CHANGES

I'm waiting for springtime 
to explode
as I watch quail and lizards
cross the road.

The lizard keeps his belly high,
his tail curled up toward the sky.
You might think of scorpion
or snakes on the run,
but it's just a lizard
enjoying the sun.

This is how he
keeps birds away
and lives to run 
another day.


    Changes are happening.  Nothing stays the same.  Tomorrow we have a new moon and a new month.  What changes are happening around you?  Can you write a poem about change?  Maybe you'd like to try a haiku if the changes are in nature that you notice.  Hope your Friday is wild and crazy.  Live big. Have fun.

RODEO DAYS

A banana, a mango,
I'm off to the rodeo.
I'm taking a picnic lunch.

I don't know where it's at,
but I'm taking a lariat,
and planning on fun, a bunch.

I'll laugh at clown faces,
watch fast barrel races,
and sit in the stands on a slope.

I'll see bucking broncos,
a group playing banjos,
and cows hog-tied with a rope.

I'll watch steers rush from the gate.
I can hardly wait,
and I won't 
be home 
until late.


     Rodeo Days is a big holiday event in Tucson--a great part of the town's heritage.  There is a big western parade with lots of wagons and horses.  Children get out of school.  Cowboys come from all over to try their hand at the rodeo events.  Have you ever gone to a rodeo?
     What is your favorite holiday?  Can you write a poem about that day?

Dream Poem

There is a river
I skate upon
in my dreams
from dusk until dawn.

Oh the adventures,
skating near and far
and when I'm tired
I rest on a star.

    What do you dream about? Your dreams can take you anywhere.  Can you write your own dream poem today?  Make it fun.

Who is Happy?

The cats jump for joy.
The dogs leap with glee.
Everyone is happy.
What can
the excitement
be?


    What gets you excited?  Can you write a poem about excitement today? Answer the question of this poem to make the next verse.  What are you passionate about?  Do have fun writing your poem.  Happy Tuesday.

WINTER SNOWFALL

Winter snowfall gently drifting
flake by wondrous flake,
Silver moonbeams brightly shining
dancing on the lake.
In the water swans are swimming
gliding hen and drake.
Nature's mystery to be granted
in the life we make.


    Oh boy, am I in trouble.  I'm up in the wee hours and reading some old dead English poets and see what happens to my verses?  My rhyme scheme changes and my lines get longer.  Did you see the quarter moon last night?  What is a mystery of nature that you have seen or experienced?  Can you try writing a poem about that today?  Do have fun with your writing.

haiku

Little milkweed bugs
rest upon a burst seed pod--
beginnings and end

Daffodils blooming
yellow and gold profusion--
their trumpets blaring


     It is a quiet day at my house.  I had a chance to take a walk, and in addition to lots of golf balls (I felt like I was on an Easter egg hunt) I found daffodils and milkweed bugs.  My field guide says the Latin is, Lygaeus kalmii, and they are from the "True Bug Order."  
   
Can you find a moment to write your own haiku today?  What about nature do you notice?  Have fun writing.

Desert Ocotillo

Ocotillos bloom
in spires of red, hot pokers
your birthday candles
everywhere the flames burning
too quickly they are blown out


      This poem is a tanka.  I haven't written many tankas so I did have to go back to one of my form books to check that I had done the syllables correctly.  Tankas were made popular by Chinese courtesans who published books of tanka written to their sponsor.  Those books are some of the first poetry books published of poetry by women.  The tanka has 31 syllables, five lines long in a 5, 7, 5, 7, 7 pattern.  It is like a haiku 5-7-5, with two extra 7 syllable lines.  Also, these poems encouraged the use of reference to the lover or sponsor.

    Your challenge for today is to try writing your own tanka.  Have fun.

     And here is a thought, if you get stumped in writing.

"The poet doesn't invent.  He listens."    Jean Cocteau