Singapore

 

a flight of plovers soars above--

ten thousand hits from Singapore

 

 

red wing

 

 

the red-winged blackbird

announces his return!
... reeds and wetland 

right up to the road

 

 

 

 

just one

 

just one that first comes,

then they all fly off together --
winter sparrows

 ;;;

 

Summer Clouds: haibun

Moonfly and me took a walk through our three acre wood today. I don't know what drew us. I just followed her lead, she taking me firmly by the hand to remove me from my lethargy. First, we skirted the perimeter, peering into it's darkness and then, for a lack of caution, walked right in together as though it were an everyday occurrence.

We kept a sharp eye for wildcats, jaybirds and poison ivy (not to be confused with Ivy, the neighbor's daughter, or, trailing ivy on a blue mail box). I wore long pants and a dead man's shoes, forging ahead to clear the vague trail overgrown in green shadow, twisting south to north with others of uncertain origin intersecting here and there. Arriving at a fork, naturally, we chose the high road.

We bypassed the reed bed where many a crawdad or rollie pollie might wander for a swim or a drink. No deer or unicorns were spotted near its banks. Moonfly was easily able to escape the branches and switches that I had to duck and dodge, flitting beneath while I crashed through above.

A far piece distant, 100 yards or more, and a perilous traverse atop a block wall consumed our return home, though we managed to check ourselves for ticks and chigger bugs having safely arrived. Where's a Opossum when you need one?

'

when I was just a boy

I counted to a thousand -

summer clouds

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Williams County 5: revisited

 

 

Williams County 5 --
pheasant children waiting
all along the road

a river of fog
 across the coulee --
   prairie greets the dawn

twice it plies
the muddy's twisted banks --
Autumn Equinox

 

 

 

little birds

those little birds
never seem to catch the crow--
spring clouds

May Day

May Day -
a snippet of bird song
before the storm

frogs in the reeds

the water is high
on the saint croix river --
Ducks beneath the bridge




how placid their preening --
Pelicans ply the barges 
up the mighty mississip'




pretending to be Swans
might fool someone, some where --
the last port north



 

a chorus rises 

above the lake called malalieu --

Frogs in the reeds

the print is by Takeshi Ishikawa

Juncos

those skittish juncos --
  spring gusts drove them
      flitting through the snow

blue geese

I offer her
my last Pall Mall --
blue geese over Fujisawa



                        Navy Island on the Mississippi River; January 11, 2010; 10 below O [f]


first appeared in Resonance 9

words

writing, writing some more -
when the Cardinal calls
my words fly away

pumpkins

pumpkins for sale -
grackles dive bomb the ditch
alongside the road

January thaw

January thaw
the only prints in the snow
appear at our door

1月の雪解け -
雪の中の唯一のプリントは私たちのドアにあります

birds

on the longest night













flitting from nest to husk












even in her dreams













the language of birds













never left to rest















;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

hot again ::: yotsumono

a lone gull gliding
catches up to its cries --
Lake Mallalieu


kinetic theory
its rippling arc bending


pomade, coffee, talcum,
clean shirt, too -
the Fat Man's stick is hot again


a note with no name,
and roses, just shy a dozen




;;;;;

between crows

.


summer squall
a quarrel between crows
releases more rain



.

winter wind (revisited)

.
























just some old frostbite --
long tendrils of ice
delaying a thaw



days now short lived --
where have you gone
little sparrows?



chicken bones--
layers of snow
three feet deep

distant train horns

shear ice from each rail --

this old town

 

shrill horns
sheer the icy rails--
this old town




.

More Walnuts

the crowds all gone home
sleek crows forage
through bits of bright litter -
Dandelions








stinging nettles,
young maples like weeds -
the mystery behind
your manicured lawns









trumpet vines
burst through the tarmac -
bangers on the corner
argue on their iPhones







a horn blows in traffic
the texture of twine -
high summer sun bakes
the brick wall








a dusty-red wren
perched on a pail -
heat shimmer blurring
the hot-tar roof









a musty smell from limestone
bits of broken glass -
the stain from fallen walnuts
stuck to our hands

Summer in the City

iridescence -
amidst the dandelions,
sleek crows forage
through bits of bright litter









stinging nettles,
young maples like weeds -
the mystery behind
your manicured lawns









trumpet vines
through the broken tarmac -
gangbangers on the corner
argue on their iPhones









the texture of twine -
high summer sun bakes
the old brick wall








a dusty-red wren
perches on a pail -
heat shimmer's glare
above the hot-tar roof









that musty smell,
limestone and broken glass -
the stain of fallen walnuts
stuck to our hands

May Day

Rueters/Miller McKnight




May Day -
a snippet of bird song
before the storm