© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. Photo by Andrew Gaines/Unsplash, altered by me.
Text:
we've been scorched
by smoldering hellfires...
two thousand nineteen
better angels now requested
to bring fire hooks to break
through to our mystic memories
December 30, 2018
Happy Haiga Day!
I am so ready to be done with 2018. It's been a horror show. This poem is a cherita terbalik, which is simply a cherita's 1-2-3 lined stanzas rearranged. In the third stanza I've borrowed words and sentiments from Lincoln's First Inaugural Address, March 1861.
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. Photo by Andrew Gaines/Unsplash, altered by me.
Text:
we've been scorched
by smoldering hellfires...
two thousand nineteen
better angels now requested
to bring fire hooks to break
through to our mystic memories
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. Photo by Andrew Gaines/Unsplash, altered by me.
Text:
we've been scorched
by smoldering hellfires...
two thousand nineteen
better angels now requested
to bring fire hooks to break
through to our mystic memories
December 28, 2018
Poetry Friday--Winter Swap
One day last week I opened my mailbox to find an envelope that had come from Australia. I don't believe I had ever received mail from Australia before. It turned out to be part of the 2018 Winter Swap organized by Tabatha Yeatts. My swap partner is Kat Apel of katswhiskers.
Inside was a packet of materials tied up in a yellow ribbon. The first thing I noticed was the little notes that instructed me to complete the puzzle first.
Ta dah!
Text of Kat's cherita:
random noodling
cheritas
to savour
a three-course
feast
for the senses
© Kat Apel, all rights reserved, used with permission.
I appreciate that Kat found a photo of a noodle-eating lady, similar to the cover photo at the top of my blog.
[Here's another group of Geisha enjoying their soba noodles that is part of a collection of images posted by Okinawa Soba (Rob):
For more Geisha images, check out the Flickr album of Okinawa Soba (Rob).]
Beside the puzzle, Kat included a mounted and laminated copy of the puzzle poem, and another mounted piece, a colorful photo of birds-- "We stick together 'cause we're birds of a feather." Both pieces will be used as bookmarks in my house, for sure.
Also in my swap packet was a fun cat mask. I decided to model it for you. As you can see, I am lacking in selfie skills! This is the least bad photo of the ones I took!
Thanks again, Kat, for your kindness and your spirit of fun!
On this last Poetry Friday of 2018, Donna is hosting the Round-Up at Mainely Write, but, she's really in Pennsylvania. Happy New Year everyone!
Inside was a packet of materials tied up in a yellow ribbon. The first thing I noticed was the little notes that instructed me to complete the puzzle first.
Ta dah!
Text of Kat's cherita:
random noodling
cheritas
to savour
a three-course
feast
for the senses
© Kat Apel, all rights reserved, used with permission.
I appreciate that Kat found a photo of a noodle-eating lady, similar to the cover photo at the top of my blog.
[Here's another group of Geisha enjoying their soba noodles that is part of a collection of images posted by Okinawa Soba (Rob):
Beside the puzzle, Kat included a mounted and laminated copy of the puzzle poem, and another mounted piece, a colorful photo of birds-- "We stick together 'cause we're birds of a feather." Both pieces will be used as bookmarks in my house, for sure.
Also in my swap packet was a fun cat mask. I decided to model it for you. As you can see, I am lacking in selfie skills! This is the least bad photo of the ones I took!
Thanks again, Kat, for your kindness and your spirit of fun!
On this last Poetry Friday of 2018, Donna is hosting the Round-Up at Mainely Write, but, she's really in Pennsylvania. Happy New Year everyone!
December 25, 2018
Haiku Sticky #484
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.
Text:
unexpected gift:
a pine scented tree for
her rearview mirror
December 23, 2018
Happy Haiga Day!
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.
Text:
after the solstice...
today warmer or just
wishful thinking?
December 18, 2018
Haiku Sticky #483
A flock of birds landed in the backyard causing the cat to hyperventilate. I barely had time to focus on an individual bird, no less look it up to see what it was, before the whole group up and left.
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.
Text:
migrating flock...
not grounded long enough
to look up its name
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.
Text:
migrating flock...
not grounded long enough
to look up its name
December 16, 2018
Happy Haiga Day!
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.
Text:
Christmas rush
...on a field near the mall
geese glean
December 11, 2018
Haiku Sticky #482
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.
