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 He runs a blog of his previously published and unpublished haiku at www.withaiku.blogspot.com and a publication on Substack at ernestwithaiku.substack.com.
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Simple but very nice…
Moving and can relate: I published this ku in bottle rockets in 2018:
bedridden
the whiteness of
hospital walls
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
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
.
Very nice juxtaposition through the single word, white.
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 !
ice storm —
chemotherapy
cancelled
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.