breaking clouds
a view of the mountain
i'll never climb

small town station
the morning train arrives
with the snow

afternoon storm
a rooster crows
between thunders

shouts of glee
from the locker room —
my first all stars*


this may be obscure to the uninitiated (and is a bit lame in any case); at the time of my basketball beginnings way back when in what was then Yugoslavia the only footwear we knew were canvas sneakers with flat rubber soles. Converse All Stars more or less fitted that description but they came from America and as such acquired an almost iconic status

blazed trail
composing haiku i trip
on a spruce root

formal garden
every which way
the butterflies

crumbling graffiti
a snail dots the i

Kernels spring 2013

scudding clouds
a magpie's calls drift
into my headache

*

drveči oblaki
srakine klice prinese
v moj glavobol

after an argument
the shopping trolley's
squeaky wheels

blurred photo
the sound
of my denims ripping

the first few notes
of Tom Traubert's Blues...
his promise to call

inhaling darkness deeper and deeper into the cave

the songs
i used to know by heart...
bonfire embers

reading his letter
my hand reaches for a jar
of pickled mushrooms

dog violets
the girl next door flashes
her engagement ring

season's end
the fishing town's alleys
fill with dusk

old pond...
a haiku beginner
gets the allusion

a missed call
on my cell phone —
first cuckoo

aquarium glass
a child stares at the clownfish
open-mouthed

the subject
we keep avoiding...
dragonfly nymph

thin frost
the penned ibex*
lock horns

*one of the possible spellings of the plural (also ibexes or ibices); clicking the word opens a link

a freight train
screeches to a halt...
blackbird's song

15%
of the battery left...
spring thunder


first published in A Hundred Gourds

cry of an eagle
the rock climber's fingers
reach for a grip

physio ward
two athletes compare
injuries

his hurtful words...
touching the gnarled bark
of the tallest beech

faint stars
a friend from the past
sends me an email

in the mouth of the Isonzo
white horses' hooves


(i know, a one image haiku with an obscure reference, flirting with gendai which i can't write, or can't write well...but basically just a sketch inspired by a photo as a response to a prompt)

Isonzo (slov. Soča) is a river rising in the Slovenian Julian Alps (the Triglav national park) and flowing into the Gulf of Trieste. The river mouth is a natural reservation.

staring
at the empty page
winter lingers

rain and more rain
the hooded crow's
slate grey voice