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All photographs by Amy (except the first crocuses).
crocus and snowdrop poems by Claire, hyacinth and pansy poems by Amy.
The Language of Flowers
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Category Archives: senryu
Autumn Light
we look for greatness
and yet it only takes a shift
in the light
for a cobweb to become
a gateway to a new world
~~~
rain bows
to sunlight ~ seven colours
of reverence
~~~
dawn
catching her breath
on a spider’s web
~~~
soothed by sweeps
of cirrus where she smooths
the creases
my mind stretches
into a clean sheet of sky
~~~
where night knelt
like a pavement artist
to chalk the colours
of my dreams ~
morning rain
~~~
life moves on…
I open an old box
of emotions
gingerly unwrap the tissue
handle the glass
~~~
after the rain
the cellophane
unwrapped ~
a new box
of birdsong
~~~
clear blue dawn
I set my mind skimming
like a stone
across the lake
of this day
~~~
autumn pond
red maples glide
across a cloud
~~~
autumn dusk
leaves and pipistrelles
catch the breeze
~~~
dusk
the ghost of a sky
and a brush
of sadness
I cannot name
~~~
carrying fire
on wings of lace ~
red dragonfly
~~~
still pond
eye to eye ~ the dragonfly
and its reflection
~~~
at the edge
of this paper sky
sunset’s flame
~~~
a Chinese dragon
uncoils
from fire
smoke of incense
by candlelight
~~~
words and images by Claire
September/October 2010
Summer Rain
Poems
in hour-glass grains
until your rain
kissed flowers
from desert sleep.
~~~
After the heat
of the moment
the rain of words
evocation and release
a concrete musk.
~~~
All I can encapsulate
in a raindrop
to set it running
down the sheer face
of thought.
~~~
Rain
clarity in meltdown
a wash
of grey
and lilac swansong.
~~~
Peonies hang
their beloved
ragged heads
in the shame
of rain.
~~~
Preening notes
from rain ruffled air
birds
cleanse their hearts
with rain songs.
~~~
Pen pressed
to a paper sky
words and the night
drown
in their own ink.
~~~
Frogs quit
the pond
wade puddles
in search of
Basho.
~~~
In a wash
between thalo
and indigo
a blackbird sings
Vincent.
~~~
Sky’s rain-dipped fingers
defining clay-edge distance
rain won’t mar her art.
~~~
Tree pipit
performs arias
in the rain.
~~~
An exhalation
of summer rain
drops on the ivy
twitching me
back to life.
~~~
Each raindrop
a prism
waiting to be drawn
by a bow
of sunlight.
~~~
Night rain
patters
on my tin roof mind
words run down
the gutters.
~~~
Lost in the rain
with a sudden
deluge of notes
a wren
remembers.
~~~
Still it rains
every last drop
wrung out of the sky
both of us
emptied.
~~~
I drank her draught of stars
steeped in darkness
now she counts me
out of colours
with raindrops.
~~~
Time drips
from the eaves
Sunday morning
ticks
on the ivy.
~~~
We have become
seamless
like clouds in grey
and our words
are rain.
~~~
Long night
rain on the ivy
metronome.
Poetry and images Claire 23.06.2010~4.07.2010
A Splash of Sunshine
Chico has captured a piece of summer in Japan.
the green carpet
covers the ground
where weathered hands work
to feed the mouths
of our hopeful song.
Chico
~~~
Coins and fountain
are one
words and laburnum
splashing over
a wall.
~~~
Rapunzel
letting fall
her yellow hair
a damsel in the wind ~
laburnum.
~~~
Moving in stillness
laburnum blooms in a blur
of splashed, smudged yellow.
~~~
She paints herself
yellow in stillness
wild iris
thigh deep
in Baroque.
~~~
Butterfly
poised
on a blade tip
by still water
wild iris.
~~~
Dawn
an azalea swells
at the sincere flattery
of clouds
wearing amethyst.
~~~
Rhododendron
amethyst set
in a silver claw
so grand a name
for perfection.
~~~
Under the soft chins
of dreaming dandelions
buttercup questions.
~~~
Sunset remembrance
his voyage leaves me whole, colours
flying from the mast.
