Aug 25

Aug 25 SUMMER HAIKU by Valerie Eitzen

Valerie Eitzen

Full moon rising bright

Crimson sun retires westward

The year’s longest day

* * *

Hum of busy combs

Like caramelized sunlight

Dripping liquid gold

* * *

Sparklers and fireflies

Smoking backyard barbecue

Ants march home en masse

* * *

Turquoise sky, black strokes

Gnat-hunting swallows swooping

Bird calligraphy

* * *

Dew on the climbers

Scrambling up the rose trellis

A drop on each thorn

* * *

Foghorns . . . buoys clang

Ghostly fog muffles sea sounds

August on the pier

Poet’s note: Haiku poems are a major form of Japanese verse written in 17 syllables—divided into three lines of five, seven, and five syllables—employing highly evocative allusions and comparisons, often on the subject of nature or one of the seasons. The poems are fleeting impressions that illuminate the poet’s awareness. The poems are not related to each other, except by being about summer. Each haiku is independent of the others.

Valerie Eitzen

First published in The Redwood News, writing current events for her high school class, Valerie Eitzen moved to southern California for college, where she graduated from CSU Northridge, with a BA degree in Anthropology. After marrying Ron, and raising four children, she honed her skills as a copy editor and ghostwriter. She is the long-time moderator of the Hemet Interrobangs writers, a critique group for advanced writers and published authors that meet weekly. Previously, she was an editor of a quarterly publication for twenty years. Valerie writes haiku poems and short stories, some of which are featured in the Interrobangs’ Cat Tales and Shifting Gears Car Stories anthologies. Her poems have appeared on e-zine sites, and she has four books of haiku and a trilogy of Contemporary Western Romance books in progress.