burning interstate--
a fast car speeding through
the curved air

Indian Communication

an orange envelope,
twelve roses and a heron°
air mailed from Dhanbad



°in reality a crane

Walking down the tree-lined street to the unemployment office in Hammonton, I think about what I will do when the checks run out.

sun bright sidewalk
a dead opossum’s litter on its nipples

the empty office
glazed with sunlight
incubating paper

quavering heat
cicadas cry
in tempo

Hot tarmac
and diesel fumes.
Strawberries in pots.

bees have returned
to the ixoras -
a June morning

rising
in a nimbus of midges
river baptism

morning toilette
cat slowly flicks his tail
on the windowsill


morning walk
first peppers on the vine


morning drive
gazanias rising from
jet black mulch

walking around the town

there are places where tourists are guided and other places they have to find for themselves, assuming they have the time and inclination to explore our great cities


in the underground train station

the open case

the same old song


in the main shopping street

the paper coffee cups

and the gold and copper coins


two drunks slur and shout

over somethin' and nothin'

found in the litter bin

these days I can’t read

without something crawling

across my page

my mother’s pansies

unwilling to forgive

days without water

.
morning heat
last night's thunder
an unkept promise
.

out from the mist
a swan
forming

a single swift
making a circus
of the morning

KHUS

Smells the happiness
of earth in the khus she wears:
the summer's first rain

The sky, hidden
from view as the land boils.
Barometer rises.

graduation day
his friends keep asking
for my missing son

Pale Pleasures

Like cave-dwellers we
pale, blinking emerge
learn again to greet

scent of roses
late in the evening
nostalgia
for a garden
I've never visited

cumulus
crossing the blue pools
of her gaze

Overhead, clouds boil
in Prussian blue; below,
raspberries ripen.

where the river
meets the sky:
swans and clouds

massive skies in rainbow colours
angels light their lamps --
solitary lifeboat
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is Lake Superior's Batchawana bay. A place, surely, to inspire poetry.
A lifeboat from the Edmund Fiztgerald was found here, after she sank.

rippling summer sky a willow branch

Road Trip

road trip...
stuck behind the car
with the other guy's bumper sticker

open windows –
a siren divides the night

Stolen flowers

a crumpled blossom
comes from his pocket -
"for you mom"

Andromeda Jazmon

Already hot,
crow forego the barley fields
for the cooler coast.

run of clouds -
my shadow playing
hide-and-seek


***

course des nuages -
mon ombre joue
à cache-cache

summer solstice
the dark line in the arm's bend

stillness surround
the star-crossed lovers
in their misunderstandings
the silence between them
is deafening

riding in the rain

My father was an avid equestrian and disciplinarian. His four daughters dreaded riding with him because he sternly and constantly corrected our form or technique. When I was 15 and more interested in Seventeen magazine and fashion than going on horseback with my dad, that's where I found myself one early summer day. I wish I could remember why we went riding together; I certainly wouldn't have gone willingly.

As we guided our horses up the narrow trail through the aspen groves and Indian paintbrush of the national forest--dad in his cowboy hat in front and I, bare-headed in back--a light, warm rain began. I do recall the easy quiet between us with only the sound of soft rain, squeak of saddles bearing our weight, and a horse's hoof striking an exposed root or rock. Just as vividly I can still smell the ozone, the woods, and the scent of wet horse and leather.

warm rain
only the trail before us
silence between us

all night
dreaming of the storm
and in the morning
setting out for work
in tepid rain

Cool winds
sough along the tree line.
Cornflower blues.

