Saturday, August 22, 2015

Haibun

 
                                                A SUMMER DUSK 

It is late dusk. The tall pines are silhouettes against the fading light in a sky still streaking purple with a tinge of pink. Soon all color is gone and the first star appears. Star light. Star bright. What wishes I had as a child. To be a ballerina. A silly wish as there was no money for ballet lessons. To have a doll house. I did get that wish. Not the big dollhouse I saw in the department store toy section, but a dollhouse.

My wishes now are different. Health for family and continued love and security. Perhaps some rain to cool off this muggy night. And a breeze to chase away the mosquitoes which are not repulsed by the citronella candles.

                                               crickets and tree frogs
                                               are they singing or wishing
                                               on a star?

Bottle Rockets, summer 2015

Monday, August 10, 2015

Tanka

 
                                           at this age
                                           I choose only vibrant colors
                                           for the garden;
                                           there is no time to languish
                                           in melancholy

                                           I tend my plants
                                           with a mixture of awe
                                           and frustration;
                                           like my poems some grow, some die
                                           and some are weeds I still keep

                                           not quite full dark
                                           my imagination kindled
                                           by silhouettes
                                           the blackness of ancient pines
                                           sparked with fireflies

Bottle Rockets, Feb. 2009
Kernels, April 2013
Magnapoets, summer 2009