lost pinecone beds down on pine needles, ignored by lichen and moss
Copyright 2014 Brenda Davis Harsham
Note: This is an American Sentence Haiku.
To see my others, they are: Silent Bathhouse and Trumpets Sounding.
Category Archives: Photography
Summer has arrived in New England!
April Fools! We had hail, sleet and rain yesterday: what the weather professionals call a “wintry mix.” I prefer my wintery mix to include a fire in the fireplace, hot chocolate, a foot rub and my dinner delivered by the culinarily gifted. I wonder if that will ever happen. At least the pizza place delivers. 🙂
Here are some brave early flowers, just poking up their heads and drinking some rain. The oak trees have started dropping leaves, and new green leaves are sure to be along any day. Warmth and sunlight are predicted, but who knows if the weather professions are just joking or serious.
Have a fun First!
Warmly, Brenda
Copyright 2014 Brenda Davis Harsham
Note: For any not familiar with the U.S.A. April First tradition, I will explain. The goal is to get someone to believe something diabolical, and wait for them to interject: “What!?!” Then you yell “April Fool’s!!” And laugh a lot while they groan.
The Path toward Spring: Haiku Kai
past barren trees
path leads toward evergreens,
spring in infancy
earth still hard from winter’s cold
pine needles soften, endure
tender green shoots
entwined with fall memories
struggle toward sunshine
dream of golden summer warmth
tiger lily hearts leaping
Copyright 2014 Brenda Davis Harsham
Note: These two tanka are inspired by the Carpe Diem Haiku Kai,
and I dedicate them to Kristjaan, on the birth of his new grandchild.
Tenacity: a Visual Haiku
blue dormancy
bitter winter winds cease
lavender in March
HAIKU INVITATION! Please feel free to leave your own haiku here, in the comments, to celebrate spring and the tenacity of all creatures who survive the bitter winds of winter. So much more could be said, perhaps by you!
Note: The photograph is a visual haiku: a photograph suggesting more than is there. In this case, the photograph made me think of the tenacity of life, to go dormant, slumber throughout the cold, and then wake to sunshine and spring. Another Visual Haiku is at Come and Gone.
Fae Flash Fiction: Catkin
Early one spring, a wood elf named Jake darted here and there with warming sparkles. He nearly got caught by two humans and a beagle. The beagle spotted him, gave chase and barked. Jake flew up into a tall shrub.
Before the humans even turned their heads, quick as a wink, he swirled his dandelion coat in tight and held to the pussy willow branch. Just another catkin, hiding in plain sight. Which one is the bud and which the wood elf?
Only the beagle knows. Jake wiggled the branch when the humans passed by, and dropped some raindrops onto the waiting beagle’s nose. He hid again, and then peeked at the wagging tail of the beagle, happily walking away, christened by the wood elf. Jake grinned, then merrily went back to warming forsythia buds and catkins.
Copyright 2014 Brenda Davis Harsham
Spring is Sprung
The fairies have been busy.
Under the deepest snow,
They have sprinkled vernal equinox sparkles,
And everywhere spring is springing!
Irises Hear Spring’s Song
Hyacinths Yearn toward the Sun
Crocuses Create a Green Crescendo
Copyright 2014 Brenda Davis Harsham
Winter Red Ditty
Patches of snow gleam in drifts,
Branches entwine in red towers,
High rises for fairies on shifts,
Thicket bark lovelier than flowers.
Copyright 2014 Brenda Davis Harsham
Dancing Memento
My young daughter’s first ballet class,
Awash in swirly pink,
Young girls,
Hair tidied in a looking glass,
Stopping for a quick drink,
spins, twirls.
Fingers together in ballet,
with correct attitude,
Balance.
Raising her arms in grand plié
A graceful interlude,
Warm glance.
My heart was sore to see her there
Leaving me to learn dance,
Wide grin
In place, twinkling eyes full of cheer,
And with a graceful stance,
leap, spin.
Copyright 2014 Brenda Davis Harsham
Inspired by the Paint the World with Words poetry prompt, which was to write a Memento, a style with 6-line stanzas, composed of patterned counts of 8/6/4/8/6/4 syllables and with a/b/c/a/b/c rhyming.
Berries Blue Etheree
Blue
Berries
Dwindling
As winter ends,
Providing forage
For creatures small and large,
Drawn by beautiful sapphire
Fruit of the evergreen bushes,
Jewels strung there by Mother Nature,
Loving provender for her hungry kin.
Copyright 2014 Brenda Davis Harsham
Note: This poem is an Etheree, starting with one syllable
on the first line and increasing to 10, one syllable per line.
For another great example, check out Ginz&Tonic.
Cone Jewels Haiku
eastern hemlock cones
seeds disbursed by cold winds
jewels worn in winter
Copyright 2014 Brenda Davis Harsham
Fae Flash Fiction: Equinox
Silka dreamed in yellow. Daffodil dreams of spring, warm breezes blowing citron pollen. Leaves unfurl in lemon sunshine. She restlessly rolled over, drawing her rose petal duvet higher over one curved hip. Her dream changed to tulips, in a rainbow of color.
Silka dreamed of the Equinox, and her thoughts startled her awake. She opened her violet eyes.
“Fib!” she called into the quiet of her hydrangea bower. She heard a scuffling, yawning, and a small bee fairy uncurled from a purple bloom, changing from bee shape to fairy shape as he stretched. He sat up blinking, wings glittering.
“What’s today, Fib?” Silka called to him, smoothing her butterfly wings and petal skirt.
“Today?” Fib rubbed the grit from his bluebell eyes, then he opened them wide in surprise. “The Equinox!!” Fib shouted with joy. Together, he and Silka flew out into the Outer World.
Still snow as far as the eye could see. A faded hydrangea bloom, like a fragile four leaf clover spun of earth, was the only visible bloom, their hydrangea bower safely behind the veil separating the Fairy World from the Outer World.
Silka and Fib decided, equinox or no equinox, some more dreaming was in order, and they retreated behind the veil.
If you like, you can read more Fae Flash Fiction here: Silka (Episode 1).
Copyright 2014 Brenda Davis Harsham
Light in the Dark Naani
Dark falls swiftly,
My neighbor’s windows glow,
Turning the last winter snow pink
And the evening friendly.
Copyright 2014 Brenda Davis Harsham
Note: Thanks to Blog it or Lose it for introducing me to the naani. The naani, a popular form of poetry in India, has four lines with 20-25 syllables total. Any subject is embraced, often relationships or current events.
References:
http://www.poetrydances.com/naani.php
http://www.shadowpoetry.com/resources/wip/naani.html
http://www.examiner.com/article/naani-an-easy-poetry-form
http://popularpoetryforms.blogspot.com/2013/02/naani.html
http://www.prose-n-poetry.com/display_work/8009
Friendly Fairy Tales 