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autumn thoughts
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bye Isabel

New site is up!
Click HERE for details.

urban garden
fern clinging
to brick

secret messages
door & sewer
graffiti

end of summer
mulching, deadheading and pruning
during quiet morninigs

Summer Haiku is closing

It's time for Summer Haiku to come to a close. Sadly I will not be able to host an Autumn Haiku this year, but hope that someone else will volunteer to carry on the tradition!

waving goodbye
to a new friend -
summer's end

Alison

hot laundromat
she speaks Korean
I use hand gestures

new tendrils
reach into thin air
morning glory

end of summer
different watering schedule
another shift change

last days of summer —
patches of gray
in my five o’clock shadow

after the rain
morning glories wrap around
blooming mimosa

morning glories climb
the dry sunflower stalks
corn moon*

*American Indian name for the August full moon (today)

Joy

after the shower
temperature drops
to 80F!

in the fourth watch
light from lunar eclipse
bathes a burning bush

eclipsed moon
the palm sized dog
touches my heart

[Cross posted to One Deep Breath; this is a dreamku, see my blog for A DREAMKU PRIMER; Image: The Three of Wands in The Voyager Tarot]

summer returns-
brown tipped grass
in neighbors' yards

cicadas
in the last movement~
summer symphony

morning stroll
the sounds of dry leaves
before autumn

3 AM
weeding and watering
before weekend shift

evening light ~
the blue transparency
of a dragonfly


***


lumière du soir ~
la transparence bleue
d'une libellule

dog days —
I keep killing
the same mosquito

after the rain
extra weeding around
pink hibiscus blooms

deep space burn
I reach for my ultra-high
sun protection factor

Anyone who knows any budding poets:
space haiku competition for under sixteens!

flash of yellow
a butterfly headbutts me
in my work break

.

