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