#973

we glow the colours

of the tulips in the field

most-times more than one

---

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

#972 (#122)

so high on the swing,

that moment the world stops and

everything is sky

#971

fields of tulips wait

gently blowing in the breeze

to be harvested

---

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

#970 (#121)

dandelion clocks

have never been accurate

but i still use them

#969 (#120)

serene spring sunshine

fills the garden completely

even the shadows

#968 (#119)

spring rain incessance

reminds us it's not all lambs

and sunshine each year

#967 (#118)

wind starting to shake,

reed ears open, waiting

for seeds to blow out

#966 (#117) (kai-awase)

cherrystone clam shells

intricate paintings within

find the matching pairs

#965 (#116)

this bamboo autumn

we wait for the spring to start -

still feels like winter!

#964 (#115)

piglet trot clip clop

across the concrete courtyard

to the mud pit squelch

#963 (#114)

the swan protecting

her cygnets on the river

a wall of feathers

#962 (#113)

the gosling story -

can't remember the bird type,

only the ending.

#961

pony down the mine

not seen sun since the summer

a pony no more

#960 (#112)

kids ride farm pony

approaching retirement

a spring in its step

#959 (#111)

first steps of the colt 

probing, uncertain, learning

soon it shall gallop

#958 (#110)

the garden edges

are covered with young green plants

each waiting their turn

#35

this is not one thing

or the other, ‘snot static,

spring melancholy.

this is weather dependant,

this is very changeable.

#957 (#109)

spring field turned and tilled:

a bed made for the future,

from where the past grew.

#956 (sunday morrning)

in the swimming hall

seats that remind me of church

my boy is now god

#955 (#108)

climbing the steep hill

just for a glimpse of new lambs,

a spring tradition.

#954

my turnip children

tucked up and sleeping gently

until wake up time

---

Written for the Tricycle February 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Winter season word, turnip, but was not entered.

#953 (#107)

spring melancholy

comes and goes with the ever 

changing weather fronts

#952

turnip tops poking

out the soil tempting all

the scarecrow stands guard

---

Written for the Tricycle February 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Winter season word, turnip, but was not entered.

#951 (#106)

it’s now bugs come out 

and terrorise the whole house:

the bad part of spring.

#950

vibrations among 

the turnip tops - see them shake

as predators near

---

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

#949 (#105)

want hysteria?

then let wisteria bloom

and see the people!

#948

i hold the turnip

as too the sister once did

i see nothing else

---

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

#947 (#104)

the departing geese,

unlike my departing love, 

destined to return.

#946

how can you escape

a turnip shaped like a… well…

well… - like a thingy!

---

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

#945 (#103)

crest on the garden 

horizon - a skylark brought

down to earth with us

#944 (#102)

baby animal

cliches abound everywhere

but then it is spring

#943

the hands of control

over both bodies and minds

massage just themselves

#942 (#101)

the warmth of sunshine

anytime of year is gold

but after winter…

#941

shadow man and dog

overlooking the river

together / apart

#940 (#100)

wandering the woods

knowing that primroses bloom

but not how they look

#939

we stumble between

the perceived and realised 

the known and unknown

#938 (#099)

the first blossom’s out - 

the whole palette lightening

in the spring sunshine

#937 (#098)

snail, scroll, shepherds crook

or a stringed instruments top?

fiddlehead fern fronds

#936 (#097)

spring but it's still cold /

yokan: not just a broken 

record in Britain?

#935 (#096)

a spring mist across

the hills and sea obscuring

the view we paid for

#934 (#095)

dying narcissus,

drooping discoloured flower

bends towards its bed

#933

 

#932 (#094)

with all of this rain

we want to skip the springtime

and see the swallows

#931 (#093)

the rain drumming sound

another cloudy spring day

hunkered down indoors

#930 (#092)

soup or salad day?

we wait and see which it is -

wakame choices

#929 (#091)

twittering through the

open window, Easter morn -

a (symbolic?) treat.

or

twittering through the

open window, Easter morn -

a (non-choc'late) treat.

#928 (#090)

the yellow head of 

a dandelion picked by

a boy for a god

#927

an abandoned tea

sat waiting in the kitchen 

but she’s gone away

#926 (#089)

pinwheel spinning sound

flapping across the lawn on

a peaceful spring day

#925

trees are changing from

white to green as the leaves grow

and the petals fall

#924 (#088)

frogs meeting, greeting,

green streams writhing and wriggling,

getting acquainted.

#923

jumping ahead. wait.

sit and take everything in

make sense, don’t just guess

#922 (#087)

on a country walk

bright yellow wild roses

i did not expect

#921

an open window

first thing and through the morning

like being reborn

#920 (#086)

tapas whitebait plate

with cold beer, sunshine, and friends

in Barcelona

#919 (#085)

soap bubble dreams drift

precariously at the

mercy of the breeze

#918 (#084)

the plough turns the earth 

as the earth moves itself round

and day turns to night

#917 (#083)

why does the yellow

dust always come when I have

just had the car washed?

