Mar

1

time's March,

in the mirror of September—

diagonal rain

winter come spring

this muddy path is a friend

to his boots

There are several moon names for the new March moon (which begins its cycle on the 23rd, after the equinox - currently we are on the Moon of Brisk Winds which is full on March 9th). I've chosen the English: Lenten Moon and the Amerindian name Crow Moon (which is very apt where I live here in rainy England, as the crows are definitely signalling spring and going to work on their new generation now) for this months moon haiku themes. Browse 'full moon names' and see what you would choose, appropriate to your geophysical locale. One caveat, I use the full moon name of choice for the whole period of any particular lunation cycle, rather than simply the one night of its maximum - sue me!

Moon Phase

BACKSTORY

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March

(Note: there's a very interesting chart at the bottom of that Wikipedia entry - hyperlinked to the months and days of the calendar and other seasonal things). Also note, we have the vernal (spring) equinox on the 20th of this month. Time marches on. . . .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equinox

http://projectbritain.com/year/march.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_as_a_March_hare

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_moon

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Months

ALSO SEE

https://sites.google.com/site/inthesoundofwater/home/plop/moon

NOTE: After the full moon (18th) another lunation cycle begins. The old English title will be used: Egg Moon!

1

Saint David's Day,

but before my bones stick out

just one more...

1

above the mist

a crow metropolis renews

its windy cradles

2

winter come spring

this muddy path is a friend

to many strange feet

3

and now...

out the Petri dish,

spring fever

silent aircraft

with twinkling eyes

ferry twigs

4

the new calves

seem to have LED eyes—

Moon of Winds

4

soon...

a blaze of yellow

robots?

NOTE: This above post's pic seems innocent enough. But, in a week or so the horrible truth will reveal itself. You see, here in rainy England the SHOP DAFFODIL PLAGUE is about to take over the countryside again, edging out Wordsworth's lovely natural wild daffs (which are seldom seen now) with their brash trumpeting superficial bling. Daffodil Day (a laudable enough cancer initiative globally) is ironic in the light of this expanding annual infestation of these genetically morphed, Frankenstein plant robots. A few escapees from the garden are one thing, but now it's all about bulk planting in the wilds! Before I get carried away and start on about bluebell imports from Europe (which are also smothering our indigenous residents), check out this link and share it with other nature lovers. . . .

5

as far as the eye

on a line of starlight

little lamb

Moon of Winds

through lace curtains

the eyelids

5

shining

in the crow's silent nursery

Venus

6

a leaf's scratch,

Orion and his mystic dog—

hush! moonlit eggs

7

what's this...

a mad woman's breakfast?

horse over snowdrops

7

ancient lichen

does spring matter to you

or not?

8

with Einstein hair,

beside the crow trees—

Moon of Winds

8

floret of lichen—

in the child's moment

a fairy café

8

International Women’s Day

get your claws up

Mrs Crow

9

bang! bang!

but that's ok—

it's spring

9

on a tree's stump

in its phantom

springs

10

corn's junkyard angels—

a bunch of nesting crows

take no chances

its tail pointing

at the sparrow's nest—

next door's cat

10

lemon cake—

don't even think about it

baby spiders

contract killing,

a pile of young crows—

black on black

11

This bird started singing under a bright gibbous moon (waning Moon of Winds). Very melodic and loud. Then, a few other half-hearted tweets in response from sleepy local sparrows. This went on for about 20 minutes and then silence returned and I was off to sleep again (climbing dangerously in the astral mountains of what is regarded as a post-mortem heaven world). Mystery to me. This morning one checked out the clocks forward time for UK, thinking to make a haiku joke about that unique nocturnal event for today's haiku diary post. No luck - clocks go forward an hour to inaugurate Summer's Daylight Saving Time on the last Sunday in March.

/

moonlit village,

a spring dawn chorus starts—

then stops

11

reclaiming its property

the North Pacific

rippled

12

if only...

a crow with a twig

in this shot

13

no rest for spring—

moonlit owls negotiate

in silence

13

spring stars—

in broken eyes

just stars

my old school—

in black and white

spring's Eden

14

shop movie,

people of spring—

slow to pause

No one, surely, would deny that heightened aesthetic awareness is a treasure to nurture. However, as we all know, this does not come without a price, or rather a challenge. This is well enough known to mystics since the dawn of time. To my mind there's only one solution. When going out and about into the stressed out cityscape to shop, hold it together in neutral, smile when needful, and walk silently (to the point of being invisible) during the gaps. Even so, synchronicity will surprise, often at the last moment (so, no relaxing, follow-through - like in golf - until you're home free with contemplation uninterrupted. However, if you're in city-mode regularly, why, just get stuck in and enjoy the jostle and the joust!

