[5x]

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 1st December 1998

Publication

2005 World Haiku Review

scifaiku 1

SCIFAIKU 1

old sf authors
wedded to their typewriters -
internet luddites

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 30th November 1998

Publication

1998 Scifaiku (Internet)

Experiment 1037

EXPERIMENT #1037

Irony to the left
irony to the right
going round in circles
in the poetry laboratory
distilling vats of words
counting out the commas
adding up the quotes
subtracting all the clichés
dividing the syllables
into logistical heaps

all along the internet
electrons fly
across computer buses
dots that re-arrange themselves
into words upon a screen
interpreted by brains
that scan with eye and mind

all of it filters through
but little of it sticks
a thousand years of dust
composting a pile
of failed experiments
breeding pedant blind mice
running ever after
the buxom farmer’s wife

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Gee Cross, 4th October 1998

Unpublished

(m15)

over the flat stones
shadows of passing seagulls
flicker at my feet

© Gerald England

Composed: Gwernaffield, 28th August 1998

Publication

2000 Sparrow (Croatia)
2004 Karolina rijecka (Internet)

*****
Preko kamenjara
Sjene prolazecih galebova
Trepere na mojim stopalima

Gerald England

Translated into Croatian

Publication

2000 Sparrow (Croatia)
2004 Karolina rijecka (Internet)

(m14)

begging for bacon
the smokey-grey tomcat
purrs very loudly

© Gerald England

Composed: Gwernaffield, 28th August 1998

Publication

2000 Sparrow (Croatia)

*****
Moleci slaninu
Prljavosiv macak
Prede vrlo glasno

Gerald England

Translated into Croatian

Publication

2000 Sparrow (Croatia)

(m12)

drinking tea in bed
we watch blackbirds in the field
catching early worms

© Gerald England

Composed: Gwernaffield, 28th August 1998

Publications

2000 Sparrow (Croatia)
2003 Blackbird (USA)

*****
Pijuci caj u krevetu
Motrimo kosove u vrtu
Love prve crve

Gerald England

Translated into Croatian

Publication

2000 Sparrow (Croatia)

(m11)

three little white ducks
waddle through the farmyard door
B & B guests stare

© Gerald England

Composed: Gwernaffield, 27th August 1998

Unpublished

(m9)

below the city
a kingfisher streaks across
as the tour-boat turns

© Gerald England

Composed: York, 24th July 1998

Unpublished

Time Trilogy

TIME TRILOGY

(1)

On the cave wall
Trog draws his vision
of a future world
where his art
is arrowed
to the moon
then relayed
by boomerang
to a being
on the underside
of the earth

(2)

Wilma is wondering
on her way back from the Pterodactyl Ball
whether future generations will forget them
or even choose to ignore their inventions
only to reinvent them all from the beginning again.
She has been having this recurring nightmare
in which some catastrophe destroys them
leaving only the dinosaurs alive
to carry their culture
to future generations

(3)

the tracks of the time traveller
unearthed by archaeologists
spawn several theories
two new religious sects
a university honours degree
a professor’s resignation
and a slim volume of poems

© Gerald England

Composed: Salford, 20th July 1998

Publications

2000 Pennine Platform (UK)
2006 Other Voices (Internet)

*****
TRILOGIA TIMPULUI

(1)
Pe peretele pesterii
Trog deseneaza viziunea
unei lumi viitoare
in care arta sa
tinteste
catre luna
apoi retransmisa
ca un boomerang
unei fiintei
din strafundurile
pamantului.

(2)
Wilma se intreaba
pe drumul de intoarcere de la jocul de pterodactyl
daca generatiile urmatoare ii vor uita
sau vor prefera sa le ignore inventiile
doar pentru a le reinventa.
Are acest recurent cosmar
in care vreo catastrofa ii distruge
lasand doar dinosaurii in viata
pentru a le perpetua cultura
generatiilor urmatoare.

(3)
Urmele calatorilor in timp
neacoperite de arheologi
nasc cateva teorii
doua secte religioase
un titlul universitar
demisia unui profesor universitar
si un volum subtire de poezii.

GERALD ENGLAND

Romanian translations by Octavian Blaga and Florentin Smarandache

Publication

2000 The Fifth Season (Romania)

(m7)

the awkward silence
of the early arrivers
on opening night

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 15th June 1998

Unpublished

(m4)

two days of hot sun —
when our dog does her business
the long grass tickles

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 17th May 1998

Publication

2011 Time Haiku (UK)

Mayday

MAYDAY

A tanka sequence

The postman is late
he brings three pieces of junk
two picture postcards
a letter from your mother
and my tax return

Calling to be paid
our local window-cleaner
verbally attacked
by the little barking bitch
still wagging her tail

Coronation Street
interrupted by the phone
my son calling home
18 months since TBI
arranging to visit us

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 1st May 1998

Publications

1998 Mayday (Internet)
2000 Panda (UK)

(m2)

the horse looks skyward —
sends a neigh of approval
as the eagle soars

© Gerald England

Composed: Gee Cross, 5th February 1998

Publicaton

2004 Sons of Camus Writers International Journal (Canada)

Waiting

WAITING

a solo alphenga

always the long wait
to see the doctor
at the eye clinic

blue flowers in a vase
starting to wilt

caught short
the little girl squirms
her mother looks cross

dreading the needle
middle-aged man shivers

early morning
terrier barks furiously
at approaching milkman

fog-bound passengers
phoning their loved ones

gulls wheel
behind the cruise liner
expecting scraps

holy mountain
hell for climbers

in the gallery
next to the nude
a portrait of mary

january sales —
city traffic gridlocks

kicking the habit
ex-smoker spits out
chewed up pencil ends

licking his lips
at the bride’s first meal

master cueman
escapes the snooker
and pots another red

neon lights flashing
above the bordello

only one customer
enters the doors —
the pub with no beer

preparing for her night’s work
the stripper gets all dressed up

querying the bill
angry diner swallows
the torn-up pieces

resolving the argument
in adjacent beds

stuck in the quicksand
tractors and ladders
work against the tide

tempted by salesman’s offer
her nest egg cracked open

under lock and key
his collection
of used underwear

vacuuming the carpet
her latest fetish

winter storms forcast
they struggle with tarpaulins
to cover the boat

xeroxing the plans
for the christmas party

yellow crocuses
emerge early —
frostless New Year

zealously guarding
his innermost thoughts

© Gerald England

Composed: Stockport, 27th January 1998

Publications

1998 Still(Internet)
1998 Thorny Locust (USA)

Class Visit

CLASS VISIT

In the City Art Gallery
a group of children
chatter and squirm,
snigger at the nudes,
disrupt the concentration
of other visitors;
the teacher apologises,
feigns disgust
at her pupils’ behaviour

Back in the classroom
other lessons than art
will be taught

© Gerald England

Composed: Manchester, 27th January 1998

Publication

2001 Greens Magazine (Canada)