#770

the ashes of the 

burned-out city want to be

soil not soil

#769

ghosts of christmas past

i welcome you to my home

beloved lost welcome

#768

my past before me

pointing with accusation

a ghost i thought gone

#25

ghosts ghosts ghosts ghosts ghosts

ghosts ghosts ghosts ghosts ghosts ghosts ghosts

so hard to repeat

and looking at the words now

do they look strange to you too?

#767

ghosts before Christmas 

as I remember my past

haunting nostalgia

#766

Christmas ghosts abound

this night the veil weakens so

hold tight til morning

#765

fireside Christmas,

book in hand, crackling sounds,

ghosts in the chimney.

#764

crammed on the back seat

i thought more would get off there

like this all the way

#763

i saw a mem’ry

of croissant; a ghost croissant

that haunts me all day

#762

a man and goose chat

backdrop of low mist in park

morning pleasantries

---

Submitted to the Japan Society Haiku Corner (2023 Week 50) 

#761

if i concentrate

i can just about recall

the way she looked then

#760

if i concentrate

i can just about recall

what i need to do

#759

drops of water in

the coat of a small black cat

no wonder it frowns

---

Submitted to the Japan Society Haiku Corner (2023 Week 49) 

#758

there’s never really

any point to me being 

anywhere ever

#24

i spend much of my 

time imagining your death -

ev’ry single way.

because what we imagine

cannot possibly happen.

so when i look sad

it’s because I've re-lived your 

death once more again -

but this way you will live on.

this.

         for immortality.

#757

darkness by teatime

startles the hedgehog watching

and waiting for night

#756

rain so pathetic

it leaves a blur in the air

that soaks to your bones

#755

concrete cell background

why would you choose this on teams?

austere-thetic

---

Submitted to the Japan Society Haiku Corner (2023 Week 48) - although I have changed the last line here from Austere-etic.

#754

2pm outside

inside it feels like evening

and sleep clouds your mind

---

Submitted to the Japan Society Haiku Corner (2023 Week 47).

#753

in the Greek Islands

escaping the fall of leaves

for hot autumn sun

---

Written for the Tricycle October 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Autumn season word, autumn sun.

#752

autumn sun in Rhodes escaping the fall of leaves embracing the light

---

Written for the Tricycle October 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Autumn season word, autumn sun.

#751

the red autumn sun

greets its kindred fox spirit

chicken gripped tightly

---

Written for the Tricycle October 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Autumn season word, autumn sun.

#750

the first frost melting 

in the weak autumn sun an

autumnal cockerel

---

Written for the Tricycle October 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Autumn season word, autumn sun.

#749

the eyes of drivers

are dazzled in rush hour 

by the autumn sun

---

Written for the Tricycle October 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Autumn season word, autumn sun.

#748

go to work in the

dark and come home in the dark

feel like a badger

---

Submitted to the Japan Society Haiku Corner (2023 Week 46).

#747

the idea queue

fills my head and doesn’t move

then they stare me down

#746

I wrack my brains but

I’m constantly drawing blanks

empty rattle head

#745

we see our real king

in his box, guarded by cones -

all hail campus cat!

#743 / #744

outside the attic 

window resting on the roof

a book and a view

/

a book and a view

resting on the roof outside

the attic window

#742

a cold metal feel

from my headphones on my crown

I thought hair was there!

#741

holding myself back

just need to get started right?

jump into the flow

#740

in 1960s

purgatory, stuck in the

evening of the soul

#739

and when Jónsi sings

and my feelings overflow

this stands forever

#23

to write in Japan

to find fleeting moments there

as Basho once did

blossoms and Fuji and cats

trains and Ghibli and manga

#738

half light all day long

naught but roaming in gloamy

autumn day-evenings

#737

covid aches and pains -

they force me to record that 

there are no moments

---

Submitted to the Japan Society Haiku Corner (2023 Week 44).

