From poems to chapters, one short life at a time. Award winning haiku and tanka poet. Winner of 2023 Touchstone Award for haibun. Lover of small, wild places and the other-than-human world. A Shropshire lass now settled in North Yorkshire.https://bsky.app/profile/alifeofshortlives.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/alifeofshortlives.bsky.social/post/3mmlgivog3c2lhttps://substack.com/@jayfeather/note/p-199040098?r=1t6xi424 May 2026 07:21 +0000at://did:plc:d66panykocrnu5ilanhfvm4y/app.bsky.feed.post/3mmlgivog3c2lhttps://bsky.app/profile/alifeofshortlives.bsky.social/post/3lr4v3qy2c22cThere are no answers, but there is kinship. A gentle and unexpected presence when I need it most. An ordinary moment suddenly everything but. Try to explain it if you will, but I call it magick. 💚 #edgeland #nature #eurasianrobin #spiritofplace #natureonprescription #naturewriting #animism08 Jun 2025 22:12 +0000at://did:plc:d66panykocrnu5ilanhfvm4y/app.bsky.feed.post/3lr4v3qy2c22chttps://bsky.app/profile/alifeofshortlives.bsky.social/post/3lqjqb3f7es2uI was the featured poet at the Mann Library throughout May Gratitude to Tom Clausen for inviting me. a gilding of dust between library stacks . . . sun through the pines Presence, 2014 Selected by the late Stuart Quine. #haiku #shortformpoetry #mannlibrary #poetry #poem #nature #naturewriting01 Jun 2025 07:25 +0000at://did:plc:d66panykocrnu5ilanhfvm4y/app.bsky.feed.post/3lqjqb3f7es2uhttps://bsky.app/profile/alifeofshortlives.bsky.social/post/3lnaqrjjsj22vTime spent with your dog is never wasted. Our Dill. 💛 #lurcher #dogsarefamily #tanka #fivelines #mindfulness #poetry #dogsofbluesky #dogchin20 Apr 2025 13:25 +0000at://did:plc:d66panykocrnu5ilanhfvm4y/app.bsky.feed.post/3lnaqrjjsj22vhttps://bsky.app/profile/alifeofshortlives.bsky.social/post/3lglg25aws224And then there was light! Tiny badass blooms among the storm debris. Every year, a reminder, if ever there was, of the innate will of life that dares us to dream and hope. 💚 #snowdrops #naturewalk #badassnature #theforcethatthroughthegreenfusedrivestheflower #edgeland #natureonprescription25 Jan 2025 17:16 +0000at://did:plc:d66panykocrnu5ilanhfvm4y/app.bsky.feed.post/3lglg25aws224https://bsky.app/profile/alifeofshortlives.bsky.social/post/3lfpwnn44722jI had the privilege of entering the liminal world of Little Egret again this afternoon. S/he was seemingly oblivious to the traffic din and the shrill of the railway crossing barriers coming down. It was an off lead dog that broke the spell. #littleegret #egretfishing #edgeland #nature #winterwalk14 Jan 2025 18:58 +0000at://did:plc:d66panykocrnu5ilanhfvm4y/app.bsky.feed.post/3lfpwnn44722jhttps://bsky.app/profile/alifeofshortlives.bsky.social/post/3lfjt4qsyvs2tIt's 44 years today since my father died. He lives on in me, my children, in my dreams and poems. #haiku #poem #poetsofbluesky #snow #interbeing #grief #shortpoem #micropoetry #3lines #loss #ancestors #family12 Jan 2025 08:39 +0000at://did:plc:d66panykocrnu5ilanhfvm4y/app.bsky.feed.post/3lfjt4qsyvs2thttps://bsky.app/profile/alifeofshortlives.bsky.social/post/3leynqy5q722mThe painterly winter skies are the perfect backdrop for reflection as opposed to making resolutions I won't keep. Today, I am as grateful for this commentary on 'A Thousand Thens' as the day I first read it. #haibun #haiku #poetry ##writersofbluesky #nature