Monday, September 12, 2011

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


Presence #30 Sept 2006

Monday, July 04, 2011

Sunday, June 05, 2011

after reading
the note I sent myself
in a dream
I know but can't recall
what it said

Sunday, May 29, 2011

A life in birds

A pheasant standing
in the furrows
a hawk's swerve
over the sewage works
magpies flying
low across a field
a pigeon
in the mouth of a dog

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Dreaming in colour

the ladies with a red attitude
the man who spoke in splashes of yellow
even the white room
that was not Hugh's

Friday, April 22, 2011

closing time -
two drunks argue over which
swear word is worse

Friday, April 15, 2011

Poem written when I didn't have time

If I only had five minutes to write
I would have to write about this flitter
from one thing to another that I do
and how, now, I'm trying to slow right down
and stop the days from flickering past me
like the view from the window of a train

Sunday, April 10, 2011

how many things
do I need to dispose of
before
each one left
becomes precious?

Friday, April 08, 2011

Thursday, April 07, 2011

Tuesday, April 05, 2011

How to resist tyrannical optimism

Be pessimistic
when disaster looms
pay close attention
at the darkening of each day
find time for sadness
months or years after a loss
admit dissatisfaction with your life
when you have less than you had hoped
be sure you're not persuing someone else's dream
during the programme or the ads
do not suspend your disbelief
when the fourth wall breaks
express your disillusionment
even if others disapprove
refuse to stay forever young.

Monday, April 04, 2011

Saturday, April 02, 2011

Gained in translation

Delighted by this translation of one of my haiku by Serge Tomé on temps libres

Satie -
the rain
eases

Satie -
la pluie
diminue

Friday, April 01, 2011

Haiku found on my bookshelf



embracing the firebird
in the ship's wake
summer dreams

White

rain turns to snow
it's unclear now what lies concealed
within the radius

without, we suffer nocebo
unless we can
in rational clarity
disregard
the insidiously subtle flow

in air, water, milk
in the frost-white steam
in rain that turns to snow

Thursday, March 31, 2011

NaPoWriMo

NaHaiWriMo was fun, and showed me that I could write a haiku a day if I tried, so maybe NaPoWriMo can be the next stretch I need beyond the comfort zone?

I'd like to use it to give myself a challenge to look out for different types of inspiration, not just the haiku kind. Longer things have appeared here before now but I've never really tried to write them, they just happened occasionally. If this goes to plan there will be some longer poems appearing here, among the haiku, over the next month.

Probably not much longer though, as I remain a dedicated minimalist!

Monday, March 21, 2011

the moon at perigee -
something else is tearing
this world apart

Sunday, March 06, 2011

NaHaiWriMo

I did it! A haiku a day for the whole month of February. I know I said I was aiming for two a day. Somedays I did that, other days the extra verses helped fill what would have been gaps. The thing is when you aim high, even if you don't make it every time, you tend to hit higher overall than if you aim low.

I've not posted yet in March. I can't keep it up. It's not that it was hard. It was a matter of focus and noticing things that are there every day if you just look. But there are so many demands on time and attention. I've tried simplifying life but still those demands are there.

The most important thing we decide every day - and we usually do it without the least bit of real reflection - is what we will pay attention to, what we will give our limited time to.

Monday, February 28, 2011

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

NaHaiWriMo 23

first days of spring -
the sound of a crowd of people
demanding change*

* line 2/3 phrase 'found' in a BBC radio news item

NaHaiWriMo 22

February wind -
the word 'crocus'
on the Scrabble board

NaHaiWriMo 21

February rain -
the word 'spring'
on the Scrabble board

Monday, February 21, 2011

Friday, February 18, 2011

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Friday, February 11, 2011

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Wednesday, February 09, 2011

Friday, February 04, 2011

Wednesday, February 02, 2011

Tuesday, February 01, 2011

Monday, January 31, 2011

Upping the ante

I'm going to set myself a personal challenge. Not only will I write a haiku a day as part of NaHaiWriMo and publish it here but I will also write another which I will not post online. You'll just have to trust me on this.

NaHaiWriMo

It starts tomorrow! NaHaiWriMo!

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Noticing things

Sometimes writing the kind of thing I post here comes ridiculously easily, sometimes it becomes impossibly difficult. I'm not sure of all the reasons but partly it's about a loss of focus. Being too busy. Sometimes I need to slow down to make things come back into focus. There's a plan afoot for a group of people to write a haiku a day during February and I'm hoping that taking part in that might help me get the focus back. I want to start noticing things again, not let them all go by in a blur of busyness.

spring moon
a burst of song
from a passing cyclist