spring snow

 

"This is enjoyable for a lot of folks. It's been such a mild winter otherwise. They're forecasting eight to ten inches." 

 

"Really? It's funny; I was just telling a friend earlier of a time I was in South West Texas and watching the scorpions come out to hunt beneath my cot after dark. I was just a little boy.

 

"I shouldn't be surprised, I am a Midwesterner, after all."

 

We thanked each other and I walked out of the market to my car, careful to avoid the snowplow's path.

spring snow --

the moon invisible behind

a wall of clouds

;;;g;;;

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

little birds

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

top

on top of the gym
highest she's ever been --
pulling back the clouds










photo: brianna

Hollyhocks

morning clouds --
some day, she tells herself,
she'll have her Hollyhocks, too

Road Trip (revisited)

between rumble-strips
and wild flowers -
two lane blacktop





mist from the hills -
where floodplain meets sky,
ripples blur the grey




Cannon, Whitewater,
Zumbro, Trout -
the place where the river widens





prayers for rain -
the church league's corn boil
won't be held this year





Route 66 -
a flyspecked whitewash
on the wayside rest






Sunday's summer sunset -
another small town
closes all its doors



;;

the rabbit

.








brisk winds,
wet leaves and scudding clouds;
  rabbit escapes the moon




International Haiku Fest 2011@ Akita International Haiku


.

february

.





clouds at an amazing pace February sun





.

Williams County 5 Vignette

twice it plies
Little Muddy's twisting banks --
Autumn Equinox






mile markers
in every headlight --
convoy on the 13th night

alone with a mirror
trying on these cowboy hats --
Autumn sky








heat and drought,
weeks gone by and still no rain
grass as dry as tinder
an Angus calf all caught up
in a few bare strands of wire








  a river of fog
high above the coulee --
prairie greets the dawn

Williams County 5 -
pheasant children waiting
all along the road







black-tailed deer
waiting in the blowing dust,
 a last leaf falls
the only tree within
miles and miles

The World's Largest Buffalo

drought-
this light through the clouds
casts no shadow






hold on tight
and lean into the wheel-
wind from the south





ominous clouds-
the world's largest buffalo
come face to face

21st Century Blues

self-immolation -
unable to look,
unable to speak
the match's flare
a whisp of smoke





the clock tolls
morning and afternoon
stupid clouds
they rise from the east
the temples all in shadow





with poison wings
covering their mouths
above the City of Urns
no rank or substance
in omnipotent eyes





the sun sets
the sun rises
mute silence
preoccupation
with strange light





slogans dripping
from all the banners
a crowd gathers
singing the songs
twenty-first century blues