~~~
Roaming dust tracks
she gathers bluebells
the wind
in her hair
my gypsy sky.
~~~
They write
in blue
dotting the i’s
crossing the t’s ~
speedwell.
~~~
Summer’s style of prose -
the purple passages of
irises in bloom.
Claire 24.05.2010 ~ 12.06.2010
The Forest
~ ~ ~
Rusty-grey squirrels
forage in the undergrowth
sound of claws on bark.
~ ~ ~
The bright sun breaks through
the branches of the tall pines
rainbow lights dancing.
~ ~ ~
The spindle ermine
work together, making homes
we could learn from them.
~ ~ ~
Trust mother nature
or you’ll never fully cross
the river of life.
~ ~ ~
Nice smell of timber
stacks and stacks of sawn down trees
nice mixed with dreadful.
~ ~ ~
A roe deer’s presence
some where in all that greenness
in my head, or not?
~ ~ ~
Haiku and photography by Amy (13)
In cosmic green
my mind
a chloroplast
making poetry
of light.
~~~
Sounding
summer depths
lagoons of trees
lush moss and velvet deep
I swim.
~~~
My quiet mind
listens
to stones
and stream
deep in conversation.
~~~
My quiet mind
listens to the stream
on the stones
the poet
within.
~~~
For a moment
softer than words
of snow
the voice
of the forest.
~~~
Cloisters
of feathered shade
pine trees
raise a stillness
of ruby half~light.
~~~
Green shawled
arms of pine
open wide
the welcome
of return.
~~~
A poem’s foot~fall
a twig snaps
and a startled dove
clatters the stillness
scatters words and sunlight.
~~~
Your hand on my skin
language of imagined worlds
poetry of touch.
~~~
Words and photography by Claire 04.6.2010-06.6.2010
And from Chico, our friend in Tokyo:
shimmering light
coming through
the branches of a tree
gently lands on the little hand
inviting her to join the dance.
Chico.
Tesserae ~ of Cats
~~~
~~~
Cat half lost in sleep
has made herself into a
knot lest she forgets.
~~~
Basking in sunlight
like some ancient wonder she
is more sphynx than cat.
~~~
A whisker away
supplication to a gnat
cat paws clasped in prayer.
~~~
Sunlight enthrones her,
reclaims her, this beloved
of the Egyptians.
~~~
A whisker of chance
she makes attempt an art form
silver cat pounces.
~~~
In dreams
stalking birds
that tug at worms
cat turns a blind eye
to politics.
Claire 22.04.2010 ~06.05.2010
Lakeland ~ honeymoon tesserae.
Hag Strand Bay (captured by Spider)
Departing
airborne reflection of us
swans
heading for the lakes
and a lifetime
~~~
She offers a salver
of planished tranquility
a rippled mirror
giving me back
to myself.
(Derwent Water)
~~~
Time away
the sweeping arcs
of meadowlarks
the chimeless mantle
of mountains.
~~~
Here
there is only now
the timeless tick
of time
kept by mountains.
~~~
Morning meditation
of mountains
breathing the blue
wading the foothills
of dreams.
~~~
This lake
so still
its mountains
paint themselves into
antiquity.
~~~
Still waters
run deep
with mountains
peaks touch
the shoreline.
~~~
Where Ing’s Wood
meets the water
a roe deer drinks
and the sun
lays down her bow.
~~~
Out of the crags of sleep
clouds rising
from their haunches
the beasts
are waking.
~~~
Threading the stream
running-stitch
ripples
skimming
stones.
~~~
Reflecting still
on sheer reflection
mountain in lake in mountain
a rorschach
of tranquility.
~~~
Shepherded by mountains
drowsy pastures
soft moments
snagged
on the barb of time.
(Catbells)
~~~
Looking-glass mountains
but you my reflection and
taker of my breath.
~~~
Cast by hooded mountains
spreading inward
raised by the ancients
rippling through time
stone circles.
(Castlerigg)
~~~
Walking the folds
and unfolds
of beloved country
the yellowed tape
of lakeland.
~~~
Tip-tilted
slates of mountains
written with the chalk
of time
I learn by heart.
