A HAIKU CALENDAR

January: The new year shivers; nights unravel at both ends; days reach towards spring.
February: Blanched February:; hoarfrost, sleet, snowflakes, snowdrops,; deathly chill at dawn.
March: March caterpillars; in beakloads swell bluetit chicks; morsels for magpies.
April: April primroses; furl cool buds in the shadows; bask on sunny banks.
May: Bluebell battalions; march over moor and hedges; mapping lost woodland.
June: June brings dog-roses; lavender, honeysuckle,; mown grass, hay fever.
July: Summer cumulus; somersault into the lake; and hang from their toes.
August: August insect hum; wind-drift of honeyed heather; midges and horseflies.
September: Hips, haws, hazelnuts,; blackberries, ivy-berries:; fat birds and dormice.
October: Curled October leaves; cast by the coppiced beeches; crackle underfoot.
November: Rough November gale —; red apples lie on the grass; studded with black slugs.
December: Wind snipes from the east —; hunched in the hail-shot stubble; refugee starlings.