Haiku Page of the Passionate Crone

Wet Spring: December haiku 2011

2011-12-31T17:28:00.001-08:00

wet Spring
my parsley dies
anyway

1/12/11

fairytale mountains
misty in the crevices
outlines floating clear

2/12/11

Who comes silently
in the rain
glimpsed as a shadow?

5/12/11

the day is over
told the truth
and we all survived

**********************

he goes to bed now
head aching
a long kiss goodnight

#lunes

9/12/11

full moon eclipse night
overcast
we’re early to bed

#lune

10/12/11

sleeping cat
paw covering eye
‘Do Not Disturb’

16/12/11

the atheists
have all the best arguments
come to the same end

18/12/11

at SummerSolstice
all I ask of the Goddess
is my darling’s health

22/12/11

a quiet circle
as two old people
observe the Solstice

the earth quakes
a cyclone threatens
we breathe deep

guided by instinct
we pray for balance
and a good outcome

23-4/12/11

I read poetry
quietly
the porridge burns

*****************

when I was four
my first naked pink earthworm
so alien I ran screaming

28/12/11

poetry workshops
in Pentridge Prison
time of my life

(Details)

29/12/11

no Christmas greeting
yet no obituary
for her a new year?

31/12/11

Oh Summer, Summer! November haiku 2011

2011-11-30T13:47:00.000-08:00

early morning
yells and slamming doors
arouse the street

11/11/11

I dance to Janis
Me & Bobby McGee
and my broom

12/11/11

morning
cats and coffee
wake me

18/11/11

frothy ocean
the tangy smell of spray
oh Summer, Summer!

25/11/11

Seasonal Colours

2011-11-03T15:42:00.000-07:00

across the world

the waning days of Fall

are inspiring poets

brown leaves,

gold, orange and red

variations of light

in my garden

late Spring presents

mystery

I remember

orange blooms cascading

down the fence

now on those vines

white flowers with crimson centres

flare and drop

the others

were winter flowers

startling

these new

delicate blossoms

embody Spring

it must be

that different vines

entangle

Submitted for Poets United's Thursday Think Tank #73.

I'm indebted to the prompt for some of the (stolen) phrases in 1.
The autumn leaf picture by Ella Wilson comes from there too.

Muffled thunder: October haiku 2011

2011-11-03T06:27:00.000-07:00

playing chasey

the incoming tide

laughing

*********

quiet rain

tonight the world mourns

dead genius

‘Retweet if you’re

touching an Apple product.’

I am, of course.

6/10/11

cold morning

woken too early

restless cats

my man wakes

demands the time

back to sleep

get up feed the cats

I’m awake

the cats are resting

#haiku #senryu #lune

7/10/11

wet Spring

the cacti grow

invisibly

13/10/11

playing online

nourished by haiku

I forget breakfast

15/10/11

the empty bin

is propped on its side

by the yellow lid

across the road

the garbage bin looks jaunty

propped on its yellow lid

21/10/11

the clock

ticks loudly

late

28/10/11

imagine

light through the trees

grey magic

*************

I prepare muesli

offering

to Hestia first

29/10/11

muffled thunder

the women meet

share secrets

30/10/11

Friday 7 Oct. 2011

2011-10-06T13:39:00.000-07:00

cold morning

woken too early

restless cats

my man wakes

demands the time

back to sleep

get up feed the cats

I’m awake

the cats are resting

#haiku #senryu lune#

Submitted for dVerse FormForAll prompt: Haiku and Senryu
OK I snuck in a lune as well. I like lunes. And I should add for new readers that these days, like many contemporary haikuists,
I favour short/long/short lines over 5/7/5.

He strokes my hair: September haiku 2011

2011-09-30T01:57:00.001-07:00

cold rain

visitor arriving soon

for the sun

2/9/11

blessed boredom

the opposite of

a Chinese curse

7/9/11

(in response to a challenge

to write a ‘boredom’ haiku)

he strokes my hair:

‘sleep now,

and in the morning ...’

10/9/11

peaceful

blue evening

windless

three-quarter moon

low in the sky

one star

the little street

sleeps

behind curtains

16/9/11

reading your poems

I hear gamelan music

and miss Bali

24/9/11

while I sleep

on the other side of the world

new haiku

******

I wake and find

new haiku on facebook

spring blossoms

27/9/11

Friday. Eye test.

Pay bills, shop, urgent phone calls.

Haiku, whats that?

30/9/11

August chill: August haiku 2011

2011-08-30T15:44:00.000-07:00

sunny morning

the red lid of my bin

against green lawn

5/8/11

he left lights burning

lids off food

yet we miss him now

12/8/11

August chill

invades the house

despite heater

morning sneezes

ring through the house

shake us up

this old poncho

I made when my kids were small

still warms me

morning coffee

my defence against

August chill

*********

Friday

sneezing

haiku!

19/8/11

winter hunkers down

a last long stretch of cold wet

after hints of spring

21/8/11

Some old ones from 2005:

The doves are cooing

over and over again,

disturbing our peace.

***********

The tree sends tendrils

up under the overhang …

seeking shade or light?

(rediscovered 22/8/11)

June 11

Lune sequence

The day has gone past.

I breathe in.

(My second wedding.)

Often I forget

for some hours

why this date rings bells.

I wore a pink dress —

miniskirt —

and my highest heels.

Heather was bridesmaid.

Promises now

to email; doesn’t.

The best man was Jim.

Years later

gave Bill’s eulogy.

(Another oldie rediscovered and reworked.)

12/6/10 - 22/8/11

Rising from dry grass

the Grevillea trembles.

Look! A king parrot.

17/01/06

(Rediscovered 22/8/11)

Not pitter patter

more of a sonic boom

rain in the tropics

********

rain interferes

with my internet access

comments disappear

23/8/11

Creating haiku —

a solitary calling?

Ha, ha! No, crowded.

26/8/11

poetry

between hard realities

a pause for breath

*************

red cribbage pegs

my Grandpa teaching me

sixty years ago

28/8/11

In Another Country

prognosis

terminal and soon ...

are you still there?

your fine brain

undervalued

erupts

your brain creates

more and more cells

trying harder

your mind

expands and narrows

the focus

my mind

fixed on your dying

stops

I do nothing

think

of nothing else

you think

of those around you

dying or ?

you think

of those who have left

the ward

you are 18

you think of a future

you dreamed

29/8/11

Suddenly: July haiku 2011

2011-07-30T01:24:00.001-07:00

suddenly

the vine blossoms orange

winter sun

vine flowers

long loops of honey

climb the trees

warm winter

green weeds and parsley

spring up

1/7/11

carrying kindling

I reach to pat my new dog

she flinches sharply

(No I don’t have a new dog; this describes an incident far past.)

********

sunny morning

my stepson’s confident voice

clear over Skype

8/7/11

wet night full moon unseen

15/7/11

dark night

rain falling softly

low voices

21/7/11

Lune Sequence for Suzanne

a cold day indoors

I listen

as an old friend sings

her voice high and strong

in my ears

her words plain and sweet

I‘m on my own here

my headphones

wrapped around my skull

and she doesn’t know

I hear her

remembering well

29/7/11

Small treats: June haiku 2011

2011-06-25T15:42:00.001-07:00

mild evening

streaks of pink cloud

lengthening

bright evening

inky mountains

under light sky

clear evening

crickets chirping
on the way home

evening darkens

black bats set out

just visible

4/6/11

smell coconut oil —

instantly

seventies Bali

******

the smell of mown grass

after rain —

childhood afternoon

all of us huddled

behind glass

cosy from the cold

10/6/11

autumn sunlight

the mountains clear-edged

and I’m sneezing

17/6/11

small treats

fresh fish instead of tinned

the money goes

frugality

rebelled against, becomes

essential

24/6/11

Fallen petals: May haiku 2011

2011-05-30T20:48:00.003-07:00

In Spring She fills
earth’s cup with violets,
overflowing.

