WINTER Terrestrial

A Dictionary of Haiku
Jane Reichhold

beach

stony sand
coming and going
winter waves

a crust of snow
seaweed flung high
by the night tide

storm-tossed waves
edged with foam
breaking sand

people who die
when the sea is full
a row of foam

beach pebble
round with its years
in the making

waves
break and foam
yet stars

in and out
of the driftwood lair
gull tracks

beach-blown
rainbows in sea foam
sand crystals

a winter's day
suddenly the sun
at a beach picnic

beach laid dark
by low tide now covered
with night waters

high on the hill
the earth smiles
a bay beach

February sun
lying on the nude beach
fully clothed

a stick
poking holes in sand
the beach I Ching

the swish of surf
falling snowflakes
have a sound

winter beach
in thin white clouds
thoughts of snow

brooks

deep in winter
the babbling brook
white as stone

bubbles in ice
holding till spring
the voice of the brook

the mountain brook
still with listening
winter winds

canyon

winter warm
red canyon walls hold
the low sun

cave

night mirror
the mouth of a cave
open - pale

cliffs

frozen cliffs
swept by lighthouse beams
soft in the dark

giant waves
sea cliff rocks
summer sea secure

high tossed mists
warmed in morning sun
above winter cliffs

after the storm
sandstone cliffs relax pebbles
into the beach

high tide
brings storm waves
to cliff dwellers

sea spray
the cliff laced
by crystal

north wind
reducing the cliffs
by a splashed wave

night wheels
the rolling surf
crashes on cliffs

hill dwellers
winters stormy seas
carving the coast

crater

crater rim
white with snow
our lips cold

crystal

crystal veins
in the darkest rock
stars

rocks
crystallize
sand

living rock
in veins of crystal
waterfalls

desert

winter desert
forgotten the heat
of cinder paths

desert vista
in silence between us
the little heat

windows
in the cinder rocks
wind ohs

dike

the cutting cold
pulled up on a dike
a silver canoe

ditches

winter leaves
in the ditch a glove
without a hand

dunes

wind
song that curves
dunes

fields

a field of snow
fenced in by fields
of snow

wind-filled snow
now brushing the eaves
now sweeping fields

snowy fields
in a row of winter trees
veins of leaves

the winter moon
diminishing into snowflakes
open fields

fields of bones
beyond the cemetery
white with snow

dark fences
encircling the snowy field
eyelashes blink

snow and moonlight
fill the open field
sky high

snow fields
half-melted
a quarter moon

her long thumbnail
fallow fields lie empty
with snow

stitching together
now-covered fields
blackbird wings

warming
the corner of winter's field
an unattended fire

nuns
all old women who work
fenced in fields

forests

a whiteness
in and out of the woods
as flakes

frozen ground

frost
on the granite
gravel

light spilling
into a waterfall
frost

gardens

tiny gardens
huddle together in winter
on the windowsills

glacier

glacier gorge
after the snowstorm
empty with light

nap time
warm on a granite wall
glacier marks

glacier
rounding rocks
now a woman

under low clouds
evening sky glacier
cools the wind

a journey ends
where the glacier melted
a field of stones

granite

granite
without shadow edges
ice on black water

hills

clouds
leaving their shapes
in hills

winter rain
brushing wild hills
a faint green

low winter light
hoarded in red hills
at sunset

hot springs

crystal waters
warmed with the scent
of earth

ancient earth
tiredness of my old body
in hot springs

winter stars
warmed in mineral baths
foggy

dreams
from hot mineral baths
a bright lava flow

winter night
joining us in the bath
foggy stars

ice

silence
ice all by itself
squeaks

crystals
designed in dark cold time
ice cubes

out of a rock
water flows with history
rimmed with frost

icicles

icicles hang
yet above my face
her naked breasts

islands

windless days
surrounding the islands
in deep sleep

winter morning surf
brings to cold sand
a ruddy glow

tapered
the knife lies in the river
an island untouched

jasper

red and black
jasper and obsidian
from a volcano

jasper
volcanic gift of healing
from earth fires

fire spirits
gift
jasper nuggets

lake

a glare of ice
to walk without a path
the frozen lake

snowstorm
dropping white skies
into a lake

the lake thawing
an image of a woman
awaking

tufa towers
reflecting in the lake
volcanoes

- Mono Lake

sunrise
burning in the salt sea
a pillar of light

fire spirits
underwater architecture
comes to light

mountain

winter-bound peaks
the snow not melted
by our gazing

snow-capped peaks
sun setting fires
with fog-smoke

out of snow
sun sets mountain peaks
a fire

snow-covered
sweet water mountains
rising upward

mountains
folding in the sky
blue snow shadows

north wind
guardian of the narrows
bares the trees

without a guardrail
the tumble-down place
where cars go over

faults
folding mountains
unfolding history

nothing to wear
just clouds
covering mountains

as in the sky
mountain snowfields
trackless

mountain cabin

mountain cabin
a wedge of winter sunlight
pushes in the doorway

mountain passes

closing the mind
the sameness of gates
mountain passes

ocean

snow blowing
far from the ocean an aching ear
stuffed with cotton

arctic snowfields blow
across sky-blue waters
white caps

where the sun sank
a ship sails cool
on western waters

winter sun
waving the ocean's brightness
a blue-white flag

winter white
on the ocean's block of blue
melting crust of foam

storm-washed sea
each flat wave
a dirty gray

pounding the beach
with storm wild waves
the foghorn

storm waves
falling from angel shoulders
sea spray

all night
the sound of waves
purple silk

