blankets of blues
summer in sapphire and teal
I breathe between hues
seven ride the waves
still nuzzled in mother’s wing
paddling seasons past
gliding on thermals
freedom to speak or squawk while
clouds only whisper
It is Open Link Night at
You can link up ONE poem of your choice.
I am your host and hope you will join us. Doors open at 3 p.m. EST
It is our first morning in Newfoundland. We settled in late, the night before to an eclectic vacation rental in the small community of Southport. Population 40. We want to experience the true local life of the most eastern province of Canada. I open the door to see our surroundings in daylight, barely breathing the salty air on the bay, when I hear the sound of a four wheeler, kicking up gravel in it’s path. A middle-aged man stops in front our door. “Hello! How are you doing? Staying at Peggy and Viv’s are ya?” He shares stories of the land, the people and the fishing industry. He says he will never leave “the rock”, this magnificent island we’ve come to explore. He’s ventured out to bigger dreams and cities, but this is home. It’s different here. He’s already convinced me it’s better here. He offers a word of advice to us. “Don’t worry about crossing boundaries or walking across the neighbour’s properties. The worst thing that can happen is they’ll invite you in for tea.”
My eyes wander a bit to take in my surroundings. Colourful little buildings called “stages”. Rocky shorelines and fog in the distance. He tells us of a 90 year old woman visiting the area. She asked him to take her out on the ocean to see the sights and he willingly obliged. Then his voice becomes shaky with emotion. “She said to me, ‘Now I have seen heaven.'” He puts his hand on his heart. “I will never forget her face and those words”, he says. I get the same lump in my throat, feeling the sincerity in his eyes. The conversation brings me back to a place of genuine simplicity. This is why I am here.
fresh breeze of August
eagle basks in morning sun
feathers set aglow
It’s Haibun Monday, everyone! The theme is “morning”. Hope you can join us at dVerse Poets Pub.
I am your host and the prompt is open all week.
I’ve lost faith. Not in myself or any one person…but in society as a whole. We’ve truly outdone ourselves, haven’t we? Our power is devouring us. Self-destruction disguised as bits and bytes of betterment. Perhaps once we’ve surrendered the rest of our intelligence to a robotic regime, we’ll cycle back to playing with sticks and rocks. Building our own fires out of boredom ….just to see if we can. History repeats itself. We’ll sharpen our knives again instead of our minds. But will we ever sharpen our awareness? We have only scratched the surface of our abilities to evolve into humanity. On the contrary, we’ve regressed. We’ve even lost faith in friendships, walking on eggshells around social behaviours we’ve already mastered. Texting conversations that freeze, then flow again, with license to ignore as if the norm.
I have faith in potential. Before I allowed video games to sweep my children into a “Call of Duty”, we collected shells on the beach until the sun nestled on the horizon. Clouds were clouds. Facial recognition meant nothing more than counting freckles. Collecting precious smiles that burst into laughter over almost nothing. We traced the shape of the moon as the grass tickled our skin. I remember. They remember.
I have faith in possibilities. I see starving children no longer starving. I see the end of violence. I see lonely people surrounded by love. I see it all because it’s all there waiting for us to create. Much more rewarding, I would think , than superimposing fictional characters into a digital environment. You don’t need goggles. Just a good heart. I do have unwavering faith in God, but I fear he has lost faith in us.
lone seagull sets sail
sun waits patiently for more
waters uncharted
It’s Haibun Monday at dVerse Poets Pub and the topic is “faith”. You are all welcome to join in. I am pleased to be your host. Doors open at 3 p.m. EST and this poetic prompt is open all week.
Image credit: pixabay.com
I embrace the grey. Where pavement glistens in the rain. Where clouds paint every inch of sky in shades of loneliness. I am touched by the greys of nature, stones peppered in hues of silver, the undersides of lifeless leaves, glistening beach sand and broken twigs. My eyes wander off clear cut paths to spot the fluff of squirrels’ tails or the fringe of a bird’s feather now fallen. An ancient tree speaks to me in somber tones, begging to share his story. Does he remember the forest floors of ancient times? Or is it all a foggy blur? I caress the rough, dappled bark of a walnut tree. It’s ok. I’d love you anyway. Grey takes me to a place where black and white, wrong and right can mix and mingle into maybes.
dull sky, sparrow spies
the grizzle drizzle of grey
open wings take flight
It’s Haibun Monday, open all week at dVerse Poets Pub. Bjorn has asked us to consider grey as a subject for our haibun, ” to bring grey into a personal (non-fictional) piece of prose. Add to that a haiku (with season and nature)”. Feel free to join in with us.
