HAIKU DIALOGUE – World of Animals – Domestic Creatures (Pets and More) – long list

World of Animals with Guest Editor Nancy Brady

As a child, all I wanted to do was learn to read, and I couldn’t wait for first grade because that was when reading was taught. Unfortunately, my younger sister didn’t appreciate the fact that I’d rather read my book when she’d rather play outside so she’d hide it. We’d play, but I finally had a work-around for missing books. I’d randomly choose a volume from our family’s Funk & Wagnall’s encyclopedia. At the time I just thought I was the weird kid. In retrospect, I suspect I wasn’t the only one who spent time with random volumes of encyclopedias. Regardless, I discovered all sorts of things including my favorites:  animals.

Whether it was learning about wombats (still my favorite marsupial) or another kind of animal, I found (and find) the natural world fascinating.  Even now, I find myself watching Nature on PBS as they present programs featuring all sorts of animals, from the smallest to the largest and often those that are being rehabilitated or are in danger of becoming extinct. This brings me to the subject of the next couple of prompts – I am looking for haiku about animals of all kinds, from invertebrates to vertebrates. Each prompt will have a particular focus. Please join me in exploring the zoological world.

For inspiration, listen to They Might Be Giants’ “Mammal”.

Below is Nancy’s selection of poems on the topic Domestic Creatures (Pets and More):

Pets

may often resort
to deviltry when bored
—my basenji & i

Curt Linderman
Seattle

 

petrichor
a calico laps
at the moon

Billie Dee
Tacoma, WA, USA

 

mother’s day
the puppies warm
to her milky teat

R. Suresh Babu
India

 

after ten years
I understand
two words of dog

Christopher Seep
USA

 

talk therapy
my friend’s service Yorkie
perks up her ears

Jackie Chou
Pico Rivera, California, US

 

unwanted trip
our cat shivers with fear
when our boat heels

Pris Campbell
U.S.

 

shooting star
my cat i used to
tell secrets to

Stephen A. Peters
Bellingham, WA

 

my dog ​​solemnly
gives his paw to my aunt who…
avoids animals

Urszula Marciniak
Poland

 

housebreak alarm
our old tomcat
slips into shadow

John Hawkhead
UK

 

prowling shadow and light . . .
the empty sofa arm
still fur warm

David Cox
Torquay, UK

 

grass-stained tennis ball
they call their collie
Wimbledon!

Maxianne Berger
Outremont, Quebec

 

a walk in the park
my dog is leading me
to that girl again

Boryana Boteva
Sofia, Bulgaria

 

Backing vocals –
the dog howls along to
Eurovision

Caroline Ridley-Duff
UK

 

autumn path —
my dog nudges aside
the moonlight

Sanjana Zorinc
Croatia

 

Sonoran tortoise
basks under warm winter sun
mid February

Veronica Hosking
Avondale, AZ

 

catio
a lizard escapes with
nary a nibble

Eavonka Ettinger
Long Beach, CA

 

family reunion –
the cat meets
everyone

Daniela Lăcrămioara Capotă
Romania

 

black or white
kittens calling
take me, take me

Dejan Ivanovic
Lazarevac, Serbia

 

the fourth wall—
when goldfish kiss
their reflection

Mark Gilbert
UK

 

a cat’s patch
of savanna grass
backyard stalks

Steve Bahr
Roseburg, OR

 

spring near —
Akita’s nose
in the grass

Keiko Izawa
Japan

 

her dewy nose nudge . . .
same beginning
new day

Debbie Sterling
Oregon, USA

 

spilled milk
all innocent eyes
on the cat

Jagajit Salam
Imphal, India

 

through the window
shared howls
moonlit echo

Rebeca Thomas
Arizona, US

 

Night in the city.
With a stray cat I share
a deserted street.

