catharsis-
cleaning out the garden bed
mulching for next year

Cold night
Venus and Moon
close together

autumnal bureaucracy
I pick at old tape stuck to my desk --

above
a withered stalk
the tiny child's smile

smoke
climbs into the sky
my tea goes cold

Northern sunrise
tree, bush and field
flash an African savannah

a blonde girl smiles
first I smell her perfume
then the cigarette

arashi
wind-driven rain
silks that wrap and fold
the storm within --

early morning commute
wilting roses glistening
in the moonlight

daddy and daughter
planting gebera daisy
under the sunflowers

goldfinch gathering thistledown
terra-cotta pot gathering rain


Pamela A. Babusci
9/29/09

raindrops suspended on the wind chimes their shadows too


Pamela A. Babusci 9/29/09

lonely tonight i drink all the moonbeams


Pamela A. Babusci
pub. in Raw Nervz Haiku
many yrs ago

cobwebs
in the greenhouse
grapes are still sour

Waving down
a leaf settles between
her breasts

Besides allergies
so many other complaints:
sudden autumn change

the boy's sad song -
a heart-shaped leaf
blows to my feet

soon the stars will appear silent sparrows


Pamela A. Babusci
pub. in Frogpond
many yrs ago

no way to change his mind i prune all the lilacs


Pamela A. Babusci
pub. in Frogpond
many yrs ago

teacup empty my mind full of disappointments


Pamela A. Babusci
pub. in Frogpond
many years ago

blackberries
fall from hedgerow brambles
grey squirrel scampers

on the corner
yellow lamplight pools
against the darkness --

rain pearls clinging
the release --
then oblivion

there it is again
a feast for my nostrils
woodsmoke on night air

pulling down windows
against evening's cool breath
the muffled crickets

suddenly sunlight
bright strip of blue
a fleeting break
my hopes revive
at your kind words

Collecting
fallen twigs on road
half-clad women

Sensing winter
in the falling leaves:
breezy sunrise

.
autumn renga
all the library verse notelets
like leaves

Two shisan renga were completed at Radstock Community Festival yesterday!
.

bird entrails
displayed on the garden path
acer palmatum leaves

Misty Morning

mist rising
along the water line
the river's breath

Photo Misty Morning by NWM

daybreak -
a pink border
hems the horizon

***

naissance du jour -
un liseré rose
ourle l'horizon

fallen trees
covered in ivy -
dappled shade

low autumn light -
dying leaves dance
in the breeze

prayer flags
on a balmy night
silently
i become one
with the universe


Pamela A. Babusci
pub. in Ribbons
& in: A Thousand Reasons

clouds torn apart -
on the stream
blue patches

leaves blanket the graves of strangers
i have forgotten spring's radiance


Pamela A. Babusci
pub. in Oneself
many yrs ago

clouds escape over the mountains leaving me the thunder


Pamela A. Babusci
pub. in Frogpond
& in Oneself
many years ago

lavender seeds
scattered on the pavement
a magpie preens

paint brush sits idle
by my side
a shaft of light
breaks sparrow-gray skies

I remember you
a feeling like
leaf kissing the pond

avenue sycamores
shedding their bark
the mottled moon


Pamela A. Babusci
pub. in Brussels Sprout
many years ago

I see myself
in the shape of a leaf...
falling

We laugh
Eating our apple pie
Like fools

.
morning sunshine
the alphabet spaghetti
can't spell
.

equinox
night day become one
earth sighs

under the weather
wishing Indian summer
would warm up my bones

spiders' webs
glisten in the sun
contrails in the sky

soft brown form
spreads wings
honeyed coos

gentle sighs
sad song of love
fill damp air

four winds
separating the chimes
tonight i will hang out
my blues
to dry

Pamela A. Babusci
part of a tanka seq.
Four Winds
pub. in Ribbons

autumn

the sun rises late
i pull the sheets up higher
turn the pillow over

gerald england

wrap her in dark skin
cover her nakedness
summer's last gift

heavens lights
southern sky
cool crisp air
covered autumns cloak

In a misty field
Kids stand like wondrous statues
Silent from afar

indolent stag
basks in the embrace
of dry grasses

In memory
soaking the Sun
battery

autumn day dreams
plotting the perfect garden bed
bulbs dance in my head

my mood softens
flicker of falling leaves
upon the wall

come wrap her in autumns dark skin
lay atop her cold breast
the last of summers gifts
cover her poor scared nakedness

hushed sighs fill the twilight
days grow short the sunset near
dark hours softly sing
black water over stone and rock

fast cold rain
rivers move slow
first sting of frost

a 'v' of geese
flies over, heading south-
my thoughts follow them...

