AUTUMN Plants

A Dictionary of Haiku
Jane Reichhold

acorns

oak grove picnic
slow sound of our chewing
acorns falling

jokes in an oak grove
as acorns fall down
over our laughing

apples

dad on high
dropping from his trees
apples for lunch

southern sunset
filling the apple bin
a deeper red

applesauce
the cinnamon glow
of a kerosene lamp

windfall apples
palaces for worms
American pie

dad gone two years
still he cares
with apples/pears

baskets in a row
overflowing with apples
on one a sweater

straight falling rain
tiny lakes upon the tree
stem hollows of apples

asters

broken by the storm
the asters' fragrance rises
out of damp earth

bare bushes

amid bare bushes
the flash of a woman's flanks
squatting to pee

bare trees

darkness
winding the river road
bare trees

roots in the sky
the bare tree turns
an upside down day

abandoned orchard
bare branches
full of apples

hidden all summer
among the oak branches
my neighbor's house

autumn storm
the neighbor closer
by a bare tree

from the wind
the flute lesson
of a bare tree

a frosty night
in all the trees
such a letting go

autumn
the bloodless wounds
of farewell and leaves

touching a tree
in palm the sound
of its bark

berries

picking berries
the brown bear
of a neighbor

brown bracken

autumn sun
lying in brown bracken
both of us

mountain spring
a fall of fern
in autumn

leaving new friends
to return home among
dried sword ferns

buckeyes

higher education
from the school yard
these two buckeyes

burrs

an old friend
chinquapin burrs open
on smooth fruits

cactus

cactus patch
enlightenment comes with
getting the point

at the point
of enlightenment
holy cross cholla

chestnuts

chestnuts we gathered
as they warm the memories
of Italian sunshine

meeting an old friend
chestnut burrs pressed
in our folded hands

chrysanthemum

falling down
the mums not picked
because you are gone

autumn rain
above the dialysis machine
a withered mum

frost-tipped mums
gathered in withered arms
with black sleeves

all in black
she stoops to save
frost-tipped mums

chrysanthemums
with them in the room
I cannot close my eyes

cotton fields

fall fashions
the tweedy patterns
in cotton fields

cottonwoods

canyon crevice
out of red rock water flows
into a golden tree

cottonwood
in the leafless limbs
starlings

autumn evenings
cottonwood trees
seem too cool

cottonwood trees
the dry sound of rain
along the river

at the oasis
wearing the coolness
of willow and cottonwood

late rains
high in a river tree
autumn gold leaves

river of gold
sunning with cottonwoods
Virgin River

corn

harvest moon
a bulging corn crib
releases it

dried weeds

small weeds
finding shadows
for the night

autumn
down the length
of tall grass

dried weeds
a nameless spider
loses his shadow

wild squaw grass
wind twining the slenderness
with shafts of sunlight

withered grass
a crow stretches his eye
over hanging heads

ridge top
burnished grasses
the monk's pate

driftwood

"Dear Mom"
her letter on a driftwood stick
washed out to sea

the way! the ocean
arranges driftwood logs
on a deserted beach

driftwood
bright with burning
stars

Sunday visitors
admiring sculptured driftwood
in the town square

high tide
the secret script of driftwood
writing itself

driftwood
silver sea mists
petrified

on the island
no one goes to
driftwood

fallen leaves

falling
down all sides of the mountain
leaves

nude in the river
a dirty old leaf
touches my thigh

very drunk
bright leaves
fall into a heap

a gust of wind
tossed back into the sky
fallen leaves

in frozen mud
the imprint of a long leaf
lying somewhere else

on the ground
leaves from one tall tree
three inches deep

a swimming hole
filled with the cold
of fallen leaves

drawing boats
on each leaf
ribs in water

sound
from the lizard's voiceless throat
dry leaves

among fallen leaves
a voice from the neighbor's yard
scraping cement

autumn
mountain climbers
one leaf falls

garlic

cloves of garlic
arguing voices
braided together

golden leaves

old-timers
finding golden autumn
most lovely

blown leaves
turning the sunlight
from green to gold

riversong
wind blown from autumn trees
a stream of gold

autumn leaves
along with with sunset
a blaze of glory

weeping rock
in autumn dried leaves
gold

low autumn sun
rolling over red rocks
golden trees

late rains
high in a river tree
autumn gold leaves

heather

nearness of hills
undulating in the garden
tufts of heather

patchwork quilt
the rumpled beds
of heather

huckleberry

picking huckleberries
afterwards the lessons
in braille

huckleberries
in her smile
purple teeth

huckleberries
in redwood shadows
round and tart

mountain evening
in a huckleberry sky
the smell of pie

maples

into autumn trees
a rain-wet road winds
sky colors

autumn hills
a mountain of leaves
down from maples

Vermont trip
maples color the back roads
of California

maples
because they are admired most
when their leaves are old

autumn colors
in a redwood grove
one maple afire

stone lantern
dark before the flaming
maple

mushrooms

looking closely
under the mushroom
a desert landscape

woman in the woods
touching mushrooms
touching the base

onions

teary halos
round the moon
onion rings

cutting an onion
all the halos
fall in the soup

pampas grass plumes

sun from the sea
swept up the hills
with pampas grass

pampas grass plumes
the color calls from the west
autumn winds

ribbons of moonlight
glowing out of the earth
pampas grass

pear

salt in a cellar
at seven the mirror frame
a mottled pear

pears
coloring themselves
the days of summer

persimmons

persimmons
their roundness softens
rice stubble

red-breasted birds
among ripe persimmons
hiding from the cold

plums - fallen

fallen plums
at the end of the dog's nose
cold and wet

potato

under dark earth
dusty white potatoes
the moon rises

pumpkins

grins
harvested
pumpkins

redwoods

a redwood falls
the air of heaven
laid low

giant forest
approaching night
in the redwoods

without a step
giant redwoods going
up the mountain

redwood roots
the base thickens
enters the earth

redwoods
her inheritance
with wind in it

running up and down
the tallest redwood
only my eye

volcanic ash
three and a half million years old
saving the redwoods

redwoods cathedral
darkening the apse
a circle of trees

in a tower
redwoods still growing
shelter

among these redwoods
growing old seems
rather honorable

sage

evening stretches
over desert gold
purple sage

Cathedral Canyon
under Christ's picture
wild sage

smoke trees

fire red
without its flower
the smoke tree

smoke trees
rising to sound
in high caves

straw

braided rice straw
I find a photo
of your lover

sycamores

in back of the school
yellow leaves of sycamore
an acid burn

tarweeds

tar weeds
along the road
covered with it

unripe fruit

alone
picking green tomatoes
before the frost

sea oats
bent by the north wind
barely ripens

tree leaves fall

strange land
hanging in mid-air I am
as leaves in the larch

leaves caught
in cages of limbs
escape

bent grass
the shape of the apple tree
in brown leaves

before falling
dusty yellow leaves
freshened by rain

leaves fall
the air filled
with church bells

vines

fruitless vines
going out of their way to repair
the broken wicker chair

driftwood
taking root in the river
vines

willow leaves fall

autumn sun
under willows
a yellow leaf

Continue to A Dictionary of Haiku Classified by Season Words with Traditional and Modern Methods for another season.