SPRING Animals

A Dictionary of Haiku
Jane Reichhold

abalone

shades of art deco
lying on the beach
abalone shells

mouths
dissolving rock faces
abalone

colors of seafoam
in the abalone
a cup of fog

anemone

tides turning
anemone
open

barnacles

designing barnacles
foam on the shore
of shells

bees

still stinging
yesterday's bee
dead

bees at the oasis
bringing desert sun
in to drink

bee lines
exciting the air
between flowers

beetles

a bulldozer
the small black bug
backs up

baby birds

breakfast
fat lips of baby birds
open the day

picnic in the woods
papa brings a prize bug
to baby birds

baby rabbits

morning magic show
now you see the baby rabbits
now you don't

the ears of a rabbit
aglow in the morning sun
and down a hole

birds

sunrise
on the ridge a white ring
around a bird's eye

birds
filled with air
fly into it

the tempest returns
to a rain puddle
a bathing bird

bird feathers

bird feathers
in the night sound
spring rain

fading the colors
of a peacock feather
an iris blooms

joined by listening
the breath of disciples
in baby birds

bird song

above the snow
at the level of bird song
spring begins

from afar
a bird's beak opening
the gentle air

adding scrollwork
to a summer morning
bird song

white sparks
from a bird's beak
the first notes

air of rain
filled with drops
of bird song

bird call
two notes
of my pulse

between rocks
at low tide
bird song

first light
in dawn's forest
a bird peeps

geometry of birds
in the clearing a triangle
of call to call

the guru speaks
the microphone picks up
bird song

bird song
nights
where you touch me

bird song
the wordless poems
of early morning

sunset
the last light
bird song

thunder smashing
bird song against the earth
petals on the ground

twilight
the calls of birds
growing dark

blackbirds - red-winged

blackbirds
tying cattails
to the sky

not yet spring
a blackbird leaves a branch
shivering

bluebirds

dawn song
the sky lightened
by bluebirds

blue jays

raindrops
the pitter-patter
of blue jays

bordering
the wooded path
blue jay cries

caterpillar

my eye
the spot on the larva's back
where wings emerge

cat

dry scraping
cat paws on a wooden floor
early morning rain

my chair
too small for the cat
by a tail and a leg

two feet plus two feet
the cat jumps down
to the chair's four feet

all the edges
of a yellow cat
all cat

free-to-a-good-home
turns out to be
full of kittens

in the dark
the young cat
full of kittens

a yellow cat
stalking the coward
in the mirror

pacemaker
old puss purrs
on his chest

toothbrushes
the swish of cat claw
in attack

listening to Mozart
with her tail over her nose
the cat's ears flatten

the kittenless cat
her uneasiness at dusk
petted by grandma

a radiance
clinging to the ends
of cat hair

black and jagged
in the yellow cat's mouth
a mewing bird

curled up asleep
the cat after eating
a snake

paint brushes
Lilac the cat drinks
rose water

the cat
wants in and out
April snow

moving tall grass
on a wind-rippled hill
cat fur

bird song
eaten by the silence
of a cat

the guru speaks
a cat climbs a ladder
to sit on the roof

open window
the cat stares into space
as the guru speaks

the guru murmurs
two cats fight
over a dead bird

violin concert
the cat scratches her tummy
and walks out

Beethoven's Fifth
the cat gives birth
to another kitten

looking the same
the now-tuned harp
well-fed cat

paw print
catching the morning sun
in wet sand

a sitting cat
her one eye reading
my book

white whiskers
a spray of milk
on a pink tongue

a cat dreaming
her striped tail switches
into a snake

the old cat
too sick
to cover it up

a sliver moon
sinking into delirium
the sick cat

among the stars
unseen planets
the cat dies

cats in love

up and down
on wooden stairs
cats in love

howling desert winds
in salt cedar trees
mating cats

howling tomcats
two old guys discussing
impotence

chicks

bulging
within an egg the chick's
blind eye

chickadees

sprinkles
between raindrops
chickadees

cormorant

a black rock
the sea wave explodes
a crown of cormorants

cows

leaving cows
on a sea cliff meadow
a tiny man

sea cliff meadows
heavy fog lifting
two ... no, ten cows

crab

crab balls
on the menu - no wonder
they walk funny

crane

raising his foot
a crane scatters stars
sunk in the pond

cuckoo

knowing of cuckoos
I refuse to send to her
a Mother's Day card

eagle

tense neck muscles
watching the eagle
in morning's swift flight

eggs

within this egg
festival of the seventh day
a heart beats

fawn

morning
wearing the gentle colors
of baby deer

thunderstorm
covered with a caul
the fawn is born

after a thunderstorm
drops slide down her flanks
the fawn is born

firefly

lightning
fireflies peek at themselves
in a puddle

fish

a waning moon
scales of a ling cod
fly from a knife

carp banners
in the slipstream
of spring

young
the lily pads you can see through
white koi fish

river ripples
in the tiniest
fish scales

finches

chirping here and there
finches draw magic diagrams
in the spring air

frogs

a rain barrel
overflowing
one frog

ocean's roar
a sound in the frog's mouth
home again

billowing
frog voices in spring air
damask curtains

scattered clouds
shaped by frogs
croaking

twilight
neither night nor day
frogs and bats

abandoned theater
the moon spotlights
a frog-prince

in the shallows