in cane or wheelchair
they sing at the karaoke
in the hospice center
for brief magical moments
they're Sinatra or Doris Day

Sketchbook, Vol. 4, No. 4
July/Agust 2009

climbing vines
russet-tinged
love lines from the earth

drifting leaves --
delicate calling cards
from the north

cicadas
deepening
the forest's silence

(3rd place sketchbook kukai: cicadas)

weekend evening
chatting with younger sister
about mortality

candescent moon...
Buddha dripping
liquid light


Pamela A. Babusci
Basho Haiku Festival
Japan 2003

autumn night
pulling up stars
from the wishing well


Pamela A. Babusci
9/22/09

bamboo whisk
the tea master's
fluid hands


Pamela A. Babusci
HM in the HPNC Haiku Contest
sev. yrs ago

long shadows across my path
before surgery

after the flood:
trees hung
with strange blossom

autumn tundra
the colors deepen
near the shadows

autumn sunset
the clay’s shapes on the riverbed

autumn wind -
making kites
of the leaves

conference lunch time
circling the labynrith
with a cool breeze

.
autumn chill I bite into a bacon sarnie even deeper
.

autumn wind
a sparrow riding
my car antenna


Pamela A. Babusci
prev. pub.

.
freesias as space ships!
a hanging basket reminds me
of walks to school
.

autumn equinox -
I leave the dandelion clock
wishing for nothing

autumn equinox
the fallen leaf
half-green, half-gold

bursting through a web:
the postman
bringing news

Canada Geese
the summer folded
away in their wings

Photo Canada Geese in the Clouds - V Formation by Henry McLin

first frost
instead of silk
flannel

.
tea haiku
even the trees have giant teabags
for the fayre

High Tea:
http://www.theartsfestival.co.uk/Programme/20thsept.html

dustbins clatter
as an urban fox hides
from homeward clubbers

I’m a leaf in the wind
see me glide
the symphony ebb away

football fever
she hugs his pillow
for company

rainy dawn -
a dead fly
near the toaster


***

aube pluvieuse -
une mouche morte
près du grille-pain

pink Cadillac convertible
a few autumn leaves
take a ride


Pamela A. Babusci
9/19/09

they're all turning brown
tops of the canopy trees
dying of old age
our stooped snow-topped neighbor
implores us to plant more

clouds cloak the sun
the postman waves, whistles,
sports a yellow jumper

in the park
children star-jumping -
maple leaves falling

sunny day drizzle
pouring down on the taxiway
flood within me

the breeze picks up -
Gnome under the fuchsias
sips his beer

gingerly
first frost shimmers
barren flower beds

exhale summer
breath deep scents
burning leaves

crack crack
acorns fall
squirrels autumn horde

wind in the chimney -
broken things
race along the street

Gossamer threads
The intricate shaping of space
In falling light

breathing in
dew from
chrysanthemums
still empty
after lovemaking


Pamela A. Babusci
A Thousand Reasons 2009

so lonely
i stir the windchimes
evening rain


Pamela A. Babusci
pub. in "Oneself" chapbook

on the waterlily
remains of a dragonfly
morning stillness


Pamela A. Babusci
prev. pub. in Evergreen (Japan)

a red leaf falling
louder
than a thousand drums

.

tree shadows
they stretch across morning
traffic

.

green caterpillar
barrels across dark tarmac
yellow sycamore leaves

hungry hummingbird
flits beyond the feeder
still as statues we watch
a steady troop of ants
drink deeply til it drowns

divorce plan
a broken branch totters
in the autumn wind

From my book, Rustle of bamboo leaves

to slip on a wool sweater
is a sweet pleasure --
like holding hands
with a child

airing on the line
corduroy jacket --
first scarecrow?

after
the digging's done:
a first robin

not noticing
the leaves until now -
autumn wind

overcast -
pointing out sunflowers
my youngest son

in the hedgerow,
Pigeons and blackberries
purple spatters

hanging on blue wings
the heron drops
into the poet's mind

Star map
as clear as ever
I look through you

woodsmoke floats
moon rises --
I could swoon

leaves in the wind
the old woman's sighing
as prayer

late night read
pulling the blanket tighter
as the story unfolds

empty shells on waves
once more reclaimed by falls tides
gives way to new birth

Like apples
The mind comes to stillness
And drops

hot afternoon

the cyclist’s shadow

floods the gutter

the rain

stopping shy

of the tomatoes

between shed & tree
a mouthful
of cobweb

raucous cawing
a crow's silhouette
against the sky

~~
red tailed hawk
flies on sailer's tack
high pitched wind
~~

in the old
vicarage garden
they’ve cut down
the apple tree that bore
such rich, sweet fruit

bracing breeze
lifting a rainbow of leaves
to dance at dawn

cricket song
long accustomed
to this ceaseless yearning

a quartet
of magpies -
not a song amongst them

double-decker bus
along a single-decker avenue --
beech nuts and branches

the dead are gathering
in wind swept corners
and gutters

Another leaf hit the ground
it’s not the end of the world
or is it?

early autumn -
in only a few short days
these leaves have turned
for change in you
I've waited a lifetime

Modern English Tanka V3 No3 Spring 2009

early morning drive
enjoying the crack of dawn
as I crest the hill

.
small hours autumn -
the slightly cold nose
of a pregnant tabby
.

