December 31st

we start in winter

dark days of gale, frosty breath

in watery sun

 

till the axis tips

into her majestic arms

and we are bathed in

 

her spring coat of green

the world bursts in bright colour

and a smile conquers

 

our hearts through summer

the moors alive with new birth

till the autumn fall

 

of gold leaf litter

the fungi bloat in shadow

the nourishing rain

 

and the coming cold

the flakes of new snow tumble

we end in winter

 

That’s it. All done. Thank you to all of you who have read my Haikus. Much love to you and your loved ones for 2013. xxx

October 20th

 

tufted feathers stand

up on his downy young head

exuberant Jay

A Jay jumped out onto the grass verge as I was driving. He looked so long and awkward. A young one for sure, his legs lanky and thin, a little look of surprise and wonder in his face as he or she scooted around, possibly for a place to bury food for the winter. He had a punk crest on his head, where the wind had blown it up momentarily. It made me smile.

pic from RSPB website

July 31st

melancholy sinks

and a smile slowly burgeons

the eyes speak mischief

Looking forward to my couple of days off, cleared the decks, got up to date with my work, put my out of office on … and relax.

June 18th

 

black white shades of grey

little boxes filled with youth

fledglings come to life

The death notice archive of photos kept by the Greek newspaper is huge. The photo used in the death notices is also used in subsequent remembrance notices, where family and friends are invited to remember loved ones after 40 days, 3 months, 6 months, then every year.

The photo is usually from a time when the person is young and happy, free of sickness and the shadow of Charon.

The lady who works there said they use copies for convenience / size, these copies are all filed, but the originals are all kept in boxes / storage. Unfortunately they are not in any order as they’d moved premises. If I’d wanted to collect my dad’s original photo, I was welcome to book a time to look through them and pick through the photos till I found him. I can just imagine each box of original photos being opened, brimming with smiles, grateful for being given the gift of light.

There’s something ever so sad about that. I’ll make sure to not damage any photo, to respect every loved one when I go back there to look for him.

June 1st

 

the scent of jasmine

cicadas sing in the yard 

shooting stars kind smiles

This one talks of memories of Cyprus. Sitting out late, talking, happy times, watching the sky and being so excited as a little boy, when I saw a shooting star for the first time.

One of my aunts died. She was a lovely generous giving lady. Though she had no children of her own, she looked after everyone else with an uncomplaining unconditional duty of love. A refugee (like almost all of my family) who never returned to her home village. Behind the happiness, there was always a deep melancholy, a sense of yearning for the familiar, for even happier times, for old neighbours now scattered by war, for home, for the mountains meeting the sea and the village nestled on the coast. Sadly, my parents generation is slowly getting ill, passing on. As the youngest of all my cousins by far it throws mortality at me, the transience of our time on earth stark and ugly.

February 12th

Paw twitch, blissful smile,

Hot sun, splayed in meadow grass,

Birdsong, Katie dreams.

 

While I was writing my other blog on Art by Animals, our cat Katie was in the room, asleep on her (current) favourite chair (she rules the roost, she changes her favourite place periodically whilst simultaneously dislodging any human from that place).

Although Katie and cats in general sleep around twenty hours a day, I rarely see her go into a deep sleep. She only does this when she feels safe enough to do so, often just opting for the “foxes doze”, one eye ready to open. Not that she’s got any reason to feel unsafe, but as she has a catflap, she’s always aware that an intruder may come in and she’ll have to shoo them off if we’re not around.

So anyway, whilst I was writing, she was dreaming, the corners of her mouth curled up in a little smile* and her paw was twitching, no doubt a lovely dream about her youth, stalking and catching birds. She’s got a happy life bless her. Cats and especially Katie are wonderful companions. And I don’t care if you compare me to the Cat-Lady in the Simpsons.

*I know cats can smile. Look! She’s smiling in her sleep!