Haiku for National Haiku Writing Month – January 2026 Second Half

 

National Haiku Writing Month has been founded by the well known haiku poet Michael Dylan Welch. The goal is to write at least one haiku a day. National Haiku Writing Month is in its 14th year. [1] I enjoy writing to the prompts on Facebook. Here are some interesting links: [2]. Our prompter this month has been Peggy Hall Bilbro [3]. She has done so for the 6th time. Thank you very much for all you work, Peggy!

venice in winter 
walking along the canali 
to san marco 
~ Sunny Place In Winter [4]

neighbor's cat 
writhing on my back porch 
sunny and no snow 
~ Sunny Place In Winter 

shadows hiding under trees 
from the milky moon light 
on the fresh snow 
~ Shadow In Winter  

the birch trees 
are wearing hoarfrost 
a hearse passes 
~ Frost-Covered Trees 



it's snowing 
out of the fog 
an aster appears 
~ Winter Chrysanthemum 

first primroses 
still some snow at the edges 
and the warbler's song 
~ Bush Warbler

first plum blossoms 
competing with snowflakes 
watching from inside 
~ Plum Blossom 

rime ice 
under the steps
the grass moans 
~ Frozen Fog 

ghost lights floating 
between moor and graveyard 
we are to blind to see 
~ Hitodama

no howling 
only crunching steps 
unter the wolf moon 
~ Wolf Moon

they still chant 
in the old abbey at the maar 
 no eruption due 
~ Sleeping Mountain [5]



the icicles are hidden 
behind the ice flowers 
we huddle closer 
~ Great Coldness

sleeping ducks 
floating on water into a dream 
of sitting ducks 
~ Waterfowl Sleeping On Water 

cold rain 
icing the snowman 
for a moment 
~ Cold Rain

frosty morning 
we talk less and less 
what keeps the bus? 
~ Frost

the death of barry frost 
frost gripping me 
~ Frost [6]

whale watching 
out of season 
not my thing 
~ Whale Watching 

neighbor's dog 
chasing rabbits 
he only wants to play 
~ Rabbit

Links and Annotations:
[1] National Haiku Writing Month 
https://www.facebook.com/NaHaiWriMo  
[2] „To help with haiku fundamentals, please have a look at "Becoming a Haiku Poet" at https://www.graceguts.com/essays/becoming-a-haiku-poet. Please review the "Haiku Checklist" at https://www.graceguts.com/essays/haiku-checklist. I also recommend to read: https://www.nahaiwrimo.com/why-no-5-7-5 
[3] https://www.nahaiwrimo.com/meet-the-prompters/peggy-hale-bilbro   
[4] I've just read on of Donna Leon's novel, which play in Venice, but perhaps I thought of Thomas Mann's “Death in Venice” (German: Der Tod in Venedig), which I remember better from Visconti's movie [4a]. Or you recall the movie “Don't Look Now” [4b], which I remember better under the German title “Wenn die Gondeln Trauer tragen [When the gondolas bear mourning]; normally the German titles are abyssmal, but this time better than the English or Italian titles. Or you recall a trip to Venice like I do. 
[4a] “Death in Venice” (“Morte a Venezia”) is a 1971 historical drama film by Luchino Visconti, starring Dirk Bogarde.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_in_Venice_(film) 
[4b] “Don't Look Now” (“A Venezia... un Dicembre rosso shocking”) is a 1973 movie by Nicolas Roeg, adapted from a short story by Daphne du Maurier, starring Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_Look_Now 
[5] The picture shows Maria Laach Abbey [5a] and has been painted by Lukas Ruegenberg OSB [5b]. Laach means lake and is an old Caldera filled with water. I had this lake in mind, though strictly speaking it isn't a maar.
[5a] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Laach_Abbey 
[5b] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lukas_Ruegenberg 
[6] Barry Frost is a fictional character in the US-american TV series [6a] played by Lee Thompson Young [6b]. I admired his play and also how the crew dealt with his death – very moving performance especially by Angie Harmon as Jane Rizzoli. 
[6a] Rizzoli & Isles is a US-American crime drama television series (2010-2016).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rizzoli_%26_Isles  
[6b] Lee Thompson Young (1984-2013) was a US-American Actor.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Thompson_Young 

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