My streams of thought meet here
Here are a few more verses I was inspired to write in haste Monday morning, polished now:
sedum leaves
no hope in my carpet
chubby little waifs
so many books
sampled for flavour
used book deli
the cat wants out
wants in wants out wants in
teens in love
who sees these
delicate white blossoms
weeds underfoot
In yesterday’s post I mentioned an old Japanese haiku legend about the haikai master, Saikaku: he supposedly composed 23,500 verses in 24 hours. So I compose an hour’s worth of verses myself. Here are a few “looking out my window” haiku:
in my garden
an unwanted rooter
pig weed
north wind this morning
the scarecrow sheds his flowered shirt
for a white pullover
two dozen sparrows
cling to the caraganas
ornamental visitors
white mountains tremble
fall before the conquerors
rays of spring sun
Hello, faithful readers! And welcome to all my new subscribers.
Yes, I have returned to blog another day. For the past two weeks I’ve been like a child exploring a candy store, poking into this case and that, sampling this and that. (Actually I’ve been cleaning out closets, reading, drawing, painting.) Now it’s time to settle down and re-establish the old routine before I completely lose touch. I have some serious things I’d like to write about, but I’ll start by opening a window on our world.
It’s definitely spring in our land. Canada geese are flying over; returning small birds are adding their sweeter notes to the house sparrows’ chirps. We’re seeing a lot of bare ground and our yard, for all our heaps of snow, didn’t turn into a quagmire. Last fall was dry enough that now the snow is soaking straight into the soil without much runoff. We still have heaps of snow in the back yard, but the highest banks through the garden are now not much more than a metre or four feet high — and shrinking back every day. Our cats are delighted to explore the snow-free yard and fields.
This morning I was reading a book of ancient haiku verses, with brief bios of the writers. One of these was Saikaku, a haikai master in old Japan. There’s a legend that this poet once wrote 23,500 verses in one day — which would be almost 1000 per hour! Can it be? Even in Japanese, where one curved pen-stoke might be a word, that’s still an amazing feat, if it’s true. Just for fun I tried to see how many (sensible) haiku I could write in an hour — turning the beauties of our land into poetry — and came up with a dozen. Not to say they’re all poignant and full of meaning, mind you, but it was a fun challenge. I’ll post them in the coming days.
While I was doing this, Bob went for his first immunization shot. My turn comes up March 31st. This morning we read the statistic that to date here in Canada over 90% of the deaths from COVID-19 were among those 65 and over — about like one would imagine. Even at that, most Canadians who’ve gotten it have recovered, thankfully. Precautions and restrictions have done a lot to prevent the spread.
Enough rambling for this time. I hope your world is looking brighter in 2021 than it did last year.
papa opens the door
mama peers out the window
not home yet?
This was us last night.
The weather has turned mild and our little Tuffy is discovering delights in the great outdoors. Intrepid adventurer, but does he understand the dangers? Is he wary of swooping owls? Prowling coyotes & foxes? Potential pitfalls in the woods?
I was preparing supper at the Villa when he went out in the afternoon. He hadn’t come back yet when I got home at 9pm. Nor at at 10pm, nor 11pm. I stayed up to read, checking the decks again at midnight. No sign. Checked again at 12:20 — and there he was at the front door, none the worse for the wear. I cuddled him a bit, then I could go to bed and rest in peace. 🙂
He’s off exploring again the morning. The world is such an intriguing place!
Tuffy’s just a kitten — actually almost grown, so about “teenager” stage now. But this episode gave me a tiny taste of the worries parents feel when their young know-it-all, “I can take care of myself” teens stay out until the wee hours. So many evil lurk! So many dangers we’ve sheltered them from, and they have not yet built secure defenses against these!
Last night I found rest in the knowledge that God knows, that He sees every one of his creatures. Even when the little sparrow falls, He sees it, the Bible says. With his help there will be a way through the consequences: this is “the peace that passeth all understanding” that can steady our hearts and minds.
You know you can’t hold teenagers under your wing all the time or they’ll rebel. But how hard must it be to shut the door, go to bed, and trust that whatever happens, you’ll make it through. To trust that if you can’t walk through it your Father will carry you.
Whatever the reason, if you’re stressed about the future and what all might happen, I hope you can find hope in this verse:
Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
I Peter 5:6-7
pair of crows
light among the blackbird nests
a dark sobriety
Word of the Day Challenge: SOBRIETY
warm sunshine
melting the icicles
sparrows shower