#916 (#082)

it is barely spring -

each moment of sunshine hope

is quickly cloud crushed.

#915 (#081)

always a surprise,

these strange new lingering days -

and always welcome!

#914

20 m.p.h.

feels so slow up Forest Lane -

i think of the lives…

#913 (#080)

a moment of calm

sat alone in the meadow

a butterfly lands

#904, #34, #905, #906, #907, #908, #909, #910, #911 and #912 (feelings at a conference)

#904

why'm i so awkward

and what is this barrier

between me and them?

#34

how does it happen?

how can people just talk, talk

when they've never met?

why have i a barrier

up against these normal things?

#905

time alone is gold

but time alone makes me meek

when I should be bold 

#906

stand back, people watch

find a certain comfort in

all my discomfort

#907

in the quiet space

i can just sit and be me

forget my worry

#908

(is it bad or not 

that i don't want to talk or 

even interact?)

#909

and then you do it.

you talk to a stranger and

you thaw a little.

#910

the relief when the

automatic lights are off

in the men's toilets

#911

too tired for the

last session of the two days.

i’ll try art instead…

#912

days later and i’m

reflecting on what that was,

planning the next one.

#903 (#079)

the old pilgrimage,

the hopes and the dreams, how they

reverberated!

#902

a troubled mind needs

it's own balm, it's own way out

of it's hole or maze

#901 (#078)

i love that mugwort’s

in sweets and wards off evil -

what else do you need?

#900

people either side,

we’re all eating pho alone,

along loner's bench.

#899 (#077)

rain, cold and grey clouds

after a day of sunshine:

spring melancholy

#33

like the swimming pool

Coventry Station is still

stuck in the sixties

delightfully so and still

the same after twenty years

#898 (#076)

tranquil spring garden

sunshine and a gentle breeze 

animate the leaves

#897

Barbican half light

rapid circles come and go

a fleeting visit

#896 (#075)

love cats (cats in love),

stride and rub flanks together

tails raised and entwined

#895

the joy on faces

from the eye pencil moustache

world book day pirate

#894 (#074)

cats in love, love cats,

return each spring to frolic

and give us haiku

#893

always the marker

of my return home whether 

a hot or cold mountain

---

Written for the Tricycle January 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Winter season word, cold mountain, but was not entered.

#892 (#073)

pleasant tides of spring,

the sea comes and goes calmly -

that's their distinction.

#891

cold mountain, cold heart.

like the distant star for Pip,

bright, yet cold, aloof.

---

Written for the Tricycle January 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Winter season word, cold mountain.

#890 (#072)

what distinguishes

a spring tide from all others?

they all give and take

#889

two kinds of relief

at the cold mountain’s summit:

stopping; and weeing.

---

Written for the Tricycle January 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Winter season word, cold mountain.

#888 (#071)

neither hard nor light

spring rain is nevertheless

very relentless

#887

one day we will all

be roots of the cold mountain -

for now we enjoy

---

Written for the Tricycle January 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Winter season word, cold mountain.

#886 (#070)

all the kids waiting

for the kite man to release

his paratrooper

#885

cold mountain in the

grate, memory of the hot 

one the night before

---

Written for the Tricycle January 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Winter season word, cold mountain.

#884 (#069)

nori green surrounds

white borders and bright colours

in wondrous displays

#883

the end of humans

will come much as the start did

gradual seachange

#882 (#068)

balloons on the floor

placed for safety by a boy

at his own bedside

#881

high on a wire,

a perilous drop unseen,

for wonderful views

#880 (#067)

abalone diver

year nineteen hundred and five

what risks in that suit?

#879

high above the docks

high above the river there

cable car, no cares

#878 (#066)

the delicate warmth

of a spring day slowly wakes

your body and mind

#877

leaf at my window

brief, fleeting butterfly-like

thought it was alive

#876 (#065)

first blossoms coming 

through, white and pink, small and large,

can’t help but smile

#875

cut all my hair off?

it’s going anyway, right?

am i now hiding?

#874 (#064)

tree buds to blossoms -

the awakening, the birth, 

of this time of year.

#32

when the air is cold,

your face feels like a fridge and

your fingers ice poles:

do not despair and shed tears,

find the one who’ll give you warmth.

#873 (#063)

remember that time?

a pheasant in the garden!

still makes me wonder…

#872

finally the sun

glistens on the swimming pool

and warms ev’ry bone 

#871 (#062)

i can't believe that,

so early on, i’m using

the kigo spring-like

#870

thunderbirds era

signs, tiles and wooden seats

at the swimming pool

#869 (#061)

i'll miss the pinkness

of that camellia bush

this time of each year

#868

brought from the bottom

of the sea, to rise again -

deep sea to deep fry

#867 (#060)

the last winter night

before an extra day, and…

what a wet, grey, day!

