haiku

JoyAcey, 2017

moonlight
thinned to a thread
a snail slips a trail

Oh, I love when I make time to play in my studio with water colors.
I went outside early this morning at 6:30 to take the trash can out to the street before the trash truck came to pick it up.  Our sunrise is coming at about 7:16 now, so it was still very dark.  When I looked at the sky to the East, there wasn't even a hint that the sun was on its way.  Instead, I saw the almost new moon (such a thin sliver) with just enough light to add sparkle to the trail a wolf snail was making.
There is poetry everywhere if you just take time to be aware.

This weekend is the Chinese New Year.  There is a Lion Dance/parade in Lihue for the year of the rooster.  Chickens are very special where I live on Kauai, so this should be a special event.
Can you write a poem about something special to you?  Have fun writing and planning for a great weekend.

If you keep your eyes and ears open poetry will visit you.  Write.

December

Sunsets come earlier
and the sunrise
waits for a later time
making more of the night
leaving me in darkness
except for the bright
of a too white 
December moon.

   I don't know why, but over the last couple of years I've been learning more about the moon, Indian legends and other folklore about luna. Maybe it is my midnight writing.  I used to write in my closet at night, now I'm in my studio with windows.  So, of course I look out into the desert at night. I find it interesting that half of our lives is spent in darkness.  Most people sleep through it.  Your poetry challenge for today is to write a night time poem.  Have fun writing.

  The moons of our lives are a blessing.

haiku

yapping coyotes
punctuate the still of night
December's bowl moon

   I was awake in the middle of the night last night.  I love when that happens because I can get up to write.  The house is still; the world is quiet.  But last night, as I was walking around in the dark to get to my studio, it was very bright outside.  I looked for the moon and I saw a big white bowl.  It might have been a very big smile.  What do you do when you can't sleep at night? Can you write a poem about that today?  Or try writing about what you see when you wake at night.  Have fun writing.

Meeting with friends is a fun way to write.  Find a friend to write with today.

TANKA

new moon,      a dark time

searching firefly can't find

an answering flash

a single frog by the stream 

haunts my night with his croaking

     I thought I'd try another tanka for today's poem.  A tanka is a syllabic poem like a haiku.

It starts with the 5-7-5 pattern and adds two more 7 syllable lines.  So it is 5-7-5-7-7.  Unlike haiku that is a nature poem, tankas are poems about love.  They were called pillow poems because in early Japan women would write the poems and leave them on their lover's pillow.Would you like to try writing a tanka today? Have a great Saturday. 

Children's Poetry Can Help You See.

I put the sleeping bags
in my backyard,
my friends and I
will sleep out tonight.
We'll eat lots of s'mores
tell scary stories,
and the moon will be
our night light.


   I've been reading 101 Things Every Kind Should Do Growing Up by Alecia T. Devantier.  (2002, Sourcebooks, Inc.)  Number 4 on the list is-- Every kid should camp in the backyard.  When was the last time you slept outside?  Have you ever slept in your backyard?  Try it, invite your friends and you can write your own poem about backyard camping.

MOON MUSINGS

I look out my window
and what do I see?
A big, round moon
looking at me.

I wonder what happens
when I go to sleep
with the moon up there
and our world 
for him
to keep.

What does he see?
What does he know?
When the sun comes out
where does he go?

   According to my Poetry Friday Anthology for CELEBRATIONS compiled by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong for Pomelo Books, the first Sunday in May is World Laughter Day.  What makes you laugh?  What do you find funny?  Do you know a good joke to make someone laugh?  Can you write a funny poem today?  When was the last time you laughed?  Have a fun Sunday.  Enjoy your writing.

The Moon

Clouds drift across the moon
in a lacy mantilla
anticipating
like a wave,
hesitating
at its crest,
holding its breath
before dropping,
dropping into the night
from deep dark eyes.

   I often get up in the middle of the night to write. When this happens, one of the first things I do is look out the window to try and find the moon.  There is something anchoring for me about being able to see the moon and identify its phase. Last night as I was watching, lacy clouds shrouded the moon. When I see clouds over the moon, I always think of Alfred Noyes' poem THE HIGHWAYMAN.You might enjoy looking at the poem to see the different ways the poet describes the night.  Can you try writing your own poem about the moon today?

