Happy Haiga Day!

 

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. 

Text:

vacation at the bungalow

we played card games
with stale chips as chips

most days, though,
were spent with noses
pressed against cold glass

Happy Haiga Day!

 

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. 

Text:

the friend 

not made today 

...summer rain

Haiku Sticky #601

 

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. 

Text:

two huge thunderclaps
the next morning wondering
if it was a dream

Happy Haiga Day!

 

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. 

Text:

We Americans
have no need
of pyrotechnics
to make a bang.

The implosion of
our democracy is
a spectacle visible
to all the world.

Haiku Sticky #600

 

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. 

Text:

third day near 100
all rational thoughts
sweated away

Happy Haiga Day!

 

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.  Image: U.S. Department of Agriculture Pomological Watercolor Collection. Rare and Special Collections, National Agricultural Library, Beltsville, MD 20705 

Text:

Produce Section

Oh, the urge to stop and smell
a peach (and give it a squeeze).
You've been disappointed
in Junes past, so you settle for
one more pint of strawberries.

August you'll be tired of peaches,
but not yet ready for a hard pear.

Six months from now you'll accept
anything approaching ripeness.

Haiku Sticky #599

 

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. 

Text:

distant thunder
the chatter between crows
continues

Happy Haiga Day!

A few weeks ago, in a post Covid gathering, there was a discussion of the proposed Juneteenth federal holiday.  At least one person spoke up to say she had never heard of Juneteenth.  If you, too, were unfamiliar with the holiday and want to learn more than has been presented in media snippets over the past week, start with this post from the Library of Congress.

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. 

Text:

Juneteenth

"how come I never
learned that in school?"

American minds may
yet be emancipated by
a proclamation of truth

Haiku Sticky #598

 

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Text: 

 

Lunch, June 2021

Reunion of old friends
after the pandemic.
Same old, same old
never more welcomed.

Happy Haiga Day!

 

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.  Image:  U.S. Department of Agriculture Pomological Watercolor Collection. Rare and Special Collections, National Agricultural Library, Beltsville, MD 20705.

Text:

June strawberries
freshly plucked the scent
as heady as the taste

Haiku Sticky #597

 © Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Text:

temperature in the 90s

spider runs up and down
the kitchen wall

where it finds the energy
I don't know, but I can't
stop watching it in awe
 

Happy Haiga Day!

 © Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.  "Three Pears" by Paul Cézanne.

Text:

early June

the pear tree interlaced
with walnut-sized fruit

come September after
birds and squirrels feast
we'll be lucky to find three

Haiku Sticky #596

 

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Text:

it's been a year since
democracy took a direct
hit of tear gas

the devil waved a bible
with a look of defiance

who is left to pray

 

Happy Haiga Day!

 

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

 

Text:

bird, tree frog, chipmunk
each with its own audience
plus me

Haiku Sticky #595

 

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Text:

Sunday drive...

a Deer Run Road in all

the small towns

Happy Haiga Day!

 

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Text:

pandemic spring
seeing coronavirus
everywhere

Haiku Sticky #594

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Text:

the ending leaves
her weeping in the driveway
--audiobook

Happy Haiga Day!

 

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Text:

no memory
of the "before time"

Saturday trip to
Home Depot supersizes
his world

two-year-old

Haiku Sticky #593

What's really sad is that "the other guy" seems to have cloned himself and is now living with several democracy destroying room-mates. 

 

 

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Text:

three plus months gone by

"he-who-shall-not-be-named"
now with the sobriquet
"the other guy" and

still living rent-free
in our heads

Happy Haiga Day!

 

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Text: 

is there a difference
between purple and violet?

and does the late
Artist plant earworms
in your head, too?

...pandemic continues

Haiku Sticky #592

 

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Text:

first lilac sighting
an overwhelming urge
to rip off my mask

Happy Haiga Day!

I decided it was high time I set up a label titled "pandemic."  Today's post will be labeled as such, and I'll go back over the past year and add the rest.  It may take a few days.

 

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Text:

 

her highest single
word score ever

regrettably played
against an opponent
named "Practice"

pandemic year

Ekphrastic April, Day 30: "Two Sleeping Cats"

I'm going to end my 4th annual National Poetry Month series of ekphrastic cherita with a cat painting  by Wanda Gág, author and illustrator of one of my favorite picture books, Millions of Cats.

"Two Sleeping Cats" (1928) by Wanda Gág [1893-1946].

a pat of butter melting
on a slice of hot toast

a sleeping cat

a Saturday morning 

with a cup of coffee 

and nowhere else to be

 

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Ekphrastic April, Day 29: "[Black and white, an informal portrait of a young Negro woman surrounded by laundry in Newport, R.I.]"

