POEM: Down the Valley [PoMo Day 9 – Haibun]

The air was dry and the valley was dry. Tufts of yellow grass clung to the hillside and to the edges of the valley floor -- where they joined with the barren, brown tines of bleak shrubbery. In the riverbed, smooth stones and boulders sprawled to the shoulders, far wide of the feeble stream that flowed at the moment. The water ran gray, having come from the edges of a glacier that scoured its way down a granite channel. And in the "V" far ahead, clouds as thick as the mountains were being lifted and dropped over a snowcapped peak, pretending they'd bring their moisture into this arid landscape.  
mountain clouds
may become your fog, or
may sit in wait

Four Tenacious Leaf Haiku

I
the last leaves
on a barren tree,
doggedly hang

 

II
green to red,
the leaves grow, stop,
then fall off

 

III
the rain tree
limbs spiral skyward
all leaves out

 

IV
a tree shape
stands atop a mountain
cactus ruse

Spider Haiku

I

the spider,

binding itself four ways,

in a sham rack



II

spider darts

to the center of its web —

tripped by false finger  



III

spider dangles,

slanting in a breeze,

reaching to leaf

Quiet Morning Haiku

I
at the pass,
fog stands guardian,
then moves on

 

II
the chipmunk
freezes at a crack,
sniffing the air

 

III
a burble rolls
off the paddle as
the boat glides

Three Snowy Haiku

I
snow white mountain
orange in the morning sun
gray under clouds


II
a southern cat
learns to move through the snow —
never to repeat


III
in the fresh snow
a single set of tracks
curve to the left

POEM: Waking Mind Haiku

I
a brass bell clangs
in the old temple yard,
tuning my mind

 

II
at river’s edge,
entranced by water’s flow —
roused by a chirp

 

III
noisy forest —
a sudden silence,
roused by a hush

Three Animal Haiku

I
treed monkeys —
each set of roving eyes
finds its own mark


II
a squirrel sniffs,
smelling the plump acorn
beneath damp leaves


III
a housecat
stalks prey, tiger-like,
no-mind / tail-mind

Three River Haiku

I
from a tree’s shade,
i admire bright, blue skies —
sunlight shimmers


II
washer-woman,
sitting at the river’s edge,
envying flow


III
foggy river
its far bank hazy,
a duck quacks