The moon is a bowl
dripping with scattered star dust
across the night sky.

   Did you see the moon last night?  It was a beauty.  The bowl shape always makes me think of the magic dripping out.  It was the perfect moon for making wishes.  What wish would you make?  Can you write a poem about your wishes?  My wish for you today is that you enjoy your writing practice.

DAYLIGHT MOON

Daylight moon
shining bright and round.
What has caused you 
to hang around?

In the sky
above the trees,
I wonder what
the moon sees.

     On this evening 36 years ago I was up late nursing my baby. I looked up at that night's full moon and suddenly it hit me, the moon I was looking at was the same one  Joan of Arc, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Martha Washington, or Sojourner Truth saw.  Can Grande Della Scala (a military leader in Verona), Amerigo Vespucci, Leland Staford, and Mickey Spillane, all of whom were born on this day, saw the same moon we'll be able to see tonight.  So, often when I look at the moon now, I wonder what it could tell us about all the things the moon has seen.  Perhaps you'll be inspired to write a poem about what the moon sees.

I see the moon.
The moon sees me.
I wonder what
he thinks of me.

FIVE SNAKES

Five snakes went out
for a slither
one night.

The air was cool,
the moon
was bright.

Each snake saw
his shadow.
It gave him
a scare.

They all raced home
to sleep
in their lair.

     Now that the weather is getting a little cooler, the snakes in my neighborhood are more active.  They still are most active at night when the hawks aren't out.
     My newspaper says there is will be a lunar eclipse tonight at 3:25 AM, Wednesday morning.  I'm going to set my alarm clock to get up and watch the eclipse.  I'll also look to see if I can see my own shadow.  Can you write your own poem about the moon today? Have fun writing.

THE GOLDEN MEAN

I'm looking for the golden mean
that lovely medium
between extremes.
I'm either late
or come too soon.
Most days I end up
talking to the moon.

    Look up the word gold in your dictionary. I did and found lots of words I hadn't thought about in a long time.  There was goldfinch, golden years, golden age, gold standard, gold foil.  Can you try writing your own gold poem today?

FULL MOON

Full moon tonight,
shining big and white.
Look at it, perfectly round
making shadows on the ground.

    It is your turn.  Can you write a moon poem today? 

MAKING MEMORIES

I've got two fists of stars
and bright moonlight, it's true,
a wispy cloud to float
across the sky, deep blue.

I've put them in this box.
I'm sending it to you
to help you with your dreams.
I hope you have a few.

Please, close your eyes to sleep
and fill your head with memories.
So then when you awake
you'll send your thoughts to me.


    WOW!  This poem is definitely a draft.  If you'd like to try re-writing the last stanza so the meter and rhyme are better, please do.  In the meantime, I'll file this one away to think on some more.  What are you thinking about today?  Did you learn something new?  Can you write a poem about that?  Have fun writing.

THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE

Whoever said,
The best things
in life are free,
stopped to listen
to birds singing
in a tree.

 I hoped that worked for you.  I was trying up loading a video of the bird singing.

And now, I noticed the moon was still out on my morning walk.

The moon is caught
in the saguaro spines.
The needles are strong,
holding like twine.

What will happen
if it can't get away?
Will we be stuck,
day after day?

Will we never
have another night?
Somehow that doesn't
seem quite right.

    

     Ok. That one will take patience.  There are a lot of long pauses.  I was trying to make a poem up on the spot, something I like to challenge myself to do and the pauses between lines are a little long while I was thinking about where the poem was going to go.  Have you ever tried to make up a rhyme while standing on your feet?  Sometimes the movement of my feet helps the rhythm of the poem.  But, in this case I just wanted something to go with the cool moon in the saguaro.  I tried a haiku too.  Perhaps you'd like to try a haiku to go with one of the pictures you've seen today, or better yet, use something from your landscape.  Have fun.

If the videos don't work, I'll come back and edit them out.  Have a great weekend.

The Poetry Friday Roundup is hosted by Karen Edmisten this week on her blog at http://karenedmisten.blogspot.com/  Thanks for a great party, Karen.  You can find lots of other great poetry for children on her blog.

