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January 12, 2015

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Photography, Poetry

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Snow Queen Haibun

Wetlands in Snow

I walk through my own personal cloud of crystalline breath. The nighttime is silent but for the thuds of snow falling from branches. The modern world disappears, and even the family van is a slumbering dragon. I pace the silent woods, twilight falling to full dark quickly.

ice chokes the pond
water reflects the dark sky
even my breath stills

Frosted Window

I return to a long-ago winter. Lacy snowflakes fall all night. School is cancelled. Frost stars seal the window glass. I don three layers of clothes before pushing through drifts over my head. I forge new pathways. I enter an icy, secret world with caves, trolls, mountains and a snow queen.

hiding from monsters
across alien frozen worlds
in the quiet, is me

Copyright 2015 Brenda Davis Harsham

Note: This is a haibun, a Japanese form of writing, alternating prose and poetry, in this case, haiku. It has many rules. It should be present tense. The haiku should be without punctuation, except where a stop is indicated by a comma. Basho made this form famous.

63 thoughts on “Snow Queen Haibun”

  1. Pingback: The Writing Garden ~ Issue Six | The Writing Garden

  2. I’m planning on visiting again some writers who were published in earlier issues of The Writing Garden, and publish some more of their work. I think I did mention I would love to publish this lovely haibun poem of yours some time back, but I thought it would be best saved for a winter edition. Next one is November/December, so this would be perfect. Would that be okay to publish this in the November issue? 🙂

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  3. Absolutely beautiful Brenda!!!♥ Makes me think of those magical times too, snow and ice is so pretty! We haven’t had much cold weather in England at all, but had a frosty night bout a week ago. I went to my local shop a few doors away and noticed how every inch of the pavement just sparkled like someone had thrown glitter everywhere – it really was an awesome sprinkling of frost! 😀

    I was just thinking that this one would be wonderful to include in The Writing Garden, but it will be March when the next one comes out, so we will be into spring by then. I think I have included one winter write in the next one, but don’t want too many in one issue. Maybe I can bookmark this one for later in the year, it would be a fabulous one for the November/December issue. Long time to wait though. 😦 What do you think?

    I shall have to come back and read some more because I’m sure there will be something of yours I can include in the next issue. 🙂

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    • Oh what a lovely idea. I would be joyful to be included. I would be happy for it to wait for a winter issue, and also happy to mull over a spring offering for you for March or you can look back at my last spring’s writings. If you don’t see anything already here, let me know, and I will ponder a new piece. What would the deadline be? I have a conference in a couple weeks, and already too many irons in the fire, but I would maybe write something new in February. Hugs, Brenda

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  4. What a pretty frost image! I want snow as well, I’m sure well get some when we least expect.
    At least it’s going down to single digits tonight here in suburban Eastern Massachusetts, maybe a good frost night.

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  5. Enchanting! Captivating photos and majestic words. I am transfixed. How tangibly I feel this frozen world, as still and pale and gelid as a quiet tundra. I feel the intense lemon eyes of the grey owl upon me as I follow you into this snowy wilderness. Wonderful haibun, well done! Ecstatic cheers,

    – a crystalline-sheathed lil’ smiling toad

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  9. I really like how this led into a distant memory, like a walk back in time. I remember deep snow and making paths through this, sometimes with my brothers helping me. It felt like another ‘world’ and your description and photos are beautiful, Brenda!

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  15. I found this quote yesterday and it made me think of you 🙂 :
    “I had, in my vivid imagination, a passport to the geography of Fairyland. In a twinkling I could – and did – whisk myself into regions of wonderful adventures, unhampered by any restrictions of time or place.”
    – Lucy Maud Montgomery, written in “Every Woman’s world” in 1917

    Did you see my Troll post on Granny’s Garden?

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  19. Love this — like you, I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of exploring the Snow Queen’s realm… And “Frost stars seal the window glass” is marvelous!

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