https://thehaikufoundation.org/claire-everett-touchstone-award-for-individual-haibun/?fbclid=PAY2xjawHnXNtleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABpomPbu6OP8HG41cAO3p7ptR-g0j4B19Dsoe9FJY8nJ0eouMnR9zizjLYcw_aem_Wc2GBcUBi9wamHjl-98E2A05 Jan 2025 12:48 +0000at://did:plc:d66panykocrnu5ilanhfvm4y/app.bsky.feed.post/3leynqy5q722mhttps://bsky.app/profile/alifeofshortlives.bsky.social/post/3lehj2ggwkk25It's often the case that the strange behaviour of other birds alerts you to the presence of a hawk. Two crows were mobbing my buzzard friend in a sugared almond sky (too fast to photograph). Somehow she reminded me I'm stronger than I know. #edgeland #nature #walk #buzzard #mentalhealth #winter29 Dec 2024 17:09 +0000at://did:plc:d66panykocrnu5ilanhfvm4y/app.bsky.feed.post/3lehj2ggwkk25https://bsky.app/profile/alifeofshortlives.bsky.social/post/3leey3fxips24Today's edgeland walk. And it seems I stumbled upon a shapeshifter. It felt like a guilty pleasure as if I were Actaeon watching Artemis bathe. The playing field to my right, the railway track to my left. #edgeland #winterwalk #littleegret #buzzard #shapeshifter #nature #naturewriting #birds #walk28 Dec 2024 17:00 +0000at://did:plc:d66panykocrnu5ilanhfvm4y/app.bsky.feed.post/3leey3fxips24https://bsky.app/profile/alifeofshortlives.bsky.social/post/3leeidxa7xc2pMood yesterday on my walk to work. A thin place for two to three miles. A moving through stillness that demanded reflection and a rare (for me) monoku. #monoku #oneline #onelinepoem #haiku #writingcommunity #writersofbluesky #nature #naturepoem #onelinehaiku #thinplace #poem #fog #naturewriting28 Dec 2024 12:18 +0000at://did:plc:d66panykocrnu5ilanhfvm4y/app.bsky.feed.post/3leeidxa7xc2phttps://bsky.app/profile/alifeofshortlives.bsky.social/post/3le7dxdjwds22a red mitten in a drift of snow gone, that tiny hand​ . . . ​but still we talk of birds and other minikins #tanka from 'Nest' published in Haibun Today, March 2018. #walk #longtailedtits A minikin is a small, dainty thing, a darling​. From​ the Middle Dutch Minnekin, diminutive of minne, love.26 Dec 2024 11:16 +0000at://did:plc:d66panykocrnu5ilanhfvm4y/app.bsky.feed.post/3le7dxdjwds22https://bsky.app/profile/alifeofshortlives.bsky.social/post/3le5t5kep4c26My kind of celebration. A tranquil late afternoon walk along the lane just a few minutes from home. We were gifted with lotties (longtailed tits), too. #Yule #natureonprescription #gift #midwinter #winterwalk #northyorkshire #sunset #sunsetclouds #celebration #natureconnection #longtailedtits25 Dec 2024 20:43 +0000at://did:plc:d66panykocrnu5ilanhfvm4y/app.bsky.feed.post/3le5t5kep4c26https://bsky.app/profile/alifeofshortlives.bsky.social/post/3ldyseaf56c2zFor my husband, whose birthday it is today. Celebrating this person who I am lucky enough to love and who loves me. #tanka #5lines #poem #poetry #blueskypoets #poetsofbluesky #micropoetry #shortformpoetry #waka #lovepoetry #theoldways #greenman #naturewriting #interbeing #nature #naturelover #love23 Dec 2024 20:45 +0000at://did:plc:d66panykocrnu5ilanhfvm4y/app.bsky.feed.post/3ldyseaf56c2zhttps://bsky.app/profile/alifeofshortlives.bsky.social/post/3ldvddkclbk2l 🌟 weighing life's burdens against its joys . . . a night of freight trains and starlit frost First published in Cattails about a decade ago. (It feels like yesterday). #tanka #5lines #micropoetry #poetry #poem #poetsofbluesky #smallmoments #midwinter #mindfulness #memoir #blueskypoets22 Dec 2024 11:38 +0000at://did:plc:d66panykocrnu5ilanhfvm4y/app.bsky.feed.post/3ldvddkclbk2lhttps://bsky.app/profile/alifeofshortlives.bsky.social/post/3ldstblaqv225Winter Solstice 2020 we hoped to see a 'Star of Wonder'(Jupiter and Saturn apparently aligned and appeared like a “double planet” for the first time since the Middle Ages). This #haibun was republished in a couple of prestigious anthologies and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. #CHOonline #haiku21 Dec 2024 11:46 +0000at://did:plc:d66panykocrnu5ilanhfvm4y/app.bsky.feed.post/3ldstblaqv225https://bsky.app/profile/alifeofshortlives.bsky.social/post/3ldspxrhzn222Happy Solstice! #Midwinter #Yule #Solstice #tanka #poetry #poem #poetsofbluesky ##blueskypoets #waka #writing #shortformpoetry #smallpoems #nature #theoldways #pagan21 Dec 2024 10:46 +0000at://did:plc:d66panykocrnu5ilanhfvm4y/app.bsky.feed.post/3ldspxrhzn222https://bsky.app/profile/alifeofshortlives.bsky.social/post/3lddpnmwdek2uThrowback tanka. 2nd place British Haiku Society Award for tanka, 2013. #tanka #poetry #shortpoem #poem #poetsofbluesky ##blueskypoets #blueskywriters ##micropoetry #waka #birds #birdsofbluesky #Eurasianrobin #birdsong #wabisabi #writing #whatmatters #ephemeral #words #midwinter #birdsong15 Dec 2024 11:31 +0000at://did:plc:d66panykocrnu5ilanhfvm4y/app.bsky.feed.post/3lddpnmwdek2uhttps://bsky.app/profile/alifeofshortlives.bsky.social/post/3ldc2ihtl722lI had no desire to join the madness today. Instead, I chose an edgeland walk in the late light to see if my friend was there. She (I've decided) didn't disappoint. I could just make her out from the scrawl of old nests in bare trees, not once, but twice, in that liminal place. #buzzard #thinplace14 Dec 2024 19:39 +0000at://did:plc:d66panykocrnu5ilanhfvm4y/app.bsky.feed.post/3ldc2ihtl722lhttps://bsky.app/profile/alifeofshortlives.bsky.social/post/3lcpenzshbs2rA #tanka throwback on a gloomy, wet, and windy day. The poem was first published in Presence and did rather well in the Seashell Game, 2012. My daughter provided the artwork a year or so after she inspired the poem. A personal favourite. #poem ##poetsofbluesky #nature #writing #kingfisher #poetry07 Dec 2024 09:21 +0000at://did:plc:d66panykocrnu5ilanhfvm4y/app.bsky.feed.post/3lcpenzshbs2rhttps://bsky.app/profile/alifeofshortlives.bsky.social/post/3lciv6fgzms2n If there is a god of small things, I imagine this is how he is appeased. They will surely come, those other days, the ones that knock us sideways. But let’s not think of them now. #comforts #flower #morningwalk From 'Small Comforts' #haibun published in A Hundred Gourds (1: 4 September 2012).04 Dec 2024 19:28 +0000at://did:plc:d66panykocrnu5ilanhfvm4y/app.bsky.feed.post/3lciv6fgzms2nhttps://bsky.app/profile/alifeofshortlives.bsky.social/post/3lcaiq42zvk2vThrowback #tanka. A personal favourite, first published in 'Gusts' in 2012. #waka #5lines #poetry #poem #shortpoem #love #lovepoetry #poetsofbluesky #blueskypoets #micropoetry #romance #meditation #patchouli #dream #worldswithinworlds #writingcommunity #writersofbluesky #laterlifelove #hands01 Dec 2024 11:24 +0000at://did:plc:d66panykocrnu5ilanhfvm4y/app.bsky.feed.post/3lcaiq42zvk2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/alifeofshortlives.bsky.social/post/3lc6kf265is2i what light there is . . . was that buzzard