HomeWhat is Haiku?SpringSummerAutumnWinter News & Events Contact

Today is also ending--
at the bottom of the snowstorm
the gigantic sun

---Arō

____________________________

Last Night of the Year

Last night of the year
full moon hiding behind clouds-
fruit-gazing instead

New Year advent

new year advent
thinking of what ifs
and what might have beens

Wishing everybody a year of love and peace. Happy New Year!

last tanka of 2009

five hours before
the end of the decade
above my window
the cold earth is eating
a piece of blue moon

gerald england
new year's eve
cat on my lap
we watch the snow


a virtual toast
to haiku friends
--new year's eve
snowy new year's eve
the world has a clean slate
soft snow encloses
the world
in the silence
of new year's regrets
sudden blizzard -
the playing fields full
of half made snowmen.
old lavender spikes
shiver in the north wind
last year's stubble

DECEMBER 31, 2009

No cakes or cookies
to celebrate my birthday
this New Year's eve
lunar eclipse and blue moon
cheer the cup in foggy chill
.
New Year's Eve...
company in the small hours
my old cellphone bill
.
white-out
snowflakes find my place
anyway
the year closes
a full moon and shadow spaces --
what might have been
early commute
almost full moon
bleeding through the clouds
almost new year’s…
the dullness of soup cans
at the checkout
advent candle:
gave itself
to enlighten
a yellow rose blooms
against the ochre of old ice
bare stems rattle
against the house
north winds press, press --
being bullied as a child
the crack of newspaper --
dust motes wreath an old man's head
black ice
i fall into
my reflection

Pamela A. Babusci
Christmas morning
my niece keeps orbiting
the tree

Pamela A. Babusci
five days of family
only one blowup
what a great Christmas
rain on the old ice
I run behind a hedge
and piss
.
new Aussie sister
after forty years of Christmas
we toast to snow!
.
across the field
a rolled up snowball's dark path
...full moon
nothing left
of last night's fog
patches of ice
made from oceans
our snowman -
the full moon has him leaning
freezing church -
from the minister's mouth
ghosts of Christmasses past
vehicles lost
in a haze of fog and frost
trees in solitude

a single streetlamp
opens the darkness -
Emmanuel

falling snow -
the fat squirrel poses
for raisins.
snow blows
through the bare branches -
magpies squabble.
left on the plate
a knuckle's worth of nuts
over-indulgence
brief thaw and birdsong
under the tree -
tinsel litter
ice becomes lace
as the sun warms the surface
a robin wakes
an unopened
Christmas card dangles
from the trashed tree
the day after...
pieces of candy cane
swept from the floor
holly bush –
hidden robin sings
his wintersong
fresh snow
on the frozen canal -
a shell nut

***

neige fraîche
sur le canal gelé -
une coque de noix
a hint of blue
against the pre-dawn's dark clouds
an arrow of geese
christmas eve
pine trees losing snow


Winter seems to come early in Pullman, Washington. My friend Liana Munir wrote grasses were covered by ice weeks before winter. And when it comes, the street was deep under tons of snow. But, "It's an obvious impact of climate change," Lia says, pointing finger at the rising temperature in Pullman that drives away the snow. It melts very quickly, and people put off their fury coat, changed them into sweater and lighter clothing.

It's So Tinsel!!!

early Christmas morning
cooking family breakfast
and humming softly
just a hint
of pink edges to the grey
Christmas morning
cars creep along
under a fresh snowfall
houses wear shrouds
starry sky -
a handful of salt
on the icy pavement

***

ciel étoilé -
une poignée de sel
sur le trottoir gelé
one more day
to put off the wrapping
christmas eve eve


Happy Holidays to everyone!
a snowman
in the Christmas Market -
crescent moon.
festive lights -
frost sparkles
on snow.

Melting Snow

snug, warm tea in hand
watch snow melt
kaleidoscope of colors

Ice























the country - a black
plate of ice - sculptured by the
contours of our lives

Photo Ice Rink by Dave Amis
snow:
in a melted footprint
worm rears against the walls
path slick with ice
reflects a watercolour sky
starlings bicker
deckchair -
the snow mattress
slowly melts

***

chaise longue -
le matelas de neige
fond doucement
feathered brown blossom
leaning into the sun --
small sparrow


(revised 12/24; thanks, Beatrice!)
icy pavements -
the rottweillor pauses
before each step.
blizzard -
the creak of new snow
under my boots.
snow on the bushes
a scruffy blackbird
shoots out
winter morning -
two old friends
snow in our hair
Losing face
a little crestfallen today
melting snowman
sunlight flares on snow
dustbin men in Christmas hats
wake the street
Every snowflake a star
slowly falling
midwinter will rise another

