Haiga

Haigaonline, March 2013

Tanka Sequence

                                                    
                                                 A COUNTRY IDYLL

                                                 summer pasture–

                                                 a sway-back horse grazes

                                                 in the shade;

                                                 the quiet of this morning

                                                 comes to me in waves

                                                 hill-top farmhouse

                                                 flanked by sentinels

                                                 of twin pines;

                                                 the years they have stood watch

                                                 through the rolling seasons

 

                                                 silver-edged clouds–

                                                 a shadow slowly glides

                                                 over the meadow;

                                                 soon the day will give over

                                                 to ordinary chores

Modern English Tanka, spring 2007

Haibun

                     A NEIGHBORHOOD PARTY

Five o'clock on a balmy afternoon in late summer.  A party at the neighbor's.  A Jordanian family with dozens of relatives, all present to celebrate a young man's completion of his medical training.

                     a pink and blue sky-

                     the early evening vibrates
                     with a tublah drum *

Exotic odors wafting throughout the garden.  Between eating, there is much talk in Arabic and English and joyous music.

                       a murmuring wind -

                       the ululations of women
                       in the night

We are welcomed into this close family, encouraged to eat, drink, dance.  At one end of the garden, rock and roll; at the other end, a belly dancer.

                        the moon's half light-

                        bejeweled hands twist and turn
                        beckoning

*tublah drum:  a Arab drum similar to a bongo
Stylus Poetry Journal, Dec. 2005

Haiku

                                      falling blossoms

                                      the swirl of her dress
                                      as she spins

                                      her merry giggle
                                      twirling in the rope swing
                                      dogwood blossoms

                                      weeping cherry
                                      the reason to hurry
                                      forgotten

Honorable Mention,
Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival 2011
Haiku Reality, Dec. 2010\
Presence, summer 2012