June 27: Strawberry Moon

Strawberry Moon

cutting the peonies

before a rainstorm

April 2: Green Moon

stained glass window

rising moon

green then blue

March 31: Pink Moon

spring’s first full moon

a big gold egg

rising over the harbor

March 2: Worm Moon

happy hour

watching from the bar

as the full moon rises

February 1: Reading poetry on a winter's night

Last night in my Maine Poetry class, we read aloud Longfellow's "Wreck of the Hesperus," each of us in turn reading a stanza—an under-appreciated, long-lost form of entertainment.

Full moon on snow.
Reading Longfellow aloud
like they used to.

January 31: Blue Moon

I confess I slept through this morning's partial lunar eclipse. But I did admire the moon in the middle of the night as it was lighting up the post-snowstorm sky. This full moon is a blue moon, being the second full moon of the month. It was also, technically, a super moon, meaning it was at a closer point to Earth in its orbit (perigee). A lot going on in the sky as the moon was setting and the sun was rising.

Blue moon setting.
Constellation of oak leaves
scattered on fresh snow.

January 2: Awake

After midnight

long shadows of trees

lying across moonlit snow

January 1: Wolf Moon

After midnight

fat old moon slips easily

into the new year.

December 4: Full Moon

Setting full moon—

bedroom window lit up

as if it were morning. 

December 3: Frost Moon

Making our way home

from one view of the full moon

to the next.

December 1: Moon

full moon rising

over a neighbor’s house—

another lit window

August 9: Moon-viewing

driving around town

looking for the best angle

to watch the rising moon

 

Posted with Blogsy

June 8: Eastport

Seedy motel room

made bearable by the view:

moonrise over the bay.

 

Posted with Blogsy

April 11: Pink Moon

Was it the full moon

or strange dreams

that kept waking me last night?

Posted with Blogsy

March 12: Sap Moon

stained glass window

moonlight

shining through the moon

Posted with Blogsy

March 11: Misheard

Going out the door,

Look at the full moon!

Him: I love you too.

Posted with Blogsy

February 11: After the eclipse

Moon nightlight--

full moon shining inside

and outside the house.

Posted with Blogsy

February 10: Before dawn

After the storm

trees cast long shadows on snow

under the setting moon.

Posted with Blogsy

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."

Posted with Blogsy

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.