3/5/11

you away
sounds of you absent
though I listen

7/5/11

while I’m ill
my fine strong basil bush
dies of cold

13/5/11

pale sunset
mountains turning indigo
in the last light

surrounded
in childhood in old age
by mountains

let me sing you
safely through the land
old land

let me sing you
through the mountains
dark is falling

darkness gathers
the old mountains
stand their ground

15/5/11

in spring-like warmth
my rose blooms again
every autumn

20/5/11

the silent people
watch from around the edges
of memory

21/5/11

Double Take

One Nation (Palin) —
Aussies share a private joke:
Sarah/Pauline. Twins.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Nation_(Australia)

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/sarah-palin-to-embark-on-surprise-one-nation-tour/

What’s in a name?
Palin/Pauline, One Nation
in conformity.

27/5/11

still no word
from my young friend
in chemo

28/5/11

fallen petals
the rose still blooms
on the ground

31/5/11

Late night: April haiku 2011

2011-05-01T02:45:00.000-07:00

late night

in our quiet street

loud yelling

1/4/11

pink evening

the sun fades gently

good night

8/4/11

I step

into my garden

temple

13/4/11

from the world’s quarrels

I retreat to my garden

and read Neruda

15/4/11

Good Friday

buns in the oven

breakfast in bed

**************

Good Friday

sweat in my eyes

hot and cross

22/4/11

the writers’ group

met and talked

about writing

******

wild rain

darkens the night

coming home

29/4/11

Samhain night

otherworld coming close

watching Dr Who

30/4/11

After the hard day: March haiku 2011

2011-04-01T05:53:00.000-07:00

heatwave
my own sweat
stings

3/3/11

early autumn breeze
softening
early morning heat

6/3/11

tsunami
advancing across the screen
unfathomable

******

can turn off
the TV news, but not
the images

12/3/11

even the angels
tender-hearted
cry now for Japan

13/3/11

even after quakes
even after tsunamis
there are butterflies

14/3/11

After the hard day
and late night
at last my soft bed!

******

A cloudy morning.
I ask which way the wind blows.
Is it from Japan?

18/3/11

Elizabeth’s dead
the night sky very dark
and bright with stars

******

can’t die, is dead
just eight years older than me
marker of my life

******

absent now
who was always a presence
all my life

24/3/11

with autumn here
must my life force
start to fade?

(a response to some burgeoning-Spring haiku on facebook)

******

as my days dwindle
I fall into dreamtime
you spring, light, awake

27/3/11

Warm evening: (other)* February haiku 2011

2011-02-28T04:08:00.000-08:00

Cool day.
I take my walk early
before the rain.

7/2/11

autumn afternoon
tasting honey —
delicious!

**************

warm evening
watering the garden
through a rainbow

**************

late tomatoes
plumper and redder
sampled by birds

20/2/11

the electric fan
blows hard
last night of summer

28/2/11

*other than those written for NaHaiWriMo

NaHaiWriMo #28

2011-02-28T04:01:00.001-08:00

summer ends
friends argue and blame
I lose heart

NaHaiWriMo #27 (2)

2011-02-26T22:41:00.001-08:00

under the carport
wide-eyed owl immobilised
by the sensor light

NaHaiWriMo #27

2011-02-26T16:55:00.000-08:00

from my bed
through the new curtain
soft new light

NaHaiWriMo #26

2011-02-26T16:40:00.001-08:00

my cat
knows his place
on the bed

NaHaiWriMo #25

2011-02-24T14:45:00.001-08:00

wrestling
with facebook
slow connection

NaHaiWriMo #24

2011-02-24T14:43:00.000-08:00

disappearing
in a misty future
blue planet

NaHaiWriMo #23

2011-02-22T12:57:00.003-08:00

cold morning
earthquake news
broadcast live

NaHaiWriMo #22

2011-02-21T05:43:00.000-08:00

big thunder
cracks right over us
ah, cool change

NaHaiWriMo #21

2011-02-20T05:28:00.001-08:00

every night:
‘Bedtime!’ then detours
to his computer

NaHaiWriMo #20

2011-02-19T09:13:00.001-08:00

humid
sleepless
4am

NahaiWriMo #19

2011-02-18T16:38:00.001-08:00

Saturday
internet dropping
in and out

NahaiWriMo #18

2011-02-18T04:04:00.001-08:00

full moon
haloed by cloud
bright silence

NaHaiWriMo #17

2011-02-17T02:41:00.000-08:00

a warm night
he blows out the candle
makes a wish
.

NaHaiWriMo #16

2011-02-16T01:26:00.001-08:00

Red hat.

Her pale face

unsmiling.

NaHaiWriMo #15

2011-02-14T17:22:00.001-08:00

Cold day.
Summer’s growing old.
My ankle hurts.

NaHaiWriMo #14

2011-02-14T04:25:00.001-08:00

from a clear sky
rain falls between hills
a stripe of light

NaHaiWriMo #13

2011-02-13T00:54:00.001-08:00

clouds but no rain

the half moon shining

in late daylight

NaHaiWriMo #12

2011-02-12T01:00:00.000-08:00

a day without rain

the creeper

droops against the fence

NaHaiWriMo #11

2011-02-11T01:13:00.000-08:00

Salt sting of the breeze
on my face.
I used to live here.

NaHaiWriMo #10

2011-02-09T04:58:00.001-08:00

My old black cat

runs like a kitten,

hurts his leg again.

NaHaiWriMo #9

2011-02-08T18:49:00.000-08:00

A day off.
He finds me
extra chores.

NaHaiWriMo #8

2011-02-08T17:05:00.000-08:00

deep darkness
even the geckoes
are silent

NaHaiWriMo #7

2011-02-06T15:34:00.001-08:00

One tendril of vine
waving.
Ah yes, a bird.

NaHaiWriMo #6

2011-02-05T15:18:00.001-08:00

Car starts, revs.
Running footsteps, voices.
Sunday morning street.

NaHaiWriMo #5

2011-02-04T14:24:00.001-08:00

Expectant morning.
Trees, earth, air bright
promising sultry.

NaHaiWriMo #4

2011-02-04T12:40:00.000-08:00

‘Not a single leaf
left on a single tree.’
Cyclone Yasi.

(Almost a found haiku, quoting Queensland Premier Anna Bligh.)

NaHaiWriMo #3

2011-02-03T17:21:00.000-08:00

Fierce heat.
Poetry prompt:
write of snow.

NaHaiWriMo #2

2011-02-02T01:06:00.000-08:00

after the hot day
a cool breeze
before the cyclone

NaHaiWriMo #1

2011-01-31T20:30:00.000-08:00

February has been declared National Haiku Writing Month, and I signed on to do one a day.

Here is the first:

warm wet morning
brown moth dives suddenly
across my face

Stopped mid-road: January 2011

2011-01-29T17:31:00.001-08:00

Stopped mid-road
the monitor lizard
stares, head high.

12/1/11

January morning.
The dew on the lawn
seeps through my slippers.

***************

January sun.
The herbs in my garden
appear paler.

***************

Australia Day.
Along the street
lawnmowers whine.

26/1/11

I feast on haiku
returning
to read and savour

28/1/11

After days of rain: December 2010

2010-12-31T22:03:00.000-08:00

I remember
American rivers —
smooth turquoise.

2/12/10

my friend is dying
I don’t want to speak of it
yet I will phone her

2/12/10

Friday morning rain
dribbles unseasonably.
Soon the air will steam.

3/12/10

sunshine
after days of rain
birdsong

10/12/10

They write of cold.
I mop my perspiration
thankfully.

************
Friday lasts a week
and then it begins again
we’re in a time-warp

18/12/10

Fried haiku.
We keep cooking them up:
deep fried ... stir-fried ...

***************************
After the day’s heat
she sits up naked all night
playing with haiku.

19/12/10

hot morning
grass wet underfoot
sun high early

****************
blue sky
after long rain
summer?

31/12/10

In dripping rain: November 2010

2010-11-30T05:21:00.000-08:00

Three young magpies strut
with high heads
in their fine feathers.

5/11/10

al fresco dining
heavy rain
my birthday party

13/11/10

six Indian mynahs
huddle squawking on my rail
in dripping rain

19/11/10

Busy, can’t recall
that coffee
I only just drank!

