sorrow

A Matter of Perspective ~ haibun

/ Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr / 14 Comments

A Matter of Perspective

Our planet may still look like a blue marble from space, but the true story is found on the surface. There are no hidden secrets here. The disrespect for Mother Earth is laid bare for all to see. Forests are razed for industry. Air and water pollution may seem on the decline, but to say that it will ever end is denying the truth. We are destroying our planet. Every day should be Earth Day.

her hidden beauty
a matter of perspective
when you know the truth

This is my response to Haibun Monday 4/22/24: Earth Day,
the prompt from Frank Tassone at dVerse ~ Poets Pub.

Off prompt for Day 22 of National/Global Poetry Writing Month at napowrimo.net.

Image source: nasa.gov – Earth seen from a million miles away
by the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite

Once Blue, Always

/ Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr / 2 Comments

Once Blue, Always

Nothing deeper.
Nothing bluer.
No river or lake.
No ocean could hold
the grief that filled his heart,
his soul, his very being.
The blues will consume,
and he was. The pain
might lessen over time,
but some part of him
would always know the blues.

This is my response to Day 21 of National/Global Poetry Writing Month at napowrimo.net, where we are asked to write a poem that repeats or focuses on a single color.

One Last Move ~ haibun

/ Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr / 23 Comments

One Last Move

There are some who spend years, decades, perhaps their entire lives, within an area or region. If they move it’s across town or to another town in the same metro area, and everything is always familiar. Some may see that as boring. It may be that they can’t count on two hands the many places they have lived.

Jennie was one who knew that kind of life. Much of her childhood, and even into early adulthood, was spent moving from town to town, from state to state. But she finally found her place to settle down, a place she knew from early childhood, Wyoming. Living on the edge of the high plains with a view of Casper Mountain in the distance, down a gravel road that passed many other small ranches, she was perfectly happy with an existence that meant she often had to fend for herself, make her own repairs, and be content with the horses she trained on her land.

Those days of moving from place to place long behind her, Jennie’s last days were in the place she called home. Tomorrow, we’re making one last trip to Casper for one final move, to take the last of her belongings so that someone else can make it their home.

unfamiliar cars
mule deer pauses by fence post
wind blows through dry grass

This is my response to Haibun Monday 7-31-23: Moving,
the prompt from Frank Tassone at dVerse ~ Poets Pub.

Fragile Resilience

/ Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr / 19 Comments

 

Fragile Resilience
                    (for Jennie)

You stood for so long,
buffeted by a Wyoming wind,
no desire to be put out to pasture,
yet wounded in a way
that would wear down any soul.

Hearts and hands
extended by those who care
went unanswered,
independence your mantra
and your wounds now ours.

I’ve been away for the past week attending to family matters, but I should be back home by the end of the month. Meanwhile, I get to experience a Wyoming winter.

 

Hidden Gift ~ sijo

/ Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr / 21 Comments

Hidden Gift

Recent years remind me
       of the sorrow December can hold.

But with the loss experienced
       comes a most welcome gift.

Memories held in fondness
       temper the sorrow that brings them forth.

This is my response to Ronovan Writes Sijo Wednesday Challenge #41: Gift.

Sijo (a Korean verse form related to haiku and tanka)
~ three lines of 14-16 syllables each
~ a total of 44-46 syllables
~ a pause near the middle of each line
~ first half of the line contains six to nine syllables
~ the second half should contain no fewer than five
Originally intended as songs, sijo can treat romantic, metaphysical, or spiritual themes. Whatever the subject, the first line introduces an idea or story, the second supplies a “turn,” and the third provides closure.
Modern Sijo are sometimes printed in six lines.
Read more here: Wikipedia

to honor another, lost ~ gogyohka & senryū

/ Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr / 14 Comments

 

roads to travel
to honor another, lost
December’s dark days
once again conspire
to deliver sorrow

I’ll be traveling this week, so I’ll be absent from WordPress, but I should be home by Friday. I’m leaving now, Monday morning, to drive to Buffalo to attend the funeral of the mother of a dear friend I have known since childhood.

batter dropped in oil
much more than simple donut
brings sweet memories

 

If Only

/ Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr / 16 Comments

If Only

No, I will not grieve
for loved ones lost.
Sorrow that follows
their passing will bow
to celebration for life
and moments shared.
So I tell myself, yet
grief refuses to yield,
despite the celebration.

This my response to No! Vember, the prompt form Sarah at dVerse ~ Poets Pub.

Out of Reach

/ Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr / 36 Comments

Out of Reach

Words come,
go, whether I stop
to think about the pain
or drive it from my mind.
Never really gone,
it rises when I fall victim
to regret, consider wasted
moments when I long
for those out of reach,
no longer here. I reach
for words they will never hear,
never sure if the words
will reach me.

This poem is my response to Poetics: From a place of pain, the prompt from Ingrid at dVerse ~ Poets Pub, which is “to revisit a time in your life when you have felt pain (emotional or physical, acute or chronic) and come out on the other side stronger.” I don’t think I’ve ever survived such a moment in a way that made me any stronger. Instead, I consider myself just as vulnerable.