April is National Poetry Month

Decided to share some spring haiku in honor of National Poetry Month

ducks quack


geese honk -

spring pond traffic jam

           spring snowstorm –

           cherry blossoms

           fall

cherry blossoms

branches droop –

bridal veil

forsythia

caution light –

not yet summer

Easter break (corrected 4/8 version)

Easter break -rejuvenation. I grew up in a Catholic neighborhood and Easter Weekend seeped into my soul. Oh, I loved the Easter bunny, Easter egg hunts, and the whole commercial aspect of the "holiday". But I understood the underlying spirit and while I don't formally attend church - the religious Easter registers an amen.
I am not an animal person but bunnies love to live under our shed. If they venture too far, the hawks in the field nab them. Ray tried to plant strawberries one year...that didn't work. The bunnies beat him to the berries.
Here's the Easter spirit. Eight month old Makyla with father Kevin seeks chocolate. The heck with toys. Her bow is bigger than she is - now that's Easter fashion. I remember wearing the Mary Janes, the white gloves, the hat, a pretty dress - and then having to slap the hideous winter coat over the whole outfit. Yikes! Oops - Easter haiku is breaking out (after all this is a writing blog)

snow covered Easter eggs
encrusted they shine
dyed colored surprise
When in doubt, just start chewing. The big egg contains M&Ms for Kevin and Maria. Makyla was happy to stuff the whole thing in her mouth. What the heck! I hope she gets to nibble the ears of the chocolate bunny in her basket. Happy Easter to all. I'm headed to Philly to be with family. (Yo - Pudge's cheesesteak and I learn to talk again).

Joanne

When do you have too many flower pics?

Can you ever really have too many flower pictures? Here's more shots from last weekend's trek to the Dallas arboretum. So much material to work with, it's flowers on steroids.

I liked these two hardy souls.

The Arboretum theme is Storybooks. Hmmm - Dr.Seuss "One Fish, Two Fish..." I've read this a thousand times to Abigail and she never tires of the rhyme, nor do I. It becomes almost pathological.

Gotta root for the cactus. Hardy and almost belligerent. Domineering in its environment.

Are you tired of haiku? I'm not, though I might wear out my fingers counting syllables.

should learn flower names
bask in bountiful purple
bell shaped loveliness

Joanne

P.S. I'm still jacking with the tile contractor and the pool's still green. The zen of the arboretum keeps me from being crazy. I need to return when the azaleas go berserk.

breaks and ....pauses

Trinity Writers' Workshop held a poetry seminar for members on Saturday, Feb. 28th. The guest speaker, David Evans, is the Poet Laureate of South Dakota. A charming and thoughtful man, he eased us into the world of poetry. Discussing structure, beat, and word choice, he emphasized that poetry should be accessible. We looked at proverbs, rhymes, one liners, and prose poems. He engaged us in writing exercises and encouraged us all. One form I hadn't given much thought is Haiku - three lines. Syllable count is five, seven, five. Brevity and thoughts on the physical world are key. I'll give it a try based on the ROCK in the Outback of Australia. See pictures above. First the night

Reds to purples fade

light switch of sun flickers once

slate blue gray nightfall

And day:

Raw red rock rises

majestic sparse glare and heat

aboriginal

It's fun to distill a picture into a few words, hopefully an accessible image.

Joanne