Wednesday, 7 April 2010

herring gull haiku

golden evening light -
even the herring gull
looks noble




previously published in Haiku Scotland (possibly also previously posted here, but hey, here it is again!). You can see another herring gull haiku of mine here.

9 comments:

Bill said...

I suppose a herring gull always looks noble to another herring gull.

Or maybe they just don't give a damn.

This catches the transforming power of light very well.

Tommaso Gervasutti said...

To make a conversation on herring gulls, one of my poems on them, many as you can imagine live in my area, in Venice; sorry if it's not so short:


HERRING GULL
( or Van Gogh at his waking )

Its cackling at dawn is an axe
that cuts you
from the last scrap of a dream.
The blue blade through the shutter
is a severe awakening.
In a flash you take in
the drop of red on its yellow beak
and its eye staring in the early sky.
Gone is the root of your being,
the stalk you grabbed in the night field,
the jagged hem of the flower
that made perfect sense.
The cackling grows into a volley
and asks for another grabbing,
the luminous and bitter
jagged edge of the start,
the day in an unquenchable thirst
and your dread of its hanging openness.
Now the cackling harbours
in the throbs of a vast howl,
you hear even the steeples nodding,
the whole air getting stung,
the day’s shore coming forward
with a blue hunger.
It’s time. You stare at a beam
of sunlight on the ceiling
and are gripped by the furrows of the moment
ruthlessly blooming, memory and desire
staring in a lingering gust,
you hear the howl spreading
and blending with the nearing
sea of May light, a countenance
that wants to overlap.
You get up.

Anonymous said...

Maybe, I am not a fan of gulls. I like the poem, though.

James said...

Love it. I don't know herring gulls, but I find gulls fairly noble looking.

Magyar said...

__Soooo many Herring Gulls here, and such a society they maintain...
that elite nobility, to a super-market, parking lot tramp. I love 'em.
__They linger, wherever some sort of food can be found.

parking lot
these herring gulls clamor
donut shop
_m

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

Despite the Herring gull controversy a lovely point has been revealed. Like the new banner too.....

Naquillity said...

golden evening light can illuminate nature in a positive light, can't it? wonderful ku. have a great day.

Kay Baughman said...

In this evening's golden light we had four Reddish Egrets stop for awhile in a fallen tree beside the river--lovely! Your verses make me see more deeply.
-kay

jem said...

against grey skies
the gulls shining
like gods