guest haiku by Levon Machenry

This one was posted here yesterday as a comment. Nice one, Levon!

hunting stories
the old cat yawns
& walks away

cooler weather -
the local deer processors
reopen

looking around to see
where the noise came from -
the fawns

in wet snow
a woodcock probes for worms
and finds one

duck stamp -
the post office clerk says
good luck

deep in the forest
big bucks lie motionless
facing the wind

frog pond
a duck flies over
without a sound

March sunset -
the peent of a woodcock
in the cold air

back to school
trying to unlearn
a flinch

classic hunting haiku #8

This is another in our series of haiku from Issa.

year unknown

親と子と別れ別れや追れ鳥

oya to ko to wakare wakare ya oware tori

parent and children
are separated...
hunted birds

Shinji Ogawa notes, "The phrase wakare wakare (are separated) is of the descriptive mood, not the imperative (split up!). The phrase oware tori means "chased birds."

The hunters are using falcons to catch their prey.

Translation and notes by David G. Lanoue, who includes the following note: "Translations based on Issa zenshû (Nagano: Shinano Mainichi Shimbunsha, 1976-79) 9 volumes. Some of the translations first appeared in Issa, Cup-of-Tea Poems and Pure Land Haiku: The Art of Priest Issa."

late afternoon sun
the escaping woodcock
flies straight into it

cattails yellowing
vacant seats at double black
ducklings hide beneath

grouse opener
the local road hunters
get oil changes

goose pimples
after plucking
the goose

guest haiku by Levon Machenry

Here's a guest haiku by Levon Machenry that was first posted here as a comment on June 26, 2006. I have to admit I've been partial to this one since Levon first shared it with us.

lifting my fork...
the pull of the Coho
still in my arms

Thanks again Levon!

cold night
a coyote's sudden howl
gives me chills

on television
the hunting show star makes
another easy kill

after the rain
a lone partridge pecks at some
dried up berries

family plot -
from behind the gravestones
a grouse brood flushes

a south wind
the birds waiting on
migration

on deer stand
writing haiku
in my head

brushy pasture
the old cow ignores a flight
of woodcock

warm evening
plenty of deer flies
but no deer

fall plumage
freshly painted decoys
dry on the lawn

summer's end
suddenly there are shooters
at the rifle range

in a snag
along the abandoned road
a maple tap

nuisance hunt
blackbirds harrying
a harrier

"fragile as eggs"
a box of clay birds
taunts

my found knife -
a deer hair in
last year's fat

in wet sand
where deer cross the creek
a boot print