Breath

Yesterday, I found one of my haiku had been chosen by Sandra Simpson to display on her wonderful website, Breath. That is an honour. The entry was a while ago, and I found it by accident. I still enjoy this haiku. I wrote it on one of my usual evening walks down William St nearby. William Street is one of those long streets that head from my suburb towards Adelaide city centre, crossing innumerable side streets until it reaches Fullarton Rd, a short walk from the parklands that ring Adelaide.

It is one of the few streets with bicycle lanes, so locals often ride their bikes along it and through the parklands to offices in the city centre. The evening would have been closing down, with twilight fading fast into night. At one point around the equinox, the setting sun shines straight along William St as it dips to the ocean in the west.

Looking that way, you can’t see the city; we have many trees lining the street. In parts, there are deciduous trees planted long ago, like oaks and London planes. There were several Moreton Bay Figs on street corners, but they have gone now. In sections of the street, Queensland Box trees keep their leaves all year, but drop little hard nuts that litter the paths, and in some areas, newer deciduous trees have supplanted the old. This has turned into a memory feat showing up my lack of knowledge of all the trees.