floating

spirit clouds
drifting with the light
say goodbye

Another recent sunset at Ricketts Point. We never know what will happen until the last few minutes of sunset.

hibiscus

garden fire

amongst green and brown

blaze of red

This small Red Hibiscus has held on and survived being dug up by Maggie, replanted and finally re-located to a Maggie safe area. Now, 2 years later these beautiful coloured flowers appear individually, bloom for a couple of days, then shrivel up. We have to remember to water the plant regularly. A much larger, multi blooming Yellow Hibiscus thrives a few metres away.

tropical beauty
exposing bashful foliage
fiery red survivor

singing

garden serenade

music of chirping crickets

farewelling twilight

Crickets have sung most evenings in our front and back yards during Summer and now in early Autumn. They especially love water being sprayed around, either when we water the garden or when it rains and this brings on the chirping. They are elusive little things and are rarely seen. On really hot nights an occasional juvenile cricket will make its way through the gap under our outside wire mesh outer door. They are vulnerable, very soft insects and we know they are young because of the brown colouring. We never see a black adult.

This is my contribution to Ronovan Writes #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge 350 CHIRP and Twilight Visit this site to read many creative haiku.

banksia bird heaven

soft banksia cones
rainbow lorikeet crisps
ready for snacking

We have a local indigenous Banksia tree growing by our front gate. Currently it is flowering and a variety of birds, Noisy Miners, Wattle Birds and Rainbow Lorikeets are daily visitors. The Lorikeets are big in numbers and very noisy so when they arrive anyone else feeding tends to disappear. This is my contribution to Ronovan Writes #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge 349 CRISP and Soft. Visit this site to see how other poets respond to Ronovan’s challenge.

memories

time passed slowly
older family memories
never slip away

My wife Jill and her brother Murray now own this house which was originally built by their great great grandfather in the 1860’s. At this time one of the most productive gold mining areas in the world had developed in the area around the house and in surrounding valleys and was known as the Bendigo gold mine fields in Victoria Australia. The house was built by hand from mud bricks sourced from a nearby stream. Three generations of the family grew up here before it was finally leased for a while then left uninhabited until Jill’s family re-discovered it in the late 1960’s. Jill’s family spent hundreds of hours across many years repairing the mud brick walls and interior. We have enjoyed many picnics at the house and explored the flora of the surrounding area . A regional park adjoins the property and we wander out the back and through the remnants of the once bustling, prosperous gold fields observing nature and taking written records and photos..

This is my contribution to Ronovan Writes #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge 346 SLIP and Time. Visit this link to see many other HAIKU poetic responses .

feathered fun

warm evening
corella laughter
feathered cloud

Flocks of Little Corellas are quite common in our part of Melbourne. They mainly feed on grass seeds and small bulbs on and around the many sports fields scattered across our suburban city. Corellas tend to pull up bulbs and can cause damage to the surface of a sports oval. When a flock of these birds are on the wing they all cry/laugh at the same time. It is an ear splitting sound especially if they are coming in to roost on trees you may be standing under. Out in the countryside the damage a huge flock can cause to grain crops on agricultural land causes problems for farmers. When frustrated about the lack of food or having been chased off a meal Corellas have been known to descend on a rural community and attack roof fittings, street infrastructure and even cars and clothes lines. Their bills/beaks are hard and sharp. There are of course anti bird rednecks who think such trouble makers should be shot .

under water

bird watching
cormorant dives
blows bubbles

A cormorant creates bubbles from its feathers as it dives under water searching for food then comes up for air. Recently my wife Jill shared a you tube clip of what this looks like when the bird actually hunts. https://www.facebook.com/mervynd/videos/10158899397264451

IF YOU LIVE OUTSIDE AUSTRALIA YOU CANNOT VIEW THIS VIDEO. READ WHY BELOW.

Australians are being blocked from accessing news in their Facebook feeds, in a dramatic escalation of the social media giant’s stand-off with the federal government.The social media giant said it made the move in response to the government’s proposed media bargaining laws, which would force major tech giants to pay Australian news outlets for their content.

The move also prevents people overseas from sharing Australian content on the social media site.

This is my contribution to Ronovan Writes #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge 345 BIRD AND Blow. Follow this link and see how other haiku poets use BIRD and BLOW creatively.

state of mind

red sunset
fires peoples minds
sane or mad

Sunsets play with human imaginations especially fiery red ones. Whenever there is a volcanic eruption in South East Asia we expect brilliant red sunsets in the near future. Fiery sunsets in Summer are also associated with bushfires in Australia, smoke creating horrific scenes with the setting sun. We are lucky in Bayside Melbourne to have a long view across the bay for our sunsets and can anticipate brilliant photographic opportunities with the right combination of cloud and atmosphere. I love photographing sunsets.

This is my contribution to https://ronovanwrites.com/2020/12/14/ronovan-writes-weekly-haiku-poetry-prompt-challenge-336-mad-and-sane/

Follow the link to read haiku responses to this challenge from around the world

And here is another haiku, a bit more sophisticated!

fireball sunsets
fuel imaginations
tomorrows promise

life cycle

fading sunset view
makes tomorrows promises
more life energy

A recent sunset at Ricketts Point on Port Phillip Bay in Melbourne. It was almost a farewell to our second wave of Covid 19. As of today we have 25 days of no cases or deaths and also now no mystery community transmissions. This is my contribution to Ronovan Writes #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge 333 Life and View. If you follow this link you will find other Life and View haiku from poets around the world.

tidal secrets

time slowly passes
as tidal ebb and flow
reveals more food

This Sooty Oystercatcher returns at low tide to the same section of rocky outcrop when a variety of shellfish, some attached to rocks and others in pools is exposed. The bill of these birds is shaped like a skewer and it makes short work of any uncooperative Oysters etc. They are solitary birds and live in their own worlds of meditative patience.

This is my contribution to Ronovan Writes #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge 332 EBB & Flow visit this link to read other haiku poets’ work.