Country Crossing

Country Crossing
Poetry of Thomas Martin



Sunday, October 31, 2010

ripe tomatoes
a squirrel's cheeks
full of fall

(Sustainability Competition--2010 Seattle's World Fair)


Copyright 2010 Thomas Martin, all rights reserved.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

pine shade
the quiet sound
of a  stream

(Sustainability Competition--2010
Seattle World's Fair)


Copyright 2010 Thomas Martin, All rights reserved.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Exposure

I have this recurring fantasy. I travel to northern Ontario and hire a bush pilot who flies me to the Great Slave Lake. It is a one way trip. I carry my trusty Ronco Survival Knife that I bought for $19.95 in a weak moment a few years ago after watching one of those late night infomercials. The top of the large serrated hunting knife is a compass, which screws off to reveal fish hooks, a bit of line, some matches, a folded up saw. I take one eighth of my ancestors with me, the Cherokee relations. I will survive the bitter cold and the bears and wolves. I will fish, find wild berries and rob honey trees. Lichen broths are supposed to be nutritious, even tasty, I understand.


filling the feeders
I watch for
the Northern Flicker

(Published Simply Haiku - Spring 2009)

Copyright 2009 -2010, Thomas Martin, all rights reserved.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Reading Gaol

Well, we spent a couple of nights in an all-night laudramat somewhere east of Marble Arch.   We had completely run out of money during that phase of our London experience.  At least we had shelter, and found some measure of companionship with the assortment of characters doing laundry during the wee hours.

There was the drunken gentleman, who never quite got around to reciting Oscar Wilde's, " The Ballad of Reading Gaol."  He went on for hours preparing to quote the poem, but never actually uttered a single word of Wilde. . .

foggy night
a cobweb catches
the glow of fluorescents




Copyright 2010 Thomas Martin, all rights reserved.

(Published October, 2010 - Contemporary Haibun Online)