Haiku & Other short poems at Tidbinbilla by Owen Bullock

Haiku & other short poems at Tidbinbilla

lichen,
the microscopic flowers 
of moss

a stone slate shard . . . 
crystals erupt
through granite

dried ferns –
only moments 
in deep time

stream
            past eyes, brows, hurts, hopes, drylands

out here 
 the stream
      all the music

flask of tea, 
       faintly
      the soup she carried

the longer sitting
               the more
                 web threads

sun’s out
   spider wire

when I come here
I talk to the stones
if I stay a long time
they almost say hello

spent skin
of a pupa . . .
how many do you need?

eucalypt walu
hangs in   another tree

a warbler sings
zit-zit-zit zat

exposed bark
         my brother’s
brown jumper

leaf skeleton
         almost gone
                to ground

sunlight
on rippling water –
why does the magic
keep going?



Note
walu – Indigenous Australian word for strips of bark

The Stream at Tidbinbilla


this water comes through
                                         this water
this water comes through
                                         this water
this water comes through
                                         this water
this water comes through
                                         this water

the sun shafts through
                                    this water
this water shafts through
                                        this water
the weed spines through
                                       this water
this water spines through
                                        this water

this   stone   stone   stone   stone
                                                    crystalised
                                                                      scratched
                                                                                      layered, frozen
stone                                    a bubble
stone                 speaks
                                     slow
                                             in                                  
                                                 trees

these leaves drop
                            this water
this water drops
                          this water
these roots draw
                          this water
this water draws
                           this water
this rumble chants
                              this water
this water chants
                            this water
this nettle greens
                            this water
this water greens
                            this water

stone   stone   stone
                                lichen flowers
this stone
                 digest this stone
fern starts
                 pulls back

falling gathers
                        under trees
rotting moulders
                           under trees
litter earths
                   under trees
moss sings
                   stonestone
stonemoss          mossmoss       mossmoss

water dews   and seeps 
       moss mossing      fern ferning
earth earthing

water     water


Bio: Owen Bullock’s most recent publications are Impression (Beir Bua Press, 2022), and Uma rocha enorme que anda à roda (A big rock that turns around), translations of his tanka into Portuguese by Francisco Carvalho (Temas Originais, 2021). His other titles include, Summer Haiku (Recent Work Press, 2019), Work & Play (Recent Work Press, 2017), and Semi (Puncher & Wattmann, 2017). He teaches Creative Writing at the University of Canberra. His other interests include juggling, music and chess. https://poetry-in-process.com/ @OwenTrail @ProcessPoetry