sense the bird's or mine #haiku #3lines #poetry #poem #poetsofbluesky #blueskypoets #writingcommunity #naturewalk #edgeland #connection #resonance #interbeing #buzzard #eurasianbuzzard #poetryinthemoment #urbanbirder #naturetherapy #nature30 Nov 2024 16:48 +0000at://did:plc:d66panykocrnu5ilanhfvm4y/app.bsky.feed.post/3lc6kf265is2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/alifeofshortlives.bsky.social/post/3lc4mptxbl227Throwback #tanka First published in A Hundred Gourds over a decade ago. Another platform reminded me. And I can still see that swan pair somewhere on the Swale one afternoon in late summer. A reminder of how poetry can bookmark a moment. #micropoetry #presentmoment #swans #love #poetry #poem #haiga29 Nov 2024 22:25 +0000at://did:plc:d66panykocrnu5ilanhfvm4y/app.bsky.feed.post/3lc4mptxbl227https://bsky.app/profile/alifeofshortlives.bsky.social/post/3lbzwvobu6c23“I am grateful for what I am and what I have. My thanksgiving is perpetual.” ~ Henry David Thoreau #walktowork #thanksgiving #thelittlethings #glimmers #redberries #holly #splashofcolour ##natureonprescription28 Nov 2024 20:49 +0000at://did:plc:d66panykocrnu5ilanhfvm4y/app.bsky.feed.post/3lbzwvobu6c23https://bsky.app/profile/alifeofshortlives.bsky.social/post/3lbxhv32iuc2q"Stay awhile!" I was running late for work this morning, but I found a moment to set down my thoughts, albeit briefly,and breathe in frosty whorls of robin song beneath a blue, blue sky. #stayawhile #commute #walkingmeditation #sitspot #bench #birdsong #self-care #smallmomentsofcalm27 Nov 2024 21:15 +0000at://did:plc:d66panykocrnu5ilanhfvm4y/app.bsky.feed.post/3lbxhv32iuc2qhttps://bsky.app/profile/alifeofshortlives.bsky.social/post/3lbuwffixnk2nThe days grow ever shorter, but there's light to be found in unexpected places. Who knew that walking to work could be such a lesson in paying attention, pausing, and connecting? "Hello, what's your name?" #glimmers #slowdown #walkingmeditation #nature #naturetherapy #natureonprescription #flowers26 Nov 2024 20:56 +0000at://did:plc:d66panykocrnu5ilanhfvm4y/app.bsky.feed.post/3lbuwffixnk2nhttps://bsky.app/profile/alifeofshortlives.bsky.social/post/3lbsme3xxck2pThe County Hall pond on my workday walk, looking as if Monet might have had a hand in it. Last week, it was cloudy glass with the fish nowhere to be seen. Now, the lily pads are letting go like the trees. In the summer, one fraught morning, there was a kindness of dragonflies. ##smallmomentsofcalm25 Nov 2024 22:51 +0000at://did:plc:d66panykocrnu5ilanhfvm4y/app.bsky.feed.post/3lbsme3xxck2phttps://bsky.app/profile/alifeofshortlives.bsky.social/post/3lbpixy6wys2nIt may not be particularly special to anyone but me, yet here I've seen egret, kingfisher, buzzard, treecreeper ... Late afternoon, the beck is storm-muddied and high, but as a lone moorhen bobs and dabbles against the current, my thoughts start to slow.  #sitspot #mindfulness #edgelands #nature24 Nov 2024 17:13 +0000at://did:plc:d66panykocrnu5ilanhfvm4y/app.bsky.feed.post/3lbpixy6wys2nhttps://bsky.app/profile/alifeofshortlives.bsky.social/post/3lbmvyywoq22fAnother chance to meet Henry in a #haibun over on Substack. #nationaltreeweek https://open.substack.com/pub/claireeverett/p/rooted?r=1t6xi4&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true23 Nov 2024 16:28 +0000at://did:plc:d66panykocrnu5ilanhfvm4y/app.bsky.feed.post/3lbmvyywoq22f