Rodney Williams
Born 1956 in Australia
Living in Trafalgar, within the Gippsland region of Victoria, in south-eastern Australia
Rodney Williams has been Secretary of the Australian Haiku Society since mid-2014. His poems in Japanese short-forms and longer genres have been published in various journals/ collections over the last decade, at home and overseas. In 2013, Ginninderra Press (Port Adelaide) released his book A bird-loving man: haiku and tanka. The first fifteen haiku included here were also included in his book.
shotgun blast –
nothing falls from the sky
except silence
bottle rockets 16, February 2007
a flame robin
lands on the spade handle –
new snowdrops
– Stylus Poetry Journal 25 (Australia), April 2007
– Later, selected for “Haiku in Australia”, The Haiku Foundation (USA), 2016
cloud shadows
pass over the bald hill –
buzz of flies
– Frogpond 30.1, Fall/ Winter 2007
– Later, included in Third Australian Haiku Anthology (paper wasp, Brisbane, 2011)
a fox barks
at the high-plains moon –
creek brisk with thaw
Famous Reporter 36 (Australia), December 2007
glimpse of dolphin
beyond the river mouth . . .
friends a youth ago
– From “In driftwood – A haiku/ tanka interchange from Byron Bay and the NSW Northern Rivers”, Stylus Poetry Journal 28 (Australia), 2008
– Later, included in Third Australian Haiku Anthology (paper wasp, Brisbane, 2011)
– Subsequently, featured in “Re: Virals 34”, The Haiku Foundation (USA), 2016
the ewe
nudges her lamb once more –
ravens cawing
The Heron’s Nest, Vol. XI, No. 3, September 2009
cave door in the cliff –
a fairy martin dips
into darkness
– Notes from the Gean, Issue 1, June 2009
– Later, included in Third Australian Haiku Anthology (paper wasp, Brisbane, 2011)
twilight –
already today
is electric
le crépuscule –
déjà aujourd’hui
est électrique
Presence 41, 2010
barn owl blinking . . .
a lamp flickers
in the broodmare’s stall
– Acorn (USA), Fall 2010
– Later, selected for “Haiku in Australia”, The Haiku Foundation (USA), 2016
that same sweet phrase –
rustling through leaf mulch
a song thrush
– FreeXpresSion (Australia), July 2010
– Later, selected for “Haiku in Australia”, The Haiku Foundation (USA), 2016
forest track –
before a summer storm
the smell of charcoal
Shamrock Haiku Journal 17, 2011
an old man
walking an old dog –
Ninety Mile Beach
Notes from the Gean Volume 3, Issue 1, June 2011
stockmen’s hut
by the high-plains track
a wild horse snorts
– A Hundred Gourds 1.1 (Australia et al), December 2011
– Later, selected for “Haiku in Australia”, The Haiku Foundation (USA), 2016
the main canal
flooding reclaimed fields . . .
no time for tears
– A Hundred Gourds 1.2 (Australia et al), March 2012
– Later, selected for “Haiku in Australia”, The Haiku Foundation (USA), 2016
shingle beach . . .
trying out its third couple
a dog lost at dusk
– From “Between headlands – a haiku string from New Zealand’s North and South and Stewart Islands”, Kokako 16 (New Zealand), March 2012
– Later, appeared in “Per diem” selection of Australian haiku for The Haiku Foundation (USA), December 2015
– Subsequently, included in “Haiku in Australia”, The Haiku Foundation (USA), 2016
torchlight walk –
trading looks of surprise
with a wallaby
Commended, FreeXpresSion Haiku Contest (Australia), 2013
Christmas Eve . . .
a glimmer of moonlight
on the settling pond
Windfall 3 (Australia), 2014
the scent of new-mown hay
raked into rows . . .
horse-tail clouds
Second place, FreeXpresSion Haiku Contest (Australia), 2015
soldiers in bronze by the shrine tai chi
paper wasp (Australia), Autumn, 2015
lens in focus –
the eastern water dragon
tilts its head
A Hundred Gourds 4.2 March 2015
dusk on the cape . . .
the last fisherman
shoulders his rod
A Vast Sky (USA), 2015
the one steep rise
on this same dirt road
that hawk once more
Windfall 4 (Australia), 2015
New Year countdown –
before any fireworks
stars glint on the lake
Commended, the 2015 Little Haiku Contest, Iris Haiku Magazine, Three Rivers Haiku Association (Croatia)
inhaling deeply
at the kitchen doorstep . . .
summer rain
Honourable Mention, Betty Drevniok Award 2016, Haiku Canada
open garden day –
swallows weave across lawns
between guests
Honourable Mention, Betty Drevniok Award 2016, Haiku Canada