autumn leaf

autumn leaf pressed
between the pages
of my journal
dried up dreams
and faded hopes

as the reed

as the reed sounds
for the clarinet
so
I speak for you
my silent son

Old Moon

old moon
reclining on Red Hill
reminiscing on
people and parties
that once mattered

evening chill

the last
cicada song of summer
evening chill

The Anaesthetic

Emerging from
the anaesthetic
I weep
for all the babies
I will never carry

Deep Night

deep night
buzzing with silence
until at last
a single magpie
calls in the new day

glow

glow of green
on blackened eucalypts
life springs again
on powdered hills
above the grieving towns

at a tanka workshop

cygnets piggyback
in shoals by the shore
birdwatchers
binoculars in unison
follow their guide

breath infused
black-barrelled clarinet
lifts me high
lays me low
urges me on

yoked together
these twenty five years -
fresh fields
tempt this horse
chafed by the harness

more for the music string

guitar strings pour
an avalanceh of discord;
you bury me
in a landslide
of angry words

dragon fly dance
on cello strings:
skill and grace
marry in arma nd bow
eye and finger and string

fingers caress
a broken chord
from yellowed keys;
the touch of an old friend
on my shaking arm

stillness
amid bird babble
dawn mantra

a music string

I'm working on a tanka string based on my interest in music. Some early offerings:

a soprano sings
a ladder of notes -
she climbs,
then descends
readies to start again

a low note
soft and round
sounds,
the listener
leans forward

haiku

on the path
a crumpled snake skin
house to let

spider silk

eyes and ears
wrapped in spider silk
insistent ties
to children
grown and gone away

a hot weekend in Sydney

kite high
above halted traffic
breaks free

crowds
choke the mall
no space for haiku

afogato
in iced glasses
summer melts

armidillo

armadillo
looks over his shoulder
and is gone

Chilean beech forest

soft-floored forest
victim of the settlers' match
- trusting belly up

pioneers felled
alerce forest giants
- more next millenium

Parting

relentless winds
flatten the pampas
hold me upright
as your parting words
howl by me

Christmas

King parrot flashes red
across the Christmas table
- come and gone again