#866

when the air’s fridge-cold

and you cannot feel your face

keep all else covered

#865 (#059)

narcissus i, thought

you were the first sign of spring -

but it's still so cold!

#864

when the air is cold

and your face feels like a fridge

i just walk faster

#863 (#058)

there are more layers

in an onion than there are

in this haiku - shrek

#31

the annual quest

of searching for plum blossoms

in the calm before

the cherry storms of people

come to flood our peaceful groves

#862 (#057)

short days get longer

light until five:thirty-four

the funk is ending

#861

the annual quest

of searching for plum blossoms

calm wander-wonder

#860 (#056)

the steam from my cup

(winter market hot chocolate)

misting my glasses

#859

the annual quest

of searching for plum blossoms

before the cherries

#858 (#055)

nandin, spearflower, 

hermit smartweed: red berries

through the winter grey

#857

the annual quest

of searching for plum blossoms

and springtime colours

#856 (#054)

when the air is cold

and your face feels like a fridge

think about summer

#855

the annual quest

of searching for plum blossoms

and scraps of colour

#854 (#053)

the annual quest

of searching for plum blossoms

and the warbler’s song

#30 (little grebe talks)

i can’t walk too well

but i can sink under and

i can fly as well -

underwater you wouldn’t

believe my fluid displays

#853 (#052)

kitsunebi trail

of atmospheric ghost lights

leads my way to where?

#29

futon in winter

more quilts above than below 

my night-time cocoon

waking each morning anew

fresh for at least one hour

#852 (#051)

grey sky and drizzle,

dim daylight and dull buildings:

my winter landscape.

#851

a hammer and a

sickle at the palace gates

forever in stone

#850 (#050)

snowflakes (wind-flowers)

looking for a place to fall

and build a new land

---

The Japanese for snowflakes is kazahana, which translates literally as wind-flowers.

#849

“my right to a nap

i would defend to the death”

“then nap forever”

#848 (#049)

my friends frown at me

with my sea cucumber soup

i frown back at them

#847

my heart lies with tim,

while i lay down with jim.

i do not know why.

#846 (#048)

cold carp swimming to

keep from becoming frozen

ornamental fish

#845

we wait watching for 

yellow flowers to trumpet

that it is spring now

#844 (#047)

futon in winter

more quilts above than below 

my night-time cocoon

#843

days in a tight space

were made so much better by

my foldaway bed

#842 (#046)

searching for the bright

stripes of my winter comfort:

yellowtail katsu

#841

folder restructure

get out my paper pieces

write a haiku - yeah!

#840 (#045)

onions sustain us,

(the base of everything good)

in winter the most.

#839 (#044)

cold (chrysanthe)mums greet cold mums at the school gate with warming colours   

#838 (#043)

the cold time drags on,

gloves still cover my fingers -

no wardrobe change yet.

#837 (#042)

the stretch and the creak

from the wicker fishnet soothes

the old hands onboard

#836 (#041)

“i signal each spring

with my big yellow trumpet,”

says proud narcissus.

#835 (#040)

pond feeding frenzy

watched disdainfully by the

wild ducks beyond

#834 (#039)

skeletal army

forever ready to fight

distant winter grove

#833 (#038)

winter moon as cold

and distant as all seasons

still he will not speak

#832

the white and the grey 

of this winter horizon’s

like a wolf waiting

---

Written for the Tricycle December 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Winter season word, winter horizon.

#831 (#037)

cold crow sits on a

frozen corpse - perseverance

the aim of the game

#830

a certain stillness

nuclear apocalypse

winter horizon 

---

Written for the Tricycle December 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Winter season word, winter horizon.

#829 (#036)

little grebe (winter)

waiting for your bright colours,

and for your own spring.

#828

winter horizon

calls me not to adventure

but to hibernate

---

Written for the Tricycle December 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Winter season word, winter horizon.

#827 (#035)

at a stall on the

harbourfront, eyes to the skies -

oysters down the hatch!

#826

heartwarming yatai

sat close by with strangers: food,

drink, conversation 

#825 (#034)

the cold air's fingers

freezing ev'rything, making

intricate patterns 

#824

not the digger but

the robin it was watched

ev’ry single move

#823 (#033)

grumpy cat, covered

in sleet, sitting on doorstep.

when will they be back?

#822

the wave knocks me down

below, into a new world,

i leave you behind.

#821 (#032)

fireplace mem’ry:

the cage that held us back from

the roaring blue flame.

#820

live tree negatives

(like experimental films)

on the frosted glass

#819 (#031)

where once we would have

stalked the frozen earth hunting

i drive to the shops

#818

all winter, outside

is withering - waiting for

the spring to return.

