Haiku sonnet for mid-winter

Winter sun struggles
too thin too pale birds shiver
peck at ice crystals

veil of frozen mist
that filters gold and silver
deposits hoarfrost.

Feathers ruffle in
silence songs saved for next spring
I hear a leaf fall

the only other
sounds sharp as ice-crack twig-snap
hunting dogs’ hot breath

bleak mid-winter’s talon-grip
the shriek of sudden small deaths.

Haiku sonnet for sunset

Sun setting a pause
in the cycle in-taken
breath slowly let out

even the wind is
hushed twilight colours muted
only jays still screech.

Listen to the earth
shift into darkness night feet
patter on dead leaves.

Moon or stars the sky
is alive with light dancing
not sleeping—fox barks

shadows smooth day’s rough edges
soft as warm fur, bright feathers.

How did it go?

I don’t write much haiku, they seem complicated to get just right, but the idea of linking four of them into a sonnet is interesting. I was expecting the form to link four individual haiku, but reading the examples, it seems as though the stanzas are connected by run-ons and not self-contained poems. I decided to write four haiku as I understand the form, with a two line envoi. The first attempt gave a poem of four linked haiku, but without the effect of a sonnet, so I had another go which I think works in a sort of volta.

Jane Dougherty

City Winter

Skies darken early
Frost sparkles in city lights
Gentle sleet falling
Clouds clear, moon peeks through
Air still, cold, hardens the ground
Dresses cars in white
Padding in fresh snow
Footprints stop; keen pink nose sniffs
Cat finds a way home
Hiding in shadow
Sleeping on merciless streets
Wrapped in old newsprint
Stars and planets still revolve
The morning sun can’t wake him

How did it go?

This should have been easy for me. I love haikus and have written loads. However putting this together was an issue because I couldn’t find a subject to hang it on. That is, until I saw a homeless man and his dog outside TK Maxx in Sheffield yesterday. With a nod to Wilfred Owen’s Futility.

Tim Fellows

Kaleidoscope Dreams

Imagine floating
In a kaleidoscope
Where all the colours

Dance around the light
Reflecting patterns of life
That were lost before

In forgotten days
When life was multicoloured,
Wild and exciting.

Find that special place
Inside your mind and hold it still
So you can be there

Any time at all
In kaleidoscope dreams

Amanda Samm

Bios and links:

Amanda Samm

Amanda enjoys the challenge of poetry forms, especially Haiku and sonnets, so this was a great chance to try something new. “Kaleidoscope” and “Dreams” are her two favourite words at the moment so getting them both into this poem was a bonus.