WINTER MOON

Cream sickle, dream sickle,
wintertime moon,
you rise too late
and set too soon.



     My friend Rosi wrote a haiku in response to my poem SNOW MOON.  It got me to thinking about other phases of the moon and how I like to sleep more in the winter.  Have you written a poem about the moon?  The moon currently is waning, so it soon will be sickle shaped.  Did you know that Sickle also refers to a group of six stars in the constellation Leo?  Have fun writing your own poem today.
     And yes, I was also thinking about food--Creamsicles.

The moon is getting smaller.
His face is growing grim.
The bowl is getting less and less.
The light is growing dim.

Tomorrow is the new moon
when there is barely moon at all.
Then we'll see it wax again
into a big round ball.


    I don't know when I learned the words waxing and waning, but I do remember that  I thought those were the coolest words when I learned them.  Now when I look at the moon I try to figure out if the moon is getting bigger (waxing) or smaller (waning.)  Like water that ebbs (pulls away from shore) and flows (rushes toward shore) words that come in pairs are lots of fun.  Can you think of other words that are for movement and mean the opposite of each other?  Can you write a poem today about movement?  Have fun writing.

small bowl of a moon
spilling crystal diadems
chilly winter's night

    It has been very cold today and it may freeze tonight, so we've covered our plants and the citrus trees have the holiday lights on them to keep them warm.  Can you write your own poem about the moon you see?  Stay warm. 

haiku

round November moon

darts in and out of rain clouds

hot, fresh pumpkin pie

     Can you believe it?  We are having rain!  All last night I was gently lulled by the rare sound of rain drops.  I had to get up and write.  I was busy last night working on some haiku.  I re-read Rebecca Rust's classic book, THE OUTSIDE OF A HAIKU, (copyright 1984.)  It reminded me of the Zen, the oneness of the images in haiku.  Your challenge for today is to try writing your own haiku for the holiday.  

      I would have included a picture of the pumpkin pie, but we had some for breakfast and it is no longer round, so it didn't look right.

     Poetry Friday is hosted today at Write, Sketch, Repeat.  Follow the link for more poetry and Thanksgiving fun.  Thanks to Katya Czaja for hosting us all today.

WHILE EATING CUSTARD PIE

Little cat swung
on a crescent moon
singing a jolly,
happy tune.
She sang low,
she sang high
to the stars
in the moonlit sky.

     I went to sleep last night thinking about this poem.  Originally the poem was an excuse to use the line while eating custard pie. But as the night wore on, I rewrote the poem to a Halloween poem with pumpkin pie, and this morning in a brilliant job of editing, I got rid of the pie. (How can you sing and eat pie at the same time?  It is like eating crackers and trying to whistle.) So then I rearranged the lines and ended up with an a-a, b-b rhyming pattern.  I did try a,b, a, b, but I didn't like that as well.  I could have used longer (fewer) lines, but I like these shorter lines for early readers.  You could make the argument that my rhyme scheme now is a, b, c, b for two stanzas, but I'll hold with the idea that what I really have here is rhyming couplets.  I have this theory that most rhyming children's poetry is written in couplets and the a,b,a,b pattern is really a couplet with internal rhyme.  Any comments?
       Your poetry challenge is to write a poem about an animal in the sky. (A Rhino in the sky with diamonds, maybe.)  Have fun writing. 

COYOTES SING

Yips, yaps, howls
echo over the lake
Coyotes so noisy
they keep me awake.

It's 3 AM
the moon is bright.
Coyotes are chirping
and yapping tonight.

It's 4 AM
they are singing some more
I think I'd rather hear
coyotes snore.


     I didn't get a lot of sleep last night.  I think the coyotes were celebrating the weekend.  So here is a fun list poem to try--write a poem about the things that keep you awake at night.  Have fun.

    I'm not sure if I really need the three stanzas to tell this story.  I'm trying to condense the content to two stanzas.  But then again this poem may want to be a form poem that requires a repeating line like a triolet, or a villenelle.  Oh what fun.  I get to play with this some more. 

    I've already condensed the information into a haiku, but you'll have to wait until tomorrow to see that. 
    Thank you for reading my drafts of poems.  I really appreciate it. You do make poetry fun for me.