The well worn paths of the forest floor feel like home to me. They are only a starting point to something more. Perhaps something no one has ever seen or touched. My feet often wander off trail to investigate a mossy log or to find that magical spot where land meets water. I pick up rocks for future painting, caress the bark of an old oak tree and savor the scent of dampened leaves before the first snowfall. I look for the smallest of creatures, putting nature under a microscope. I know he’s out there…..somewhere but I have not yet encountered the silent flier. Natives of the Chippewa tribe call him “Gookookoo”. I have displayed calendar pictures of him on preschool walls, spoke of him in simple terms, but his magnificent eyes have never met mine. He lurks where I do not search. His screech has yet to reach me. Legend says that is a good thing.
muted feathers soar
over unsuspecting souls
deer mouse holds his breath
~
For Haibun Monday at dVerse Poets Pub.
Victoria is our host. WHO can join in? You can.
The prompt begins at 3 p.m. and is open all week!
Image credit: pixabay.com
It’s a short drive to the park. Winter has made a whimsical return as if to poke fun at Spring. Snow powdered trees appear to float in rainwater lagoons. I throw my daydreams into placid pools and wish for sunlight. In the foreground, flakes fall melting instantly on a glass stage. In the distance, they unite to soften the woods with a whitewash. This portrait is life, mirrored and stilled by the indecisiveness of Mother Nature. I join in reflections of branches blurred and blended, losing myself in the scene.
Seasonal squabble
Geese ponder their homeward flight
Nature simply paints
Björn leads our Haibun Monday this week. He explains two techniques, “ekphrasis” and “haiga” as we combine art and poetry.
December finds my heart heavy like branches weighted in white. I fail to embrace it. Instead I scoff at the scrambling of over anxious shoppers and assumptions that blaring Christmas music brightens my world. The carefully chosen Fraser fir stands unembellished in the living room for yet another day. You know my funk, that same old funk that fiddles with my mind, this time every year. You roll your eyes in circles of “here we go again” as mine well up.
Gazing out the window, I summon a spindly slice of moon for answers. She is silent. You wrap your arms around me as snowflakes flit and flutter against ink spattered skies. I count them like expectations. You hold me tighter, reminding me that the spirit of Christmas is not measured by the amount of hearts sitting around a table. It beats in the loneliest of hearts, even in the darkest of nights.
night cradles the day
Luna peeks from under veil
one star shines brighter
It’s Haibun fun again at dVerse. Toni leads with her expertise on the form and has asked us to write a haibun about a good night, any good night, keeping these haibun rules in mind for the prompt. “1) It is non-fiction 2) It happened directly to you 3) One to two tight paragraphs 4) You end it with a classical seasonal haiku.” There is lots of time to join in.
He tells me he’s going to Thailand. Alone. For six weeks. Six weeks and six days. He is taking a backpack. I think he is joking but then…there’s the grin, that familiar smirk n’ dimple disposition that says he is not. I smile, wide-eyed while panic pokes at every ounce of my maternal self. “What?” “Why?” “When?” The fact that he will miss Christmas becomes trivial, getting lost in swirls of anxiety. I look in his eyes for answers to questions I haven’t thought of yet. He speaks of hostels in Bangkok and a train to Chiang Mai where you can ride an elephant. My heart races like a tuk-tuk but I remain focused on him, his dreams, his ambitions, his life. This is his life.
sea eagle sets sail
as easterly winds beckon
avoiding monsoons
Toni (kazensukura) leads our Haibun Monday at dVerse this week. The topic is your choice. Just remember to follow the etiquette of the form. “(1) The haibun must be non-fiction (2) The occurance must have actually happened to you (3) You are to write one to two tight paragraphs and (4) End it with a season based haiku.”
Image: pixabay.com
Supermoon sent us scrambling to the nearest park for open ground. Cameras in hand, we had visions of something extraordinary. The awe came when I did not focus on or with my camera but stood with mind silenced, tracing her perfection. I imagined some funky God of Geometry with a giant compass and extremely steady hands, carving our cosmic muse into carbon paper skies. He didn’t know her beauty until the asteroids and meteorites chiseled her barren cheeks and the sun dazzled her silly.