26/11/10

Our bed is noisy.
I hear snuggled cats purring
and hubby’s deep snores.

29/11/10

The moon's path: October 2010

2010-11-05T04:32:00.000-07:00

a quiet street
disturbed by garbage trucks
the cats complain

1/10/10

Hot spring rains.
Small black winged ants hatch,
swarm and die.

8/10/10

all night
she lies between us
purring

12/10/10

rain clouds hide the moon
spring showers
my cold, dark garden

16/10/10

life in the delta
dim lights looming through the fog
and empty bellies

22/10/10

the moon’s path
wide over water
invites me

24/10/10

not dew but raindrops
lingering on leaves and grass
this quiet morning

********************

His hair is Snowy
yet still that wild bush horseman
plays on his Banjo.

29/10/10

As night falls: September 2010

2010-09-28T18:41:00.000-07:00

The kookaburra’s laugh —
loud, long and raucous but
too seldom heard.

********************

As night falls we hear
the chuck chuck
of an unknown bird.

4/9/10

I wake from a dream
of ocean
to the sound of rain.

10/9/10

the returning moon
once again
I dream of the dead

17/9/10

September rain.
The weeds on the lawn
grow clumpy.

25/9/10

gekko sounds
like a bird calling
in the dark

29/9/10

Recalling those eyes: haiku for August 2010

2010-09-01T06:21:00.000-07:00

Most of these are lunes — but one of the best haikuists I know tells me they can be called haiku too, so from now on I'm not going to differentiate in the labelling.

Her face turns whiter
as I gaze
down time’s long tunnel.

6/8/10

I walk alone
to hear their cold music,
the sonorous waves.

............................

Recalling those eyes,
I am back
in youth and summer.

8/8/10

Fried mushrooms on toast
and our daughter visiting —
lunch was good today.

15/8/10

And some Dada:

ha ha ha ha ha
hah! hah! hah! hah! hah! hah! hah!
ah ha ha haiku

And some not-really-Dada:

Hi I hai I ku
high high high high high haiku
I ku I ku ... you?

27/8/10

The cloud's silver edge: lunes (and haiku) for July 2010

2010-08-01T16:28:00.000-07:00

The cloud’s silver edge
turns to gold.
My old man gets well.

3/7/10

On phototgraph : Gyorgy Kepes ("Juliet's Shadow Caged," 1939)
courtesy of Joel Soroka Gallery

My shadow looks in
yet forward
I face out, gaze back.

Opposites, we’re tied
and mirrored.
See: we are both caged.

******************

the black snow
from the cane fires begins
marking the season

across the road
two black birds flap slowly
this bleak day

******************

I hear my cat snore
and pretend
my man’s home in bed

4/7/10

Helping him undress:
‘You great big beautiful doll!’
making him laugh.

8/7/10

The rain-washed street
shines in early morning light.
The slightest breeze....

9/7/10

Response to a haiku about koi

Pretty things the koi —
in northern ponds and rivers.
Here we carp at them!

For one man's ~~meat~~ fish is
another's introduced pest:
dangerous beauty.

10/7/10

Spring blows hot and cold
unloving
enfolding, piercing....

23/7/10

'Smoke gets in your eyes'
he sang on the old record.
My Mum sang along.

30/7/10

Silent song in the mind: June Lunes 2010

2010-07-23T00:12:00.000-07:00

Reposted from The Passionate Crone blog

Purring pussycat
all night long
she sleeps in my arms.

29/5/10

On our verandah
butcher bird
sings to greet the sun.

4/6/10

She goes away,
wanders back for a look.
Already it’s changed.

5/6/10

Went to town.
There was Patsy walking around
in the sun.

7/6/10

In his photos
I notice the sad eyes,
wish I didn’t.

8/6/10

My favourite mountain —
I see it every day:
my father’s painting.

10/6/10

Wakeful all night long
I remembered
my very first love.

12/6/10

Warm winter sunlight.
We lunch with old friends,
drive home replete.

12/6/10

Confessions

Wining and dining.
In my youth
it was a prelude.

Now that I am old
food and wine
are ends in themselves.

********************

He’s away tonight.
I buy chocolates, and snuggle
with my cats.

15/6/10

Silent song in the mind
creates a crescendo:
internal music needing no instrument.

23/6/10

Funeral

Will there be roses
tomorrow?
She loved them in life.

24/6/10

The city of Perth
today hosts
farewells and haiku.

25/6/10

Lune Sequences: May 2010

2010-07-23T00:04:00.000-07:00

Reposted from The Passionate Crone blog

Lune Sequence for Aunty Ev

My dear Aunty
is dying far from here
they tell me.

She is old
and has forgotten her life.
She is afraid.

My cousin asks,
‘Will you write the eulogy?’
Yes I will.

But I keep
putting off beginning the task.
My dear Aunty.

Lune Sequence for D

My favourite plant
grows new leaves,
dark green and glossy.

This plant I have had
many years;
never learned its name.

It was a present —
all I keep
of that dead friendship.

As for my false friend,
I’ll never
say her name again.

The plant is hardy.
I like it:
a tough survivor.

Both writtem 25/5/10

Editorial: Lunes

2010-07-22T20:09:00.000-07:00

I was going to discontinue this blog. Lately I'm exploring the lune instead of the haiku form. But wot-the-heck, lunes were invented as a form of English-language haiku, so I shall include them here and broaden the scope of this blog, rather than turning it into a static archive.

There are two kinds:

The Kelly lune has three lines of 5 syllables / 3 syllables / 5 syllables.

The Collom lune has three lines of 3 words / 5 words / 3 words.

There are no other rules.

In May and June I posted some over at The Passionate Crone, which I'll leave there and also repost here; then will post newer ones here, not there.

At the concert's end: haiku for May 2010

2010-05-29T07:10:00.000-07:00

The geraniums
begin to flower again
this warm, wet autumn.

7/5/10

I enter the house.
It’s full of mist — from outside,
coating my glasses.

14/5/10

The rain-drenched garden
is empty now of voices —
except those of birds.

21/5/10

full moon
and Wendy Rule singing
tonight

28/5/10

Guided by Venus
she sang and our spirits soared
in love with the Moon.

At the concert's end
we cast a spell for freedom
for all living things.

She had a good time.
It was like being with a friend
of astounding voice.

(Guided by Venus is the name of Wendy Rule's latest CD.)

29/5/10

In the morning landscape: haiku for April 2010

2010-05-01T17:31:00.000-07:00

I look out and see
a silver car on our lawn.
We need a new car!

Searching for haiku
in the morning landscape,
I have found a sign.

2/4/10

a quiet evening
the house so large and spacious
granddaughters gone home

9/4/10

Ah, warm afternoons
punctuated by birdsong
and humming tractors.

10/4/10

sometimes it’s hard
to be in bed with someone else
comfortably

10/4/10

yes, the new car
is still here in our yard
this morning

(Not a reference to the first above;
we did get our own 'new' car.)

16/4/10

Volcano

Mother blows her top.
Children, you better listen
or she'll kick you out.

23/4/10

on top of the vine
against a backdrop of trees
one white flower

*******************

dogs bark at the wind
which makes the high branches sway
and ground flowers dance

30/4/10

Early morning damp: haiku for March 2010

2010-03-27T06:19:00.000-07:00

early morning damp
a statue with dismal face
alone in the grass

5/3/10

overcast morning
a small moth cruises the weeds
by the draggled rose

12/3/10

the sun breaking through
lights up my small walled garden
just as I look out

19/3/10

the sunlight picks out
among the leaves a bright bird
startled eye glaring

20/3/10

the wind is dancing
through his fingers on guitar
moaning through his voice

26/3/10

Streetlamp and moonlight: haiku for February 2010

2010-03-02T22:21:00.000-08:00

the long drive home
lit by the long dusk
of deep summer

*************

cat-shrieks outside
then my girl on the top step
calmly alone

*************

streetlamp and moonlight
palm trees clear against the dark
the neighbours asleep

5/2/10

the whole street sleeps
except me up late
writing haiku

*************

'The streets are water'
they always said of Venice,
but I walked the lanes.

