A Hawk Over Wheat – Summer To Autumn.

 

A spring storm
Up in the sky –
The first Housemartins.

Spring has ended
What do they mean now,
The wisteria flowers?

Summer heat;
Too many nettle stings
For one day.

Storm clouds on the horizon
A swallow
Flying past.

A blue butterfly
Amidst the socks
And Forget-me-nots.

Summer wind;
The gull makes off
With the chick.

Summer heat;
Across the courtyard,
The sound of the fountain.

Summer heat;
The butterfly and poppy
Are one.

The wind now and then;
The swallow enjoys
The last summer days.

Just before the storm  –
Swallows playing in
The evening sky.

Autumn nearing;
The crow cries out
Across the eve.

The first day of autumn;
The spider
Repairing her web.

Evening chill;
The first day of autumn
Has passed.

Early autumn:
The butterfly flutters here,
Flutters there.

Early Autumn.
The hawk is eating a sparrow
For breakfast.

Autumn deepening.
The ivy beginning
To turn colour.

Evening chill;
The hawk paces
From branch to branch.

What Is The Sound Of A Thousand Plum Flowers?

Spring has begun
From the mud
On the sparrow’s feet.

The spring butterfly
Has found its own
Flower today.

Spring heat;
The garlic grows
As it wants.

Spring mist;
The sound of the goose
Entering the lake.

The dunnock is singing;
Its small chest
Puffed out.

Branches of the willow
Almost touch
The water.

Evening chill:
Above the frosty heath
The faint moon.

The robin is singing;
Its face towards
The sky.

A spring day;
Even in the sunlight,
It is cold.

Evening chill;
Amidst the brambles,
Sparrows chatter.

The first spider of the year
Has already made
A new home.

The first mosquito
Of the year
Has a hungry look.

The first moth
Of the year
Is lonely.

The first butterfly
Of the year
Looks jaundiced.

Spring mist;
Across the lake
The cry of the moorhen. 

A distant storm;
The sparrow did not
See the hawk.

Three-Line Poems: IV. Winter – Spring

Three-Line Poems

IV. Winter-Spring

Spring snow –
Swift to come,
Swift to go.

Spring coldness;
The snowdrops
Flowering.

The coolness
This spring morn;
The call of the crow.

Frost on the tip
Of the apple leaf;
The faint evening moon.

Spring chill;
The thin legs
Of the sparrow.

Evening dusk;
A bird flies darkly
From tree to tree.

Snow falling;
Cherry blossoms
Pale.

In the coldness tonight –
Branches of
The cherry tree.

Evening chill;
The pear tree
In flower.

Spring beginning;
A calm sky
To look upon.

Bitter cold!
My hands are winter,
Too.

Bitter cold!
The crooked branch
Of the prunus.

Spring has arrived
In all its glory –
A faint pink sky.

Winter morn.
Frost remains in the shadow
Of the small tree.

A frosty winter morn.
The click
Of the deer antlers.

The crow shrugs off
The winter rain,
And squawks at its mate.

Bitter cold.
The goose has
A sharp tongue.

The spring wind.
A new hole
In my shoe.

Winter morn.
Still and silent
The pale white sky.

Bitter cold.
In the silence,
The winter moon.

Midnight.
The snow frozen;
Glittering.

Spring snow remaining
On the buds
Of the Crab apple.

Three-Line Poems: III. Autumn – Winter

Three-Line Poems

III. Autumn – Winter

 

Autumn deepening;
Geese crying
In the distance.

An autumn eve.
From a withered branch
A crow takes flight.

An autumn dusk.
Smoke has drifted from
Across the way

Autumn rain
Falling into the pond
All the day long.

An autumn morning;
The sunlight
No longer warms.

Rustle! Rustle!
Passers by also
Tread the fallen leaves.

For the cherry tree –
A flowering
Winter.

The leaves fallen,
It is now quiet
In the maple grove.

Winter has arrived
In all its glory –
My cold bed!

The old woman
Walking slowly
This autumn morn.

The autumn wind.
The blackbird
Clings to the branch.

Chill night.
The bright crescent moon
Of autumn.

Autumn ending;
The sound of
The remaining leaves.

On the rotten pear
The butterfly
Feasts.

A bright day.
The autumn wind
Roars through the grove.

Autumn dusk.
A crow flutters
On the pear branch.

Autumn deepening.
Rain falling;
Ivy beginning to flower.

A bright autumn morning.
The sun casts
Long shadows.

Tired and ill.
The falling rain
Is too much of a burden.

A pale sun.
Leaves falling one by one.
The gentle autumn breeze.

Autumn rain falling.
The stonemason’s work
Left unfinished today.

Autumn.
The stray dog
Has found something to eat.

Evening chill.
The pale apple blossom;
The faint moon.

An autumn night.
Forgetting the light,
I lost my way.

Early autumn.
Three geese,
One limping.

Chill night.
My footsteps –
The full moon.

Autumn chill.
The sparrow chewing
On the seed

Three-Line Poems: II. Summer – Autumn.

