Tim Gardiner- Haiku Sequence

Passing Clouds

 

the empty priory –

curtains of rain swirling

around the cauldron

 

nettles grasp higher –

children once played

by a glowing hearth

 

lonely obelisk –

a happy childhood

lost in the dark*

 

a gate left open –

sheep float in regiments

down the sunken lane

 

the sun’s spotlight

falls on a rebellious ewe –

free from the crowd

 

clouds scud past

the giant’s staircase –

no turning back

 

an overgrown path

through dying bracken –

we neglect the way

 

a sheep’s skull –

bones washed clean

by the downpour

 

The haiku sequence was written during a walking trip in the Brecon Beacons in Wales, UK. *Haiku refers to Tommy Jones, a five-year-old boy who became lost in the dark and died on Pen y Fan in the summer of 1900. An obelisk is present as a memorial.