Charnwood Farm - Bryan Page

Bryan Page lives in the market town of Loughborough in Charnwood. He is an accomplished illustrator with a special interest in historical re-construction. It is a great pleasure to walk an area with him, and to hear him interpret the signs of human impact on the built and natural environment. It is magical to watch him 'raise the walls' and recreate the life and times of these places with the tip of a pencil! Now retired from teaching, Bryan devotes much of his time to his own projects. He is a regular collaborator with Charnwood Arts. The kukai images (without haiku) can be accessed by clicking here:

an'ya, from the US, acted as the judge of haiku in this section.

1st Place - Marjorie Buettner

grape vines
overtaking the wire fence
summer love

I chose this haiku because of its clarity of images, hidden depth, and the purity of its feeling. Truly, 'summer love' can overtake anyone, and the image of the grape vines gives me a vision of young lovers entwined in an embrace. As for the wire fence, it could easily be representative of rigid boundaries imposed on their relationship. Although there was no actual mention of the farm house in Bryan's painting, perhaps we can imagine it was a 'summer house' somewhere in Europe, and this haiku does well nonetheless, by combining a human element with a nature counterpart. [AP]

2nd Place - Mary Angela Nangini

no trespassing
among the vines
barbed wire

It could be said of this particular haiku, that its middle line contains an interesting pivot. There is also juxtaposition between the vines and the barbed wire as they wind around and through each other, one being soft, and the other being hard. In this haiku, man is warned not to 'trespass', but the vines get away with it. Possibly a 'picture sort of haiku,' yet I feel that it does do justice to Bryan's artwork, and vice-versa. [AP]

3rd Place - Doris Kasson

beyond
the barbed wire
a solitary farmhouse

This is my third choice, and its author wrote exactly what he/she perceived from Bryan's lovely farm painting. It is quite straightforward and accurate in its portrayal, but also could just as easily stand on its own. [AP]