World-traveler hay(na)ku thrives in Scotland. Neil Leadbeater becomes the second writer (after Stephen Nelson) to write hay(na)ku in that United Kingdom nation. I'm delighted to present some of them with this trio on the theme of sea shells!
A hay(na)ku of Sea Shells
Who can resist
a cache
of
shells washed up
on the
beach?
Single valves of
Senilia Senilis
at
Fadiouth in Senegal,
Turitella gastropods
in
a cove in
Costa Rica
or
limpets and clams
punctured with
holes
nearer to home
on Chesil
Beach.
Who can resist
a gift
unwrapped
brought by waves
from the
sea?
Second hay(na)ku of Sea Shells
Who can resist
a hoard
of
shells: rayed mactra
and slipper
limpets,
rose petal tellins
strewn with
precision
out of a
parting wave?
Banded
tulips on island
shores, sand
dollars
exposed to the
sun, olives
sporting
a glossy finish,
red calico
scallops
with carrot cones
and zebra
arks,
species of wentletraps
the ultimate
prize.
Third hay(na)ku of Sea Shells
Beauty aside, they
are the
exoskeletons
of invertebrates, animals
without backbones,
that
came from the
sea: marine
molluscs
whose soft parts
have decomposed,
the
moulted shells of
crabs and
lobsters,
animals who had
a history,
lived
life, and were
unafraid to
be.
***
Neil Leadbeater is an author, essayist, poet and critic living in Edinburgh, Scotland. His short stories, articles and poems have been published widely in anthologies and journals both at home and abroad. His publications include Librettos for the Black Madonna (White Adder Press, 2011); The Worcester Fragments (Original Plus, 2013); The Loveliest Vein of Our Lives (Poetry Space, 2014), Finding the River Horse (Littoral Press, 2017) and Punching Cork Stoppers (Original Plus, 2018). His work has been translated into several languages.
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