there’s poetry in a rotting rutabaga 
floating down a river to the setting sun 
twists of blackened foliage configured 
as snakes upon the head of a Medusa 
reflected in a bright Gorgoneion 
cleft by the water’s shining silver blade 
her fate to be construed as an example 
of what befalls a charming pretty maid 
caught screwing with Poseidon in a temple 
mess with gods and you will end the loser 

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.