Animal – Page 9 – Iron Haiku

river clay and dust
takes on a life of its own
much to my chagrin
–
pounding rain-
the stream a torrent
of mud and debris

waves crawl up the beach-
long acres of dune grasses
ripple in the breeze
–
prints in wet sand-
nesting plovers disturbed
by barking dogs

an inverted sky
the image of autumn clouds
broken by a fish
–
fall rain-
ripples spread across
a hidden pond

deep in the pine boughs
two gray squirrels chase each other
around the tree trunks
–
gray squirrel-
scolding me
from on high

early autumn storms-
dark roiling thunderclouds vent
their mottled fury
–
distant thunder-
a cloud of starlings
darken the sky

low waning daylight-
songs of bullfrogs and crickets
usher in the night
–
twilight-
crickets sing
in my footsteps

pale silver moonlight
captured in the broken glass
strewn across the street
–
autum eve-
crickets silenced
by shattering glass

peeling back the dark
exposing the ugly truth
to the light of day
–
low tide-
broken shells
on the sand

a rotting boardwalk
crosses an estuary
flowing to the sea
–
low tide-
razor clams
burrow in the mud

moonlight in her hair-
she walks along the shoreline
and into the night
–
a turtle’s splash –
the moon wavers
on the water