back from vaca
lingering in the garden
before going to work

~~~~~

back from vaca
packer stacatto
over plant floor rhythms

I grasp my blanket
while the world rolls over –
daybreak already?

~ ~ ~

Tracing
the day's climb up the dunes –
birds and their songs

~ ~ ~

Cutting the deck,
sea from sky –
the sun's first light

(cross-posted at But Wait, There's More!)

August chill —
a freight train
speeds by

.
strawberries space-food
the summer heat thaws them
and me

As part of my National Poetry Day (U.K.) commission, 
I have been testing NASA authorised space food, 
and the strawberries are real but spacified.  
Strange but tasty.

wind squall ~
the fountain changes
its tempo


***


coup de vent ~
la fontaine change
de tempo

mobile beauty
orchid
in delivery van

the mountains

the mountains
are lost in the mist
beyond greenery

photo: lori bierly
words: mandy smith

a follow on to Roswilla's ku

["beyond these flat tracks the mountains" -- words were one of my contributions to the Haiku Train currently moving forward at One Deep Breath, the sketch (such as it is :-D) is mine, too]

a summer shower
shivering the surface
of the sea
and all the colours
darken in the rain

school's back -
street
of tiny dramas

sweet separation:
flesh from pit,
dripping juice

(Cross-posted at But Wait, There's More!)

that peach,
not ready yesterday,
was ripe today

(Cross-posted at But Wait, There's More!)

tarty splash
homemade
lemonade

suburban yard
reveals a universe
weeding on my knees

[one of my contributions to the Haiku Train currently chugging along at One Deep Breath]

summer over

summer over
at the end of the bridge
no looking back

photo: emily lin
words: mandy smith

["summer of rainstorms greener in between" .... 1990's photo by Roswila of a 150 year-old weeping beech tree that is survived now by her off-spring]

Do you remember the night in the park, years ago, when our futures took a different direction? We saw the moon, the one I see now, look down at us. Even though its shape and color has changed so many times, its real face never has - nor have ours...
.
shadows spread
from the old oak tree~
summer night

cold paradise
first taste of
Hansen's Sno-Blitz

Sno(w) balls or sno(w) cones are made with crushed ice and sweet syrup.

Hansen's ice is super soft. It absorbs the syrup better than any other type of crushed ice.

It's refreshing to eat this and helps you forget about the heat.

(

new moon-
just a window light competes
with the perseid shower

)

dawn -
light moves across
the curve of the apple

lured by its scent,
I bite into a peach
before it is ripe

pictures of Paris

on the wall, fading~

southern heat

immovable dawn ~
the slow movement
of shadows

***

aube immobile ~
le lent mouvement
des ombres

Last winter, I was walking barefoot on my wooden floor, while everyone else in this blog was freezing to death. Well, I am now the one not enjoying the weather and envying the rest of the group!

under the tree
stillness
hot heavy air

two heat sources
sun
hot flash

refreshing
reward
cold shower

Hades on Earth
opening
car door

sun bleach
caladium's burgundy veins
very pale pink

companion
half gone
water bottle

vacation eve
last minute gardening
ret to pack my stuff

For mmm

image by Trevor Haddrell




Floating World Japanese Festival
with Trevor Haddrell
Bristol Floating Harbour September 2003

the catch gets harder --
dusk levels distinctions
between grass and frog

found treasure
in parking lot
Chucky Cheese token

(Chucky Cheese is a pizza chain store. After the children eat, they can play games with the tokens.)

rooves, trees, cars mixed up
a tornado buzzes
The Big Apple

[An EF2 category tornado -- winds up to 111 mph -- hit Brooklyn (New York City, New York) early this morning. There's no record of one in Brooklyn ever before. In Queens -- where I live, sort of northeast of the area hit -- the storm was a fast and amazingly furious downpour with a great deal of lightning.]

for Josiah

summer fog —
the recruiter’s shiny new car
pulls up to the house

steamy morning
wilting with the garden
as I do my chores

tendril by tendril,
the wisteria closes
my garden gate

(Cross-posted at But Wait, There's More!)

full weekend
50 cent plants at roadside
two flowerpots full

stone bench -
the snail gives up to me
the other half

***

banc de pierre -
l'escargot me cède
l'autre moitié

[Posted as a response to One Deep Breath's prompt this week of "evening." Sketch is also by me.]

child's face at the window -
morning glories
filling with rain

wet forecast -
snail swaggers
out for the day

sultry days

sultry days awaiting a wind that must surely come

words: mandy smith
photo: phill deason

suncaught -
a beer and the barmaid
from another pub


topical haiku even the wine blushes


.

bright heat

wedding party-
inbetween the brightness
