Summer's End

 Carpe Diem Haiku Kai

a shriveled leaf 
still hanging on
to summer's end

Jane Reichhold 



summer's end
the last leaf falls
not yet brown

Freedom

Mid Week Motif PU

Berlin Wall

carpe diem haiku kai

a symbol of fear
different ideas a danger
to controlling fascists



barriers don't work
truth will find a way in
walls reduced to rubble




the pecking order
some can some can't
selective justice for some not all



political correctness
inauthentic speech
another nail in the coffin
of free speech




freedom to divorce parents
children have rights
must not be subjected to nagging
by parents who are stifling
self expression by applying rules

this teenager opted for
what he thought was freedom
and is now dead






karl lagerfeld is in love with his rich cat choupette
and wants to marry her
choupette earned 3 million dollars last year




if freedom is marrying
who you love regardless of gender
then it automatically follows
species discrimination in marriage is
politically incorrect and zoophobic


this woman married a dolphin
she has known him for fifteen years

if a few of you are aghast at this phenomenon
of inter species marriage
the idea of same sex marriage received the same reaction
up until quite recently when the majority of folk
once considered marriage to be an institution
between only a man and a woman

this has become unacceptable thinking now
labelled by the politically correct thought police
as homophobic bigotry in our brave new world



freedom to marry inanimate objects
could be on the cards as well
this korean guy fell in love with his pillow
married it, giving the connotation of "pillow talk"
an entirely new meaning

i'm looking forward to marrying and making
a  commitment to my wet suit
it is the thing i love best, close and connected to my body 
it wont be a life long commitment...a divorce looming...will be replaced in five years
just like a modern marriage really

we sure live in interesting times
a lot of insanity maybe, but freedom? i don't think so !

Crown Of Thorns

haiku horizons

Half of the barrier reef coral cover has been destroyed since 1985.
Forty per cent by the crown of thorns star fish. The larvae feed off algae blooms, which have proliferated, because of pollution by nutrients from run off into the ocean.

crown of thorns starfish
eating the barrier reef
cause - man made nutrients



gone in twenty years
by bye barrier reef i'll
see you in my dreams

Go Greece !

Greece is suffering a serious financial crisis. If you love Greece ( the cradle of our western civilisation) visit this summer and spend your dollars there.


land of olive trees
rocky coves and wild rosemary



white and blue domes
nestled in the hillside





temples and ancient history





bouzouki dancing and ouzo
industrial strength passion for life
oozing from every greek pore
Opa!


Shadorma

MMLM
B & Ps Shadorma and Beyond


passion plus
that is a greek trait
love for life

they know pain
suffered through millennia
will never give up





'Beware of Greeks bearing gifts'
All gifts are welcome from this Greek (sigh!)
Georges Correface

Shakuhachi

 carpe diem haiku kai




summer sultry night
the sound of the shakuhachi 
deepens the silence

Chevrefeuille 



lost in bamboo thoughts
late afternoon prelude to the
remains of the day

For The Weekend

Blue Lagoon

carpe diem haiku kai

blue lagoon
swimming with a stingray
not since steve irwin

Winter Solstice

I have been reading a few winter poems lately. A true cento only consists of the lines from other poems.The cento or collage poem is comprised only of lines from the following:


Against Winter by Charles Simic
The sky is low,the clouds are mean by Emily Dickinson
Alms by Edna Vincent St Millay
Winter Again by Bruce Beaver
Winter by Kate Llewellyn
Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening by Robert Frost
The Dream Of Wearing Shorts Forever by Les Murray
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou


Mid Week Motif...Poets United




The sky is low the clouds are mean
The darkest evening of the year
A narrow wind complains all day
How someone treated him

The truth is dark under your eyelids
I know a winter when it comes 
the air that comes in crimps the nose
like acid-smoke
like a Strindberg midnight

I scatter crumbs upon the sill
And close the window
Take or leave them as they will

The dream of
wearing  shorts forever in the enormous paddocks
slapping flies with a book on solar 
looking across to the further tropics
where the flame tree is in flower
leaps on the back of the wind

I'm packing
I'm off

Santa Lives

3 WW

Maisie had a lump in her throat
Santa was nervous
Eric was puzzled but relieved
His faith restored
All those PC rumours
weren't true after all

