Ritual

Morning light washes over a hillside home in Zacatecas, Mexico.

 

Behind white curtains
we share tea and oranges—
autumn ritual.

 
 
Haiku and photo © by Magical Mystical Teacher
 
 
More Haiku My Heart at Recuerda Mi Corazon

Love

 
A woman walks home from market, San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, México.
 

Love draws her forward
through autumn morning shadows—
she knows the way home.

 
Haiku and photo © by Magical Mystical Teacher

Four Autumn Haiku

1.
autumn mystery—
the way praise spills from my heart
when the first leaf falls
 
2.
My partner dances
not with me, but with ashes—
autumn’s first hard frost.
 
3.
Doors on autumn’s hut
stand ajar—dinner simmers
on an open fire.
 
4.
Baby’s got no shame,
but he won’t tell me his name—
this cold autumn rain.

/

© 2021 by Magical Mystical Teacher
 
 
More The Whirligig #339
 
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Corn

Multicolored corn can be seen at Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site, Ganado, Arizona.
 

There will be bread, child,
for the fields are full of corn,
plump and ripe and sweet.

 
Haiku and photo © by Magical Mystical Teacher
 
More Haiku My Heart at Recuerda Mi Corazon
 
More Writers’ Pantry #92 at Poets and Storytellers United

Stories

An earthenware jar sits on a stone ledge in Zapopan, Mexico.
 

Thieving October,
how did you miss the stories
in the old clay pot?

 
Haiku and photo © by Magical Mystical Teacher
 
 
More Weekly Scribblings #90 at Poets and Storytellers United

Haibun: ‘Who Mends Broken Men?’

I find my father in the bathroom, bowed over the sink—bitter, because the stubble on his face is so thick it’s almost a beard. I pick up his razor and offer to help, but he blocks my hand. “I was buying Depends for men the other day,” he says, “because I can’t make it to the bathroom in time anymore. Now I can’t shave myself either. I became old overnight.” He faces me, tears leaking from his eyes. “Who mends broken men?”
 

Autumn loneliness—
the last crimson leaf still clings
to the maple tree.




 

Haibun © 2021 by Magical Mystical Teacher 

 
 
More The Whirligig #338
 
More Writers’ Pantry #90 at Poets and Storytellers United

 

Pilgrimage

Beyond the courtyard of this house in Wellton, Arizona lies impenetrable darkness.
 

Autumn pilgrimage—
on the pitch-black path my feet
keep going astray.

 
Haiku and photo © by Magical Mystical Teacher
 
More Haiku My Heart at Recuerda Mi Corazon

Leaves

Many desert dwellers visit Oak Creek Canyon, Sedona, Arizona to satisfy their longing for autumn color.
 

First week of autumn—
some leaves beside a streambed
forsake green for red.

 
Haiku and photo © by Magical Mystical Teacher

Quest

A cottonwood leaf in Maricopa County, Arizona announces autumn’s arrival.
 

First quest of autumn—
I try to read messages
written in the leaves.

 
Haiku and photo © by Magical Mystical Teacher

Joyful Path

Tibetan prayer flags flutter near a labyrinth at a church in Phoenix, Arizona.
 

A circular path
where prayer flags and birdsong meet—
my joy is complete.

Photo and haiku © by Magical Mystical Teacher