On 1 December 2024, about twenty tree and poetry lovers gathered to celebrate National Tree Week and the Sheffield Urban Tree Festival. Dr Tom McAuley from the University of Sheffield gave a short introduction to the history and essence of haiku. After a silent walk past some of our special trees we dispersed to write our haiku. Shelagh and Nicola circulated with mugs of hot Japanese green tea. Later, summoned by the calming tones of a Nepalese singing bowl, we shared our haikus and ate Japanese matcha and red bean cake.
Weep not bubbling stream
Trees sleep, earth takes old leaves back
Buds unfurl next spring
(Jill L)
Forlorn flags, leaves' litter
But life waits curled hard and sharp
Budding hope for Spring
(Debbie J)
Ivy desires sky
But can grow no higher than
The tree lost within
(Jason L)
Three Corsican pines
Mediterranean trees
At home in Sheffield
(Dinah S)
If fireworks froze
Fell as shapes of twisted smoke
Took root and grew old
(Verity S)
Flayed white birch bark flies
On tall straight remembrance tree
Prayer flag for loved mum
(Andy G)
Tender new saplings
Entwined, we grew through decades -
Boughs enfold our memories
(Carolyn G)
Babbling brook, tumbling bubbles
Raindrops beating fallen leaves.
Endless cycle flows
(Carolyn G)
The story chair sits
Ideas flitting airborne
Ordered into moods
(Carolyn G)
Maple golden hands
Crimson clinging beacon bright
Defies winter blast
(Carolyn G)
Summer glory scattered
Naked branches stretch aloft.
Waiting, waiting, still
(Carolyn G)
Redwood twists at first
Then aims straight towards the sky
Offspring by its side
(David J)
Plant hunters travel
Glass boxes protect seedlings
Now huge in Whirlow
(Nicola G)
Edge of the city
Specimen plants, rocks, ponds, rain
A paradise found
(Nigel S)
Karegi, morn of December
Death seemingly
An eternal spring, momiji
Autumn, what is? Dawn, what remains?
Death seemingly
Fateful union, crane and deer
Arched backs, forlorn trunks and tresses,
Death seemingly
Cascades of a soft becoming
(Hassan N)
Mini-beast abode
Quiet cooperation
Wild welcome for all.
(Jen B)
Finally, to sum it all up:
Cedar Oak Birch Beech Pine
Bark Bud Leaf Branch Rain and Mud
Walking, Tea and Cake
(Jill L)
