Poem a Month

I'm going to be in New York for a few days. I may post here if I feel inspired and have the time.

In the meantime, you may be interested to know that I have guest edited the June, British Haiku Society edition of Derbyshire Libraries' Poem a Month.

The June edition will be published on June 1st and you can even subscribe to have a monthly poem delivered to your inbox.

For more information, visit the Poem a Month website

Occasionally I read through some of my old haiku that have been published and I come across one that nags at me and I have to sit down and rework it several times before I can let it settle. More often than not, I end up dissatisfied, but occasionally I end up happier with the new version. When this happens, it's like something has clicked into place...

the heather still in bloom -
we take Mum the long way
back to the hospice


(The original version was published in 3Lights)

weaving its way
through the rush hour traffic
a white butterfly

chuntering at something
the blackbird on the fence post
- election day


(for the newly elected Cllr Serjeant)

I've been listening to the music of John Barry in the car a lot recently...

Bond theme -
the fly on the windscreen
loses its grip

dawn mist lifting -
waking to a world
of woodpigeons

listening gently to her heartbeat quicken

(for my daughter, R)

for all the world
like an eagle -
mountain crow

Snapshots Haiku Calendar competition

I have just found out that I am both a winner and a runner-up in the Snapshots Haiku Calendar competition.

I have been writing haiku seriously for about ten years now and this is the first proper contest that I have entered. So, as you can imagine, I am thrilled with the result.

The Snapshots 2012 Haiku Calendar can be ordered from the Snapshots website from August 2011.

A list of the results and the adjudicator's report are also available on the Snaphots site.

Presence #42 poems

the following poems of mine appeared in Presence #42 (September 2010)


bringing only
silence
the storm cloud's weight

sub-zero dawn
distant gulls
still the sky

his dates end
where hers begin
briefly
she rests to read
the park bench epitaph

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Blithe Spirit 20:4

Here is a selection of my work that appeared in Blithe Spirit 20:4

Visit the British Haiku Society website for more information on how to subscribe to Blithe Spirit.


first flowers
she re-arranges
her re-arrangement

this year the meadow
ablaze with life
- the empty stable

my doctor's reaction -
he taps my knee again
just to make sure

bonfire breeze
with the last of the light
the final whistle

anniversary
of your death
raindrops
stream upwards
on the windscreen

stargazing -
the dwindling glow
of your solar lights

roadside memorial -
the faded plastic windmills
still racing

every angle skewed
on the allotment shed -
the veteran's beret

named
yet nameless
each star in the sky

the three of us
watching the morning star
dwindle and fade
*
now only me

quietly
the Northern Line train
cursing the suicide

over snowy fields
the vixen's cries -
solstice moon

Tinywords

I'm on the editorial panel again for the next edition of Tinywords.

We are currently considering submissions until December 15th, primarily on the theme of light.

For further details visit the submissions page.

midnight snowfall
the union leader's statue
wears a white shawl