New Morning

Leaf 202 – Reflections

 

Fan Ho - Approaching Shadow (1954)

This poem was originally written for a haiku contest, which I didn’t win.

 

 

A new morning –

without her

widow’s weeds.

 

  

 

Saturn's Rings

Leaf 201 – Reflections

 

Earth seen from Saturn (2017) NASA JPL-CALTECH SSCI

Continuing the theme from Leaf 199, meditating on how we choose to perceive the different scales of time which surround us.

 

 

Inking a wolf’s hair brush –

drawing the emptiness

into Saturn’s rings.

 

 

 

This poem was originally written and posted on Bluesky in response to a #haikufeels writing prompt: 'ring.' 

Photograph credits/source: NASA/GeoNews & NeedPix

Bright Sparkles

Leaf 200 – Reflections

 

Kawase Hasui - Fireworks on the Sumida (c.1930s)

The 5th November in the UK is known as “bonfire night,” and it is the time of year for large public firework displays. Consequently, ever since I was a child, fireworks have always been associated in my mind with the start of winter. Whereas in Japan, ‘Hanabi’ (花火) firework displays are often associated with summer. But whichever season they are staged in, naturally enough, the response and reactions are universally the same.

 

 

Bright sparkles burst –

and ripple out

into soft “Ahhhs.”

 

 

 

Eiichi Kotozuka - Fireworks at Kyoto's Kamo River (c.1950s)

 

Petal Heads

Leaf 199 – Reflections

 

Aiwa Katsushi - Sunflowers

Plants and flowers seem to live in accord to a different pace of time to us, but, every now and then, we maybe get a glimpse of the world as they perhaps seem to see it.

 

 

Petal heads rotate,

gently hypnotized

to the horizon.

Ohtsu Kazuyuki - Summer Sunflowers (2012)

This poem was originally posted on Bluesky in response to a #haikufeels writing prompt: 'rotate.'

Village Fete

Leaf 198 – Senryu (or witty, tom-foolery)

 

I wrote this little poem purely for my own (and, undoubtedly, very English) sense of amusement …

 

 

On his way to the village fête,

the curate’s bicycle wheel

– buckled.

Photograph source: WPFastestCache 

White Cottage

Leaf 197 – Looking Back

 

Edith & Rowland Hilder - Tansy and Chicory (Wild Flowers, 1957)

This is a poem from the sweltering hot summer of 2003 – written when I was living in rural Bedfordshire.

 

 

Looking from the window,

that small white cottage

on the horizon,

                             she says

– was once her home.

 

Early Morning

Leaf 196 – Looking Back

 

Philip Townsend - No.73 Bus, London (c.1960s)

During the late ‘90s and early 2000s, I lived in London’s Stoke Newington. I used to love travelling in and out of town each day on my way to and from work on the old red Routemaster buses (see also, Leaf 32).

 

 

Moist breath

on the windowpane

– early morning bus.