cooler nights
shadows grow longer
oak turning
This haiku is my response to Frank Tassone’s #Haikai
Challenge #157: Autumn Equino
Author: rivrvlogr
Blackbird Rising
Blackbird Rising
Lens framing the rising sun,
I turn at the sound of a trill
Red-wing clings to tall grass,
wary of my presence
Greeted by a stunning image
in the glow of morning’s light
My lens pivots to capture
the beauty of a perfect pose
Framing and focus seem
only a matter of seconds
Avian patience exhausted
its wings are lost in the rising sun
This poem is a re-imagining of Consolation, a poem I posted here
for NaPoWriMo 2015, before I had many followers.
Shared with Open Link Night at dVerse~ Poets Pub
Images
Top: Chris Engel / Pixabay
Bottom: David P. Whelan / Morguefile
Branches Weary ~ nonet
Branches Weary
Broken shadows across the cracked ground
Season’s burden, branches weary
Tired shade already turning
As each day grows shorter
September arrives
A life well-lived
Finally
Winding
Down
This nonet is my response to Poetics: 9 across for a count down,
the prompt from Laura at dVerse ~ Poets Pub, which is to write
a nonet starting with one of four given lines from poems about September.
The line I have chosen, “Broken shadows across the cracked ground,”
is from To the Light of September, by W. S. Merwin.
Moonlit Dreams ~ prosery
Moonlit Dreams
My parents experienced difficult times in their final days, and it was easy to see they were most at peace when they were asleep. At the time, I truly believed: In their dreams, they sleep with the moon.
The loss of both came far too early. My father’s early retirement due to health concerns meant that, rather than winding down to retirement, he was left with troubled years that ended well before he could reach true retirement age. I know my mother pined for him for the next fifteen years. As her own health failed, and with it her memory, I imagined that, in her dreams, he would return to her on a moonlit night.
These days, in my own dreams, they never sleep. I trust they would want their time together to be waking moments. Even in dreams, each moment is truly precious.
This bit of flash fiction is my response to Prosery Monday: Moonbeams and Moon Dreams, presented by Merril at dVerse ~ Poets Pub. With Prosery, the challenge is to write a piece of flash fiction with a 144-word limit. Included in the bit of prose is to be a complete line from a poem. My flash fiction also meets the additional challenge of hitting the 144-word mark, exactly.
For this prompt, the line to be included is from “Death at Wind River,” by Mary Oliver. (the complete poem can be found here)
“In their dreams
they sleep with the moon.”
– Mary Oliver
Re-Crossing Rivers
The original ~ the second poem I posted here at WordPress, 02 April 2014:
Crossing Rivers
late March
under a cloudy sky
bundled in my mother’s arms
feeling the roar
of the mighty falls
early morning light
on the bank of the river
waters calm
my father’s float
drifting in the current,
bobbing with each tiny bite
weightless, beneath the surface
sunlight diffused at depth
freedom imagined
with each breath drawn
at the mercy of the current
beside those awe-inspiring falls
camera in hand
capturing images
of the towering, deafening roar
hiking in the gorge
below those mighty falls
recording water so blue
pounding, rushing past,
until, at last,
flowing into the lake,
past it’s glass-pebbled shore
a bridge of light
impressive in the night
fading, receding
in my rearview mirror
the river vivid, still,
in memory
another river crossed
highway of the heartland
massive in its breadth,
nearing a new life
on new waters
kayaking along the Big Muddy
and the murky rivers feeding it
eagles overhead
small consolation
for the blue grandeur of Niagara
My revision:
Crossing Rivers
beneath a March sky
bundled in my mother’s arms
feeling the thunder
of the mighty cataract
dawn’s light on the river’s shore
my float beside my father’s
drifts in the current, bobbing
with each nibble
sunlight diffused at depth
weightless, suspended
freedom in each breath
bubbles cradled by the current
beside those towering falls
camera in my hand
captures the light
held by the deafening roar
hikes within the gorge
below that cataract
recording water so blue
pounding, rushing
flowing to the lake,
and it’s glass-pebbled shore
a bridge of light fading
in the night as it recedes
in my rearview mirror
the river still vivid
in memory
another river crossed
highway of the heartland
massive in its breadth,
a new life approaches
a kayak floats on the Big Muddy
and the murky rivers feeding it
eagles overhead little consolation
for Niagara’s blue grandeur
This is my response to MTB, Write like a dog, edit like a cat…,
the prompt from Peter Frankis at dVerse ~ Poets Pub.