Herwig Stas
Meldert (Belgium)

 

spring walk
to get closer to people
it takes a dog

Luciana Moretto
Treviso, Italy

 

awakening
a cat’s claws deep
in the cherry

Zoltan Pachnik
Hungary

 

the peacock
displays its feathers
Valentine’s Day

Marie Derley
Ath Belgium

 

arranged marriage
only my dog and I
compatible

Jahnavi Gogoi
Ajax, Ontario, Canada

 

dead of winter
my dog takes me
for a walk

Sean Murphy
MD, USA

 

Your face on the mantel
long leash on the wall
bark of every dog

Sudha Devi Nayak
Bhubaneswar India

 

stick figure family
on my car’s back window
the best dogs ever

Margaret Tau
New Bern, North Carolina

 

jingling leash
he sprints to the door
paws trot

Sudha Shetty
Kerala, India

 

light enough
for our toddler to hold
adopted kitten

Barrie Levine
Massachusetts, USA

 

new blanket —
first ray of sun
on my dog

Mariangela Canzi
Italy

 

setting sun –
the cat’s paw
behind the ear

sole al tramonto-
la zampetta del gatto
dietro l’orecchio

angiola inglese
Italia

 

thumping
running—
house rabbit

Patricia Haddock
San Francisco, CA

 

my mixed-breed
bellies up to the dog bowl
barks out her order

Sari Grandstaff
Saugerties, NY, USA

 

morning moon
three strays wait
outside the gate

Neena Singh
India

 

bright parrot —
shouting our names
when we come home

Minko Tanev
Bulgaria

 

home alone
the dog and me
equally bored

Biswajit Mishra
Canada

 

frilly pink bed
where our cat chose
to have kittens

Kathabela Wilson
USA

 

at my feet
the dawn opens
to my cat’s yawns

Lakshman Bulusu
Princeton NJ, USA

 

monsoon…
enjoying the puddles
my overzealous poodle

Nisha Raviprasad
India

 

morning drizzle
the beagle wakes me
and falls asleep

Padma Rajeswari
Mumbai

 

feeding stray dogs
this language
of heads and tails

Ravi Kiran
India

 

among snow and crumbs
in the balcony feeder —
tits, my willow pets

Goda Virginija Bendoraitienė
Lithuania

 

whimpers
of our new puppy —
autumn wind

Rashmi Buragohain
India

 

through the cat-flap
brother’s tomcat and
winter cold

Nikola Đuretić
Zagreb, Croatia

 

my pet spider spins
an excuse in filigree
no dusting again

Robert Clark
United Kingdom

 

more lives
than our cat
pet goldfish

thomas david
United Kingdom

 

how quickly
she domesticates me
this little cat

Bryan Rickert
Belleville, Illinois

 

free therapy
my schnauzer’s furry head
rests on my knee

Tracy Davidson
Warwickshire, UK

 

sun drenched spot
kitty curls up to nap
dreams of summer

Kathleen Mazurowski
Chicago, IL

 

chasing dragonflies
with a red cape
cocker spaniel

Anthony Rabang
Philippines

 

rare Texas snow
our collie leaps
to catch a flake

Christa Pandey
Austin, TX, USA

 

spring sunset –
my cat’s gift
on the mat

Nazarena Rampini
Italy

 

daily walk
dog beside me
— still

Barbara Grueger
Whitehorse Yukon

 

my son’s Mini Rex
dies in my arms,
she was my baby too

Vera Kochanowsky
Falls Church, Virginia

 

she pulls
the puppy closer
hawk

Cindy Putnam Guentherman
Loves Park, IL, USA

 

drizzle –
my cat’s nose
ticks my skin

Daniela Misso
Italy

 

zen garden
the tomcat’s transgressions
go unnoticed

Jenn Ryan-Jauregui
Tucson Arizona USA

 

his wife . . .
a faded painting
of cats

Bipasha Majumder (De)
India

 

sleep deprivation
pushing through
the puppy phase

Pamela Jeanne
Yukon, Canada

 

his cage—
the dust
in a sleeping curve

Nitu Yumnam
UAE

 

kids in the garden…
new stroller for the kitten
my wicker basket

Steliana Cristina Voicu
Ploiesti, Romania

 

heatwave—
the rag-doll cat
lolling on stone

Gwen Bitti
Australia

 

