bright fall day
the brook wanders off
leaving its shimmer
a silk scarf trailing
on the forest floor
as if nothing happened
the crow here
the willow there
the autumn sun peers through the leaves
watching the caterpillars
rusty toy truck
stuck on the mudbank
a cargo of blossoms
a line of ants march by
a few of them hitch a ride
evening walk
the creak of my boots
invade the stars
the cricket choir chirps
ferns curl their fronds and sigh
raking aside the leaves
on the backyard pond
i release the moon
frog hopscotches lily pads
moon bathing with dragonflies
full moon rising
nowhere on the empty beach
to hide our love
time for a midnight swim
the fish don't seem to mind
H. F. Noyes (1918 – 2010)
The poet, editor, and psychotherapist H.F. "Tom" Noyes was born in 1918
on a farm in Oregon to which he attributes his love of nature. He
attended Yale and Columbia, majoring in Anthropology and Social
Psychology. He also studied Developmental Psychology at the Rousseau
Institute and the University of Geneva. Immediately after graduation, he
served in the U.S. Navy during World War II as an ordnanceman and
torpedoman, and then as an ensign in the Scouts and Raiders
(U.S.Marines). After the war he obtained a Doctorate in Counselling, as
well as training in Gestalt Therapy and Jungian Psychoanalysis. He
practiced psychotherapy in New York City for 25 years, retiring in 1970
to live the simple life in Politia, outside Athens, Greece.
Tom’s interest in haiku began through study of R. H. Blyth’s four-volume
Haiku. Noyes' work appeared in poetry journals worldwide and in many
anthologies, including collections published in the USA, Canada,
Slovenia, New Zealand, South Korea, Japan, India, Romania, Italy,
Portugal, Greece, and England. His favourite authors were Thoreau, D.H.
Lawrence, and Dostoevsky, and his favourite poets were Frost, Jeffers,
Yannis Ritsos, Francis Ponge, the T'ang and Sung Dynasty poets, and the
old masters: Basho, Buson, and Issa of Japan. In Modern Haiku (2008,
39:1, p.125)
H. F. Noyes wrote:
“Re definitions of haiku, I honor
Basho’s, ‘Do not follow in the footsteps of the ancients. Seek what they
sought.’ If they could speak from beyond the grave, Basho, Buson and
Issa would caution that a haiku is not a product of mind, but of
heartmind. The most precious ingredient in a haiku that ingratiates
itself with us is likely to be spontaneity . . . an unselfconscious
catching of the haiku spirit as it flies. The depth reflected is chiefly
through afterthought in readers’minds.
The writer is content to convey a sense of wonder. "
