Shadow Side

Full winter moon:

the icicle

the icicle’s shadow

Geraldine Clinton Little

————————————————

Up the hill

Onto the peninsula

Up the driveway

To the cottage

Snow is everywhere

We walk to Rutland Water

Past rooftops

Past church spires

Past the thatched house

With icicles, long icicles

Hanging from the window frames

Hanging from the door frame

Then on past trees

Past the post box

Through the fields

To the shoreline

With poachers acting as gamekeepers

Fishermen being as children

The frozen, icy water

Offering play for everyone

haiku mind

108 poems to

cultivate awareness 

& open your heart

is by Patricia Donegan

Dreams

in dreams

and in awakening—

the colour of the iris

Shushiki

————————————————

As if at the very end

The final dream

Before the final awakening

As if the need for explanation

Falls away

With the snow or the rain

Either will suit me

A last chance to smile

At the loss of my environment

Only then for the piano to be played

The brass band to form a semi-circle

And the pub singers to strike a chord

All to bless the pork pies

The cheese and pickle sandwiches

And the very finest Farmer’ Blonde real ale 

haiku mind

108 poems to

cultivate awareness 

& open your heart

is by Patricia Donegan

Children’s Innocence

shown a flower

the small baby

opens its mouth

Seifu-Ni

————————————————

On the very day

When I saw photographs

Of a happy smiling baby

On the other side

Of this grand old world

Her mother

And her grandmother, are flowers

Who radiate the beauty of happiness

Joy begets joy it’s true

Love of life is love itself

haiku mind

108 poems to

cultivate awareness 

& open your heart

is by Patricia Donegan

Vulnerability

moonlight—

through thin clothes

to naked skin

Hisajo Sugita

————————————————

Is my male body

More appealing

Or more vulnerable

When one can see its nakedness

Through a thin veil

Of linen or mercerised cotton

Is my male mind

More alluring

Or approachable

When seen in its pure emptiness

With a cover

Of no substance whatsoever

Is my male skin

Then so inviting

As your unveiled female skin

Are we not equals

More or less

In our obvious powerlessness

haiku mind

108 poems to

cultivate awareness 

& open your heart

is by Patricia Donegan

Cutting Through

splitting

the stone of a white peach

with the edge of a knife

Takako Hashimoto

————————————————

I don’t have the skill

Or the speed

Or the presence of mind

Or the heart

Or the wherewithal

Or the desire

Or the need

If I soak it

In a tumbler of water

Will it grow again

Or does it need

To be opened

By the swift stroke

Of the sword brandishing

Samurai’s daughter

haiku mind

108 poems to

cultivate awareness 

& open your heart

is by Patricia Donegan

Transcendent Mystery

drawing light

from another world—

the Milky Way

Yatsuka Ishihara

————————————————

What cannot be said

Cannot be heard

So say it

And hear it

And explore it

Yes, find it

Yet know

That there is no higher

Nor more subliminal force of creation

We are wholly what true science

Has the way to show us

We can always find explanation

If only for half of the way there

haiku mind

108 poems to

cultivate awareness 

& open your heart

is by Patricia Donegan

No More Hiroshimas

  a sparrows nest

perhaps

inside the A-bomb dome

Kinichi Sawaki

————————————————

I stall

I don’t know how to respond

For the first time

I don’t have words of reaction

Of course the image of new life

Is always joyful, welcome

Wherever it occurs

Yet did it not close my eyes

To the atrocities

Do I still need to go there

Is that how we achieve our peace

By keeping open the soul

By keeping picking at our old wounds

I don’t know the answers

Nor even

Where these words ought to go

haiku mind

108 poems to

cultivate awareness 

& open your heart

is by Patricia Donegan

Sacred Food Chain

Ever lingering

in the taste of the walnut:

deep autumn.

James W. Hackett

————————————————

And so to impermanence

Which the farmer

Naturally understands

For he works

From season to season

From sowing to reaping

To all of those harvests in between:

Harvest of sun

Harvest of moon

Harvest of rain

Harvest of drought

Harvest of day

Harvest of night

Harvest of dark

Harvest of light 

haiku mind

108 poems to

cultivate awareness 

& open your heart

is by Patricia Donegan

Loneliness

The gull

giving loneliness

sound.

