gardening done
a blackbird sets to work
around the beds
31 March 2014
27 March 2014
25 March 2014
Martin Lucas missing
Martin Lucas, the founder and editor of Presence has been missing from his home in Preston since Friday. If you live in the area, or know someone who does, please see the Lancashire police appeal for information.
10 March 2014
28 February 2014
NaHaiWriMo posts - 2014
Well that's it for NaHaiWriMo 2014. I hope you liked my poems and commentary. Here's a list of the prompts in case you want to see any again.
My personal favourites are 'black,' 'box - part two' and 'beehive'
My personal favourites are 'black,' 'box - part two' and 'beehive'
- banjo
- brother
- band aid
- black
- bump
- battery
- box and
box part two - bounce
- belief
- bean
- biscuit
- break and
break part two - book
- betrayal
- busker
- bicycle
- bagel
- burrito
- baby
- bling
- brussels sprouts
- barn
- beehive
- boat
- braid
- brew
- button
- bridge
NaHaiWriMo prompt: bridge
humpback bridge
I leave their stomachs
where Dad left mine
Well that's the last prompt of the month and one that I struggled with initially. Luckily my kids are mild thrill-seekers.
I leave their stomachs
where Dad left mine
Well that's the last prompt of the month and one that I struggled with initially. Luckily my kids are mild thrill-seekers.
26 February 2014
NaHaiWriMo prompt: button
bright eyes
sewing buttons to her jumper
the new grandma
I don't know if "jumper" translates into American English. If not, it means "sweater."
This one's for my Mum, no longer with us, who did this for my brother's twins when they were babies.
sewing buttons to her jumper
the new grandma
I don't know if "jumper" translates into American English. If not, it means "sweater."
This one's for my Mum, no longer with us, who did this for my brother's twins when they were babies.
NaHaiWriMo prompt: brew
tea bags
the compost
brewing
Hmmm, not happy with this, to be honest, but was the best of a bad bunch.
the compost
brewing
Hmmm, not happy with this, to be honest, but was the best of a bad bunch.
24 February 2014
23 February 2014
NaHaiWriMo prompt: boat
underfoot
the shifting shingle
tankers anchored to the horizon
shoreline smokehouses
we read the names
of the beached fleet
today's catch
chalked on the board
the boat that caught it
through the boat's windows
the rising sun
rust on the winch
I recently spent a long weekend on the coast at Aldeburgh in Suffolk, UK. See my pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pnoom/sets/72157636326517256/
the shifting shingle
tankers anchored to the horizon
shoreline smokehouses
we read the names
of the beached fleet
today's catch
chalked on the board
the boat that caught it
through the boat's windows
the rising sun
rust on the winch
I recently spent a long weekend on the coast at Aldeburgh in Suffolk, UK. See my pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pnoom/sets/72157636326517256/
recent notes NOT a sequence
passing showers
the sun really knows
how to come out
electronica
in the middle a "hey!"
spelt with a j
finally a goal
as spectacular
as his misses
shifting light
the cloudy
not-cloudy sky
the sun really knows
how to come out
electronica
in the middle a "hey!"
spelt with a j
finally a goal
as spectacular
as his misses
shifting light
the cloudy
not-cloudy sky
22 February 2014
NaHaiWriMo prompt: beehive
home sweet home
in the brick pile
bees
A few years ago, we had an extension built on the back of our house. At the front we had a large pile of bricks and granite cobble stones dumped. They stayed there for a long time while we found a buyer for the granite.
I that time a few bees started turning up in our front room, which was a mystery as we hardly ever opened the window in there.
While investigating the air bricks in the wall, I discovered a bees nest in the pile. It seemed ironic that our discarded building materials made the perfect home for them.
in the brick pile
bees
A few years ago, we had an extension built on the back of our house. At the front we had a large pile of bricks and granite cobble stones dumped. They stayed there for a long time while we found a buyer for the granite.
I that time a few bees started turning up in our front room, which was a mystery as we hardly ever opened the window in there.
