Blo͞o Outlier Journal issue #3 PDF download – Haiku Basecamp
ravens at Flint Castle
their gruff gronk ringing
down centuries
Paul Beech
Blo͞o, page 84
for more haiku from Paul Beech, Maureen Wheldon, Donna Fleischer, Alan Summers and so many more ~
Source: Blo͞o Outlier Journal issue #3 PDF download – Haiku Basecamp
word pond 
Poem for a Field Mouse by Chelsea Harlan
Every night the cats catch a mouse
I rescue the mouse in a yogurt container,
take it outside, and let it go.
Every night for as long as I can remember
or at least as many make a pattern,
I rescue these mice and it’s a wonder
I have so many yogurt containers
and that the cats never seem to understand
what’s happening. I set the little guy down
by the woodpile tonight. He’ll have the option
to seek out the shallots in the shed if he wants
or maybe find his family, I project sentimentally.
He didn’t seem hurt so much as alarmed
and, you know, he looked sort of familiar.
Either I’m rescuing the same mouse every night
or he can’t believe his own freedom either,
or both, lord help us, both things are true.
that ending is just great!
Hi Donna,
This 3rd issue of Alan Summers’ Blo͞o Outlier Journal, the Natural History Haiku edition, with its brilliant features and poetry, its artwork and photography, is an online publication of the highest standard and a most inspiring “dip-into” read.
Yes, it’s a wonderful journal deserving the widest possible circulation, so I’m delighted to see your post here on ‘word pond’.
Best always, Donna, and take care,
Paul
Paul, hello! This third edition of Blo͞o is to my mind, much more an anthology than a journal because so comprehensive around the theme of natural history, that very term, rather than Anthropocene, harkening back to Humboldt himself. Iliked all your haiku in it, but that second line / their gruff gronk ringing / will forever ring for me. Outstanding. Today after seeing television coverage of the Queen’s casket borne on gun carriage from Buckingham Palace to Westminster, with her crown at her feet and the bouquet of dahlias and rosemary (rosemary for remembrance spoke Ophelia in Hamlet . . .), I offer my condolences to you and Maureen on the loss of your great Queen Elizabeth. (I studied in two college courses on English history, so the history, ritual, the divine right of kings (and some queens, Elizabeth I, Victoria, and this Elizabeth II), the continuity in our times of the monarchy and its customs and responsibilities outweighing the political rhetoric and bombast, give me pause to reflect on Great Britain’s uniqueness. Take best care, Paul.
Donna