Three-Line Poems

II. Summer – Autumn

 

Early autumn;
The spider’s web
Is empty.

Autumn nearing.
The voice of the grasshoppers;
The sound of the wind.

Summer grass fading;
The voices
Of grasshoppers.

Evening chill
The fledgling
The crow took this morning.

The voice of the blackbird;
Rays of the evening sun
Slant through the grove.

The sound of
The water falling;
The fluttering wings of the butterfly.

A poppy;
The flower-seeking heart
Of the butterfly.

The snail keeps pace
With the sun
All the day long.

Cutting the flowers
That have grown on her grave –
The summer drawing to a close.

Autumn nearing;
The day ending –
A poppy.

Summer heat;
Fed every day and still quarrelling –
The sparrows.

The scarecrow
In his declining years –
Sparrows perched upon him.

The summer has ended
In all simplicity –
The swallows that come here no more.

The snail
Has his home
Wherever he may be.

Summer’s end is near:
I have heard
The dove’s call before.

Towards the evening,
The sunlight
Reveals the spider’s web.

The butterfly –
No flower has
Remained here.

It alights upon the flower
Just the same,
But the butterfly is now of autumn.

The summer grove;
The sun is bright,
The wind blowing through.

Summer rain falling;
The sparrow
Wags his tail.

Summer heat;
The poppy lives
Its brief life.

Summer heat;
The longed-for wisteria flowers
Have become sickly.

Summer heat;
The withered branch
Has borne a thin pear.

Summer rain falling upon the lake.
The sound of a thousand raindrops
In one moment.

Summer rain ending;
The dunnock scratches
A meagre living.

The autumn wind.
The poppy resists,
Briefly.

Autumn nearing.
Ill today;
The evening is chill.

Autumn nearing.
A swallow flying low
Overhead.

Summer ending.
Swallows departing –
No, returning.

Summer ending.
Swallows twitter
Across the eve.

The hawk
Sits for an age
On the pear tree.

Evening silence.
The sky darkening;
A night light has been lit.

Three-Line Poems: I. Spring – Summer.

Three-Line Poems

I. Spring-Summer

 

For the heart that doubts not,
Petals of the blossom
Falling.

The long spring day;
Blossoms have collected
In the wheel tracks.

A spring evening;
The Buddha statue –
What can it hear?

The thrush
Strikes its note
Across the evening.

The dead blackbird
With its eyes open;
The cherry blossom smells sweet.

Spring dusk;
A bat
Flits by.

Falling with
The pear blossom –
Droppings of the sparrow.

Cherry blossoms –
Neither looking upon them, nor looking away –
Passers by.

The thrush’s heart,
Though,
Is silent.

The stone Buddha
Has a fine ear
For silence.

The spring day;
The father sparrow
Is feeding his son.

Spring deepening;
The magpie alights
On the pear tree.

A spring evening;
The wind is still;
Blossom petals falling.

The spring evening;
Sitting quietly,
The rain is heard.

The crow –
It called
Across the eve.

Snowdrops withering,
Frogs croaking
In the spring rain.

Spring rain:
The frogs are mating
With sour faces.

The frog is sour of face –
Yet leaping –
Always leaping!

The sparrow-hawk
Kills in the pear tree,
Scattering blossom petals.

For his meal,
The sparrow bows his head;
He bows his head again.

Evening cool.
The dunnock singing
Amongst the pear blossoms.

The sparrow is one
Who eats his breakfast
Indifferent to the wisteria flowers.

Evening cool:
Wisteria leaves fall
One by one.

Evening chill;
Rain falling
Drop by drop.

Evening cold.
The apple blossoming;
A dunnock’s voice.

The beautiful child
Sneezes
And wipes her hand.

The small child
Begs
Politely.

Shaking loose the blossom,
The blackbird alights
On the spring branch.

The blossom tree –
Its fragrance
Is white.

Spring dusk;
I hear the voice of the blackbird
Once more.

The cherry blossom –
Looking upon it,
Yet my heart wanders.

The frog looks
At the sparrows
With a sour face.

Even at my careless hand
The pear blossoms
Flutter down.

Evening quiet;
The sun set,
The wild geese departing.

The blackbird
Looks at me
With a bright eye.

Spring heat;
The swollen river
Swirls and eddies.

Evening cool;
Wisteria flowers falling
One by one.

A spring storm.
The pear blossom
Has nowhere to go.

Spring rain
Falling upon the apple,
Falling upon the mud.

The frog
Watches over its young
With a sour face

Early spring:
The swallow is at home
In the wind

The spawning frogs:
Tonight, these are
Croaks of pride!

The song of the blackbird;
Pear blossoms
Falling upon the path.

The blackbird finds its voice
Amongst the remaining
Cherry blossoms.

Early spring.
Through the rain
The song of the workmen.

Flowers of the lungwort;
The bee is drowsy
In the dampness.

Rain falling,
The day ending –
Spring drawing to a close.

The thin sparrow
Hops once,
Hops twice.