Triparshva : Madiba's Smile

a pod of whales
heads for the antarctic
tails in the wind

ankle-deep in surf
a small girl waves both hands

swirling cream
with cinnamon sugar
in my yellow cup

ginger puss and me
share the square of sunshine

eclipsed totally
by the moon
that shortest June day

in his camp bed she waits
the lion's last roar

* * * *

I tap refresh
watch the haiku arguments
reappear

how many body bags
last-posted back home?

off to the gym
for today's one hundred
laps of breaststroke

east, north, west, south ...
her butterfly kisses

our intrepid miss
Muffet spills
all his milky whey

another torn condom
one more falling star

alas poor Yorick
the bard said
learn yer lines or else!

Little Boy and Fat Man
plant their poison mushrooms

yet the moonbeams
yet the morning
albeit so chill

ya gotta love Madiba's
Freedom Day smile

* * * *

ah, the view
of Robben Island
from Table Mountain's top

we lunch this cold Sunday
on chilied smoorsnoek

until the planet's
hot springs all
bubble themselves dry

baby bird shit rains down
from the weavers' nests

more daisies
in our deserts than
ever you could ask

who will adventure
new triparshva with me?

A solo triparshva renku by Moira Richards, George, South Africa

Composed during November and December 2006