a child learns to swim
by frog eyes

frogs
sitting in the river
all of us

creaking voice
frog joints as stiff as mine
rainy days

pond ripples
heartbeat of a frozen frog
warms again

a new puddle
frogs joining
old star light

frog silence
pond shadow
in my ear

monks chanting
only at first are they
still temple frogs

frogs
naming the first stars
aloud

quiet waters
frogs all listening
to my shower

leaping into the river
the frog watches me
still as a rock

grunion

floating the moon
the silver tide of grunion
ride on the beach

gulls

sea gulls
soaring above cliffs
freshly painted

morning light
from dark rock crevices
gull wings

rounds
a sea gull circles
surf songs

high winds
blowing gulls
into blue-white

hermit crabs

ebb tide
shells walking into the sea
hermit crabs

a hermit crab
having for breakfast
someone else

borrowed shell
taking home a fluted whelk
and hermit crab

heifers

taste of butter
heifers in the meadow
sunshine flowers

hummingbirds

spinning mobile
home to hummingbirds
unmoved

humming bird wings
the rhododendron blossom
that flutters

killdeer

waiting for the wave
the killdeer practices
his cry of surprise

kitten

curtains
calico
with kittens

lambs

twin lambs
newborn in the wide meadow
stand touching

evening
climbing a gentle hill
lamb and mother

the cry
sleet turning to snow
a newborn lamb

sheep folds
squeezing out
a newborn lamb

parting fog
on wind barren meadows
birth of a lamb

larks

rivers to the sea
bending with the songs
of meadow larks

shell-veined
breast of a lark swelling
sea cliff meadows

soaring
the bird out flies
its name

larva

bubbles
larva in pond scum
fly away

limpets

cold wind
on the beach only limpets
feel at home

migrating birds' return

whispering welcome
to our winter-weary selves
returning geese

milk goats

goats to be milked
lower under heavy skies
bucket cloudy white

minnows

minnows
rippling river sand
two-year old toes

spring
minnows patterned
by fallen leaves

a point of land
out in the river
a minnow

moth

cloudy dawn
on my pillow
moth wing dust

nest

in a mouse nest
one pink nose
on a cat

spring floods
tiny fishes swimming by
a bird's nest

nest
filled with spring time
eggs

forming eggs
the roundness of a breast
in a nest

silence
around a bird
the nest

lady carpenter
by her house the bluebird
builds her nest

within a shell
eggs laid warm
in a hollow nest

nightingale

shadows hatched
nightingales
in morning light

oyster

oyster barbecue
a mother of six watches
the pile of shells

pony

moving into the sun
the pony takes with him
some mountain shadow

feeding her ponies
all of her stories
the precious hours

the pony's path
good luck signs
each step

spring winds
running over the pasture
lift the pony's tail

puppies

free puppies' eyes
in dirty store windows
filmy blue

ebb tide
a young puppy searching
for place to pee

robin

blushing a bit
the rising spring sun
on the robin's breast

at the bird feeder
robins fighting
over wives

she doesn't notice
a child with the doll carriage
the mother robin

a robin sings
as if it was he
who planted the garden

rooster

a rooster crows
by just that much
the day is longer

salamanders

tiny salamander
a look as long and ancient
as your mating

sea shells

silence
from a sea shell
a heart's mirror

a whorled shell
pale ear pressed in sand
surf sounds

in one sky
x-ray photos of sea shells
wet wisps of fog

sea lions

sea lions bark
and then turn back
the sea is pink

sea lions bark
their breath comes ashore
as mist

shorn sheep

into the sunny meadow
shorn sheep covered
with night cold

after the storm
small waves on sea meadows
meek sheep

days of the week
sheep enter the fold
of night

white waves splash
on the hillside
scattered sheep

slugs

sleeping late
on the doorstep
two slugs

waiting for rain
the slow way slugs
make love

snails - land

a phi-based spiral
unwinds a snail's
slippery path

snails - sea

periwinkles
signing secret names
in wet sand

snake

following a snake
the river wiggles
down canyon

squatters rights
debated by the snake
in the lettuce

nervous
the thin weed touched
by a snake

winding the road
a snake
into a flat tire

sparrows

a twitter
nest-building sparrows
a passing shower

spider - spring

door chimes
the spring spider moves
 eight legs

rainbows
sunlight segmented
by a spring spider

starfish

a day moon
on glistening low-tide rocks
golden starfish

lying on the beach
arms spread - legs together
a starfish

sailing
to dream the dreams
of starfish

curve of the sea
fitting into the dome of sky
starfish

starfish
seeing blue sky
for the first time

stork

storks have returned
suddenly this old barn roof
brooding

swallows

home again
fluttering in the eaves
barn swallows

spotlessly clean
the swallow's nest
made of mud

from the broken bell
the chatter of swallows
nest building

tadpoles

dark barrel
sun in the tadpole's mouth
metamorphosing

on the same day
tadpoles get their hind legs
bulging eyes

clouds on the pond
popped by kisses of tadpoles
coming up for air

termites

strange faces
in wind-curved cypress
termites

ticks

fresh picked
a bouquet of flowers alive
with ticks

thrush

pouring drops
from pitcher to inkstone
a thrush sings

rain falling
the thrush pulls up a worm
inch by inch

Continue on to SPRING Plants.