haibun (Remove filter)
Wastelands
Wastelands
Canal side moorings and old mills
Stretch their northern roots into the collapsed rubble
Of Industrialised wreckage
Overgrown with harsh grass and weeds
An old man sits at the side of the grey water
And dips a hopeful line into its murky depths
There are parts of old bikes and shopping trolleys
Poking from the surface like Leviathan bones
Paths ...
Tuesday 12th May 2020 12:57 pm
Dogs and Decadence
The old man stood, hands on hips, looking around the yard. He saw someone across the yard waving and recognized Remy's bushy gray beard. Remy and Eloise were sat chatting with Steve and Jenny. The old man went over and joined them. He sank down into the white leather sofa. Each of the couples had their own sofas. The sofas, like the awning over them, had all seen better days but oh what luxurious,...
Sunday 18th August 2019 8:46 pm
Spectator? Participator? Instigator?
The old man sat on the terrace his eyes closed. The throbbing purr of the mini-digger sounded like some very large, contented lion. Rob the driver was telling Jake the plumber, who was in the trench, to saw through the large root from the acacia tree that was stopping the digger scooping out more trench. The old man opened his eyes and saw his friend Dave, owner of terrace and trench, holding out ...
Tuesday 6th August 2019 5:24 pm
New Buds
The old man stepped out into the garden and stood in the sunshine. Warm, yes, but not too warm to work. He collected the battered barrow from the shed. In it a kneeler and a bucket containing gloves, a trowel and secateurs.
There had been five weeks without significant rain and at the end temperatures had been up in the mid to high thirties. Now, after some good downpours, the garden was just ...
Wednesday 31st July 2019 8:59 pm
Seashore Summer
Faint call of soaring seabird shadowed against burning midday sun. Hazy white wisps suspended low on horizon. Gentle waves barely disturb cerulean surface as they erase footprints oozing across wet sand. Knotted clumps of drying kelp clutter high water line, its salty tang drifting through shimmering heat. Lolloping labrador leaps in pursuit of slowly fluttering flies. Staccato sounds of spade bea...
Thursday 31st January 2019 10:13 am
Urban Gale
Dim light filters through lightly trembling curtains. Distant moaning, like a keening banshee, disturbs peaceful slumber. Outside, trees bend to resolute force of northerly gale. Barren, straggling limbs send stilted semaphore messages for all to read. Trapped detritus flutters in hedgerow, struggling for freedom to cartwheel like urban tumbleweed along sparsely populated street. Lowering clouds s...
Wednesday 11th January 2017 5:02 pm
Autumn Haibun
Sun setting behind sparse, shadowy clouds as workers return home from daily toil. Breath mists chill air ahead of their progress. Birds gather in sweeping, roiling flocks, preparing for departure. Nearly naked trees alongside road claw starkly towards the darkening sky, leaves curling in shades of red and yellow at their feet. Pavement glistens with early evening frost, showing footprints of passi...
Monday 21st November 2016 2:46 pm
Dawn Haibun
New day dawns over gently rolling sea. Ebbing tide sweeps across glistening shore, eddying and whirling as water retreats beneath rippling waves. Striated sand, scattered with swirling coils of worm-casts, is sparsely strewn with yellowing strands of kelp and wrack. Watery sunlight slowly shortens shadows thrown by looming headland. Far above, smudges of cloud paint shimmering blue sky with wispy ...
Monday 8th August 2016 2:08 pm
Summer Haibun
Cold, gloomy clouds of yesterday banished as golden orb slides sluggishly across hazy blue expanse. Scarcely audible drone of traffic masked by desultory calls of lingering birds accompanied by faint counterpoint of rustling shrubbery. Gentle breeze riffles creamy hawthorn blossom, mingling its heavy fragrance with scent of newly mown grass. Errant cuttings drift languidly across green sward, slow...
Monday 6th June 2016 7:26 pm
Unique Writing Residency
WRITING POETRY: the haiku way
http://area17.blogspot.com/2010/02/unique-residential-course-monday-friday.html
Monday - Friday 12th - 16th April 2010
Here is a little taster of what we'll be enjoying during the residential course:
The Haiku Game: great ice-breaker and relaxed way to start the course.Haiku: its history, techniques, how to keep a haiku journ...
Wednesday 3rd March 2010 1:07 pm
Recent Comments
Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh on "Forged in Fire, Taught in Halls"
1 hour ago
Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh on Choices
2 hours ago
Sourajit Nandi on "Forged in Fire, Taught in Halls"
2 hours ago
Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh on UK Winter Has Arrived (1/12/24)
2 hours ago
Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh on Heat of the Invisible Fire
2 hours ago
Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh on To the Ghost-dancers of the Sioux
2 hours ago
Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh on The Man on the Clapham Omnibus
2 hours ago
Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh on in starlit sky twinkles
2 hours ago
Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh on Christmas Nonet. (Reversed).
2 hours ago
Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh on Duty
3 hours ago