Text:
lukewarm tea...
the heat of her words
in this cold room
December 9, 2018
Happy Haiga Day!
© Diane Msyr, all rights reserved.
Text:
snack time over...
sweeping up random
body parts
December 7, 2018
Poetry Friday--Spark 39
The latest Spark challenge ended last Friday. Up until recently, I've participated as an "artist," but this time round, of the people signing up for the challenge, more were artists than writers, so, I agreed to partner as a writer.
My partner is artist, Mary Hill, and the piece she sent to me is mixed media. I received permission from Mary to post her pieces. Thank you, Mary!
Here is the inspiration piece, "Purple and Gold Landscape 2":
© Mary Hill, all rights reserved.
When I received the file by email, the fires in California were still blazing and in the news, so my mind went immediately to that. The National Climate Assessment was issued a day or two after I received my inspiration piece, and that, too, factored into my response:
I sent Mary a cherita from my files as an inspiration piece:
Here's Mary's delightful response, "Done with moving: Relaxing":
© Mary Hill, all rights reserved.
Consider taking part in the next quarterly Spark round--I know many Poetry Friday peeps are writers or illustrators.
Elizabeth Steinglass is hosting today's Poetry Friday Round-Up. Be sure to stop by!
My partner is artist, Mary Hill, and the piece she sent to me is mixed media. I received permission from Mary to post her pieces. Thank you, Mary!
Here is the inspiration piece, "Purple and Gold Landscape 2":
© Mary Hill, all rights reserved.
When I received the file by email, the fires in California were still blazing and in the news, so my mind went immediately to that. The National Climate Assessment was issued a day or two after I received my inspiration piece, and that, too, factored into my response:
Paradise, 2018: a pair of cherita
"It will take a while. But it will get better. It always does." Eyewitness to the Camp Fire, California, November 2018
if we squint we see
the flames of a wild
fire as an aura--
a god's adoring smile
a land and people blessed
a tempering of our souls
optical delusions
radiance mistaken for
divinity still blinds
with eyes nearly closed we
can only blame ourselves
for descending into darkness
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.
I sent Mary a cherita from my files as an inspiration piece:
packing to go
no room in
the cardboard boxes
what remains to pack
needs only the space
between her ears
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.
Here's Mary's delightful response, "Done with moving: Relaxing":
© Mary Hill, all rights reserved.
Consider taking part in the next quarterly Spark round--I know many Poetry Friday peeps are writers or illustrators.
Elizabeth Steinglass is hosting today's Poetry Friday Round-Up. Be sure to stop by!
December 4, 2018
Haiku Sticky #481
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.
Text:
lunch with co-workers
...round table discussion
of crab Rangoon
December 2, 2018
Not-So-Happy Haiga Day
I was never a fan of the Bush presidencies, but I did appreciate that George H. W. Bush was a caring man. The tributes that have come out since his death Friday night, have only served to reinforce that. Surprisingly, news about our current leader took a back seat for a time. (A blessed respite, but too short.)
The following cherita is, unfortunately, more of an rant against he-whose-name-shall-not-be-spoken, than a tribute to a late president. It stands as an example of how my poetry has been tainted. I am sick of the bitterness--make that hatred--that he-whose-name-blah-blah-blah has brought into my life.
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.
Text:
"...what the hell was that by the way?"
the contrast so clearly
drawn by a death
it's the soulless that fail
to understand the meaning of
a thousand points of light
The first line is from a July 2018 political rally (only a few months after Barbara Bush's death, I might add). Here's the full quote:
The following cherita is, unfortunately, more of an rant against he-whose-name-shall-not-be-spoken, than a tribute to a late president. It stands as an example of how my poetry has been tainted. I am sick of the bitterness--make that hatred--that he-whose-name-blah-blah-blah has brought into my life.
© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.
Text:
"...what the hell was that by the way?"
the contrast so clearly
drawn by a death
it's the soulless that fail
to understand the meaning of
a thousand points of light
The first line is from a July 2018 political rally (only a few months after Barbara Bush's death, I might add). Here's the full quote:
The thousand points of light, what the hell was that by the way? Thousand points of light, what did that mean, does anyone know? I know one thing, Make America Great Again we understand. Putting America first, we understand. Thousand points of light, I never quite got that one. What the hell is that? Has anyone ever figured that one out? And it was put out by a Republican, wasn’t it?