clear front rejoicing
suddenly interrupted
leave fully, go home
From words on page 196 of Bombs on Aunt Dainty by Judith Kerr (HarperCollins, 2024/1975).
... and occasional Tanka... and Haibun. Started after a competition on the unbound.co.uk blog (see #1 and #2). Mostly actually senryu, I think. This year attempting to publish a Haiku every day - 365 Haiku a Day. For good or for ill, I always aim to stick rigidly to a 5-7-5 structure - forgive me if I have counted the syllables wrong, often they are how I have said, or thought, them in my head rather than their official number.
clear front rejoicing
suddenly interrupted
leave fully, go home
From words on page 196 of Bombs on Aunt Dainty by Judith Kerr (HarperCollins, 2024/1975).
diamonds exhorting
thoughts of a planet called home
time places gently
From words on page 385 of We Solve Murders by Richard Osman (Penguin, 2025/2024).
small teeth holding eyes.
dining considered, dismissed
absent-mindedly.
From words on page 268 of When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit by Judith Kerr (HarperCollins, 2008/1971).
my last house are you?
the horizon, river, hills…
seems to me good that
From words on page 29 (ish) of Hilda and the Midnight Giant by Luke Pearson (Flying Eye Books, 2016/2011).
the escapade year
college thrown downwards, sidetracked.
lioness feeding.
From words on page 305 of Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones (Harper Fire, 2025/1985).
spook secretary
the story, the spilt coffee
the gunman's moment
From words on page 191 of Slow Horses by Mick Herron (John Murray Press, 2002).
helpless insane nights
returning and cowering
people distant, small
From words on page 80 of The Word for World is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin (Gollancz, 1972/1976/2022).
truth bitterness dawn
a sanctuary in time
there's safety in this
From words on page 394 of The Great Dune Trilogy by Frank Herbert (Gollancz, 2018/1979/1965 [Kindle Edition]) - from the first novel in the book, Dune.
the bell sounded thin,
or morning hour exhausted,
like a mashed tin can
From words on page 182 of All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy (Picador/Pan Books, 1993).
knowledge, precision
afternoon sunlight shining
onto the strangers
From words on page 86 of The Coin by Yasmin Zaher (Footnote, 2024).
flesh sterile alone
labor foggily obeyed
lift-off drive bluish
From words on page 369 of Worlds of Exile and Illusion: Three Hainish Novels by Ursula K. Le Guin (Gollancz, 1966/2015) - from the third novel in the book, City of Illusions.
the tent stood talking
wind stretched a flaw carried word
memory outward
From words on page 145 of Worlds of Exile and Illusion: Three Hainish Novels by Ursula K. Le Guin (Gollancz, 1966/2015) - from the second novel in the book, Planet of Exile.
remember the smoke?
say i hadn’t forgotten
everything in sight!
From words on page 263 of Lord of the Flies by William Golding (Faber and Faber Education Edition 1969/1954).
sleep failed silence breath
“i don’t want you to see this”
a glimpse empty trapped
From words on page 263 of The Cracked Mirror by Chris Brookmyre (Abacus Books, 2025).
a glass brain useless
eyes down a glimpse devils here
the oubliette voice
From words on page 263 of The Cracked Mirror by Chris Brookmyre (Abacus Books, 2025).
the New Town badger
in a Mazda (passenger)
sleep eyes in half-light
From words on page 263 of The Cracked Mirror by Chris Brookmyre (Abacus Books, 2025).
From words on page 91 of Roverandom by JRR Tolkien (HarperCollinsPublishers, 2013).
take you everywhere
know roughly where i'm going
have time to stretch/stop
From words on page 19 of Lessons for Young Artists by David Gentleman (Penguin, 2025 [Kindle Edition]).