a grounded white rose

wide open window
a dream of flying over
tossing green trees

in the sky
and on the hill
the same cloud

***

dans le ciel
et sur la colline
le même nuage

THE EMPRESS (III)*

*from my Taiga Tarot, a deck-in-progress.

summer habit

very early commute
watering the garden
at 4 AM

during shift from hell

great dialougue lines

for onging story

patterns of light
floating through the trees -
splash of an apple falling

first brambles
bright eyes
gaze at me from the bush

how many years ago?
the taste of a cherry
just like this one

morning gardening...
planting rose of sharon
for next year's privacy

Empire State Building
he asks if I'm a tourist
as I gaze up

August —
the dog’s breath
against my leg

change of shift
children serenading me
as I waken

Upper, right panel reads:
still old water
elephant ears
cradle raindrops.

power lines

power lines beneath summer clouds children play

words & photo © gerald england, 2007

prompted by the "feathered friends" theme at one deep breath

another photograph of this sculpture can be seen at Ackworth born, gone West

summer rain...

may december romance

severed too quickly

moving back and forth
to stay in the shade
in this hot day
unable to ignore
the motion of time

staring -
black eyes
sunflower's center

my blind neighbour
fingers each new bloom
...and smiles

startled awake
it's only thunder
blessing moon*


*one name for the August full moon

the graphite
in an overcast summer sky-
iTunes from my desktop

wedding plans-
two of my future in-laws
help me keep sane

extra innings —
the dog groans
in its sleep

teen boy bike riding –
no shoes, no hands, no helmet –
big grin

after SFH*
trenching new garden bed
to find center



after the rain
sanity washes through
the plant floor



*shift from heck

small white starred weeds
beneath the tall flowers
my aching back

windless night —
a cloud of gnats
all around me

rough shift at plant
stopping for some fresh flowers
on the way home

cats cradle
braiding her long fine hair
in humid weather

* * * *

pounding from downstairs
the handsome handyman
likes to sweat

across the leaves
a two-headed shadow -
squirrel raids the orchard

morning jaunt

finding another city park

during taxi duty

fallen petal -
brightens
a dull duck

summer sick day

looking out at the garden

wishing I could eat

silence shattered -
a snail underfoot
in the long grass

cool summer night —
I leave another voicemail
for my daughter

fireflies

river's fireflies
battery operated
bicycle lights

the day brightens
a sunflower peeps out
from behind a hollyhock

another downpour
the smell of barbecue
reminds me it's summer

SHOPPING TRIP

glory vines strangle the gate morning after

* * * *

a bright blue bottle
in the elm's shadows
rest stop

* * * *

trail of pink bubble gum patches almost home

mountain walk-
the jocondologue's
enigmatic sunglasses

tall thistles -
through their leaves
rags of blue sky

vacation planning..
finding the right someone
to tend my garden

one year on -
no tan lines on my
ring finger

Apologies for being distracted from Summer Haiku. Especially if I missed anyone's request to join. Please le t me know of anything I missed while I was away!

afternoon sun

afternoon sun
wet feet follow
the tide line

photo: steve glossin
words: mandy smith

sudden summer storm
the couch cover starts to come
with me to the window

morning task
garden bed hand dug from clay

//////////////

     /////////////////  

           ///////////////////

sudden outbreak-
I welcome the cold rain
without a raincoat

.

against the white clouds -
a swallow
anchoring my thoughts


(after Ian Hamilton Findlay:concrete poet)

we pick
sun warmed berries
the cool lake

relief...

sticky summer day
first sip of cool lemonade
my whole body goes "ah......"

after the rain
new weeds sprout in flower pots

summer afternoon
dad teaching son to mow lawn

thistle's purple bonnet -
bee's weight
tips it jauntily

after power goes out
dust dances in the sunbeams
through the plant skylights

writer-in-residence in sunny Cheap Street

While I was a writer-in-residence at the Frome Festival (U.K.) a member of staff, Jen Pickup, even wrote two haiku with me in!


Resident writer
sitting in the window shade
scribbling lines.


Noise from the stream street
Drifting in past the poet
Into the shop cool.


For more information and links: click onto Area 17

,

on city chimneys
gulls sitting -
their songs of the sea

summer torrent

summer torrent
pigeon at the bird feeder
undeterred

words & photo © gerald england, 2007

prompted by the "feathered friends" theme at one deep breath

out from a sky
of black and white clouds -
crows and gulls

'jazz on a summer's day' -
a basket full of flowers
full of bees

the child halts
in the shade of the old elm
dripping ice pop

shift from hell

