Haikus And Tanka Poem by Mark. A Heathcote

in the reeds
my heart sinks fast
winter approaches

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seagulls are walking
imitating this sea foam
in and out up/down

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who knew that slipping
on a wet gravestone could be
so much fun--wet pants

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a cockroach--hisses
as it crosses the driveway
who needs a damn car

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an unannounced toad
it crosses the garage floor
mother needs her son

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balanced on pride
I took a needless - hard fall
plank fence quivering

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a caterpillar
a monarch head and tail the same
no difference

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a peony holds
a snake and I hold you
some loves aren't true

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a dividing road
divides a good friendship
later becomes one

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the ginkgo leaves
turn a titanium yellow
drowning like goldfish

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a peony has
a snake in its petals
as do--I my love

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turnips are stored
for winter feed - cows are mooing
hungry like newborns

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mucus on the floor
I pack straw around the shed
potatoes frozen

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a small shed that once
housed six Irish labourers
now the store's potatoes

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potatoes stacked
almost up to the rafters
autumn larders full

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rats frozen in fear
by a torchlight--then a shot
pigs gnaw savouring

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spider takes on the wasp
titanic struggle pursues
in a tug of war

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pike caught by hunger
with a hooked perch in its jaws
victim hood

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pigeon straddling up
on another old dead pigeon
humble prayer mat

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open new pathways
a river over-flowing
mental obstacles

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By his thorn tree nest
a diminutive princess
rests on her laurels

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Impermanence is
unseasonably changing
Sure--as love and hate

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A dead Friesian calf
Takes its first-ever dip
In an old tin bath
Over-winteringg live-stock
It's not ever bouncing back

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A Friesian calf falls
Now its white legs are trembling
Blood is running red
Pooling on the concrete
It's never stood on before

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My heart's on the floor
The farmer picks up a hose
Pipe and whips some stripes
On a lame beast in his care
Loves a hard lesson

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stealing strawberries
I pitied a perched blackbird
the song in my heart

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Picking gooseberries
By the river--I pricked
my thumb on true love

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tantalising woods
weaving out of reach or view
no road maps back home

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torpedo-like from
rock to rock with muddy frock
the millers thumb darts

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the rhubarb sings like
a robin-- its leaves stretching
aimlessly upwards

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the gypsy seller
with heather's worries me
to superstition

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what we haven't got
what we don't need and desire
isn't appreciated

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what is nothingness
a mysterious theory
what pops in pops out

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nothingness
space without galaxies
atoms or lilacs

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I've seen the flowers
die back out of all view
bright recollections

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harvest time
I fill my empty larder
a brace of kisses

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alone in my bed
then the sound of ladders
wet windows gleaming

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a walnut-laced
sheen on the tatami mats
heaven on earth shines

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as a swan's egg cracks
the whole world appears at once
sweet disharmony

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Drunk in bed asleep
out-of-body experiences
When did I acquire wings

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a veil of white clouds
and a lake full of white swans
two echoes mingling

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my Kensho is not
the same as yours--one sea
held between two shores

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frolicking moonlight
on gnarly horse chestnut trees
starry chandeliers

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a fallen pine tree
makes a clearing for sunshine
ah--how my heart grows

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a veil of white clouds
and a lake full of white swans
two echoes mingling

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what isn't wholly mine
isn't also wholly yours--stars
of the universe

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the cherry blossom
falling into the lake water
tricks a koi to bite

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a robin singing
it is stoic in its staunch task
no fires need kindling

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a brown trout leaping
takes out a mayfly with ease
as a vole looks on

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a brown river vole
has my immediate gaze surprised
the nature of things

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the bones of a crow
still covered with feathers
a child's fallen kite

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footprints in the snow
are the first of many more
quiet morning rituals

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stay where one is needed
where one belongs without grief
some-how I'll survive

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what is my Kensho
is not the same as yours--one sea
held between two shores

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hydrangeas
globes of delicate kisses
ah--to be kissed


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these black and orange
crabs have strong radar senses
retreating daylight

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what isn't wholly mine
also isn't wholly yours--stars
of the universe

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the cherry blossom
nudged and swaying gently falls
and rises like birdsong

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beyond the Kyoto
bamboo grove incense sticks burn
fragrant wet forests

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the scent of blackthorn
sap fills me with ancient lusts
and amber moments

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the elderberry
blossoms cover a sleepy toad
searching his spring bride

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no two paths the same
wandering in search of nothing
what hidden treasures

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now Buddha awoke
others must too, if only to
follow or forfeit
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the moon is in shade
what shadows it is child's play
the clouds of despair
*

at times--a lit spark
is a flash in a pan when
my poems are written

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children throw stones
to see a reaction far-reaching
tomorrow's sunset

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a flash in a pan
a riderless horse--a pony
all at once again

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a blooming white rose
temples in the distance shine
light torches at night

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a peacock climbing
sunflowers to a high wall
day and night lovers

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the peacocks crying
is a crystal vase breaking
on beds of flowers

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a walnut laced
sheen on the tatami mats
heaven on earth shines

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leaves spiral and fall
gather by the garden wall
spent life givers

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the end is in sight
spring is now coming after
autumn and winter

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from elsewhere - I see
the dandelion's seed heads
on the Poplar tree

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cottonwoods blooming
a snowflake out of season
the joys of spring sun

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Mandarin ducks quack
talk--sullen as the moonlight
refection's dark pool

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a lake with ghostly
fog a ghostly white lady
is nowhere peaceful

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wisteria flowers
like bobcats finding their tails
then pouncing quickly

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the pussy willow
does flower from head to toe
what gentle auras

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tender rose thorns
harden the wood in my heart
not in full flower

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pine needles quiver
they soak in the hot sunshine
as I stretch my toes

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peonies yellow
weep with the weight of daylight
sprightly come morning

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annual bonfire
hanged--drawn and quartered
Guy Fawkes cremation

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a bat falls into
a pond and snakes to the shore
dusk tree canopy

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Oak tree

I sit on a bough
of deep sorrow and sunlight
tomorrow's visions

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Clouds and water

Sunday church bells
I'm alone by the lake's wall
congregations wave

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sheltering almost
at once a river's bridge
thunder and lightning

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the winds prophecy
predicts when ripe fruits should fall
Sunday church bells

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the smithy cat
moves like heavy rolling smoke
embers of the day

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Welsh slate hits his head
this farmer has work to do
cow bells and mooing

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visible wood violets
poking through the melting snow
a penance of love

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the tamarind waves
the sea waves back perpetually
nearby birds on stilts

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the radishes wait
like men condemned to die
safety in numbers

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frolicking moonlight
on gnarly horse chestnut trees
starry chandeliers

*

stepping stones reaching
neither bank a grey heron
wades without wabbling

*
a march hare circles
and returns to the same spot
the asteroid field

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a chestnut glisten
like a newborn star - above
as below - cast-offs

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temptations fruit
hangs rosy red all winter
have my eyes gone blind

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the caterpillar
it cannot sleep - it wriggles
itself some new wings

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eggs in a basket
how I cherished Easter
pet hamsters from school

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your tongue is a
slipknot--hang me now - my love
how do I survive

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do the practical
before the theoretical
breathe in and then out

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ever the path home
you captivate my eyes
sunset or sunrise

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sunset or sunrise
you captivate my eyes
ever the path home

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