October 5th

 

eager wind pursues

the huddled ones listening

to the scythe’s rattle

the beating rain and

rumble of the angry clouds

makes the timber wince

anticipating

the October Country guests

…this is their season

 

As it’s October, I’m dipping in and out of this fabulous collection of Ray Bradbury short stories. He died this year of course, but his body of work speaks for itself. The blurb for the book evocatively captures the essence of it:

“…where it is always turning late in the year. That country where the hills are fog and the rivers are mist; where noons go quickly, dusks and twilights linger, and midnight stays. That country composed in the main of cellars, sub-cellars, coal-bins, closets, attics, and pantries faced away from the sun. That country where people are autumn people, thinking only autumn thoughts. Whose people passing at night on the empty paths sound like rain…”

My little Haiku conglomerate is my humble tribute to him.

June 6th

Dark Carnival masques

cease their work and look skywards

as fire balloons rise

Goodbye Ray Bradbury, you were always and will remain an inspiration to me.

(photo credit from la times website)

March 17th

 

The shadow of war

Terror crawls and suffocates

A place of love burns

(image from shauntan.net)

Why do people up sticks and go to live in a new country? There are many reasons of course, but I always feel for those who are fleeing war and poverty. I read Shaun Tan’s “The Arrival” today. Debbie bought it for me for my birthday last year. Tan creates a fantastical world, the art is incredible, the detail is phenomenal. The fact it’s written without dialogue captures that immigrant isolation perfectly, their hopelessness, their inability to communicate, their fear of sinking in the depths of the city they’ve moved to. I’m not exactly happy with the quality of the Haiku, but I wanted to capture something of this beautiful book.