Saturday Haiku: Turning Leaves

 

leaves turn to signal
shortened days and cooler nights
as dry winds gather

____________________

Photo by Charles Kinnaird

-

Saturday Haiku: Acorns Emerging

 

acorns emerging
foretell days of abundance
when shadows lengthen

________________

Photo by Charles Kinnaird

Note: Some haiku come quickly, and some come after rewrites. This week's haiku came after four previous attempts (and you can see from the picture, I started thinking about this one when the acorns were green). Here are the ones that came before. You can judge whether I settled on the right one:

acorns on the branch
foretell days of abundance
as sunlight recedes
 
green branch with acorns
foretells days of abundance
when leaves are falling
 
green branch with acorns
foreshadowing abundance
in days when leaves fall
  
acorns emerging
foretell days of abundance
as sunlight recedes

-

Last Blooms: A Backyard Garden Stroll

Last Blooms

 

October came on a dry wind,

the ground hard and dry.

Summer was slowly yielding

to cooler nights.

Ragged leaves of okra,

tomato, and zinnia

rustle in the midday breeze.

 

Marigolds have gone to seed,

other blooms are hanging on.

Zinnias are faded

with spotted leaves;

an ashen grey creeps

across once vibrant blossoms.

A single yellow flower

stands proudly, seemingly untouched

by autumn wind

and the lone red flag of a geranium

nurtures its proclamation.

 

One last okra pod stands

with the withered blossom

on its tip.

Pepper plants and tomato vines

have exhausted their efforts.

 

A bumble bee dances

on a single Mexican Aster flower

as if tomorrow

will rise with the morning.

 

10/22                              ~ CK

_________________________

Photos by Charles Kinnaird

-

Autumn Equinox

Autumn Equinox

On this equinox, time is slant –

on its way, as it were,

not settled like solstice.

Butterflies still grace the zinnias,

hummingbirds continue their sorties

never more certain

than on this day.

 

But this day is passing,

tipping and slant

as if summer might slide off the plate.

The sun shines, sharp and clear

as a Hopper painting.

A lawnmower whirs and chomps

in a distant neighbor’s yard.

The mockingbird makes

his declaration,

but this day is passing,

passing like the newly fallen leaf.

 

A momentary pause

as the season turns from

summer bright

to autumn blaze

before the world settles

to the depth of winter solstice.

 

The world can sing

on the slant of an equinox.

 

                          ~ Charles Kinnaird

________________

Photos by Charles Kinnaird

-

Saturday Haiku: Autumn Gold

the gold of autumn,

its transitory wonder,

abides in the trees

_____________

Photo: Ginkgo Tree with Yellow Planter

Credit: Charles Kinnaird

-

Poem In October (Dylan Thomas)

October turns my mind to autumnal things.  Autumn is a wonderful time of year, invigorating with its cool mornings and colorful foliage. Autumn invites us to draw inward for a time.

Every October, I take some time to read “Poem in October,” by Dylan Thomas. He evokes marvelous imagery, such as “heron priested shore,” and “a child's Forgotten mornings when he walked with his mother Through the parables Of sun light.”

In the video below, we can hear Thomas reading his "Poem in October."

-

Saturday Haiku: November Mist

 

the November mist

dampening the countryside 

as hearts turn inward

______________________

Photo: "Ely Cathedral on a misty November morning"

             by Sarah MacDonald, Director of Ely Cathedral Girls' Choir

Source: Ely Cathedral Facebook site

-

Saturday Haiku: Autumn Ground

 

acorns on the ground

reminding that abundance

renews its promise

______________________

Photo from Farmers' Almanac 

-

Saturday Haiku: Autumn Scents

a cold wind blowing

the scent of autumn acorns

and fresh green laurel

___________________________________________

Photo by Charles Kinnaird: Rock Wall at Birmingham Botanical Gardens

-

Saturday Haiku: Homing

flocks find their way home

with the autumn sun setting

upon fallow fields

_________________________
Photo: Starling murmuration
Credit: Sharon Jones-Williams



-

Poem in October (Dylan Thomas)

Even though we are in the midst of an unusual heatwave in the southeast, October turns my mind to autumnal things.  Autumn is a wonderful time of year, invigorating with its cool mornings (surely they will be here soon) and colorful foliage. Autumn invites us to draw inward for a time.

This week I’ve been re-reading Dylan Thomas’ “Poem in October.”  He evokes such marvelous imagery, such as “heron priested shore,” and “a child's Forgotten mornings when he walked with his mother Through the parables Of sun light.”

In the video below, we can hear Thomas reading his "Poem in October."

-

Saturday Haiku: Turning

Sometimes silently

the season turns, revealing

joy in the new day

_____________

Photo: Hayfield on a farm near Montevallo, Alabama

Credit: Charles Kinnaird

-

Saturday Haiku: Harvest

moon on the mountain
hay gathered for the harvest
a field in repose

____________________________

Image: "Evening Landscape with Rising Moon" (1889)
Artist: Vincent van Gogh
Medium: Oil on Canvas



-

Saturday Haiku: Autumn on the Seine

row boats on the shore

gently swaying with autumn

clear waters calling

_____________________________

Image: "Autumn On The Seine At Argenteuil" (1873) at the High Museum of Art 
              Public Domain (courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)
Artist: Claude Monet (1840-1926)
Medium: Oil on canvas



-

Saturday Haiku: Autumn Waters

waters in autumn

carry the summer’s remains

to a quiet place

___________________

Photo by Richard Danek

_

Saturday Haiku: October

a cool crisp dryness

comes with October's turning

folding life away 

_________________________

Photo by Michael Gil, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons



-

Saturday Haiku: Autumn Stream

an astounding sight

the random geometry

 of an autumn stream

________________________________

Photo by Charles Kinnaird



-

Saturday Haiku: Autumn Palette

faint autumn colors

as from an artist’s palette

the woodland at rest

____________________________

Photo by Charles Kinnaird

Roupes Creek at Tannehill Ironworks Historical State Park

-

Saturday Haiku: Autumn Mist

near an open field

a spider’s gossamer wheel

gathers autumn mist

______________________________
Photo by David Brazzeal



-

Saturday Haiku: Autumn's Grace

knowing the seasons

the fallen leaf relaxes

into autumn's grace

______________________________

Photo by Robert Gregory Phillips

-