is forgiveness earned,
remorse insubstantial,
happiness a choice?

●○●

fast growing bamboo
unburdened by human grief
earns and gives nothing

○●○

just soft brown and green
swaying throughout winter's storm
bends, yet never breaks

#haikufeels earn #haikuset #senryu #haiku #poetrycommunity

Solstice Set by Dawn Mclachlan On the shortest day We climb up the sleeping hill Searching for life signs Tracks in frozen grass Slick with recent melting snow The earth ridged and brown A winter bruised sky A shard of blue splits the clouds Pierced by mournful skeins At the final ridge You reach out to take my hand Urging me higher Here we see the world In a thousand shades of green Stretched beneath our feet In gold light we see Despite the winter's great threat Spring will come again

Time for another #fridaypoem
This time it’s for the #solstice

#poems #poetry #poetrycommunity #haiku #haikuset #haikupoetry #poetsonbluesky #poetsofbluesky #PoemAltText #UseAltText #HaikuAltText

Whiteout a haiku set by Dawn Mclachlan In the silent night Snow came down like memories and cleansed the landscape Smoothed to sugar-white Harshness sweetened to the eye Winter confection From the far forest Rooks rise in conversation Punctuating sky Now the dead trees In the disguise of winter Cannot be discerned In the pink of dawn An unexplored day stretches As if newly born

Time for another #FridayPoem. Still struggling with the #poemsabout prompt this week so instead here’s the fresh start of a snowy day in a #haikuset
#haiku #poetry #poems #poets #poetsofbluesky #poetrycommunity #alttext #HaikuAltText #PoemAltText

Flowers A haiku set For J Oh, how bright we shone In the gold times without end And the days of blue We rode on the breeze And spiralled through the long nights Blown by winds of chance In summers of youth We tossed our beautiful heads And felt immortal No thought of futures Or of winter boughs of grief No fear of old bones I picture you then Somehow lonely in a crowd And I remember © Dawn McLachlan

A poem for #poemsabout prompt #burnforthecamera
This #haikuset is for J who passed away suddenly at Christmas. So missed. So loved. “Sail on, float free, just be” Miss you.

#haiku #haikuset #HaikuAltText #poetrycommunity #poetsofbluesky
@thebrokenspine.co.uk @alanparrywriter.co.uk

Bufo Bufo By Dawn McLachlan Caught by the weather Pressed to ground by Autumn rain I sit with the toad We hear the river Flowing cold and deluge-deep Spawning memories The toad watches me Verrucose skin glistening Against the damp earth Fixed by copper eyes From cautionary distance Tolerated space In softening eve We rest in the fading light Just me and the toad

Huge thanks to @thepaulconnolly.bsky.social for advice on a #poetrytheme prompt #amphibian
This #haikuset is definitely better thanks to your help. Thanks for all you do to support poets.
Toad in this pic is also the actual toad that I share my plot with.
#poetrycommunity #haiku #haikusociety

Bufo Bufo A haiku set By Dawn McLachlan Caught by the weather Pressed to ground by Autumn rain I sit with the toad The toad watches me Verrucose skin glistening Against the damp earth Watched by copper eyes From cautionary distance Tolerated space In the soft rainfall We wait in the fading light Just me and the toad

A #haikuset for @thepaulconnolly.bsky.social #poetrytheme of #amphibian
Inspired by the magnificent toad that I have shared my allotment with for a number of years.
#haiku #poetry #poetrysociety #poetrycommunity

Witch Hunt by Dawn Mclachlan We watched eyes of hate And heard the rumours flowing And could have stopped them We saw gathered sticks Heard whispers of dreadful plans And should have stopped them Emboldened by lies They built their dreadful pyre We wished we'd stopped them We heard fire crack As the fanned flames scorched us all Praying it would stop At the bitter end We will lie in the ashes That consumed us all

Another #FridayPoem and another #haikuset

Sometimes the only option is to write #poemsabout and the only solution is #riot or choose to lie among the ashes.

