Cutting Letters – Heterodox Haiku Journal

Good afternoon. Thanks to Jerome for including one of my haiku in the latest heterodox haiku journal – Cutting Letters you can read the entire anthology or listen to it at the link.

Mother’s Day here was pretty quiet. Shawn grilled a tri-tip and my mother-in-law brought over some lobster tails and we had broccoli and corn to complete the meal. I wrote a haiku for the #haikuchallenge word back on Friday, for my mother, the word was jay and my mom would tell me how blue jays were the bullies of the bird feeder, chasing the other birds away when they were there.

reminders of mom
bird feeder set out each spring
blue jay eats alone

I remember when I was a little girl, catching fireflies during warm summer nights. Apparently I have to go to teach someone how to write a good cover letter now.

#NaPoWriMo 2024 Day Twenty Nine

Incandescent

The palo verde is ablaze with yellow flowers in April.
I go outside to enjoy the sunshine casting an ethereal –
golden glow as petals float down, I search for inspiration.

As I mentioned we had a gorgeous weekend weather wise. After writing and posting my sijo I went back outside to enjoy the afternoon. The sun was right above the palo verde, shining through the branches and I wrote another sijo for it. As the second wraps into the third line, I’m not sure it is a true sijo, but I like how it reads.

NaPoWriMo Prompt – And now for our optional prompt. If you’ve been paying attention to pop-music news over the past couple of weeks, you may know that Taylor Swift has released a new double album titled “The Tortured Poets Department.” In recognition of this occasion, Merriam-Webster put together a list of ten words from Taylor Swift songs. We hope you don’t find this too torturous yourself, but we’d like to challenge you to select one these words, and write a poem that uses the word as its title.

Chase after fireflies
Gazing into pitch black skies
Incandescent glow

Since I wrote the first poem yesterday, I composed the #haikuchallenge today using incandescent too.

#HaikuChallenge Sunday April 28, 2024

#NaPoWriMo 2024 Day Nineteen

notes set to dark mode
blinking cursor haunts my dreams
achromatic mood

notes set to dark mode
blinking cursor hunts my dreams
achromatic mood

NaPoWriMo Prompt – Finally, here’s our prompt – optional, as always! This one comes to us from Moist Poetry Journal, which posted this prompt by K-Ming Chang a while back:

What are you haunted by, or what haunts you? Write a poem responding to this question. Then change the word haunt to hunt.

Good afternoon and welcome to day nineteen of #NaPoWriMo. I actually enjoyed reading the poetry over at the Moist Poetry Journal. But I woke up with a headache this morning and wasn’t really feeling the prompt. The #haikuchallenge word today is dream. And I thought; well, dreams can be haunting. So I used both words for my #haikuchallenge on X. Then I changed it to hunt here. I knew it would give the poem an ethereal feel that would be even eerier with a longer piece. I may revisit this prompt when I’m in a better mood.

#NaPoWriMo 2024 Day Seventeen

Ironic

clear my schedule
ten thousand spoons – ironic
I have none to give

What I’ve Done

clear conscience of guilt
let go of what I’ve done
I have no regrets

NaPoWriMo Prompt – Last but not least, here’s our optional prompt for the day. Today, we’d like to challenge you to write a poem that is inspired by a piece of music, and that shares its title with that piece of music. Need an example? Here’s A. Van Jordan’s “Que Sera Sera” and Adrian Matejka’s “Soave Sia Il Vento.”

Good afternoon and welcome to day seventeen of #NaPoWriMo aka International haiku day, so I took the #haikuchallenge word – clear and wrote a couple haikuesque poems. They both have 17 syllables in honor of the day and use the #haikuchallenge word, but they aren’t really haiku. I did use a couple songs as inspiration – Ironic by Alanis Morissette. As someone with a disability, I would love to have ten thousand spoons. For anyone who does not know the spoon reference, here is my poem from last year, Last Spoon. Then I went on Facebook and looked at my memories; apparently I downloaded What I’ve Done by Linkin Park for Gretchen. I decided to write another poem for that song as well.

