Beneath – Page 9 – Iron Haiku

the cool below ground-
laying in the winter stores
before the first snow
–
late autumn morn-
a taste of last june’s
strawberry jam

steel axe and wedges-
an awful lot of effort
for a pile of wood
–
first snow-
chipmunks bedded
in the wood pile

sheets pooled on the floor-
the graceful swell of your hips
framed by the moonlight
–
lingering dawn-
one final kiss
graces your lips

sputtering neon-
piles of rags weakly lit by
the staccato glow
–
november night-
threadbare blankets
in the doorway

softly falling rain-
I finally let you go
for your sake and mine
–
glass in his hair-
a husband waits
in anguished silence

an incoming storm-
thunderclouds vent their anger
on an iron sea
–
hard driving rain-
waves break against
barnacled pilings

stripped down to the waist
sledgehammer and splitting maul
ringing in the sun
–
hazy starlight-
woodsmoke drifts
through the trees

a circle of flame
swirls deep inside the furnace
working overtime
–
rushing water-
the promise
of warmer feet

silvery fingers-
the moon I plucked from the sky
safe in my pocket
–
crescent moon-
silver fish swim
among the stars

grey evening clouds
gauzy and diaphanous
thinly veil the moon
–
a warm orange glow-
the harvest moon
buried in the clouds