Age – Page 59 – Iron Haiku

standing at the bow
salt spray drenching your sundress
the sun in your hair
–
terns on the wing-
flecks of sea foam
floating gently past

caught in the moment
losing time watching you dance
barefoot in the rain
–
cloudburst-
green leaves on the
steaming pavement

picking myself up
from all the times I’ve fallen
back in love with you
–
floating ice-
piling up
downstream

awake at first light
realizing far too late
I’m not who I thought
–
venus rising-
difficult memories
consigned to the fire

tumbling down hill
chatting and laughing aloud
running to the sea
–
freshly frozen-
on the lake shore
crackled glass

death comes unbidden-
a brief pause before leaving
to collect his due
–
icicles-
melting in
the winer sun

bitter grievances
at the holiday table
long past time for peace
–
unrelenting
a winter river
choked with ice

lies in the mirror
not what we truly are but
what we wish to be
–
leafless-
reflections in
the watery sky

a torn cap worn low
collar turned against the wind
shrouded in darkness
–
a squalid doorway-
scant shelter from
the bitter cold

contemplating life
and remembering the dead
this cold winter night
–
the cutting north wind-
heavily laden with
bitter freight