Evening Fall Haiku
by Shelley Chesley
Loud owl, sonorous
Sounds off in lowering light
Whooo cooks for you all?
Loon ghosts through on glass
Eye feathers whiting with age
Dives silent as snow
Barred one wings westward
Barely four hoots to spare here
No reply save mine
Sun’s last glance at day?
It’s bats in zigzagging jags
Dot-to-dotting gnats
Great Blue’s wings at rest
Resolute on sandy feet--
Origami bird
Stilled for precision
Last rites for frogs and fishes--
Near side of their doom
Sounds off in lowering light
Whooo cooks for you all?
Loon ghosts through on glass
Eye feathers whiting with age
Dives silent as snow
Barred one wings westward
Barely four hoots to spare here
No reply save mine
Sun’s last glance at day?
It’s bats in zigzagging jags
Dot-to-dotting gnats
Great Blue’s wings at rest
Resolute on sandy feet--
Origami bird
Stilled for precision
Last rites for frogs and fishes--
Near side of their doom
Shelley Chesley has published poetry in two editions of the literary journal, Nostos, and in two anthologies of the Marin Poetry Center as well as in the online poetry journal, Canary. Her first full-length collection, Come Back, Behind Your Eyes (Longship Press, 2023), was released last autumn. Making poetry continues to enrich her conversation with self, others and place. She adds it to her life’s list of explorations as an actor, theology student and liturgist, storyteller, MD, and multi-faith hospital chaplain.