Merry Christmas to all!

streets glaze with ice
tonight -
a moon mirror

when will I ever learn
love, delicate and new
like snow melts away
snow and ice burn through
the brief daylight hours--
the arc is complete



(happy winter solstice everyone!)
snowman -
for crow a gift:
carrot eyes
Yule solstice
snow weighs down the conifers
the year's wheel spins

a fresh beginning
conceals the scars between us -
snowfall

sudden gust of wind,
snow falls from the cedar tree-
fleeting stars appear

(see the haiga here)
she pulls down
her turtle neck, and
inhales deeply
holding early winter inside
but the snow gone too fast


for Liana Munir in Pullman

Wish upon a star....

All the world
at Copenhagen
I wish they had done it
yesterday's snow
a thick sheet of ice
even the dog slips
Christmas is near
a girl whose name is Martha
likes the name Arthur

A true Alan Santa story from today.

.

abandoned farm
snow reaches tractor wheels
snowflakes fall one by one
broken branch sheds the burden
cold scarf adorns its victim
snows surging
up the coast
the urge to nap overwhelms

lovely in all her whiteness
a match for the softly falling snow

wistful thoughts fill me
as winter snows pile deeper
first snow blocks barn door

icy breeze

interloping
icy breeze; pigtails, too,
well-scarved
** **

..Copyright 2009 Spiros Zafiris
..channeled; spirit Ram
-------------------------------
party time
tonight even the moon
mooning
haiga - virginal angels
moonless night -
snow enlightens
the path


***

nuit sans lune -
la neige éclaire
le chemin

snowflake

O thousand-eyed
snowflake, between dreams,
herald me a promise
** **
..Copyright 2009 Spiros Zafiris
..channeled; spirit Ram
------------------------------
Winter rain
bends the roses low--
lumbar pain
monks and nuns --
at the feeder sparrows and titmarshes
Dark green and white
shadow and light
our landscape
slush in the dark
a burglar alarm calls
from the high street
bright morning
yesterday's snow
a patchy yellow

Shopping women

after the holiday
I vow not to join
women shopping again

December kisses

December kisses
are deeper and less selfish
lips soon encompass
every virtue to herald
the new year with tenderness
** **

..Copyright 2009 Spiros Zafiris
..channeled; spirit Harmony
--------------------------
library check-out
today all conversations
begin, "it's so cold..."


Right now it's 12°F and expected to go down to about 6° later tonight. It's so cold!
storm on the way
no milk and bread in the stores
bone-cracking cold descends --
Debussey warms the house
second snow shower -
filling a jigsaw's
missing pieces
Painting my new home
in crisp brush strokes of white
--a snowfall outside
children creep
in the morning darkness
delivery vans
did I remember to forget your kiss
drinking while softly singing your song
did I run out in the rain, too late
where now nothing but silent shadows remain
will you ever fade from my heart full of pain

slowly her perfect pristine body
moved lethargically, wrapped loosely
her luscious form molded in pale sheets
lovely in all her whiteness
a match for the softly falling snow
Christmas prep-
rum ball in powdered sugar
and angel cookies
Christmas tree
decorated and twinkling
shells from the beach

Kindness

In the spirit of Christmas, here is a framed quotation from my collection.
Enjoy! and Merry Christmas to all!

at the market
Charlie Brown Christmas trees
welcoming me



































inside dry, heavy and smothering heat
outside the cold – fresh, sharp and pure

Photos La Llama / The Flame by Luis Fabres and A very cold day by broodkast
frosty monring
tiny pink begonia
encased in ice

the hours they creep
patterns repeat,
snow... snow...snow
iced shards
pure color
petals break off at my touch --
ducks and geese
clamouring for attention
four swans

each year snowy white Egrets take flight.....migration
After a major dump in Muskoka: 75 cm snow in two days...I turn to nature for solace.


bugs awake from sleep
woodpecker drums in the forest
weary shovels keep time




red berries
along hawthorn hedging
a blackbird sings
Few snowflakes
on icy grounds
a shy look
slight stir in sleep
Winter half awaken
Skeleton trees reach
gnarled branches through falling snow.
Our joints ache.
winter resurrection
a friend's face
on Google Chrome
bushes combed bare
the spire of Datchworth church
punctures the hilltop
Shrouded in fog
the lone pomegranate
in the courtyard
dressing in darkness
the house across the road
has Christmas lights.
passing geese -
another window
where curtains open


***

passage d'oies -
une autre fenêtre
où les rideaux s'écartent
malevolent wind
rattles my Christmas spirit-
bills in the mailbox
among the thistles
a molted snake's skin
she turns sixteen

