I am way behind as I just noticed this prompt, Autumn Retreat – Departure for CDHK today looking at stunning poetry by Kim and Milan. So I decided to try and play catch up. July 15th to August 5th would be 22 submissions listed herein below.
Departure #1 growing up (tanka)
departing anew
kissing my children
leaving for work
returning to faces transformed
growing pains hurt mothers too
Departure #2 a mother’s love (senryu)
My mother always said that God loaned me to her for eighteen years to love, nurture and prepare me to leave the family nest and start my own independent life.
letting go
with love
a mother’s true love
Departure #3 dementia (tanka)
each day
she asks me
do I know you?
year after year
saying goodbyes
Departure #4 hanging on (tanka)
lilacs
even when you leave
your fragrance lingers
until next spring
I`ll still wait for you
Departure #5 summer romance (senryu)
summer love
hot and sizzling
but oh! so short lived
Departure #6 loving mother (tanka)
I remember
every day I left your side
I kissed you goodbye
one or ten-thousand kisses
each one was new to me
Departure #7 farewells (senryu)
standing at the dock
ship’s horn vibrates in my soul
but I can’t see you
Departure #8 divorce (tanka)
you were just a teen
visiting me from far away
my heart breaks
will I still recognize you
on your next visit
Departure #9 death (senryu)
a child cannot grasp
Où est GrandPapa?
death is forever
Departure #10 young bride (tanka)
leaving home for good
mother-daughter bond is strong
I was not ready
the cord did stretch forever
until I did let go
Departure #11 letting go (tanka)
taking down old photos
generations archived
time to let go
looking at my blank wall
each nail shouts their name
Departure #12 goodbyes (senryu)
the train whistled
waving goodbye to Daddy
piercing my heart
Departure #13 sudden endings (senryu)
shocked with disbelief
first fallen leaf in July
premature endings
Departure #14 white comforter (tanka)
first snowfall
autumn leaves rest
over death’s bed
comforting tears of grief
like Grandmaman’s duvet
Departure #15 dust to dust (senryu)
autumn leaves
falling near her grave
Mother’s not alone
Departure #16 shorter days (tanka)
barely daylight
in my waking hours
day ends too early
soon I will become
a keeper of the night
Departure #17 colours of autumn (tanka)
autumn’s irony
bright amber, gold and red
liven the landscape
final days approaching
casting its dismal shadow
Departure #18 Snow Day (tanka)
first snow storm
happy children making forts
schools are closed
I’m stranded for a few days
watching snow ploughs do their thing
Departure #19 man’s best friend (senryu)
pausing at the door
tapping of eager paws
no longer greets me
Departure #20 Falling in love with fiction (senryu)
that last chapter
like saying goodbye
to a good friend
Departure #21 attachment (senryu)
no longer a baby
waiting for the school bus
Mommy dries her tears
Departure #22 – A new school year (haibun)
I think that my mother was the only mother that I knew, growing up, who was not anxious for school to start in September. All my friends’ mothers did not work and relished the peace and quiet come September. Yet, my mother worked at home as a hairdresser but she loved having us around. It was as if each year a part of her children was separating from her little by little.
a new school year
teachers and classmates
influencing views
mother feels she’s lost her touch
forced to let go
© Tournesol 2017/08/05
Tournesol dans un Jardin 
Wow, you’ve been busy, Cheryl! I enjoyed all of them but the ones that hit home were the mother/children ones (my daughter will be arriving this afternoon – and she’s pregnant with her first child); the one about dementia because of my mother and grandfather and the one with the lilacs; and these:
‘taking down old photos
generations archived
time to let go
looking at my blank wall
each nail shouts their name’
and
‘autumn’s irony
bright amber, gold and red
liven the landscape
final days approaching
casting its dismal shadow’
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Ah thanks so much for taking the time to read them, Kim! The photo thing I did today…so many old photo ocluttering my wall. We are cleaningmom’s house to put it up for sale and that stresses me, still working and well writing is not so consistent. I miss writing though.
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Each subsequent departure gets us closer to you, knowing a little bit more of those bygone days. A life of fulfilment and thanks for sharing Cheryl!
Hank
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Thanks so much for reading, Hank, and your kind comment.
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Reblogged this on milan rajkumar and commented:
a melancholic strain
from the far west echoes
hills of the east .
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I’m humbled, Milan, thank you.
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I am too ! 😉
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” memories in flashbacks ”
~~~~~~~~~~~
“When the heart speaks, the mind finds it indecent to object.”
Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being .
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I love that quote. Thank you, as always, Milan, you are so generous with your comments.
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I always say what I felt but not bad things if it’s going to hurt others …!
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Good philosophy, Milan. If one has nothing nice to say, always best to hold their tongues.
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exactly ! 😊
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Way to catch up Cheryl..some gems here. My favorite is this one
Departure #11 letting go (tanka)
taking down old photos
generations archived
time to let go
looking at my blank wall
each nail shouts their name
This went straight to my heart. Thank you for sharing.
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I actually did that the night I wrote this. It has been long overdue…years but it feels right now.
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Everything in time:)
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Exactly, when it feels right it feels good to have done the deed…no regrets.
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Amen:)
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Amazing works, Cheryl. ::-)
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Thanks, Celestine, it was a fun experience.
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You really did catch up Cheryl. All beautifully composed haiku, senryu, tanka and haibun. Awesome that you have done this. I was really a joy to read all these beauties
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Thank you, Kristjaan, I am humbled, as I feel when writing so many in one sitting is not my best writing but more reflections of past and present. But I did want to be part of this retreat. You do so much as a host, mentor and spiritual guide in many ways. Thank you for that. I have grown since I joined CDHK and since I met my guru…all in the same timing which means it was all meant to be. Namaste.
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