Five Days of Haiku

Plates on the table;

Birds eating in the feeder;

Sun mixes with clouds.

The winter is here;

Season is far behind it--

Languishing spring time.

Olivia rests

Her head on Colette's behind--

True bovine friendship.

Suspended in air,

Branch waits for the right moment

To come crashing down.

Errant shadows fall

Around the now empty house.

(Did I hear a bird?)

Wandering tree root

Reaches out to touch the road.

So near and so far.

It's now official:

Spring time has truly arrived:

Snow drops are blooming.

No stream flows beneath,

Still the old wood board extends:

Bridge over shadows.

Shy lady cardinal

Peeks to see if all is safe;

Lacks courage color.

All is blue gray

Including the birds that feed

(And my blue gray mood).

Through the blue gray mist

Aroma of cow shit floats

Warm and welcoming.

Silhouetted blobs

Take their place on the high branch

Before they fly off.

Matching the beige earth

Pine cones scattered on the ground

Between the seasons.

Rustle in the woods;

Faint flutter of birds rising

All invisible.

Soft bend in the road

Followed by the mirror stream

That flowed beside it.

Dark cave in the rocks

Home for some forest creatures

(Or my fantasies).

Glittering on plants

A million drops of water

In the bright sunshine.

Brown on green background

Forsythia still not blooming

Against evergreen.

She sees me see her

My reflection in her eye.

Who is seeing whom?

Spray of tiny buds

Douses the bush on my lawn.

They'll burst into white.

Dog's hollow barking

From the far side of the woods

Stops, then starts again.

A group of wild geese

Suddenly cease their calling;

Where for and why for?

Bursting from the stump

New born seedling emerges--

A strange lineage.

Just for a second

Gap appears in the gray cloud--

Let the shadows fall.

Splashes of sunlight

Fall on my kitchen table. 

Outside, small birds flash.

Lady cardinal shows

Orange beak and gray feathers:

Pastel no pastiche.

White frost and shadows

Fall randomly on my lawn.

Chickens are clucking.

Above the bare trees

Clouds are passing swiftly.

Woodpecker rattles.

It's not yet April

And the forest is still brown;

Stream bed is still brown.

Gnarled and twisted wood--

Are they tree branches or roots?

(They've lost their bearings).

Road side pond is bare

Without a drop of water,

Waiting for spring rain.

Against the mud shale

Sun illuminates dead leaf--

A wine colored jewel.

Framed in the window

Feeding bird doesn't notice

Her food--everything.

Sun's pale reflection

Bounces off the bird feeder 

With no place to go.

Twin green buds await

The arrival of warm spring

On the lilac buds.

Animals depend

On the work of this woman--

Each morning her chores.

The house is empty--

No visitors are present;

Steel gate lies open.

Green in the brown woods:

Discarded cigarette pack

Emulates the Spring.

Spots of bright sunshine

Burst out in this cloudy day:

Dandelions grow!

Bleaching in a pile

Firewood waits until next year--

Winter is over.