WINTER Animals

A Dictionary of Haiku
Jane Reichhold

barnyard animals

cows in the barn
the wet eye in the meadow
frozen shut

bear

tall tales
of bears on the ridge
a garbage can tips

winter day
as a hairless bear
sleeping sleeping

black birds

flying from the branch
sun in a bird's wing
a shower of snow

blackbirds leaving
on bare winter wands
pussy willows

winter birds
kicking down fireworks
from snowy twigs

arranged
on bare branches
bird songs

bare branch
extended by a bird
in flight

river clouds
clots of black birds
darken the sky

a flutter of wings
yet the bare branch
stays bent

story of a life
in a foreign language
nut hulls on melting snow

drawing cliffs
a black bird
the brush

feathered wing
tips jagged sea
rocks sharp north wind

birds - caged

mirrored
in a bird cage
a child's face

birds - sleeping

winter dawn came
as the sound of blowing snow
sleeping birds

cocoon

thin wet snow
the warm wiggle within
a cocoon

cats - old

what dreams
holding on one's lap
a sleeping cat

dreaming
her quivering paws
still catching mice

into a windy night
the cat takes her cries
to be let in

winter's cat
all of her wants
in my lap

winter stars
cat claws in the screen door
desperately cold

storm wind
in the cat's teeth
meowing

cold
comes to bed at two
the white cat

dog

his dog moves closer
the owner quotes a price
for land and trees

injured dog
all of his words
in one eye

the dog
scratches as owner
his fleas

only vertebrae
the found white flowers
of a pet dog

a barking dog
little bits of night
breaking off

dark voices
of night bushes
a dog barks

a Pekinese
barking at Mozart's aria
then everyone claps

crunch of bones
in the hollow places
between the dog's teeth

retreating waves
a tiny barking dog
has them scared

dolphins

dolphins
arching rainbows
of opal light

doves

hands in the light
at peace demonstrations
the flutter of doves

eagle

eagle soars
beyond boundary lines
a judge on a bench

line of words
holding the day
we saw the eagle

egret

snow white
egrets preen their feathers
by cotton fields

nobility
wading in up to their knees
egrets

an egret
the elegance of patience
in a tide pool

fish

salt sea
the bones of fish
crystallized

red winter's dawn
trout for breakfast
slightly smoked

ripples in water
fish spines
and mine

mountain moon
part of the ice-rimmed pond
eyes of trout

scaling fish
from the waning moon
snowflakes

thawing
frozen fish
caught in summer

geese

shapes of geese
cut from the snowy whiteness
nothing lacking

gull

a sneeze
in the old sea gull's
knobby knees

white surf
lining the coast
a band of gulls

screaming
at the booming surf
a band of gulls

silent sea creatures
feeding
the cries of gulls

passing flock
out of a clear blue sky
cry of a lone gull

visiting sea gulls
on a winter beach
an old couple

winter storm
landing with a sea gull
one feather falls free

sea gulls
the sacred script
in blue

sea gulls
lifting from wild surf
spindrift

shadow on the sea
a wave forming
a gull's wing

herons

a blue heron
staring at
a blue heron

horse

deep snow
the horse walks the paths
of summer

a white cloud
hanging on the horse's nose
to keep warm

riderless horses
in the high road sky
before the storm

with the thaw
buckling the old saddle
on a frisky horse

snowbound
black and white horses
stay in the stall

a white stallion
sea fog on snow
suddenly solid

high-tide beach
filling hoof tracks
horses

my new road
violated by a horse
ridden by a stranger

after days of rain
the first sunbeam on the road
a galloping horse

riding in waves
horse tracks on wet sand
scalloping

monkey

wet monkey hair
organ grinder's tinkley tunes
in a cold rain

mouse

in winter walls
our own mice hoard
the warmth

wind moving grasses
quick as a mouse
stealing seeds

a mouse
immeasurable
in me

the mouse and I share
her nest in the sock drawer
my house in the woods

mussels

high tide
mussel soup
ready to eat

owl

from his tongue
wind tears the screech
of a snow owl

sea fog wings
over coastal hills
a white owl

wind
in the snow owl's wing tips
whoo

moving
a handful of moonlight
the owl's wing

your snoring
the owl answers
some dreams

night skies
on the owl's breast
dawn

Cathedral Canyon
suddenly an Indian maid says
"See the white owl?"

night skies
under the owl's wing
mouse hearts

pig

ham and beet tops
for dinner our neighbor's
pet pig

polar bears

solar cells
in polar bear hairs
ice crystals

plover

thawing
the face of the lake
plovers crying

raccoon

raccoon's silence
emptying garbage can fill
the night with sound

rats

waterfront motel
for $125 a night
watching the rats

salamander

fertilizer sack
hiding the salamander dreams
up more magic

sandpipers

sandpipers
skimming from the beach
silence

sheep - mother

mother sheep
in her mouth melts
hoar frost on grass

sparrow

stop sign
the sparrow lands with a bug
dead in its mouth

starfish

patterns
on the starfish
snow crystals

starlings

notes arranged
on telephone poles
starling songs

three-string banjo
songs of starlings
on telephone wires

tracks in snow

after the dart game
in new fallen snow
deer tracks

on the path
the hop marks of rabbits
wink of snow

thanks for crumbs
scattered on the frozen snow
seed hulls with tracks

vultures

circling us
vultures sense
a rotting marriage

whale

whale migration
mapped
songs

whale songs
long slow straight
grain in wood

quiet sea
only migrating whales
blow

ocean depths
sunlight laces history
in whales

south on highway one
passing whales
headed north

newspaper folded
all eyes drawn seaward
by passing whales

evening
sunsets into the sea
a guide for whales

hot tub steam
in ocean fog
whale songs

whales
following the quarter moon
with half-closed eyes

whales
dividing the ocean
east and west

a wall of water
curves and crashes
a whale

great ears
whale bodies ocean deep
messages

sand and rocks
building whales bones
sea stars

sea surprise
plumes of whale breath
bell buoy clanging

small bumps
on wide blue seas
whales

stars
whales
roadmaps

a high hill
calls to a whale
lighthouse

to sleep
where whales deep
and dolphins play

bones buried
in the backs of whales
their hind legs

floating island
carrying its own cloud of mist
migrating whale

whistling swans
swans winter-over on
the Garcia River delta

whistling swans
birthdeath of a wet year
on a green wing

goose pimples
seeing in winter
many whistling swans

wild duck

the wild duck
as if to shake off frost
the moonlight

winter
coming around the bend
wild ducks

dawn even lighter
than snow covered branches
cry of ducks

winter fly

winter fly
chased by the rainbows
of cut glass

wolf

a night howl
from deep in a wolf
into the dark

woodpecker

tall dead pine
the tiny holes of the woodpecker's
pantry

wren

a small brown wren
trapped in my house
I in my realm

Continue on to WINTER Plants.