low-flying cloud...
the retired airman clips
his topiary swan

—Helen Buckingham

First published: Chrysanthemum #1, April 2007(translated into German by Dietmar Tauchner).

About the author: Born in London, 1960. Now lives in Bristol in the south-west of England. Her haiku have appeared in Acorn, Frogpond, Mainichi Daily News, Mayfly, Modern Haiku, Roadrunner, Snapshots and The Heron's Nest among others, and last year featured in A New Resonance 5: Emerging Voices in English-Language Haiku (Red Moon Press). Her work has been placed in a number of competitions including, most recently: The Basho Festival Award and The Snapshot Press Calendar Competition.

hb007e6063 at blueyonder.co.uk

8 responses
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published 10 March 2008
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Responses to the haiku for 10 March 2008 by Helen Buckingham

  1.  
    Magyar (magyar0109 at aol dot com)
    2008-03-10 06:15:22
     

    Helen, I see him clipping through the muse of memory:

    this artist flies
    in thought of the sky...
    a stranded bird

    Respectfully, _m

  2.  
    josh wikoff
    2008-03-10 08:59:53
     

    low-flying cloud...
    the retired airman clips
    his topiary swan

    Despite the complexity of language and content, I can feel some sabi - a quiet, solitary beauty.

  3.  
    Alan Summers
    2008-03-10 10:59:07
     

    Hi Helen!

    I echo josh's words.

    What I like is that after I have read the haiku it begins to resonate as I think of a retired airman no longer able to pilot a plane, albeit he can be a passenger.

    Perhaps also he wishes he could free the topiary swan too.

    Good to see your haiku on tinywords again! ;-)

  4.  
    Reason A.
    2008-03-10 17:36:05
     

    I like it good use of the pun.

  5.  
    Melissa Spurr
    2008-03-11 09:11:06
     

    Helen,

    This is so wonderfully layered. Motionless flight--you convey the notion of clipped wings and a nostalgia for taking to the air beautifully. Thank you for this.

  6.  
    laryalee
    2008-03-11 14:53:42
     

    This gave me a smile, Helen,
    but there's also a sense of
    nostalgia...very nice!
    :)
    Lary

  7.  
    b. m. richardson (orgbob at webtv dot net)
    2008-03-12 03:20:01
     

    pterodactyl gliding
    this march dawn
    florida crane on thermal winds

    -

    if i didn't know better--
    i'd swear i'd stepped back in time; seeing this majestic crane, with feature resembling something from prehistoric times, effortlessly gliding cross the morning bay

    -

    thanks, helen, for firming up my sighting

  8.  
    josh wikoff
    2008-03-12 08:16:18
     

    Bob,

    You may have begun a new branch of haiku evolution. Prehistori-ku.

    Neolithic thunder
    a moment of dim light
    on his brow

    ;)

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