swimming in circles
something I share
with the goldfish

Morgan Ophir
Sydney, Australia

 

prick of the ear
he lets me test
feline sweetness

Adele Gallogly
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

 

his soft lips
gently nibble my fingers…
our blue-eyed koi

Rita R. Melissano
Rock Island, IL USA

 

her new therapist
Sully
the rescue

Susan Farner
USA

 

childhood sorrow —
under the plastic palm tree
my dead pet turtle

Mark Meyer
Mercer Island WA USA

 

a peck on my lips
the night he died
blue budgie

Ruth Holzer
Potomac Falls, VA

 

purrculated
cat café coffee
feline groovy

John S Green
Bellingham, Washington

 

all-out effort…
braving a green iguana
on my shoulder

Sumitra Kumar
India

 

our parrot
spills the beans
runny dal

Arvinder Kaur
Chandigarh India

 

before the meeting
on the nanny cam
the kittens

Quamrul Hassan
Fayetteville, Arkansas

 

pampas grass
our dog balking
at the footbridge

Lev Hart
Calgary, Canada

 

after dinner…
the four second recall
of the labrador

simonj
UK

 

afternoon fireplace
the rhythm
of my cat’s nap

Maya Daneva
The Netherlands

 

snug on my chest
the blind cat’s deep rumble
spring days

Rupa Anand
New Delhi, India

 

inflatable toys
our attempts
to make goldfish fly

Geetha Ravichandran
India

 

the black kitten
that followed me to school
every stray cat I see

Richard Straw
Cary, North Carolina

 

old Japanese Spitz
his vet doesn’t advise me
to find a mate

Tejendra Sherchan
Nepal

 

quizzing me
on collective nouns
my sup-purr-visor

Roberta Beach Jacobson
Indianola, IA, USA

 

full moon
mocking at my pet dog
barking under the bare tree

Swarna Bopali de Zoysa
Sri Lanka

 

duskfall —
the neighbourhood stray
leads me home

Mona Bedi
India

 

spring meadow
the thrill of the wild
for my old tom cat

Annie Wilson
Shropshire, UK

 

heatwave…
my puppy refuses
the hot dog

Cezar Ciobica
Romania

 

sunrise
leaping onto the bed
my orange cat

Elizabeth Shack
Illinois

 

the only myth
i wish was true
nine lives

Margaret Anderson
Vancouver, BC

 

dad feeds the cat
I feed my tamagotchi—
split infinitive

Adele Evershed
Wilton, Connecticut

 

kneading my back –
I hire my cat
as a shiatzu therapist

Cristina Povero
Italy

 

old afghan
the dog and I
sharing winter

Ann K. Schwader
Westminster, CO

 

echoing emptiness
our parakeet’s
death day

Sheila Sondik
Bellingham, Washington

 

saffron cat
poised on the sill . . .
Egyptian queen

Ann Sullivan
Arlington, MA USA

 

when the cat’s away …
a flash mob of finches
at the feeder

Sarah Paris
Santa Rosa, CA

 

Domesticated Animals

with cows
as neighbors
peace

Barbara Anna Gaiardoni
Verona – Italy

 

deer farmer
she keeps a fragile fawn
when selling up

Ann Rawson
Scotland UK

 

part of their herd
Jersey cows
licking my hand

Olivier Schopfer
Geneva, Switzerland

 

sunset
the moos of cows
in step with tinkles

Subir Ningthouja
Imphal, India

 

yelling at the calf
to come to the fence—
kindergarten kids

Tony Williams
Scotland, UK

 

newborn calf —
the same warm milk
for me

Vaishnavi Ramaswamy
Chennai, India

 

before the race —
my head buried
in her mane

Sathya Venkatesh
Coimbatore

 

Milk of kindness
Chews the day thoughtfully
Grass grazed with grace

Uma Padmanabhan
Kolkata, West Bengal

 

orchard after rain –
an old donkey noses fallen apples
choosing the sweet one

Dan Campbell
Virginia

 

carefully sniffing
my offer of carrots
rejected again

Deborah Karl-Brandt
Sinzig, Germany

 

