Haiku About the Ocean and Sea
Ocean haiku in this archive keep returning to the tide as a verb. Danielle Bongiovanni titles the poem The Ocean’s War. Blue overwhelms white, salt crashes AGAINST THE ROCKS
, and the last line settles the argument: THE OCEAN RECLAIMS ALL
. Ross McCooey has a quieter drowning. The poem sits in a TIDEPOOL EVENING
, the place WHERE DROWNS THE SUNSET
, and the ripples disperse until the light is gone.
Life on the shore
Juliet Wilson sees LOW MIST
and MUTE SWANS
riding the tide, a picture that needs no commentary because the swans make no sound. Georgia Smith’s GHOST CRABS SCURRY QUICK
over HUSKS LIT GREY BY BLANK MOONLIGHT
. Jackie Maugh Robinson follows a LONE SEAGULL
down the receding tide and closes with WIDOW’S WALK
, a single phrase that turns the shore into a place where people waited. The shore is where the sea shows what it has been doing, and each of these poems reads the evidence: swans on a tide, crabs on sand, a gull following the water out.
36 poems
THE OCEAN'S WAR
BLUE OVERWHELMS WHITESALT CRASHES AGAINST THE ROCKSTHE OCEAN RECLAIMS ALL
Issue #15, page 16
RIPPLES
RIPPLES DISPERSINGON A TIDEPOOL EVENINGWHERE DROWNS THE SUNSET
Issue #2, page 43
LOW MISTFIFTY MUTE SWANSON THE TIDE
Issue #8, page 11
AT SEA
AN APRIL MORNINGTHE TASTE OF SALT ON MY TONGUEWAVES CARESS THE BOW
Issue #6, page 15
GHOST CRABS
GHOST CRABS SCURRY QUICKHUSKS LIT GREY BY BLANK MOONLIGHTHAUNTED TIDES GUSTING
Issue #13, page 18
TIDES
LONE SEAGULLFOLLOWS THE RECEDING TIDE‒WIDOW’S WALK
Issue #11, page 41
THE SEASHORE
SHELLS AND DRIFTWOODLINE THE SHORE-THE OCEAN'S ART GALLERY
Issue #8, page 21
STARFISH
STARFISHTUMBLING TO SHORETHE NIGHT SKY DIMS
Issue #4, page 93
APRIL HAIKU 2
THE SALT OF MY BREATHBELIEVES IN THE OCEAN WIND–STORM NEAR HORIZON.
Issue #11, page 85
A GULL CAWS IN FLIGHTTHE ROLLING TIDE SEETHES FORWARDCRIES ECHO THE SURF
Issue #10, page 21
BODY SURFING~CHILD’S HAND ON PREGNANT BELLYRIDES THE WAVES
Issue #1, page 83
PRESENTS
UNFOLDING STARFISHLIKE REVERSE ORIGAMISCREAMING SILENTLY
Issue #7, page 53
Show all 36 poems
THE REEF
PREDATORY PLAYGROUNDSUNKEN SPLENDOR HIDESDEATH IN LANGUID SHADOWS
Issue #7, page 69
WANDERING GULLSHADOWY EVENING SHAKINGTHE SEA FATHER AWAY
Issue #8, page 29
OCEAN COCKTAIL
FROTHY AND BUBBLYFOAMY WITH EFFERVESCENCESALTWATER COCKTAIL
Issue #8, page 57
ALBATROSS
WEB-FOOTED SEABIRDGIFTED TWO SAND-CRUSTED PRINTSGLASSED WITH MATTE FINISH
Issue #8, page 93
SEAGULLS
PEACEFULNESS BROKENSEAGULL’S RANCOROUS LAUGHTERUNDULATING WAVES
Issue #8, page 99
DUNE FENCES
DUNE FENCESSAGGING ZIGZAGGING‒CLOUD BANKS
Issue #10, page 25
TEARDROPS
YOUR LIPS QUIVERINGAS TEAR DROPS SILENTLY FALLIN THE SALTY SEA
Issue #10, page 59
BEACH SCENE
COFFEE CUPS, BEER CANS,CANDY WRAPPERS, UNDERWEAR-STREWN ACROSS THE BEACH
Issue #11, page 55
MYRTLE BEACH
SCENIC MYRTLE BEACH.CLEAN BEACHES AND TOURIST TRAPS,PARTS OF THE SAME WHOLE.
Issue #12, page 31
GHOSTFISH
SUSHI SQUIRMS BENEATHSEAWEED SHEATHES PLUCKED FROM OCEANGARDENS GROW LIFE BACK
Issue #12, page 95
DROWNING
WATER SURROUNDINGTHE SHALLOW SILVER ROWBOATTRICKLING IN SLOWLY
Issue #13, page 42
EBBING SILVER TIDESSLIDING FROM ROCKY INLETEVER SO SLOWLY
Issue #13, page 47
AN UNNATURALLY FOGGY BAY
THE FOG SAT ON THE OCEANCONNECTING WATER AND SKY.CREATED DIVISION – NOW ONE.
Issue #14, page 36
WHITE FLORIDA BAY
SUNSET AT THE BAYWHERE FRESH AND SALT WATERS MEETUNION FORMS RIPPLES
Issue #14, page 37
SUNSET IN SAN CLEMENTE
RED ORANGE SUN SETSTOUCHING THE SILVER WATERSWARM HUES WHICH CARESS
Issue #15, page 11
TRANQUILITY
THE MOONS REFLECTIONCASTS A CELESTIAL SHADOWOVER THE CALM BAY.
Issue #15, page 34
THE BAY OF FUNDY
WIND CARVES ROCK; THE TIDECLEAVES THE LAND AND SEA…WILDNESS.TIME PASSING, AND STILL.
Issue #16, page 8
SAILORS TAKE WARNING
FIVE LONG DAYS AND NIGHTSTHE SEA CRASHES AROUND MERED SKY AT MORNING
Issue #16, page 45
OCEAN BLUE
SOOTHING WAVES OF SOUNDCERULEAN TO THE EYEEARTH’S BEATING HEART
Issue #17, page 11
A SOMBER MOURNING
BABY SEAL PASSES,LAST BREATH STARING AT MOUNTAINS,SOMBER WAVES MOURNING.
Issue #17, page 16
THE WHISPER OF WATER
WATER LAPS THE PIERWHISPERING SECRET STORIESOF SHIPWRECKS AND DEATH.
Issue #18, page 19
BRINY TROOP
SALT PILES, SIDE BY SIDENATURE’S BRINY TROOP ALIGNSEA SHORE DRESSED IN ICE
Issue #18, page 21
FORTRESS
IMPENETRABLEFORTRESS BY THE OCEAN; BREACHEDWAVES LAPPING THE SHORE
Issue #18, page 35
AUGUST
IN SUMMERTIME HEAT,PROMISES OF FOREVERDISSOLVE LIKE SEA FOAM.
Issue #18, page 42
Questions readers ask
Is an ocean haiku different from a sea haiku?
Not in any rule. Poets use the words interchangeably, and the poems on this page range from tidepools and salt air to open water. The setting matters more than the label.
Why do shore poems so often turn toward loss?
A tide goes out and comes back, and what it leaves behind is a record of what it took. The ocean reclaims, the sunset drowns, and a widow’s walk is the same scene told by someone who stayed behind.
Do sea poems need a shore?
Yes. Bill W. Melton sets one at sea on AN APRIL MORNING
, with THE TASTE OF SALT
and waves that caress the bow. The poem is all senses and no land.
More themes to read
Rivers and LakesRain and StormsBirdsMoon and StarsEvening and NightAll themes
Last reviewed November 2026. Poems are the work of the poets credited and link to their pages in the original issues.