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