#736

little birds keeping

cool at the swimming pool's side

strange human-nature

---

Submitted to the Japan Society Haiku Corner (2023 Week 43).

#735

the dew covered car

looks as misty as I feel

wipe the sleep away

---

Written for the Tricycle September 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Autumn season word, dew and was also submitted to the Japan Society Haiku Corner (2023, Week 42).

#734

rabbits eating grass 

under the dew steam only 

feel that they are safe

---

Written for the Tricycle September 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Autumn season word, dew.

#733

the tiny rainbows

on dew filled autumn mornings

only bugs can see 

---

Written for the Tricycle September 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Autumn season word, dew.

#732

dewdrop and lotus

together and separate

always near yet far

---

Written for the Tricycle September 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Autumn season word, dew.

#731

the dew and the mist

so fleeting except where the

the sun never shines

---

Written for the Tricycle September 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Autumn season word, dew.

#730

the blue horizon

where the sea greets the sky

I

could stare all day long

#729

she walked away from

the slide in disappointment

too old and too young

#728

the right input will

give the desired output

and our ikigai

---

Submitted to the Japan Society Haiku Corner.

#727

stripes of light across

tables, showing dusty air,

autumn state of mind

---

Submitted to the Japan Society Haiku Corner (I think!).

#726

coffee and a view

of the garden reserved just

for us early birds

---

Submitted to the Japan Society Haiku Corner.

#725

old man of the woods

swings through the jungle alone

rememb’ring fire

#22

the low level light

in the swimming pool hall makes

you feel it’s still new

like it’s 1968

and you aren’t dressed right at all

#724

how are animals

eaten by the tarmac when 

nothing lives on it?

#723

the poor old fox corpse

the fox stopped being poor when

the fox became dead

#21

the spiral staircase

always working your way up 

it’s never easy

but like a snail’s shell you will

keep growing and evolving

#722

cats triangulate

the good the bad the ugly

Mexican standoff

#721

is a war taking

place across the campus grounds

as three cats square up

#720

three cats sat staring

not daring to make a move

triangle of fear

#719

three cats cornering

an area none will cross

each waiting their chance 

---

Submitted to the Japan Society Haiku Corner.

#718

ghosts wander wonder

while the living run free

with ikigai hearts

#20

finally got one -

a summer afternoon that's

worthy of the name;

of course I'm inside cleaning,

cowering from the pollen.

#717

finally got one

a summer afternoon that's

worthy of the name

---

Written for the Tricycle August 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Summer season word, summer afternoon.

#716

dandelion seeds

blown on summer afternoons

carry time away

---

Written for the Tricycle August 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Summer season word, summer afternoon.

#715

a stillness in this

summer afternoon suggests

we will soon be through

---

Written for the Tricycle August 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Summer season word, summer afternoon.

#714

the beatles had it

right when they described the rain

summer afternoon

---

Written for the Tricycle August 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Summer season word, summer afternoon.

#713

the beatles got it right with their description of summer afternoons

---

Written for the Tricycle August 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Summer season word, summer afternoon.

#712

summer afternoon

giant skyscraping buffets

left for all the bugs

---

Written for the Tricycle August 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Summer season word, summer afternoon.

#711

every path’s forks

should clearly show the choices

and consequences

#710

inevitable

White Lotus Hotel haiku:

no enlightenment.

---

Written for the Tricycle July 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Summer season word, lotus, but was not entered.

#709

lotus broken free 

untethered, unsupported 

wonderful chaos

---

Written for the Tricycle July 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Summer season word, lotus.

#708

lotus broken free 

untethered, unsupported 

wonderful chaos

---

Written for the Tricycle July 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Summer season word, lotus.

#707

laid out like lotus

leaves covering a pond all

my faults stretched out bare

---

Written for the Tricycle July 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Summer season word, lotus.

#706

we hope to lie down

on a bed strewn with lotus

to help us succeed

---

Written for the Tricycle July 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Summer season word, lotus.

