Haiku About Family
Family haiku do their best work with what is left between people. Ramesh Anand watches MY PARENTS IN SILENCE
on a swing at dusk in autumn, and nothing is wrong with the picture. The silence is the point, the easy kind that two people can share. Ira Schaeffer’s poem is about an absence: a mother knitted colorful, elaborate designs, and the sweaters are NOW FADED, UNWORN
, which tells you how much time has passed and who is gone.
The next generation arrives in two quick strokes. David M. Harris writes of a VASECTOMY SCAR
that is an old promise echoing, and then, in the last line, AND NOW, A DAUGHTER
, a poem in which the scar is the comic setup and the daughter is the answer. Laurie Kolp watches a CHILD’S HAND ON PREGNANT BELLY
that RIDES THE WAVES
, with body surfing and a growing family at the same moment.
Brothers and gorillas
Pattie Flint’s poem is about siblings and a garter snake: it SLITHERS AWAY AS ANTS CHASE
, and BROTHER PRODS IT BACK
. Cruelty and curiosity share a line, as they often do in a family. Roberta McDonald widens the picture: A CRACK IN THE WORLD
divides us from them, and a mother gorilla hugs its young across it. Family, in this poem, stretches across species. The line break after MOTHER
lets the gorilla be a parent first and an animal second.
38 poems
AUTUMN TWILIGHTMY PARENTS IN SILENCEON THE SWING
Issue #2, page 27
SWEATERS IN FLORIDA
MY MOTHER KNITTEDCOLORFUL ELABORATE DESIGNS—NOW FADED, UNWORN
Issue #4, page 19
VASECTOMY SCARECHO OF AN OLD PROMISEAND NOW, A DAUGHTER
Issue #3, page 65
BODY SURFING~CHILD’S HAND ON PREGNANT BELLYRIDES THE WAVES
Issue #1, page 83
CHILDHOOD
GARTER SNAKE WRITHINGSLITHERS AWAY AS ANTS CHASEBROTHER PRODS IT BACK.
Issue #2, page 85
A CRACK
A CRACK IN THE WORLDDIVIDES US AND THEM – MOTHERGORILLA HUGS YOUNG
Issue #14, page 22
REFLECTION
RAZOR IN MY HANDTHE FACE IN THE MIRROR ISTHAT OF MY FATHER
Issue #1, page 37
OLD TREASURES
IN MY MOTHER'S ATTICUNKNOWN ANCESTORS IN SEPIASMILING AT ME
Issue #3, page 109
AN ORANGE PEEL SCENTREMINDS ME OF GRANDMOTHER –MY GNARLED HANDS
Issue #5, page 71
SNOWY FOOTPRINTSSITTING IN THE COLISEUMMOTHER’S SMILE
Issue #1, page 41
A TREE BECOMES A MOTHERLY FIGURE
HANDS OF TREES REACH HIGHGATHERING BIRDS SO TO NESTSWAYS TO CRADLE THEM
Issue #5, page 59
PROTECTIONSUNFLOWER IN THE GREENHOUSEDAUGHTER IN A FATHER’S EYE
Issue #6, page 47
Show all 38 poems
APPLE OF EARTH’S EYE
DELICIOUS MOTHERBEARS OFFSPRING, FEEDING CHILDRENOF COLLECTIVE WORLD
Issue #2, page 95
MY MOTHER ON STEPSWATCHING FOR BLUEBIRDS SHE HEARSCALLS ME TO COME, SIT
Issue #3, page 17
THE MIDWIFE LEFT BEFORE DAWNMARS GLEAMED ON SCOURED TILES –EMPTY BIRD CAGE SWAYING AT AN OPEN WINDOW;
Issue #3, page 61
THE HANDOVER
BY NEON LIGHTSWILTING GARAGE FLOWERSPARENTS EXCHANGE
Issue #5, page 11
SEMI-DETACHED
FOR SALEFAMILY HOUSEGREAT POTENTIAL
Issue #5, page 15
ROOTS
SHE REMAINED INACTIVELONG ENOUGH TO PUT DOWN ROOTSHER DREAMS WITHERING IN THE WOMB
Issue #5, page 43
STILL LIFE, WITH PLUMS
HER SMALL, SUN-BROWNED HANDSLIFT UP THE BASKET OF PLUMS,A FRUITFUL HARVEST.