15

Ides of March,

beware you mother crows—

hatching eggs!

Play the music and watch the little person walking!

https://sites.google.com/site/inthesoundofwater/home/splish/haikuow/HaikuOW-2

16

in a dream

all the new things

are old

16

via twilight's mist,

more buds which blossom—

a fable?

17

spring rain,

under the ape's hat—

syncopated chat

at a T-junction

spring rain signals

leaky trees

at a T-junction

spring rain signals

dripping woods

17

spring, 1965?

racing fast metal

into Scotland

17

18

Mother's Day,

after Guinness Day—

stag party?

18

bleuch!

for the tree-top baby

a wriggler

19

for employed birds

a spring morning raga

on his flute

19

for the birds,

a spring morning raga—

lip flute

19

into gear!

beaks clamped on exact fits

whizz everywhere

video 20

live your dash—

between the two eternities

spring stars

20

Devil's rope

with tufts of wool—

spring sky

20

you scallywags,

seems my heart is breaking—

spring onions!

21

In the emails this merry morning an amusing item which inspired my post's literary (invented from vivacious elements of memory) haiku. . . . "We have to seriously get rid of the notion that from the primordial ooze we evolved into this lonely billiard ball perception machine that bounces around life knocking into the horrible meaningless of our existence. Our experience is just the observation deck of a deeper, more complex and mysterious world." - zut allure

/

up periscope!

dawn nesters chide

the dreamer

songbirds

their silent eggs

compose

Help Protect Our Garden Birds

Also See

Spread the word. Post this sign over the internet (with article link) and (printed on thin card) pop copies up on your local community notice boards, shops etc. Email it to friends and family. Let's help our garden birds stay fit and healthy!

NOTE: For a better quality promotional result, download and print the Word document at the bottom of the page, here. (Click on the download arrow at the right of the preview link for your own master copy of the sign.) There are two sizes which you can adjust for purpose. The smaller of the two is the one I use most frequently as it's more discrete as a poster and can be used, folded in half, as a leaflet.

MUSE: These posters work. I've had a few up in our village here in rainy England for about 3 years now and they have very much sensitised the locals (by repetition of viewing and subsequent word-of-mouth) to this important and often overlooked subject of garden bird management. Bulletin boards (including your local church/temple) and shop windows (ask nicely!), are some of the places to pop these effective wake up calls. If you're keen, print out a heap of the smaller size and do a mail shot through letterboxes in your area, or under the windscreen wipers of cars at your local mall. You can also spread the good news over the internet (social network sites, forums, blogs, and so on... Also, email your friends and family (include the download link for them to print out the sign template).

22

Used to be a potter and I tend to look at vegetables and so on with my ceramics filter sometimes. This turnip would make an excellent theme for a series of salt glazed vases. . . .

/

in spring,

an autumn turnip—

how apt

22

songbirds

their silent eggs

compose

AN EXTEMPORE SONG

Silence.

A kind of nothingness.

Nothingness.

The womb of somethingness.

Somethingness.

In-between.

At the interface.

Primordial MA.

The ultimate gap of becoming.

When I read the word 'nothing' in a phrase or whatever, it always amuses me the double meaning.

For example:

"Nothing matters."

Two meanings. One is the usual cliché. The other is the clue of the birthing of something from nothing. Via MA.

In Noh theatre they have gaps in the action where the action goes on pause to let the previous sequence of drama sink into, not only the audience's mind, but also the actor's psyche. The players in Noh theatre are well into complete identification with their role. It's a matter of theatrical requirement in Noh theatre.

MA.

The dream-space.

The place where it dawns on one.

The preparation zone for the next movement into becoming.

Becomingness.

The transitional nook of each movie frame.

The crucial locale betwixt stimulus and response.

The showing arena of a haiku.