DELAYED MONSOON

Delayed monsoon
may now come early and quench
earth's thirst with respite
from heat and power cut:
I smell wetness in the air

between two
stems of a weed -
a fallen pinecone

four days of rain

so yellow now the linden tree

perfume on her breath

Waikiki Beach
so many bare bodies
so little time

last night we were
covered in moonlight
your incense intoxicated me
even the fireflies were
stoned and stumbled


Pamela A. Babusci
Lynx Vol.XII No.1 1997

throbbing dark
i catch & release
a firefly


Pamela A. Babusci

being bumped
by bees and butterflies -
buddleia in bloom

(Mainichi Daily News)

white bougainvillea
reach out onto the sidewalk -
chance meeting old friends


first posted at Twitter

Welcome chill
after midsummer heat.
Grey cloud comfort.

dark parallel bars
wrought-iron moonlit shadows
can't trap these bare toes

unrefreshing breeze

blast -

preview of Hades

swan peeps
above her wing
...exotic dancer

in the hard glare
of the sun -
Deadly Nightshade

Photo Deadly Nightshade by lovepics11

death in the family
at the plant nursery
for rememberance shrub


my aunt died on Sunday night

longest day -
flicker of goldfinches
in the heather

Heat dissipates.
Cumulonimbus squats
over hard green apples.

restless humid night
in the sunken garden
a sun dial

under white clouds
the quiet blue mountain
Vesuvius

Sorrento, Italy

recovering from surgery
the healing scent
of white peonies

Pamela A. Babusci
6/23/09

Clear air
and lowered pollen count.
Overnight rain.

.
midsummer night

lingering in the rose garden

--scented memories
.

mid-summer night

mid-summer night
where-ever will the wind blow
tomorrow?

For another view of this same sky see Hyde DP Xtra.

.....

Sunday Summer Market

Summer market wares
rows of farmers' labors
cornucopia of kale

Summer....Wind

waiting, waiting.... where is the summer wind?
that brings the fruits of the season
ti's summer and yet it comes not....

no relief -
the office fans turn
dry sterile air

waking
for the third time -
shortest night

first nasturtiums
peeping:
their red faces

Cuckoo spit
on spikes of lavender.
Grey skies sleeping.

our son and his bride

exchanged wedding vows today

summer solstice

summer solstice

marriage of heaven and earth

our son and his bride

summer solstice
the fruit bowl’s long shadow
ends at the fly

felled forest -
a single bird
darting through the silence

light drizzle -
twenty house martins chase
low flying insects.

midsummer
on its shimmering thread
spider poised halfway

.
summer solstice
the unbearability of deadlines
on the longest day
.

Summer Solstice
Sunrise over Burbage Edge
and a dawn picnic.

stepping

outside -

free sauna

this early
market morning
filled with light
and fountain spray


Photo by Paul Easton

police dog--
losing sense of direction
at the perfumery

Speckles of red:
wild strawberries ripen.
The sun, hidden.

massif de lavande -
the track of a snail
on pine bark

***

massif de lavande -
la trace d'un escargot
sur les écorces de pin

I gently brush
the wisp of hair
crowding her unmade face
trying hard to fathom
her heart's hurts

Shadow game
sun and cloud
playing hide-and-seek

cool hammock view
Venetian wish sways gently
blinks once and is gone

employment line
the mosquito’s head lowers
to the wrist

visit with sister
catching up under the fan
long into the night

evening drive
fog spilling from the pallisades
gulls swooping through

[ W. A. Bouguereau - The Wave (La Vague) ]

Βorn under the waves,

the virgin nymph of the sea

kills with her kisses

Angeliki K.

deserted park--
old wooden bench succumbs
to the moonlight

crescent moon
trembled and shuddered in bed
:breeze over the pond

high above
a white and silent line -
draws across the sky

Photo Vapour Trail by ILMV

Saturnine skies
snarling curses at
purple salvia spikes.

can't seem to stay grounded
heat lightning strikes again

like a wake-up call
it interrupts us -
distant rooster's crow

when will this deluge
relinquish summer
restore the captive sun

.

June sky in pale robes –

she walks between night and day

disguised as chaos

(The Moirae wore white robes)

summer's warm breeze
wanting to hear again
my name in your voice

at the doorstep,
a ruffled piece of plastic
mistaken for a white flower

after a time
making daisy chains
on the lawn
the fairy runs wide-eyed
back to the house

for Hannah

Modern English Tanka V2 No3 Spring 2008

the sun shone
despite the rain
on that first trip

standing puddles -
unkept promises
to myself

No sun today
but the clouds are bright enough
to go to Oxford.