12/2/10

rain leaves us humid
wet with perspiration
needing a shower

*************

cool evening
after the humid day
stinging insects

14/2/10

it plays in my mind
all day, that lonely music
I heard in a dream

19/2/10

the cats are quiet
the man sleeps and I’m restless
in the white noise hush

26/2/10

Outside the pane: haiku for January 2010

2010-02-01T15:41:00.000-08:00

sunflowers
and a new neighbour
waving

5/1/10

the wind chimes are up
boxes out of the living room
bit by bit new home

7/1/10

mountains
from every window
thick with trees

******

outside the pane
a pair of lizards
stopped for gazing

11/1/10

in the hottest hours
even the ants
are still

14/1/10

clouds piled
on each other
on treetops

15/1/10

kookaburra
through the kitchen window
looks us over

butcher bird
on the veranda
nods its head

22/1/10

‘My life has begun,’
he writes, moving out of mine —
someone else’s son. 

****************

lightning out there
the edge of the cyclone
rattling the dark

28/1/10

The seasons turn: haiku for December 2009

2010-01-20T03:56:00.000-08:00

4/12/09

the glow dims
in her cat‘s eyes
when she leaves

5/12/09

lightning and thunder
punctuate our summer
but snow is foreign

***

the seasons turn
the creek is blue and full
soon we'll swim

6/12/09

a xmas of stars
and dragonflies
who needs Santa?

7/12/09

Inspired by Bette Norcross Wappner’s woodcut:

trees and air
and midnight
falling snow

11/12/09

like my cats
the plants are very still
this hot morning

13/12/09

step by step
we arrive home
together

18/12/09

early light
through palm fronds
a few more days

24/12/09

Christmas Eve sirens
the firies* drive round tooting
we wave and we cheer

*Aussie for firefighters

************************

summer hots up
the creek’s at high tide
but I’m packing

During these Spring rains: haiku for November 2009

2009-11-30T01:39:00.000-08:00

6/11/09

a thunder crack
right above the house
the cats run

8/11/09

I remember autumn
its warm blue skies
during these Spring rains

13/11/09

dust
coming over the mountain
the sky chills

20/11/09

soft grey sky
scent of jasmine
after rain

27/11/09

in rising heat
green weeds I failed to uproot
expand

Fresh raspberries: haiku for October 2009

2009-11-02T20:35:00.000-08:00

2/10/09

fresh raspberries
the taste and texture
of my childhood

3/10/09

on the train track
stems, leaves and berries
rain-washed

9/10/09

sudden lilies bloom
in my afternoon garden
unseen this morning

****************

Photo of Kerouac

hugging his cat
how domestic he looks
this road poet

**************

Melbourne rain
going cold to my bones
recollected

14/10/09

abandon yourself
it’s all in the letting go
freedom and passion

*****************

sprawling on the bed
my cat is relaxed in sleep:
utter abandon

23/10/09

I carry with me
as mirror and barrier
her faraway gaze

30/10/09

across rainy dark
the whispers of the ocean
sound right in my house

31/10/09

tonight cicadas
and the smell of coming rain
heat builds to pressure

tomorrow morning
a renewal of sunlight
the blessing of trees

Climate Change Haiku

2009-10-14T06:08:00.000-07:00

(In conjunction with Blog Action Day, October 15)

keep burning forests
spilling chemicals in sea:
abandon the earth

******************

windy day again
and the dust filling the sky
stings inside my throat

*******************

washed the car windows
two days later scrawls of red dust
fall out of the air

Dark sky: haiku for September 2009

2009-09-30T08:23:00.000-07:00

1/9/09

A dark sky;
here and there
clouds thicken

*****************

Listen – next door’s violent music.
Earlier a walk by the peaceful creek.
Now the day turns dark.

(word count haiku)

4/9/09

Repco Rally Australia

Police and firemen
all over town: car rally
supposed to be fun.

The birds are restless.
Both coucal and brush turkey
rush about madly.

Painted, numbered cars
arrive for days of roaring
through fragile wetlands.

11/9/09

September sunshine.
From the dull bromeliads
red leaves, purple blooms.

***************************

9/11

No-one can forget
that horror already old
and forever new

so I turn my head
focus in on my garden
small fragment of peace

18/9/09

a bright fresh morning
the creeper climbing the palm
has shiny new leaves

*****************

golden girl Mary
leaves Peter Paul and us all
departing solo

25/9/09

a sky full of dust
thickening in the nostrils
and nowhere to run

26/9/09

dust returned today
less red, less thick, less fearful
we grow accustomed

We emerge from darkness: haiku for August 2009

2009-08-31T18:28:00.000-07:00

1/8/09

the feast of Imbolc
we emerge from the darkness
life renews itself

2/8/09

Sum up your day in the form of a haiku:

a spring-like winter

morning under piled blankets

noon stripped and sweating

7/8/09

the sun's up early
still haven't pruned those roses
winter's so soon past

*****************

Sum up your day in the form of a haiku:

I 'm cleaning the house

for an old friend's arrival

so work becomes love

knowing when we meet

our old friend won't see beyond

our welcoming smiles

14/8/09

On the evening beach
gigantic waves crash too close
although it’s low tide.

21/8/09

of all her faces
which so intrigue I like best
a simple back view

Flamenco dancer
moving like snake or like fire
in that sleek red dress

28/8/09

Mars comes close tonight
a second moon in a sky
too dark to see one.

29/8/09

In sudden flashlight
my cat’s eyes gleam like twin moons
against night-dark fur

Oh swift dragonfly! – haiku for July 2009

2009-08-01T05:15:00.000-07:00

1/7/09

even after death
foibles are not forgotten
by the hell-wishers

A comment on the immediate aftermath of Michael Jackson's death.

3/7/09

the rose buds anew
on the old blooms petals curl
loosening their grip

4/7/09

sad young man visits
it's too late to mother him
I ache for his need

10/7/09

cold grey morning
roses bend in the rain
he sings at breakfast

****************

oh swift dragonfly!
poised to alight on this page
with humming wings

****************

Ernie is naughty
the mischievous boy in him
just why we love him.

***************

refreshing rain
washes the kookaburra
his laugh rings clear

12/7/09

falling raindrops
life’s problems loosen and float
like fallen petals

**************

Pamplona

young bull panics
separated from the pack
dead runner

Sum up your day in the form of a haiku

15/7/09

still in warm nightwear
should be transcribing Minutes
it's too cold for work

17/7/09

July morning chill
the vines push out new tendrils
into empty space

18/7/09

winter or summer
life pushes for renewal
dazzling and dancing

23/7/09

by vines in brisk dawn
or among summer roses
fly the winged haiku

*********************

a single thin vine
growing straight up from concrete
clings flat to the wall

Sum up your day in the form of a haiku

25/7/09

wrestle computer
eat, walk, shop, talk to husband,
wrestle computer

(it's old and it's slow
and being that way myself
too much frustration)

31/7/09

she lies on her side
preserved for millions of years
a tiny fossil

Eastward on long stems: haiku for June 2009

2009-07-01T05:53:00.000-07:00

3/6/09

May drizzle.
The rosebush grows taller
and sprouts new buds.

5/6/09

How reassuring
back in the day, that my shrink
watched "Lost in Space" too.

8/6/09

Look! a rainbow
arching over our street
against grey sky.

12/6/09

Morning chill
pale sunlight filtering
through fern leaves.

19/6/09

For Aung San Suu Kyi

the lady’s birthday
today she turns 64
yes we still need her

20/6/09

Winter solstice
the sky is one grey cloud
rain comes down heavy

************

June sun
lightens the grey sky
as I would your cares

21/6/09

moonlight and jasmine
through billowing blue curtains
night fills the cottage

night in your cottage
jasmine scented and moonlit
wafts to my daydreams

I'm in your cottage
wafted on scent of jasmine
and blue-white moon rays

************

this time of Solstice
the world protests injustice
the wheel turns for change

(inspired by seeing the cyber-community mobilise
for Aung San Suu Kyi and the Iranians)

26/6/09

unpruned roses
lean eastward on long stems
June sky drizzling

Early morning cold: haiku for May 2009

2009-05-31T20:09:00.000-07:00

8/5/09

Early morning cold.
I sink into my warm bed
like mothering arms.