Issue #5, page 81
CHOICES?
YOUNG MUM DECIDING –FLUFFY DIAPERS ON THE LINE,OR THE EARTH'S FUTURE?
Issue #5, page 85
THE ONE NIGHTSTAND
IT WAS NEVER LOVEPASSION TOO MUCH TO CONTAINA FATHERLESS CHILD
Issue #6, page 53
SLOWLY SO SLOWLY
SLOWLY SO SLOWLYUNTYING THESE APRON STRINGS-HE LETS GO INSTANTLY
Issue #7, page 51
AGAIN AN AUNTAGAIN A MOURNER -SUCH PERFECT FINGERS
Issue #7, page 107
BREAKING TRUTHS
MY ASIAN COUSIN,A CHRISTIAN MARINE, CRIPPLEDTHE ANCESTRAL MOLD.
Issue #8, page 17
SCHOOL SUPPLIES
YOUR FATHER FORGOTSO I GO OUT LATE AT NIGHTTHE MOON UNDERSTANDS
Issue #10, page 97
#497
FOG...MY GRANDMOTHER TALKSTO HER DOLL
Issue #12, page 49
FATHERHOOD
I HAVE LOST MYSELF—PLAYING INTO THE DOLLHOUSE DRAMA,THE GOSSIP, OF MY DAUGHTER’S TOYS.
Issue #12, page 51
HEAVEN
EASTER VIGIL CANDLELIGHTBESIDE ME, GRANDDAUGHTERLOOKS UP, SMILING
Issue #14, page 29
CHILDBIRTHS
TWO HEIRS YOU’VE CARRIEDEMERGE, BIOGRAPHIES UNTOLD,HOWLING, AND HUNGERED
Issue #14, page 55
THE PILOT (GRANDPA)
TIN WINGS, CLOUD-FILLED DREAMS.NAVIGATING OVER, THROUGH…FOUND NOW IN BLUE SKIES.
Issue #15, page 57
THE PROMISE
MY FATHER PROMISEDTHE MOON AND THE STARS HE'LL GIVEHE GAVE ME MUCH MORE
Issue #16, page 10
FISHING
FISHING WITH GRANDPA.QUIETLY WE WAIT FOR THEM.ALL DAY LONG WE WAIT.
Issue #16, page 17
DANDELION
CHUBBY FINGERS PICKLOVE TOKENS IN MOMMY POTS.SUNSHINE ON A STEM.
Issue #16, page 43
BRACES
MY DAUGHTER’S BRACESHAVE PUT THE BITE ON MY PAY—NO BEACH FOR US NOW.
Issue #16, page 48
RIPPLES IN WATER
RIPPLES IN WATERHANDS CLASPED TIGHTLY IN LAUGHTERA CIRCLE OF FRIENDS
Issue #17, page 26
MY LITTLE
BOY'S GAP-TOOTH GRIN SPLITSTHROUGH MELANCHOLIA, CRACKSMAMA'S SMILE; SWEET SON.
Issue #17, page 32
A QUIET NIGHT
LIVING ROOM SNORING,A BIRD SINGS SOFTLY AT NIGHT,SWEET DREAMS FAMILY.
Issue #18, page 29
EXOTIC THINGS
BANANA PLANTS, AZALEAS:HOW I ENVY YOUMY FATHER’S ADORATION
Issue #18, page 39
Questions readers ask
What counts as a family haiku?
Any poem where a relationship, rather than a person, is the subject. A mother’s knitting, a parent’s silence and a brother’s prodding all qualify.
Why do parents come up so often?
Parents are where most of us begin, and a haiku can use a mother’s knitting or a pair of parents on a swing to say what a long account of a childhood would need pages to explain.
More themes to read
Children and ChildhoodMemoryLoss and GriefHomeTime and AgingAll themes
Last reviewed November 2026. Poems are the work of the poets credited and link to their pages in the original issues.