Johnette Downing Poetry
Poet, Musician, Author, and Illustrator
When I began my life-long journey as a haiku poet, I was not taught the 5-7-5 grade school method of counting syllables. Instead, I adopted the modern Western approach to haiku which I define as:
a short, unrhymed, one breath poem of Japanese origin consisting of 17 syllables or fewer, written in three lines or fewer, with two concrete images separated by a pause in juxtaposition relating nature to human nature.
The modern Western approach of not counting syllables is widely accepted by haiku masters and scholars as it better expresses in English the essence of Japanese haiku: the Zen-like quality of being in the moment and the “ah ha” moment of discovery.
ripples in the pond
my mother’s face
in mine
—Haiku International Association Honorable Mention Award
Mercury retrograde. . .
the old clock
tock tick
—2024 Robert Spiess Memorial Haiku Award Winner
Moroccan sky
the clouds
in Arabic
—Frogpond, Volume XXIX Number 3, 2006
midsummer—
the boat tips
toward the whale
—The Heron’s Nest, September 2023
Virals, The Haiku Foundation, August 22, 2024
withered chrysanthemum-
the warmth
of a tea cup
—Frogpond, Volume XXVIII Number 1, 2005
winter wind—
thinness
of the dog’s bark
—Poetry X Collage, Kolaj Institute, Volume 5, 2023
mountain hike
a cairn
a rock higher
—Poetry X Collage, Kolaj Institute, Volume 5, 2023
her dementia
I sort the stones
from the rice
—The Temple Bell Stops, 2012
lunch box
her doll
a stowaway
—bottle rockets, #46, 2022
a double-dog dare
sourball
candy
—bottle rockets, #46, 2022
tide pool –
children
come and go
—bottle rockets, #46, 2022
foxglove
the choir
in new robes
—Modern Haiku, Issue 52:3, 2022
r
e
March winds v
his o
c o m b
—bottle rockets, #45, 2021
Chinese take-out
the cat waves
waves
—Window Seats, A Contemporary Anthology of Cat Haiku & Senryu, bottle rockets press, 2021
“he loves me not”
she adds another petal
to the chalk flower
—bottle rockets, Volume 17 No. 1 or #33, 2015
cormorant
fishing
for himself
—bits of itself, Haiku Society of America’s Member’s Anthology 2002
Zen garden
a single
chime
—bottle rockets, Volume 6 No. 1 or Simply #11, 2004
Morse code
stop
birds on a line
—bottle rockets, Volume 6 No. 2 or Simply #12, 2005
beaten to death
for candy
piñata
—gatherings: a haiku anthology, bottle rockets press, #13, 2008
thrift store
second hand
smoke
—Modern Haiku, Issue 41:3, Autumn 2010
origami frog
with each tap
of the finger
—Nisqually Delta Review
winter chill
a love song my father wrote
not to my mother
—bottle rockets, Volume 17 No. 2 or Simply #34, 2016
—dust devils, The Red Moon Anthology of English-Language Haiku 2016
magnolia blossom
I unfold the kimono
instructions
—Frogpond, Volume 37:2, 2014
—big data: The Red Moon Anthology of English-Language Haiku 2014
Nicaraguan night
I translate
the dog's bark
—Frogpond, 30:3, Volume XXX Number 3, 2007
—The Haiku Foundation Haiku App Database 2012
polka dots
farther apart
at the hips
—Frogpond, Volume XXX Number 1, 2007
—dust of summers: The Red Moon Anthology of English-Language Haiku 2007
dishwater sky
we walk through
the rinse cycle
—Frogpond, Vol. 33, No. 1, 2010
—Charlotte Digregorio’s Daily Haiku, January 5, 2016
first teen dance
first time she doesn’t wave
first
—bottle rockets, Volume 11 No. 2 or #22, 2010
—Charlotte Digregorio’s Daily Haiku, July 31, 2016