49 old haiku

1
For my just reward
I am liable to seek
A share of the day

2
If it is found that
No share is to be given
I shall not take long

3
I shall fly upwards
In the wake of a magpie
And the form of wind

4
Hoping hence to gain
Entirely deservedly
What is for the best

5
The finest outcome
With heavenly indulgence
And a pot of tea

6
Wealth will then follow
Inevitability
Sends what’s for the best

7
Having done their work
All my books come back to me
My soul unexposed

8
And by the time I die
There will be no confusion
‘He did a good job’

9
Charred remnants are all
The morsels I am eating
The bread of sad days

10
Over the mountains
On the far side of snow
Lies the greenest sea

11
When I get over
The walls on the mountain side
Grey rocks will remain

12
By then the challenge
Will be not to overcome
But to be easy

13
Rocks are enemies
Of some others, not of me
Friends are all I have

14
Birds will understand
Conditions joined to flying
Wings attached to wind

15
I will lend a hand
To those who might be dying
For want of a word

16
In the wintertime
Out on the frozen hillside
Sheep huddle in vain

17
Over all the fields
Of the waterlogged country
Winds blow from the south

18
On the city streets
Lost companions tread their paths
Seeking other days

19
Slowly now awakes
The serpent from its dreaming
To consume the brave

20
Everyone will know
The extent of the scandal
When the building falls

21
If ever you go
To the palace of the king
Return with presents

22
The king is known as
The kindest benefactor
His kingdom has seen

23
People will say that
We have no sense of danger
If we stand for this

24
But we shall reply
That the best of times are here
No need for treason

25
I may drink too much
My mind is inviolate
Harm is not for long

26
The best protectors
Are the rhyme of a clapper
The ring of a thought

27
Days beyond recall
Send their messengers forward
To disturb our sleep

28
Nights of the future
Issue emissaries too
In heavy disguise

29
Ambassadors all
Carry proper credentials
To the head of state

30
Hope is destroyed now
By untimely reminders
Of experience

31
If ever you go
You’ll see me more than likely
In lands you visit

32
Hope always whispers
It entered once a child’s room
My mother sang it

33
It showed some surprise
To be sung by my mother
And slept in my gut

34
I will arise now
I am off to a meeting
To stir up the soup

35
When the letter comes
There will be great rejoicing
At its welcome news

36
Where’s the postman now
When we need reassurance
As to the future?

37
Money to borrow
Self-respect must hand over
Its pride to swallow

38
Consideration
Of reality of life
Must stand on quicksand

39
When time has run out
The king will be as worried
As a toothless fox

40
From their carefree sky
Swoop two birds to crash on glass
One will live, one die

41
Astray, in the way
A cat on snooker table
Playing with the balls

42
In the bare ash trees
Seed accretions, orange birds
Wish to fly away

43
An ash tree alone
In a field of melting snow
Is resigned to fate

44
Withstanding a storm
Waves of cold obligation
The mark of a tree

45
Crying at my feet
Now gives birth to the future
Still wet; quite familiar

46
From way over there
The future comes quietly
And opens the door

47
Racing cloud-shadows
Saying ‘never two the same’
Surfing down the fields

48
Hopeless romantic
You cry at a comedy
And resent my laughing

49
Having come so far
Humans unexpectedly
Decide to go back