She goes out
into sultry heat--
feeding time

--R.K.SINGH

Sweet scent of night queen--
reading a hundred haiku
for one real gem


--R.K.SINGH

RELUCTANCE

Reluctant to walk
over stone chips on the road:
cracked-soled shoes

--R.K.SINGH

Yellow mangoes
still hanging after the storm
sunny backyard

--R.K.SINGH

and when the time came
I found her among clover
adding a leaf

the fresh wind chases
hot stagnant air
through deserted corridors

summer rain
appleblossom rose petals
sticking to the car

desert lightning
the rattlesnake between the rocks

published 27 July 2006
in tinywords

the taste
of pine's bitter honey
these bitter tears

today the restless air
disturbs the trees -
ripples of distant storms

you walk out the door
bucket of roses
loses the scent

Geuceu, June 17, 2009

Chill breeze
smells of northern rain
Cuckoo spit flags.

the pond retreats
sculptured by hooves
dries to a crust of mud

lunchtime show

lady bug running amok

on my windshield

spindly caterpillar-
the loop of the door latch
a wider curve

first posted at facebook June2009

overcast day
straining to find the sunny spot
to lift my mood

Gemini's Incubus
Green shoots everywhere
Earth yawns and stirs
Meadows full with daffodil's
In out of cement gardens
Nature will push pavement aside
Incubus grows unnoticed in shadows

Curved path
reflecting ocean and mountain
creating a dream

Father's day

surrounded with love
of my children
this Father's day
I only wish their mom
is still here

summer dusk -
from within the temple bell
a deep longing

pink balloons
tugging to be free
...peonies

Summer storm
dampens dust and headaches;
brambles stretch.

Bildergalerie Nr 883 Bild Nr 196 / 212 Name Katrinberglauf Ziel 2009_140609_0194.jpg

summers come and go
the bard goes up the mountain
the faraway peaks

early commute
dew filled roses glisten
in neighbors' yard

lazy afternoon
lunch on the porch
with year's first daylilly

another haijin gone -
willow leaves
dripping


(for Paul O. Williams and James Kirkup)

an idea from The Fire Sermon

the summer
river at Richmond -
discarded
beer bottles paper plates
cigarette ends....

The Fire Sermon T S Eliot

the bush heavy

with pink - the pink

heavy with bees

ruffled clouds

in my confusion

sky looks like sea

Family time
Vapour trails against blue sky
Barbeque.

(image by David, aka "benefit of hindsight," via Flickr)

the farmer's refrain
while garlic rots in wet earth —
next year, next year

(Cross-posted at But Wait, There's More!)

Night Wind

night wind
we catch a firefly
between our hands

relentless sun
my lips meet the cool arc
flowing from the hose

Streams of pebble rock
flowing through the garden
strange thoughts stranded

Morning heat
under a clear blue sky.
Pot plants wilting.

HIGHWAY

Is it the water
or sweat flowing from the cleft
they queue up to drink?
not far away the masons cut
rocks to build a new highway


--R.K.SINGH

Traffic snails through
the water-logged road I feel
a manhole cover


--R K SINGH

washing the patio

fixing lights preparing for

our son's june wedding

taxi at the gate
waving hands at the door
the luggage much heavier

seasons come and go
nothing really matters
in the greenhouse

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

Southern Haiku Blog

Hey y'all!
I wanted to stop by and let you know of a new Haiku blog that I have started in conjunction with The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature. The new Haiku blog will be called "Southern Haiku", and will contain haiku, tanka, haiga, haibun and senryu poetry about the South! Everything is as it is here, send your name, handle and blog address to me at songofnovember@gmail.com and I'll set you up!

