Haiku Bob, Round 11- the short road



onset of winter –
the game begins
with brisk movements






still life –
Fraser stands
the mark






a nip in the air –
taking the short road
to goal






a gull glides
from the rafters –
Leon curls one in






cold winter night
the ruckmen
lock arms






watching closely
but not understanding
the umpires






winter night –
the drumming of rain
and another goal






shooting star –
the bright yellow flash
of Harry’s bomb






lead almost gone –
I hear the siren
before the siren



About rob scott

Rob Scott (aka Haiku Bob) is a peripatetic haiku poet who calls Victoria Park home. He writes haiku in between teaching whisky and drinking English, or something like that.

Comments

  1. Andrew Fithall says

    Thank-you HB. I note the posting after a win seems to be later than after a loss. Do you struggle with celebration and the creativity comes more easily with grief? Or is just that paid work sometimes just gets in the way?

  2. haiku bob says

    Fits

    I get asked this question a lot.

    I hate losing. Bitterly. Even after all these years. Writing helps me deal with it. It really does. I suppose the fact that footy is played primarily in the autumn-winter months offers much in terms of haiku ‘fodder’ (rotting leaves, dead trees, the bitter cold) when your team is losing.

    I find writing about winning fractionally less easy but no less enjoyable.

    The reason for the delay this week is not worth going into.

    Cheers

    hb.

  3. HB – the title of this Haiku and its tone reminded me of Cormack McCarthy’s book “The Road”. The movie is now out on DVD. Very melancholy book but brilliant nonetheless – worth a read.

    I love how you can even make a victory a bit “haikuish”. Like the sad clown.

  4. haiku bob says

    Dips

    Haven’t read that book, but it’s a good point you make about ‘haikuish melancholy’, and it’s something I should have referred to in my response to Fits. There are many styles of English haiku, and I’m generalising here, but much of it tends towards the bleakly humorous. Two of the most important elements in traditional Japanese haiku are wabi (spirit of poverty) and sabi (contented solitude). I consciously tap into this for my footy haiku, hence the lack of trace elements of outright euphoria in my ‘winning’ ku. The sad clown is an apt description.

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