#19

elegance shines out

like a lotus serenely

sat on the surface

(nobody sees the anchors

no one knows what’s underneath)

#705

elegance shines out

like a lotus serenely

sat on the surface

---

Written for the Tricycle July 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Summer season word, lotus.

#704

a single lotus

reminds me of you, of how

separate we are

---

Written for the Tricycle July 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Summer season word, lotus.

#703

we feed the lotus

within, take such care of it

but when will it bloom?

---

Written for the Tricycle July 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Summer season word, lotus.

#702

curled up and tiny

inside a lotus flower

protecting me still

---

Written for the Tricycle July 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Summer season word, lotus.

#701

in the garden of 

life at end of each path

a lotus flower

---

Written for the Tricycle July 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Summer season word, lotus.

#700

our lionesses

we stand with you nerves jingling

praying for your win

#699

spiral. out? or in?

out - growth and evolution.

in - sinking horror

#698

order in old age

blocks and grids, paler colours,

more simplicity.

#697

i could dive into

that international blue

and eternally

#696 (instructional (personal))

these 5 syllables

lead to 7 syllables,

then 5 syllables.

a seasonal word,

two lines to set up the scene -

and then the cut-twist.

or another way,

more free or more personal,

but ever a scene.

setting the stage now,

a windmill turning always

never stops writing.

#695

barefoot on pebbles he wonders how everything else is so stable

---

Written for the Tricycle June 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Summer season word, barefoot, but was not entered.

#694

barefoot and Japan

makes me think of Barefoot Gen,

the blast, searing heat

---

Written for the Tricycle June 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Summer season word, barefoot, but was not entered.

#693

barefoot on the lawn first moment of connection with the earth's magic

---

Written for the Tricycle June 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Summer season word, barefoot, but was not entered.

#692

the barefoot stick slap

on the lino following

me around the house

---

Written for the Tricycle June 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Summer season word, barefoot.

#691

not only barefoot

feeling everything nature

has to offer them

---

Written for the Tricycle June 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Summer season word, barefoot.

#690

going barefoot on 

a new carpet is a must -

such a sensation!

---

Written for the Tricycle June 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Summer season word, barefoot.

#689

a peaceful garden

barefoot crushes a frog’s head

a question mark sound

---

Written for the Tricycle June 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Summer season word, barefoot.

#688

going out barefoot

imagining i’m a fly

tasting everything!

---

Written for the Tricycle June 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Summer season word, barefoot.

#687

a tiny bug climbs

gently higher and higher

on barefoot mountain

---

Written for the Tricycle June 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Summer season word, barefoot.

#686

the creak of the stairs

in the middle of the night

an unwelcome thought

#685

the creak of the stairs

in the middle of the night

an unwelcome sound

#684

the creak of the stairs

in the middle of the night

a new rabbit hole

#683

the creak of the stairs

in the middle of the night

the start of it all

#682

the creak of the stairs

in the middle of the night

an invitation

#18

the skull in the lawn

vomiting worms so it seemed

i had discovered

comedy and tragedy

reality and fiction

#17 (Oppenheimer 11)

now can i silence

these thoughts?  

                        now can i calm this

scared child within?

can writing be therapy,

a way out of my own head?

#678 (Oppenheimer 7)

remembering the 

horror trying to focus

on something else there

#680 (Oppenheimer 9)

thoughts that lay dormant

in an equilibrium

now set off balance

#681 (Oppenheimer 10)

imagine all things

and then imagine no things 

destroyer of earth

#679 (Oppenheimer 8)

the fear amplified

by caffeine spreading quickly /

a deepening pit

#677 (Oppenheimer 6)

the horror the hor-

ror the horror the horror

the horror writ large

#676 (Oppenheimer 5)

my childhood fears

of annihilation are

reignited now

#675 (Oppenheimer 4)

that powerlessness

that they had over the drop

means we sit and wait

#674 (Oppenheimer 3)

the nuclear dread

of my childhood returns

emptying my chest

#673 (Oppenheimer 2)

the nuclear dread

returns and I live my life

with fear-hollowed eyes

#672 (Oppenheimer 1)

and still we cross our

fingers and hope nothing comes

through the sky for us

#16

standing by my son

using the urinal as

if i always do;

hoping i don’t pass on the

fear that i found at his age

#671

all that flows from me

all that’s upon me bestowed

myrninerest

#670

the boy hit the floor

hard, all smiles and laughter

but what was inside?

#669

in the sports hall I

remember brutality

taking over me

#668

“blurred lines under a 

hazy moon.”  “no, it is clear

to everyone else.”

---

Written for the Tricycle May 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Spring season word, hazy or blurry moon, but was not entered.

#667

a wolf howls hoarsely 

confused by the blurry moon,

but helpful for me

---

Written for the Tricycle May 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Spring season word, hazy or blurry moon, but was not entered.

#666

waking up at night

squinting through the darkness gives

blurry moons all year

---

Written for the Tricycle May 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Spring season word, hazy or blurry moon, but was not entered.

#665

the last blossom falls

under the hazy moon's watch

with no witnesses

---

Written for the Tricycle May 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Spring season word, hazy or blurry moon.

#664

i went outside to research the spring blurry moon it was too cloudy

---

Written for the Tricycle May 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Spring season word, hazy or blurry moon.

#663

narcissus bends and kisses my foot so gently shows another way

---

Written for the Tricycle April 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Spring season word, narcissus.

#662

a poet seeking

a simile for themself

saw a narcissus.

---

Written for the Tricycle April 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Spring season word, narcissus.

#661

trumpeting only

itself, not the start of spring

narcissus stands tall

---

Written for the Tricycle April 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Spring season word, narcissus.

#660

staring into the 

sea, its own counsel it keeps

the narcissus moon

---

Written for the Tricycle April 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Spring season word, narcissus.

#659

national flower

bent over no vanity

not a narcissus

---

Written for the Tricycle April 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Spring season word, narcissus.

#658

find it hard to write

about flowers i use a 

different name for

---

Written for the Tricycle April 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Spring season word, narcissus.

#657

mirrors show what’s real

only narcissus inside

in these moments now

---

Written for the Tricycle April 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Spring season word, narcissus.

#656

it is and not true -

in england a narcissus

in wales daffodil

---

Written for the Tricycle April 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Spring season word, narcissus.

#654

sailing under one 

flag, alone and adrift on 

a sea that’s self-made

#653

sail under all flags

we should all be socialists

raise each other up

#652

to wander, wonder,

to breeze through the day freely

to have my own mind

#651

the space that’s open

the place to live and to breathe

to waonder freely

#650

keep it open just

in case you get ideas

never close that tab

#649

my failure to wee

that one time took me away

to another stream

#648

MNERM

some things can’t be forgotten

MNEMG

#647

i have joined the dots 

i have solved all the puzzles

and still i don’t know

#646

i walk toward them.

moving the unmovable:

elephantine task

#645

moving the unmoved

somehow altering their minds,

changing everything

#644

sitting in the rain 

I am thinking, “Why am I

sitting in the rain?”

#643

driving in the rain

the windscreen reflecting my

inner state of mind

#642

standing in the rain,

jealously eyeing the world

beyond this grey void

#641

love is in the air

between all the ghosties there

Paris afterlife

#640

spectre in my house

gaping holes make up its face

it is always there

#639

cauliflower fish 

in the streams of Lincolnshire

swim like little clouds

#638

the sea mist rolling

down the beach like the ghosts of

those washed up on it

#655

holes bring roof leaks of

sun and heat, then cold and rain:

there is no relief.

---

Written for the Tricycle March 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Spring season word, roof leak, but was not entered. 

#637

holes bring roof leaks of

sun and heat, then cold and rain:

there is no relief.

---

Written for the Tricycle March 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Spring season word, roof leak, but was not entered. 