While investigating the air bricks in the wall, I discovered a bees nest in the pile. It seemed ironic that our discarded building materials made the perfect home for them.
Anthologies
I have a haiku in each of the following anthologies, both available now to buy online:
- The Scent of Music (Ed. Marlène Buitelaar) ('t Schrijverke)
- Red Mood Anthology 2013 - Fear of Dancing (Ed. Jim Kacian) (Red Moon Press)
Funny that one has music in the title and the other dancing.
NaHaiWriMo prompt: barn
the old barn wall
with every missing brick
a swallows nest
Just a 15 minute walk away from my house is a lane which leads down into a small valley. It's quite sparsely populated and you wouldn't know the bustle of a large market town was so close to hand.
About halfway down the lane is an old farm which would've been quite a proud building in its heyday. Attached to the farm is a barn. Walking down this lane during nesting season is quite something as the swallows twist and dip in and out of the barn wall.
with every missing brick
a swallows nest
Just a 15 minute walk away from my house is a lane which leads down into a small valley. It's quite sparsely populated and you wouldn't know the bustle of a large market town was so close to hand.
About halfway down the lane is an old farm which would've been quite a proud building in its heyday. Attached to the farm is a barn. Walking down this lane during nesting season is quite something as the swallows twist and dip in and out of the barn wall.
21 February 2014
Definitely NOT a NaHaiWriMo prompt: blitzkrieg
the city's sodium glow
ten miles distant -
Mum's old blitz stories
"Hey ho! Let's go!"
complaints about the volume
as we near school
These are written in response to a joke I cracked on the NaHaiWriMo Facebook page the other day.
When my mother was a little girl she had scarlet fever and was very poorly. Presumably this wasn't helped by my grandparents thinking she had to be kept warm and lighting an open fire in her bedroom every night. At the same time the Second World War was in full swing and Sheffield ten miles to the north was being blitzed heavily.
The image of my fever ridden mum, watching the night sky to the north glowing and pulsing with flame as Sheffield burnt has always made a great impression on me.
During the 1980s, I had the same bedroom and the sky glowed and pulsed again from the 24 hour flame burning at the coking plant (now gone) that dominated my skyline. Driving home from work across the moors of Derbyshire, I can see Sheffield in the distance and I always think of my mum's story as the city's streetlights colour the undersides of the clouds.
"Hey ho! Let's go!" is from the Ramones classic 'Blitzkrieg Bop,' of course. I try and condition my kids' taste in music on the school run, but so far I've failed to draw them away from One Direction.
Having said that 'Rockaway Beach' was a favourite for a few days after featuring on Scooby Doo. Blitzkrieg Bop is always reserved for the first day of term - it seems fitting.
ten miles distant -
Mum's old blitz stories
"Hey ho! Let's go!"
complaints about the volume
as we near school
These are written in response to a joke I cracked on the NaHaiWriMo Facebook page the other day.
When my mother was a little girl she had scarlet fever and was very poorly. Presumably this wasn't helped by my grandparents thinking she had to be kept warm and lighting an open fire in her bedroom every night. At the same time the Second World War was in full swing and Sheffield ten miles to the north was being blitzed heavily.
The image of my fever ridden mum, watching the night sky to the north glowing and pulsing with flame as Sheffield burnt has always made a great impression on me.
During the 1980s, I had the same bedroom and the sky glowed and pulsed again from the 24 hour flame burning at the coking plant (now gone) that dominated my skyline. Driving home from work across the moors of Derbyshire, I can see Sheffield in the distance and I always think of my mum's story as the city's streetlights colour the undersides of the clouds.
"Hey ho! Let's go!" is from the Ramones classic 'Blitzkrieg Bop,' of course. I try and condition my kids' taste in music on the school run, but so far I've failed to draw them away from One Direction.
Having said that 'Rockaway Beach' was a favourite for a few days after featuring on Scooby Doo. Blitzkrieg Bop is always reserved for the first day of term - it seems fitting.
