Sunday, December 31, 2006

halfway
through the last day
the dull sky darkens
towards the end
of a year of endings

Friday, December 29, 2006

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

the old year's end -
grass on this side of the fence
a brighter green

Sunday, December 24, 2006

Friday, December 22, 2006

Friday, December 15, 2006

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Monday, November 27, 2006

Monday, November 20, 2006

Sunday, November 12, 2006

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

autumn deepens -
my neighbour
practicing the drums

[With apologies to Basho]

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Saturday, October 21, 2006

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Monday, October 09, 2006

Saturday, October 07, 2006

Friday, October 06, 2006

Saturday, September 30, 2006

I want to take
this crude ache and twist it
bend it, force it
into a shape so exquisite
that I can make a gift of it

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Monday, September 11, 2006

Haiku articles

On my writing group blog - Cabbage Soup - I've posted about some haiku articles I had published a while back: The Alchemy of Haiku, originally published in Blithe Spirit and Haiku Lessons, originally published in Yellow Moon.

Friday, September 08, 2006

Saturday, August 26, 2006

Friday, August 25, 2006

Thursday, August 24, 2006

Monday, August 14, 2006

Sunday, August 13, 2006

Monday, August 07, 2006

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Saturday, July 29, 2006

Friday, July 28, 2006

with just a casual
movement of my hand
thoughtlessly
I conjure up
a painful memory

Monday, July 24, 2006

Friday, July 14, 2006

Saturday, July 08, 2006

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

tiny spider
crossing a white wall
from left to right
however carefully I watch
I can't tell what it means

Sunday, June 11, 2006

Thursday, June 08, 2006

Sunday, May 28, 2006

Saturday, May 20, 2006

Saturday, May 13, 2006

tangled
in holly and ivy -
a fallen angel's wings

one upright gravestone
among oddly angled ones -
Edward Askew Sothern

almost worn
from the stone, the words
'passed away'

headstones -
my tongue finds the place
of the lost filling

crowding around
the chapel door -
buttercups

hollow cross -
a little water
gathered in it

between the graves
a perfect
dandelion clock

Friday, May 12, 2006

Thursday, May 11, 2006

shirtless and white skinned
in the first real heat they carry
Asda bags of beer
through the haziness
of a city-centre park

Saturday, May 06, 2006

Friday, May 05, 2006

Thursday, May 04, 2006

Sunday, April 30, 2006

waiting room
shadows come and go
with the light

squeak of hinges
a triangle of blue
beyond the wall

before coffee
she mentions
unpalatable truths

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

first summer sunshine -
having knocked he waits
outside the black door

Sunday, April 23, 2006

a soft light
quietly filling up
the white room

in the silence -
the empty chair
beside me

a few words,
birdsong then...
a sneeze

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Monday, April 10, 2006

the early daffodils
were beaten to the ground
if I could only
give up hope then I could
give up disappointment too

Sunday, April 09, 2006

Friday, April 07, 2006

It was quite tiny and almost entirely transparent. You could see through its skin, in places you could see right through its body. It had a streak of red down the middle, deep inside, but its arms and legs, hands and face were all clear and bright, and the light shone through it. It was wrapped in a soft blanket and as I unwrapped it I was afraid it might be too delicate to handle, that I might hurt it. But when it was out of the blanket it began to stretch and bend its delicate looking arms and legs with surprisingly strong movements, as if it were swimming in the air. Its face had that look, that wide eyed glow, as if it was still seeing the faces of the angels and looking back into their eyes. It never quite focused on me.

carrying it
with me all day long -
dream baby

Thursday, April 06, 2006

Security

The security-guard at the court asks to check my bag. I expect they get a lot of middle-aged women running amok in there, and so try to disarm them before letting them in. He does his job well. As he completes his search he suggests that ladies handbags should be like fridges, with a little light that comes on when you open them, so you can see what's inside.

divorce papers -
a glint from the clerk's
engagement ring

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

the accusation
in your voice as we exchange
polite evasions
the lingering bitter taste
of so many unsaid things

Saturday, April 01, 2006

Friday, March 31, 2006

Thursday, March 30, 2006

back streets -
metal spokes are all that's left
of the umbrella

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Saturday, March 25, 2006

Thursday, March 23, 2006

view from the hill -
a white sleeve raised towards
a flipchart graph

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Monday, March 20, 2006

in a sunny corner
a patch of daffodils show
just a hint of yellow
before being battered
face down to the ground

Sunday, March 19, 2006

Friday, March 17, 2006

Monday, March 13, 2006

Saturday, March 11, 2006

outside
a bird is singing without
pause for breath
and still I hesitate
over what to say

Friday, March 10, 2006

early morning sun
across the park - all of us
squinting at it

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Monday, March 06, 2006

I might have thought
I was the only one
to feel this way
if it wasn't that it has
been sung about - ad nauseam
Can't believe I wrote this before hearing 'Pay the Devil'! 'There stands the glass' is the stand out track from this album - if you ask me. Although 'Things have gone to pieces' is growing on me, even if it reduces me to helpless giggles about halfway through. Which I'm not sure is intended. Although it just might be... 'My bucket's got a hole in it' is fun too, and 'Back Street Affair'... and I think I actually like this record!

Sunday, March 05, 2006

Friday, March 03, 2006

spring night -
a scattering of ash scented
with sandalwood and rose

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

after the party -
the musical instruments
I didn't play...

Note to tc, if you're reading this, remind me to get the musical frog out if we have a haiku meeting!

Monday, February 27, 2006

Saturday, February 25, 2006

Friday, February 24, 2006

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Monday, February 20, 2006

Sunday, February 19, 2006

Friday, February 17, 2006

Yellow Moon

The excellent Australian journal Yellow Moon has a website where they publish some of the articles that have been in the print journal. Recently they've been kind enough to add one of mine.
Prussian blue -
the sky over
the art department

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Monday, February 13, 2006

Saturday, February 11, 2006

Friday, February 10, 2006

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

Monday, February 06, 2006

Sunday, February 05, 2006

Thursday, February 02, 2006

packing up to move -
how could anybody need
five bags of clothes?

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

the pale scar
where a branch was cut off -
chill wind in the park

Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Monday, January 30, 2006

Saturday, January 28, 2006

Friday, January 27, 2006

Thursday, January 26, 2006

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

long after it seems
that light and hope have died
green spears push through
dark earth and a bird calls
in the night garden

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

little girl
holds her doll by the ankle
and swings
her auburn hair
flying in the wind

Monday, January 23, 2006

looking out
of an old photograph
my younger self
gives me a coolly
disapproving stare

[It's scary what comes to light when you're moving house.]

If you'd like to disapprove of your future self why not send them an email from FutureMe?

Sunday, January 22, 2006

Friday, January 20, 2006

A-level papers -
questions I once knew
the answers to

[It's amazing what comes to light when you're moving house.]
village station
an early bird sings louder
than the tannoy

Thursday, January 19, 2006

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

Sunday, January 15, 2006

Thursday, January 12, 2006

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Monday, January 09, 2006

Saturday, January 07, 2006

Friday, January 06, 2006

Thursday, January 05, 2006

Wednesday, January 04, 2006