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Peggy
Willis Lyles's Haiku
(September 17, 1939
September 3, 2010)
a cool current
where the river deepens
summer sky
gray morning
the weight of mist
in Spanish moss
crashing waves
power walkers
swing their arms
deep chords
from the practice room . . .
a bee stirs applemint
mothers scarf
slides from my shoulder . . .
wild violets
http://www.theheronsnest.com/haiku/0502v2324/thn_va.c2.html#POET2
autumn sea
a little girls love
of small brown shells
I brush
my mothers hair
the sparks
mother-daughter
small talk . . .
snap beans
morning calm
the song that hovers
out of sight
oval frame
a woman curves
around her child
fragments .
. .
three-quarters
of the potter's mark
Beethoven's
Ninth
raindrops bounce
from cobblestones
Indian summer
a turtle on a turtle
on a rock
ice flecks
on azalea buds...
the koi go deep
summer stillness
the play of light and shadow
on the windchimes
Lights out
... the firefly
inside
bird song
lost
in bird song
.......
tea fragrance
from an empty cup . . .
the thin winter moon
long twilight
. . .
at the woman's ear
a small pearl glows
wild persimmons . . .
a woman at the roadside
wiggles her last tooth
boarding call
- -
the ripe banana flavor
of the small one's cheek
dragonfly
the tai chi master
shifts his stance
nearly dawn
we leave a few figs
for the birds
http://www.worldhaiku.net/eng/us/p.willis.lyles.htm
A doe's leap
darkens the oyster shell road:
twilight
I shake the
vase—
a bouquet of red roses
finds its shape
Moon
and melon cooling
with us in the stream
first frost…
on a silver card tray
wild persimmons
October twilight:
the scarecow in the garden
drops its other glove
a mayfly
taps the screen—
warm beets slip their skins
dog-earde script
I prompt a wiseman
from the wings
Winter night:
a spark between the tweeds
of strangers
Reaching for
green pears–
the pull
of an old scar
Offertory chant:
in the darkened vestibule
umbrellas drip
Spring
moonlight
the winter look
of baby's breath
in bloom
paw prints
across the moon roof
cats in love
a whistle
cut from bamboo
the long day
old homeplace
. . .
around the pear tree
fragrant light
spring sunbeam
the baby's toes
spread apart
chasing butterflies
the girl with Wednesday's ashes
on her brow
Summer
into our bones
the heat of the day . . .
cicadas drone
wing beats
in the chimney
the short night
lap of waves
. . .
my daughter molds a castle
for her son
thunderheads
pass . . .
a bluejay bathing
in the dust
summer night
we turn out all the lights
to hear the rain
Autumn
green persimmon
the child
held back
crunch of frost
. . .
a woman twists
a corn-shuck doll
marsh lights
. . .
the owl's cry
dilates our eyes
Orion
between our breath clouds . . .
autumn sea
Winter
into the night
we talk of human cloning
snowflakes
green reach
of amaryllis
winter sun
winter solstice
our son reads a fairy tale
to his unborn child
snow swirls
in the pitcher's paperweight . . .
the longest night
snowflake
against cold glass
cat's paw
last sliver
of the moon . . .
pine-scented cold
winter night
I dreamed your garden lights
were fireflies
-------------------------
haze-blurred
horizon ...
a painted bunting hovers
in the sea oats' curve
the
third-note rise
of a towhee's song
fragrant breeze
a
damp fern
strokes my ankle
dark eyes of the doe
for
her mother
bluets
roots and all
hazy
moon
the nun begins her journey
with a backward glance
an
open window
somewhere
a woman's wordless song
shimmering
pines
a taste of the mountain
from your cupped hands
country
church
the summer smell of cotton
freshly ironed
sweet
peas
tremble on the trellis
the bride's "I will"
sun
shower
the river otter
somersaults
through
a maze of lilies brushstrokes of the trout
cheek
on her hand
... the pages
turn themselves
lightning
flash
the brass quintet
tuning up
smooth
garden bench
a woman embroiders
a unicorn
dew
drops
on the dark rose
our reflections
lingering
heat
the third-grade classroom
one desk short
family
graveyard
a boy finds his middle name
on the oldest stone
piano
lesson
her braids outdo
the metronome
chalk
dust
in the eraser trough
autumn chill
yellow
leaves
a girl plays hopscotch
by herself
bare
branches
I choose a layer
of blue silk
noon
whistle ...
