Tag: Haikus

Cardinals

Below is a poem and a haiku I wrote for an assignment in my writing group. The cardinal is my favorite visitor to our yard, but I love to see them anywhere!

The cardinal in our birdbath.
Take Flight 
 
The cardinal flies past the window and I know it’s melodious sound. 
For me, it is a love song, letting me know I am loved. 
His bright red color is like red lips kissing, touching the heart
And every time I see it I adore it more.
Through him God says, I see you, I know who you are and you are loved.
It reminds me what is important…family, faith, friends.
The fly-by is like a messenger delivering many thoughts saying
I am free, you can be free, take flight, be the adventurous person you are.
But then I sit back, a little anxious that I am being silly...
And writing this poem is like forbidden fruit and not worth anything. 
 
The cardinal at the window feeder.

Another assignment was a writing exercise and I ended up with three words: travel, fly and cardinal. I needed to use those three words to write a haiku. 

Traveling by wings
A cardinal can bring much joy-
A bright red fly-by.

Summer Haikus

My friend and writing companion, Sheri Eichhorn, and I have a lot of fun writing haikus for just about any word. Haiku is a writing pattern of 17 syllables divided into 3 lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables. Here are a few summer time haikus…I wrote a few and so did Sheri. 

Shade from the hot sun
Wonderfully delicious
and very welcomed. (VB)
Bright, sunny flower in a garden in Colorado.
Sparkles in the night
There is magic in the air
Twinkling fireflies. (VB)
Fireflies at night
Blinking in the forest glen
It is enchanting.(VB)
This is a unique card, received from a friend.
Bicycles ask us
to be both the passenger
and provide the fuel. (SE)
Two wheels on a frame
Around and around they go
Bicycles are fun.(VB)
Bicycles never 
run out of fuel until
you climb off the bike. (SE)

And since this is the summer of the pandemic, a few haikus about that…

A “masked statue” in Golden, CO.
Pandemic. That word...
it hurts to hear it, it hurts
to know—it lives here. (SE)
Global pandemic
Novel coronavirus
Took us by surprise.(VB)
The distance we’ve come
from normal with this virus
feels too much too far. (SE)

Home Again

We arrived back to an empty house, after helping our son and his family move out of our home, to Colorado. We miss them.

A few haikus about our trip…

Adventure awaits
To Colorado they move
We will miss them so.
Our own caravan
Three vehicles together
All heading westward.
The view of the beautiful apartment complex where our son and family have settled.
Unload, unpack, rest
Moving is a lot of work
They are settled in.
Hiking in the park
The snow starts gently falling
Spring in the Rockies.
The spring/winter beauty of Rocky Mountain National Park.
Three moose on the move
Catching a glimpse through the trees
Many elk and birds.
A few of the many elk we saw in the park, and in town.
Visiting good friends
Retired and moved away
Fun to reconnect.
The Twin Sisters, a view from Ft. Colins, CO. Photo by Jayne L
The house is quiet
The children have moved away
It feels so empty.
An empty bedroom.
Our last day with the grandchildren before their move to CO.

Wounds, Healing and Scars

I’ve been thinking about wounds, healing, scars…

First we get a wound: stabbed, cut, or an incision, and it hurts. 

The wound will get better…it will heal…but not instantly. It takes time – and it depends on the severity of the wound. But, most often, it will heal. Our bodies are amazing that way…truly amazing when you stop to think about it. 

The saying goes “time heals all wounds”…this I believe, but the question is…will it leave a scar? Some do, others do not. You never know, you just have to wait and see. 

Not only does this apply to our physical beings but our emotional beings as well.

Atlantic Ocean, Nazaré, Portugal. 2016

I have always liked this quote by Isak Dinesen, “The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears or the sea.”

Although those three elements are not a cure for everything physically, I think it may be true for emotional healing.

This idea is goes along with a haiku my friend and writing partner, Sharon Ginter Eichhorn, wrote on healing and nature:

Healing is aqua
Corralling the sky and sea
Into gentle hope.