Monday, October 09, 2006

The Countryside

This week’s prompt from One Deep Breath “visits the countryside.” Since I live in the country, next to in-laws with a working chicken farm, I get up-close and personal (too much so, far too often) with life in the countryside. Three rather snarky senryu come to mind.

Crickets, katydids
Weave their magic nightsong…
Beagles break the spell.

Twenty-four/seven:
Farmers sacrifice their time
To feed the world.

Filthy, crowded, hot:
A scene from the depths of Hell?
No, a chicken house.

Many of my previous haiku and senryu also deal with rural themes: exurban encroachment, night near a pond, foggy morning roads, foggy evening roads, buzzards, kudzu, grain fields, raptors, livestock, fishing. I’m honored to share them with you.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

These are so good!
You have that chicken house pegged right.
I grew up with all this, but only miss beagles!

Anonymous said...

I especially love that first one -beagles would definitely break the spell!
Great haiku!

Crafty Green Poet said...

Excellent senryu! I particularly like the first one.

Anonymous said...

All three are wonderful, but the last is SO true.

Annie Jeffries said...

Humor
Sacrifice
Reality check

All evoke strong images.

Catherine said...

Even though we are in the city, we have a night song of frogs - brown tree frogs which have a "cricket-like series of chirps and trills". I have to say, I don't think it is really all that magic - kind of annoying, really :)
I do believe that the countryside means lots of hard work for those who live there

Ian russell said...

great senryu. i'm not sure what sound a katydid makes but assume its like a cicada.

Tammy Brierly said...

Yeah for our farmers! My grandma was raised on a chicken farm and I grew up with the tales :) She refused to ever eat chicken :) Enjoyed your haiku!