Mother’s Day
the piglets begin
to wean

Valentina Ranaldi-Adams
Fairlawn, Ohio USA

 

milk and cheese–
tilling soil all day
carabao

Federico C. Peralta
Philippines

 

sunset —
the cows come home
with heavy udders

Stoianka Boianova
Bulgaria

 

morning oats
our bay filly
nips my elbow

AJ Johnson
Stephens City, VA USA

 

farmer’s house
lifting the barricade
he lets the cattle out

Govind Joshi
Dehradun, India

 

keeping eggs warm
that will never hatch
backyard hen

Kerry J Heckman
Seattle, WA

 

return journey…
silence from
the cattle truck

Melissa Dennison
UK

 

way home – an owner after his donkey

Ivan Georgiev
Germany

 

goat meets pig
the Chinese zodiac
says go for it

Cynthia Anderson
Yucca Valley, California

 

sent on search
my dog carefully carries
the rabbit in its mouth

Helga Stania
Switzerland

 

morning cold –
the warmth
of fresh-laid eggs

Hynek Koziol
Czech Republic

 

protecting herbs
my blue tongue lizard
consumes the garden
snails

wanda amos
Australia

 

paper route . . .
palomino parting
the morning mist

Monica Kakkar
India and United States of America

 

wet courtyard
the hen’s scratch marks
fill with rain

Nalini Shetty
Mumbai, India

 

Pinocchio daydream
my wooden horse
turns into a real one

susan burch
Hagerstown, MD

 

a silhouette
in the early dawn mist
listless packhorse

Arrigo Bassi
Switzerland

 

white and brown coats
two therapy cows
from the community

Madeleine Kavanagh
Northern California

Join us next week for Nancy’s commentary on additional poems…

Bios:

Guest Editor Nancy Brady is a pharmacist by profession, a haiku and senryu poet by nature. She often found inspiration on her treks back and forth to work as a pharmacist; her first book of haiku, Ohayo Haiku, was a foray into publishing haiku. Three Breaths, her second book, is a mix of haiku, senryu, alternative forms, and other poems. Her work has appeared in journals all over the globe (both print and electronic) and has been rejected by many more. Nancy also writes other genres and has published a children’s book, The Adventures of Aloysius, in November 2023. It is catalogued in the Library of Congress. She also reads lots of novels. Her favorite is, and remains, Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged, but she is also a big Harry Potter fan. Now retired from the pharmacy profession, she works part-time for the local Board of Elections and volunteers at Old Woman Creek National Estuarine Research Center. She, her husband Rob, and their cat, Regulus Arcturus Black, live in Huron, Ohio, a block from Lake Erie, where the bird population is constantly changing.

Assistant Editor Lafcadio, a former teacher, now works from home writing, editing and proofreading study guides for nursing textbooks. She lives in Tennessee. She has written poetry for a long time but a couple of years ago fell in love with Japanese micropoetry and hasn’t looked back. Lafcadio has been published in a number of journals and anthologies. She writes under the nom de plume of Lafcadio because nom de plume is so fun to say. You can read her poems on Twitter (X) @lafcadiopoetry or BlueSky @lafcadiobsky.

Assistant Editor Vandana Parashar is an associate editor of haikuKATHA and one of the editors of Poetry Pea and #FemkuMag. Her debut e-chapbook, I Am, was published by Title IX Press (now Moth Orchid Press) in 2019 and her second chapbook Alone, I Am Not, was published by Velvet Dusk Publishing in April 2022.

Lori Zajkowski is the Post Manager for Haiku Dialogue. She lives in New York City and enjoys reading and writing haiku.

Managing Editor Katherine Munro lives in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, and publishes under the name kjmunro. She served as Membership Secretary for Haiku Canada for ten years, and her debut poetry collection is contractions (Red Moon Press, 2019). Find her at: kjmunro1560.wordpress.com.

Portrait by Laurel Parry

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Haiku Dialogue offers a triweekly prompt for practicing your haiku. Posts appear each Wednesday with a prompt or a selection of poems from a previous week.