dirt road: speeding car
slowed by frost heaves
maples hung with sap lines
Tuesday, February 28, 2017
Posted with Blogsy
Monday, February 27, 2017
Sunday, February 26, 2017
Saturday, February 25, 2017
Friday, February 24, 2017
Thursday, February 23, 2017
Wednesday, February 22, 2017
Tuesday, February 21, 2017
February 21: Memory of food past
four crows on one branch
looking in my window
once we gave them food
looking in my window
once we gave them food
Monday, February 20, 2017
February 20: 50th
From the Haiku master Issa (1763-1827):
fiftieth birthday
from now on it's all clear profit,
every sky
Sunday, February 19, 2017
Saturday, February 18, 2017
Friday, February 17, 2017
Thursday, February 16, 2017
Wednesday, February 15, 2017
Tuesday, February 14, 2017
February 14: Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day. Nightfall.
Piercing the deep blue mist--
the planet Venus.
Piercing the deep blue mist--
the planet Venus.
Monday, February 13, 2017
February 13: Blizzard
Snowed in all day
focus narrowed to one book
I read a woman's life.
(Highly recommend Megan Marshall's new biography of Elizabeth Bishop: A MIRACLE FOR BREAKFAST.)
Sunday, February 12, 2017
Saturday, February 11, 2017
Friday, February 10, 2017
Thursday, February 9, 2017
February 9: Horoscope
A found haiku: my March horoscope taken from In Style magazine:
Pisces: "This full moon
will ask you to make
an important decision."
Wednesday, February 8, 2017
Tuesday, February 7, 2017
Monday, February 6, 2017
Sunday, February 5, 2017
February 5: Haiku Workshop
I spent my weekend immersed in a workshop on Haiku, the Moon & Ekphrastic Poetry, taught by Gary Lawless at Maine Media Workshop. Our discussions were wide-ranging and inspiring, from the story of Gary's apprenticeship with Beat poet Gary Snyder and life-long friendship with Snyder's mentor Nanao Sakaki, to the evolution of the haiku form from more formal Japanese poetry, to names of the moon in various cultures, punctuated by a presentation from Jim Nickelson of his series of moon photographs, Adventures in Celestial Mechanics, and a visit to the book arts studio where another class was making letterpress prints.
These haiku arose from the weekend's experiences and conversations:
Half moon
split above bare trees--
six more weeks of winter.
Fossilized shark's tooth--
at a certain angle
it looks like a heart.
Nanao said,
No swear words in Japanese.
What the fuck?
Granite quarry--
reliquary
for his grandfather's sweat.
Fixated on
a severed chipmunk's head--
this floating world--
A poem, not really mine, that wrote itself from a classmate's story:
He stops to check
the wind--
mother's ashes.
Another poem, not mine, that wrote itself for Gary from a classmate's story:
Owl flies
in the headlights--
mating season.
This class was a gift from my parents for my 50th birthday, so this haiku by Issa, one of the big three classical Japanese haiku poets, spoke to me:
The moon and flowers
Forty-nine years
walking about wasting time.
--Issa
Found poems created from Jim Nickelson's presentation, some almost verbatim:
Too close to the moon
and the photos look the same--
the moon is the moon.
In square photo format
only so many places
to put the moon.
Pale moon, pale sky--
how subtle can you get
and still show the moon?
Astrophysics professor--
no homework on nights
of the full moon.
He remembers where
he was that night
but forgot the name of the moon.
Moon of Falling Leaves.
Moon When Eyes Hurt from Bright Snow.
Hunger Moon. Bone Moon.
These haiku arose from the weekend's experiences and conversations:
Half moon
split above bare trees--
six more weeks of winter.
Fossilized shark's tooth--
at a certain angle
it looks like a heart.
Nanao said,
No swear words in Japanese.
What the fuck?
Granite quarry--
reliquary
for his grandfather's sweat.
Fixated on
a severed chipmunk's head--
this floating world--
A poem, not really mine, that wrote itself from a classmate's story:
He stops to check
the wind--
mother's ashes.
Another poem, not mine, that wrote itself for Gary from a classmate's story:
Owl flies
in the headlights--
mating season.
This class was a gift from my parents for my 50th birthday, so this haiku by Issa, one of the big three classical Japanese haiku poets, spoke to me:
The moon and flowers
Forty-nine years
walking about wasting time.
--Issa
Found poems created from Jim Nickelson's presentation, some almost verbatim:
Too close to the moon
and the photos look the same--
the moon is the moon.
In square photo format
only so many places
to put the moon.
Pale moon, pale sky--
how subtle can you get
and still show the moon?
Astrophysics professor--
no homework on nights
of the full moon.
He remembers where
he was that night
but forgot the name of the moon.
Moon of Falling Leaves.
Moon When Eyes Hurt from Bright Snow.
Hunger Moon. Bone Moon.
Saturday, February 4, 2017
Friday, February 3, 2017
February 3: Bridge construction
Bridge removal--
light reaching into dark places,
the river exposed.
light reaching into dark places,
the river exposed.
Thursday, February 2, 2017
Wednesday, February 1, 2017
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