Adelaide B. Shaw

A Jungle Interlude

Today I travel to Brazil, to the jungle, getting lost in the undergrowth. I move slowly, with trepidation and wonder. My imagination soars to the tops of trees that appear to extend endlessly. There is movement, a rustling, above and below. Birds, seen and unseen, follow me, lead me forward, calling, singing, screaming.

breathless
a deluge breaks
through the canopy

dense mysteries
lurking in sound and shadow
orchids

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Author’s Note: This is an ekphrastic haibun based on the composition
“Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5” by Heitor Villa-Lobos. You can listen to it here:

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About the Author

Adelaide B. Shaw has been creating Japanese poetic forms for fifty years and has been published in several journals. Her three collections of haiku, An Unknown Road, The Distance I’ve Come, and Travel Souvenirs, are available on Amazon. Examples of her published work are on her blog, White Petals.