Walk Inspired Spring Haikus

 Winter's fierce exhale,

sunshine's warmth and light

Battle of change continues

Patterns of grace

amongst decomposing life

Little lights of hope

Iced hardness melted

Flowing freely once again

Choosing path to take

Surprise! The time's now.

Purple party poppers burst

Spring celebration

Sealed hard and tight

Soaking in life-giving sustenance

Awakening is near

I just finished reading Three Simple Lines: A Writer's Pilgrimage into the Heart and Homeland of Haiku by Natalie Goldberg. Part of my learning was that haiku does not need to be written in the 5-7-5 syllable pattern that I had always learned but it can just be 3 short lines. The tricky part is that these 3 lines need to make the mind leap.

So I had haiku on my mind as I went out for a walk today. It seemed that I was on a Spring scavenger hunt during my walk as many new features of Spring caught my eye. I was inspired to try writing haikus about these lovely nature gifts. I know that I wrote 3 lines for each one- some in the 5-7-5 manner. I don't know how much of a mind leap exists in them but I hope my attention to now comes through.

 

Come Out and Enjoy the Day

"Come out and enjoy the day!"

chirps the chickadee perched on my deck rail,

head turning from side to side trying to hold me in its gaze.

"Come out and enjoy the day!"

beckons the squirrel investigating the snowless deck,

bounding over to my French doors, glancing in to invite me to join him.

"Come out and enjoy the day!"

herald the first yellow blossoms of Spring

pooling in a thatch of gold amongst the brown.

"Come out and enjoy the day!"

call the sunbeams

dancing across the screen of my laptop.

RSVP'ing to the invitations... out the door I go.

This 2nd day of Spring is definitely calling me to go outside and enjoy it. I had no inspiration to write then sitting here looking out the window it came to me. The squirrel, chickadee, flowers and sun know how wonderful this Springy day is and want to share it with this human. I thank them for the reminder to celebrate their gorgeous day. Turning the computer off and out the door I go.

On Sun, You are a Trickster

 

                                                             Sunbeams fill the room                                                             

  Drawing attention outside  

Calling us to play  

Oh sun, you are a trickster

no warmth, winter's living on

All day long I sat in a conference room with no windows. At the end of the school day, I returned to my room. It was filled with sunshine. I happily looked out the window at the blue sky and brightness and felt a desire to be outside. The day had the mirage of Spring about it. I had a bounce in my step walking down the hallway thinking of a walk on a beautiful sunshiny Spring day. As I opened the door, I was blasted with the cold air of winter. There was a definite wind chill in the air. My Springy hopefulness was dashed by the cold slap of winter. Oh sun, you are definitely a trickster and fooled me. I guess I will have to settle for just the joy of your brightness and wait patiently for your warmth to fully arrive.

Poetry form: Tanka ( ancient Japanese form that has 5 lines and 31 syllables. (5 in first line, 7 in second, 5 in third, the 7 in forth and fifth)

A Song of Color In a Doldrum World

A scarlet blur

of stillness

upon a monochrome maze

of branches

from the bare trees skirting the meadow.

The song of color

in a doldrum world

waiting for the meadow

to join him again

in vibrancy

of new life and color

of the ever-nearing Spring.

Today I went on a hike with a dear friend as snowflakes were falling all around. In the woods, the red beauty of the cardinal stood out against the white, gray and brown backdrop of the trees and meadow. The male cardinal proudly displayed his colors as a mark of vibrant life in the meadow during the winter months. It was wonderful to just pause and take in his beauty for a moment or two.

I had heard about a type of poetry called Ekphrastic. It is based off of a work of art. I knew I wanted to write about the photo of the cardinal I had taken today so I figured I would give this form a try. In this type of poem, you are supposed to describe a part of the work of art and then extend your own thoughts into its underlying story. You use your power of observation to find the hidden stories in the work of art. I enjoyed the process of writing this poem and finding a hidden story in my photo.

If you would like to more about Ekphrastic poems, visit this site: https://poetryteatime.com/blog/ekphrastic-poetry

...Would You Tell Me?

Did you scream as fury whipped all around you?

Did anguish fill you as you were torn to pieces?

Did you weep knowing you will never be whole again?

Cause outwardly, right now,

you personify a strong warrior

surviving forces beyond your control.

Do you struggle to go on?

....would you tell me????

The other night very powerful winds whipped through my area. In the morning, when I peered out the window, a large tree limb had fallen and I could see the snapped shards of the branch. This moment in time combined with my current read, The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate:Discoveries from a Secret World by Peter Wohlleben made me pause and wonder what that tree felt like last night as the forces of Mother Nature encompassed it. My wonderings lead to the writing of this poem. 

Fortunately, most of the tree still stands proud. If the limb was not jabbed into the ground like a vertical arrow right next to it, you may not notice the destruction. The tree will continue living each day. I wonder if it struggles. It will not tell me right now. I will need to watch carefully as time moves on to see if this loss causes the tree further issues. May it be a healthy survivor for years to come.

Softly Still

A silent

visitor

knocked at night. 

Barrenness

transformed to

beautiful.

Awaking

to a world

softly still.

I have been waiting all winter for this to happen. Snow was forecasted to fall overnight. In previous weeks, I woke up excited until I looked out the window and saw brown-gray grass and barren tree limbs. But, this time, I woke to a winter wonderland! 

Glancing out the window, rooftops were dusted in white as well as the black pavement of streets. The grass was a blanket of white and the trees looked like someone had dipped them in confectioner's sugar.  Everything looked beautiful. The snow had turned our bleak gray and brownish into a world of white brightness. The flakes had softened the world. For the moment, everything was softly still. 

Poetry form: Tricube

3 stanzas with 3 lines each. Each line has 3 syllables.

As a Buffalo Bills fan, I think the #3 was on mind this week and last so it brought this poetry form to mind. 

Hope is Barely a Flutter

The dreariness drapes over me

as my eyes flutter open to another day.

The gray gloom continues

as day has the darkness of night.

The forlornness feeds my soul-

No energy, no motivation, no umph.

The drabness is victorious

as the anticipated break from colorlessness falls in defeat.

Hope is barely a flutter-

How much longer until I feel aglow again?

Let's just say that the world has been nothing but GRAY. It has been days upon days of endless clouds ranging from light gray to almost black. At times, noon has looked like midnight out the window. This unending bleakness is taking a toll on me as well as people dear to me. The new year is not filled with energy, motivation and positivity but sluggishness and blahness. The colorlessness of the world around us is definitely feeding the unvibrancy of our lives. Even when the hope of predicted sunshine exists, the clouds rally and defeat the brilliant rays from shining through. Each day I rise hoping upon hope for even a small rip in the gray blanket that shows a brilliant blue and brightness shining through. Come on Mother Nature and deliver your gift of sunshine to my area. I long for it so my days can be fed by your warmth, light and hope. 

(The photo is the gray sky on this Sunday.)