Animal – Page 36 – Iron Haiku

roadmaps of black veins
crawl across her damaged arms
recording the hits
–
sheer bliss-
a wasp amid
the rose stems

weary of this need
yearning to see the sun but
your throat, so tempting
–
orion’s belt-
clouds of bats
obscure the moon

my better judgement
failing me once again for
momentary bliss
–
late summer-
the prayers
of the mantis

a flash of silver
swimming in place, lingering
against the current
–
buffeted and battered-
leaning
into the wind

weeping cherry trees-
a wistful gaze through windows
that never open
–
budding branches-
a cockatoo’s
clipped wings

beauty and horror
entwined around each other
in a spider’s web
–
morning mist-
time passes
red on black

ashes of the past
the land stoic and patient
awaiting rebirth
–
robins gather-
the old gardener
tends to his seedlings

one final look back
collar turned up against the
horizontal rain
–
spring peepers-
the rain of snare drums
on the forest floor

a lone egret stands
beneath a spreading chestnut
sheltered from the rain
–
thunder snow-
after images of
white lighting

an aging pen knife
coaxes an old fisherman
from a block of wood
–
midday rain-
an empty chrysalis
among the milkweed