**********************

The nights have turned cold.
In my dreams they gaze at me –
my dead mother’s eyes.

15/5/09

A wild grey ocean
surprised by two bright rainbows
then one vanishes.

***********************

“It lies about us” –
so Jesus said of Heaven.
Do we make our own?

22/5/09

Howling and shrieking
the wind is all round the house
bashing to get in.

23/5/09

Responses to friends’ LiveJournal posts:

From across the world
the arc of your dawn rainbow
brightens my morning.

***********************

It seems the whole world
is assailed by rain and storms.
I hear nothing else.

29/5/09

"Droughts and flooding rains"
we learn from early childhood
in this "wide brown land".

(Acknowledgments to Dorothea Mackellar)

Opening darkness: haiku for April 2009

2009-05-09T18:36:00.000-07:00

3/4/09

The rain is roaring
drowning out the surf’s thunder.
North and south, there’s floods.

10/4/09

The cloud-covered moon
the full moon, at 2 am
showed herself, I danced.

**************************

I'm full of poems,
long ones, crowding out haiku –
but soon miss my friends.

16/4/09

sunrise
and the vast river
waiting

17/4/09

A fine new morning:
sunshine after days of rain.
We wake, smile, embrace.

22/4/09

White noise
and outside the sea
booming.

******************

opening darkness
seeds half realizations
first widening blooms

******************

wild ocean tonight
thundering, coming down hard
and foaming the dunes

******************

A poem in tanka form, with senryu feel, about haiku:

Haiku on Friday (MySpace)

I started the group
so I’d learn to write haiku
from skilled friends who joined.
They are skilled, I’m still learning –
but I’m seen as an expert!

24/4/09

Tibetan Prayer Flags

At length the weather
will erase what is written.
Prayers are renewed.

**********************

Earth Day

We wake to sunlight
and the planet still here
the morning after.

On the other hand ...

Enjoy what we have!
Sweet awakening today,
and how much longer?

- Devil's Advocate

25/4/09

Dawn Service, Anzac Day

At Gallipoli
a bugle sounds the Last Post
then comes Reveille.
Old enemies, side by side
remember, and pray for peace.

29/4/09

To Sandra
(for her profile page on MySpace)

You’re a restful place
for me to come and visit
sometimes … it’s enough.

************************

Bright green lorikeet
flashes past me as I walk,
vanishes in tree.

Yes, it’s autumn: haiku for March 2009

2009-04-03T18:49:00.000-07:00

4/3/09

Her bright quick young voice
makes me feel slow and heavy.
The day goes to dusk.

6/3/09

In response to a haiku series criticising ‘witches’ who charge a fee to find your soul-mate:

You never need pay
to discover a soul-mate.
Fate will unite you!

Real witches harm none,
nor do we manipulate.
We are the healers.

7/3/09

Step in the shower,
turn up the hot tap, higher.
Yes, it's autumn.

13/3/09

Wind, rain and loud sea.
The edges of the cyclone
graze us in passing.

16/3/09

Cyclone, blown offshore,
has left us a reminder:
the tide mark’s higher.

20/3/09

Deleted profiles.
Red crosses litter my lists.
There were no goodbyes.

(You probably have to be familiar with MySpace to get this one.)

*************

Tracks along the beach –
big dog, little dog, seagull,
bare feet, sneakers, me.
I meet myself coming back.
The rising tide creeps closer.

21/3/09

Autumn on the Tweed.
What could be more beautiful?
Each day I give thanks.

22/3/09

The tide thunders in
just before darkness descends,
nearly catches me.

24/3/09

(for Bette)

A line of bright bulbs
drenches the porch in fragrance,
their colours singing.

27/3/09

Late March, cooler nights,
the doona's back on the bed.
We both sleep soundly.

****************

He gathers no moss,
collects flowers as haiku:
Takke Rollingstone.

*******************

The tide’s on the turn.
Six years close to the ocean;
now, how much longer?

The light changes: blue-green-grey,
white-edged, waves mirrored by clouds.

Apologies

2009-03-06T02:18:00.000-08:00

Dear Readers -

Sorry about the delay in posting the January and February haiku. We moved house and it took AGES to get back online! Most frustrating, and I'm glad to be back. :)

After the firestorm: haiku for February 2009

2009-03-06T02:01:00.000-08:00

Daphne in the rain.
The sudden scent returns me
from new home to old.

5/2/09

The clock face is placed
to stare at me all the night
while I fail to sleep.

Branches on the roof
strike loudly in the darkness –
or the bogey-man?

6/2/09

Little bitey things
dwell at our beach paradise.
No place is perfect.

11/2/09

I know all those towns
now burned to ghostly ashes.
That is, I used to.

13/2/09

Friday the 13th.
In Australia we shrug.
The worst has happened.

******

After the firestorm
townships of empty rubble
are without colour.
Nothing now but grey and brown
in all those pretty places.

******

Summer is gone.
Suddenly in just one night
steady rain, cold wind.

18/2/09

The sun and the breeze
inky sky, outgoing tide
a lone gull soaring.

On the dunes a beach sculpture
a dancing boy, arms outspread.

19/2/09

As the tide roars in
I walk alone on the beach
after some thunder.

I reach the black rocks,
turn and see three fishermen
lining the shallows.

20/2/09

In the absence of
internet access, I brood
and write more haiku.

******

Autumn already,
if not yet officially;
the weather mellows.

27/2/09

The brown snake uncoils
separating from the grass
rearing up, fangs bared.

Fireworks round the world: haiku for January 2009

2009-03-06T01:41:00.000-08:00

2/1/09

The new year began
with many bangs: thunder here,
fireworks round the world.

On the second day,
at last after stormy heat
a cool, gentle rain.

9/1/09

Rain and a cold wind.
Today's mournful whine: 'Oh
nine, oh one, oh nine'.

Americans may reverse last line to 'one, oh nine, oh nine'. (It's a sound thing.)

16/1/09

On a quiet night
I remember the blue creek
swollen by king tides.

17/1/09

Blood and medals

The private soldier
is friend, relative, colleague ...
made public in death.

The VC winner declares:
"Out there, we are all heroes."

*******************************

The weather changes.
The sky and the creek turn grey.
I lose my wallet.

19/1/09

Still, at 69,
she dreams of Easy Rider.
Those Harleys. The wind.

Comment from my friend Lorenzo:

Maybe a scooter?
I see you on a vespa...
Cruising down the street :)

20/1/09

And my reply:

Such a tempting thought:
elderly insouciance
scooter-cruising – but
Vespas are city transport,
not seen around these ranges.

Hot in Australia: haiku for December 2008

2009-01-03T17:06:00.000-08:00

5/12/08

Christmas is coming.
It’s hot in Australia,
swimming weather – yay!

(I think we better call this one a senryu.)

A friend commented:

There is a word for people who talk about heat & swimming weather while it is snowing here in Colorado -- but I don't think that word is "senryu." (-:

12/12/08

Morning dark and damp.
I contemplate stormy clouds
and turbulent creek.

*********************

In the flood of love
my heart naturally turns
to joyous haiku.

19/12/08

Christmas looms closer,
storms and heat mere irritants
in lead-up frenzy.

20/12/08

In our warm weather
I gaze at pictures of snow –
admire, don’t envy.

********************

Is it gift or wage
if you must be a good child
for Santa to come?

23/12/08

No longer looming,
Christmas is here. May it bring
peace and joy to all!

26/12/08

Christmas is over:
two days of festivity
in a busy year.

Losing track of days
in a welter of feasting,
I forget haiku!

28/12/08

The dark of the moon
a soft steady rain falling.
I write to my son.

