basho-ki 2003-->












basho-ki 2003

kuniharu shimizu




ALL HAIKU ARE COPYRIGHTED AND ARE PROPERTY OF THE ORIGINAL POETS



Watching. Buzzing. Leap.
Rippling water all around.
Fast tongue. Full stomach.

Lynn Abbey




Wee tiny green frogs
Jumping around my windows
Cute as they can be.

Piers Anthony




toad comes hopping
into my lonely garden
to be my friend

Jim Applegate




old frog
can't jump in pond...
sound of heron swallowing

Mike Baldwin




Eye heard a soft sound
Saw ripples spreading outwards
Basho! playing tricks!

Jan Benson




Ophidian fry
fill a mother's leaf filled sky
raindrops look like stars.

* * *

A fox at the pond
the bullfrog's leg stops twitching
belly stitched in red

* * *

green frog in a hat
peers at the world from under
a red maple leaf.

John Brooks




scientists have now grown
frog's eyes. just the eyes. by themselves.
we scare me.

Coke Brown Jr.




Frog Stares
right eye unblinks
left eye unblinks
world does not back down

Lori Carley




wind shakes loblolly
pine branches shudder above
frogs encased in ice

Mary Margaret Carlisle




A silent bullfrog...
Of what good is such a thing
Just watching me sit... ?

Jim Conrad




brushed by my moonshadow
the frog
leaps away

susan delaney




from the lily pads
come croakings from an old frog ...

too afraid to leap ~

Richard Gamache




dusk at the pond
the deep blare of a bullfrog
through the reeds

* * *

shoku you
gaeru no koe ya
nayami yami


the blare
of a bullfrog--
the worries dissolve

* * *

koibito e
touchuu de
shokuyou kaeru


on the way
to see my lover--
bullfrogs

* * *

solemn children
gaze at the dead frog
on the road

Philip Harding




stone smooth to the touch;
the huge toads of my childhood
under the ivy

* * *

Not a wet brown leaf
At the bridge crossing today:
Dead frog in the sun

Michael Helsem




painted frogs
hop around the guilded rim
no rice

* * *

frog leaves a
jet stream behind
on the still pond

Helen Jones




summer night
a thousand frog songs
Lake Ouachita

Howard Lee Kilby




down by the bog
listening for spring frogs
the only peep . . . sunlight

Joe Kirschner




cicadas begin
followed by a wave of frogs
fireflies keep time

Renetta Hunter Land




a drenched crow huddles
in the papaya tree crown
medley of frogs

* * *

the moon reappears
that cawing sound
is a frog

* * *

night clouds tinged with pink
by the city lights
the frogs are silent

* * *

incessant rain
the house dog's barking
drowns out the frogs

Johannes Manjrekar



frog song-
the heron's favorite
tune

Robert Mestre




cobalt sky--
the croaking of frogs
in dried-out dams

* * *

green tree frogs
singing love songs-
distant wind chimes

* * *

frog calls-
across the darkened pond
a duck’s panicked flight

* * *

by the pool
frogsong
and ten thousand stars


Sue Mill




cattails
a beacon above water
the sound of frogs

Janet Parker




As I went for my walk this morning suddenly Freddia, Annie & I were
caught in a slight rain. I reveled in the much desired shower, not
only taking my time on the trek back home but deliberately
stretching my arms outward... daring someone to witness my
silliness from closed windows. Magnificent! Sweet smell of this
lost love the rain!
    It wan’t long before the doppler effect sounds of coming then
passing motorist concerened me of the little toads hoping along the
roadside. ‘Go on, scoot, get off the pavement I told them. But they
didn’t listen, insisting that I hop along behind them like a fool in
earnest to scoop them up and toss them to the safety of the grassy
culvert. (My dogs would have had acted on the situation in a completely
different manner given half the chance.) So there we were, Freddie,
Annie and me working our way home.. getting splashed by the heavens
and motorist agreeing and disagreeing on how to save a perfectly
content little frog. I smiled wide like an upside down rainbow and
laughed out loud..
    But it wasn’t until I returned home, put on some fresh clothes,
checked my mail, watched part of a cooking show on PBS -which in turn
inspired me to check on the family garden- that I realized what a nice
moment the events of the morning had been. Then, as if to answer my
appreciation, again it began to rain, I decided I would make way to
post construct an encore of sorts.  Cool enough outdoors I prepared the
first cup of coffee I would have all season. I strolled to the backyard,
sat down in a favorite porch swing, watching, listening, feeling the
rain wrap around me and lowered my head in sweet reverence. And then,
without any more ceremony than that, there it was! A small, baby-fist
sized frog lounging in a perfect circular pool of shining rain water...
perhaps there to see that I had made it home alright. The rainbow returned
as the my friend made his way to a new moment.

Rythyms of the rain
plop plop plop, plop... plop, plop, plop,
goes the frog, plop plop.


Tobias H. Reese




Pound Net,
Frogs Felons,
Silence Stillness.


Note: Pound Net...inner compartment of fish trap.

Bill Rick




icy rain falls hard
geese blowing north to south
no frog sound tonight

outside my window
a rain puddle
dog not frog sounds

***

larger than two hands
pulled from inside a tree
biggest in the world found

***
rain forest creature
on the nature channel
five pounds of frog

Brenda Roberts




driving home ~
turning off the radio
to hear frogs sing



Cliff Roberts




spotted desire
lecherous acquisition
randy Ranidae

* * *

lackadaisical
shallow yearly hibernation
one frozen tree frog


Dennis Smith




children watch
a school of tadpoles -
expectant silence


Nancy Stewart Smith




indian summer the new dachshund
meets the patio frog


Johnye Strickland




green and quite tiny
until she moved (not quite sure)
green waters - or weeds?

* * *

Houston toad outside
sits, waiting, on our door step
will we welcome her?

* * *

There is no more pond
Frogs must hop through these rain drops
Just to stay alive!

* * *

Eye heard a soft sound
Saw ripples spreading outwards
Basho! playing tricks!

* * *

Rain plops off frog's back
Slips slippery into pond
So frog can dive in!

* * *

Eyes of a small frog
Watching we humans closely
To see what we do

* * *

Who can talk to frog?
When she does not want to hear
She jumps in the pond!

* * *
Frog did not write this
It was found by side of pond
Where frog was last seen!

* * *

Frog calls to her mates
They hear her/meet by the pond-
Who will she hop on?

* * *

She loves this new rain!
It fills up her old fish pond
For new insects now

* * *
Frog does not need this
Pond exists, with or without
Only we haiku!


Thom the World Poet




dusk
so many stars
and tree frogs again

Jennie Townsend




like rain, like wind
like earthquake
a chorus of rice paddy frogs

eiko yachimoto




kuniharu shimizu


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