Full-throated ease—a bird unseen 
beakful of blushful Hippocrene 
drank deep and ere too long 
burst into incandescent song 
Now where the immortal bird gave voice 
there stands a pub with a wide choice 
of Hippocrenes and good craft ale 
its name: the Red Hot Nightingale 




::: 




no thought is new 
under the sun 
the same thoughts form 
in everyone 
in every age 
fresh poets come 
new birds to sing 
new bees to hum 
the same old songs 

here a bucket 
there a pail 
all drawing from 
the same well 
each one longs 
and each one tries 
time after time 
to turn the water 
into wine 




::: 




were it not for Shakespeare 
and the rest 
my poems might have been 
among the best 

Keith Evetts

is a retired British diplomat who lives in the UK. His earlier 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 the leading journals, including Blithe Spirit, cattails, Cold Moon Journal, Failed Haiku, Heliosparrow Poetry Journal, Mamba: Journal of African Haiku, Presence Haiku Journal, Prune Juice Journal, The Asahi Shimbun, Wales Haiku Journal, and World Haiku Review, as well as at The Haiku Foundation. His work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Touchstone Awards, and anthologized in the Red Moon, Contemporary Haibun, Modern Haiku, and Dwarf Stars anthologies.

Evetts is listed among the European Top 100 Haiku Authors during the past three years. He is an administrator of Facebook’s largest haiku group 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.