Country Crossing

Country Crossing
Poetry of Thomas Martin



Thursday, December 31, 2009

meteor shower
wisps of steam rise
from the hot springs

Published "A Travel-Worn Satchel"
2009 HSA Anthology

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Eye of the Storm

EYE OF THE STORM

I was ten when Hurricane Hazel passed over our farm in the Piedmont. I really wanted to see that eye. When the wind stopped howling, I rushed out the back door. In the stillness my eyes were drawn upward.

so quiet
the weeping willow
straightens


Published Haibun Today (2008)

The Farmer

Father farmed most of his life. He loved land, growing things, and animals. He went off to work early in the morning whistling and singing.

When about to retire, he could no longer make a living as a farmer but he found work at the local chicken processing plant, where thousands of chickens awaited slaughter. They gave him a heating iron to burn off the ends of the chickens' beaks, so that they would not damage each other through pecking.

He lasted a week, making pets of them all.


hoeing tobacco
row after row
sweat like dew

Published Haibun Today(2008)

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

early spring
without trying
the cherry blossoms


(Published 2nd Annual Basho Challenge Chapbook
2010)

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Hollywood movies
the moon
always full


Published Prune Juice Journal
Summer, 2009

Sunday, November 15, 2009

august evening
grandfather whittles
the light away

Published September, 2009, The Heron's Nest

Friday, May 8, 2009

winter gravestone
hyphen between dates
my father's life


Published: Frogpond Spring/Summer 2009
birdwatchers
scrambling off the bus
wild turkeys




Honorable Mention
Moonset Senryu Contest
Moonset Spring/Summer 2009
the moon
the moon
the firs touch




Third Place Haiku Contest

pussywillow

pussy willow
I wear my mother's smile
looking for a vase


Third Place
2008 Kusamakura Haiku Competition