.
book shop window
a cat licks a dog-eared
‘Old Possum’s Book’
.
Possum pages:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Possum's_Book_of_Practical_Cats
http://www.moggies.co.uk/html/oldpssm.html
.

pruning old branches
with a new shape in mind
how twisted we've grown

boisterous children
with new school pens
and conkers on strings

troops embark -
new leaves
fall onto dead ones

fall Egg Harbor

buzzards circle the water tower

fall twilight storm
the red brightens in the drunk’s face

last cut of the year --
the scent of grass
fills the air

september heat -
a shower of dry leaves
in the rising wind

***

chaleur de septembre -
une pluie de feuilles sèches
dans le vent qui monte

the first leaves fall
when they are still green
how can this be?
you spinning in that wheelchair
after vertigo treatments

The autumn looks like
some red and mellow grapes
while they are creating
the warm wine of September
with its immoral flavour

where the midday shadows had lain -
a ring of dead leaves

The sweetness
of Mother Nature
no child bypass my Cherry plum

heron yawns
its beak scissoring the air -
leaves fall around him

bundles of post
through the letterbox
a sycamore leaf

Unanswered questions
swept away in a whirlwind --
fallen leaves

.

cemetery wall
Victoria plums overhang
unexpected snack

A joyous sight for my eyes
nicely stacked
chopped wood

morning commute
melon sun swoops upward
and burns golden yellow

the waning sounds of crickets
in blue moonlight & falling leaves


Pamela A. Babusci 9/10/09

what words would
convince you to stay?
this autumn heart
shedding leaves
like a scarlet maple


Pamela A. Babusci
first pub. in: American Tanka
& in: A Thousand Reasons

ravens raindrops falling from the dead tree


Pamela A. Babusci
first pub. in Woodnotes

Autumn berries
Too numerous to count
Like stars

autumn -
in a quiet stairway
a butterfly folded

the cat, fur bristled
at the open window
craneflies against glass

Bench and blessed sunspot
although visible decay
calmly looking forward

autumn shift-
sun pours into the bathroom
after the shower

white blossom
fushia throat
last hummingbird
alights --

conferring with the moon
white belly of a squirrel --
in the gloom
an exclamation point

now third grade files in
freshly pressed uniform
can't swallow again

the last sip of
chrysanthemum tea...
she hides her fears
under the weight
of a Noh mask


Pamela A. Babusci
A Thousand Reasons

chrysanthemum moon
i peel off another layer
of sorrow
that nobody
will notice


Pamela A. Babusci
A Thousand Reasons

not a single star
out of place
in the Milky Way...
the garden gate
left ajar all night


Pamela A. Babusci
Tanka Splendor Awards
& in: A Thousand Reasons

crows become restless
gathering in murder
--in a moment they are gone

overhead the cacophony of sound
together they fly in formation
--only the swift and strong shall return

the uncertainty
of the weathervane -
autumn wind

eggshell skies
in the cemetery
two fritillaries

the sound of plucked guitar strings
ripened fruit

Ladybird unfolds its wing
at the last straw
mountaineer with a goal

first day of school
green chucks dancing
at the bus stop

Orion Rising

quietly
in the growing darkness
Orion rising

salford station

salford station
watching the trees
depart for wigan

© 2009, gerald england

.
sun shower
I prepare for a dear friend's
posthumous book launch

the night sky
tonight
one more star

river of stars -
I wave both hello & goodbye
to one blinking


.

My lovely friend Mary Palmer died of cancer last Summer.

I saw her two weeks before she died and we worked on her haiku selection in a book due to be launched this evening at Waterstone's, Bath Branch, U.K.