We heard the unmistakable howl of a coyote in the nearby woods. Believing in the myth added to the ambience. I became lost in the mystery of moon tides and the depths of craters. I wondered where I stood with her in astrological terms, being born on the first day of the whole zodiac. I am clearly a beginning…to something. Her porcelain face revealed no secrets. With fuzzy photos, we turned to go home. She followed, her golden light gushing over darkened streets. I drank her energy, let her sparkle my spirit one more time, just in case I would not see her Supermoon magic again.
sun in Scorpio
stars of Aries kiss Luna
November clouds drift
Written for dVerse, “Haibun Monday: You say it’s your birthday?” Toni is back and she has given us options for this haibun challenge. “You have three choices: birthday, full moon, or combine the two.” Check it out. There’s still time to join in!
Herons? Yes, I see them often…from a distance. Familiar sights on regular hikes through marshlands and parks. They appear to me as a privilege, preening on a rock amidst the reeds or sailing overhead in glorious flight. Grey. That is common or sometimes a Great White Egret, with plumage of an angel set aglow by the sun. It is always enough to slightly dazzle me. Today I am given a gift. From the top of the bridge that arches over a murky green creek, I stand only a few feet away from him. Staring motionless at the water with one leg spindly and bent, he waits. He waits more patiently than I do. He cares not that I watch. I become a similar statue, camera in hand anticipating his next move. And there it is. Saaaa-nap! His elongated beak now holds firmly to a tiny wriggling fish along with an innocent leaf caught in the hunt. An ordinary day for him. I am a guest, if only to admire a great heron’s dinner.
leaves ride in ripples
twilight grants one last favour
over humdrum day
We are looking for the “extra” in the ordinary for Haibun Monday. Grace is our host and she has reacquainted us with the form. Hope you can join us!
My days have suddenly become empty. Disconnected. As my feet take to the path along the pond, I am immediately transported to a better world, a wiser system of life. I am guided by the goldenrod that edges the marsh, layered by clouds that whisper October. Distant sounds of the highway become muffled and soon forgotten. My haven is solid. The sun starts to melt on the horizon, pouring liquid gold ripples across the water. They reach for me. I reach for my camera. As I look through my lens, a large swarm of gnats dance against the glow and I wonder how these lowly beggarly bugs can possibly steal the show…but they do. Hundreds of starlings arrive in what seems to be chaotic confusion, contrasting with their precision landings on swaying reeds. I start to climb the rickety wooden lookout and again curse at the park for not replacing the missing step. There must be other people like me that don’t like missing steps. Perched and ready, I wait for the geese, my constant. Usually the honking is outrageously loud as they begin their dissension, but I hear nothing but a few lonesome tootles. I wonder if they’ve found a new venue and why. The sun lays itself over the pond to bid farewell. Clouds become fuchsia pink feathers, a delicate distraction as the night sky slowly envelopes me. I question my instinct to leave. Am I afraid of the darkness even in the comfort of this paradise?
autumn winds waver
memories fade on still waters
sun dips into dusk
Written for “Haibun Monday: Winds of Change” led by Toni Spencer (kanzensakura)
Join us at dVerse Poets Pub
We fell in love. Then we met. Yes. That is how it works when sparks fly in cyber space. It all began in a divorce support chat room where the last thing I was looking for was love. After six months of emails, instant messaging, and daily detailed phone conversations, we ran out of questions and the answers were consistent. Seeing each other face to face was just an inevitable step in an already established relationship. Finally a flight was booked. A dear friend drove me to the airport…”dear” because she didn’t question my sanity, at least not openly. I remember my hands trembling as I held my hot tea before boarding a plane to see him for the first time. I wasn’t nervous about traveling 1500 miles to meet this man of my dreams or worried that instead I would be captured by a disturbed internet troll, never to be seen again (though it may have crossed my friend’s mind). No. He was not the unknown. It was the unfamiliarity of flying, airport procedures like gates, security and layovers that scared the living crap out of me.
A long distance relationship ensued and we became frequent flyers. I could sleep through take offs, knew which airport restaurants to avoid and was quick on the draw to trade my seat for future free flights. Our love was challenged by distance and immigration procedures but the time spent together was like a hundred honeymoons. This was our life for six years. Elated hellos. Tearful goodbyes. On one sunny day we were riding bikes along a woodland trail in Collingwood, Ontario. We stopped for a moment and he pretended to crouch down to retrieve a water bottle. Instead he looked up at me with a ring.