#poets #poetsofbluesky #AltText #haiku #HaikuSet #HaikuAltText

writing haiku is
frowned upon, being lazy
just so many words
*
left unsaid: racking
of brains finding purposeful
cool combinations
*
just so many words
conveying meaning and sound
surge of striking lines

#haiku #haikuset #poetrycommunity

born from densest shade
fair skin and hair like moonbeams
wiry bodies gleam
~~
cast out by curses
meant to wither eternals
found deep sea's blessing
~~~
neither king nor queen
fierce warriors luffing sails
entering our realm

#haiku #haikuset #seafaeringfolk #poetry #specpo #poetrycommunity

Part of a longer cycle of poetry I am currently working on. Gonna be using the hashtag #seafaeringfolk
#poetrycommunity #haikuset #writingcommunity

shifting sands reveal
old patterns reemerging
zephyr scatters past
~
hurt carried too long
becoming second nature
shedding skin too tight
~~
red dawn approaches
banishing shadowed remnants
grains of sand glisten

#poetry #haiku #haikuset #poetrycommunity

gaze punctured his shorts
desire tempered by time
unleashed in short jolts
~
body quivering
anticipation welled up
lost me in your eyes
~~
mind wholly emptied
swift sensuous catalyst
connecting thighs sigh

#queer #love #passion #haikufeels #haikuset #poetrycommunity

applied frequently
tincture of evergreen moss
forest floor brimming
**
Green Man's lifeforce fades
every tree cut or burnt
eternal waning
***
claiming back our chants
spinning on verdant lifelines
shifting awareness

#Blueskyrelay #poetry #poetrycommunity #haiku #haikuset #writingcommunity

dangerous journey
gleaning hope along the way
covering ages
~
left with but a dream
luffing their sails of spun clouds
passing sorrow's depths
~~
wielding the waves like
weapons made of moonpearl cores
fending off voidbeasts

#seafaeringfolk #haikuset #7syllablesentence #haiku #poetrycommunity

destroy your ego
deconstructing assumptions
making each stroke count
~
demolish pretense
revealing softest layers
quills drinking spilt ink
~~
deflate saboteurs
inside and outside alike
honing finer crafts

#haikufeels #haiku #haikuset #writingcommunity #artistcommunity #poetrycommunity

some lines become traps
snaring you in false pretence
trust in your instincts
~
false prophets galore
serpentine sermon seeping
listen to your kin
~
clamour for free speech
sly gambits to influence
your mind is your own

#haiku #haikufeels trap #haikuset
#writingcommunity #poetrycommunity

luminescent spores
floating on the first fall storm
mycelium waits

growing networks pulse
underground data feeds spark
new conversation

trees swaying gently
refilling mineral stores
stones smiling at night

#poetrycommunity #haiku #whistpr
luminescent #haikuset

ignorance to needs
grifters collect influence
power balance shifts
*
vanity talking
every wrinkle spray-tanned
lost in confusion
**
hampered by neglect
the president's fate became
mediocrity

#haiku #haikuset #emoetry #poetrycommunity

graveyard shift exchange
witches and vampires clashing
distant memories
~
dawn coating the world
dew and colour banishing
remnants of night sky

#haiku #poetry #haikuset
#poetrycommunity

lighting a candle
vigil for forgotten souls
chests full of sorrow
***
tears unshed announced
oblivion's reprieval
cosmic sigh quiets
***
from new rainclouds fell
softest drizzle evoking
unthought ideas' glow

#vss365 #haiku #haikuset #poetry
#poetrycommunity #vigil

let's put some hexes
on multiplying sexbots
make them share cute cats

uncurse common feeds
applying inhuman speed
to get what we need

illusions will break
intended words slay the fakes
leave love in their wake

#haikuset #bots #love #magicsky
#poetry #haiku

drink is cheap as fuck
in the halls of Bandegg'on
beware who enters
☆
leave forsaken coins
leave with a forsaken soul
damnation is free
☆
glowing in the gloom
sinners' hearts betray darkness
creping rule of doom

#Specprompt #poetry #haikuset #haiku #poetry #poetrycommunity

You Are Here A haiku set by Dawn McLachlan I found a signpost In the torment of the storm It said “you are here” I trace a new route From where the map has worn through A thousand touches The contours vanish In the fading of the light But the hills remain In the dark of night Underneath the salted sky Our pathways align When the night has fled And morning light falls like rain I know you are here

This week’s #FridayPoem from the #poemsabout prompt - #starcrossed

#poetsofbluesky #poets #lovepoetry #poems #amwriting #poetrysociety #poetrycommunity #haiku #haikusociety #haikuset #haikuAltText