 

"[Black and white, an informal portrait of a young Negro woman surrounded by laundry in Newport, R.I.]" (1903) by Gertrude Käsebier [1852-1934].

 

an artist has the freedom
to play with perspective
to show things in new ways

we notice, then wonder
what else we've missed...

...let's go play!

  

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Ekphrastic April, Day 28: "Shorty"

 

"Shorty" by Ada May Plante [1875-1950]. 

the ability to dream
with eyes wide open

to be transported
great distances from words
best left unheard

is an admirable trait

 

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Ekphrastic April, Day 27: "A Knock at the Door"

 

"A Knock at the Door" (1897) by Laura Theresa Alma-Tadema [1852-1909].

 

my child, he is here

take a deep breath,
another...and one more
check your hair, your dress

slow down, give him
the time to breathe, too

 

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Ekphrastic April, Day 26: "Les Tricoteuses"

 

"Les Tricoteuses" 1915 by Jacqueline Marval [1866-1932] 

I am a cat

and cannot control
my innate impulses

humans knit in front
of me as if they expect
I won't go for the kill

 

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Ekphrastic April, Day 25: "The Milliner"

 

"The Milliner" (circa 1877) by Eva Gonzalès [1849-1883].

a palette of ribbons
and silk flowers

her use of color is flawless

I do draw the line at
feathers--my adornment
is not worth a song

 

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Ekphrastic April, Day 24: "Flora"

 

"Flora" (1913) by Louise Abbéma [1853-1927].

 

I am housemaid to an artist

portrait sitters are prim--
no clean up required

those who partake in a
tableau vivant vex me with
drama (and flower petals)

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Ekphrastic April, Day 23: "Bermuda Scene"

 

"Bermuda Scene" by Mariquita Gill [1861 - 1915].

 

the house is painted white
against the blazing sun

the reflected yellow
repaints the blue sky
a nauseating green

to match my disposition

 

 © Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Ekphrastic April, April 22: "Glacier et Aiguille du Tour..."

 "Glacier et Aiguille du Tour, Mer de la Table au Chantre (Buet)" by Georgette Agutte [1867-1922].

 

she painted a glacier
more than 100 years ago

never realizing she was
providing us with evidence
that nature can be destroyed

while art remains

 

 © Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Ekphrastic April, Day 21: "Self-portrait with Green Background and Blue Irises"

 

"Self-portrait with Green Background and Blue Irises" (circa 1905) by Paula Modersohn-Becker [1876-1907].

 

portrait with green background

in 1905 she thought she'd
have many more irises to paint

but death hid grinning in
the foliage--he knew she
had only two springs more

 

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Ekphrastic April, Day 20: "Edge of Abruzzi; Boat with Three People on a Lake"

 

"Edge of Abruzzi; Boat with Three People on a Lake" (1924) by Winifred Knights [1899-1947].

 

knowing that nothing
exists beyond what is
seen on the canvas

these two dimensions

possess a magic that makes
me believe I can climb in

 

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Ekphrastic April, Day 19: "Chez Moi"

 

"Chez Moi" (1887) by Harriet Backer [1845-1932].

 

my room full of sunlight

when I, too, am sunny
I close the door to play

and sing a dance hall ditty
before settling down to
more interminable practice

 

 © Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Ekphrastic April, Day 18: "Achill Horses"

 

"Achill Horses" (1941) by Mainie Jellett [1897-1944].

I have seen the white horse
on the high cliff this morning
 
luck should be mine today

but what to make of
the babe in the cradle
already afloat on the sea?

 

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Ekphrastic April, Day 17: "Afterglow"

 

"Afterglow" (1914) by Florence H. McGillivray [1864–1938].

 

when the sun seems
to breathe its last

there is an afterglow

and fantastical words--
crepuscular, vespertine--
describe its creatures

 

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Ekphrastic April, Day 16: "At the Dressing Table"

 

"At the Dressing Table. Self-Portrait" (1909) by Zinaida Serebriakova [1884-1967].

 

whites and tints
highlight the triangle

of terracotta and
auburn with her face
at its apex

she lives her art

 

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

 

 

Ekphrastic April, Day 15: "Blooming Apple-trees. The Trees are in Blossom"

 

"Blooming apple-trees. The trees are in blossom" (1899) by Maria Yakunchikova [1870-1902].

apple trees in bloom

spring, albeit briefly,
perfumes the air

in a few months the scent
of over-ripe apples will
languish through autumn

 

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Ekphrastic April, Day 14: "Lady Affixing Pennant to a Knight's Spear"

Today's artist is more famous as being the model for others' work.  Perhaps most recognizable is the portrayal of her as "Ophelia" by John Everett Millais.  Her husband, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, was a well-known poet and artist, so I imagine it may have been a struggle to get herself recognized as a poet and artist, too.  Read a fascinating BBC article here.

