Poet Profile

Mark Gilbert

Originally trained in science, Mark Gilbert has been writing haiku, senryu, tanka and the occasional haibun for over 20 years. Examples of his work may be found in the journals Presence, Time Haiku and the British Haiku Society's Blithe Spirit (and BHS anthologies). Mark spent some of his childhood in the US and this continues to have an influence on him and his writing. Indeed, he discovered haiku through the works of Jack Kerouac.

Awards and Other Honors: Runner-up, The Haiku Calendar Competition 2015 (Snapshot Press)

the foam and the froth
of the sea -
a seal's stare

she speaks to me
through the piano
the same words every night

ambulance in my rear view mirror

two goats
the clock of their skulls
September wind

alone in the café
the clang of crockery
the cling of cutlery

raking leaves in the wind
the chortle
of a green woodpecker

Credits: "the foam and the froth" - Time Haiku 40 (2014); "ambulance" - Blithe Spirit 21/4 (2012); "alone in the café" - Presence 50 (2014); "she speaks to me" - Presence 26 (2005); "two goats" - Blithe Spirit 22/4 (2012); "raking leaves in the wind" - Blithe Spirit 18/1 (2008).