Sunday, June 26, 2011

Haiku



INNESFREE GARDEN,
Millbrook, NY

uneven path
fallen pine needles
soften each step

rock plinth
from the crevice on top
a creeping vine

jet fountain
daisies beaded
with water

a cactus flower
in cracked stone
the piercing thorns

wind across the pond
lily pads collide
along the bank

Chinese garden
the afternoon reches
into its shadows

Henry, A Hudson Valley Journal
spring 2011
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Sunday, June 19, 2011

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Haibun




 CONNEMARA,
County Galway, Ireland
by Adelaide B. Shaw 

Scarcely populated, an area of lakes and rivers, of melancholy and wonder.  A place of mist and fog with rain nearly every day.  Lushly green with wet, hummocky ground that never dries up. 

peat bogs–
meeting in a pool
runnels of rain

Black-faced sheep with curved horns, the “killer sheep” of Connemara, their rumps and sides splashed with red or blue paint, or both, to identify ownership. 

                                                            craggy hills
                                                    my slow mincing steps
                                                          behind the flock

 No trees, but an abundance of plants and shrubs which grow to amazing heights:  fuchsia, woodbine, hawthorn, rhododendron, ferns and several varieties of thorny plants.

                                                              floating fog
                                                       the narrow road edged
                                                          with clipped shrubs

Short and sturdy Connemara ponies, donkeys and burros work the fields and pull the wagons.

                                                              carrots ready
                                                   the gray mare and black colt
                                                              cease nuzzling

Rising above Lough Pollacappul in the heart of Connemara is Kylemore Abbey, an 1867 castle, now home to the Benedictine order of nuns.  Extensive gardens cover six acres, in marked contrast to the wild landscape surrounding them. 

                                                                flower beds
                                                             along a brick path
                                                               the rolling mist

                                                                  peat smoke
                                                        from the gardener’s cottage–
                                                                   turning back
LYNX, June 2011

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Haibun




                                                               TRAIL WALK 

Early spring.  The season just opening up along our favorite trail.  My husband has a camera and I a notebook.  Ahead of us is a young boy about 14 years old.  Headset on, totally absorbed within himself, unaware of our presence until we pass him. Within a minute he passes us, then slows down again.  Soon we are in front.  For several minutes we race for the lead until age gives way to youth.

                                                              along the trail
                                                          walking at full speed
                                                            wildflowers a blur 

World Haiku Review, Summer 2005

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