Happy Haiga Day!

Sometimes it's just fun to have a snow day and not worry about the driveway or the commute or the prediction of more to come...

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. Photo of 1922 blizzard courtesy Library of Congress.

Poetry Friday--Remembering

Last Sunday, we had to put down our little cat Smudgie. She was 19 years old, and had, until the past week, still looked like a kitten. But 19 is a long life for a cat, so I won't spend a lot of time mourning. I'd rather remember, and will do so with some haiga I've put together over the years.

This one, was written for her last summer, but she is not the cat in the photograph:

Original photo by Arnold Genthe, courtesy Library of Congress.

This is Smudgie (on the left) with Skippy (now 6 years old):

A holiday haiga. And perfect for this week!

Winter--our least favorite time of year. Especially this year. Poor skinny little Smudgie sat so close to the radiator I was afraid she would burst into flame!

Smudgie was known to take a lick of the sugar on a Peep:

Celebrating our favorite time of year--spring, and our favorite fragrant flower--hyacinth.

I have many more cat haiga, but they're mostly photos of Skippy, who never shuts her eyes when having her picture taken! Smudgie will be missed. Life goes on.

And so does Poetry Friday. You can see all the other poetry posts gathered by Cathy at Merely Day by Day.

All haiga © Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Haiku Sticky #292

Enough with the snow already!

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Happy Haiga Day!

This one is for today's Sound Poem Project assignment. The sound clip is of waves, which put me in mind of the feeling of disorientation one feels when standing on the beach and a wave recedes. Laura Shovan is the originator of the project and you can find out more about it here.

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. The original photo is by Carol M. Highsmith, courtesy Library of Congress; it has been cropped and edited by me.

Poetry Friday--Sound Poem Project

If you haven't yet read about Laura Shovan's "Sound Poem Project," stop reading this and head over to Author Amok to learn what it's all about.

I didn't think sound would stimulate me to write as much as the colors of last year's "Pantone Poem Project" did, but I was clearly wrong! I've written poems for all this week's posted sounds and I'm ready to get started on more!

The first sound that we were asked to write about is that of a waterwheel. I live near Lowell, MA and I've walked its streets absorbing the mill history. Access to water-power was the reason Lowell was developed into a mill city. I've also written a series of poems about child labor. This sound poem, or, one long run-on sentence, depending on your point of view, is a result of these connections:

Click on the image to enlarge for easier reading. © Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. Cartoon by Winsor McCay [ca. 1913], courtesy Library of Congress. Teacup courtesy The Graphics Fairy.

I went to the Library of Congress National Child Labor Committee Collection, put in "waterwheel" as a search term and the cartoon popped up. From there it was easy to think how to illustrate the poem!

You may notice that the poem above differs slightly from the one I sent to Laura to post. I've been thinking that I may use the poem in my Sketchbook Project, but if so, I knew I needed to rewrite it slightly so that it is told in present tense. It will fit in better with the other poems.

The poem below is for the second day's sound, angel chimes, in Swedish, Änglaspel. The tinkling of bells and the heat from the candles, put me in mind of a major ice storm we had in December 2008. Once the sun came out, the ice started to fall off and everything literally glowed. The photo is from one of the pictures I took after the storm.

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

It's ironic that a winter storm, the second in a week, kept me out of work on Monday and allowed me to illustrate both of today's poems.

Last year, in the Pantone Poem Project, I submitted enough poems to be the winner of a Pantone Colors journal! At the risk of sounding inordinately self-assured, I wanted to let you know that I have taken my name out of the running for this year's project prize. Everyone get writing and send those poems to Laura--you might win a spoken word CD from Gargoyle literary magazine!

I'm heading over to visit Elizabeth Steinglass for the Poetry Friday Round-Up where there's bound to be a blizzard of poetry!

Haiku Sticky #291

Does anyone under the age of 50 still remember mothballs (camphor)? I do. Some older friends do, too.

We actually use them at the bottom of the Library's outdoor bookdrop to discourage mice from coming in, but it wasn't easy to find mothballs for sale! (In the past we have had mice get in and do some intense book chewing during the overnight hours!)

This has been a week for wet wool, fleece, synthetics, or anything you wear in the snow!

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.

Happy Haiga Day!

After Tuesday's storm I shoveled a path from the front door to the driveway. I would estimate we had at least two feet of snow, with drifts way higher. Fortunately the snow was light and fluffy. I've had worse times shoveling 2 inches of wet, heavy stuff.

Strangely, I didn't see any of the many sparrows or chickadees that generally hang around. I did see a robin (poor thing should have migrated), a mockingbird, a mourning dove, and a woodpecker (I think it may have been a red-bellied woodpecker).

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved.