behind the layers ~ haibun

February 17, 2018August 5, 2019 / Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr / 23 Comments

behind the layers.jpg

behind the layers

In the United States, we have had no leaders without flaws, but many have had virtues that command respect. In February, two of those who deserve our respect, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, are recognized with holidays on their birthdays. Washington’s Birthday has come to be known as Presidents’ Day, a day on which to honor all Presidents, both past and present. Our national flower is the rose, and it’s fitting to think of it, the depth of its many layers, when considering the character of those men on Presidents’ Day. It’s ironic that this thought comes to me at a time when we have a man who brings nothing but disgrace to the office. This rose does not smell so sweet.

behind the layers
discerning integrity
character within

Frank Tassone’s #Haikai Challenge #21: Rose asks us to use the kigo “rose” as a symbol for Presidents’ Day.
Image: Rose (wikimedia.org) layered over Mount Rushmore (worldatlas.com)

ever growing depth ~ haibun

February 17, 2018August 5, 2019 / Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr / 22 Comments

ever growing depth

ever growing depth

From the beginning, I could have sworn our love was like a rose in full bloom. But, as the years pass, I find that layers exist, like petals opening further to reveal a depth that draws me in ever further.

ever growing depth
within layers of beauty
forever blooming

This haibun in no way meets Frank Tassone’s Haikai Challenge for this week, to use the kigo “rose” as a symbol for Presidents’ Day, but I’ll admit it was the first thing that came to mind when I thought of “rose.”

drinking in the rain

July 26, 2016July 26, 2016 / Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr / 8 Comments

faces upturned
smiling
young and old
hands cupped, filling
one drop at at time
drinking in the rain

and we laugh
mimicking the rose

face upturned
petals spread wide
always young
gathering drops
one at a time
drinking in the rain

celebrating life

The five word prompts for The Secret Keeper’s Weekly Writing Prompt #47, are young, rain, laugh, rose and hand.

Image source: desktopnexus.com

A New Year Begins – tan renga

May 29, 2016 / Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr / 3 Comments

A New Year Brgins

A new year begins
With the blooming
Of a single frosty rose
(Mizuhara Shuoshi)

swallow’s song greets the new dawn
memory of snow soon fades

This is my response to Carpe Diem Tan Renga Challenge Month May 29th, write two lines to follow a given hokku, essentially creating a tanka. The original haiku is by Japanese poet Mizuhara Shuoshi (1892-1981).

Image source: wallpaperscraft.com

A Single Rose

February 3, 2016February 3, 2016 / Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr / 7 Comments

A single rose, its meaning hidden,
A farewell gift, or sign of love.
A pledge perhaps, of love forbidden,
A single rose, its meaning hidden.
A trace of doubt has come, unbidden,
To ponder on its weight thereof.
A single rose, its meaning hidden,
A farewell gift, or sign of love?

My response to Jane Dougherty’s Poetry Challenge #16: Triolet uses her suggested image. It is my first triolet.
Triolet ~ a stanza poem with the rhyme scheme of ABaAabAB. (The capitals denote repeated lines.) Two classic examples of triolet are Thomas Hardy’s Birds at Winter Nightfall and How Great My Grief.