After the Spring rains: haiku for November 2008

2008-12-05T01:15:00.000-08:00

2/11/08

(In response to someone who insisted Beltane is May, Samhain November.)

The night of the dead
marks the turning of seasons
summer to winter.

The fire festival
marks an ascendance of sun
as life is renewed.

Here we're moving now
into the last phase of Spring.
Autumn's end is May.

The wheel is turning
over and over again
this way and that way

your way and my way
the way of the world's turning
its polarities.

The veils thin and part.
Always there will be dying
somewhere, and new birth.

4/11/08

Bird of Paradise Flower

poised in my garden
as if ready to take wing
and enter the light

5/11/08

5th November 2008

As the new day dawns
there are bells, there is singing.
The world takes a breath.

9/11/08

Early November.
Sudden eruptions of rain
turning hot days cold.

10/11/08

True stories

I dream new learning
training as a Samurai
then wake stiff and sore.

The wind howls all night.
Earlier that mighty voice
blasted down both gates.

13/11/08

Again the wind howls
after a day of hard rain.
Clouds cover the moon.

14/11/08

The full moon that rose
bright above the estuary
is now behind clouds.

**********************

Huge gardenias
round and white as the full moon
sweeten my birthday.

18/11/08

The same view

Across the world
your water birds in flight
skim my river.

(Response to a haiga by Deborah P. Kolodji, USA.)

*********************

Wild, wet, windy, cold.
Where is the Spring we enjoyed
just one week ago?

**********************

Reflections of trees
edging the wet black roadway
move too, as I walk.

21/11/08

After the rainstorms
morning is full of pigeons,
insistent cooing.

28/11/08

After the Spring rains
wet grass dotted with clover,
the smells of childhood.

29/11/08

Wind on the paddocks
moves in a wave through the grass:
an inland ocean.

*****************

Knee-high again,
the recently-mown lawn –
Spring rain-storms.

Heading for the sky: haiku for October 2008

2008-11-03T06:04:00.000-08:00

3/10/08

Gone with September
those rainstorms and hard, cold winds.
October hots up.

*******************

The Wheel of the Year
keeps turning, as the world turns.
The seasons rotate.

*******************

Down here, Down Under,
we complement, not mirror.
A parallel world!

******************

Today in Pottsville
in an absence of traffic
and a flood of sun
the village is somnolent
as backroad afternoons.

(Note: I'm indebted to 'Lady Madelyn', who posts to Haiku on Friday at MySpace, for the phrase 'backroad afternoons'.)

10/10/08

Sky covered in grey.
The only colour I see,
my stained glass window.

11/10/08

Neat hair and beard now,
replacing straggly dreadlocks.
My friend goes to court.

14/10/08

Clouds cover the sky
on the night of the full moon.
Spring rain falls softly.

15/10/08

The sky is clouded.
There is a full moon tonight
that I'll never see.

17/10/08

A flash of bright green.
The first lorikeet of spring
surprises the air.

**********************

rainbow lorikeets
colours of autumn leaves, sky
green, red, yellow, blue.

***********************

Maple Vine

Red leaves climb a trunk
reaching past the tips of pines,
heading for the sky.

18/10/08

Green spider orchid.
I used to make that essence
helped by the devas
and guided by the Divine.
(It was for divination.)

24/10/08

Spring in the tropics.
The avocadoes ripen,
my wind chime sings loud.

*********************

My mother’s birthday.
Ten years and more since she died
but I don’t forget.

*********************

I sat by her bed
holding her hand till the end,
reluctant to know.

*********************

Ah, once they have crossed,
people love more freely:
no inhibitions!

I'm a medium.
It moves me to tears always,
that unfettered love.

********************

We give them poems.
Our way to honour the dead
who gave us our lives.

26/10/08

Basil garden

As we come closer
it rises to our nostrils,
that savoury scent.

31/10/08

Samhain

The moon's a sliver.
The ancestors and others
return through darkness.

Beltaine

We breathe together
lighting an etheric fire ...
leap together, fly.

*********************

Summer approaches.
Wind and surf sing together.
The trees are dancing.

Long dark road: haiku for September 2008

2008-10-03T18:27:00.000-07:00

3/9/08

Young and poor, I found
an orange in the gutter
shining like the sun.

5/9/08

Spring begins with rain
falling on land and ocean
with a hushed white roar.

**************************

The hurricane wind
reaches across the world
smelling of fear.

**********************************

When my son was here
he never saw these moments,
our small shared laughters.
The fact of an observer
changes what’s being observed.

6/9/08

This morning is bright
as if washed after the rain,
the picture refreshed.

*********************

For Haiku on Friday (MySpace)

In my time of dark,
in another hemisphere
my friends make poems.

I waken to find
here from all over the world
this feast of haiku!

12/9/08

Sept. 11

The burning towers
bloomed across my TV screen
and the world was changed.

19/9/08

Long dark road.
My friend's chest pain is intense.
The drive seems endless.

As I bring him home
after the operation
small birds are singing.

26/9/08

In the morning sun
red leaves outside my back door
glow, pointing upward.

28/9/08

Haiku and moonlight.
Leaves turning with the seasons
as dreaming begins.

Sunlight and green leaves: haiku for Augst 2008

2008-09-02T20:10:00.000-07:00

1/8/08

Sunlight and green leaves
the morning fresh and shining
outside my front door.

I look no further
than the view from my front door,
forgetting heaven.

******************************

This sunny morning
my fifteen-year-old potplant
has shiny new leaves.

*******************************

The wind blew the clouds
into bright white angel wings
this warm afternoon.

*******************************

In my sunny sky
new moon and solar eclipse
are invisible.

6/8/08

After some silence
you write that I am a song.
All day I'm singing.

8/8/08

Suddenly sunshine
still with a faint edge of cold
fills the morning sky.

OR:

Suddenly sunshine
with just a faint edge of cold
filling up the sky.

9/8/08

A field of corn rows

The further we go
side by side in parallel
the more we converge.

***************************

Lady of moonlight
who dances across the dew
you lighten our space.

10/8/08

Softer than moonlight
a wind like the rush of wings:
transparent shimmer.

***************************

Cucumber plant

Blooming in darkness
behind a sun-coloured pot
tiny yellow stars.

12/8/08

Frosty night up late
alone with my two cats
huddled shivering.

15/8/08

After the frost
the dawn of a clear day
the sky cloudless.

16/8/08

A time of extremes
warming one side of the globe
the other freezing.

*****************************

Full moon and bright star
the night suddenly warmer.
I bathe in white light.

****************************

On nights of full moon
her silvery voice whispers
poems in my ear.

****************************

17/8/08

On these frosty nights
only the cats to curl up
sharing body heat.

18/8/08

Spanish Fiesta

Fireworks and costumes
elderly ladies dancing
to rockers' guitars.

***************************

In winter I walk
on a wild and lonely beach
gathering shells.

22/8/08

Dobbing in Hubby: senryu sequence

Elbow in the back.
Not my favourite waking.
Accident, he says.

New water bottle
dribbles all over his face.
He opened it wrong.

How can I tell him,
"In age, slowness is wisdom.
Do things mindfully!" ?

"Oh, poop to you too,"
he says when I read him this.
But he's laughing hard.

I rescue his plate
parked on the bed and tilting,
just before milk spills.

******************************

As I grow older ...

People around me
seem confused, acting strangely.
I'm hurt and puzzled.

(Don't panic, folks; it's not autobiographical!)

******************************************

Such tangles behind
the only way is forward
through those dark thickets.

23/8/08

A MySpace challenge

syllable pattern 4-6-4
begin each verse with “after the storm”

after the storm
at first only silence
and no movement

******************

after the storm
stillness lifts softly, birds
begin singing

29/8/08

1:05 a.m.

Already it’s Friday.
Bed now, to dream of haiku
and wake up to them.

***********************
When a dragonfly
goes to sleep in its last dream
it wakes as faery.

30/8/08

Here, our warm autumn
is not a dying season;
it’s rare that leaves fall.
The air itself seems golden,
summer departing slowly.

