WINTER Occasions
A Dictionary of Haiku
Jane Reichhold
baking for Christmas
cloves and nutmeg
grandma separated yolks
with one hand
first frost
cutting out cookies
with sugared tops
winter air
warmed in the kitchen
toasted bagels
winter dawn
all the bright stars
in cookie jars
California Christmas
Mendocino hills
green for Christmas
new lambs
Mendocino Christmas
on spring-green meadows
red jersey cows
deserted beach
couple in driftwood den
trim a flotsam tree
Mendocino Christmas
among snowy egrets
flakes of pussy willows
Christmas carols
in L.A. the air conditioner
hums along
Christmas Eve
Star of the West
Point Arena Lighthouse
sea side Christmas
shore pines bright with mist
at the lighthouse
celebrating the solstice
a solstice moon
13 women around a drum
the old circles us
Christmas bazaar
Christmas bazaar
the carefully tied bow
crooked
Christmas bells
Christmas bells
pouring excitement
into the air
Christmas carols
in the old folks' home
practicing Christmas carols
children again
howling sea winds
Christmas carols
sung by the local choir
Christmas Day
Christmas
a sleigh draws homeward
all my thoughts
coming ashore
on Christmas Day
pure white waves
Christmas
in the driest places
desert holly
Christmas day
a waiting at the roots
of pine trees
Christmas dinner
still warm
two crows by roadkill
covered with ice
the picnic table
on Christmas Day
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve
a life time of habits
not sleeping
Christmas Eve
out of the sea storm
a lighthouse
Christmas Eve
sea rocks unmoved
by the storm
Christmas Eve
out of the dark
hail
Christmas Eve
hail
"Peace on Earth"
Christmas Eve
the batteries left on
all night
Christmas Eve
only star
a foghorn
Christmas lights
holiday ridge
points of candlelight and
stars
Christmas lights
shining in the sun
their unbelief
Christmas lights
in the thick pine forest
a rising moon
Christmas play
Christmas play
afterwards all the stars
on the school bus
Christmas shopping
Christmas gifts
what to buy
for someone dying
Christmas tree
cash crop
Jesuit priests peddle
Christmas trees
Christmas tree out
cleaning the room
for spring
in the corner
where the Christmas tree gloried
crooked chair shadows
sending/receiving cards
Christmas day
near-by a squirrel poses
on a greeting card
snow falling
the long awaited letter
on its way
letters written
with a thick nubbed pen
storm trees
trimming the tree
Christmas ornaments
bought that year
we didn't come home
Christmas ornaments
last year's dust
wrapped in tissue
Valentine's Day
unwrapping
Valentine gifts
naked
brand new
Valentine's gift
herpes
married in the cold month
sea foam freezes
on the rocks
white Christmas
my white Christmas
only under the branches
of the snowberry bush
Winter Solstice
winter solstice
the white night alone
with rolling surf
winter solstice
the sun in the south
with old folks
south sun
December's horizon
rolled in fog
winter solstice
the sun at its own
birthday party
for winter solstice
bumpy as an orange
moonset
winter solstice
warmth of friends
return the sun
winter solstice
greeting like souls
the sun returns
winter solstice
a white eve alone
with a wild surf
heavy clouds
winter solstice brightens
lightning
after the solstice
cleaning the house
trimming wicks
winter solstice
finding a new point
for acupressure
winter solstice
so low in the trees its return
just stays
wrapping gifts
Christmas gifts
wrapped in white tissue
mist-covered mountains
wrapping gifts
a whale swims by
covered with barnacles
Continue to WINTER Celestial.