posting poetic prose
21 Jan 2019 Leave a comment
in tan renga Tags: butterflies, calm, stars, sunflowers
a certain calm
in summer’s passing
flowers
garden’s bodacious beauty
sunflower heads fill with seeds
flat seas
with the butterfly’s flight
a certain calm
orange flutters cover tree
monarchs’ summer migration
the hour silent
before the birds awake
waves on sand
dot-to-dot stars fade away
earth turns her face toward sun’s glow
Carpe Diem Haiku Kai / haiku © Jane Reichhold / renga © lynn
21 Jan 2019 Leave a comment
“Give us this day our daily bread…”
Unroll sack and let tiny dense kernels flow though fingers. Grinder whines as hard wheat berries pour in. After clatter, textured flour pours out in full measure. Sprinkle in dead salt, live yeast. Add hot (not too hot) water; then amber liquid of oil and honey. Feel need to hand knead or let stand mixer work dough with hook. Form french loaves with firm hands. Rise to heavenly heights and bake to golden crustiness.
Famished sons enter farm kitchen, following aroma of fresh bread. Barely time to find knife with serrated teeth to carve warm slices. Spread butter’s melting fatness and serve. Chew through crunchy crust into mouth-watering homemade sustenance. The next slice begs for honey or jam. Be careful to hide second loaf for later!
basic food for life
gathered from farmers’ hard work
hunger satisfied
Non-traditional homemade haibun, definitely not gluten free! Photo by my son.
17 Jan 2019 5 Comments
withered leaves on wind
when life-giving flow dries up
let thoughtless words go
Response to Carpe Diem Haiku Kai’s prompt on “withered leaves” and John Piper’s devotional, Words for the Wind.
15 Jan 2019 17 Comments
in list poem
(NOT to be read aloud to the grandchildren)
i think…
humans are
badly bent
whether or
not we will
admit to this
strange urge to
throw a knife
jump off cliff
drive into tree
lay on tracks
leave family
torture cats
kick the dog
slash a tire
graffiti walls
start a fire
liar, liar! pull
down pants, do
lewd dance, act
out proud, curse
out loud; an
imagination
sick as that
needs to be
inoculated
from its own
dis-ease… i’m
on my knees
God help me,
please!
A confessional sort of poem shared with dVerse poets…
14 Jan 2019 21 Comments
in quadrille Tags: changelings, chest, face, identity, mask, mousse, youth
we pull on a mask
or put on the face
true identity, you ask?
hidden without trace
surgery can reduce
or augment one’s chest
we wax, tan, and mousse
to look (expensive) best
switch your gender
buy youth extender
monied culture of pretender
ch-ch-ch-changelings!
Join De at dVerse…for a change
11 Jan 2019 5 Comments
in impressionism, tanka Tags: blackbirds, caw, clouds, hail, storm, thunder, wheat
wild swoop over wheat
blackbirds caw in unison
ominous wing beat
storm clouds darken horizon
thunder rumbles threat of hail
Link to Carpe Diem Haiku Kai featuring “blackbird” kigo.
09 Jan 2019 2 Comments
in haiku Tags: amaryllis, birthday, celebrate, grace, winter
Joining Kristjaan’s prompt at Carpe Diem with winter “kigo”, amaryllis.
celebrating sixth
winter of granddaughter’s birth
given grace to bloom
07 Jan 2019 28 Comments
in haibun Tags: frozen, garnet, icicles, malamutes, schoolmarm, sled
January is a schoolmarm in a one-room schoolhouse on the frozen North Dakota prairie. She wears a gray woolen dress and peers over her spectacles with sharp grey eyes. Better be on time, sit up straight, and memorize your lessons so you’re ready when called on to recite. Here’s a clean slate and a bucket for fetching coal.
January is a team of malamutes ready to pull new sled. They wiggle and whine as musher harnesses them together; experienced dogs in front. He pats each one and slips them treats as they lick his gloved hand. Well-bred and muscular, January’s eager for the arduous adventure ahead. With a shove and a shout, we’re off.
January is a precipitous game of chance. It freezes and sneezes as icicles and noses drip. Weather rages stormy blizzard, then melts to muddy puddles. Celebration left in the past, until someone’s birthday or you migrate south. Glum with fevers or gorgeous with snowflakes, January is faceted garnet – a real germ…excuse me, gem.
first month of the year
opens possibilities
Latin word for door
Joining Kim at dVerse Poets with this (rather unconventional) haibun for January.
04 Jan 2019 36 Comments
in sonnet Tags: america, character, democracry, rights, tyranny, united
Write a sonnet? We’re on it…join us at dVerse Poets pub.
Nation in danger when politics rule
Tyranny takes away power from fools
Everyone divided is fascist goal
Everyone’s private life under control
Left’s thought police want to strip away rights
Right’s arming themselves for future gunfights
Name-calling reveals our lack of respect
Angry tantrums reveal moral defect
Democracy works when wisdom prevails
But tyrants take over when self-rule fails
America’s greatness in books on shelves
We will be ruled if we don’t rule ourselves
Let’s learn to debate in civilized way
United AND diverse, in strength today.
Often sonnets are love poems and I do love America. But we Americans can give too much “weight” to politicians / politics of power and miss the greater picture of “We, the people”. Can we celebrate plurality but not force conformity? Can we discuss our differences and respect all persons? Let’s each work on our own character rather than defame another’s. No more being “ugly” to fellow Americans!
03 Jan 2019 1 Comment
in tanka Tags: artistry, design, snowflake, symmetrical, winter
winter artistry
pointed in six directions
crystalline magic
shaped sharply symmetrical
an original design
a poem in my pocket 
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