A Foggy Morning, Delaware River
November Morning
And again
fog, a pewter mist,
a curtain
but threadbare,
patched—here see the scarlet leaf,
the flash of white tail?
I haven’t participated in Tanka Tuesday for a long time. This is a shadorma. The challenge was to include color–though I think for me the challenge would be NOT to include color. 🙂 The photo is from this morning. I saw three deer with their white tails flashing as they ran.
Just before dawn, the mockingbird sings, an extensive string of melodies. Does he advertise his riches, or is he protecting his nest? I listen, captivated by his song. I take a mental snapshot of this moment to hold it tight within my cache of memories. Marked for now, but memories do not stay fixed on a map. The maple tree in which the mockingbird sits is ravaged by disease, and soon it will be cut, leaving only a stump. The birds will have to move on, flying into the air–soon gone like a thought.
dawn beguiles with song–
with bells of trills and warbling,
summer mornings ring
This Haibun is for Colleen’s Tanka Tuesday, using synonyms for bewitch and treasure.
Twinkling from afar,
dead stars’ light glimmers the sky,
illusions of time,
the past waltzing through our minds
laughter and tears remembered
NGC 6744
Hubble, NASA, ESA, and the LEGUS Team
This tanka is for Colleen’s Tanka Tuesday using synonyms for fantasy and merry.
Space time rushes pass
in moments gone, but endless
choices of the heart
travel from Earth to the stars,
then answer the muse’s call
I’m catching up on challenges. This is for Colleen’s Tanka Tuesday challenge, using synonyms for hurry and last. I honestly didn’t know anything about Apollo astronaut Alan Bean, who died today. He was one of the fourth man to walk on the moon, but he left NASA to become a painter.You can see examples of his work here.
“Every artist has the earth or their imaginations to inspire their paintings.. .I’ve got the earth and my imagination, and I’m the first to have the moon, too.” The New York Times
Palm tree swings and sways,
oak does a stately Sarabande–
no hip hop for her,
she watches the squirrels caper,
pass skills through generations
I’m having a bit of fun. This is for Colleen’s Tanka Tuesday using synonyms for dignity and success. I’m riffing on Jane’s poem for the same prompt and our comments.
I stand at the open window listening to the robins, sparrows, wrens, and cardinals twitter, tweep, cheep, and trill as they tune their instruments, getting them just right to perform the sun salutation. The mockingbird rehearses his aria, long warbled phrases, chirrups, and chirrs. The birds perch high in the tall oaks and maple trees so that their voices echo, breaking the quiet of the early morning. I savor the moment. Soon, black clouds will come, the sky will weep, and the birds will take shelter in those wind-whipped high branches. I will gather then with others; together, we will express our sorrow to a grieving widow and children, and, say good-bye to a friend.
Spring a chimera–
rosy petals bloom, then fall
silver tears of rain
“Seen on KSC grounds, a robin pauses in a Brazilian pepper tree filled with red berries.”
NASA, via Wikipedia Commons, Public domain
For Colleen’s Tanka Tuesday, using synonyms for belong and dream
For Frank’s Haikai challenge, using “twittering.”
Beguiling planet–
our existence here so brief,
circling through seasons
we love, destroy, yet wish for
our cerulean orb, home
Photo originally taken by Apollo 17 crew, Wikipedia Commons
Another busy day. Off prompt for NaPoWriMo. I’ve written a tanka for Colleen’s Tanka Tuesday, using synonyms for enchant and shape, and for Frank’s Haikai Challenge using the prompt Earth.
Today’s [optional prompt] for NaPoWriMo, Day 19: “to write a paragraph that briefly recounts a story, describes the scene outside your window, or even gives directions from your house to the grocery store. Now try erasing words from this paragraph to create a poem or, alternatively, use the words of your paragraph to build a new poem.”
Process:
So, early this morning, I wrote the paragraph below, which described what I saw while sitting in my usual kitchen spot. I didn’t change it, except to add the last line—because the sun did come out—briefly. This became the paragraph part of the haibun. Then I used Colleen’s Tanka Tuesday prompt words for the haiku. I used “accruing” for gather and “feathery” for soft. This was to give me new words, so I was not simply revising.
Finally, I took words from both parts of the haibun to create a new poem. Works in progress!
Poems:
Outside the world is grey with mist, and yet the green of evergreens and new spring growth provides color in the gloom. A red-breasted finch sits in the bird feeder at the window. The cats take their morning naps, one on my lap, the other in the basket in front of the window. Soon, children will walk out their doors to go to school. But now, I see the sun breaking from the clouds.
pale sun shines through
turning feathery clouds gold
accruing spring light
Grey and green
the world from my window,
feathery, the mist, drifting between trees.
But what colors does the red-breasted finch see?
Greyer greys and emerald greens,
vivid hues–
to me unseen?
I hear him sing—
such heartfelt joy–
as the pale sun caresses,
draping his shadowed shape with light,
turning his chest to fire,
to ring in the colors of spring
Isn’t this document box with finch exquisite?
Document Box, Philadelphia Museum of Art
And I’m going to link this to dVerse Open link night, too, where Grace is poet bar tending. Because, why not? 🙂
She dreams of springtime
sunshine kissing seeds and buds,
a season of hope
ensorcells her once again
to drift with cherry blossoms
John William Waterhouse, “Windswept,” [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
This is for Colleen’s Tanka Tuesday—using synonyms of charm and time.
You who came before me–how I wish I could ask you about your lives. My mom tells me stories, but there is so much she doesn’t know, and now much she has forgotten. Of course, I want to know what it was like to live in what was then Russia, to be a Jew there—the terror of pogroms and the ordinary day-to-day problems you learned to live with, until you no longer could. But I also want to know what did you eat? What did your house look like? What games did you play as a child? How did you feel leaving your homeland, traveling first to England, France, Germany, or Italy before finally reaching Philadelphia or New York? You had so much drive and determination. In my mind, I see the many generations that came before me. I see practical, no-nonsense individuals, and yet, I wonder how many were also full of artistic vision or musical talent. Somewhere lost in time, you, my ancestors, must have journeyed from the Middle East to Eastern Europe, and each time you had to learn so many new things. I wonder what else you experienced? I discover my great grandfather had grey eyes. My daughters have grey eyes, too–a gift from the past, a look to the future.
Endless storms weathered
again winter turns to spring—
young birds fly from nests
I’m combining prompts again—Björn at dVerse asked us to write a poetic letter. I hope this fits.
Colleen asked us to use synonyms for energy and knowledge for her Tanka Tuesday.
We’re also in the midst of a nor’easter with rain, snow, and wind!
I’m also adding this to Frank’s Barely Spring Challenge.
Yesterday and today: Merril's historical musings 
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