~~~
Stepping out to drink
across sun silvered distance
the deer
of a poem
asks to be written.
~~~
Butterfly
post-it-note yellow
inked blue memo
beauty
no need for a name.
~~~
A swatch of landscape
tucked
in my heart so I
can dream the flowing
fabric of return.
~~~
Claire 17.05.2010 ~22.05.2010
Tesserae ~ of Love (for Spider)
A shiver of hairs
breath on neck proximity
aroma of you.
~~~
Love, you hold me still
in perfect clear~drop balance
my spirit level.
~~~
The naturalist
that is love keeps a sketchbook
preserves the details.
~~~
When we met
we felt the ripples
from the pebble
thrown
we would become.
~~~
You my earth, my sea,
my sky, my wild wood, my stars,
you my standing stone.
~~~
We will be rebels
still mad with love, making a
farce of growing old.
~~~
Courting tortoiseshells
dosey~doe their petal wings
in dappled sunlight.
~~~
How the butterflies
dance and weave ~ that is the way
love moves between us.
~~~
Time may vitiate
the love me tender rose but
fragrant memory
lingers in the rose~ash dreams
of those who lived well in love.
~~~
This wild rose of love
I cherish in tissue folds
and press in my heart.
~~~
Gooseflesh
your touch
before I felt it
the fragrance of rain
yet to fall.
~~~
The stone that I have been
has found a place
in your shade
a niche of comfort
to gather moss.
~~~
Our very first kiss
static electricity
of lifelong suspense.
~~~
I know you
in the way you touch me
as the breeze is known
when it stirs
the lilacs.
~~~
Daybreak
saturated with words and birdsong
heart and the eaves of dawn
spilling over
with love and poetry.
~~~
Tesserae ~ of twilights,moons and stars
New moon asks the night
where her future lies, crosses
his palm with silver.
~~~
Helicon new moon
hoof~print wellspring silver dreams
Calliope sings.
~~~
Farewell sultan sun
your seraglio of stars
basks in sultry mist.
~~~
Curve of a shoulder
revealed in the black silk slip
of night, geisha moon.
~~~
Come, adoring moth
night exhales her darkest drops
glow my lantern heart.
~~~
Night falls and ships
of lovers pass, day shift done,
the night shift begun.
~~~
Night pans darkest space
the asteroid Eros flecks
gritty star~streams gold.
~~~
Twilight breathes her musk
shadows in the nape of hills
taste night on her lips.
~~~
A perfect half moon
dusk’s silk buttoned~up longing
now coming undone.
~~~
Unroll the parchment
night black with a wax seal moon
stars ink the contract.
~~~
Padded cell of night
conspiracy of silence
locked in lunacy
man in the moon dumb to tell
stars have thrown away the key.
~~~
Hawthorn in full bloom
infinitesimal stars
galaxies are born.
~~~
I wait for you here
at the edge of dusk, blue~veined
pale skin of longing.
Claire 30.03.2010 ~28.04.2010
Prickly Situation
Amy’s daily tray of tit-bits for the garden birds attracted a new visitor yesterday as those who follow her on Twitter may have noticed:
Just saw a fat little hedgehog sitting on the bird seed tray, then he tried to squeeze into the pond. Put some water out for him. pics soon!
a little too keen for a drink!
the hedgehog just got stuck in a fence! ahhh! we had to help him out! we must sort that out now!!!!!
With the help of some wire cutters, Owen and Amy managed to rescue him/her from the netting around the pond..
And he bimbled off happily to eat a slug, so no harm done! Perhaps Amy’s (@Nature__Lover) haiku for the haikuwordgame (light/prickly/joy) was a premonition:
light hearted hedgehog
prickly back in the May heat
joyful and carefree.
~~~
And I couldn’t resist..
Hairbrush on four legs
hinky prickly visitor
hedgehog on the lawn.
(haikuchallenge-’hinky’)
and again..(sorry)
Hedgehog persiflage
prickly imbroglio this
hinky-tig-winkle.
(haikuchallenge/artwiculate)
~~~
Final words from Amy and Harry 
….
Fumbling up the path
shiny-pebble eyes staring
not seen one for YEARS.
Claire and Amy(and Harry/Harriet)