arrested by jasmine fragrance

wafting into the plant

pending fireworks color cloud bottoms

soggy holiday
enjoying the fireworks
from my couch

hugging the hot stone -
a lone rose
dying of thirst

garden run

red dwarf crepe myrtle

and peach day lillies

storm warning-
inbetween poetry & coffee
that Hovis ad

Web link: six poets go to Dorset

day dawns
darkness disperses -
leaving the crows behind

summer morning -
to see such joy
wriggling through a horse

after the rain
a verdant blush creeps
over the parched lawn

hot night of dreams .... mooning

[Does this one-liner work at all? I mean to imply three different meanings for that last word. :-D]

felled forest -
a single bird
darting through the silence

empty classroom~

in the heat, writing lessons

for autumn

trees overhang -
the stream changes
from bubbling light to gloomy

early commute

red and yellow cannas

float over black mulch

heat wave!
the chapel in the snow
screensaver

One daddy longlegs
makes a mountain of our tent –
we watch from inside

(Crossposted at But Wait, There's More!)

post midnight

post midnight
suns sets on the Bering Sea
all shades of orange

words by gerald england
photo by r brett stirling

Photograph first appeared on Alaska: The View From Up Here

clouds
passing over
full of puddles

summer rain-

it comes again,

sadness

rainy summer day

scarlet maple leaves

swirling in run off

HOT PAIRS

hand-in-hand sweethearts
umbrella as parasol
summer stroll

glaring sunlight
my shadow leads
the way

...down the stream
a single rose petal
weaves between the ducks

start of week
new rose buds on potted bush
hibiscus in bloom

St John's evening ~
two butterflies flutter
in the lavender

***

soir de St Jean ~
deux papillons volettent
dans la lavande

.
Please click onto image for larger text

staccato flash

of a firefly in the rain~

syncopation

sultry summer night

jasmine and gardenia

on the ride home

slow falling

drops of rain land

on my bare back

among the hot sweat~

summer solstice

It was also the night of the Samuel Johnson Prize on BBC4, where a friend was short-listed against some other top writers!


Please click onto image for large text version

BTW the little white dot is the pole star!

fallen
calendula flowers -
sun behind a cloud

eucalyptus
leaves - bruised and
fallen to the floor

So tired today –
couldn't resist last night's show
(clouds across the moon)

Last night's rain –
not enough for puddles,
but such loud birdsong!

after the rain

wishing my annuals grew

as well the weeds

GOING & COMING

skirting Australia
the sunlit puddle
in the street

unlocking the door
the ants
have beat me home

reaching for a cloud
the toddler topples -
sits in the puddle smiling

red-winged blackbird
at the top of a tree,
holding, balancing

(Cross-posted at But Wait, There's More!)

both quiet
under summer moon -
our shadow

***

tous deux silencieux
sous la lune d'été -
notre ombre

beach weather
shopping for my first tattoo
I choose Kandinsky

Billie Dee

kuku makura

mid shift

watching a melon sky

blaze over the river

rain starting
spider running
between the drops

closing the shutter ...
opening the shutter ...
bees in the lavender

***

fermant le volet ...
ouvrant le volet ...
des abeilles dans la lavande

flowering vines
climb the grey yard wall
prison break

[A "dreamku," click here and just below DAILY DREAMKU are links to all three parts of a new post on writing dreamku.]

above the dam

two black skimmers in flight

arguing

(Spied by an acquaintance above Central Park Lake's temporary dam in New York City. Much needed maintenance and repair is being done on the lake at present and I can imagine the wildlife in the park is being agitated by it. :-D)

June Wedding

wide-eyed bride -
an eager groom bestows
open-mouth kiss

- Stephanie Roberts

three stories up
honeysuckle scents
the breezes

heron, stone-still -
wind suddenly
picks a feather from his wing

after the rain
new grass shoots sprouting
in the windox box

gales -
webs bearded
with thistledown

Big Hole Valley
breath of the haystacks
warming the night

[Big Hole Valley in southwest Montana is the site of the
world’s largest wild hay harvest each July.]

--Billie Dee

KIKU MAKURA

june sunshine-
the freedom of an afternoon
with coffee & croissant

black gold slavery

apple orchard I pause as long as the fox cub


.

a morning
of puddles -
repeating everything

summer daydream...

on the way to work
how to grow personal wealth
through gardening

ducklings on the tow-path -
amongst the buttercups:
cat's eyes

shopping with sister

looking at neighborhood gardens

with new eyes

two blackbirds on a stump
centuries-old songs
in their beaks

butterfly
forgetting,remembering,
forgetting...the way

dark night

suddenly lights up~

first firefly

first light

watering garden against

heat of the day