After the cold night: haiku for July 2008

2008-07-27T17:51:00.000-07:00

(Several of these in response to posts by MySpace friends.)

3/7/08:

In memory of Jane McGrath

What we remember –
more than her beautiful face
and famous husband,
even more than her courage –
is her joyous laughter

4/7/08:

This overcast day
my cat on the garden bin
finds one patch of sun.

11/7/08:

After the cold night
sunshine, blue skies and birdsong,
my rose opening.

***************************

Haiku on Friday

The second Friday
in January last year
a new adventure
began, goes on beginning,
continually renewed.

13/7/08

I water my rose
find her a sunnier spot
between the haiku.

15/7/08

Thanks for the memory!

Couldn't find a rose
so he sent me a pansy
for thoughts ... years ago.

18/7/08:

The first bud blossoms
on the first rose I have grown
and cared for myself.

***************************

Bittersweet

When losing a friend
the memory of a smile –
such comfort, such pain.

19/7/08:

Busking fruit seller (netsuke)

Fruit fills the basket
but he holds his real treasure –
the ivory flute.

22/7/08:

haiku from between
tradition and tomorrow
forges a new form

***************************

haiku from between
tradition and tomorrow
kaleidoscopic

(in response to a challenge to complete the first two lines with a third)

25/7/08:

A wild wind last night.
I brought my rosebush inside
but it needs real light.

****************************

Green frog on the grass
in danger from careless feet
only yesterday.

Her two gentle hands
lifted and carried the frog
to her safe garden.

26/7/08

As twilight deepens
mountains improbably blue
fill the horizon.

28/7/08

Driving home last night
as rain clouds threatened I smiled
thinking of the frogs.

**************************

Had to prise her off.
She was such a clinging vine,
poor little Ivy!

Somewhere it's snowing: haiku for June 2008

2008-06-27T07:35:00.000-07:00

3/6/08:

Poems from the desert
light the silence and distance
as stars the night sky.

6/6/08:

A line of footprints
emerges from the desert.
Or do they lead in?

8/6/08:

Even now a man
is walking around a stupa
reciting prayers,
the other side of the world.
And some, I know, are for me.

13/6/08:

Soft autumn sunshine
after a night of soft rain.
My new rose grows tall.

20/6/08:

An invading wind.
60-foot mountain laurel
suddenly shattered
twists off at one-third its height,
leaving a blank, empty sky.

22/6/08:

I breathe in deeply
the scent of dew on the grass
as the moon rises.

27/6/08:

A night of deep cold.
We pile on more thick blankets.
Somewhere it's snowing.

What is to be said? – haiku for May 2008

2008-05-30T16:47:00.000-07:00

2/5/08

Samhain

Black night with no moon.
The veil thins between the worlds.
What ghosts are about?

9/5/08:

Sunlight on water.
Like the sound of Basho's frog,
its ripples widen.

16/5/08:

A butcher bird lands
next to a clump of deep red leaves.
The sun glints on both.

Native Hibiscus

What is to be said?
The flowers' wide yellow mouths
are strangely silent.

Petals curling back
reveal the deep red centres
like velvet, or blood.

23/5/08:

I wake up crying.
He dries my tears with kisses
one soft on each eye.

30/5/08:

Morning.
Cold rain falling
endlessly.

© Rosemary Nissen-Wade 2008

Sunlight suddenly: haiku for April 2008

2008-04-25T05:20:00.000-07:00

4/4/08:

On the empty beach
a single line of footprints.
Now the sky darkens.

11/4/08:

Morning is sudden.
Floods of sunshine fill the room.
There's no sound of rain.

18/4/08:

After the rain-storm
a forest of tiny birds
singing and singing.

25/4/08:

The sea eagle dives
repeatedly after prey
straight, swift and sudden.

**************************

Through forests and crags
we drive and drive the steep bends
to the mountain top.

From Mt Tamborine
the Gold Coast is just a line
of tall, spindly sticks.

Sunlight suddenly
breaks through the trees on the hill
just for a moment.

© Rosemary Nissen-Wade 2008

That sound in the night: haiku for March 2008

2008-03-27T23:34:00.000-07:00

7/3/08:

That sound in the night
rhythm of heavy breathing
the pounding ocean.

******

Red water, fast flow.
The river still carries
yesterday's flood.

14/3/08:

A winding dirt road
moves into early evening
on the quiet hill.

21/3/08:

The loud sea has hushed.
This morning in my garden
small birds chirp softly.

******

(And a tanka:)

Solar wave for peace.
Just at the exact moment
all the lights go out.
Next day I tell the story;
my son says, 'Ah, how peaceful!'

28/3/08:

The times of thunder
returning hard steady rain
waterfalls of noise.

30/3/08

Earth Hour

We turned off our lights
not all of us but many
and the stars were bright.

© Rosemary Nissen-Wade 2008

A change in the air: haiku for February 2008

2008-02-28T15:16:00.000-08:00

1/2/08:

A change in the air.
We feel rain approaching, run
welcome it from indoors.

8/2/08:

Tiny green finches
flash in and out red flowers
through my high window.

* * *

Despite the darkness
she will not close her curtains
against the fig tree.

11/2/08:

sunny noon
after the monsoon rains
an early autumn

14/2/08:

Moving Out On Valentine's Day
(Happening to various friends)

1.

Last year, a pink rose.
This year he steps on a plane
heading for elsewhere.

2.

They travel all day
in separate cars packed high
apart together.

15/2/08:

The heart of the world
pulsates. Gaia is living –
my love, my first love.

22/2/08:

Warm and lazy
the rain-swollen river
glides into autumn.

29/2/08:

A small black cricket
lurks among my cosmetics
as in a city,
starving by tall containers
needing outdoors, a forest.

******

News of her death comes.
I'm calm, but my husband says
I groan in my sleep.

© Rosemary Nissen-Wade 2008

In the monsoon rains: haiku for January 2008

2008-02-27T16:55:00.000-08:00

3/1/08:

In the monsoon rains
the river is high and fast
and rising, rising ...

11/1/08:

In my dark garden
wind chimes clang faintly, I breathe
the smell of the sea.

18/1/08:

It's still raining here.
No word from my friend far south
in the hospital.

No word from the one
who went into the desert.
The rain settles in.

25/1/08:

The river's flood-brown.
The wind is chill this summer
and sounds like sobbing.

******

When death comes ...

You should be sleeping.
Perhaps you should be alone.
But should you be young?

(A response to the news of Heath Ledger's passing.)

© Rosemary Nissen-Wade 2008

Fresh quiet morning: haiku for December 2007

2008-02-27T16:46:00.000-08:00

7/12/07:

Fresh quiet morning.
We breathe in deep the soft air
already heating.

14/12/07:

An overcast sky
grey with the promise of rain.
My eyelids heavy.

21/12/07:

It's a sweet story
the babe, the star, the manger.
A time for new birth.

28/12/07:

The cockatoo's crest
rises as a question mark
on his bright gold crown.

******

Flying flags lift off
from a bridge that floats on sky
over dense water.

******

A slice of their world
shows the goldfish purposeful
and filling their world.

******

Pop a strawberry
whole into my waiting glass!
My palate tingles.

******

The huddled boats
nesting under tarpaulins
waken to first light.

******

My friend's blissful face
raised to the source of the light
shines in its one ray.

******

Through mist, a rainbow
glows above green hills and fields
marking a treasure.

30/12/07:

Retreating for years
to the rooms furthest apart
each one worked alone.

Now Andrew and I
have brought our desks together
in the living room.

© Rosemary Nissen-Wade 2007

Late night and white noise: haiku for November 2007

2008-02-27T16:17:00.000-08:00

2/11/07:

I'm hot. The creek's high.
My first swim of the season.
Ouch! Icy water.

9/11/07:

Over in Texas
my friend's dog has gone missing.
I hug my cats close.

16/11/07:

Late night and white noise
pouring from the computer
covers my loud thoughts.

I watch the World Clock
as the days keep going past.
Morning, night, morning.

From across the world
from inside a long silence
is a wolf howling?