In other news, Dr. Robin Hosking has approved a graduation announcement so I have placed my order. June 16, 2024 is less than two months away now.

#NaPoWriMo 2024 Day Fifteen

philatelist fawns
scrolling down photos of stamps
dusts off collection

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NaPoWriMo Prompt – And now for our prompt – optional, as always! Today, we’d like to encourage you to take a look at @StampsBot, and become inspired by the wide, wonderful, and sometimes wacky world of postage stamps. For example, while it certainly makes sense that China would issue a stamp featuring a panda, it’s less clear to us why the Isle of Man should feel the need to honor 2001: A Space Odyssey in stamp form. From Romanian mushrooms to Sudanese weavers to the Marshall Islands getting far too excited over personal computing, stamps are a quasi-lyrical, quasi-bizarre look into what different cultures (or at least their postal authorities) hold dear.

Good morning and welcome to day fifteen of #NaPoWriMo where I couldn’t just pick one stamp to write about. I also did pull out my collection; I don’t think I have really done anything with my stamps since I left high school. I’m surprised the books made it out here to Arizona. My fascination with stamps started in grammar school when one of our teachers brought in her own collection. Of course, when I was a kid, there was a lot of paper mail, requiring stamps I could grab. Nowadays I’m sure it would be harder to entice children into becoming philatelists. I don’t even remember the last time I saw an interesting stamp in my mailbox. It was probably back when Robin mailed his pony express letter when he was back in grammar school.

I also wrote a haiku for the #haikuchallenge today which was somewhat inspired by @StampsBot post of the Cuba butterfly stamp and also our recent trip to see the butterflies. Gretchen was bummed the monarch butterflies were not in the pavilion. We learned they are more prevalent in the fall pavilion. The last time we were there in the fall – 2018, Gretchen and I were even able to release new butterflies into the garden; we really enjoyed it.

monarch butterflies
hatch from cocoons off milkweed
wings catch summer breeze

So the poem is loosely based off the @StampsBot and our visit to the Desert Botanical Gardens because we did not see the monarch this time and it wasn’t the type pictured on the stamp.

Eclipse Inside My Refrigerator

A memory from seven years ago appropriately popped up today:

Once upon a time this little refrigerator had two light bulbs. It wasn’t long before the first light bulb decided to take a vacation. For years the second little light bulb worked alone. After many, many years of lighting the fridge alone, the second bulb became old and tired and decided it was time to retire. Then someone went out to buy replacement bulbs. It is a two bulb job and after so many years of opening a refrigerator where only one bulb worked, we are blinded by the light.

tired little light bulb
struggles to reach its zenith
finally conks out

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Photos courtesy of Gretchen Hosking

In Phoenix we were privileged to see a partial eclipse today. I kept the solar eclipse glasses I bought for our October viewing and Gretchen and I went out to see the eclipse. Today’s #haikuchallenge word is zenith. I wrote a few poems with the word. I had to add this last one when I saw this memory on my Facebook page.

After Gretchen and I viewed the peak of the eclipse in our driveway, I did watch the eclipse coverage on TV and the totality minutes were very cool.

star-crossed lovers meet
we gaze up at the zenith
diamond ring effect

Shawn and my engagement April 1992

#NaPoWriMo 2024 Day Three

Navigate Gate Change

When I moved from Buffalo to Phoenix, I flew out with my mom and one year old. We had a transfer in Chicago and at the last minute they changed the gate assignment. Instead of being a couple gates down from our arriving flight, it was moved all the way to the other side of the airport. We only had about 10 minutes to make our connection and I knew it wouldn’t be possible because I cannot run. My mom was determined to give it a try; so, much to her surprise, I flagged down a transport cart and told him where we needed to go. He helped me get on with the toddler but my mom was still hesitant. I finally convinced her it was the only way we would make our connecting flight. And as we were careening through the concourse, the airport worker radioed ahead and told the plane to wait. We made our connection and as my mom was getting off the cart, she asked the driver how much we owed? She was reluctant to get on the cart because she didn’t realize they were there as a courtesy for weary travelers. I knew it was free for those passengers in need of assistance, but my mom honestly thought disabled people paid extra to get around airports.

xesturgy wears down
travelers seeking relief
stone rubs inside shoe

NaPoWriMo Prompt – Last but not least, here’s our prompt for the day – optional, as always. Today, we’d like to challenge you to write a surreal prose poem. For inspiration, check out Franz Kafka’s collection of short parables (my favorite is “The Green Dragon”).