Existence:

nothingness

in motion...

jp

We've heard that the Tao that can be told is not the real Dow. But, we know, as perennial haiku students, that cosmic creativity ('zoka') can be shown (as near as damn it). After that, well, jumping off a mesa into The Void, into biblical Outer Darkness. To cease becoming in a return nothingess, as brave Gautama Buddha insisted was worthwhile. And Enoch. And J C Lilly, the dolphin man. The goal of life, then, is to cease to exist.

How strange.

How very strange.

And yet...

this world

is a dewdrop world

yes... but...

Issa

(Trans: David G. Lanoue)

The illusion of self.

Disengagement from The Big Dreaming.

In the ultimate gap, the very last song.

Swan song.

Until the next time.

We hatch.

23

spring morning—

last year's harvest

in a bowl

23

"We can get where we see through the same eye."

- Gary Snyder, He Who Hunted Birds in His Father's Village

/

they swoop,

in feather skins—

colored wool

Gary's life's work is of quite a high order compared to many of his contemporaries (who had their heads in chemical clouds and veiled egotism, to greater or lesser extents). He tried his hand at 'haiku' and, although I enjoy most of the poetry he's written that I've read, his tercets (3 liners) aren't what purists would allow as bona fide haiku, not on the whole. They can be enjoyed as senryu and/or Imagist short forms, aka micropoems, though.

This haiku shows a scene where nesting birds are beguiled by some discarded woollen debris. (Instead of a worm picture a piece of wool.) This spring I've been noticing the selection process of our feathered friends with extra attention. Intuitively one increasingly forms the opinion that each selected part of any new (or refurbished old) nest is EXACTLY chosen. Presumably for fit and/or aesthetic suitability. Sometimes one or the other of a seasonal home making pair will REJECT their mates choice! This kind of observation helps to wean us from our somewhat obsessive humanocentric delusions, useful though these boundaries may be in the grand scheme of things.

24

in his pocket

a piece of spring

for the window

in my pocket

a piece of spring

for luck

Planetarium 24

Egg Moon,

slender in the grass—

damp chin

Touting for trade. *If you are a member* of this (declining, thank God) spurious 'haiku' club (run by a bunch of pompous nitwits) you are "guaranteed to have one poem selected for publication" [see link] in their next anthology. This is, clearly, a blatant vanity publishing enticement. "The Simply Haiku Workshop does not endorse the HSA Anthology nor does it subscribe to the HSA definition of haiku." (Robert D. Wilson) Neither do I.

Haiku Society of America

The Haiku Society of America is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1968

to promote the writing and appreciation of haiku in English.

housefly 25

Each season of the light half of the haiku year brings a housefly into my life. The first of 2012 arrived yesterday and made itself known discretely. I'll let it settle in and then lay down some ground rules. . . .

/

the fly people,

they're back again—

just one

Haiku Life 25

wild daffodils

reflected in water—

its roof

Experiencing, writing and reading haiku does tend to develop into a natural born way of life. Part-time seems not possible. Some of us have a window box and others many acres. Farming is farming though - one way or the other. I love the countryside, whether wilderness or shaped by human utility. Also the village where I live and the town where we all shop. Haiku helps me to come to my senses about these apparent distinctions. We learn that nature is really everything. The city and the sea, the stars and the library. All nature. Us too. - jp

25

Sunday, 25 March 2012, 01:00:00 clocks are

go forward = 02:00:00 local daylight time

/

archipelagos—

now it's time for summer,

almost

26

wild daffodils

reflected in water—

its roof

26

"A clear mind sees like sunlight through water. This is the essential haiku lesson. All that drink n drugs escapism is for foolish people who don't know they're born." - The Haiku Shaman

/

first bee!

in a little jungle

shops

NOTE: Near where I live Fox Talbot moved 'painting with light', albeit with baby steps, into the future (browse him). Playing with PhotoScape (which is a lot of fun), produced the effects on the last two images (and a couple of others on this page). . . . http://www.photoscape.org/ps/main/screenshot.php A well designed, user-friendly photo-utility that does a lot of what Instagram does on the iPhone (the latter being all the rage and taken the internet by storm). For your very own copy of the nifty utility go to 'Free Download' tab. Whilst you're at it, though, download Gimp (a top-flight FREE Open Source image editor), offered on the link's landing page, and be simply amazed. Have fun!

