from the October 2008 Haiku
Thread
No Don't Be Scared...it's All
Just For Fun!
Halloweeen! Once a year many people
in the world celebrate this international holiday. Traditions
that have developed include trick-or-treating, ghost tours,
bonfires, costume parties, participating in haunted attractions,
carving jack-o'-lanterns, reading scary stories, and watching
horror movies.
The origins of Halloween are in the
the ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain which was
celebrated at the end of the harvest season in Gaelic culture.
The celebration was a time when the Celtic people took stock of
supplies and slaughtered livestock for winter stores. These
festivals frequently involved bonfires, costumes and masks worn
to placate evil spirits.
To celebrate Halloween at
Sketchbook, haiku writers were invited to write haiku
for the monthly thread using any of the following: cat(s), witche(s), jack-0-lantern(s), shadow(s); or any
images that convey the sense of "halloween" and / or
Samhain. Eighteen poets from ten countries
submitted eighty haiku. You can read them all on the
October Haiku Thread.
Below are just thirteen haiku that
captured my attention:
Halloween sunset...
a witch's hat rolls down
a driveway
# 32. Jacek Margolak, PL
dusk
shadows of
a witch's hat
# 03. Gillena Cox, TT |
a
ghoulish grin—
candle light streams
from a pumpkin face
# 37. John Daleiden, US
|
jack-O-lantern:
piercing eyes
in the darkness
# 33. Keith A. Simmonds, TT |
haunted
house
a scent of roses and clove
lingers
# 77. Catherine J. S. Lee |
ghosts
and goblins
on moonlit walls—
shadow dancing
# 05. Karen O'Leary, US |
a flurry
of bats
across the gibbous moon
evening hush
# 73. Catherine J.S. Lee |
|
Halloween—
a spider's shadow
obscures the moon
# 10. Jacek Margolak, PL |
All of a
sudden
the night silence burst to bits—
cats in love
# 47. Vasile Moldovan, RO |
her satin
skin
the jack-o'-lantern flickers...
flickers... goes out
# 81. Rafal Zabratynski, PL |
masked
revellers
at the midnight hour...
witches' ball
# 16. Keith A. Simmonds, TT |
Halloween moon
my little Witch
closes her eyes
# 04. Jacek Margolak, PL
...and so we all
went home and put away our costumes. Well...not quite
yet...
Of course, since I
am just a tad bit superstitious, I can not end with thirteen
haiku, even though viewed in a more favorable light, thirteen
can be called a baker's dozen! Oh, no. I really can
not just pass up these senryu which in some way appeal to my
bizarre sense of humor.
mother-in-law's
face
on the biggest pumpkin
harvest moon
# 06. Terry Steudlein, US
crossing full
moon
on a broom
my x-wife
# 02. Ed Baker, US
re-lacing the
shoe
mud from yesterday's grave site
on his sole
# 48. Alan Summers, UK
a $40 pumpkin
rotting
on the front porch
# 20. Ed Baker, US
So...now it is time
for me to put away my wizard hat until next year. And like Tom
Bodett, 'We'll leave the light on for ya' just to keep all those
mean critters from lurking around your dark door.
And oh, just in case
you have not already done so, Read ALL the
October Haiku Thread.