#817 (#030)

what are you doing,

you solit'ry winter fly?

it's your holiday!

#816

the ravens exchange

small shiny things for their food

they watch out for us

a camera lens lost

returned next day by raven

they look out for us

a pearl coloured heart

her most treasured raven gift

they have love for us

See: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-31604026 (Accessed: 12th January 2024)

#815 (#029)

more hours inside 

lead to scornful stares - both ways!

(winter withering)

#814

a tiny whale’s tail

on the horizon (barely)

better on tv

#813 (#028)

warm and snug inside

only frozen wastes out there

winter seclusion 

#28

there is more that is 

not us than there is that is 

us : we must take care

of each other and the world

around us : love all neighbours

#812 (#027)

am looking like the

michelin man but so warm

in my quilted clothes

#811

there is more out there 

that is not us than there is 

out there that is us 

#810 (#026)

even a whale is

just a speck in the ocean.

we are all cogs, though.

#809 (#025)

feeling old with my

shawl wrapped tight around my trunk

but better than cold

#808

wherever you are

colour in winter fills you

discarding the grey

#807 (#024)

in bed i am a

foot warmer for my sweet wife.

no matter how cold.

#806

low sun on wet road,

a bright golden highway,

the pain in the eyes!

#805 (#023)

wild ducks swimming 

erratically around 

a-stirring my brains 

#804 (#022)

avoiding the ground

and its chill using a toy:

my childhood stilts

#803 (#021)

excitement as the 

morning bathroom view's all white

but it's frost not snow

#802 (#020)

they run from the tide

and then fly when they have lost

the sandpiper jive

#27

have you felt the rush,

the tea-coffee-caffeine rush?

the daily races

and the fight against drinking

too much: take corners slowly

#801 (#019)

the sun and the sky

brighten up the dull earth on

a clear winter's day

#800

before we move out

i want to see it flower

as when w(h)e arrived

#799 (#018)

“fugu? why eat a

fish that could knock you down dead?”

Candida wondered.

#798

dragon’s breath healing

a new life forged in fire

skin now as armour

#797 (#017)

the bald earth below

a hawk hunts starving creatures

ready to risk all

#796

campus cat sits and

waits outside Arthur Edwards

staring with purpose

#795 (#016)

floating fancily

no need to put head aloft

mandarin duck wins

#794

in the dew and the 

cold autumn sun I can see

the ghost of Basho

---

Written for the Tricycle November 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Autumn season word, Basho's ghost.

#793 (#015)

porridge steam rising

in the freezing kitchen air

the forge for my day

#792

the ghost of Basho

won't give me the solitude

that he often craved

---

Written for the Tricycle November 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Autumn season word, Basho's ghost.

#791

dancing in the new

year in the glowing flash of 

the Lohri fire

#790 (#014)

burning away the

old year with popcorn on the

Lohri bonfire

#789

by the old pond an

unexpected water noise

is it Basho’s ghost?

---

Written for the Tricycle November 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Autumn season word, Basho's ghost.

#788 (#013)

a mere rustle in

the very depths of the woods

an owl eats tonight

#787

Basho’s ghost points out

the flowers greeting me and

I start to scribble

---

Written for the Tricycle November 2023 Haiku Challenge using the Autumn season word, Basho's ghost.

#786 (#012)

children leaving school 

bright orange carrots in hand

snack time overspill

#785 (#011)

snow at the seaside

blankets on knees in shelter

eating cod and chips

#784

binge watched in error!

one episode left to air!

one week more to wait!

#783 (#010)

i watch the ravens

on the withered moor and ask

them to restore it

#782

a bright yellow coat 

on a stand of greys and blacks

like sunshine through rain

#781 (#009)

a heater under

a desk in a cold office:

nice, but no duvet.

#26

breath vapour hits the 

air and freezes, disappears,

dies before your eyes;

as life, it’s just as fleeting -

make the most of all meetings.

#780 (#008)

sipping from the cold

stream, the sheep wonder when it 

will be spring again

#779 (#007)

glowing and changing 

faces in the brazier

light - otherwise stuck

#778 (#006)

huddled in a group

keeping warm, breath vapour cloud;

pretending to smoke.

#777 (#005)

warming my cold hands

cradling a mug of bean soup,

breath-cooling the top.

#776

on the z axis,

dreams and unreality -

life without x, y…

#775 (#004)

the ice on the lake

thickness unknown from above

treacherous as life

#774

the spooky jet sounds

from the inside of the clouds

unnerve derelax

#773 (#003)

the Christmas-New Year

hibernation obscures the

start of the new path

#772 (#002)

first dream of the year

so tired i was asleep

in a swimming pool

#771 (#001)

the year's first morning,

the first diary entry

i am old yet new