Simply
Haiku: A Quarterly Journal
of Japanese Short
Form Poetry
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Summer 2005, vol 3 no 2
Contents
Archives
About
Simply Haiku Submissions
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Summer 2005, vol 3 no 2
sheet one, side one
for an outdoor feast,
food in a basket
and all is well
still shining in the bowl
of her throat
pores, not gills
the carp circling
only one way
her eyes grow darker
in that dress
you’d expect nothing less
of zeros in the snow
sheet one, side two
the vicar steps
off the church tower
into the harbour
cormorant
can never be cleaned
stains on his jacket
and outlined islands
where they may go
by his parents
muttered
to the daisies
in the half–light
she shakes the watch
against her ear
the orbit of the moon
as an electric storm
kicks in
in sugar and red wine
a race of rust
and shed wool
we recognise Santa Claus
sheet two, side one
Hänsel and Gretel
could only eat gingerbread
she slams the door
the waiter rolls
the dragon’s eyes
stairs can be dangerous
of coltsfoot wrapped in
butterbur leaves
on the Maypole
two hares chase
across the down
for the love of Bowmore
shoes on our heads
wading tidal flats
into a waltzer kiss
traced onto sky
my head aches
two orange dawns
are they breakfast
or last night’s tea?
we follow the moon
sheet two, side two
circling
whose hunting who?
we almost felt the same
between our bodies
get less with age
we talk over everything
fuck that!
is all the walls say
ringed by a six foot fence
for the biology teacher’s
flesh eating plants
at the late night double bill
her make-up
on the last bus
you can watch the flowers open
the baby slips out
from liquid to liquid
the channel tunnel
I fled
and now you send me back?
she keeps the receipt
sheet three, side one
an amulet,
a loaded gun
the blood bubbles
wells spring
spreading black poison
cut with a scythe
in the middle
of Oak Wood
plies through the mist
disturbed by feet
a pebble dances down
with her psychoanalyst
a woman
and her cat
of tormentil
along ditches
of frog spawn
smells of wild garlic
for lemons
and a heel of ginger
as time goes by
sheet three, side two
practices his tuba
in the moonlight
cracks the gardener’s resolve
sooted up
by Mr. Smith’s bonfire
has turned to ashes
that is found
at the end of the rainbow?
tiny packaged objects
mice have been at the
snowdrop bulbs again
through the dead leaves
the swan beaks
her massive nest
a narrowboat pass
which is a canal?
and which the sea?
in search of Tir nan Og
could only
suit you
all those hearts on her sleeve?
sheet four, side one
elegantly dabs
a welling tear
a workie at breakfast
and the moon will shine
on buttered toast
by the wrong sort of mist
the sheep gather
in closed circles
as they cross the river
behind your eyes
when he touches like that
stops melting
the word ‘wife’
and wrote ‘widow’
comes down with a bang
go rocketing
over the hedge
a speckled feather
to the meadows
mushrooming alone
it’s only the moon
sheet four, side two
float onto and under
the old bridge
a yowl from the vixen
through glass you know
is Japanese quince
a delight of warmer days
to hide decorated eggs
in their small garden
lifts him to the light
whirl incessantly
overhead
closer to the ground.
a hyakuin renga at
Midsummer
The Camellia House, Yorkshire Sculpture Park,
West Bretton
21-22 June, 2004 (noon - noon)
Nine poets:
Paul Conneally
Anne-Marie Culhane
Alec Finlay
Linda France
Morven Gregor
Jackie Hardy
Alex Hodby
Gerry Loose
Beth Rowson
Renga Schema
Jane Reichold
and the Yorkshire Sculpture Park]
Related items in this
issue of Simply
Haiku:
~ Hyakuin:
a 100-verse summer renga schema – Jane Reichold
~ Notes:
The 24-hour Hyakuin Renga – Alec Finlay
Copyright 2005: Simply Haiku