sunday afternoon ha’ sonnet

A leafy nook,
a glass of wine,
throw in a book
for time that’s mine.
I’ve gone to ground,
hope I’m not found
when the kids look.

 

It’s starting to feel like the school holidays are never going to end! 

bastion…

…the view from outside.

For the other part of Frank’s double challenge this week: “Democracy”

The neighbours listen
to the screams and banging of
domestic violence
coming from the home of the
self-proclaimed world’s policeman.

The democracy show

The world is watching,
voyeurs, eagerly waiting
for episode 2.

hatsuhi

For Frank’s Haikai Challenge #172 (1/3/21): first sun (hatsuhi):

Light pours from the sky,
flooding the land, and rising
to come flowing through
the window, drowning my dreams
in a blaze of light and heat.

 

…and there were lilies: V. Christmas

A haibun this time (prose + haiku), but no photo because I don’t grow this type of lily. They’re a formosan lily or Taiwan lily, but we’ve always just called them Christmas lilies because they bloom around Christmas all along the coastal roads of NSW. 

…and there were lilies: IV. choir

A choir of colour,
they raise their heads and open
their mouths to shout out
a hallelujah chorus
of silent, deafening joy.

…and there were lilies: III. Lady Alice

Lady Alice has recurved or reflexed petals, like the tigers. But is too refined to be in the same tub, and would never admit to being closely related to them. 

Lady Alice bobs
a curtseys to the breeze, and
turns her petals up –
a reflex she cannot help
when embarrassed by the bees.

 

This series of “…and there were lilies” poems is an epilogue to “jubilate lilium (let there be lilies”). 

…and there were lilies: II. Anastacia

In the same bathtub as the tigers, are some oriental lilies, including Anastacia. Anastacia has a lovely scent, very sweet, and beautiful pink blush and freckles. But she seemed a bit over-awed by the tigers, so I brought her inside for safety. 

So pretty in pink,
Anastacia cowers from
the grinning tigers,
orange against jungle green,
recurving talons readied.

…and there were lilies: I. tigers

Last year I put in lots of lily bulbs, and offered up a prayer on planting them. They have flowered spectacularly, and the possums have not found them (although the pig ate a few). Beginning at the end with my favourites, the tigers:

 

Burning tigers smile
and nod their heads, approving
of the summer rain.

fledgling III: rosella

Flanked by an escort
in full dress uniform
– blues and brilliant red –

cold moon, distant earth (tanka)

For Frank’s Haikai challenge #171 “cold moon”

Sundered by violence,
circling, locked in a dance, she
always shows one face
though her partner turns away,
as they drift slowly apart.