silent night
the screech of an owl
for the hell of it

:::

The common potoo is hidden from view 
by disguise 
Located at night by reflection of light 
from its eyes 
It is not all that rare—there are more of them there 
than you think 
Looking just like a tree they’re not easy to see 
till they blink 

:::

spring I’ll be 
the sparkle in the ice 
around the fen 

you’ll see me in the dew 
if you’re up early 
now and then 

or in a morning blackbird 
singing here I am 
again 

:::

This cormorant isn’t sitting 
on a post, beak-heavy, 
feathers spread out drying—
iridescence being a word 
the bird doesn’t know. 

No, it’s sawing through the sky 
against a grim October gale, 
stub-winged ungainly thing! 
flogging upwind, 
too high for fishing. 

And then it turns—wheeeeee! 
zooms back to the beginning 
turns again to toil, gradually 
along the wind, ratcheting 
to that unmarked point ... 

Again and again 
I watch it labour, to fly free, 
joyful and thrilling, although 
“joy” and “thrill” are words we assume 
that cormorants don’t know. 

:::

O pussy, quit your yowling 
can’t you hear that I am howling 
at the moon beyond the owl that silent flies 
though now I wonder whether 
if we yowl and howl together 
our voices joined will rise above the skies 
despite our different name 
our longing is the same 
the moon at last may pity us our cries 
let us meet again tomorrow 
to let fly our wail of sorrow 
that it soar past where the wise owl silent flies 
the fools we are to think it satisfies! 

:::

one little skylark
way above
Shelley

Keith Evetts

is a retired British diplomat who lives in the UK. His scientific papers are published in Nature and elsewhere; his long-form poetry in The Oxford Magazine and Linnet’s Wings; his cherita in The Cherita; and his haiku and related short forms in Blithe Spirit, Cattails, Cold Moon Journal, Failed Haiku, Heliosparrow, Mambu, Presence, Prune Juice, The Asahi Shimbun, Wales Haiku Journal, World Haiku Review, and at The Haiku Foundation. His work has been anthologized in the Red Moon Anthologies of haiku and haibun, and has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Touchstone Awards.

Evetts is listed among the European Top 100 Haiku Authors in 2021, and hosts the weekly haiku commentary feature at The Haiku Foundation. He’s married, with five children, a grey parrot, and a sense of humour.