Flicker Flash

At just dusk
Fireflies flicker and flash
Waiting for star light

Sundown
And a deer
Walks across the road.

Tall pines
Reach toward the sun
And back.

I'm traveling and seeing things through fresh eyes.  These three haiku capture some of my sights.  Can you take some time today to look at your world and see it through fresh eyes.  What do your ears notice that they have not taken the time to listen to before?  Watch the trees.  What are they doing?  Can you find things to write a poem today?

FLYING

So many airplanes
in the air
flying us from here
to who knows where.

So many decisions
we have to make
like where to sit 
and what to take.

Flying is stressful,
I have to laugh.
I think I'd rather
stay home for a bath.

   This is crazy.  My husband and I are flying back to Kauai next week.  So today he told me that the seat assignments had gotten changed.  He gave me elaborate instructions on how to change my seat assignments to match his so we could sit together.  He had three different seat assignments.  He is flying Tucson to Phoenix, Phoenix to San Diego, San Diego to Lihue.
   But when I logged on to the airline web site to check on my seat assignment; I only had two seats assigned.  I am flying Tucson to Los Angeles, Los Angeles to Lihue.  I'm going to feel Presidential with us flying on separate flights just in case there is a problem with either flight. Of course, I get in an hour before he does, but I won't get a second free checked bag which my frequent flyer husband gets and I get when I travel with him.  Airlines and travel is so complicated.  Where was the last place you travelled to?  How did you go?  By plane, car, bus, or train?  Can you try writing a travel poem today?  Have fun writing.

   Let's get this show on the road.

January 9, 2015

I got back from a week's trip to China and I'm way behind in my work.  Did you know that China controls their internet so there isn't Google, Facebook, or Blogspot?  So I couldn't post while I was there.
I did write my poem-a-day, I just couldn't post it.  I'll try to catch up.  Mostly I wrote haiku because like Basho, I found it was easy to work out poems in my head while I was walking visiting the sights and then write the poem down in the evening when I got back to my hotel room.
So here is the haiku for January 9, 2015

Seventeen hours
Over date line and time zones
Disorienting

   I enjoyed the word play on this poem since I was travelling to the Orient.  Now that I'm home, my body still hasn't adjusted to the time change and sitting on an airplane for 14 hours straight is tough. 

TRAVELING

You can travel by car
or travel by plane.
You can go by boat,
or go by train.
But wherever you travel,
and what ever you do
take me along so I
can stay close to you.


     Here is the question for today--what is your favorite way to travel?  Can you write a poem about that today?  Personally, I really like going on the back of a flying frog.

TRAVELING

I've traveled to Italy.
I've visited Rome.
The place I like best
is one I call home.

   If you could travel any where, where would you go?  Can you write a poem about that today?

BOOKS, BOOKS, BOOKS

I like to read
and travel
on the magic carpet
a book provides.

I like meeting new people
in books. I like
learning rhyming words
from poems in books.

I like tasting sweets
I can cook from books
and songs I can sing from books.
 I've learned to tie knots from books.

I find places to hike,
and meet fairies, elves, and imps
and all sorts of things
from the books that stretch
my imagination.

I never know where
the next book
will take me
which is why
I love
books, books, books.


     Can you write a poem today about your favorite book?  Or try writing a persona poem in the voice of a book.  Have fun.

My Pedal Car

In my red pedal car

I pedal near

I pedal far.

I'm leaving now

I'll be back soon

I'm pedaling off

to the moon.

I'm going now.

There's lots to see.

Will you wait 

here for me?

     For many youngsters a pedal car is their first form of transportation and freedom.  If you could travel in your own vehicle, what would it be?  I have a friend who is in New Mexico this weekend for a hot air balloon festival.  She wants to travel in a hot air balloon.  I have another friend who has his pilot's license and loves flying vintage airplanes.  My friends Dana and Susan have a boat they sailed from Finland to Thailand.  Your challenge for toady is to write a poem about a form of transportation.  Tell about your vehicle.  You can make something up.  Perhaps you like traveling in a tin can or on a vacuum cleaner.  Tell me where you'll travel.  Or maybe you want to time travel.  Have fun writing your poem and please, share your creations with me.

My Teddy

WOW! I don't know what happened, but I had this poem all ready for Sunday and it didn't get posted.  Sorry about that.  So here it is.

My Teddy

My teddy bear

is my best friend.

He's always there

at night we spend

our sleepy dreams

together dancing,

eating ice cream,

and traveling

to foreign lands.

Travel

Over cities

and mountains

over plains

over rivers

to oceans

I'm flying

in an airplane.

    Today's challenge is to write a list poem about all the places you have traveled, or use your imagination and write about all the magic places you'd like to visit.