23/11/07:

Already morning.
A night of peaceful silence
dreaming of haiku.

23/11/07

Tomorrow morning
may we wake from our long night
into bright new dawn!

(A reference to the Federal Elections in Australia. The dawn was bright!)

© Rosemary Nissen-Wade 2007

Faces in the flames: haiku for October 2007

2008-02-27T16:10:00.000-08:00

5/10/07:

Faces in the flames
rising as the smoke rises.
Visions, memories …

12/10/07:

October gets loud.
Earth movers outside all day,
and nights of thunder.

14/10/07:

The earth our mother
will survive us delinquents,
but will we survive?

18/10/07:

In the quiet night
the lights and the fading drone
of one car passing.

26/10/07:

Here, clouds and lightning,
the gush of baptismal rain
sudden, swift and soft.

From across the world
mountains of fast-moving flame
shock our TV screens.

© Rosemary Nissen-Wade 2007

A cold rainy day: haiku for September 2007

2008-02-27T16:04:00.000-08:00

6/9/07:

A cold rainy day.
Darting across the wet road
one sudden swallow.

******

Furled umbrellas
gathered in a basket –
unopened blossoms.

13/9/07:

I begin to write
his elegy, the husband
dead these thirteen years.

***

Suddenly it's warm.
The season rouses at last,
comes fully awake.

***

For my god-daughter Mikaela

You have turned sixteen.
That laughing baby I held
had these same bright eyes.

21/9/07:

The river sparkles
smooth and glassy, undisturbed.
No swimmers. But soon ...

28/9/07:

Listen to the wind!
How it sobs in the white waves
and sighs in the trees.

29/9/07:

The beach at nightfall.
Out there, whales play hide-and-seek,
flipping their high tails.

© Rosemary Nissen-Wade 2007

Coughing my heart out: haiku for August 2007

2008-02-27T15:56:00.001-08:00

3/8/07:

Coughing my heart out
as they say in the clichés.
Haiku can't happen.

(Except of course from
you, who still have, I trust, both
heart and poetry.)

10/8/07:

Chill nights and warm days.
Oh Spring you are a teaser
blowing hot and cold.

17/8/07:

I turn off the light.
Curling against the cushions,
cats and man sleep deep.

19/8/07:

Peru Haiku

I would go back there
to Peru of the earthquakes
while the Andes stand.

The buried Inca
begin to stir in their graves.
The mountains rumble.

Far from the rubble
of shattered city buildings
soars the great condor.

24/8/07:

Waves gun-metal grey
and the clouds sitting heavy.
A cramped horizon.

***

Cosmo has gone but
for me his imprint lingers
all over Kingscliff.

31/8/07:

After the eclipse
the moon seemed brighter, cleaner.
I lifted wide arms.

***

At night we hear it,
the hushed rumble of the surf
pouring and pouring.

***

I watched the eclipse.
Later that night a message
that old friends had died.

© Rosemary Nissen-Wade 2007

Briefly as if from nowhere: haiku for July 2007

2008-02-27T15:40:00.000-08:00

6/7/07:

Morning is coming.
Rain on the roof gets louder.
I hide from the dark.

13/7/07:

Morning is blank
in the cold winter sunshine
of an empty sky.

20/7/07:

The birds chirp loudly
but for you who are absent
they remain silent.

***

Without your body
warm in the bed beside me
I sleep like the dead.

27/7/07:

On a busy road
briefly as if from nowhere
the scent of almonds.

© Rosemary Nissen-Wade 2007

Warm winter: haiku for June 2007

2008-02-27T15:21:00.000-08:00

1/6/07:

Such a warm winter!
I can't help feeling glad – though
the country's still dry.

8/6/07:

I come to bed late.
Both the cats stir and greet me.
The man doesn't wake.

11/6/07:

It's June eleven.
Four decades ago we wed.
Now you are a ghost.

21/6/07:

Midwinter.
Tonight the moon will be
exactly half full.

28/6/07:

Oh! sudden swallows
deceived by warm winter
quickening the air.

© Rosemary Nissen-Wade 2007

Red leaves and a small green frog: haiku for May 2007

2008-02-27T15:14:00.000-08:00

4/5/07:

Clinging to this tree,
red leaves and a small green frog
make me weep. But why?

12/5/07:

In this warm autumn
the wattles are flowering
as if it were spring!

15/5/07:

In the photo ...

Sudden spring blossoms
encrust the branches thickly,
each bloom delicate.

The cat is watching
from behind glass, ducks resting
unaware, serene.

18/5/07:

It's raining again
all over the drought country.
It sinks in. We weep.

24/5/07:

These warm autumn days
deceive the senses until
sunset, 5 p.m.

© Rosemary Nissen-Wade 2007

Darkness coming down: haiku for April 2007

2008-02-27T15:01:00.000-08:00

6/4/07:

Darkness coming down.
A child on a footpath running
just ahead of night.

13/4/07:

Request

A flood of haiku
to carry me away from
our drought-stricken land.

20/4/07:

April morning.
Two pink flowers
half concealed by weeds.

***

April clouds
form the shape of a dragon
thinner than vapour trails.

***

We wake to loud knocks.
Three young schoolboys
beg to wash our car.

26/4/07:

All summer we swam.
The creek looks very flat now.
Weeds grow in the mud.

© Rosemary Nissen-Wade 2007

Look! Leopard colours: haiku for March 2007

2008-02-27T14:43:00.000-08:00

2/3/07:

Look! Leopard colours
in the creek, floating, drowning,
the first fallen leaf.

3/3/07:

It is just starting
to be Friday in Texas.
It's warm and windy.

Here, it's a hot night.
The breeze is light, with an edge.
Lads go past, yelling.

I think of Austin,
April Austin with poems
yelled on wild warm nights.

9/3/07:

I'm late here tonight
to swim my autumn river.
The breeze has a chill.

The tide runs out fast.
The rowboat up yonder slows.
I make for the shore.

12/3/07:

Observation

Friday came and went.
Many refrained from haiku
as the season changed.

16/3/07:

The nights grow cooler.
The street shuts its doors early
and draws the curtains.

20/3/07:

Winter is coming.
Then I can wear my SWAT boots
I got in Texas.

21/3/07:

An outgoing tide
takes us gently, suddenly
beyond our limits.

28/3/07:

Blustery day here.
We head south: even colder.
Swimming's over now.

© Rosemary Nissen-Wade 2007

February clouds: haiku for February 2007

2008-02-26T21:16:00.000-08:00

2/2/07:

The view from Dawn's diningroom

Meadows green and gold
lead my gaze past the farmhouse
to vast rolling cloud.

9/2/07:

Wide as a river
my salty green tidal creek
jumping with fish.

***

Water aerobics.
All alone I dance for joy.
Pelican beaks clap.

10/2/07:

Flung into my mind
this thought of yours starts ripples
that keep widening.

14/2/07:

I don't send, this day,
a big red Valentine heart.
Love you all the days....

***

He sends me a rose
and promises love always.
All day I'm singing.

23/2/07:

February clouds.
White orchids tinged with purple
wait for the rain.

© Rosemary Nissen-Wade 2007

January rain: haiku for January 2007

2008-02-26T16:04:00.000-08:00

5/1/07:

January rain.
Your face looking back at me.
The warmth in your eyes.

12/1/07:

She holds the infant,
its head soft against her cheek,
inhaling skin, hair.

***

The photo

While you are gone, missing your voice
I turn often to your speaking face.

14/1/07:

My dead friend. And you,
the living friend so like him.
My soul is twice blessed.

***

The view from Down Under

America wakes
and comes online, we can tell.
MySpace gets clunky.

12/1/07:

The tidal river.
A black arrow strikes the shore:
sudden cormorant.

19/1/07

My mind has blanked out.
It's the heat. It gets to me.
My brain is melting.

26/1/07

Goddess Exhibition, Art Gallery of NSW

As we wait in line
Krishna embraces Radha
and music begins.

Green Tara

Smiling serenely
she makes a gesture of giving,
dangling one gilt leg.

© Rosemary Nissen-Wade 2007