The Pebble (150 words, no sentence more than 7 words)

After crossing the stream the climb began. Five leagues lay behind them. The last league was all uphill. A soldier’s boot carried the pebble. It was quartz and pure white. Belonging in the stream, it was foreign. Here on the mountain granite ruled. The entire landscape was grey and brooding. Escarpments were vertigo inducing.

The soldier slipped dislodging the pebble. Unnoticed, it bounced over the precipice. No longer a pebble, it became more. Ricocheting from rock to rock it descended. The pebble was now a message.

Below, the enemy encamped. One soldier patrolled the cliff base alone.  He paused to rest. From his pack he removed an apple.  He sat and watched and listened.  He heard the pebbles decent. Suddenly he was alert. The pebble stopped at his feet.  Knowing these hills, he saw the implication. He thanked his god for the message. He would be prepared when they came.

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Murmur

There is a murmur out there.

If you concentrate you’ll hear it;

In the She Oak amongst the dunes

And in the gentleness of old rivers.

You’ll hear it in forests

And deep valleys.

Distant frogs sing of the murmur

During summer rain.

Roosting corellas confirm it.

It’s subtle and omnipresent.

A sighing breeze carries it.

The glaciers mystic voice repeats it.

Sleeping volcanoes threaten

To speak its mind.

The murmur reminds us of times

And of places.

It can foretell.

And if you listen long enough

And often enough,

It will become a scream.

Only then will you understand

This world is not a plaything.

Haiku (The Farmer)

A midday sun warms the farmer’s back as he bends to till the rich earth. His deeds reach beyond the food he grows; they nurture his family, they go beyond his fields.  Further even than his village – Influencing.

under the noon sun

a farmer tills the rich soil

his shadow reaches

Iceland

midnight sun burns bright

eyjafjallajökull waits

fruit grows under glass

Haiku (White-tailed Swift)

cloud bank bears rewards

stormbirds hunt the vernal breeze

sunset colour screams

Haiku (a wife)

frost withdraws it grip

her gaze lingers in the east

the seabirds return

Ain’t no sunshine

You gave me

The Eiffel Tower in winter snow

You offered me

Cherry blossom in spring

You showed me

An oasis among summer dunes

You came with me

In a kaleidoscope of autumn leaves

I followed you

To the end of my earth.

Parallel

Can parallel lines ever meet

Do opposites occasionally repel

Should we just agree

To disagree

Or maybe we are destined

To plummet into chaos

Blind to each other’s needs

Deaf to our own desires

Bound by moral platitudes

About

I write poetry, haiku, senryu, tanka and short stories. I have recently discovered iPhone photography and all the associated photo manipulation apps – this sometimes inspires my writing, but usually it is just a diversion.

via About.

Hong Kong

Red leaves unpromise

Gas tears stream in ‘gratitude’

Umbrellas hold firm