#1570 (#243)

parked on double lines

by a disused parking sign

not quite blotted out

#1569 (#242)

my fear stares me down

lizard eyes and dragon breath

i shoot back at it

#1568 (#241)

music that moves me

that sends each and every cell

that singular feel

#1567 (#240)

slowed right down because

there are aunties and uncles 

in the cycle lane

#1566 (#239)

never stop feeling

useless at all times like these

i just can’t keep up

#1565 (#238)

in the clothes shop and

i think, “would i look like me

if i bought these clothes?”

#1564 (#237)

the ultimate truth

you gain at the point of death

do not tell me now

#1563 (#236)

let the tears fall down

for the optimism of

2003

#1562 (#235)

in the town centre

purple flowered trees line streets

i ponder meaning

#1561 (#234)

stronger than iron

are those bonds of illusion 

held in many minds

#1560 (#233)

photo time-lapse blurs

like memories stretched out way

past recognition

#1559

if, if, if, if i…

hundreds of kilometers…

parallel, apart.

---

From words on page 39 of Worlds of Exile and Illusion: Three Hainish Novels by Ursula K. Le Guin (Gollancz, 1966/2015) - from the first novel in the book, Rocannon's World.

#1558 (#232)

rolling down the grey

with green down both sides for miles

fly me to the sides 

#1557 (#231)

“stranger at the door 

asking for what i don’t have”

#1556 (#230)

M20, M2

the roads that take me back home

in both directions 

#1555 (#229)

keep wearing my shorts

to work forgetting how cold

the a/c there is

#1554 (#228)

shadow at the door

won’t come in or go away

only stands watching

#1553 (#227)

air, i cannot see,

but feel in windless extremes,

pressing on my skin.

#1552 (#226)

on the central line

that bit where you see horses

shocks me every time

#1551 (#225)

running through the rain

to retrieve an umbrella

for the wife and kid

#1550 (#224)

not a prediction,

this knowledge of the future

ties strings to my hands

#1549 (#223)

on the central line

a heat comparable to

hell's inner circle

#1548 (#222)

my colourful wrist

after raksha bandhan day

and sister blessings

#1547 (#221)

two old gentlemen

holding hands along the path

and i swell with pride

#1546

the spirit village -

father, daughter, wife perished.

trembling hands, he saw.

---

From words on page 113 of The Snow Ghost and Other Tales: Classic Japanese Ghost Stories (Vintage 2023 [Kindle Edition]) - from the short story, The Snow Ghost.

#1545 (#220)

the kettle bubbling

slowly building to that click

that raises my head

#1544 (#219)

these lifetime mirrors

between the generations

showing the repeats

#1543 (#218) (empty library)

lights out, none around

not even a single sound

knowledge waits abound

#1542 (#217)

busy days are not

conducive to those deadlines

set without forethought

#1541

cool and inviting

you want to jump in but think

of the accidents

---

Written for the June Tricycle Haiku Challenge but not entered as I accidentally left out the Summer season word, summer lake.

#1540 (#216)

counting syllables

as defined - or in my head -

haiku abacus

/

I-----oo-ooo------I

I--o-oo-o-o-o-o--I

I------oo-ooo-----I

#1539

the summer lake peace,

calm waters, insect chirping

hide all the bodies.

---

Written for the June Tricycle Haiku Challenge using the Summer season word, summer lake, and may have been entered in a slightly different form (with an extra word).

#1538 (#215)

road of my faun kin

now human habitats on

the grass paths we made

#1537

the summer lake peace

every year will get disturbed

when it takes a life

---

Written for the June Tricycle Haiku Challenge using the Summer season word, summer lake and may have been entered.

#1536 (#214)

read tales of horror

in the bright summer sunshine

far from ghosts and ghouls

#1535

heat transfer/relief

is like a form of worship

by the summer lake

---

Written for the June Tricycle Haiku Challenge using the Summer season word, summer lake.

#1534 (#213)

searching for camphors

and a magical neighbour

after totoro