cold winter ocean
warms spindrift
in the sun

winter ocean tossing
spindrift over the cliff
into morning sun

curving waves
sleep carries us away
all night

wave songs
pound upon eyelids
sleep

dark blue lines
in a salt sea
dreams

sea ironed black
stars hang at the edge
of winter

ocean waves
and things that sleep
so words can hold them still

kneading dough
silent in the window
wild surf rolls

sea winds
a rush and noise
learned from water

silence
between crashing waves
white foam

a flow of snow
returning the wave
foaming surf

winter waves
playing tag
with old folks

winter waves
crowning plumes
of white spray

a sunny corner
all the winter winds
in white waves

seaside town
emptied at night
by a roaring tide

midnight air
pounded seas
a throbbing

tearing night
wild surf rolls in
morning light

wild surf
on glistening wings
harp rhythms

wild surf
sea and earth
singing air

snowfields
whiteness at high tide
the surf

snowy hill
stretches the unbroken field
curving it just a bit

wild seas
footprints fill
with foam

listening to sea waves
the cup of tea also
tastes cold

surface tension
the smooth ocean
a sacred mirror

obsidian 

snow-covered peaks
covered with blackness
obsidian fields

peninsula

a peninsula
the gulls carry their name
from sea to sea

land's end
pushing into the sea
white water

pond

the old pond
how snugly it fits
new ice

winter millpond
the moon cuts wavelets
in silver slivers

in time
oars dipping
into winter

rivers

upstream
the solstice moon has frozen
the river

sun shine
in a drop of melting snow
the river black

rocks frozen in snow
a lonely woman stares
at the river's cold

snow-capped rocks
above the river's current
nimbus

surf tongue
a whispering roar
in the river's mouth

each day anew
river's mouth finds
the sea

river mouth
rushing to the sea
curves a smile

suspension bridge
so narrow my shadow
waits on shore

his days measured
a river flowing
across the sky

mouth open
dangerous as the river ends
in ocean waves

snow

late leaves
skidding over frozen snow
yesterday's news

bright earth
filling to the ceiling
snow-cold

cushions
on summer chairs
snow

bright aura
everything covered
with snow

mountain air
crystallized by snow
and granite

snow-capped peaks
on the desert floor white clouds
of alkali dust

windowsill
piled with snow
far ridges

almost a mountain
the hills grow up
with snowdrifts

dark place in snow
the bag of coal
now white itself

cloud shadows
the sky's footprints
on mountain snow

cold night
stacks on the woodpile
a cover of snow

snowbound

snowbound
the lake also
disappeared

snowbound
fire spirits
in a salt lake

snowbound
all the colors
quiet

stones

heart of an agate
slivered with polishing
turns to the sun

a quartz crystal
light years ago
keeping time

facing the sea
weathered rocks of age
wrinkled and gray

painted stones
tree shadows
not moving

bubbling out of the sea
rock burned black
a million years ago

soft round mounting
a rock the sea leaves
it jagged

curved straight
a sea rock spreads
white spray wing

silence of stones
songs sung low
and slow

unheated seas
dark rocks dissolve
into evening mists

high tide
water covers rocks
as sleep

waves breaking
the ragged shore
into sea rocks

white
alone on a dark rock
with small waves

crystal clear
the rainbow colors
of his shining

low winter sun
lights a fire
in a stone circle

wind echo
in round rocks
crystals

desert wash
every sized crystal
clear light

trees
scattered in the soil
petrified

massive rocks
wind sounds pushed
into the pines

shoreline rocks
loosening the wind's roar
from each wave

water dripping
stories etched on rock
howl in the wind

dragon jaw
biting winds claw
off-shore rocks

sun warms rock
winter storms swept bare
of frost flowers

rocks
record players
of time

old society dame
a lifetime of faces
studies the rock

long shadows
stumbling over rocks
on the way home

Death Valley
oldest rocks on earth
writer's block

pushing sunshine
into dark seas
slanted rocks

ancient river
draws a white line
in the tiniest stone

winter carves
in mountain rocks
deep shadow

centuries of stone
your voice echoes
forever

resting on a rock
by a snow-melt stream
winter-cold butt

low tide rocks
bubbling out of the sea
still lava

valley

fog
in the valleys
cold hands

white winds
from snowy peaks
cover the valley

wide desert valleys
push apart peaks
soul bodies

winter shadow
a low mountain fills
the wide valley

streets/roads

icy streets
today of all days
his first steps

half-frozen ice
how the idiot fixes
his wayward feet

roads
in winter
stream

volcano

snow-clouds
the cooled fires
of volcanoes

passive
an extinct volcano
covered with snow

fire spirits
making mountains
out of volcanoes

volcanoes
covered with pure clouds
silent fires

jagged peaks
swirling their fires
into clouds

clouds
swirling their fires
into jagged peaks

walls

a brick wall
splintered by frost
back to the earth

orange winter
windows beginning to dream
night fears awaken

riverstone house
water pushes snow drifts
into walls

river-rock house
at night the walls
a babbling brook

city walls
of no one
sunless dark

waterfalls

noises
the mossy parts
of a waterfall

snow pond
Yosemite spring time
a waterfalling

falling
into water smoke
snow melt

rocks bending
sound paths
of the waterfall

from living rock
the purity of snow
waterrise

sunshine
pouring down the canyon wall
snow-melt waterfall

upward spiral
wind pushed the waterfall
into a cloud

sunshine
carves the rock
snow-melt waterfall

well

moving up
in the falling rain
our empty well

Continue on to WINTER Livelihood.