Haiku Sticky #51

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved

Happy Haiga Day!

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. Image courtesy Library of Congress.

Poetry Friday--'Don't Let That Horse'

Over at my library blog, Kurious Kitty's Kurio Kabinet, I have a post today about ekphrastic poetry--poetry about art. I came across a poem, though, that may or may not be an ekphrastic poem. Is the subject a real painting, or a painting that could have been done by Marc Chagall? I've got the poem below in a screen shot so that you can see the layout. The text is below that.



Don’t Let That Horse...
by Lawrence Ferlinghetti

Don’t let that horse
eat that violin

cried Chagall’s mother

But he
kept right on
painting

And became famous

And kept on painting
The Horse With Violin In Mouth

And when he finally finished it
he jumped up upon the horse
and rode away
waving the violin

And then with a low bow gave it
to the first naked nude he ran across


And there were no strings
attached

I did a search on "The Horse With Violin In Mouth" and the only hits I got were those quoting Ferlinghetti's poem. Hmmmm. Chagall had many horses in his paintings. He also had many violins. If anyone knows for sure, let me know if there is a real painting called "The Horse With Violin In Mouth."

Here's the closest I came to finding "The Horse With Violin In Mouth," except that this picture is called "The Falling Angel," and I think the horse-like creature with the violin nearly in its mouth might be an ox!

Courtesy Olga's Gallery
Bravo to Ferlinghetti for getting me involved in both his poem AND Chagall's work! There's more to research...

Note: not surprisingly, the poem has been set to music. Click here to listen.

Head over to The Art of Irreverence for the Poetry Friday Round-Up!

Haiku Sticky #50

It's now officially summer! Have a great one!


© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved

Happy Haiga Day!

Not so happy today...

Watching the news reports from the Gulf, is painful. So what do we do? The simple answer is to donate to some worthy cause that is addressing the problems resulting from the oil. The more difficult answer is to think about how we all share responsibility.

So, start simply. Visit Ripple, a blog started by illustrator Kelly Light. Kelly has enlisted the aid of illustrators from around the world. They have donated one or more small pieces of art. If you, in turn, donate money to one of two organizations, then you get to own one of the works of art! Wow!

Seeing all the Gulf disaster inspired work, inspired me, too. My haiga is an admission of our guilt. Now all we have to do is repent and break some of our oil dependent habits.


© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. Image courtesy Library of Congress.

Please click on the LOC link to look at the original Japanese print. It is lovely. I have taken the lovely fish and surrounded and masked it with the murk of an underwater oil leak. No longer lovely.

Poetry Friday--World Cup Goings-On

As I'm sure you're all aware, the Football World Cup games are now being held in South Africa. Sport is a great way to unite disparate people from around the world, and soccer is the most popular sport worldwide. A whole lot of people are watching or listening to the games each day.

So, what is the connection to Poetry Friday? The High IQ Haiku World Cup! The Haiku World Cup is taking place for the duration of the games (through July 11). Haiku with a theme of World Cup football are being solicited and accepted on the blog. The haiku are then published online in a downloadable ebook. (You can download it for free, but a donation is welcomed.) You can also read the entries online without downloading.

You'll find a great variety of poems, and as you read through, look for my contribution. When I looked it was on page 15--I know entries are constantly being added, so I can't say for certain that the page numbering will be the same. (Also, I've been urged to have you vote for your favorite poem by sending an email to haiku(dot)vote(at)gmail(dot)com. I hate these kind of voting things since they usually end up as a popularity contest, but, if you're so inclined, I would appreciate your vote.)

Here's another haiku from me (I didn't send this one in):

world cup--
for today in america
footballs are round

If you'd like to participate, but are unfamiliar with haiku, there are links on the Haiku World Cup blog that will lead you to several writing guides. Remember, haiku DOESN'T have to be 5-7-5!

If you're on Facebook, please "like" The Haiku World Cup page. (Would someone explain to me why you now have to "like" a page rather than become a fan of it? Is the term "fan" beyond the understanding of the average Facebook user? If so, then it's a sad commentary on the state of literacy!)

Please stop by the Two Writing Teachers blog for today's Poetry Friday Round-Up.

Go USA! Team USA meets Slovenia today!

UPDATE: The USA/Slovenia match ended in a 2-2 draw!

Image courtesy Shine 2010 - 2010 World Cup good news

Haiku Sticky #49

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved

Happy Haiga Day!

I had fun playing with some of the effects...



© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. Image courtesy Library of Congress.

Poetry Friday--"Furry Bear"

Sometimes you just need a little silliness in your life--especially if you're a child. A.A. Milne knew this, and I'm sure that's why he wrote "Furry Bear." It's included in his Now We Are Six (with decorations by Ernest H. Shepard).

Furry Bear

If I were a bear,
    And a big bear too,
I shouldn't much care
    If it froze or snew;
I shouldn't much mind
    If it snowed or friz--
I'd be all fur-lined
    With a coat like his!

For I'd have fur boots and a brown fur wrap,
And brown fur knickers and a big fur cap.
I'd have a fur muffle-ruff to cover my jaws,
And brown fur mittens on my big brown paws.
With a big brown furry-down up to my head,
I'd sleep all the winter in a big fur bed.

It's the wrong season, I know, but sometimes I just have to be a little silly, too!

Head on over now to the Poetry Friday Round-Up being hosted by Kelly Polark.

Haiku Sticky #48

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved

Happy Haiga Day!

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved

Note: this is my friend Chuck. He likes to sunbathe out back. I'm sure that the folks in my suburban neighborhood hate me since I don't actively discourage wildlife!

Poetry Friday--A Poem of Her Own

I have a book in my collection called A Poem of Her Own: Voices of American Women Yesterday and Today (Harry N. Abrams, 2003). It is edited by Catherine Clinton and illustrations are by Stephen Alcorn. I bought the book for fifty cents a few months back when a local remainders bookstore went out of business! Fifty cents! Can you believe it?

The book is gorgeously illustrated with paintings that employ the technique of splatter-painting, but, being a writer, I'm naturally drawn to the gorgeous poems first! The poems range from those of the colonial era (Anne Bradstreet) all the way forward to those of contemporary writers like Nikki Giovanni and Marge Piercy.

See Stephen Alcorn's website for more samples from the book.

I'd like to share this poem from 1923 by Edna St. Vincent Millay, known by its first line as, "I, Being Born a Woman and Distressed"

I, being born a woman and distressed
By all the needs and notions of my kind,
Am urged by your propinquity to find
Your person fair, and feel a certain zest
To bear your body's weight upon my breast:
So subtly is the fume of life designed,
To clarify the pulse and cloud the mind,
And leave me once again undone, possessed.
Think not for this, however, the poor treason
Of my stout blood against my staggering brain,
I shall remember you with love, or season
My scorn with pity,--let me make it plain:
I find this frenzy insufficient reason
For conversation when we meet again.

Ah, passion! But, there is also the reality that physical attraction isn't enough.

The short bio of Millay at the back of the book tells us that she was the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. She won in 1923 for her book The Harp-Weaver and Other Poems.

Stop by The Cazzy Files for this week's Poetry Friday Round-Up.

My Apologies in Advance

I'm breaking one of my rules and passing this fake-ku site on to you--Haiku Pickup Lines. I couldn't resist.

Haiku Sticky #47

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved