Goldfinches

Leaf 373 – Reflections

 

Kerry Buck - Charm of Goldfinches

Since I was very young, I have always loved goldfinches. When I was a child growing up on the rural edgelands of London sparrows seemed to be everywhere, while goldfinches were a relative rarity. By the time I moved to Japan (a fair few decades later), something had changed in London’s ecology. Sparrows had rapidly declined, while goldfinches had increased. Both birds are favourites of mine for similar reasons. I love hearing them chatter away as they seem to flock together, excitedly dashing from one place to the next. Consequently, goldfinches seemed to be a natural subject for my haiku. I’ve written several haiku about sparrows, but so far this is the first and only haiku I’ve written about goldfinches – and, personally, I think it is one of my best. But not so the editors of modern haiku journals! – I have tried to place it in numerous publications, yet each time it has been turned down and I can’t quite fathom why. A first draft of it was very nearly accepted by one very well-known and much respected haiku magazine; and so, it was duly re-drafted in an attempt to make it more concise, but alas to no avail. For what it’s worth, I present both poems here (the re-draft first, followed by the original version), because I still like both of them very much. I leave it to the reader to decide which they prefer.

 

 

Goldfinches

fast fleeting flashes

gone.

 

 

***

 

 

In fleeting glimpses,

flurries, flashing, fast,

– goldfinches, gone.