I ... entered the poem of life, whose purpose is ... simply to witness the beauties of the world, to discover the many forms that love can take. (Barabara Blackman in 'Glass After Glass')

These poems are works in progress and may be updated without notice. Nevertheless copyright applies to all writings here and all photos (which are either my own or used with permission). Thank you for your comments. I read and appreciate them all, and reply here to specific points that seem to need it — or as I have the leisure. Otherwise I reciprocate by reading and commenting on your blog posts as much as possible.

28 July 2008

After the cold night: haiku and things for July 2008

(Several of these in response to posts by MySpace friends.)

3/7/08:

In memory of Jane McGrath

What we remember –
more than her beautiful face
and famous husband,
even more than her courage –
is her joyous laughter


4/7/08:

This overcast day
my cat on the garden bin
finds one patch of sun.


11/7/08:

After the cold night
sunshine, blue skies and birdsong,
my rose opening.

***************************

Haiku on Friday

The second Friday
in January last year
a new adventure
began, goes on beginning,
continually renewed.


13/7/08

I water my rose
find her a sunnier spot
between the haiku.


15/7/08

Thanks for the memory!

Couldn't find a rose
so he sent me a pansy
for thoughts ... years ago.


18/7/08:

The first bud blossoms
on the first rose I have grown
and cared for myself.

***************************

Bittersweet

When losing a friend
the memory of a smile –
such comfort, such pain.


19/7/08:

Busking fruit seller (netsuke)

Fruit fills the basket
but he holds his real treasure –
the ivory flute.


22/7/08:

haiku from between
tradition and tomorrow
forges a new form

***************************

haiku from between
tradition and tomorrow
kaleidoscopic

(in response to a challenge to complete the first two lines with a third)


25/7/08:

A wild wind last night.
I brought my rosebush inside
but it needs real light.

****************************

Green frog on the grass
in danger from careless feet
only yesterday.

Her two gentle hands
lifted and carried the frog
to her safe garden.


26/7/08

As twilight deepens
mountains improbably blue
fill the horizon.


28/7/08

Driving home last night
as rain clouds threatened I smiled
thinking of the frogs.

**************************

Had to prise her off.
She was such a clinging vine,
poor little Ivy!

3 comments:

  1. Rosemary,

    "my rose opening" is exactly the phrase I used to describe my water breaking almost 20 years ago, when I gave birth to my daughter, Laura (AKA Riley Dunn, now). So that haiku made me cry for happy.

    You have a knack for two things: Haiku itself, for which I have yet to develop a gift; and a lovely, optimistic view of the world. I get so mired in the bitter and the bittersweet... Thank you for turning me on to your blog! In the words of the inimitable Terminator, "I'll be back."

    Love, Amy Barlow Liberatore (Momskas)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh thank you Amy!

    What a beautiful image for the start of your daughter's birth process!

    ReplyDelete
  3. re 28/7/08:
    I like this - and the others, too. You've got me thinking in "haiku mode" myself. When it rains here, the frogs set out to cross the road, risking their lives in their hundreds...

    Haiku

    Driving in the rain
    frogs hopping across the road
    zigzagging round them

    ReplyDelete

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