26

Aha, Mrs Bumblebee,

so that's where you live—

furry bum

NOTE: Two documentaries about disappearing bees that are well worth watching are COLONY and VANISHING OF THE

BEES (currently available to watch FREE here and here respectively). Also check this site for initiatives to help the bees.

Woot!

Stellarium

Stellarium is a planetarium software that shows exactly what you see when you look up at the stars. It's easy to use, and free.

• • • • • • • Planetarium - Interactive star map and virtual sky

            • neave.com is a browser-based virtual planetarium of stars and planets, customizable to any location and time.

27

Kodak snap, 1969—

evidence of daffodils,

their hippy hats

NOTE: After being a Mod (briefly) and then a Rocker, one entertained being

a Hippy. Then I grew up and became an art student.

flapper 27

camera on legs, 1920—

evidence of daffodils,

their flapper hats

item 27

shamefully,

some shop daffodils—

by the grave

bee 27

willy-nilly?

on their wayless way—

explorer bees

Basho's hero: "The thought of Tchouang-tseu [Chuang-Tzu], philosopher in the 4th century B.C.,

influenced greatly Matsuo Bashō, he often quoted the texts of "The Book of master Tchouang"

[Zhuangzi] in his hokkus." more

28

carefully...

still asleep snails

in the weeds

"Some snails hibernate during the winter (typically October through

April in the Northern Hemisphere)." Wikipedia

item 28

Egg Moon,

warming up nicely—

nail clipping

"For instance, the Egg Moon (the full moon before

Easter) would be the first moon after March 21."

Wikipedia

28

stock

in amongst green shoots

still

Stock-still: 'a log, a stump, or a tree trunk.' Hence, as if rooted to spot. For

example... Stock still dates back to the mid-15th century, when we find it in

the Scottish poem Golagros and Gawain: "In stede quhare he lay, Stok still

as ane stane."

29

nice try

little caterpillar

all curled up

buds 29

"Our aim is to prove that the wheels

are turning." - The Haiku Detective

Agency

/

taking off

their winter jackets—

all over the place

30

Egg Moon—

in another world

bum in seat

We're at first quarter of the current moon phase today, which leaves 7 days until full of the moon (next Friday). Then it's Easter Sunday. How is Easter worked out? *Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday following the first full moon after t he spring equinox.* This is why Easter Day shifts around a bit on the local civic calendar. Second only to Christmas in popularity, Easter time has many stories and games attached to it. Here's some nicely presented Easter facts from a favourite site of mine.

30

an old letter

in sunlit webs

with seeds

30

Egg Moon—

in another world

her bump

The most telling tale of the moon's regular lunation cycle in traditional magical story form is as follows: At the dark of the moon (which lasts for about three days) she is with her consort the sun. God knows what the pair of them get up to, but from the first sliver of curved light that appears again in the night sky, the moon starts to swell, day by day appearing to wax larger to the eye of all creatures who care to look up. By the time of the full moon the pregnancy is at it's maximum. Then birthing does begin as the moon starts to wane. After that is all done and moon-dusted, she's off gallivanting again for a few days well earned r&r. (I've heard, by the way, that one of the best times to make a wish come true is to plant it in the dark of the moon.)

item 31

preparing...

the garden bird café

for family outings

NOTE: Muesli is an excellent and economical substitution for many suspect and overpriced commercial bird food products. Also, do ensure garden bird café hygiene by regularly cleaning all receptacles whilst ensuring fresh food/water supplies. Imagine the needs of children and extend a similar concern to garden bird's welfare. If any sickly birds are spotted consider closing down shop for a while to prevent the spread of disease and sterilise all equipment. [Feel free to use the text from this post to print posters and/or some leaflets to spread the information. The more people realise that garden birds need properly managed the better.]

Writing 31

Add YOUR comments over at Haiku Chronicles

NOTE: These people over at Haiku Chronicles put oodles of effort into their interesting and well produced publications, let's give them some feedback from time to time. How? When you have sampled an episode, what is the thing that is on your mind? Simply and clearly place that as your comment. It will be moderated and then, if acceptable, your heartfelt gem will appear as a comment. Don't be shy. We all have something to say that is of value. Besides, participation shows willing and gives appreciative encouragement for their free service to global haikai.

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