Good afternoon and welcome to day three of #NaPoWriMo. I’m not good with either prose poetry or surrealism; though speaking about the latter, the nominations for the Elgin Award over at SFPA are now open. Here is the list of chapbooks and full length books already nominated.

Yesterday a friend on Facebook asked about a time we ran in an airport. No I did not run, but my mother thought we could have given it a go. Yeah I knew better and flagged down a cart. I shared my story and my friend suggested I turn it into a haibun. Okay they’re a prose poem with a haiku/senryu at the end. But this is a true story so where’s the surrealism? Well I hopped over to X to get the #haikuchallenge word for today – xesturgy? what in the world? Well it means to polish by stone. I played around with it and maybe it worked to give my prose poem a little bit of surrealism or maybe not. But in any case I did get something written today and that is the real goal.

Good Friday

Shrine of St. Joseph – Yarnell, AZ

Good Friday

Shrine of St. Joseph
stations of the cross venture
follow path of Christ

St. Veronica
follows path to Golgotha
gives Jesus her veil

value helping hand
stairway to crucifixion
difficult venture

vivid emotion
walking the way of the cross
time of reflection

When my niece came out to visit back in July/August her dad flew in from Guam as well. Sean spent some time at a conference in Wickenburg and Aria and I drove over there and took a junket over to Yarnell to see the Shrine of St. Joseph. Since it was August, we had the place to ourselves. My sister, Katryn, is always posting the way of the cross pathway in Guam so I thought Sean and Aria would enjoy the stations of the cross up at the shrine. If you notice the sculpture of St. Joseph with toddler Jesus, there are plenty of benches to sit and enjoy the view. I was going to do just that, but no, my family talked me into trekking up the stairs. As Easter Sunday is this weekend, I thought this is a good time to share our photos taken by Aria. I was too busy trying not to fall and Sean was busy helping me up the uneven steps. But with 14 stations, there were plenty of places to stop, rest and reflect on the moment. At the top, I’m smiling with my eyes closed. The height was definitely making me nervous.

Happy Easter! Which is also the #NaPoWriMo early bird prompt. Not sure if I’ll get a chance to write one but I will be back Monday for the official start of #NaPoWriMo2024.

Afternoon Walks

Photo by Gretchen Hosking

burst of sunshine
falls on dandelion field
enriching yellows

dandelions
a ray of sunshine
bright yellows

The dandelions are already going to seed. Gretchen took the photo above on groundhog’s day, February 2nd. Our afternoon walks are working well for poetic inspiration.

Season of the Hummingbird

pink aloe blossom
hummingbird sips sweet nectar
bountiful banquet

cats watch out window
hummingbird inches from screen
neither side kowtows

desert succulents
aloe blooms feed hummingbirds
warm February

Good morning. Over the last week, I’ve been enjoying watching the hummingbirds mostly in the aloe in front of my bedroom window, but they’ve popped up in the backyard and Gretchen and I saw one low in the grass on one of our afternoon walks. Gretchen tried to take a photo, but the bird flew off before she could get her phone out. The one that stuck with me was when I was opening the window on my husband’s side of the bed. I looked up and there was a hummingbird hovering at eye level. We sat there having a staring contest for a minute before I opened the window.

On my previous post, I shared a video of a hummingbird by the aloe I took last year in February. This past week I was successful at capturing a few photos of the bird(s) near the aloe. I’m actually not sure if I am seeing one or more hummingbirds visit outside my window. I know the haiku are variations of the same, but I’ve been enjoying writing a new one with each visit.

piping hot coffee
hummingbird outside bedroom
instills peace of mind

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