Tuesday, February 28, 2017

February 28: Signs of Spring, Part III

dirt road: speeding car
slowed by frost heaves
maples hung with sap lines

Monday, February 27, 2017

February 27: Good view

ladder to a deer stand
in the big lone pine
deer tracks in mud below


Sunday, February 26, 2017

Saturday, February 25, 2017

February 25: Signs of Spring, Part I

in dirty snow
at the margins of the town dump
first pussy willows

Friday, February 24, 2017

February 24: Afternoon fog

From out of the fog
a flock of ducks
also following Route One.

Thursday, February 23, 2017

February 23: Thaw

Chipmunk's mad dash
across the old snow--
is it spring yet?
 

Wednesday, February 22, 2017

February 22: Field

Two crows flying
over a snowy field
where once we saw a moose.

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

February 21: Memory of food past

four crows on one branch
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

February 19: CSI: Mount Battie

Alarm calls of songbirds,
downy feathers drifting—
hunger satisfied.

Saturday, February 18, 2017

February 18: Dyer Point

Winter's rock garden:
orange lichen blooms
on snowy seaside ledges.
 
 

Friday, February 17, 2017

February 17: Come in!

Roused from our coffee
by friendly knocking--
woodpecker on suet.
 

Thursday, February 16, 2017

February 16: Crafty

Trying to finish
an arts-and-crafts project
before the cat wakes up.

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

February 15: Exposed

Surprised by a flock of robins
flushing from mud
exposed by the snowplow.

Tuesday, February 14, 2017

February 14: Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day. Nightfall.
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

February 12: Storm Warning

Swarms of robins
storming the crabapple tree
ahead of the blizzard.

Saturday, February 11, 2017

February 11: After the eclipse

Moon nightlight--
full moon shining inside
and outside the house.

Friday, February 10, 2017

February 10: Before dawn

After the storm
trees cast long shadows on snow
under the setting moon.

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

February 8: Harbor Walk

Sun after snowfall.
Other walkers before us
have cleared the path.

Tuesday, February 7, 2017

February 7: It's going to be a long four years

Wishing this falling snow
could somehow erase
today's acts of Congress.

Monday, February 6, 2017

February 6: Tracking

moon over my shoulder
following fox tracks
to the meditation house

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.






Saturday, February 4, 2017

February 4: Love and War

Almost Valentine's--
each night Venus grows brighter,
Mars diminishes.

Friday, February 3, 2017

February 3: Bridge construction

Bridge removal--
light reaching into dark places,
the river exposed.

Thursday, February 2, 2017

February 2: Alternative facts

Alternative facts--
snow falling in a blue sky
wind-blown or a storm?

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

February 1: Inspiration

Brigid's Day--
poetry inspired by
grocery store daffodils.