It’s nine years later and this morning, just like any other morning, I sleepily tap the outside of the electric tea kettle. Yes, it’s hot. He times it well. As I take my favourite orange mug off the shelf, he knows my silence is not for lack of gratitude. He knows I don’t converse until I’ve had at least a half a cup of caffeine…and I know that isn’t easy for him. I know he needs his 15 kilometer bike ride after sitting in an office all day. He knows I need to put my feet up. A tall glass of water waits for me because he knows I probably didn’t drink any all day. He knows me well. It is in this “knowing” that our love keeps growing.
Tiny warbler charmed
Beckoned by the westerlies
Warmed by desert sun
Over at dVerse Poets Pub, Toni asked us to pen a romantic haibun, reminding us also that a haibun is true, not fiction. This is my response. I think the prose is a work in progress, much like love itself.
Nature’s details dance
To the music of the wind
Fancy fields of gold
~
Check out all the details for this week’s photo challenge at The Daily Post.
We begin the journey home from windy shores and seagulls galore. Hues of blue and grey ominously mingle on the horizon as patter becomes pelt against the windshield. My sunglasses hide pools of pain on the brink, mimicking the skies. I am the passenger on these long drives, musing away miles, soaking in cimmerian clouds until I rain. These are moments for writing elegies of those still breathing. These are my dark secrets I dare share of time lost and obsessions with the inevitability of death. Maybe it is the monotonous rhythm of tires on wet pavement that plays to my melancholy heart. Is it any wonder that flowers grow up and rain falls down?
rain beats in doldrums
shrouded sun waits for downdrafts
torrential tears
Toni leads our Haibun Monday prompt titled “50 Shades of Rain”. She shares with us the many artistic Japanese words for rain. Focusing on one of the words, we are to write a concise paragraph of non-fiction prose followed by a haiku about rain…how it makes us feel, the inconvenience of rain or the beauty of rain. Haibun Monday is open all week. Feel free to join in!
Beside my bed there is a magnificent mountain of slippers, each one a gift of love. She made them all, that mother in law of mine, from 1500 miles away. They usually make the commute in groups, a few couples arriving notoriously at Christmas, this time with surprises inside each one. Every night when I get home I choose a pair for my aching feet. There are those with extra reinforcement for the sole purpose of…well, yes for the sole purpose. Some days they wait obediently for me in true coordinated fashion, but there are those days when life is disheveled and one goes astray. Perhaps they play when I am away. I don’t mind when they don’t match, but when they do, all is right in my world.
stitching across stars
sunshine travels many moons
to scatter rainbows
Written for Haibun Monday #15 : All Things Quotidian (doors open all week). Toni asked us to write a short and sweet haibun about everyday things or occurrences.
Image credit: pixabay.com
“Come –
see real blossoms
of this painful world”
~Basho~
Today I walk upon mounds of spongy soil where neon blades blend into the dead of brown. I feel the unease of limbo and transition, tree branches bare and waiting. The red maple, with no patience for spring, has already scattered its tiny flowers and they grab hold of the treads of my shoes. Dried out and weightless, they cling to me. Had I not noticed them before their fated plummet to the earth?
A purple crocus blooms beside an old oak tree. They don’t grow wild in these woodlands. A relocated bulb, perhaps journeyed here with an ambitious squirrel. He would never know the joy that his misplaced treasure had bestowed on me. The trail suddenly juts south towards soggier territory but I commit to it.
A pair of ducks set sail across a flooded marsh, still surrounded by autumn’s auburn willow branches, a rare medley of seasons. The mud makes me tiptoe on the trail, searching for composted leaves for stepping stones. I ponder about why I have never owned a pair of rubber boots. The rain has been abundant, flooding streets and parks but I like the shine it is has given the emerald ash trees. These are majestic trees ridden with the curse of the ash borer yet they still bring me peace. All of nature brings me peace.
Cherish the blossom
Life bursts through soils run amuck
Petals slip through fingers
Written for dverse ~Haibun Monday#10: Hanami~ Kansen Sakura (Toni Spencer) has asked us to begin our haibun with a haiku by Issa or Basho, expand on it with our own perspective of “beauty, spring, hanami, journey to view cherry blossoms or other spring blooms, when you notice spring’s beginnings, the renewal and hope in spring…fun times relating to spring.” This is followed by our own haiku.
Sending positive, peaceful thoughts to all of our followers.
Thank you for your interest and support as we continue to collaborate.
