Simply Haiku: A Quarterly Journal of Japanese Short Form Poetry
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Autumn 2009, vol 7 no 3
 

HAIBUN
 

Beyond the Horizon
Dru Philippou

 

Clouds drift above the fast-flow of a stream, the emerald grasses, and the purple violets where an old farmer stands in his field sensing the new season, but this morning he’s unable to rise to the mood of a robin, or the thin blue of a damselfly weaving through the air. Instead, he stares at the wisps of silver mist hugging the valley then at a hawk chasing prey through cottonwoods. He goes on planting corn, knowing the hawk has missed. He goes on planting the long black furrows before him.

long shadow
of a broad bole
the roots strike deep

 


Dru Philippou was raised in London and now lives in Taos, New Mexico. She is a widely published poet in the haiku, haibun, and tanka prose genres. Awards include the Scorpion Prize: A tie for the best haiku or senryu of issue VI:I 2006, Roadrunner Haiku Journal; twice nominee for the Pushcart Prize, 2006; and an honorable mention in the Robert Spiess Memorial Haiku Contest, 2008. She teaches online courses in haiku: For information contact: druphilippou@gmail.com