#636

bucket drip roof leak

seems the most obvious thing

got it out the way.

---

Written for the Tricycle March 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Spring season word, roof leak, but was not entered. 

#635

the damp surprise of

the roof leak drip alarm clock

explains the flood dream

---

Written for the Tricycle March 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Spring season word, roof leak. 

#634

a mouse surprised by

my leaking roof runs sharply

from its chosen spot

---

Written for the Tricycle March 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Spring season word, roof leak. 

#633

build up of pressures -

you know it’s taking its toll

when the roof leak starts.

---

Written for the Tricycle March 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Spring season word, roof leak. 

#632

an Ideal Standard

gleams white in the bathroom light

ready for its load

#631

I could remember

my centre and candidate

numbers. For some time.

#630

pink flowers in March,

to mark when we moved here,

when our son was born.

#629

how many are there

doing this exam right now

Oh, concentrate, man!

#628

ice on his sweater,

nose frozen to his pillow -

another school day.

---

Written for the Tricycle February 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Winter season word, sweater. 

#627

the crackle and sparks

of static and excitement

when peeling sweaters

---

Written for the Tricycle February 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Winter season word, sweater. 

#632 (SOL)

staring into the

hole created by a loss

remembering him

#626

the click clack of the

sweater taking shape in the

fading summer light

---

Written for the Tricycle February 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Winter season word, sweater. 

#625

can I change the past?

who is to say you haven't

already done so?

#624

listen. the North Wind

carries our siblings’ cries for

justice, peace and help

---

Written for the Tricycle January 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Winter season words, north wind, but was not entered (or finished in time). 

#623

hung by the north wind -

one over-large plastic leaf

distorts and disturbs

---

Written for the Tricycle January 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Winter season words, north wind. 

#622

the north wind passes

us safe behind steamy glass

with fika and chat

---

Written for the Tricycle January 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Winter season words, north wind. 

#621

north wind, frosty grass,

the crunch of her footsteps clear

as she approaches

---

Written for the Tricycle January 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Winter season words, north wind. 

#620

north wind on the bridge,

an unwelcome visitor 

on my morning walk

---

Written for the Tricycle January 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Winter season words, north wind. 

#619

“doctor said wear a

scarf when the north wind blows through,”

my neck reminds me now.

---

Written for the Tricycle January 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Winter season words, north wind. 

#618

at the north wind’s source,

I cut the bellows clean through,

unleashed disaster.

---

Written for the Tricycle January 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Winter season words, north wind. 

#617

a staircase moment

my hopes left to linger and

tumble down quickly

#616 (International Klein)

such beautiful blue

it reached out and grabbed me, drew

me across the room

#615

in the sports hall and

the grey chair's too much like school

don't want to take it 

and what would I learn?

social interaction from

childhood experts 

#614

where is my voice and

where are my ears and where

has my head gone to?

#613

like a snowflake we

can melt on our own but are

stronger together

---

Written for the Tricycle December 2022 Haiku Challenge using the Winter season word, snowflake, but was not entered.

#612

snowflakes on a corpse,

thought they were doomed but have found

a cold place to live

---

Written for the Tricycle December 2022 Haiku Challenge using the Winter season word, snowflake, but was not entered.

#611

do you use the term snowflake for some young people it is not so nice

---

Written for the Tricycle December 2022 Haiku Challenge using the Winter season word, snowflake, but was not entered.

#610

the wonder in his 

eyes, watching through the back door,

as snowflakes fall down.

---

Written for the Tricycle December 2022 Haiku Challenge using the Winter season word, snowflake, but was not entered.

#609

spine shivers at dusk

beauty and cold each attack

diff’rent but the same

#608

eating his chicken,

where are all our freebies?

all hail the campus cat!

#607

eating his chicken,

his glossy coat shining bright,

all hail the campus cat!

#606

fog obscured Stratford

my view on a lunchtime walk -

beautiful bleakness