THE SEA AND ITS HARBOURS ARCHIVE
CCCLI - CCCLXXXVI

 

# / Author
Haiku
CCCLI
Hugh Bygott
Summer tempest . . .
the sharks glide elegantly
to the calmer depths.
CCCLII
Rita Odeh
a lonely shell
aspires to the sea —
on the sleeping river
CCCLIII
Hugh Bygott
The twilight zone —
two angler fish begin the cycle:
always as one.

Since the haiku kigo is fundamentally related to the idea of transcience from the Japanese poetry of the Nara Period, I am trying to resolve the problem of the deep sea kigo by recognising two seasons, birth and death.

The male of the angler fish attaches itself to the larger body of the female and their blood circulations become one. Diversity is preserved as the ova are now fertilised by a continuous source of sperm. The twilight zone - the ocean depths - is the largest biome on the planet, 60% of the surface being covered by water of more than one mile deep. Given that 98% of sunlight intensity is lost after a depth of a few metres, the deep sea is a place of darkness. Remarkably, the depths have many flashes of light from chemical and biological processes. HB
CCCLIV
Rita Odeh
caught by
the mystery of that sea —
a wave
CCCLV
Vaughn Seward
Mid-day heat —
we sit in the sea breeze
under a palm.

There is a real phenomena called "sea breeze" that makes the shore cooler than it is inland. In the daytime, cool breezes invariably blow in from the ocean toward the land, rather than the other way around. They begin several hours before sunrise, reach a peak in the afternoon, and die out toward evening. Why does this happen?

In the morning, the sun beats down on both land and sea. But the sea isn't noticably warmed by the sunshine because it is so cold and vast. It has an inexhaustible appetite for heat energy. The land on the other hand is substantially warmed up by the sun's rays. As the land warms up, it warms the air above it, which expands and rises. The cooler, denser air that is sitting over the water then rolls in underneath it, sweeping over the beach and cooling bathers.

Adapted from "What Einstein Didn't Know" by Robert L. Wolke, page 143.
CCCLVI
Hugh Bygott
Deep sea anemonies
straddle the sulphur vent rocks . . .
this teeming life!

Here the kigo is 'vent rocks' where the high temperature of the deep ocean water approaches 18 degrees celsius. The contrasting kigo is dense water where the temperature approaches 4 degrees celsius which is when water has its maximum density. HB
CCCLVII
Vaughn Seward
Tidal pool —
glistening pebbles nestle
in a driftwood log.
CCCLVIII
Rita Odeh
It is surrounded
by the passionate sea
as I am by you.
CCCLIX
Hugh Bygott
Deep sea fatal light —
intermittently being lured,
the curious find nothing.

The depths of the ocean are a fairy land of flashing lights in the blackness. Marine organisms have adapted so that predators can lure other organisms. Violence is probably not a suitable topic for haiku, but this is the natural world, and the sensitive mayfly finds death just as easily in a spider’s web under a cherry tree.

The kigo in the above poem is fatal light. HB
CCCLX
Zhanna P. Rader
Night seashore —
interdital beetles emerge
onto the sand surface

Beetles Thinopinus pictus LeConte (Staphlyinidae) live on sand beaches in temporary burrows from which they emerge at night to prey on amphipods Orchestoidea calforniana. Zh.R.
CCCLXI
Hugh Bygott
Virginal,
the ice-seal'd lake longs for the sea ...
Vostok’s awakening.
CCCLXII
Zhanna P. Rader
Tidal line —
a tiger beetle
waits for its prey.
CCCLXIII
Vaughn Seward
Rising tide...
the sea reaches in toward
a sandy shore.
CCCLXIV
Zhanna P. Rader
Rocky shore —
a cypress, reaching out
towards the sea...
CCCLXV
Vaughn Seward
A rain drop
joins the vast pacific...
cold westerly.
CCCLXVI
Zhanna P. Rader
So close to the shore,
exhausted, I sink —
final push off the bottom...
CCCLXVII
Vaughn Seward
Early twilight —
a thick fog rolls in
over the harbour.

Good haiku, Vaughn. Zhanna
CCCLXVIII
Zhanna P. Rader
Fishing village
half-buried in snow —
smoke from the chimneys...
CCCLXIX
Dana-Maria Onica
moves and counter moves...
the sea invites me
to tango
CCCLXX
Isa Kocher
under covers
still cold
the sea keeps talking
CCCLXXI
Michele Harvey
early Easter Sunday
the answering bell
of a buoy
CCCLXXII
Zhanna P. Rader
Thousands of herring
swim as one body —
safety in numbers.
CCCLXXIII
Vaughn Seward
Sunny beach —
each successive wave,
almost the same.
CCCLXXIV
Zhanna P. Rader
Scuba-diving —
among the fish,
I become fish.
CCCLXXV
Dana-Maria Onica
Sydney's Harbour —
not larger than my hand,
says the boy
CCCLXXVI
Zhanna P. Rader
Morning tide —
a curlew runs after its shadow
then away from it.
CCCLXXVII
Vaughn Seward
Rising tide —
a piece of driftwood
lifts gently.
CCCLXXVIII
Zhanna P. Rader
Summer sea —
the sunset's surfing
the waves.
CCCLXXIX
Vaughn Seward
A creek flows
into the sea...its bank,
yesterday's sandbar.
CCCLXXX
Dana-Maria Onica
big wave ~
this leap I don't dare make...
CCCLXXXI
Vaughn Seward
We rush
to add another spire...
rising tide.
CCCLXXXII
Zhanna P. Rader
Scuba-diving —
the fish check me out
then go their ways.
CCCLXXXIII
Vaughn Seward
Bikini top...
a rising wave reveals
a sun tan.
CCCLXXXIV
Zhanna P. Rader
Frothy waves
lap hungrily at the sand —
the shore huts, empty.
CCCLXXXV
Who?
?
?
?
CCCLXXXVI
Zhanna P. Rader
Boat sails,
bright in autumn light —
the sea waves sparkle.