Mary Palmer: http://www.awenpublications.co.uk/mary_palmer.html

.

september showers -
cars splash spiky pop-art
across the pavement

A last jerk
in a spider’s cob
full life

last of the garden mint
under nimbostratus clouds
skeletal leaves

unfinished poems
remain unwritten
Labor day

slipping through clouds
full moon rides the night --
a certain slant of light lingers

coolness lingers on a dewy day
loon mourning in the lake
--one red leaf falls

last dip
ocean blue-black
ice water

early morning sound
exodus geese
swim streams cool air

morning glory late bloom
blue white trumpet
harlequin of fall

from the window
an autumn afternoon -
my shadow lies on the bed

Blackberries
Ripe and plump and beautiful
Everywhere!

autumn dusk -
one hundred million dreams
beneath our feet

buddleia spires
last bastion of nectar
Red Admiral

I fall in love
with her picture
in my computer screen
starved-for-love syndrome
strikes again

front bank -
the heron strikes the pose
for the walkers

***

berge en regard -
le héron prend la pose
pour les promeneurs

how can you
stay out of my reach
the daisies dried up
and I am stuck on this page
of my live journal

Fading warmth
We sit beneath the trees
And wait

autumn light
the shadows of leaves
follow the wind

autumn bus stop
the moon trembles in the coffee cup

fresh grave
filled with autumn rain
water lilies

.
the Paddington train
two more than a dozen
yellow red-tinted roses
.

Autumn:
a late bee
checks each fuchsia bell

so my friend
when will you visit me?
my flowers are withering
on the trellis and all the
geese have darkened the sky


Pamela A. Babusci
Tanka Splendor Awards
& in: A Thousand Reasons

breathing in
dew from
chrysanthemums
still empty
after lovemaking

Pamela A. Babusci
pub. in MET
& in: A Thousand Reasons

breaking
the red lacquered comb
in two...
deep autumn
& still no letter

Pamela A. Babusci
pub. in red lights
& in: A Thousand Reasons

spider silks billow
on the wind
laundry rattles and cracks --


* * *


in the channel
one boat drifts
between shores --
I know that feeling

garden path

left bruised by

berry-fed birds

Weather these days
joy and sorrow
patchwork quilt

-

inspiration by Gillena Cox

walking
through autumn leaves
I see the future
on an elemental level
as certain

Modern English Tanka V3 No3 Spring 2009

carried in the wind
dead leaves
in her greying hair

picking blackberries
my wind-tangled hair
amongst the brambles

autumn chill in the boardwalk’s footsteps

evening breeze
comes for dinner with
a bucket of rain

fall morning
sunflowers drooping to rest

early morning mist
my garden cloaked in grey
-- bright yellow of the finch!

morning walk -
the shape of windfalls
in dew

puddles:
making a jigsaw
of the sky

rain again -
snail and son
chasse across the window

wind and rain
the cat sleeps in the spare room
overnight

withered lamb's ear spikes
erectly impotent
as daylight retreats

cool night-fingered hair
pulsing cicadas
time's arrhythmia

My Haiku Way

a mellowing landscape
of darker, deeper shades
in my wardrobe

.

.

mild chill
the holding of hoverflies
at the canal gates

.

One of my favourite late breakfasts is the Captain Pugwash
at the Lock Inn
(click highlighted 'Lock Inn' for wonderful images)
.

Alan

http://area17.blogspot.com

.

turn our backs
on the rising sun
the shadows
shortened by the time
to grow another time

a little Ganesh
over a door
wind thrashes branches

traffic racing -
puddles leap
cling to passers by

first cool day
not wanting to conceal
my pink pedicure

nature's howling
wind rips leaves from trees
the last of the plums

fall advent
the sigh of the wind
heralds the death
anniversary
of my wife

where are they,
the fireflies, the laughter?
september moon

pruning buddleia -
the compost heap
smelling sweet

afternoon task
checking the cukes and squash
for salad readiness

Autumn

Fall awakens
Fields bow

Petals unfold, cast
Seasons seamless glances

river carries a stillness
kingfisher dives --
not a ripple

autumn dusk -
still many unknown roads
to travel

friends hug and part -
in the sky
southbound geese

under the hazel
cobnuts are raining now

hedgerow cobwebs
shimmering with dew
bramble thorns

Fall Journey

pumpkin patch
a chill in the sunlight

autumn slum
the red sky in puddles

September marsh
crow caws fade with the dusk

85F
start of
my fall

crushed pumpkin
the sun's rim dips behind the roof

end of summer
their only daughter
leaves for college

grey clouds
a flotilla stretched thin
pines sway
rhythms of the northern wind . . .

the last plums
are out of reach
spots of rain

I'm putting on
the shoes I took off
in July

taking leaves
from trees, the sound
of autumn wind

autumn journey--
falling leaf
.
.
.
fallen leaves

Sad autumn moments,
of the leaves that fall silent,
on the rotten lake

a nip in the air -
the first 'white rabbit'
of autumn

Dawn --a little paler
and wilting honeysuckle,
at the frosted window
.

Sparkling suns
this wet autumn
colour slowly change