Notes from the Gean
Vol. 1, Issue 3, Dec. 2009
fourth watch
my breath follows me
to the car


at the plant-
buying new men's bathroom heater
to prevent shrinkage


during the shift
folks lingering to chat
in my warm office














dawn -
dirt grey
smudges a line of trees

Photo Light Fog by technopolitan

Bayou St John - 2 days after the big rain


With rain
Bayou -
grows
the thunder of snowplows
throughout the night --
not quite the dance of sugar plum fairies
out from freezing fog:
a man
making fog
gulls wheel
over Derbyshire streets
salt on the breeze
third watch
moon crackles in the window
pulling the covers tight
bare brittle winter ice
creeps leaching deep snow prints


soft white gleam, first snow
fallen asleep -
three days burnt away
on the advent candle
far away,
it still falls -
the first snow
my breath makes clouds
in the freezing bedroom
warm blankets
the dentist's clock
is draped with tinsel
on either side
relentlessly through time
the pendulum beats on
at the feeder
birds squabbling --
seed husks punctuate fresh snow
by the calendar
not quite winter
--cat watches the snow

I actually have the day off from work today due to snow. This does not bode well!
Christmas lights -
on the cherry tree
frozen raindrops
black anorak
a boy marching to school
watched by crows
early commute
moon dancing in the ice
of car window


any suggetsions?
on the windshield
perfect whorls of frost --
hot coffee melts one or two
.
Santa duty
I ask him not to karate kick
his sister again
.
cold bright morning
a stone Buddha praying
outside the house
Wintry evening--
my grandson toddling round
room to room


damp air
distils on holly berries
miniature worlds
dripping down
grey day
rain
long drive home
snow pokes through fresh fallen snow
poinsettia
in the hearth again
bright flames


(Mainichi Daily News)
children creep to school
arms folded against the chill
why no coats?
the advent candle
burns away another day
the flame shivers
















early snow--
squirrel, are you as
surprised as I am?

I woke up to about 6" this morning here in New Hampshire!
night air hushed
earth expectant --
first snow whispers in the trees
wet leaves become mud
along rain-sodden gutters
crows feast on roadkill

Winter Moon

















intruder moon
a hard cold blade of light
disturbs my sleep

Photo Winter Moon by 5150fantast
season's first sleet
my upturned collar
smells of must
my hat
whipped by north wind
a kite!
November fields -
a flight of pigeons
creases silence


***

champs d'automne -
un vol de pigeons
froisse le silence
snowflakes
brushing her hair
winter grooming
an ice-cold beer
followed by a cup of tea
early winter
mergansers bob for dinner
fisher eyes them from shore 
cold lake sanctuary


sun arises
morning sun prances

--snow drips from branches
Pale and cold,
I dream of the tropics
and stare at the ceiling--
winter blood test. 
 sumac with snow hat
 raccoons dream dreams of spring

--flowers bow their heads in prayer



blue jays steal peanuts
cat awaits with patience
--under snowy bird feeder

winter night
chill of moonlight

on my skin

 
a touch of frost
paints Christmas trees on windows
goldfish in ice
autumn twilight
they left her
at the hospice

Mainichi (Japan) Daily News,
Dec. 2, 2009
afternoon walk
turning up my collar
as I leave the plant
sleepy bare forest
and winter mists around
the cemetery
leafless poplar
crowded with raucous starlings
sudden silence
advent chocolate
the chill of early morning
on bare arms and legs





Edited after Alan's advice
full moon rests on the rim of sullen hills --
its' twin gazes up from still waters
evening commute
crackling in the night sky
frigid full moon
damp street clatters
the council bin lorry
decorated with tinsel
gentle rains
lush, green fields
egrets eating
darkness presses in
earlier each day --
starlight burns brighter

leaves shiver, cling
against the thinly-veiled moon
you are gone

Friend's Death

a hummingbird
follows the falling leaf
my friend’s untimely death

The Heron’s Nest
Vol. XI, No. 4, December 2009
frosty morning -
the spider's decorated
the cherry tree
the deepening chill 


settles in my waiting soul 


early winter
bright sunshine
names carved in old granite
hoar frost highlights
.
Father Christmas
my fake beard becomes real
for the little boy
.
.
Partly as research for my Christmas novel, I'm Santa Claus in the Ice Cavern. I've been told by many grandparents that I am the best Santa they've seen.

I think some parents and grandparents even believe in me as the real Santa.

Strangely enough, sometimes, only sometimes, the full set of whiskers feel very real to me, and I occasionally test them myself! ;-)
For 24 days
we believe
in father Christmas
Locked between
my bed and quilt
December chill
full moon:
press to enter
the white garden