haiku

quiet creature visits
perhaps it's a wasp
need Hawaiian insect guide


    Isn't this wasp beautiful?  The yellow color is wonderful. The wings are actually lacy clear.  But, I have no idea what kind of bug it is and I'm going to have to do some research.  Isn't that part of the fun of moving to a new place?  You get to see all sorts of new flora and fauna.
   Can you spend some time observing nature today to write your own haiku? Have fun writing.
   

HAIKU

Joy Acey, 2015

Since my hand is in a cast, I've been reduced to one hand typing and this encourages me to write really short poems.  Hence the haiku.


dancing in moonlight
silver steps in the garden--
a snail creeps along.

     And if you think typing is hard, you should try controling a paint brush with your non-dominant hand.  But I'm still plugging along.  For your poetry challenge for today can you try writing you own haiku about something from nature that has 8--like a spider, an octopus, or even an elephant.  (RATS!  I made a mistake, elephants only have six sets of teeth.)  Did you know that elephants have 6 sets of teeth in their life times? Have fun writing and you may leave your haiku in the comments below if you'd like to share your creation.

     The Poetry Friday Round Up is hosted by Katya Czaja on her blog Read. Write. Repeat.  You can find links to lots more poetry for children here.  Thanks for hosting us at your poetry party, Katya.

    Today I'm making a list of eight great things in my life.

Listening to Nature's Poetry

 


Each morning when I rise

I find to my surprise
a gift Nature has written to me
another verse of poetry.

Do you like watching Nature outside your window?  I have a thistle bird feeder and two hummingbird feeders outside my windows so I can watch and listen to the birds.  Now that winter is arriving, we have more birds coming to the feeders.  Can you try writing your own poem about nature today?  Have fun watching, listening and writing.

Choose to be happy today.  What happy things can you plan to do? 

haiku

clap of hitting limbs
my neighbor trims his bushes
ready for spring growth


Here is another.  On my morning walk I heard sirens and it got me to thinking.

shattering prom glass
life stilled to a long moment
sound of shrill sirens

I don't know why, but every time I hear sirens, my mind leaps to a story to explain them.  The stories are not happy ones, so I like to avoid that sound.  
  Your challenge for today is to spend five minutes outdoors trying to do nothing but observe nature.  Use your five senses and when you are done, make notes about how you felt.  Now, can you use the information to write your own haiku?  I hope your weather is a lovely as ours has been.  My son tells me the dogwoods are blooming in NC, and I saw in the paper the cherry blossoms are blooming in MD. What is going on in your neck of the woods.  

haiku

two Gambel's Quail bob

feathered heads on the fence rail

saunter toward spring

     I recently had four haiku accepted by Dos Gatos Press for their new anthology, LIFTING THE SKY: Southwest Haiku and Haiga, so I've been thinking  about haiku recently.  It is a lovely little poem that captures a moment in nature.  Traditionally in the US we teach school children that there are 5 syllables in the first and last line and 7 in the middle, making a 17 syllable poem.

    I've been listening and watching our birds this week.  They are all singing quite loudly looking for another bird to share their nest.  The quail have been the noisiest.  In Tucson we have Gambel's quail--lots of them.  They are very similar to California quail, but they don't share the habitat.  If you'd like to know more about this interesting bird, to see a video and hear the bird's call, go here.

    Your poetry challenge for today is to write a haiku about something from nature you see today.  You are welcome to leave your haiku in the comments.  I'd love to read them.  Have a fun day observing.