cold swim

frosty beach
hopping
like the gulls

alarm

purple dawn
silhouetting
a single seagull

6:16 to Sheffield

early train
nosing
into the new day

its a wrap

rain turning to sleet
workers in high vis
dismantling the Christmas market

Tinto Hill

slowly across the fields
us
and the shadow of the hill

glitter balls

evening walk
each frost sparkles
sometimes

dark clouds

sheep
dirty
in the snow

morning routine

swinging bird feeder
waving
goodbye to the kids

snack

bus driver’s break
the rest
of the double decker*

* this is a very tasty chocolate bar

sea swim

beyond the breakers
buoyed by the
silent swell

betwixtmas

end of the year
scraping mud
from my boots

back home

three weeks
since my travels
still unpacking
my memories

beat

evening walk
my steps in time
with cicadas

Nakasendo Trail [4]

without the guidebook
this
is all mine

Nakasendo Trail [3]

wayside inn
tea
and woodsmoke

Nakasendo Trail [2]

my path
straight through
the towering pines

Nakasendo Trail [1]

leaving my suitcase
I follow
the old post road

right now

sitting
writing about
sitting

on the breeze

traffic
and jazz —
night music

roof top terrace

evening doze
beer cool against
my feet

very much inspired by the classic haiku from Basho, one of the first I ever read:

noon doze
wall cool against
my feet

payback

dusk
the earth returns
the heat

raw

morning heat —
sushi
for breakfast

busiest pedestrian crossing in the world

Shibuya Crossing
traffic
of people

slippered

slipping
into Japanese customs
I take off my shoes

kindness

unexpected rain
an umbrella
gifted

off piste

the winding road —
which one of us
is lost?

pilgrimage

from temple
to temple
my growing blister

Golden Gai*

grilled skewers of meat
I share a drink
with a stranger

* a delightful area of Tokyo with hundreds of tiny restaurants and bars

sakura*

cherry trees
in summer
ah, the shade

*sakura is Japanese word for the famous cherry blossom which blooms every spring, but the trees provide much needed shade in summer too

obscured

to not see Mt Fuji
the sleeping head
of a passenger

relief

in the queue
for shaved ice
a shared umbrella

bullet train

shinkansen
Tokyo to Osaka
neither here nor there

hot spring

butterfly
at the onsen
I flit
from pool to pool