winter sun: a haiku sequence

This morning, while thousands pounded the pathways of the City Botanic Gardens as part of the Brisbane Marathon, eight of us walked, sat and opened our minds to the lush green landscape, the chorus of birds, the emptiness of sky. This was the third in the QPF ginko series, and while it was officially the ‘winter ginko’, the sun had a sneaky bite to it. I will be posting a handful of poems from the eight poets who joined me this week, but for now, here’s a handful of poems I collected today.

winter sun
the ball in
the collie’s eyes

*

shooing the ibis
she lets the toddler
cry

*

V of gulls
in love with the shape
of the river

*

finish line
the marathon runner drags
his shadow

*

crows
in the bamboo grove
the wind rattles on

nature trail: a haiku sequence

To follow on from yesterday, here’s a selection of my own haiku from the Karawatha State Forest ginko…  the place, the poets and their poems continue to resonate…

[photographs by Cindy Keong]

nature trail
the song of crickets
becomes a stream

*

summer sky
seen through eucalypts
seen through

ants
on the fallen eucalypt
all moving

*

leaves
among them
the lizard’s tail

Mt Gravatt Mountain Ginko

Last Sunday our wonderful haiku group met at the summit of Mt Gravatt Mountain, a place where I misspent many a day of my school years, for our final ginko of 2011. The mercury was soaring and I was thankful for the small offering of shade from my old straw hat… it was summer come early and you can feel the heat rising in many of these fine poems…

*

a different call
on each branch
friarbird

Lyndon Norton

*

a white man
with tribal tattoos
place of the echidna

Chris Lynch

snog hill
taking the southern
route

Tiggy Johnson

*

walking in thongs
along the track
every stick slithers

Andrew Phillips

*

wind shifts
the invasive fern
holds its ground

Trish Reid

no breeze
just the beat
of butterfly wings

Cindy Keong

*

aged sundial
too old
to tell

Lee-Anne Davie

*

scarlet flowers
climb the razor wire
‘authorised persons only’

Corrie Macdonald

passing bikes
soft breeze dries
my perspiration

Lyne Marshall

*

clouds drift
across the city
a hundred thousand backyards

Rebekah Woodward

photography by Cindy Keong 

Southbank Ginko

Last Sunday, our haiku group descended on Brisbane’s iconic, Southbank Parklands for our weekly ginko (haiku walk). The Spring weather turned it on, and the park was teeming with wildlife of all varieties! Here’s a few poems from the group + a couple of my own:

pink ice cream
a baby sucks
its thumb

Tiggy Johnson

*

this green place
all my own
one willie wagtail

Rebekah Woodward

*

rubbish
in the lily pond
catfish eyes

Lyndon Norton

*

city beach
all the fathers running
like children

Graham Nunn

smoking
the tarot reader slips
out of character

Trish Reid

*

breeze ruffles
a seagull’s snowy chest
cloudless sky

Corrie MacDonald

*

hot sun
Pauls milk sign spoils
the view

Lee-Anne Davie

*

white stains
by the ice cream stall
sacred ibis

Andrew Phillips

*

waiting for you
the bouganvilla
pours out its song

Graham Nunn

photopraphy by Corrie MacDonald

Brunswick St ginko, Issa’s Untidy Hut & other haiku happenings

There’s been a flurry of haiku activity of late, so here’s a bit of a roundup:

This week, I was one of the Wednesday haiku poets over at Issa’s Untidy Hut along with Bruce Hodder and the mighty Issa himself. You can read the poems here…

I have also recently had a handful of haiku published in vol 18: no. 3 of the beautifully produced South X Southeast Haiku & Haiku Arts Journal. If you have never had a look you can do so here.

And just in time for Christmas, the Third Australian Haiku Anthology has just been released by paper wasp. I also have a selection of haiku published in this anthology, which celebrates the vibrant Australian haiku voice. You can read more about the anthology and order copies here.

And finally, here is a selection of poems written as part of last Sunday’s Ginko through Fortitude Valley. I was not able to be there, but these poems bring the ‘Valley’ to life for anyone who has never taken a walk through one of Brisbane’s iconic inner city suburbs.