All poets are welcome! You don't have to be from the Southern U.S (we cant all be so lucky!) , but your haiku must be about the south or have a southern theme.

I haven't had a chance to do a ton to the blog yet, but Im working on it! Anyone who'd like to help me with this endeavor, well as they say, "That dog'll hunt!". Thanks for your time, and I hope to see you below the Mason/Dixon line real soon!!

rainy afternoon
shivers
umbrella girl

dressed for tennis -
rain
bouncing between them

limned in light
across night's dark scroll
Cassiopeia

summer rain -
sudden sunlight
feeds a forest of ferns

Mother's Day -
a bouquet of clovers
on the canal path


***

fête des Mères -
un bouquet de trèfles
sur le sentier du canal

Clouds ripped by winds
leave holes for blue sky.
Lavender spikes.

let's lose ourselves
beneath a canopy of stars
a child has painted

across your face
dappled light's caress
my trembling hands

how do mere words
transform the muck of living
into mud pies?

In the Wyoming high country sego lilies bloom for only two weeks in mid-June. Their exotic beauty is unexpected amid sage brush, aspen, and pinon pine. My Mormon ancestors foraged for these nutritious bulbs in lean times. To me, they were a true sign of summer as the snows receded from the foothills.

homesick--
hungry only for the beauty
of sego lilies

fern fronds spread their arms
silently springing forthwith--
mosquitoes buzzing

morning break
sunny skies lighten my step
through the plant

June afternoon, sitting by the canal in London's Little Venice, discovering this city that re-invents itself more often than there is time to learn it. I promise myself to take a boat trip soon, down these deceptively quiet waterways --who know what mysteries they hold. But for now, I am content to ponder the relationship between the ripples, willows and fowl life. While I eat a hurried lunch, Japanese tourists struggle tongue-twisted, to find their way --photographing every step of the route to their destination.

By the canal
sharing a summer lunch,
the ducks and I

The strolling tourists
wool-wrapped for the occasion
-- midsummer in England

**this a first ever attempt at a haibun, before I know what is exactly a haibun, and what is its essence and rules, critique welcome.
.

she lingers
before saying goodbye -
summer moon

June classroom
scattered chairs, empty desks
already forgotten

a tiny spider
crawling back and forth
weaving --another day

early to work
street lights fading
into the sunrise

SUMMER HEAT

The power goes off
suddenly summer heat chokes
in bed sleepless she turns
undoing a hook or two
of her tight blouse

--R.K.SINGH

amber sky in the west
laughter outside my door
the day is done

First attempt

buzzing honeybees
around tiny petals of white
:purity binds

Passions in blue -
poppies crane their necks
and smile.

I was the fool
who stood laughing in the rain
as love eroded

clouds regathering
we hasten to collect
her scattered petals

pinned against the wall
purple clematis
points tendrils at me

Seniors Singalong

in cane or wheelchair
they sing at the karaoke center
for brief magical moments
they’re Sinatra or Doris Day
aches and pain forgotten

early commute
school children at starbucks
scarfing down lattes

first light
rising vs. turning over
opt to study the pillow

no revelation
in the hard shaft of light
that falls into
the darkened exam hall
where they sit writing

Cricket Song

cricket song
half of a half of a
summer moon

this swallowtail flits from
blossom to blossom...
how it mirrors your heart
i never know where
it will land, if at all


Pamela A. Babusci
prev. published

In my garden
ambition and content
side by side

Little Black Flats

windy, cool, blue, dry
but dancing feet in chic black flats
in the streets do fly

(this is re-worked haiku, following Nora's critique of an earlier one, I feel it works better now)

Bright June sky,

shadows anticipate the night,

-the elusive moon

.
Waking up

to the crackle of dawn,

the rising sun
.