~~~

morning commute

napping under shade tree

cats and birds

flat tire
sidewinder tracks
in the moonlight

--Billie Dee

kiku makura

June arrives

June arrives
even in the evening
bright sun

words and photo © gerald england, 2007

red poppies
lean together
...dark eyes

older couple

sitting under a shady tree

hand in hand

a last
dandelion-clock
teased by the breeze

between the old man
and the sparrow:
broken bread

garden find
tiny mimosa tree
among the vinca vines

too lazy to move

the cooling breeze

now a bit chilly

home from the beach with
sand in my shoes and swimsuit.
my skin is burnt red.

morning commute

orange roses dancing

over red daylillies

toddler wobbles
bubblebee zigs
first summer's grass

in the sun-baked trail
of the shopping cart
squashed red berries

a first bird visits -
the tiny apple tree
bows

the old lady's roses
lean out
into the city

rainy sunday
washing out the enregy
to do chores

~~~~~

monday morning
new passion flower buds
curling toward the sun

roses hang from the wall
...faces of the
orphanage children

tired lawn

tired lawn
buttercups and daisies
intrude

© gerald england, 2007

busy highway
a thousand cicadas
drown out the trucks

--Billie Dee

kiku makura

bee slipping out
of the foxglove's bell -
its work done

watermelon seeds,
spit out on the lawn as the
dry grass cuts our feet.

stormy clouds -
an aphid on the lapel
of my jacket

***

nuages d'orage -
un puceron sur le revers
de ma veste

my blind setter
frozen on point
baby quail

--Billie Dee

kiku makura

droplets

droplets fall sounds of laughter in the park

photo: lori bierly
words: mandy smith

telephone call
the weather and I
in meltdown

in the sun
a crow sits
in a puddle of black feathers

early commute

red and white peonies

dancing in the wind

summer breeze
slivers of colored glass
clink and sway

- Stephanie Roberts

sultry evening

taking the scenic route home

to enjoy the lawns

sultry morning
mosqutios, ants and roaches
resting in the shade

cutting thyme
scrubland invades
the kitchen

***

coupant du thym
la garrigue envahit
la cuisine

summer -
each leaf thrusting
out into space

after weekend wedding
scent of lillies fills the house

and very sore feet

the peony's
blood-red head
tilted on the sidewalk

(for Chet Baker)

lunch in the sun -
turmeric shines from
my samosa

cleveleys

cautious footsteps
head towards home -
incoming tide

words & photo
© gerald england, 2007

upside

upside down temperature rising greens everywhere

words: mandy smith
photo: lori bierly

mid morning chores
seeing first rose bloom on bush
nicer than its picture

morning gardening
folding in earthworms
with the annuals

Peonies

(Cross-posted over at But Wait, There's More!)

first light
waking to birdsong
before day's chores

midshift break
stopped by the honeysuckle
on the night air

sound of a waterfall
...wind through
the green willows

peacful

midday project
trenching, edging and filling
a new garden bed

ducks image©Alan Summers 2007

river light-
two girls 'quack compete'
with the ducks


Check out The Lock Inn's own pictures where I was eating a Summer Sunday lunch: The Lock Inn Café

Where in the U.K. is this? Click here!

Intense sun --
even the cat
retreats to shade

lazy morning
noticing the shades of blue
in the sky

lazy afternoon
sharing great cherry pie
with ant colony

twilight,

serenaded by the birds

in the trees~

ending a busy day

with wordless thoughts

wild flowers
fill the little yard
missing the roses

weekend looming

beyond the gardening

chores stare back at me

wind of May -
someone whistles
in another garden

***

vent de mai -
quelqu'un siffle
dans un autre jardin

white on grey -
a gull flies
through the rain

rainswept path -
a woodpigeon walks
with drooping wing

in the tree
of heaven's shadows
hot dog vendor

raining afternoon
river lapping lazily
against it banks

sparrow sitting
peeps through the blossom
...laburnum ringlets

first light
rain filled coleous ridges
sparkle on back deck

peony unclenching
its redness
...beating heart

doffed to summer

first the sweater

then the shoes and socks

sunny Saturday
first ice cream truck of summer
rolling down the street

Summer Haiku 2007

Welcome to Summer Haiku 2007. This blog will celebrate the summer season in haiku (and related forms) from now until the end of July.