Be sure to check out Candy’s blog at rhymeswithbug.com
Photo credit: Candace Kubinec
Monarch’s sweet haven
Peace of nature welcoming
Delicate landings
It has been fun to collaborate with Candy from rhymeswithbug and we hope that you are enjoying our Sunday posts. So far, I have been providing the photos and Candy has been inspired to write.
Hope you are having a peaceful day…
© candace kubinec
Candy and I have been working on a project that we would like to call “Collaboration for Peace”. Here is our second creation, combining my photos with her haiku. We hope to spread peace and hope throughout this community of poets. Who is Candy? You can find her at rhymeswithbug.com We are both members of Artists4Peace.
This gallery contains 3 photos.
Sun dances on snow Lines cross beyond boundaries Nature always rules ~ https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/shadowed/
A beautiful place to find peace…
I find green in the smallest of places. It is not the mountain covered in triangular repetition of perfect pine that makes my heart flutter. It is not the river, churned and murky or hills that roll in shades of emerald and jade. It is the single blade of grass between my thumbs, tickling my lips as I blow gently through cupped hands. My eyes wander to the delicate veins of magnolia leaves as tiny aphids make their delicate climb. I reach to touch the green of neon moss blankets warming tree limbs, fallen and forgotten. I follow green in the iridescent glow of dragonfly wings dancing over the shallows. I cherish the green of tiny strawberries weaving on trellises, patiently waiting to ripen. As cerulean skies and yellow meadows magically merge in van Gogh’s “View of the Church of Saint-Paul-de-Mausole, I will still find green in the smallest of places.
Lost in fields of green
Four leaf clover at our feet
Gently we must walk
We barely finish dinner of cauliflower and chickpea coconut curry, when you suggest we dash to the beach. The sky, like a southwestern painting of burnt orange and turquoise is obstructed by the stately maple tree in our back yard. Donning my fall jacket for the first time this year, I welcome the brisk, blustery air. My flip flops fight the downhill slope as I clutch our camera in one hand and my hair in the other. Somehow, I am surprised to see the lake lashing on tawny shores, oblivious to the solace of the setting sun. The clouds remind me of pieces of cauliflower we have just consumed, but these are now inked with the inevitable gloaming of day’s end. Still amazed by the infinity of the Great Lakes, you take to the camera, capturing all possible angles. I reminisce of similar spontaneous races to canyons in your enchanted land. Was it just for me? I think not, as I watch you take one last photo of gleaming sands soaking in orange.
Summer embraces fall
Celestial glow unfading
Reflections of love
Chair with missing parts
Eclectic garden planter
Open space for grace
~
https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/something-broken/
webs in morning mist
the elegance of nature
dressing up for dawn
~
https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/intricate/
Sunlight on whiskers
Afloat in California
A sea lion’s throne
Dreamy day for ducks
Beauty of clouds repeated
Webbed foot masterpiece
~
Claret cup hedgehog
Blushing red against grey spines
Spring in the desert
~
https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/fresh-2/
They call it “The Joe”
Home of the Detroit Red Wings
Diamond in the rough
~
Setting golden tones
First class seat for evening show
Dazzling in silence
~
Related posts: Serenity
https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/serenity/
Winter can warm you
With it’s undisturbed beauty
White blankets of bliss
~
Related posts: Serenity
https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/serenity/
Layers of lovely
Peace of mind painted earth tones
Colorado dreams
~
Related post: Serenity
https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/serenity/
This week’s Photo Challenge should be two weeks long! It will be a challenge to narrow it down…so I won’t.
As I sift through photos, it has become obvious to me that I am very attracted to peaceful, serene settings. I believe “serenity” is really what we all strive for…even if we are unaware of it. With that said, please excuse my over enthusiasm vain attempts in wooing you. Here is my first submission.
Sit back, enjoy and don’t forget to click for the full effect of the “awwww” factor.
Gently wrapped in hues
Contemplating nothing more
Than sand underfoot
~
https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/serenity/
River frozen in pieces
Sun painting on snow canvass
As we justify winter
~
https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/shadowed/
Trusting the life line
Releasing dreams to the sky
Happy face icon
~
http://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/achievement/
Courageous reptile
Algae for an audience
Still out on a limb
~
Simple subjects can make a strong statement. This week’s challenge at the Daily Post inspired us to take a minimalist approach behind the camera.
Oh..and please pay this little turtle some respect. Click to enlarge!
Some will stand alone
Like a lily in the sun
Bold can be graceful
~
http://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/minimalist/
mishunderstood 