And tomorrow, we are off to Southbank for another perfect haiku morning…

valley markets
in the mirror
a girl writes her thoughts

Lee-Anne Davie

*

under a tree
a man contemplates
a parking meter

Lyndon Norton

*

longevity bench
an old man
smokes a packet

Andrew Phillips

stone sunflowers
in perpetual bloom
cheap lease

Rebekah Woodward

*

discount massages
the masseuse uses
only one hand

Cindy Keong

*

morning market
the colours
of a hangover

Tiggy Johnson

2 for $3
or $2 each
plastic buddhas

Chris Lynch

*

last coins
the old woman feeds
her hunger

Trish Reid

*

ibis stalk
the city street
wary shoppers

Corrie MacDonald

*

photography by Cindy Keong

City Botanic Gardens Ginko

Here’s last Sunday’s haiku harvest from our ginko around Brisbane’s City Botanic Gardens. It was a rolling Spring day where the only colour that remained certain in the sky was the purple of Jacaranda blossoms.

on the path
crow throws a sideways look
I know! I know!

(Trish Reid)

*

photographing flowers
the eye of a curlew
fills the lens

(Cindy Keong)

fig tree
a quick root
against the wall

(Tiggy Johnson)

*

family picnic
a jacaranda
provides the blanket

(Lyndon Norton)

mangrove forest
passing bikes tremble
the bridge

(Lyne Marshall)

*

river surges
twenty masts
sway in agreement

(Corrie Macdonald)

*

in the flower garden all the names I never learned

(Chris Lynch)

photohgraphy by Cindy Keong

fooling: a haiku sequence

Sunday was another restless Spring day, the sky constnatly shifting from grey to blue. Again, I had the pleasure of starting the day by leading a ginko around the City Botanic Gardens. Here’s a selection of the haiku I gathered on my travels:

sleeping ducks
and my tired face
between them

*

still pond
a dragonflies’ silence
and mine

bamboo grove
ants march toward
the sky

*

you and I
fooling in the leaves
bush turkey

half-
unbuttoning her shirt
spring breeze

*

crows
in the peepul tree
sharing our poems

photographs by Cindy Keong

For Always

                for Jules

spring moon
between her teeth
the grape bursts

********************

It’s under a week now until our ‘little lost shark’ is due to arrive… so much anticipation! And this afternoon, we are off to the wedding of my guitar wielding partner, Sheish Money. So yes, there is alot of love in me at the moment. And for that, here’s a song that I have been flogging lately. Jules may have gone back to the 90’s, but I have taken things a decade further… Enjoy!

Kurilpa Bridge Ginko

Last Sunday a group of us set off from the State Library of QLD across the Kurilpa Bridge on our first Spring ginko. Was a gorgeous Spring day that sparked many fine haiku. Here’s a handful of them along with some stunning photographs by Cindy Keong. This Sunday, we are off to City Botanic Gardens… can’t wait!

********************

city expressway
swallows race
ahead of traffic

Cindy Keong

*

cats purring
at her feet Kuril tosses
her knitting bag

John Wainwright

silent couple
the space between them
too wide for hands

Corrie Macdonald

*

white shirt
high in the mangroves
summer river

Rebekah Woodrow

sunday service
bikes chain themselves
in rows

Trish Reid

*

peeing a mosquito out of the urinal

Andrew Phillips

rising moon
nappy change
in the park

Tiggy Johnson

*

on a bridge
on either side
a bridge

Chris Lynch

chasing the wind: a spring haiku sequence

On Sunday, I lead my first Spring ginko (haiku walk) around the gorgeous State Library/Gallery of Modern Art precinct and over the Kurilpa Bridge. Here are a few haiku I brought back from my travels… and I will have the pleasure of featuring the work of my fellow walkers over the coming days.

                                                             spring river
                                                             only this path
                                                             to follow

                                                             following a wind
                                                             blown skirt
                                                             every eye

                                                             spring
                                                             the way a boy chases
                                                             the breeze

                                                             after each ferry
                                                             the shhhh
                                                             of mangroves

photography by Cindy Keong