icicles dripping
splintered light
starlight
on the harp strings
Christmas Eve
the
first notes
squeezed from bagpipes
small town parade
the
baby
reaches for his father's breath
mallards on the lake
bread
rising
yellow crocuses
fill with snow
moving
day
the dogwood tree
in full white bloom
six
moon shells
where the neap tide turned...
I hear your heart
warm
sea
we swim into phosphorescence
lightly touching
a
maple seed
floats on the millpond...
deep blue sky
Gershwin's
lullaby
magnolia petals ladle
fireflies
turtle
through the reeds
whispering
our secrets
good
morning kiss
wing beats
of the hummingbird
cucumbers
soaked in vinegar
the heat
quivering
heat
a wasp slips from the flowers
hidden in the fig
feverish
child
shadowing the night light
a luna moth
cicadas
workmen on a scaffold
sanding off old paint
aperitifs
the sunflower's shadow
reaches her silk blouse
city
heat
a boy stirs oily rainbows
with his pocket knife
starry
night
the telescope
wobbles
Saturday
he whistles as he turns
the children's pancakes
three
odd socks
in the wicker basket
autumn rain
traffic
jam
my small son asks
who made God
graveside
rain ...
the old hymn fading
into earth scent
lunch
at the zoo
even among gorillas
some who sit apart
short
of the crest
the jogger breaks his stride
red leaves in the air
clay
on the wheel I confess my faith
cedar
shavings
the carpenter's magnet
snaps up tacks
witnessing
his will
the frost-hatched
pane
bitter
wind ...
the hand that cups the flame
aglow
winter
night
he patiently untangles
her antique silver chain
snowed
in
the wedding-ring quilt
lumpy with children
teaching
her to sew...
I wind back to bobbin thread
from half a life ago
midnight
the cat walks
up piano keys
dawn
light
on white camellias
the fever breaks
watermark
the way the master's brush
strokes wings
attic
sun
from Grandmother's gown
a grain of rice
buds
swell
a woman beats her dust mop
against an old brick wall
cathedral
garden
cardinals in the birdbath
scatter drops of light
first
warm day
two left gloves
for gardening
the
boy stands still
fingers splayed
above a starfish
no
thought
of air until
that blue feather's drift
plants
move
beneath the pond's dark surface
scattered stars
birdsong
through open windows
he lifts the veil
passion
flower
your faith
or mine?
river
baptism
another frog
with just three legs
clouds
gathering
the crowned whelk twirled
into itself
distant
jazz
a calla lily
catches rain
dust
on the pews
afternoon sun washes
an apostle's feet
lingering
good-byes...
hard rye crusts on a paper plate
beside the radish rose
night
flight
a young man fast asleep
beside his cello
sonic
boom
the peony sheds
a small black ant
fast-breaking
news
weight of the lead apron
in the dentist's chair
thunderclap
the frayed shoestring
snaps
dress
by dress
the story of her life
day lilies close
cross
current
in the cooler
blue crabs fight
thunderheads
offshore
the osprey coming early
to its nest
crescent
moon
a periscope rises
from the oil spill
high
noon
a cat stares down
the chipmunk's hole
crunch
of frost
the dollmaker twists
a corn-shuck man
nip
of fall...
a rabbit's tooth marks
in magnolia leaves
soft
Gullah
at the graveside...
