Four Weeks of Ku-ish-ness

(Some with NaHaiWriMo prompts, some with only prompts from my mind)

2/26 closet
last spring’s rain ...
pulling its scent
from the back of the closet

2/27 garage
the scent of ganja
from beneath the garage door ...
summer breeze

2/28 kitchen
even in my dreams mother in the kitchen

3/1 gathering
recovery dance ...
piping plovers the first to return
to the beach

3/2 children’s book
slower now
at page turning yet still
this call of the wild

3/7 status
nervous stomach -
again the sea breaches
the dunes

3/8 line
morning commute -
the North Jersey Coast Line
whistles through the snow

3/10 erosion
battered soul ...
each new storm
remaps the coast

3/12
repeating
Our Fathers and Hail Marys
unable to sleep
I pray to those I have faith
will save me someday

3.14 pi
infinite boredom ...
his lecture on pi
irrational to me

3/17 sound
just before the alarm the deep silence of dawn

3/19
craving bodhi ...
I listen to the surfer talk
about why he surfs

3/19 shoes
waiting for Spring
the flip-flops lined up
by the door

3/21 learning
the clay in my hands shaped and reshaped

3/22
half here
half there
this half moon

3/23 glass
teaching me
the beauty of stillness ...
glass lake

3/26 key
cold night -
still one key on the ring
to an unknown lock

3/27 moon
worm moon -
is he planting seeds
in some other field

Sweep me up

I won't apologize
for some days wishing
the clouds would sweep me up
and cuddle me in soft, white, fluffy
oblivion

twentieth stone

I tell them first
before they have a chance to ask
no, I don't do it for money
this little bit of my soul
I've written and shared with the world

eleventh stone

all day
nothing but gray
surrounding me
but for the conversations of strangers
and their colorful vocabulary

Close to Haiku

March April May lack of discipline

Assorted short forms from the past few months:

3/2 (old)

first edition
a pink crayon heart around
‘no matter how small’


3/3 (doll)

winter sun
the doll, the dust and the spider
on the sill

3/4 (death)

so many lilies
still I search
for just the right words

3/7 (fasting)

deep in prayer
the full fish moon
on an empty plate

3/13 for Susan

free of winter’s grasp
I wonder is she at peace
wandering the stars

3/18 (Sunday)

seventh day
a double sunrise shell rests
at my feet

3/21 (nature)

southern breeze
how softly winter passes
through the willows

3/25

view from the street corner
venus, jupiter and the moon
still hangin’ out

3/28 (growth)

rising
above her surroundings
the daffodil

3/29 (humor)

6 p.m.
all the neighborhood dogs imitate
the firehouse whistle

3/31

spring mist
only in the light
does the truth show

(romantic trip)

river sunset
an extra round
on the ferry

April 2012

4/3
Holy Tuesday
psalms whispered
in the rain

(blossoms)

this shoulder pain
still I reach for a clump
of cherry blossoms

4/6 (moon)

midday prayer
the weight
of the good Friday moon

4/11 (mountains)

lengthening days
the wildflowers brighter
on the mountaintop

4/12 (swings)

winter’s end
the freedom of the swings
long forgotten

4/17 (autumn cool)

this mind helpless
against its own trappings
autumn cool

4/21 (earth)

welcomed rain
as if they never existed
those cracks in the earth

4/27 (memorable trees)

outside the fence
mis-shapen apples from
a mis-shapen tree

May 2012

5/5 (moon)

sea and fog
all that is shared between
the moon and me

5/6 (intimacy)

easy silence
our summer night punctuated
by turning pages

summer heat turning into an endless walk...this dream

dressed in lotus
on a wooden pyre
float me out to sea
bathed in moonlight cast
by all the goddesses gone before

5/17 (voice)

after the mockingbird
unable
to find my voice

5/19 (tea)

morning tea
the words he knows are coming
stuck in her throat

5/20 (blue)

blue sky to grey
the cormorants come ashore
ahead of the storm

5/21 (open) for Hortensia

spring sunrise
through the open gate
a shadow

thirtyfirst stone

along the river
where the flowers gather
this dream
of the moment when winter
loosens its stranglehold

thirtieth stone

words spinning
out of control
out of season
winter, having nothing left to say
exits through an open window

twentyninth stone

in a chipped cup
the last of the cocoa
forgotten
but for the sweetness
upon my unkissed lips

twentyeighth stone

the moment
between dawn and sunrise
a gift
unfurled from the arms of Gaia
her song an offering to the heavens


Happy Birthday Pamela. Thank you for encouraging me to try tanka. :)

twentyseventh stone

rereading Night
safe from the storm
my mind twisted
in the hands of the madman
who thought he could slaughter souls

Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day. God bless all those who were lost and all those who survived.

twentysixth stone

after tonight's
thunder and rain
all we have left
is the difference between
loving and being in love

twentyfifth stone

the birthday
of this indigo child
celebrated
in all the colors of the sunrise
and the songs of all the birds

twentyfourth stone

here and there
the sky so full of stars
to wish upon
but the new moon drawing
only this winter surf closer

twentythird stone

sleeping through
the morning fog
and waking
with it still surrounding me
at the news of another family death

twentysecond stone

new moon
in deep slumber
I dream
somewhere saving this universe
are dragons like these

Happy Chinese New Year!

twentyfirst stone

winter winds
the day's snow
now black ice
my mind travels down
a mischievous road

twentieth stone

bare branches
against the blue sky
silently
I forget for a moment
the coldness of the world

nineteenth stone

slack tide
the answer
that never comes
his discomfort with dilemmas
hanging in the air

eighteenth stone

in the peace
of the morning
my dreams
refusing to acknowledge
the authority of the rising sun