Norfolk Island

carpe diem haiku kai



norfolk island
sad place - the cries of convicts
still etched in the pines

whipped and lashed
to a bloody pulp red tied
to a norfolk pine

Tuesday

tired of stargazing,
i look down -
puddle full of stars

Konstantin Kedrov




carpe diem

outback stargazing
now remind me again
why there is no God

Monday

 Haiku Horizons

it has rained for a week
the sky is blue
the sun is shining
the park will be sodden




i will wear my new wellies
you are taking time out with me
to feed the geese




no time left for tears
we need a walk in the park
you and i

Shadorma

Mindlovemisery's Menagerie
B&P's Shadorma and Beyond








Margaret Olley
1923 - 2011

overlooked
by peers destined to
fade away
history
will venerate her fine work
a gifted humble artist

For The Weekend

Daydreams

carpe diem haiku kai

even the leopard
entertains wistful thoughts
of a companion

The Australian Desert

carpe diem haiku kai

blistering heat
blinding blue sky burning skin
everything is still

Bracken

carpe diem haiku kai

wild rivers
the joy unfurls
in ferns
  
Jane Reichhold

clumps of bracken
home to midges and mosquitoes
heaven in a swamp

Party Poopers

midweek motif PU
3WW... dead threat hungry



father christmas
did not have children of his own

his affair with the gin bottle  precluded
him from finding a wife

he liked reading letters hanging out with reindeers
climbing down chimneys and delivering presents



puss always hungry for food and attention
was devoted to him along with rudolph
the red nose reindeer his best drinking buddy

the only threat to father christmas was from saudi arabia
where he could wind up dead if he continued
to drop off presents there

some of his friends having a Christmas party  had already been imprisoned
for committing the crime of "plotting to celebrate Christmas "in 2012

Men

mindlovemisery's menagerie




then they grow up
learn to be men
but not always gentle men



a lot refuse to recognise their better halves
are smarter , not necessarily nicer

some are  crafty buggers
who can sweet talk the fairer sex
with wonderful words
sending them spinning off into an orbit


as for the sugar and spice and all things nice group
well some of us are wired to  love them regardless
for better or worse as the case may be

Succulents

carpe diem haiku kai

cacti garden
needle sharp lush leaves
floral tribute

Love Birds

haiku horizons

lovebirds

they say love is blind
this could be the secret to
their mating for life

A Rose By Any Other Name

carpe diem haiku kai
a single flower
my  companion
for one night

Chevrefeuille 2005

a single rose
petals frozen with grief
from icy stares

Art

carpe diem haiku kai

still life art
or messy kitchen clutter
your vision decides



does this have appeal
did someone drop a paint tin
or is it a work of art

For The Weekend

Friday Flowers

carpe diem haiku kai


winter friday nights are special
end of the working week
drinks nibbles flowers jazz
the jonquils are out

on the walk down the hill
faces glow through the pub windows
happy chattering spikes the air
you say it's lovely to be home
there are days i really love my life

winter - friday night
faces glow like flowers in
soft lighting at the pub

Bombs Away

3WW
erect blemish lopsided

she was good at
erecting castles in the air
creating an unblemished world
filled with magic

they were built on a foundation
of nothingness  and a need to take flight

she held her breath for a long time
on that last ride through the clouds
knowing the minute she exhaled
the lopsided castles would come toppling down

and they did

impregnated with shrapnel and a bomb
with her name on it

Flowers

carpe diem haiku kai



flowers make a home
colour makes it cosy
you make it possible

Time after Time

Midweek Motif...  PU


when i was a child
we went to a lot of weddings
the loveliness of this singer
the song and the guests remind me
of  that time

i remember dancing
on mens shoes
my tiny hands being held
as i was carefully manoeuvred
around the dance floor

i remember
the sound of silvery laughter
the clinking of glasses
the smell of face powder
perfume and freesias
the rustle of taffeta
fur stoles veils and jewels

the women of all ages
looked so beautiful to me
with their red lipstick and corsages
grown ups seemed so wonderful
i could not wait to be one


time may alter memory
maybe the past wears a rosy gloss
as you become so far removed from it
needless to say
there was so much of mine that i loved 

Afternoon

carpe diem haiku kai

alone at dusk
watching the sun sink behind
the buildings

Because It's Wednesday

Trust

when the storm hits
you magically appear
offering words of hope

if i could trust
it would be you - but sadly
i only trust the Lord

Haiku Horizons

mistake - trusting sheep
a pack mentality is
very dangerous