Sunday 24 August 2008

By the canal

a church bell tolls -
a pair of mallards
on the water.

The canal banks are full of flowers, hairy and rosebay willowherbs, birdsfoot and hop trefoils, tufted and bush vetches, angelica. Hoverflies and bees move from plant to plant. Numerous sparrows chirp from the hawthorn hedges, annoyingly unripe elderberries and brambles hang just out of reach.

Tiny fish wriggle in the water, pondskaters whirl on the surface. A family of swans glides by, the offspring grey and adolescent.

thistledown
floats above the water -
robin's autumn song.


Along the Union Canal, Edinburgh

17 comments:

Art and Poetry said...

Very nice draws a lovely picture!

Odessa said...

both haikus are very serene. i want to sit by this canal banks now.

Rima Staines said...

Greetings Juliet and thank you for visiting me :) Glad you enjoyed your Hermitage wander ...
Your words here are lovely :)
Pleased to meet you
Best wishes from this side of Scotland to That
Rima

Anonymous said...

You've got a gift for haiku -- the three lines create a living image of a moment.

polona said...

this works so well... it's almost like i walked with you...

mister M said...

Hello Juliet I am happy to discover your blog or the words play with the images and feel
( my English is not good)

Roxana said...

hi juliet, thank you again for coming to look at my pictures :-)

I love haikus but cannot write any, I seem to need to many words... I especially liked this simple but intense image: A family of swans glides by, the offspring grey and adolescent.

Roxana said...

oh and I forget, thank you for taking the time to link those flowers, it was a great help and I enjoyed it very much :-)

magiceye said...

the vivid imagersy is lovely!

d. moll, l.ac. said...

the mallards are awfully nice. Is it still a Bun Haiku if there is Haiku on either end of the prose?

The Weaver of Grass said...

I love this mixture of poetry and prose - it somehow makes the imagery very vivid - it is a most restful piece - it floats along.

Bill said...

Nice images, strongly suggestive of the season.

Crafty Green Poet said...

art and poetry, odessa, polona, nathan, roxana, magiceye, bill, weaver of grass - thanks

rima - thanks for visiting me back, pleased to meet you too!

mister m - ah probably better than my French!

d.moll - as far as I know the haiku can go anywhere in a haibun,

Anonymous said...

Thank you for yet again bringing me vividly back to my Edinburgh days - I used to love cycling along the canals!

mansuetude said...

this is like you took a photo, with love and emotion, it drew inside as i read your words. Thanks.

Janice Thomson said...

Delightful and tranquil imagery in this whole piece.
Love the seedpods of the Bird's Foot! As always I so enjoy your links too :)

Cynthia said...

simply soothing.