Book of the Week: Pocketing the Tide

Our Book of the Week is Pocketing the Tide, a collection of haibun, by English poet Diana Webb. Diane names the sections of her book and many individual haibun after famous lines from the British poets, a fact that underlines her interest in pursuing historical English backgrounds for her vivid explorations of the present moment.

UNLOCKING EDEN

Ash keys—
a childhood garden
opens

 

The grounds of the convent where I went to school had many trees. We wandered through on nature walks, learned their names. Sycamore. Holm Oak. In spring, within the shade of boughs that hung across the front lawn just behind the wall, we watched a statue of the Virgin crowned with May. On the way home, along the road, there was a small iron latticed bridge that spanned a narrow waterway. This space where I sit now, surrounded by the green of later summertime, was also once a place of nuns. A stream runs close, its waters joining those from long ago.

 

round the rim
of an old brick well
the odd splash of light

UNGILDED

The day when medals are awarded at the prestigious London flower show. At last the sun comes out and we can spend time in our own small patch of green.

 

the baby sits up
Buddha-like—
just one small flower

You can read the entire book in the THF Digital Library.

Do you have a chapbook published 2010 or earlier you would like featured as a Book of the Week? Contact us for details.

Haiku featured in the Book of the Week Archive are selected by THF Digital Librarian Garry Eaton, and are used with permission.