Water – Page 14 – Iron Haiku

great sheets of lake ice
cracked and heaving in the sun
as they come onshore
–
a cold night-
the ice in your drink
begins to melt

the smell of sawdust-
practiced hands work the gouges

turning wood to art

–

ocean waves-
driftwood rests
among the shells

a long meander-
river banks bent by the slow
persistence of time
–
weeping willows-
cattails and rushes
bend in the wind

an early March snow-
past time for pulling up roots
and moving along
–
stinging rain-
I return to find
an empty home

tiny wisps of light
at the edge of the forest
dancing in the dark
–
the nighttime sea-
distant sirens
in the dark

twisting in my sleep
I smell the blood and cordite
and lotus flowers
–
torrential rain-
countless lost
to take a hill

brutal onshore winds-
a nor’easter whips the sea
as waves pound the beach
–
my collar up-
a man chases
his hat

late winter garden-
a calico patchwork of
leaves and melting snow
–
a hollow log-
rain falls
on melting ice

slowly settled in
every movement painful with
these old weary bones
–
well worn stones-
shore water’s
ebb and flow

icy morning air-
tender fingers deftly tease
the breath from my chest
–
a silent stream-
ice flows from
the jagged rock