#502

walking where I would

normally be driving I

meet my neighbour’s cat

#501

from my hand it grew

and flew across the bathroom

his smile growing.

#500

it seems these aren’t right

i like my simplistic ways

no apologies

#499

if you’re all at sea

with no way to navigate

just give me a ping

#498

the smell of deep heat

and i feel cleansed instantly

on each arrival.

#497

when walking the floor

counting, I can't understand…

(the)

cold stare of hatred

#12

so many haiku

so much counting on fingers

so many thoughts thought

minds addicted to writing

can never stop transcribing

#496

lego floods the floor

like a river’s burst its banks:

the sign of the boy.

---

Written for the 2021 British Haiku Competition

#495

tingle in my heart

last thing I will ever feel.

winter (frozen hard).

---

Written for the 2021 British Haiku Competition

#494

ev’ry autumn I 

remember how I fell too.

leaves on the surface.

---

Written for the 2021 British Haiku Competition

#493

dragonfly hovers

as still as I sit watching.

how long can we hold?

---

Written for the 2021 British Haiku Competition

#492

flowers in the cracks,

life sprouting where there’d been none.

spring in the city.

---

Written for the 2021 British Haiku Competition

#491

despite all the doubt

and the imposter syndrome.

you belong here

#11

why can’t I speak clear?

confidence or laziness,

inability?

the barrier stands between

my inside and outside selves.

#490

trading blows and taunts, 

waiting to drag you down.

circling the drain’s edge.

#489

sitting quietly

mulling over what he said

letting it sink in

#488

a chip in a mug

a time to restart, reset:

smash it on the floor.

#487

standing proud over

the new road full of traffic

a once grand bridge

#486

i’ll walk you over 

i’ll take you across the bridge

            when the time comes.

#485

knock at the window,

“just something they like to do.”

a strange behaviour.

#484

skip between shadows

on all those in-between days,

looking for hot spots.

#483

is that a new hand?

no, sorry, that’s an old hand.

Teams makes new phrases.

#482

that wiseness in youth

that fades slowly over time.

old then, younger now.

#10

could this become more?

the question we ask to grow -

we are all flowers

eternally growing in 

the direction we hope for.

#481

the rose in my heart

is in perpetual bloom;

the deepest of reds.

#480

the security,

the safety I find in them.

imagined places.