Thunder and lightning.
Rain sweeps down in torrents.
Roads flooded.

roadside

a dead crow

its feathers look like waving

in the summer wind

thin film of fog
vacuous meanderings
think I've lost my place

i didn't ask
for a miracle
& yet, these hills
of endless
sunflowers


Pamela A. Babusci
American Tanka Issue 13
2003

bridge of dreams
i awaken
to falling petals
& the scent
of a new lover


Pamela A. Babusci
Eucalypt Issue 1 2006

out the front door
the scent of roses
follows me to the car

she looks through me
longing to ignite
love's dying embers

sun shines weakly
horse chestnut leaves waggle
over a red bus

Mouth opened
to lick her ice cream--
brown tongue


--R.K.SINGH

TORTURE

Burning tap water
seething house in the morning
heat wave cripples


--R.K.SINGH

SIESTA

Taking a nap
on oranges in his shop--
a fruit vendor

--R.K.SINGH

Hibiscus

Full bloomed hibiscus
bowing before the sun--
morning prayers

--R.K.SINGH

feet queued
toward the pool-
summer camp

Raindrops glisten.
Lobelia flowers,
bright under watery lens.

Neatly kept garden
everything as it should be
my footprint distract

morning drive
single raindrop drifts slowly
down the windshield

afternoon break
honeysuckle wafting
into welding room

a shred of kite
flaps in the wind
their missing son

silence of water
through the bamboo pipe . . .
my mantra rising
like incense
like prayers


Pamela A. Babusci
Modern English Tanka 2006

spring day moon
I think I met the man
who owns it

Just a fun haikuesque poem.

spring melancholy
summer melancholy
is one more painful
as i lie still in my
motel room?

Pamela A. Babusci
Modern English Tanka — Summer 2007

live oak
dripping moss
dripping moonlight

putting on my
dancing shoes...
summer wind


prev. published

A row of foxgloves
stand against the wind.
Soldiers on parade.

connection

intoxicating
honeysuckle presence -
not her first time

you searched for shark teeth
I for your glances -
now both behind glass

eighty-first birthday -
his strawberry shortcake
shared at her bedside

nodding pansies pose
brightly dressed with smiling faces-
summer wid caresses our cheeks

busy flies
at the closed windows -
a rattling restless knot

shopping jaunt
salmon colored rose bush
next to fish counter

in a meadow
full of summer
dragonflies

the roses bloom
side by side with weeds
her long long absence
 
Sketchbook, March/April 2009

silhouetted dragonfly
reeds pierce the moon

May 30, 2009
The Mainichi Daily News

swifts
swifter
this year

.
putting on my
dancing shoes...
summer wind

prev. published

sidewalk chalk art
marilyn's mole
crawls away

a fly
with a few less legs -
I carry it around the house

.

walking past the waterlilies i open my palms to the rain

published in Frogpond many years ago

raining beating my umbrella i stop to gaze at tiger lilies

published in Frogpond many years ago

Lavender shivers
under the morning breeze.
Willows dance in the rain.