Wax Tears by Dawn McLachlan The hill that you chose Frosted and bitter as contempt Do you like the view? Come, take steeper paths We’ll climb the highest mountains Into such bright air

A #FridayPoem for #poemsabout prompt - #WaxTears

#poems #poetry #haiku #haikuset #haikusociety #haikupoets #shortformpoetry #poetsofbluesky #HaikuAltText

Sidings A haiku set by Dawn McLachlan In the grey city Hemmed in by rivers of steel Beneath concrete cliffs An island of green In the whorls of the railway Pressed in by fencing There, poppies still grow And foxgloves reach for the light Buttercups glow gold Inch by steady inch Bindweed stretches out tendrils Disguising chain link Bright swathes of daisies Buffeted by train slipstream Shimmer in twilight Moonlight silvers rails As a fox cuts through shadows Like a rusting knife Night trains rumble on In darkness, sidings unseen But vibrant with life This small patch of dirt This haven. This green life bridge Unkempt, not unloved ©️ Dawn McLachlan

Friday Poem

#haiku #haikupoetry #haikuset #haikusociety #haikupoetry #poetsofbluesky #poemsabout #naturepoems #citypoems #haikuAltText #poemalttext #poets #fridaypoems

Long Barrow a haiku set by Dawn McLachlan Curves of land and stone hint of secrets locked beneath this fecund landscape We dig among ghosts ashes of our history embers of the lost This place speaks to us with a voice of bead and bone Whispers of the past ——- Image shows pen and ink illustration of a long barrow entrance by William Boyd Dawkins (Creative Commons licensed)

#FridayPoem

#poems #poetry #poemsofbluesky #haiku #haikusociety #haikuset #HaikuAltText #PoemAltText #poetsofbluesky

Forgetfulness A haiku set by Dawn Mclachlan I won’t remember the words snapped like broken bones among sticks and stones I won’t remember the russet stains in my hair never press the scar I won’t remember blue light fractured through the red and the endless whys I won’t remember feeling so old in young bones or the cold white rooms I won’t remember the hushes in the darkness or the “trust me” lies I won’t remember because today is so sweet and steeped in honey I won’t remember now the clock has stopped its hands on this gilded hour

When I was 7yrs old I survived an attempt on my life.
At the police station I heard an officer saying “children forget, in a few years she won’t remember”
That was 50yrs ago.

#FridayPoem #AboutTime #haiku #haikuset #poetry #poetsofbluesky #HaikuAltText #PoemAltText #trauma

Friday Poem Winter Came Too Soon A haiku set by Dawn McLachlan I’d felt the chill wind But turned my mind against it And dreamt of apples The gold of autumn Became silver overnight Unexpectedly Winter came by stealth A soft silence tumbled down Muting the morning We woke to snowfall Rendering all the landscape Unfamiliar Across the orchard Branches glittered with late fruit Soft flesh rimed with frost That winter bit hard And through the long icy nights I dreamt of apples *image shows this poem next to a photo of frosted icy-looking apples

🍎Friday Poem🍏
#HaikuAltText
#PoemAltText
#fridaypoem #poemsofbluesky #poetrycommunity #poetrylovers #haikus #haiku #haikupoetry #haikuset #poem #poemsociety #weeklypoem #haikusociety

Friday Poem ************************* Flowers (For J) A haiku set by Dawn McLachlan Oh, how bright we shone In the gold times without end And the days of blue We rode on the breeze And spiralled through the long nights Blown by winds of chance In summers of youth We tossed our beautiful heads And felt immortal No thought of futures Or of winter boughs of grief No fear of old bones I picture you then Somehow lonely in a crowd And I remember Words and illustration credit Dawn McLachlan Illustration next to poem is an ink and watercolour painting of a dandelion

Friday Poem

#haikuset #haiku #poetry #poems #poemsofbluesky #poetsofbluesky #HaikuAltText #PoemAltText

We Flowed Like Water A Haiku set by Dawn McLachlan Green shoots greet the sun Rivers full of light and life We walked with such hope High summer clouds passed Bruising the hills with shadows Your hand still in mine The water grows cold Autumn nights are drawing in Willow dipped in frost Winter dark brought stars A spiralled arc high above Brittle sea like ice Miles flowed between us And lifetimes more of goodbyes Sorrow rinsed to smiles The past is distant But sand is still in my shoes My feet long since dry ©️Dawn McLachlan Image shows this poem next to a splash of water

We Flowed Like Water

A #haikuset

#haiku #HaikuAltText #AltText #poems #poetry #PoetsOfBlueSky #FridayPoems #FridayPoetry #LovePoems #ValentinesPoems #ValentinesPoetry