Conversations with Nana

Miercoles:

Accidental sneeze:

dust, no doubt, or pollen  –

it’s that time of year

Jueves:

Drippy nose all day -

Half a toilet paper roll.

Best to take a pill

Viernes:

Weak, eyelids burning,

no vigor, no zip-ah-dee

Shoulders ache, head hurts

Sabado:

Jaw hurts, feverish.

Oh for someone to bring

A cool cloth, a pill

Domingo:

Crackly, graspy cough

sneezing rips at lungs and breath.

Take another pill

Lunes:

Stuffy but dripless

Racking, rocking and rolling

My way through the day

Martes:

Better when I rest

Start making tomorrow’s plans

But first, take a pill

6/29/09

The three posts, June, July, August, 1985 were my attempt to keep writing something daily. Haiku proved to be fun and efficient in keeping me motivated.

Dancing to music

Joyful sounds fill my spirit

I dance to myself

—

Rhythm awakens

My sleepy soul, my cold heart

I fling my spirit

—

Owl eyes penetrate

The question is: Who am I?

The words are feathered

—

Dinner with Linda

A new friend I’ve known for years

This evening is good

—

Black cat on my bed

Grey cat in another room

Aloof and afraid

—

Asparagus plants

Stand straight spreading their lace webs

Food from the garden

—

The cooing owl

Nested in the redwood tree –

Memorize the sound

—

Redwood’s filtered light

Oaks woven along the edge

Golden bark meets sun

—

Candle light flickers

Shadows cast across the room

Shifting illusions

—

Fallen rose petal

I remember you once whole

Red stain at my feet

Pink Geranium

Touch of color on the fence

Reaching toward the sun

—

Black kitten comes in

Old cat returns to wildness

Life makes room for new

—

Cat with wood clacker

Giant moth beating torn wings

Death fight to the end

—

Satin of shell

Memory of a former life

Ocean’s gift to shore

—

Red gladiolas

Lavender, yellow, pink, orange –

Exploded rainbow

—

Wind playing shadows

Dancing over my closed eyes

I feel the brightness

—

Non-verbal friendships

Words make way for flight of sounds

We touch hearts in love

—

Mandala flower

Kaleidoscope of color

Pieces of the whole

HAIKU is the Japanese name and style of poetry that has seventeen syllables, in three lines of five, seven, and five. Traditionally haiku is intended to depict pastoral scenes and images of the natural world. Each set of three lines is meant to be a complete poem in itself. As an example, I recently wrote the following non-Haiku poem:

The wind is aggressive

But the leaves are attached

and ambivalent.

11/30/11

Rewritten in the Haiku style:

Aggressive wind play

Stubborn leaves firmly attached

turn ambivalent

5/10/2012

Spinning top of life

Colors change as ages pass

We spin in your time

—

Golden fleece of hair

Light shimmers through its forest

Treasure lies beneath

—

Crickets’ rhythmic call

Legs grinding out sounds of love

Singing to the dark

—

Gnat floating through air

Human hand snaps away life

Dust of wings remain

—

Bertha caught a jay

Big blue bird squawking like mad

I stop the process

—

Silver face in moon

Light shafts dancing over earth

See moon seeing me

—

Slits of yellow eyes

Sleek black cat asleep on bed

Dreaming of freedom

—

Humming mosquito

Looking at my arm for food

How will I say no?

—

Screech of morning jays

Announce the sun in their eyes

Day coming again

—

Brown bird hops on fence

Black cat watches from corner

Designing the jump

—

Spider hides in drape

Open to day, closed to night

Spider moves with the sun

—

Almond tree in fruit

Case upon case upon nut

Soft green of new meat

—

I am tree of lace

Pine tall I stretch green boughs

I am young in time

Gecko lays her eggs

A delicate procedure

Unused shoe will do

yellow flash in bush

venom assassination

keep to jungle path

highly poisonous

could be deadly if it strikes

keep to jungle path

May 2010