fall | a poem in my pocket

A man is wed to land as dear as wife
and for his farm he‘ll gladly sacrifice
what is his livelihood becomes his life
such dedication keeps away most vice
invested time gives meaning in the strife
as he creates his own small paradise

reflection of first garden paradise
tilling the land together, man and wife
completely innocent of hate or strife
man gladly gave his rib, small sacrifice
but snake twisted the truth of God’s advice
eating forbidden fruit embittered life

to work in sweat would be man’s lot in life
rebellion led them out of paradise
their eyes opened to every evil vice
still-birth of sin brought pain to Adam’s wife
to cover shame requires blood sacrifice
our fall brought all creation death and strife

seeds of weed, thistle, and thorn now rife
disease and aging process shortens life
to bear children demands self-sacrifice
we cannot find way back to paradise
now shame’s dark secrets divide man and wife
our world is broken by our greed and vice

the Enemy holds captives in sin’s vise
conquers the world with anger, fear, and strife
cools the love between each man and wife
our stubborn pride leads miserable life
the only way to restore paradise
would be a perfect human sacrifice

God’s Son offered himself as sacrifice
divine and human free of any vice
for Christ alone can restore paradise
and put an end to all our sin and strife
if choose to follow him, we find true life
he loves the church as his own precious wife

to work the land ‘mid sacrifice and strife
farmer’s advice says his is still best life
earth’s paradise shared with beloved wife

This sestina surprised me by turning theological…I think it was the repeating/rhyming word choices I made that lent itself to themes of creation/fall/redemption/restoration. A sestina has six stanzas of six lines followed by a 3-line envoi each with a complicated pattern of final words repeated. This challenging form is described in detail by our host Victoria at d’Verse Poets.

fencing after harvest

26 Nov 2018 2 Comments

by lynn__ in fusion haiku Tags: fall, fencing, geese, goodbye, pampas grass, south

Create a “fusion” haiku from the 2 original haiku for CDHK crossroads…

Waving the pampas grass,
At the Shinjuku station,
I said goodbye.

The migratory birds
Make the wind blowing down to Asaka
From mountains frequently.

pampas grass waving

migrating geese all flown south

fall’s windy goodbye

seasons strum

21 May 2018 2 Comments

by lynn__ in haiku Tags: cicada, fall, forest, sing, snow

Chevrefeuille’s Heeding Haiku “fusion” challenge at Mindlovemisery’sMenagerie.

from a treetop
emptiness dropped down
in a cicada shell
~
black forest
whatever you may say
a morning of snow

©️Basho (1644-1694), translated by Reichhold

photo by lynn

cicada solo

serenades empty forest

sing before it snows

©️ lynn__

shimo no koe

04 Oct 2017 24 Comments

by lynn__ in haibun Tags: apple, corn, crops, fall, frost, soybeans, winter

Haibun is a Japanese form of prose and poetry (haiku) together. I’m joining Victoria with dVerse Poets writing haibun about “first frost’s voice” (shimo no koe).

We actively anticipate the first frost of fall, working as a team ahead of the weather’s uncertain clock. The last tomatoes, some green ones, must be claimed off the vines and colorful peppers plucked from dying garden. This home-grown produce is chopped with harvested onions into tantalizing picante sauce to be admired in pint jars on shelf before smeared on tortilla chips.

Our prodigious pair of apple trees generously offer basketfuls of blushing fruit to family and friends willing to pick. The dropped or blemished fruit are treats rolled under fence to eager cows. Contentment wafts on spiced fragrance of apple-pie-in-a-jar syrup that simmers in large pot on basement stove. Steam from water bath canner spreads warm humidity indoors.

Fall rain dampens farmers’ spirits, swells soybeans in their pods, and muddies fields. “A killing frost is what we need” for corn stalks to die so matured ears plump with kernels can be harvested. The farmer checks weather forecast every night. At last, it steals in with the dawn, silently smothering the grass and finishing off the last droopy flowers.

icing on orchard

may ruin or ripen crops

winter’s first whisper