Thursday, October 2, 2014

Tim Gardiner- Haiku Sequence


Passing Clouds
 
the empty priory –
curtains of rain swirling
around the cauldron
 
nettles grasp higher –
children once played
by a glowing hearth
 
lonely obelisk –
a happy childhood
lost in the dark*
 
a gate left open –
sheep float in regiments
down the sunken lane
 
the sun’s spotlight
falls on a rebellious ewe –
free from the crowd
 
clouds scud past
the giant’s staircase –
no turning back
 
an overgrown path
through dying bracken –
we neglect the way
 
a sheep’s skull –
bones washed clean
by the downpour
 
The haiku sequence was written during a walking trip in the Brecon Beacons in Wales, UK. *Haiku refers to Tommy Jones, a five-year-old boy who became lost in the dark and died on Pen y Fan in the summer of 1900. An obelisk is present as a memorial.   

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