Last Updated on
A Year in Haiku - In the evening light the hills glow golden brown; a Barn Owl hunts the woodland edge, picked out in the last rays of the setting sun - the sky to the west a faint wash of blue tinged with orange-pink. Yet it is still not-quite-dark. The Super Moon, rising over the hedgerow trees, splinters in their branches; throwing short spooky shadows across silver-washed fields; a shooting star - fizzes - a firework across the winter-spring sky ...
lights twinkle
in darkening sky
roding woodcock
Following on from my last post - Seasons in My Mind - a haibun, I felt the haiku poems may stand on their own or may even work as a linked poem, or haiku sequence, of the seasons - telling the story of a year ...
february days
birds sing
indolence prevails
church bells ring
across dewy meadows
a lark ascending *
in the meadow* My response to Carpe Diem #1648 skylark (hibari)
lark and pipit sing
unchain’d melody *
a marshy hollow
yellow flags in shining wind
alive with colour *
yellow flags flutter* My response to Carpe Diem #1649 shining wind (kaze hikaru)
reflected in vernal pools
alive with colour *
yellow flags waving
under a willow golden
ducks are dabbling
bees hum
a puff of time
love butter
a gay summer tribe
of finch and bunting yeller
cirl scribble ‘n’ scribe
the hum of meadow
rainbow cast a summer sky
an artists palette
last swifts scream
across thundery skies
on wing to Africa
silence
filling the white space
a Wren sings
bumbarrels
a blush-pink morning
mirrored in feathers
[...] The bird upon the tree utters the meaning of the wind—a voice of the grass and wild-flower, words of the green leaf; they speak through that slender tone. Sweetness of dew and rifts of sunshine, the dark hawthorn touched with breadths of open bud, the odour of the air, the colour of the daffodil—all that is delicious and beloved of springtime [...] —’Field and Hedgerow’: Hours of Spring. Richard Jefferies
Artist Credit
The Featured Image is a ‘Landscape of the Vernal Equinox’ by Paul Nash (1934) - sourced from Pinterest. He was passionately drawn to places in the landscape with ancient, and mystical connections, such as the Wittenham Clumps, and painted them many times over.
Note
Coincidentally Kim writing in her blog ‘writing in north norfolk’ also chose this image to accompany her haiku ...
vernal equinox
a celestial boundary
traversed by the sun
Kim M. Russell, 21st March 2019
That’s one of my favourite Paul Nash paintings Clive – I saw it at an exhibition fairly recently in Newcastle. The haiku work very well alone as a journey through the seasons, but I did like the haibun too.
Thank you Andrea,
The idea for these haiku and haibun came from a poem I wrote in my post ‘In a Summer Meadow’
https://artin.artinnature.co.uk/in-a-summer-meadow-2/
While reading the poem again the haiku just seemed to create themselves …
A lovely poem Clive – Jefferies description of summer coming was one of the first things of his I read and I loved the way he made it a sentient thing.
Thank you Andrea – here’s my take on that passage …
morning prelude
sentient songs of summer
sibyllic coda
A lovely sense of music and rhythm!
I enjoyed the image of the twinkling lights above and below and the suddenness of the woodcock, Clive, but I’m not sure what ‘roding’ means. I also love the vibrant colour in the ‘artists palette’ haiku and the wren breaking the silent white space,
Thanks for the comment and for following my blog Kim. I’m still trying to get the hang of writing haiku – I’ve reworked the last two in this post … winter silence a Wrens song fills the white space bumbarrels a blush-pink morning mirrored in feathers As a dyed in the wool birdwatcher I sometimes use words which are ‘obscure’ or at least not in common usage – I will see if I can rework this one. But for now if you’ll excuse the explanation – ‘roding’ is the courtship flight of woodcock in spring when they fly just above… Read more »
Here is the reworked version …
lights twinkle
in darkening sky
roding woodcock
This is lovely. Clive. I saw and heard and felt. It all works together so beautifully.
Thank you so much Cynthia. I’m still feeling my way when writing haiku so I’m glad you liked them.