brave little kitten
strong paws climb to freedom’s heights
bold-striped liberty
Linking to “kittens” prompt at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai…
just peelings
24 Feb 2020 6 Comments
in quadrille Tags: apple, onion, peelings, potato, song, teardrops
peelings, nothing more than peelings
trying to remember apple peelings of life
teardrops rolling down on my cheeks
trying to forget onion peelings in sink…
woo-oo, peel potato in my hands
slip like never lost u
slide like never leave u
again in garden…
My apologies to songwriter Morris Albert who wrote 1975 hit, “Feelings”. I’m linking this to dVerse quadrille prompt on “peelings” 🙂
iris in vincent’s eye
19 Feb 2020 14 Comments
in ekphrastic Tags: bulb, garden, irises, leaves, spring, van gogh
i begin as
dry ivory bulb
asleep in deep dark
until warmth stirs from
far away as sunshine
whispers, “come to me”
i stretch
uncurling in
moist brick soil
insects tickling my
pale skin as it peels off
with sigh, “love, arise!”
i reach up
to throw off the
heaviness of garden
bed’s blanket and am
blinded by yellow light
crying, “it’s spring!”
i grow long
sabered leaves
of vibrant green to
drink in cool rain and
shelter tender buds with
promise, “we’ll dance!
i bloom in
profuse blue hues
from cerulean to indigo
unfurling petaled banners
to reveal frilly stamens and
sing, “behold life’s beauty!”
i fade as
sun sets in gold;
plucked from roots
glory slowly wanes as
flowered energy wilts with
a moan, “remember me.”
irises by van gogh
attachment issues
17 Feb 2020 24 Comments
in prosery Tags: bonding, calf, cow, head, kick, post-partum, rope
We were dressed, ready to leave for worship when farmer husband heard bellowing. He backed pick-up to check inside shed. A new calf had arrived but mama was upset and attacking it. “You go on to church,” he told us, taking off his good coat.
She was a first-time mother; nervous and skittish post-partum. She circled stall wild-eyed. He put cow in head gate so calf could safely nurse and drink the vital colostrum. Even after hobbling cow’s back legs so she couldn’t kick and tying her head with short rope so she couldn’t box, she wasn’t bonding with calf.
I sternly lectured cow about her important role as mother. I spoke gently to baby, petting him in view of mama. We decided to try putting them together. There are moments caught between heartbeats…mama sniffed, then licked her baby.
Prosery is a short story (exactly 144 words). It includes a line from another author’s poem; in this case the poem, Coda, by MacNeice. Part flash fiction but based on a real experience 🙂 Kim is hosting at dVerse Poets pub today.
love is kind
16 Feb 2020 4 Comments
in american sentence, haiku, tanka Tags: birthday, cake, chocolate, love, mama, roses, valentine
Linking to Carpe Diem Haiku Kai in the month of love…
be my valentine
red roses, dark chocolates
bake a heart-shaped cake
mama and i shared birthday
brief time to celebrate love
❤ ❤ ❤
If someone gives you their heart, you can’t give it back without breaking it.
❤ ❤ ❤
heart broken open…
perhaps that lets the love out
to spill on others?
flowering
13 Feb 2020 1 Comment
in tan renga Tags: chrysanthemum, flower, light, moon, snow
Winter chrysanthemum,
Wearing nothing
but its own light
© Mizuhara Shūōshi (1892-1981)
bright orb illuminates snow
february’s super moon
© lynn__ (1959- )
Linking this tan renga response to beautiful haiku at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai
freedom
12 Feb 2020 15 Comments
Freedom
-by Langston Hughes
Freedom will not come
Langston Hughes (Britannica)
Today, this year
Nor ever
Through compromise and fear.
I have as much right
As the other fellow has
To stand
On my two feet
And own the land.
I tire so of hearing people say,
Let things take their course.
Tomorrow is another day.
I do not need my freedom when I’m dead.
I cannot live on tomorrow’s bread.
Freedom
Is a strong seed
Planted
In a great need.
I live here, too.
I want my freedom
Just as you.
__________________
freedom (-by lynn)
freedom will not come
today, this year
nor ever
through socialism’s fear.
each individual has
intrinsic right to
opportunity
to stand on two feet
and work the land.
i tire of hearing people say,
capitalism is historically racist
and the rich must now repay
it’s not freedom to be dead
with fascist bullet in your head.
freedom
must move us
to offer justice
to every shade
of children God made
renewal of faith and family
education, jobs, prosperity
less (not more) bureaucracy
ensures real freedom for you and me.
I acknowledge that often those of us with “privilege” have not reached out a hand to help others up. We must commit to mutual respect and working to change unequal opportunities (not force outcomes). I am linking to dVerse Poetics this week where HA is hosting…check out more poems inspired by Black History Month!
shameful shenanigans
06 Feb 2020 22 Comments
Republicans repudiate
Democrats’ demagoguery
but dignity’s in “shitter”
Pelosi pouts while
Trump’s triumphant
tweeters all atwitter
Politics is sinking boat as
Iowa (still?) counts the vote!
I don’t often write about politics but the recent antics in the U.S. are (almost) laughable…
calving season begins!
03 Feb 2020 20 Comments
in haibun Tags: barn, calf, heifer, newborn, shed, silage, spring
Hello, world, my name is “Shadow”
It’s Monday morning and our skittish range heifers cautiously approach wooden feed bunk. Breakfast is a generous helping of fragrant silage and a bit of cow mix mineral supplements. The farmer counts, re-counts furry heads and realizes one is missing.
He discovers her in the back of open cattle shed…with her newborn calf, first of the season! Little black bull is healthy and already standing. Our son carries him to shelter in the barn. We soon coax mama into stall where they can nuzzle and nurse.
calf eyes wide to world
fresh cow licks her baby clean
new life birthed in spring
Linking this spring haibun to dVerse Poets pub where Frank hosts today…
surrender
02 Feb 2020 2 Comments
lean to let go
raise white flag
give up all small
insecurities & fears
real need to be right
set-in-stone schedule
venting with vengeance
inappropriate apologies
right now it’s time to
pray with boldness
walk wisdom way
forgiven & free
embrace grace
hear humbly
surrender
janitorial dreams
30 Jan 2020 11 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: dream, drive, mountain, restroom, sleep, toilets, traffic
drifting into sleep
i sometimes startle
wide awake to avoid
swerve into oncoming traffic
or drive off mountain curve
but in deeper dreams
in public places i
desperately search
for a clean restroom
to find only stalls with
unhinged doors and
plugged toilets
Linking to Lillian’s prompt at dVerse on dreams…mine being less than poetic.
soliloquy
17 Jan 2020 10 Comments
in rhyming verse, Uncategorized Tags: blog, book, gift, grandkids, haiku, publish, words
my uncertainty
“so-lill-oh-qwee”
has a solo feel
vulnerably real…
if i publish a book
will anyone look?
read my haiku and
sneeze, hah-choo!
it would be a gift
i think, to kids and
grandkids <wink>
or just for myself
to set on a shelf?
oh my, i sigh at the
cost, the expense
of time and money
task seems immense
my words must play
will write blog today
Talking to myself and linking to dVerse Poets where Frank suggests we write a soliloquy…
a poem in my pocket 
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