blue glass shines
delta
autumn
the storyteller cradles
his gun
stillness
in the storm's eye
stars
recycling
before he grinds the stump
he counts the rings
a
handprint
on the hospice window
fingers widely spread
processional
cold wind lifts one corner
of the pall
dinner
party
glancing up from grace
to the flood mark on the wall
black-water
pond
reflections lapping
cypress knees
wind
and rain
the hand I reach for
in the dark
ice
flecks
on azalea buds
the koi go deep
downpour
a whelk's foot stretches
toward the waves
damp
earth smell
of the unglazed bowl
the potter breathes
before
we knew its name the indigo bunting
still
at the edge
of its shadow
the frog
honeysuckle
we open jelly jars
for fireflies
glide
of the kayak
ripples overlapping
water lilies
the
tide's shape
in bent cord grass
fiddler crabs
first
star
the leaf that shed a raindrop
springing back
brief
visit
peony open
to its heart
a
black bear
noses muscadines
slow summer stream
mayflies
spin between us
a lost thought
an
old song
in our second language
starry night
amber
light
creased in a roadmap
a place we've been
fallow
field
in one flash the redbird
and the wish
through
the doe's ear
sunset
flickers
cricket
sounds
rise into night
the names of the dead
November
mist
wood smoke scents
the jogger's way
a
strong draft
as you enter
embers glow
level
ground
over leaves
Grandmother's quilt
I
rinse the rice
a second time
New Year's Day
.......
LYLES, PEGGY WILLIS: lives with her husband in Tucker, Georgia. They have a daughter, a son, and three grandchildren. She earned her B.A. from Columbia (S.C.) College and an M.A. in English from Tulane University; where she was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow for 1960-61. Peggy taught briefly at Sophie Newcomb College, High Point (N.C.) High School, High Point College, and the University of Georgia. She was Poetry Editor of a regional magazine Georgia Journal from 1980-85.
For more than twenty years her haiku have been widely published in the US and abroad. Her work is included in many anthologies, including The Haiku Handbook, 1985, and Haiku World, 1996, both edited by William J. Higginson; The Haiku Anthology, 2nd and 3rd editions, 1986 and 1999, edited by Cor van den Heuvel; Remember That Symphonies Also Take Place In Snails, edited by John and Joanne Judson, 1989; The Rise and Fall of Sparrows, edited by Alexis Rotella, 1990; Haiku Moment, edited by Bruce Ross, 1993; A Haiku Path, the Haiku Society of America, 1994; snow on the water, the Red Moon Anthology for 1998; the thin curve, the Red Moon Anthology for 1999; and the forthcoming Global Haiku, edited by George Swede and Randy Brooks. Her two miniature chapbooks are Red Leaves In the Air, High/Coo Press, 1979, and Still At The Edge, Swamp Press, 1980. She has won awards from Modern Haiku, the Museum of Haiku Literature, the Hawaii Education Association, Wind Chimes Press, the Henderson Contest, Brussels Sprout; Haiku Quarterly; Woodnotes; The Mainichi Daily News, the New Zealand Poetry Society, the 2nd Annual People's International Haiku Contest, the HPNC 1999 International Senryu Contest, and the Snapshot Press Haiku Calendar 2000 Competition.
You can read her work on-line at Poetry in the Light; the English-Language Haiku Web Site; The Heron's Nest; and Pinecone: the North Georgia Haiku Society.
She says, "I think of contemporary English language haiku as something we poets are creating together. I enjoy reading haiku as much as writing them and consider many haiku poets 'mentors at a distance."
http://www.worldhaikuclub.org/pages/whcrenku_seminar5.shtml
http://www.millikin.edu/haiku/writerprofiles/PeggyLyles.html
http://www.millikin.edu/haiku/writerprofiles/LylesInterview.html
http://www.millikin.edu/haiku/writerprofiles/BeerOnLyles.html
http://www.millikin.edu/haiku/writerprofiles/HillOnLyles.html
http://www.haijinx.com/II-1/lyles/index.html
http://www.haijinx.com/authors/p.lyles.html
http://www.haijinx.com/II-1/lyles/h1.html
http://www.haijinx.com/II-1/lyles/h2.html
http://www.haijinx.com/II-1/lyles/h3.html