sibylline,
this ancient primal
rising, this
stillness that
strikes suddenly from the depths
of water and earth
A shadorma for Colleen’s #Tanka Tuesday, inspired by the photo, above, supplied by Vashti Q at The Writer Next Door.
shadorma
Minus the Princess
Black Beauty
leaves behind a trail
of tears, a
synthesis
of dazzling blue fire and the
mad Czar’s purple sword
Tender and
true, Aurora laughs,
dances in
the golden
acres, wandering among
old Jacob’s cattle
The Purple
Queen calls on Jack Ice
to render
wizardly
mutations—lazy housewife
into Reine des Glaces
A bit of fun using the seed names suggested by Sarah at dVerse in a shadorma chain for Colleen’s #TankaTuesday with synonyms for harmony and transition. Perfect words for a garden!
May the 4th (be with you)
Some call it
silly, the do or
do not, the
childmind—some
can’t name the fears that lead them
into the darkness—
Some never
unlearn what they have
learned—but some
bear with their
failures and then pass them on–
transform shadow to stars
Last fall a local non-profit arts organization showed all the “Star Wars” movies, in time sequence, once a week leading up to the release of the “last” episode in December. My younger daughter, a huge fan, convinced me to go with her–every week. Corny and unsophisticated, that first movie was–the only one I had seen multiple times, or in one case, at all–but there was something that grew on and pulled at me as the special effects grew more elaborate and the characters aged and became more intensely themselves.
There is a thin line between who we think we are and what life calls on us to be. And yet again and again many find a way to rise to the occasion.
My quadrille, for the dVerse word silly, hosted by Lillian, is composed of the thoughts of Yoda.
Happy Star Wars Day!!
the sound of
excess is
theft—listen and learn
silence, to
be empty–
awareness opening out
side the cage of you
For the NaPoWriMo prompt Day 25, we were to read and listen to James Schuyler’s “Hymn to Life” and then do a number of suggested exercises after free writing for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes of combined reading and free writing I was unable to go on. “Hymn to Life” is everything I don’t like in poetry–overwrought, self-indulgent and self-centered, a string of random loosely related observations that pretend to be profound–taking way too long and using way too many words to (maybe–I didn’t finish) say something meaningful. What point was he making? You can tell me life is a circle in a lot fewer and more illuminating words. Had I been his editor, I would have suggested reading Basho.
Or perhaps he should have listened to John Cage…
just breathe
when the songs
of the universe
gather like
winged dancers,
sit inside the opening–
inhale exhale breathe
For Colleen’s #Tanka Tuesday photo prompt, above, another shadorma. Also off prompt for NaPoWriMo Day 23.
this world and the next
not the sea
of memory—not
the rising
moon sun star–
not the release of endings
or calculations
that forecast
the turning tides—not
the rhythm
that over
takes the heartbeat—not the
speculations of
dividing
time—not certainty–
only the path
to the far
horizon–vast, unbordered–
on the other side
When I saw Sue Vincent’s photo prompt, above, I wanted to try to capture it with an idea I’ve been thinking about for awhile. Of course the time required turned out to be way beyond a week, so once again I’m posting an in-process stitching project.