Alexis Rotella

————————————————

You are alone

Although you won’t think so

Because today is your birthday

But you cannot have a party

Or play with your friends

You could go to school

But only with your brother

And one other

In the hospitals

Where your mum and dad work

The alone

Have loneliness cast upon them

But this time will not last forever

You will have other birthdays

To elaborate on the beauty

Of being alone

haiku mind

108 poems to

cultivate awareness 

& open your heart

is by Patricia Donegan

Communication

  migrating birds—

fields of pampas grass

show the way

Kristen Deming

————————————————

I heard of birds

Sliding across the sky

I had not heard that term before

Neither did I know of fields of pampas grass

Where would one

Come across such a thing

Perhaps in Asia

Or other such lands which I have not yet seen

Other than in films

Or photographs

Why yes, I did see pink-footed geese

In skein formation, migrating, or feeding

haiku mind

108 poems to

cultivate awareness 

& open your heart

is by Patricia Donegan

Transformation

after the riot—

such a perfect

moonlit night

Hekigodo Kawahigashi

————————————————

As I rise

I am hopeful

As I meditate

I am peaceful

As I write

I am mindful

As I hurt

I am vengeful

As I sulk

I am fearful

As I escape

I am moonful

haiku mind

108 poems to

cultivate awareness 

& open your heart

is by Patricia Donegan

Leisure

      on the patio

the afternoon drifts along

    with the butterfly

Patricia J. Machmiller

————————————————

I am taken back

To that Sunday, or was it that Saturday

Afternoon

On the decking by the pond

Indeed it was the official

Opening of the pond

When friends came around

With warm smiles

And happy conversations

And to celebrate

The slow roast pork was cooked

All morning through

It was early evening before all dispersed

A time for the moths

To replace the butterflies 

haiku mind

108 poems to

cultivate awareness 

& open your heart

is by Patricia Donegan

Relationships

  a petal falls

    you

across the table

Steve Sanfield

————————————————

Across the table

At work

At play

In negotiation

In love

In fallout

Across the table

Hands together

Hands apart

Hands raised

Hands fallen

Hands wrapped inside themselves

Across the table

Secret glances

Feet furtively touching

Hoping beyond hope

That the explosions

Will put you back together

haiku mind

108 poems to

cultivate awareness 

& open your heart

is by Patricia Donegan

Dignity

the homeless man

takes off his shoes before

his cardboard house

Penny Harter

————————————————

I almost was that man

With his Paper House

Which the sea and the sand

Did their best to destroy

I took off my shoes

To wade through the water

In search of the dignity

So securely hidden there

haiku mind

108 poems to

cultivate awareness 

& open your heart

is by Patricia Donegan

Greed

disgusting—

people arguing over

the price of orchids

Shiki Masaoka

————————————————

What value to put

On the bouquet

From your friend

A kindness

To remind

You, and those around you

Of the victories of love

Offered by the scents

From the blue vase roses

I will find

Your droplets of ink

Though I maybe already have

But first to love

It was the grace of love

Of which my meditation singer sang

Little purpose then

In going towards those unkind

Less favourable words

haiku mind

108 poems to

cultivate awareness 

& open your heart

is by Patricia Donegan

Dealing with Emotions

letting go

of a slanderous heart—

while shelling the beans

Hosai Ozaki

————————————————

How often to write

Of letting go

How easy to have the thought

Of letting go

Yet how strong

The restraining force

More tricky

Than shelling a bean

The idea, the ideal

Of hanging on

Always to argue:

As a part of my life

The substance

Is worthy of preservation

But yes

No more slander

Open the pods to kindness

Shell the beans of love 

haiku mind

108 poems to

cultivate awareness 

& open your heart

is by Patricia Donegan

Acceptance of Death

  farewell—

I pass as all things

the dew on the grass

Banzan

————————————————

I won’t go so early

The polished shoes

Will not get wet

All those places

Spaces of living

Oh yes, a full life

By any measure

And still

With steps to tread

To think of tomorrow

There to sing the song

Walk me out in the Morning Dew

haiku mind

108 poems to

cultivate awareness 

& open your heart

is by Patricia Donegan

Joy and Delight

  pig and i spring rain

Marlene Mountain

————————————————

One line

Often enough

Joy

Of spring rain

And I and I

After meditation

One sound

Penetrating

My neighbourhood

Repetition

Of the day’s work

Already begun

haiku mind

108 poems to

cultivate awareness 

& open your heart

is by Patricia Donegan

Perspectives

Holding the water,

      held by it—

the dark mud

William J. Higginson

————————————————

At Forest Row

Or as a boy, in Birdsedge

To dam a stream

Or to photograph a lotus pond

Play, in both aspects

Brings a smile

A sense of purpose

Whereas before

For a short while

There was absence, boredom

Senseless days, wasted days

Broken free

By our plunging of the shutter

Or our moulding of the mud

 

haiku mind

108 poems to

cultivate awareness 

& open your heart

is by Patricia Donegan