Poetry ~ Waka
She sits draped in fleece admiring a nature’s morning splendour. The eye could capture only hundreds of shades and nuances…a human lens shooting in slow motion. She smiles with pride. One must witness the slightest changes to appreciate the glory of it all; she felt lured, this frigid morning, by an omnipresence. In reverent silence, she recites her mantra before this sacred panorama.
O mystical one
rise above the horizon
shine on me
© Tournesol’16/01/06
Daily Moments
At the Secret Keeper, the weekly writing prompts are the following words:
WAIT | MEET | TEAR | ACCEPT | CEASE | which you can write various forms of poetry or flash fiction 300 to 500 words.
I decided to write a Troiku (a new haiku form created by Chèvrefeuille at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai, one of my favourite waka forms.
The annunciation
(Troiku)
last Christmas Eve
it waits upon a crooked fence
a crow eyes its prey
last Christmas Eve
dark skies meet a mother’s grief
crushed – she must accept
waiting on the crooked fence
a mother’s relentless tears
will never cease
a crow eyes its prey
poor pinky* squeals for mercy
mother’s howl of woe
© Tournesol ’16/01/04
*pinky = baby mouse
Consistency breeds comfort. It feels familiar when repeated at the same time over and over, like a mother’s lullaby soothing her baby. After the first snowstorm of the season, nature seems to produce a steady snowfall every other day…sometimes a heavy flurry that often tapers to a slow constant flutter.
She hears a humming in the middle of the night a drone that calms her back to sleep. Bu,t this morning she awakens just before sunrise and watches the snow fall gently. It’s a light snow at first …just enough to veil the outlines of the droning machinery outside her window.
She looks at the trees, fitted with sweaters of pure white and the cedars hide bashfully under stoles of pure fresh powder.
It’s Sunday morning and the sun is rising somewhere in the east far above snow clouds. The sky is a pearly grey, not threatening in the least but rather like a dome hovering over her home. It feels like a shower of white poppies…nature suggesting Sabbath’s day of rest.
She hears another snowplough clearing a shopping centre’s lot across the street; those eager patrons will be checking the last day of Boxing Day week hoping to find another deal, the right size, and right colour… the real deal! If not, they’ll just sit in the mall with a Laura Secord ice cream cone and watch the tired faces of adults being pulled by their offspring s chanting, “Just one more, just one more!” Comfortable armchairs are strategically placed in the centre hallway of the mall where tired fathers and husbands wait patiently and people watch.
A smug smile forms on her lips as she relishes the warmth and calm of her home, not inclined in the least to go out unless she needs something. She sighs, relieved at the thought of not having to brush half a foot of snow off the hood of a car and scrape the windows of melted snow turned to ice and sits back relishing the sound of her furry friend purr.
arresting snow – falls,
manmade humming stills,
settles on a branch
© Tournesol ’16/01/03
Daily Moments of January 3, 2016
first light
golden glow awakens
birth of a day
first light
morning feed starts the day,
newborn cries
golden glow awakens
icicles spark wanting hearts
hope’s desires
birth of a day
filled with promise
new beginnings
© Tournesol ’16/01/02
Daily Moments
Happy New Year ! I sit here, thinking of the possibilities of this year and hope I can fill at least a tiny part of these inspired opportunities I do have.
We are well into three hours of 2016 and I am high on life, my beliefs and my hopes. I just finished watching Patch Adams and Robin Williams made me laugh out loud and weep with happiness at the compassion he shows to patients. The only bad words in the entire movie for me was “transference” and “class above patients”. Yes, well, this movie just confirmed what I have felt, lived and believed most of my career in the helping profession. Oh, I know I am not a medical expert but the message in this film goes beyond that. I am not an expert, people who come for support are the experts and I simply try to help them recognize that.
This film renewed my faith in my goal in life. To strive for compassion even when things look bleak for me, to not judge, and to expect nothing more than a will to try to to remember the times I have been low on life and simply show empathy. We’ve all been there. Sometimes the only thing we can say is, “Man that sucks! I’m sorry you are going through that.”
I don’t believe in making a list of resolutions for the New Year because that just leads to causing stress and fear of not succeeding. The only resolve I do want to carry over every year is to strive to be the best person I can be, forgive myself when I slip up and keep my heart open at all times even if it hurts sometimes. The benefits are worth the pain.
This past year was a year of healing and I don’t think I would have managed as well (with my sanity) without your support and encouragement. Bless you and thank you.
Writing here in this amazing community at WordPress has enabled me to grow in my writing…I have learned through your comments and through your creative gems you have shared here.
Onward to 2016 with as much inspiration and soulful promise in writing and sharing.
a brand new year
fresh snow glistens
snowflake on my cheek
© Tournesol ’16/01/01
cold snowy night
keeps the snow snowploughs busy
sits by the window
© Tournesol ’15/12/31
Daily Moments – Narrowing Focus Carpe Diem
There is an image printed in my mind, I have seen so often walking home late at night in the winter. The snow falls, and sounds almost like muffled thunder. It can be so easily mistaken for my breathing or sounds of traffic from highways outside of the city.
I remember living in my condo on the 20th floor how difficult it was to decipher sounds in the building. One could not tell if there was running water, if it was coming from the 10th floor or the 6th floor. Noise traveled through the pipes and could easily mislead the human ear.
I am reminded of that fact when I hear sounds in the winter night. I live in a suburbia yet I can see the bridge from my home that reaches the island of Montreal. I am surrounded by three majour highways and so when I hear a rumble in the nigh, I cannot always point out if it is from the sky or a huge truck bouncing on the highway kilometres away.
As I walk along the street leading to my home, I feel privileged seeing the untouched beauty along the way. The evergreens look like royalty with pristine snow sprinkled on their branches; barren trees now have white shawls loosely hanging on each limb. And as I look at the walkway to my home, I am royalty leaving my footprints on virgin snow.
flurries in the night
trees decked out as we sleep
paw prints on the snow
Daily moments also inspired by
La luminosité des étoiles ainsi une pleine lune livrent une magie la nuit de Noël. Cette merveille compensa l’absence de neige. Le grondement du chasse-neige sur le pavé dégagea un son acceuillant. En regardant par la fenêtre, ce sens de l’émerveillement enfantin la baigna.
pelouse vêtu en blanc
conifères parsemé de neige
les merveilles d’hiver
A clear night under shimmering stars and full moon added Christmas magic. It almost compensated for no snow. Early morning groan of the mega snow plow scraping pavement was a welcome sound. Looking out the window, that childlike sense of wonder washed all over her.
white covered lawns
snow sprinkled evergreens
winter wonderland
(c) Tournesol’15
December 27’15 Daily Moments
She entered the Métro station and was bombarded by a mob of holiday shoppers marching towards her. It was obvious these were not regular travelers fortunately, as their their stride was casual and relaxed, flexible to sidestep and allow her to pass. The last Sunday before Christmas and this was another reason she wished dhe did not have to work today.
Panhandlers and homeless persons may have been relieved having a more captive audience, not immune to their plight as were many regular daily commuters.
buyer’s remorse,
consumed with Christmas lists
clink in a tin cup
© Tournesol’15
On the rooftop, she sits gazing at the horizon. The wind from Mont Royale blows long dark strands defying any rules of fashion. She brushes her hair off her face to take in the show…curtains draped back to see the whole view.
sun slips
into the horizon
fills me with grace
© Tournesol ’15
Tournesol dans un Jardin 