by Kelly

Before the cold snap

a pheasant ducks through the woods –

Thoughts of my grandpa.

Unusual warmth,

so the dogs and I press on –

Still, though, that pheasant…

Wild turkey, fox

deer, coyotes in our woods.

Pheasants? Not pheasants.

Grandpa hunted them.

Stuffed pheasants flew through his house –

Was that one a sign?

Almost at my door

when the dogs flush three pheasants

from beside the shed.

The dogs bark, the birds

stumble from the underbrush

dragging crumpled leaves.

I drop the leashes,

scream before I see the birds

fighting to escape

From inside me, a

wild, uncontrollable laugh

rushes forth — then tears.

Equally wild and

uncontrollably, I sob

there in the driveway.

Maybe they were just

pheasants, just birds. Or maybe

they were my grandpa.

by Alison

bright moon

makes the woods seem

so familiar

Okay, so Kelly has convinced me. I am taking on the NaHaiWriMo challenge, too! And I’ve decided to add my own resolution along with it. For some time I’ve been interested in experimenting with the short form of haiku, also called “Modern Haiku” by some. I did some experimentation this past year but often return to 5-7-5 without truly getting comfortable with the shorter form. So that is my goal for this month - to experiment with short haiku, in various ways. Perhaps some of my short haiku will not have a break, such as the one that I wrote above. Or perhaps some of my short haiku will not even have three lines or a nature reference. But I’m hoping to get back into the spirit of haiku, which to me is an incredible connection with and awareness of a moment. So here we go! Kelly and I, back to haiku with NaHaiWriMo!

by Kelly

creepy tickle of

invisible spider webs –

I walk in the woods

by Kelly

biking through the woods

my hair flies free — tomorrow

I turn 38

by Kelly

not our usual

wooded path, deeper, damper –

it smells like earth, worms

by Kelly

Walking in the woods.

Tickle on my neck. Wood Tick!

No . . . it’s just my tag.

by Kelly

visibility

comes with winter in the woods

hidden homes revealed