This delightful post by Trini reminds me of Miyasaki’s Castle in the Sky, one of my kids favorite animated adventures. I hope you only meet friendly pirates in your dreams. Have a great weekend! Warmly, Brenda
Category Archives: Poetry
Butterfly Twilight
Used by permission of Jessica Hagan
Vanessa dances
at dusk in the begonias
scent of lavender
Copyright 2015 Brenda Davis Harsham
Note: Thanks to Jessica Hagan for letting me use her beautiful photograph of the American Lady Butterfly, Vanessa Virginiensis!
River Drifting
River blooms green
Between water lily stars.
Swans nibble
Tender water moss
While minnows
Dart amid the bobbing
Carpet of green.
Water striders flee.
A hush falls as
The great blue heron
Lifts its wide wings.
He beats the air from his
Driftwood perch.
A redwinged blackbird
Flashes red and yellow stripes
Among the elderberries.
Mrs. Mallard pecks at
Arrow Arum.
A Canada goose stands
On one foot in the shallows.
The current carries us
Ever onward
Toward the sea,
The light in our eyes.
Copyright 2015 Brenda Davis Harsham
Note: I’ve been boating with the kids for three days straight. They took to stand-up paddle boarding. They might never canoe again.
Rain Chain
Raindrops linger in a
Caressing slide down
Purple trumpet petals.
Petals are lavender tutus
Worn by fae ballerinas
In endless pirouhette.
Pirouhette in the rain,
Cool on a hot brow,
Steamy from summer fun.
Fun is full moon magic,
On a long bright night.
Dew falls like raindrops.
Copyright 2015 Brenda Davis Harsham
Note: This poem is my variant of a chain poem. The last word of the stanza is used to start the next stanza, and then the last word of the poem loops back to the first word. Tonight my daughter couldn’t sleep with the full moon shining through her window. It’s the first full moon she ever remembers seeing, and it has a special magic for her. Do you remember seeing your first full moon?
Plus, YEAH to Carly Lloyd who again slotted home a Penalty Kick, leading the women’s U.S. soccer team to a semi-final win against Germany. Yeah to the whole U.S. women’s soccer team!! The final of the women’s world cup is Sunday, and I wish I could be there!!
Ode to Baby Kale
Tiny green fans,
For cooling a sprite,
A nibble for children:
A snack to delight.
First, soaked as seed,
Then planted in soil,
Watered and lit from above,
Sprouted into a tiny coil.
Two oval leaves
Reached for the light,
Edges becoming scalloped
With veins of bright white.
Baby green kale,
Planted between sage,
Chives and thyme,
Becomes an herbal mage,
With the power
Of flavor and health,
Until devoured by rabbits
With predawn stealth.
Copyright 2015 Brenda Davis Harsham
Note: This ode is to my baby kale, photographed prior to devastation by bunnies, insatiable little beasts. They seem to prefer the things I grow from seed to any clover or sweet grass. They never eat my chives.
Daisies Dear
No pruning,
No fertilizer,
No special care,
Still you bloom,
Wide open,
With smiling flair,
In field, meadow,
Roadside and
Everywhere.
Daisies sing a
Daisy song,
A quiet fanfare.
Copyright 2015 Brenda Davis Harsham
Note: Woo-hoo to the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team who fought long and hard against Columbia tonight! Congrats to Abby Wombach, a great Captain. She hails from Rochester, NY, where I (mostly) grew up. Yeah Carly Lloyd for scoring on the (second!) PK and then stepping up as Captain! FIFA — International soccer tournaments should not be played on turf!! 130 degrees on the field/pitch?! Shoes MELTING?? Seriously?
Also, hello to Poetry Friday friends! Thanks to Carol at Carol’s Corner for hosting this week.
Midsummer Night’s Dream, Part 3
Be kind and courteous to this gentleman;
Hop in his walks and gambol in his eyes;
Feed him with apricots and dewberries,
With purple grapes, green figs, and mulberries;
The honey-bags steal from the humble-bees,
And for night-tapers crop their waxen thighs.
And light them at the fiery glow-worm eyes,
To have my love to bed and to arise;
And pluck the wings from painted butterflies
To fan the moonbeams from his sleeping eyes:
Nod to him, elves, and do him courtesies.
Note: Happy Father’s Day to all fine Gentlemen! Happy Midsummer! And this is the third and final part of my Shakespeare Quotes offered for the 3-Day Quote Challenge, thanks to an invitation by Marlyn at Kintal. I’ve thanked my challenger, offered three quotes in three days and passed the challenge along to any who comment here and express interest. For a midsummer fairy tale, click here. Hope you had a great weekend!
Midsummer Night’s Dream, Part 2
Once I sat upon a promontory,
And heard a mermaid on a dolphin’s back
Uttering such dulcet and harmonious breath
That the rude sea grew civil at her song
And certain stars shot madly from their spheres,
To hear the sea-maid’s music.
Note: Happy Saturday! Hope your weekend is going well. This is Part 2 of 3 Shakespeare Quotes offered for the 3-Day Quote Challenge, thanks to an invitation by Marlyn at Kintal. Find Part 1 for the rules and an invitation to participate for any quote lovers. For a midsummer fairy tale, click here. Check back tomorrow morning for the final part. Have a magical day!
Midsummer Night’s Dream, Part 1
Over hill, over dale,
Through bush, through brier,
Over park, over pale,
Through flood, through fire,
I do wander everywhere
Swifter than the moon’s sphere;
And I serve the fairy queen.
To dew her orbs upon the green
.
The cowslips tall her pensioners be:
In their gold coats spots you see
Those be rubies, fairy favours
,
In those freckles live their savours:
I must go seek some dewdrops here
And hang a pearl in every cowslip’s ear.
Farewell, thou lob of spirits; I’ll be gone:
Our queen and all our elves come here anon.
Notes:
Happy Friday!
This is Part 1 of 3 of my Shakespeare Quotes offered for the 3-Day Quote Challenge, thanks to an invitation by Marlyn at Kintal. I am bid to thank my challenger, offer three quotes in three days and pass the challenge along to three others. Instead of putting anyone on the spot: if you comment here and express interest, you’re invited to participate and link to my post.
This is also offered for Poetry Friday, this week hosted by A Year of Reading.
For a midsummer fairy tale, click here. Have a great weekend!
Travel theme: Off-Centre
Winter
Spring
Summer
Fall
Note: This celebration of the seasons is inspired by Ailsa at Where’s My Backpack. She offered a fun quote by George Carlin: Think off-center. Achieving balance despite being off-center is one of my aims. Do you think I managed even though my subjects are off-center? My theme is in honor of the seasons because we are nearly in-between, moving here from spring to summer in a few days.
in-between
off-center
but in balance
Copyright 2015 Brenda Davis Harsham
World Building
brainstorming plot
world building with my son
ideas bloom
Note: I had the vast pleasure today of discussing a science fiction idea with my oldest son. I’ve been developing a young adult novel set on a moon colony. He was jazzed, and he contributed lots of ideas toward my world building. Now, he wants to work on writing his own SF novel this summer, and my second son wants to be part of it. Such fun!! Hope you have a great week!
Behind the Ferns
Behind the ferns,
A dragon shakes the rain
From golden scales,
Yawns, stretches and
Rises from her rest.
Human eyes are fooled,
By shadow and light,
A color camouflage:
We see only
An iris at its best.
Copyright 2015 Brenda Davis Harsham
Note: This dragon is dedicated to gardeners, landscapers, garden center owners and nature lovers everywhere. To people whose lives are dedicated to the transient, yet enduring, beauty of nature. If you’ve ever planted a single bulb or watered a houseplant, this is for you, too. And it’s already time for Poetry Friday again! How did that happen so fast? This week is hosted by Jama at Jama’s Alphabet Soup, a haven of tasty poetry.
Friendly Fairy Tales 
