low winter sun
around the corner
your shadow
Tag: poetry
shhhh
New Years Day
it’s all very quiet
in the compost heap
links
the heavy padlock
chaining my bike
to this muddy world
whirring
latenight on the laptop
processor
overheating
taste of home
away on business
I’ve eaten all the apples
from my garden
gazing
cows
on
the
cliff
look
out
to sea
lest we forget
remembrance
sunday
all the
fallen
leaves
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
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
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
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
time
last day of term
daffodils yellowing
in the breeze
empty handed
outstretched fingers
the first buds
of spring
twit-twoo
owl hoots
echoes
in the hollow sky
age
fifty years old
cherry blossom
in the spring wind
diving
hands in gloves
the cormorant slips
into the river
warmer
spring morning
I step out
of the cold shower
cycling uphill
cycling the long road
up Mt Teide – counting the spokes
of mountain daisies
Canary Islands
black sand beach
the soft crash and pull
of her breath
spying
peck, pick, peck
watching the girl watching
the pigeons
Slab Square*
slap of the skateboards
I slip my phone
into my pocket
* colloquial name for the open space in the middle of Nottingham
light
pushing through
the darkness
crocus morning
still winter
first cherry blossom
my cheeks the pink sting
of the river wind
tension
winter morning
hanging on the washing line
raindrops
through the window
remembering
the smell
of distant pine trees
ceremonial
graduation
so much more
to celebrate
Haiku Gravy 