sick in winter
the infinite white
of the ceiling

Published by

Ernest Wit

Ernest Wit is an award-winning poet whose work has appeared in many haiku anthologies and journals including Modern Haiku, Frogpond, Acorn, and The Heron's Nest. Author of books of poems: "Bitter Wind", "Towards Light", "Black and White", "Singing the World a Prima Vista", "The Touch of the Intanglible", "A Hundred Likes". He runs a blog of his previously published and unpublished haiku at www.withaiku.blogspot.com and a publication on Substack at ernestwithaiku.substack.com.

8 thoughts on “”

  1. Moving and can relate: I published this ku in bottle rockets in 2018:

    bedridden
    the whiteness of
    hospital walls

  2. Very effective, Ernest -'infinite' speaks volumes.

    I have this 'illness-ku' here on tinywords from 31st July 2017, although it's perhaps a little more hopeful…

    on the mend . . .
    this long afternoon
    stitched by swallows

  3. I feel this could even allude to Matsuo Basho and his haikai verses about being sick on a journey, as well as this winter verse:

    .

    ?????????????

    umi kurete kamo no koe honoka ni shiroshi

    Matsuo Basho
    1684–85
    Journal of Bleached Bones in a Field

    a darker sea
    becomes white and faint
    in a wild duck’s voice

    trans. Alan Summers

    .

    the smell of old white
    everything is replicated
    in me

    Alan Summers
    Prune Juice: Journal of Senryu, Kyoka, Haibun & Haiga Issue 21: March, 2017 ed. Steve Hodge

    .

  4. True…

    When infinity is present, there should be everlasting genesis…
    mating of disease and health !
    so i gather hope in this very sad scenery …
    Thank you !

  5. Thank you for your thought-provoking comments. I’d like to add that ‘celing’ might be a harsh equivalent of ‘heaven’, the two things similar by contrast. ‘Celing’ – white, hard, concrete, and low. ‘Heaven’ – blue, soft, ethereal, and high.

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