This is for the dVerse Monday Quadrille. Victoria has asked us to use the word poem, or some form of the word in a poem of 44 words. Yesterday I heard a robin; today it snowed.
Snowy winter mornings are quiet dreamscape poems written on grey and white velvet. But the sun laughs out loud in June–warm, golden verses–and birds sing harmony from yellow-green branches.
Trees dusted with snow
hawk hovers, but robin sings
spring will come again
Another moon poem. This time for dVerse, where Victoria writes, “For our Haibun prompt today, I have chosen the Japanese Kigo, Fuyu No Tsuki—winter moon.”
On New Year’s Eve, I’m feeling stressed, tired, and soul-weary. From my kitchen window, I see the moon rising in the east. It’s almost as brilliant as the pale winter sun, and the sky around it also glows, sapphire blue. I stop to gaze at her–and spellbound, there’s a pause between worlds. For a brief moment, it’s just the moon and me.
In the glimmer of Christmas lights, we eat homemade pizza, drink ruby-red wine, and binge watch a Netflix show. When I wake on New Year’s Day, the day is bitterly cold and diamond-hard, but there is the moon, now lighting the western sky. She smiles at me, and I understand her presence is a New Year’s gift.
Ensorcelling moon–
glowing winter light is grace
smiling in the dark
This is for dVerse. Björn asked us to be conscious of how we punctuate the silence in this poem. I normally do use commas and dashes and sometimes periods for full stops, but I did try to be extra aware of pauses here.
in the blue-white of a snowy morning
silence reigns. . .
winds brush all with feathered wings,
but hush the birds, who do not sing
as they huddle in their nests and wait. . .
and I, with cup in hand, sit still,
wonder if it ever will
get warm again. . .
by window side, there I bide,
I look outside on winter white,
the whipping flakes diffusing light,
I gaze, listening to the out and in,
and the quietness of everything
This is a tanka for Frank Tassone’s Haiku Challenge. The prompt is winter solstice, which takes place this Thursday. Though we had snow on Friday, it’s now actually unseasonably warm here in south Jersey.
Violet skies roost
over white snow shadow-kissed–
this, the longest night
buries colors like secrets
rediscovered in the spring
“Look at how a single candle can both defy and define the darkness.”
—Attributed to Anne Frank all over the Internet, but without any source that I can find
A single candle
(for miracles)
flickers in the night
joined by others
till eight in a row
they burn, and then they go
leaving only melted wax behind
and yet, perhaps I find
something, a sense of peace
in watching them increase
and we remember how our daughters
bet on which candle would stand last
one that burned not quite as fast—
lovely memories from the past.
A single candle
(for wishes)
flickers on a cupcake
baked with love
and so sweet, delivered as surprise treat.
It’s a strange birthday,
things don’t quite go my way
I lose a filling, and due to the snow
we stay and home, and don’t go
to dinner and a show,
but we eat pizza and drink some wine
and it’s fine, I say,
we’ll do something another day.
Everything a bit off this week,
small victories tinged with apprehension
tension over what might come, or be
a tax bill to help the rich–
oh, if only I could flip a switch
to eradicate ignorance and greed
wish on candles and stars that people would read
would help those in need
and instead of hindering, would keep freed
thought and scientific inquiry.
The CDC, an agency, supposed to be science-based
is not supposed to use the word
it’s not to the taste
of the current administration
who would like to see a nation
without education based on facts
but the monster simply reacts
without nuance or tact, but snaps,
just twitter taps and taps and taps
We fry latkes
and when we’re through
we eat them–and donuts, too
because it’s a holiday of oil and sweets
and it’s a treat to share them with love
we eat the food and laugh and talk of–
oh this and that–
we watch their dog and see their cat
climb in search of treasure—food!
Yes, we’re in a holiday mood
as candles flicker and lights glow
but soon it’s time to go.
I spend the next day working
(cats around me lurking)
I have too much work to do
I sit at my computer
in a bit of stupor
but as night falls
we light the candles
and watch the shadows on the walls
from the flickering glow
I think of miracles past
(wonder if our country will last)
but let those thoughts slide
subside for a more festive mood
as we eat our Chinese food
and watch the Christmas shows
I might doze. . .
In the morning, before the dawn
I yawn and look up at the sky
and know that hope like a feather flies
and though the clouds block the stars
I know exactly where they are
I close my eyes and make a wish
I hope it flies and travels far.
Under the midnight moon
creatures shuffle, scurry,
slither in a flurry
from the shadowed form.
A sharp cry, silence punched
by dead leaves crunched
under booted foot
stepping through the old back door
over creaking floor,
the Visitor walks in–
smiles his malignant grin.
I used two dVerse prompts. De Jackson (aka WhimsyGizmo) asked us to write a quadrille using the word “crunch.” Lillian asked us to write a poem using a form of the word, “visit.” Sorry, this wasn’t exactly a holiday-themed poem. I should probably stop reading the news.
This is for Colleen’s Tanka Tuesday Poetry Challenge. We were supposed to use synonyms for stark and trap. We’ve had several unseasonable warm days, but now it’s getting colder, and the wind is howling.
Skeleton trees loom
against skies of violet
owl whistles secrets
caught in winter’s gloomy night
I will seek them in spring’s blooms
Georges Daubner, “Paysage d’hiver,” via Wikimedia Commons
It is my birthday. Now in the middle of December, it is cold outside, and darkness descends earlier each day. But the house is filled with light, warm and scented with the aroma of holiday baking. My husband, our two young daughters, and I are to meet my father at a restaurant north of us, in the Philadelphia suburbs to celebrate. It will be a highway trip through rush hour traffic, but the reward will be an excellent meal and the company of my family. I turn to a living room window to pull down the shade—and stop. A white owl with black and brown markings sits in the tree directly in front of me. I stare at her, and she stares at me, both unblinking. I am transfixed, knowing that this is a special moment, not knowing I will remember it in twenty years, still uncertain about its meaning.
The Owl dispenses
winter wisdom from oak trees–
time paused in passing
Caspar David Friedrich, Owl on a Tree,” [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
This is a Haibun for dVerse, where we asked to write about owls. I’ve combined it with this week’s prompt from Colleen Chesebro , using synonyms for the words, smell and cozy.
I’ll make borscht today,
let it simmer in the pot
comforting and hot,
red like blood,
or flowers that might bloom
if ever spring returns,
ice now covers branches, leaves, and souls
twisted with cold,
memories of warmth faded
till ladled in a bowl
This is a quadrille for dVerse. The prompt word was spring.
We got some snow yesterday, but then we got rain and sleet. Everything is coated in ice.
Embed from Getty Images
In the dark of winter night
speaks the angel, fierce but sweetly,
singing in a voice commanding,
crying in a voice demanding,
with caramel breath and radiant light,
shimmering and glimmering like the star
shining, pulsing, glowing bright
twinkling, twinkling from afar,
resplendent, lustrous, but not so cheery,
brilliant, dazzling, then her query–
Why do you fight and foster hate?
Why do you listen to lies, then wait
for signs and words and soothing vows?
Don’t you sense that something’s wrong,
that freedom and choice will soon be gone?
The sun will rise on empty space
where earth once was, but now no trace,
so, light the candles and ring the bells
wreathe the doors with evergreen boughs,
but call for love and fight for right,
prevent the waning of the light.
Then she vanishes, darkness returns,
we search for angels, and the candle burns.
This is for Secret Keeper’s Writing Challenge.
The prompt words were:
Sense/Fight/Free/Voice/Choose
Happy Holidays! Wishing all of you light in the darkness and peace, and joy in the new year.