 

 "Lady Affixing Pennant to a Knight's Spear" by Elizabeth Eleanor Siddal [1829-1862].

 

sidestep the vicissitudes
of physical beauty

dare to become
a person of artistic
accomplishments

the impossibilities, endless

 

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. 

Ekphrastic April, Day 13: "The Tiff"

 

"The Tiff" (c. 1902) by Florence Carlyle [1864-1923].

 

I do not mind sulking

it gives us both the time
to think--him about
the unkind thing he said

me about the apologetic
kisses he will soon offer

 

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. 

 

Ekphrastic April, Day 12: "Bathing Baby"

 

"Bathing Baby" by Elanor Colburn [1866-1939].

 

if only she would sit
in the water without
that sodden rabbit

bathing baby

requires patience

and many many towels

 

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. 

Ekphrastic April, Day 11: "Skaters"

 

"Skaters" by Marianne von Werefkin [1860-1938].

 

ice skating

at night I think of myself
as a dark presence flying

over the ice snatching
bits of private conversations
like a bat catches mosquitoes

 

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

 

 

Ekphrastic April, Day 10: "In a Boat"

 

"In a Boat" (1907) by Lilla Cabot Perry [1848-1933].

 

they mock me for my views
of the modern woman
 
I will shush them by
taking up the oars to paddle
myself across the lake

...I keep going nowhere

 

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. 

 

 

Ekphrastic April, Day 9: "Poor Cupid, or Love Ensnared."

Please read this Smithsonian post about sculptor, Edmonia Lewis.  As an American woman artist she faced many hurdles.  As a woman of color, she faced even more.  After growing up in the US, it's no wonder she decided to move to Europe.  

 

"Poor Cupid, or Love Ensnared" (c. 1872-1876) by Edmonia Lewis [c. 1843-1879].

I sculpt the myths

of men in marble

cold and white

they resemble their

viewers--white and blind

 

never free

 

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.   

Ekphrastic April, Day 8: "A Summer Shower"

 

 

 "A Summer Shower" (1883) by Edith Hayllar [1860-1948].

 

a summer shower
a blessed respite

from badminton

and the sty stink
emanating from those
who are playing it 

 

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Ekphrastic April, Day 7: "Self-Portrait in Purple Velvet"

 

 "Self-Portrait in Purple Velvet" by Mary Bradish Titcomb [1858-1927].

 

 
self portrait

you think you know me
--an old maid in purple

I may dress the part, but
under no man's thumb I can
wander, paint, and BE me

 

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.  

Ekphrastic April, Day 6: "Bird's Nest in Cattails"

 

"Bird's Nest in Cattails" (1875) by Fidelia Bridges [1834-1923].

 

spring heralded by
red-winged blackbirds

co-ka keeeeeeee

nests in the cattails rock
hatchlings to the rhythm
co-ka keeeeeeee

 

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.  

Ekphrastic April, Day 5: "Les volets clos"

 

 "Les volets clos" (c. 1900) by Elizabeth Nourse [1859-1938].  The title translates into English as "The Closed Shutters."

 

shutters closed

decorum is simply
a part of growing old

that's what I tell myself
as I look for new ways
to conceal age's effects

 

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Ekphrastic April, Day 4: "The Boston Sunday Herald: Easter"

 "The Boston Sunday Herald: Easter" (1895) by Ethel Reed [1874-1912] 

 

a happy Easter!

 

just 21 years of age
and making a living

my bills are being
posted around Boston
--the world is next

 

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

 

Ethel Reed quickly became an illustrator of note in the mid-1890s.  She created posters (then known as handbills or bills), book covers, and illustrations.  She had turned 21 on March 13, 1895 and Easter was on April 14 that year.  Sadly, she passed away in 1912.

Ekphrastic April, Day 3: "Peace Monument and U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C."

I don't believe I've used a photograph in my prior three years of Ekphrastic April posts.  Nor have I included living artists since I only use works in the public domain, but, after yesterday's incident at the US Capitol, I'm using a photograph by a living woman!  Carol M. Highsmith has donated her work to the Library of Congress and has designated them in the public domain.  The photo I selected, "Peace Monument and U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C." is reflective of April 2021 when once again we weep and wish for peace.

 

"Peace Monument and U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C." (between 1980 and 2006) by Carol M. Highsmith [1946-].

 

this year of debility

many misguided souls
see the people's house
as a fortress to be scaled

we trust it will not crumble
under the weight of fear

 

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.