Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Haiku Calendar

ANNOUNCEMENT
 
The Haiku Desk Top Calendar for 2014 is now available with haiku by Adelaide B. Shaw and graphic images by Sarah Bertochi. To review and purchase go to:

Chapter 2 Graphic Design Studio, http://chapter2gds.com/
Click on: SHOP, then the image for instructions on ordering.

Friday, October 11, 2013

Haibun



                                              THE PALACE
 

Long ago there was a fairy tale palace. Very grand in size.  Everywhere one looked– velvet, gold and bronze.  Mirrored walls, crystal chandeliers and thick carpets.  Stairways wide enough to hold six abreast. Sweeping in a curve, they rose up toward a domed ceiling with a glass skylight.

A princess comes down the stairs.  Regal, beautiful, bedecked in glimmering jewels, wearing her best dress and Sunday shoes. Her subjects bow.

 "Your Royal Highness," they murmur as she passes.

 "Out of my way, peasants," she says, moving past them towards the palace doors.

"Come on, come on," says a page wearing blue pants and a jacket with gold braid. He gruffly hurries the princess outside and ushers in those waiting for the next scheduled movie.

                                                  the walk home–
                                         squinting in the low sunlight
                                                she scuffs her shoes

Presence, winter 2011
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Thursday, October 3, 2013

Haiku



                                                 autumn damp–
                                                 old leaves composting
                                                 on the back lot

                                                 the cool of evening–
                                                 a hint of spiced apples
                                                 from a house

                                                 piles of dried leavaes
                                                 hardened by last night's frost–
                                                 more crunch in my step
Daily Haiku, 12/08/09
Hokku Web Page, 11/2003
Stylus Poetry Journal, 4/2006

                           
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Thursday, September 26, 2013

Tanka



                                                    on a hill
Posted by Picasa                                               autumn leaves vibrate
                                                    in the sun;
                                                    so much to absorb
                                                    on any single day

                                                    fall outing–
                                                    the choices to make
                                                    gathering leaves
                                                    I try to pick the ones
                                                    that will last

Ribbons, autumn 2009; Never Endig Story
Multiverses, 2012

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Haiku



                                  morning mist
                                  the tick...tick
                                  of leaves falling

                                  morning sharpness
                                  rain soaked leaves
                                  sticking where they fall

                                  turning the corner
                                  crimson maple trees
                                  dripping rain

Heron's Nest, Oct. 2002
Daily Haiku, Oct. 30, 2009
Dragonfly, Jan 1974
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Thursday, September 5, 2013

Haibun




                                       THE ZEN OF BRAIDING 

My hair has grown long enough to form a single braid extending down my back.  A braid I cannot make satisfactorily.  The finished product swings to the right or to the left.  I feel unbalanced, lopsided. 

“Don’t talk.” My husband, standing behind me, gathers my hair in his hands.  His expression seen in the mirror is neutral, as if his thoughts are elsewhere.

Divide the hair into three equal shanks.  Right shank over the center.  Pull taught.  Left shank over the center.  Pull taught.  Repeat to the end. Secure with a rubber band.

He steps back and admires his work.  I turn around and look with a hand mirror.  I, too, admire his work.  Neat, tight and centered.

“The secret,” he says, is not to think about it.  To have a blank mind.”

spring dusk
pulling in the silence
of a white lily

Frogpond, summer 2011

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Sunday, September 1, 2013

Haiku



                                               INSECT HAIKU

                                               mosquito landing–
                                               the light touch on my hand
                                               before it bites

                                               summer reading
                                               the dot of an i
                                               moves down the page
  
                                               humid night
                                               insects and I
                                               whining

                                              jumping contest–
                                              a grasshopper lands
                                              on my shoulder

Daily Haiku cycle 8, 2010;Hijinx,8/2010;
Gean, autumn 2009; World Haiku Review, 3/2009
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Haiku

  weekend getaway coffee on the veranda with a gecko Sense  & Sensibility