CONTRIBUTORS TO HAIKU SECTION

Janice M. Bostok

Ross Clark

Beverley George

Peter Macrow

Catherine Mair

Ron Moss

Graham Nunn

Patricia Prime

Vanessa Proctor

HAIKU SECTION

Hospital Visit

Outside Ward 10 I wait in the hospital courtyard while my friend visits her father. Tubs of lavender by the entrance exude a familiar scent into the autumn air. A nurse helps an elderly man into a waiting car, explaining last-minute details to his son. They drive away with a urinal sitting on the car's roof.

Through a window grille I hear the sound of voices, coughs, and the clatter of a tea trolley. A man in a bed beside the window hoists himself up with a pulley and waves briefly.

I take out a notebook and pen to capture a haiku.

hospital windows
the autumn sun visits
each one

Patricia Prime

slowing down legs &
shiny chest of upended
beetle attacked by ants
tank crews surrender
as their desert city burns

still drunk
& the songs of dawn
have no melody

inside Chinatown
for new year ~ fireworks &
dragons & costumes:

                & through the gate the light of
                Willy's Erotic Revue

    Ross Clark

the child's doll
lies in a bomb crater —
hot desert winds

mother and child
huddled in Bagdad darkness —
dry thunder

my father's eyes
a whisky bottle stare —
heavy rain

            Ron Moss

white fence ~
a sparrow hops
picket to picket

a caterpillar
rears on a vine leaf ~
chorus line of legs

grey sea ~
the girth
of headland

        Beverley George

brilliant sunset
father and son
confront each other

distant slopes —
dark shadows hide
the colours of autumn

without a sound
falling rain
sinks into the sand

            Graham Nunn

the sky turns pink
at its eastern edges
lurch of the bus

stream of motorbikes
behind the last rider
a teddy bear

hospital forecourt
behind a barred window
sound of voices

reflected
in a snail shell
miniature sun

meditating
the Indian gentleman
adjusts his dhoti

        Patricia Prime

Berberis Astrosuperba

before planting cleaning the spade

prickly Berberis, my sore finger

scratch of labrador's paws . . . scent of grass

as usual by the bridge one teasing rabbit

autumn chill leaves drift towards the river

new framework - the sound of a hammer

settled on a scarred rock a monarch butterfly

wet grass - extra black two blackbirds

winding through pebbles an ant

above bush-clad hills drone of a light plane

parting the willow branches shadow of your hand

from behind the gorse bush a sudden sniff

disappearing through toi toi 3 girls and a plastic bag

holding hands over rough ground - the old couple

knocking off the clay - stone on metal

Patricia Prime

Catherine Mair

rain falls softly
into the dark spaces
between trees —
my empty bed
drenched with tears

        Beverley George

Mid-tide

A tanka sequence written along the Haiku Pathway, Katikati, NZ

your boulder
assuming the weight
of its years
darker & darker
its grey lichened top

slip-slopping
along the pathway
teenage girls
their long brown hair
and water bottles

edging along
the riverbank
a mechanical shovel
black teal disappear
downstream

the heron
flaps above the river
feet lifting
feather caught
on the mid-tide snag

Catherine Mair

Patricia Prime

lingering drought
cracks in the walls
widening

first rains
a heifer stretches out
her tongue

dusk
a flock of cockatoos
streaks the sky yellow

rock carvings honey ants follow the grooves

 fish market
the squid still
changing colour

        Vanessa Proctor

bright orange jumper
old man
walks against the wind

wash day
cold leather
on bare feet

evening walk
red brick wall
still warm

        Peter Macrow

country crossing
looking this way and that
the red fox


sleeping outdoors
above the trimmed hedge
dancing fireflies


river mist
glittering downstream
a shoal of trout


shifting shadows
the stillness of the lizard
on my writing desk

        Carla Sari

Tells of the love

still warm
where the old dog laid -
cold empty house

 bright puppy eyes —
familiar echoes in its bark

funeral service
his name blurred from tears -
a football on the coffin

signing the cheque
his pen's energy creates
the 'flying white'

the hands of a deaf child
tells of the love , for another

she enters —
wheelchair decorated
for her 100th year

        Ron Moss & Janice M. Bostok