“Uncanny” is not my style, but perhaps this is more memorable.
The “bridge of light” referenced in the poem, left behind when I moved from New York
to Missouri, is the Peace Bridge, an international bridge connecting Buffalo, New York,
and Fort Erie, Ontario, the same bridge that appears at the top of my page.
Ken
This Is the Life ~ limerick
This Is the Life
Locks shorn in my late twenties,
worn that way till I retired,
I thought about letting them grow,
knowing I wanted a ponytail
but not wanting to wash the dust
of loading docks and freight yards
out of it every night. Then came the day.
No work and all play, and my hair
was here to stay. But I wasn’t.
Behind the wheel of one more truck,
filled with what was left of my life,
I drove cross-country to be with she
who would, one day, be my wife.
Her fingers run through my hair,
and I know I have found happiness.
This is my response to Come and take a selfie! – the prompt from Sarah at dVerse ~ Poets Pub, which is to write a poem about ourselves. For a bonus, here’s a limerick:
There once was a scuba diver
Who worked hard as a truck driver
But then he retired
And now he’s inspired
His poetry is to die for *
* poetic license 😉
Photos: “”The Move” ~ 2012
Poem Featured at Amethyst Review
My haibun, “The Beat of Wings,” is featured at Amethyst Review. I’d like to thank editor Sarah Law for offering a home for this poem.
Ken G.
Image: Great Blur Heron in flight (video screenshot), taken 04 September 2020
no hiding ~ haiku
no hiding
in water lilies
green heron
This haiku is my response to Colleen’s 2019 Weekly #Tanka Tuesday
#Poetry Challenge No. 193 #Poet’sChoice.
Photos: green heron, Missouri, 04 September 2020
(Click both images for larger view in new tab.)
Ideal Inspiration
Ideal Inspiration Blogger Award
I’ve been nominated for the Ideal Inspiration Blogger Award by Bacardi Gold.
The award includes five questions, which I’ll answer here.
- Is it important to be inspired when you write an article ? Why? and Why not?
- Why do you think you deserve to be nominated for this award?
- Do you need music to be on the background when you write? If so, what type of music do you listen to?
- Is it proper to nominate a friend-on-line for this award? Give a reason.
- Are you happy to be on the list of nominees? Why?
~~~~~
-
- The majority of my blog is poetry, and all of it is inspired in some way. Most often, that poetry is my response to something I’ve known or experienced, or a response to something in the news. I’ll have frequent dry spells, so I often reply to prompts from other bloggers. I’m also inspired by the poetry of other bloggers.
- I shy away from rewards, so I’m not the best one to answer that.
- I need quiet. Music can be too much of a distraction for me. Anything with lyrics definitely is a distraction. So, if I listen at all when I’m writing, it’s instrumental jazz.
- I don’t always respond to blog awards, and, when I do I don’t usually forward them. I guess you could say this is a “reward-free blog.” I just haven’t posted any kind of badge.
- It’s nice to know that I’ve inspired another blogger. That’s reward enough.
~~~~~
There are “Rules” for the award that include adding nominations with new questions, but as I indicated above, I won’t be forwarding this. I do appreciate the recognition I’ve received from Bacardi Gold, so, thank you.
I’m headed out to go kayaking. Hopefully, that will provide inspiration to write.
Serenity’s End ~ #writephoto
Serenity’s End
The heartache of our final moment shared,
at a distance greater with each passing second,
cannot be denied. You, nearing the horizon,
on a sea of sadness as I watch under a gray sky
bluer than any we have known together.
This is my response to Thursday Photo Prompt: Serenity #writephoto,
from Sue Vincent’s Daily Echo, with her photo.
Also shared with Open Link Night #273 at dVerse ~ Poets Pub.
