13/01/2012 by Alan.

Here are a few more of my writings. I have returned to the natural elements for the following:

Nature’s tower

Community protector

Man a meer shadow.

Or a variation on the tree theme:

A land of giants,

Supportive in their silence

Await the chainsaw.

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Lonely blade of grass

Released by the damp earth,

Strive, until trampled.

Or a variation of the tree theme:

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Sand castles on shore

Fly your flags defiantly.

White horses approaching.

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See me soar on high

A solitary soul in flight.

Freedom at what cost?

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Enticed by the wind,

Sycamore seeds spiral down

Into blocked drains.

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28/12/2011 by Alan.

Paul writes haiku stripped down to a basic vocabulary.

A spider

Upon a crucifix,

Hunger.

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Leaving the room,

The moonlight catches

The blood on your calf.

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The late sun

Scars my eyelids

With your kiss.

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Uncertain dark,

Violence of my own mind,

Water grown cold.

I have begun to write haiku for specific people or events. Friends of mine in America have been trying to re-locate for a long time and I have been a support, albeit at a distance, of the frustrations they have endured. At last they have moved into their dream home:

Alan and Herman

Cross threshold to a new life.

American dreams.

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Likewise, after a visit to another friend of mine, Kishan, a homeopath I wrote the following:

If ill or worried,

Let Kishan into your life.

Enjoy the new dawn.

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More haiku writings based on elements of nature soon.

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27/11/2011 by Alan.

London is a place of time travel. Turn a corner, as we tried to take a short cut and there was St. John’s Gatehouse, a fascinating building associated with Shakespeare, Hogarth, Dr. Johnson and Dickens. Travel down into the depths via endless escalators and you discover the amazing world of the London Underground. My thoughts:

Time travel exists:

Open a book and wander

Between the covers.

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Move from ‘was’ to ‘is’,

Travel from ‘now’ to ‘will be’,

Past, present, future.

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Eye contact on Tube,

Shy glances and distant smiles.

One leaves at next stop.

OR

Eye contact on Tube,

Shy glances and welcome smiles.

Two leave at next stop.

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One of the pleasures of London is the variety of eating venues. Two views now, the first on seeing a children’s party and the second looking out into the hotel’s garden while eating a delicious breakfast.

Coloured toy balloons

Dancing, excited children

Celebrate their birth.

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Squirrels chase on bark,

Upside down or right way up

Watch dawn’s shadows play.

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Leaving later on the last night, I was very much aware of a chill in the air. Winter was being more forceful.

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Breath becomes vapour,

Red blood metamorphs to blue,

Tangible coldness.

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So we left London and its wonders to return home where more of my thoughts required a fine tune. See these soon as well as other contributions from writer Paul.

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25/11/2011 by Alan.

I enjoy travelling and I find that the haiku form is very similar to establishing thumbnail pictures of people, places and emotions. So the train arrives at Paddingtgon Station and there is a flurry of excited people meeting each other.

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Emotions spark smiles

Silence merges into gentle hugs

Waterfall of news.

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Finding  a seat on any platfrom is time consuming, but not for the pigeons who seem to locate a seated you in record time and what are they looking for…?

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Pigeon on platform

Begging crumbs for breakfast:

Nature’s ‘Oliver’.

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I enter the hotel and am welcomed as if I was a long lost relative. Consisting of a row of Edwarding houses, this hotel in truly home from home.

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Hotel, in each room

Private dramas unfolding.

Bring down the curtain.

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I sit on the bed to relax and my eyes focus on a piece of Edwardian ironwork.

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Edwardian grate

Hungry for solid fuel,

Period feature.

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So my stay in London continued. More of my thoughts soon.

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18/11/2011 by Alan.

Three more examples of haiku written while in London. The first was written as we arrived, the second just after I turned the key to enter the hotel room and the third was realised after a refreshing shower which washed away all the dust and tiredness from travel.

Thoughts create emotions

Physical, electrical,

Rise a new-born soul.

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Gently turn the key,

Wander freely through my mind

Thoughts unlock friendships.

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Nakedness in white

Power-shower yesterday

New day dawns in pink.

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On returning from the city, it was time to visit the hairdressers based in a countryside hotel. Oh, yes, and the ideas flowed. More soon.

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11/11/2011 by Alan.

After the series of haiku writing from Paul, Keith continued with his tribute to Bert Jansch:

Thirsting for music

The ferryman takes his coin

From tender Bert Jansch.

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Several days later on a train heading for London, the following railway related haiku was crafted as Carriage B sped towards Paddington.The age of steam, although still present, has been surpassed by the tamed diesel.

Sleepers, sleep no more

In the paths of fiery dragons.

Hear tamed thunder’s roll.

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While in London frost was predicted and in the corner of our garden was a small olive tree, which has given us much pleasure, but would never withstand frost. It has been removed to a warm area of the house.

Solitary olive,

Camouflage each dawn

For frost lies in wait.

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More thoughts and examples will follow soon.

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08/11/2011 by Alan.

Hunchback

Lame pigeon

Broken neck.

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A fleeing bird,

Trembling leaves,

My hands forgotten.

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Dawn-

Your footsteps tremble

At the edge of dark

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Faint spider

Beneath her heel

Throbbing.

Paul enjoys writing haiku almost stripped of words, but allowing so many meanings at a variety of levels.  Add your own writings to extend the chain.

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06/11/2011 by Alan.

It was at this point that our writing of haiku, became very serious and experimental. Paul continued with three more.

Sea-side horse,

Evening’s shadow

On the old cart.

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Distant fires

Caught on the wind,

Last days of summer.

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The morning stirs,

Her seeds shaken loose

From your hair.

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More soon.

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01/11/2011 by Alan.

As Paul and I continued passing haiku writings to each other, some were passed on to published poet Keith Hackwood, who has begun to contribute his own thoughts to our trail.

I begin with two of mine:

The sun-burst

Casts forlorn shadows

Blinding truths.

My wife and I regularly visit a country hotel which is blessed with a hairdressing salon. Lesley makes her clientelle feel more like members of an exclusive club. Having had my number 5 cut, I walked out into the fields and wrote the following while resting on a farm gate:

Clouds brush patchwork hills

Two windmills embrace the breeze

Retired oaks undress.

Later, I caught up with Keith to explain that Paul was experimenting with the haiku form. A few days later Keith added his thoughts:

Flies cluster to glass

The breeze lends its dreaming ear

Evening knows a secret.

Paul continued with:

Wind moves the long grass,

A dialogue of sunlight

Across the mud flats.

Feel free to comment or add a haiku of your own.

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30/10/2011 by Alan.

The haiku trail continues with more written thoughts which occurred while I was digging the allotment. Oh very boring you might say, but as my plot is on a Roman site, you never know what might be unearthed. On one particular day in the potato row I dug up what looked like the bottom of a Roman burial/cremation urn. My haiku is based on this experience and writer Paul adds his thoughts:

Digging in the rich earth

An ancient burial urn

New resurrection.

Paul followed with:

In dark earth

Pale roots are dreaming

Of the moon.

Please comment or add to the trail.

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