original poem – Page 105 – don't confuse the narrator

hai’ku

Winding road; the moon
plays peek-a-boo
behind the mountains

hai’ku

Bedraggled autumn afternoon;
a thousand robin’s eyes watch
from the elder tree.

No, not elderberries, but the visual effect is similar

In the summer, the untended land here is mostly too dry for weeds and no lawn can survive without almost daily watering. The neighbour moves his grand-daughter’s shetland pony around between the various empty gardens and fields, and she may not be in one place for more than a couple of days, depending on the grazing.

We’ve had rain now – torrential thunderstorms and strong winds – but not enough sun to bring the weeds on again, though no doubt they’ll be knee high again in a week or so.
Continue reading “a for apple”

autumn hai’ku

From among the fallen leaves, the wind
lifts a broken butterfly wing
and gives it flight.

autumn evenings

I was a bit ahead of myself when I said it was autumn on the 17th, as in fact the equinox didn’t happen till September 22nd. But there was an autumnal edge to the air last week, although it feels even more ‘edgy’ now the rains have started.

This limits my evenings spent writing under the vine but there will still be plenty of days ahead when it’s warm enough for an hour or two outside once I’ve finished in the studio for the day.

These three short pieces were all written under such circumstances, Continue reading “autumn evenings”