The New Kingdom
Groundhogs proliferate in the old neighborhoods of Lexington and infantries of finger-tip-sized centipedes overtake my yard. Wildlife runs in cycles. I’d never seen a Luna moth until three years ago when two of them appeared at my porch door with eyes on their wings. Is it a good omen when hundreds of delicate yellow butterflies flutter in the nearby cemetary like snippets of chiffon? Coyotes edge in close, sniffing out our kittens for dinner. Squirrels nest aggressively in attics.
Snakes over produce
when cherry trees bloom early.
Great for your garden!
Are they welcoming us or nudging us out of the way? Why does Randy poison the groundhog rather than trap him alive and rehome him in the woods? And Betsy from Willard Street, she just bought a Remington to rid the street of coyotes.
Robins lose their homes
due to devastating fires.
They fly to your yard.
17 thoughts on " The New Kingdom"
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I love how the crux of this poem really shifts at the key question, “Are they welcoming us or nudging us out of the way?”
I’ve been trying to write a decent haibun for years. It’s tricky stuff. Not sure about how to sequence the narrative and where to place the haiku. Thanks for picking up on the “turn.”
This is my favorite part as well
You walk us through lines between symbioses and violence in the poem. Nature v. Man all taking up arms to survive? The haiku between the prose provides another way.
You capture a phenomenon I’ve observed, too, a surge and ebb in nature. The haikus that complete the haibun are superb
I’ve seen this poem in different forms.
Haibun really works well.
Great work.
👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
I think you do the form well!
Love the way the title comments on the poem
I adored this poem. The all too common way of Randys and Betsys versus the dawn of a kingdom of harmony where the answer is how unruly invaders takes shelter, how they are seen as a benefit. Whether to protect or enhance with beauty. You knocked it out of the park with this haibun.
Nice eco-haibun. I recognize some of your references of course. The Squirrel Invasion continues! My own groundhog has been missing in action of late after we blocked access to under my porch. Somehow I think we haven’t seen the last of him.
The Squirrel Invasion sounds like a nice title for a poem, doesn’t it?
gerat work, Linda.
love that line
‘snakes over produce’
A haibun is new to me. Enjoyed being introduced!
Chilling:
Why does Randy poison the groundhog rather than trap him alive and rehome him in the woods? And Betsy from Willard Street, she just bought a Remington to rid the street of coyotes.
I’m no expert but the originated with Basho. He wrote them when he went on journeys. He’d use blocks of prose to talk about his hiking and intersperse the prose with haiku that relates to the prose. The “American” haibun can include the concept of an inner journey or questioning. They can short with just one block of prose or longer.
Sorry for the typos and that post was meant for Pam.
The descriptive prose form, specific to species, hinged with haiku is catchy and adds ponder. Great questions and an important topic.
New form to me, too. Thanks for the primer. As others have said, that question as to whether we’re being welcomed or nudged really sings. So too your images — those butterflies like snippets of chiffon. Priceless.