Late July

Late July

Just before daybreak
blue jays light the morning song:
I am here, alive.

 

I wrote this haiku two days ago, and had planned to post it this morning, but I had no photo to include. First things first, I wanted to water my flowers this morning, before the heat. As I dragged the hose across the lawn, what should be directly in my path but a blue jay feather.

A find like this was automatically for me three things: a sign (all is well, because that’s what feathers mean for me), a reminder (don’t forget to post that blue jay haiku), and a gift (here’s the photo you were looking for).

Haiku are fun to write. If you’ve never had a teacher tell you the formula, it’s 3 lines with 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables. Writing a haiku is like buying a pair of shoes: beauty, comfort, and fit!

Blessings,

Cheryl

 

 

 

 

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12 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 12, Blessings

12 Things I Am Grateful For This Year
Day 12:  Blessings

One more haiku for the last day of my Thanksgiving Gratitude.

 

Blessings
One long sleepless night
I counted seven thousand
and still was not done.

~~~

 

12 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 4, Discipline, Patience, Tenacity

 

12 Things I Am Grateful For This Year
Day 4: Discipline, Patience, Tenacity

Make of these a braid,
one strand over another,
and see what changes.

~~~

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 3, Ideas

 

12 Things I Am Grateful For This Year
Day 3: Ideas

I cannot stop my brain.
It generates ideas,
gray sea making waves.

~~~

 

 

 

12 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 2, Illumination

 

12 Things I Am Grateful For This Year
Day 2: Illumination

 

We build our shelters—
walls and egos—for safety,
yet light is outside.

~~~

 

Behind a wall.

 

Above.

 

Under foot.

 

Through a lens.

 

 

Blessings from Monday Morning Mary.

12 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 1, Color

12 Things I Am Grateful For This Year
Day 1: Color

Sun.  Fern. Spotted Fawn.
Magenta gernaniums.
Maples leaves. Storm clouds.

My inner palette
is saturated, ready
to cradle winter.

Breakfast Moon

Breakfast Moon

Lazy moon lingers
in the full blue of morning
joins me for coffee

I Want to See God (A Morning Intention)

 

I woke up yesterday with this phrase “I want to see God,” and without thinking about it much, decided to make it my morning intention. In other words, I hoped I would see God in the ordinary day that lay ahead of me, most likely in the small things, yada yada yawn yawn, and I forgot about it. Until dusk in dreary weather, when I remembered the irises had bloomed, and ran out to photograph them. In the image framed by my camera, I remembered.

I Want to See God

At dusk I find her
in the deep purple cavern
of an iris bloom.

Life Is a Bowl of Cherries and Kale

Today’s poem was inspired by a breakfast recipe called Decadent Kale and Pomegranate Breakfast Salad by Maria over at  Plant-Based Slow Motion Miracle. I absolutely love this recipe, which is basically kale, grain, and fruit mixed in a delicious chocolate sauce (made from banana and raw cacao).

I made this recipe for my niece (a whole foods enthusiast) for her bridal shower this past weekend, and I wrote this poem to go with it. I had been wondering about what wisdom I might share with her about marriage. The answer was in my breakfast bowl filled with an odd mix of ingredients that after many mornings still delights me.

Life is a Bowl of Cherries and Kale

Success in marriage:
blending two opposing thoughts
in yummy chocolate

 

Eyes Closed on a Park Bench

A haiku for you, for National Poetry Month.

 

Eyes Closed on a Park Bench

Cars whish by like waves.
In the ebb, a chickadee’s
song softly fills me.