NaHaiWriMo prompt: Brussels sprouts
allotment committee
all their neat rows
of traditional veg
Christmas dinner
again I end up
with all the sprouts
I struggled with this prompt, hence the poor quality of the haiku. Apologies!
The first one stems from the fact that I have an allotment plot. I have it to keep me active, to be honest and it gets me out in the fresh air. It's also behind my house, so it's very handy.
Almost everyone else on the allotment is of retirement age, and they seem to get through a lot of turnips and cabbage, and sprouts too. Nothing wrong with that, I guess, but it seems rather boring to me. This year I have a greenhouse, so I'll be experimenting with peppers and aubergines.
Normally I specialise in dandelions and nettles, of course.
I do like sprouts, though, Christmas dinner is annually the point where everyone else decides they no longer like them.
all their neat rows
of traditional veg
Christmas dinner
again I end up
with all the sprouts
I struggled with this prompt, hence the poor quality of the haiku. Apologies!
The first one stems from the fact that I have an allotment plot. I have it to keep me active, to be honest and it gets me out in the fresh air. It's also behind my house, so it's very handy.
Almost everyone else on the allotment is of retirement age, and they seem to get through a lot of turnips and cabbage, and sprouts too. Nothing wrong with that, I guess, but it seems rather boring to me. This year I have a greenhouse, so I'll be experimenting with peppers and aubergines.
Normally I specialise in dandelions and nettles, of course.
I do like sprouts, though, Christmas dinner is annually the point where everyone else decides they no longer like them.
20 February 2014
NaHaiWriMo prompt: bling
larger than life
even in death
the plumes on the horses
I used to live and work in Hackney in the East End of London. On a couple of occasions I have seen the roads closed for big funerals. Funerals that involved hearses drawn by two black horses.
When I saw these I imagined that the deceased might be some Mr Big from the local criminal underworld. Fittingly, one of these corteges was travelling along Kingsland Road not very far from an old railway bridge that used to have "Reg Kray is innocent" painted along it.
While this literally doesn't translate from "bling," I can imagine a fair bit of bling in the wills.
It could also fit the prompts "black" and "box" of course
even in death
the plumes on the horses
I used to live and work in Hackney in the East End of London. On a couple of occasions I have seen the roads closed for big funerals. Funerals that involved hearses drawn by two black horses.
When I saw these I imagined that the deceased might be some Mr Big from the local criminal underworld. Fittingly, one of these corteges was travelling along Kingsland Road not very far from an old railway bridge that used to have "Reg Kray is innocent" painted along it.
While this literally doesn't translate from "bling," I can imagine a fair bit of bling in the wills.
It could also fit the prompts "black" and "box" of course
19 February 2014
NaHaiWriMo prompt: baby
her dough rising
wherever life takes her
she's always my baby
days old
my friend's baby boy
already the spit
my nude pics
the kids laughing
at my baby album
Being a dad, I write a lot of dad-ku. A chapbook of dad-ku is currently in the planning stages in honour of my eldest's tenth year.
Having said that, I initially struggled with this prompt. I had Salt 'n' Pepa's Push It going through my head half the evening, "b-baby baybee," which didn't help.
'Days old' was written almost straight away. 'My nude pics' came to me before my bedtime and 'her dough rising' was a middle of the night tap-it-into-my-phone job, so I wouldn't forget it when I fell asleep again. "You'll always be my baby" is a phrase my daughters are probably tired of hearing.
wherever life takes her
she's always my baby
days old
my friend's baby boy
already the spit
my nude pics
the kids laughing
at my baby album
Being a dad, I write a lot of dad-ku. A chapbook of dad-ku is currently in the planning stages in honour of my eldest's tenth year.
Having said that, I initially struggled with this prompt. I had Salt 'n' Pepa's Push It going through my head half the evening, "b-baby baybee," which didn't help.
'Days old' was written almost straight away. 'My nude pics' came to me before my bedtime and 'her dough rising' was a middle of the night tap-it-into-my-phone job, so I wouldn't forget it when I fell asleep again. "You'll always be my baby" is a phrase my daughters are probably tired of hearing.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)