07, 09, 11, 13, 16, 26, 28, 37, 44
Sbm = Shanna Baldwin Moore, Hawaii,US: 10, 22, 48, 50, 52
ro = Rita Odeh, IL: 15, 17, 21, 25, 35
ts = Trish Shields, CA, 08, 14, 46, 47, 53, 58, 67, 73
Zh.R.= Zhanna P. Rader, RU/USA: 18, 24, 34, 36, 40, 42, 49, 54, 61,
65, 72, 74, 75, 77
jw = Jeffrey Woodward, US: 06, 20, 38

14 Poets

 


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