my mind tucked in
for a long warm dream
lawnmower drone

All My ...Dreams

summer ebbs
with ocean tides flow
all my dreams
never to return
never to be


contemporary Haiku

summer's critters

cicadas sing
praise summer's diurnal heat-
iris nod wind's rhythm


~~~~~~~~

fireflies beckon
sparklers in the darkest night
twinkling as beacons
lovers lust in the moonlight
shimmering flitting glow worm

For a lovely firefly photo visit here. (I do not have one!)

fireflies
the heat sticks to the dark

late summer -
a flock of gulls
fills the sky
so many restless hearts
in search of a home

3 Lights Gallery 'Way Back Home' Oct 08

wind whistles over hills,
driving clouds like black sheep.
Lupins cower.

june night sky
the taste of Orchard beach
in the sandwich

summer night
the smell of seaweed
in the sand

a slight drizzle
truck load of chairs offloaded--
'we beat' festival


'we beat' festival

light of the sunset
on severed branches -
old friends play music

soggy all week
sun breaks through for weekend play

darkening woods
thickens in the undergrowth
dissolves to black

picture postcards
with glimpses of summer -
fly to faraway places





(view of Tenby, S Wales)

afternoon heat
tandem damselflies
bask on a reed

on the muddy stream
swans
dazzling

hearts pounding
we name stars
in the meadow

Rain hisses
onto thirsty soil.
Clematis tendrils climb.

afternoon end -
a butterfly extends its break
on warm stones


***

fin d'après-midi -
un papillon prolonge sa pause
sur les pierres tièdes

caterpillar larvae,
in the wind by silk thread -
a small bee brings it back

Sunshine is released
by be grudging, sullen clouds.
Poppy petals drop.

Monument Valley
The long shadow of the prairie dog

published 29 August 2006
in tinywords

picnic in the park
with sunflower seeded bread -
robins at our feet.

after the rain
weeds sprout higher
than what was planted

Summer In The City

Cool shady streets
verdant canopy of trees
fanning lacy azaleas

midday sun -
islands of shadow -
retreat into dark trees

through a knot-hole:
bindweed - bells hang
from his bicycle

a robin singing
in this white night
your laughter

* * *

punarinnan laulu
valkeassa yössä
sinun naurusi

A sparrow cheeps
from the dead branch of a tree,
tail feathers missing.

a screech of glee
shoots the frozen hose
down his own shorts

sudden thunder

mild sun and summer rain

petrichor

truenos súbitos

sol y lluvia estival

petrichor

driving home
coral hibiscus calls to me
beyond red light

sanity break
enjoying warm breeze and twinkies

summer grass
iridescent green bristles the dog shit

summer evening
swifts circling
around the moon

yanking up thistles
the confession
I regret

summer heat--
kimono hung on the wall
billows from the fan

Overcast, with breeze.
Though a relief from the heat,
tears come, unbidden

Woods are growing dark;

Still sun refuses to leave.
Time of two worlds.

the old cobbler sits
at the top of his steps
flats in the sun

peony -
a marble of pink
explodes

I lay
under a shower of old gold.
Laburnum petals fall.

MYNAH

Wings of mynah
flutter over the water
in earthen pot

--R.K.SINGH

FIREFLIES

Fingers feel
decaying fireflies
in lamplight

--R.K.SINGH

Sandal

Waiting in the lounge
the only passenger:
sandal perfume

--R.K.SINGH

Baking heat
brings poppies to flower
A splash of scarlet

bountiful country

afternoon sun’s endless glow

- clutches white rabbit

morning toilette
cat grooms himself in window
as I brush my teeth

Just around the bend
There are surely more shadows;
Always more shadows.

Woodpecker and plane
Filling the air with their sounds
Don't hear each other.

Horizon
as far as I can see
blue

-

Ertebølle, Denmark May 29.th – June 1.th

______________________________________________________________


A glimpse of the moon,

well hidden --in the brighteness

of a June sky

_______________________________________________________________

green barley bends -
I think of wooded hills
on a coastline

move over earthworm
I'm planting tomatoes
without fertilizer

Found Haiku

Taken from a recent conservational exchange on Facebook I pulled some words, changed some, to create this:

close to home
a locust's trill brings
summer memories

Makoto Hirose

For Makoto this is an experiential haiku, and it just goes to prove that when we don't try to write poetry in our head but talk or write naturally, then a proto-haiku occurs.

Dream of Aestival Night

(Ito Shinsui - Washing the Hair )

So beautiful moon
like a ring around the
finger of the night

the texture of wave
as a blue caress on the
sound of summer

haiku everywhere
breakfast in Bradford on Avon
sunny side up

early summer bloom

vibrant multicolor glance

wild flowers garden

jardín de malvas

vistazo multicolor

verano en flor

in the fourth watch
smell of honeysuckle
pours in with the dawn

first day of summer -
buttercup cups
full of sunlight

Snails in hiding
from relentless sunshine
and hungry thrushes

welcome to summer

down the road
the bringer of coolness
welcomes summer

© 2009
photo by phill deason
words by mandy smith

--