Gogyohka: autumn rain

I look for light where there is none,

taste the wind

for a salt memory of the sea

and touch the wild grasses

for the fleeting presence of a hare

 

wind blows

full of damp grey ribbons of cloud

streaks and shafts of steely grey

rain-wet and dew-wet

and a scattering of noisy finches

 

dusk seeps and creeps

beneath the cloud

between the rain drops

among the raggedy grass soldiers

still standing

Haibun for a change in the air

 

The season is changing. The rich summer ending and memories of bitter winter ruffling feathers and fur. The trees around the house are full of songbirds again and a blackbird has made his HQ above the nail where the bird feeder will hang. A hare appears now each evening, coming closer to the house, squirrels chase beneath the oak trees where deer shelter, and in the evening, the dark is charged with owls’ cat-calls and foxes barking at the new moon.

changed air

heat gone from the gold

falling leaves

dance with birds

all finding their place

Oak

Green the rushes by the lake

and green the oak leaves hanging

still through lashing rain

and through the gale that scatters

the golden dust of summer

the red and russet debris

of another fading year.

Haiku challenge: Empty & Whole

A tanka for Ronovan’s weekly haiku prompt.

Painting by Rajasegar

sky empties of rain

dry rivers flow again

from dust to sea

red leaves weave with silver fish

the cycle complete

Come the day

I know ‘Ireland’s Call’ gets a lot of flack for being an awful song, but I like it, and as a message for a united Ireland, starting on the sports’ field, written by a Derry man, it does the job. Ireland beat (battered) Scotland this morning, and the tune has been trotting in my head.

 

Come the day and come the hour,

Come the last days of September,

When the leaves are falling thick and fast

Tossed by rolling winds in from the ocean.

Come the storms, their black capes billow

And poplars bowing in the tempest,

When the night is full of the sky’s dark waves,

Hear the parched earth whisper to the raindrops.

Come the dawn and come the morning,

Come the longed for deluge pouring,

Dry tongues lap the rain wished for summer long,

And the earth turns slowly into autumn.

 

Autumn night

 

night and the stars

air summer warm

but the leaves are still falling

tomorrow we will tread

on a golden carpet

Red leaf

For the Secret Keeper’s five word prompt.

LEAF | HOME | ALTER | LIGHT | FRONT

 

A red leaf drifts home

in the changing light

from day to night,

and peace and happiness slump

like weary faces,

letting the façade slip.

 

The night will be cold,

the winter long,

and who knows if the spring

will remember to return.