still life:
the pear’s
pitted skin
Published by
Helen Buckingham
Helen Buckingham lives in Wells, UK. Her work appears regularly in journals and anthologies including: Frogpond, The Heron's Nest, Modern Haiku, Haiku in English: The First Hundred Years (W.W. Norton, 2013) and nada annunaad: an anthology of contemporary world haiku (Vishwakarma Publications, 2016). She won first prize in the Martin Lucas Award, 2016. Her most recent collection is the Touchstone Award shortlisted sanguinella (Red Moon Press, 2017). View all posts by Helen Buckingham
Dear Helen –
a truly wonderful haiku.
Best wishes – Lynne
I enjoyed this haiku! I loved the pun on ‘still life’ – the painterly and the fact the pear is still alive. Pears are often associated with women, so I couldn’t help seeing this as a metaphor of aging. We don’t like how our skin gets old, but your haiku shows there is still plenty to celebrate. Thank you.
I agree with Lynne & Sue too, and by the way Helen is also a runner up in the With Words @ Oppo} haiku competition!
I’ll be making an exhibition of the contest entries, for the Bristol Poetry Festival, which will replace the current Haiku Post-It Exhibition.
There are a lot of haiku events happening in Bristol from this week-end and into September. Details on Area 17 & Haiku Bulletin News.
Very nice haiku, Helen. I love its painterly quality.
painted turtle
asleep in his house —
still life
off-white statuesque stork
staring past willowy reeds–
i move, first