This #NationalPoetryDay on 28th September we decided to have a bit of fun and ask for your wild Haiku's. You did not disappoint! We especially liked that the entries covered so many aspects of nature across Birmingham and the Black Country from herons to autumn leaves, bat walks to wildflower verges, hedgehogs to water voles and several extremely topical rat/bin mentions.
CEO Georgia Stokes had the unenviable task of picking a winner - Congratulations Mary Girvan! Georgia said 'How can I not choose Fantastic Mr Fox – it’s the book that started me off as a nature lover!' Mary, your insulated mug is on its way!
Graeme Muirhead and Anne Brookes were runners up - well done!
Special mention goes to Julian Cartwright. Mainly becuase you made so many people laugh...
We really REALLY enjoyed reading all these little nuggets of loveliness. thank you. You can read all the entries below.
WINNER - Mary Girvan
Red furry Brummie
Strutting through garden tonight
Fantastic Mr Fox
RUNNER UP - Anne Brookes
Spiky snuffly balls
Shuffling in garden borders
Hedgehogs delight me
RUNNER UP - Graeme Muirhead, in memory of the Brum Reapers evening at Moseley Bog:
Sweeping swish of scythes-
the tall grass topples gently...
In dappled sunlight.
SPECIAL MENTION - Julian Cartwright
Just been down the cut
Thought I saw a water vole
But it was a rat
Translated from the original:
Just bin down the cut
Thought ar sid a waeter vole
Tay though. Rat ay it.
And the rest of our wonderful entries.
Darren Beards
Worms wriggle around,
trees creak eerily, while a
buzzard flies away.
Moseley Bog Friends
Why not volunteer
At Moseley Bog and Joys Wood
Release your wild child
Homes for Bugs
Brummie Red Masons
And ladybirds from Dudley
Love Homes for Bugs Wolves
Local wildlife needs
All of us to care and do
All we can to help
Georgia Stokes
Wild, peaceful canal;
heron in flight, space for thought.
My morning commute
Joe Peacock
My garden's a mess
Hedgehogs nestle in leaf piles
Frogs in the long grass
Sandwell Council
Many butterflies
flit around flowered verges
dancing with the bees.
Lucy Underwood
Bees buzzing around
Pretty butterflies flying
Spiders making webs
Bham Trees for Life
Flames of Autumn colour
Burn brightly in once green leaves
Extinguished by wind
Martineau Gardens - by an age 9 woodcrafter
Sweeping through the Night
Casting spooky moon shadows
Children search for bats
John Hill-Daniel
Creeping through the bog
In hopes of hearing bat calls
Silent Woodcraft Folk
JG Education
Colours of autumn
Auburn, brown, red and gold
Fleeting; soon to fall
Simon J Dixon
A rat in a bin,
searching,
eating other people's rubbish
Nicola Thorpe
Shaggy ink cap find
The bog in Moseley provides
To delight woodcraft
Alastair Birch
Nature’s alarm clock
rings with the voice of thousands –
blinds remain undrawn.
Anon
September settles -
Reeds pale on the city pond;
The hedgerow is fulfilled.
Florentina Dasgupta
Weird stuff on the ground...
Don't really know what it is
Oh! it's poop that's brown
Hannah Lewis on her job:
Brownfield wilderness
Waxcaps glisten through fescue
Bulldozers return
And her work:
Heron stands watchful
Cyclists splatter soggy leaves
Moments together
Finally - not a haiku but a very relevant poem to our office - thank you Natalie!
Dead wasp on the kitchen floor,
Dead wasp is not flying anymore,
Coffee or tea?
I swear it wasn’t me,
That caused the poor wasps mortality.