Bird Haiku
Here’s a selection of my haiku on the topic of birds. These poems have flown into various publications on three continents, including Acorn, Birthday Tomorrow (HPNC anthology), Dogwood Blossoms, Frogpond, The Haiku Anthology (Norton), Haiku Compass, Haïku sans frontières, Haiku Pathway Katikati (2003), Haiku Quarterly, Haiku World (1996), Heron, The Heron’s Nest, The Loose Thread (Red Moon Anthology 2001), Midwest Haiku Anthology, Modern Haiku, Northwest Literary Forum, Roadrunner, Shades of Green (Haiku North America conference anthology, 1997), Shiki Internet Haiku Contest (1995), Snapshots, Snow on the Water (Red Moon Anthology 1998), South by Southeast, Thornewood Poems, Woodnotes, and Yellow Moon. In addition, shown here, “beneath the moon” is carved into stone on the Haiku Pathway in Katikati, New Zealand, which I hope to visit one day. Read more Haiku and Senryu.
wet beach sand—
a sandpiper’s song
of footprints
under the eaves
a barn owl’s shadow
another
the silence between us
a quail finds its way
through the underbrush +
the kite’s tail
ripped from knotty branches—
mockingbird song
the gull’s cry—
the shape of the wave
before it curls
taxis in a line
at the county airport—
migrating geese
the day after Christmas
a flock of sparrows
lands in left-over trees
stopping on the footbridge
to gaze at still pools—
a sparrow’s wings flutter
still water—
the blue heron
steps in the moon +
summer afternoon—
the worm in the robin’s beak
still twisting
squawk of a jay—
walking sticks left
at the trailhead
spring birdsong . . .
unopened the longest,
the heaviest present
sparrow at dawn—
how slowly the light changes
with the song
shimmering sun
above the river an osprey
circling
open sky . . .
the wounded call
of a snow goose
New Year’s Day—
a team of seagulls
on the wet infield
morning bird song—
my paddle slips
morning sun—
frost melted
where the robin pecks
landing swallow—
the ship’s chain
dips slightly
jays squawk
from redwood tops—
the hush of distant traffic
heron stepping
through the reedy marsh—
the billboard’s shadow
hummingbird at the window
—my blink
startles it away
hospital room—
the crane’s flight
through the wallpaper
full moon at midnight—
a barn owl glides
out of the slaughterhouse
first snow—
the random tracks
of Canada geese
first glimpse—
white swan
in the forest pool
first flakes . . .
the curve
of the snow goose’s neck
distant train . . .
in the morning mist
the loon stops paddling
distant church bells . . .
a sparrow’s breath
lost in the holly berries
distant birdsong—
a small leaf falls
down the back of my neck
cool summer night—
a full moon
frames the bird feeder
cloudy day—
a magpie squawks
from the sundial
clouds of pollen
drifting through sunbeams—
a sparrow’s sudden flight
beneath the moon
the heron’s slow step
apple picking—
a feather blows
from the empty nest
an old woolen sweater
taken yarn by yarn
from the snowbank
as it flies off the cliff
the folding
of the sea gull’s feet
a white swan shakes her tail
at last the ripples
reach her mate
a robin’s song the next hospital bed now empty
a meadowlark’s call
amid a flurry of leaves . . .
the woodpath turns