North Woods Winter Haiku

Recently on Twitter, several of us created the equivalent of a micro-anthology of Winter/North Woods Haiku. My Minnesota's initial contribution was posted here a few days ago. Since it's another brutal windchill January day, and there's not much happening outdoors around here, maybe it's a good time to share the entire sequence as initially tweeted.

night time snow storm

Photo by J. Harrington

Matthew Garcia (@MGhydro) started the sequence with:

Wisconsin North Woods Haiku:

Cold, cold, snowy cold.
Windy cold, blustery cold.
Cold and gray and cold.

I (@JohnHthePoet) responded with:

Minnesota Winter Haiku

S'cold, s'cold, bitter cold
Windchill howled: yet more cold
So cold. Go cold. Fold

To which Greg Seitz (@gregseitz) added:

Why you like the cold?
I think it makes us tough, I say
Makes us cold, she says

and Minnesota Land Trust came in with:

Minnesota Winter Haiku II

Ya sure it's real cold!
Being winter, dontcha know.
Bundle up! You betcha.

Then Matthew Garcia (@MGhydro) rejoined with

Wisc Winter Haiku II

Hoarfrost on windshields.
Is the battery dead? No!
But the days, so short…

Prompting Greg Seitz (@gregseitz) to contribute

Layers and layers
Not an inch of skin exposed
Somehow I'm still cold

While the haiku were piling up, they were also being retweeted. I felt compelled to add:

Winter Haiku III?

MN has snow and ice
Along with Minnesota Nice
Winter's warmth and spice

and, in response to a couple of photos tweeted by Clearwater Lodge (@ClearH2OLodge), brought the series to an end with:

Yet another
Minnesota Winter Haiku

Rime covers beards
where icicles crinkle -- glisten
North Woods Winter

snowflakes on pine needles

Photo by J. Harrington

Several times during this sequence, I felt as if I was a participant with long ago Japanese masters of haiku and tanka and renga. It felt good. Poetry, and northern Winters, can be fun, if you let them.

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