Poetry ~ Waka
Ah the freshness of rebirth in Spring weather and she dreams of blossoms in April and Stanley Park in Vancouver.
budding promise
on the Pacific coast
cherry trees sway
Yet east of the country in Québec weather has its highs and lows…white as it may be, fluffy and unique in each detail, these snowflakes but still, SNOW is a four letter word!
green patches waiting
snow delays,
for dandelions
(c) Tournesol’16-04-09
She took the day off from work …just because. Relaxing on her comfy couch, reading her book, she looks over at her friend, sitting leisurely on her throne.
savouring
no ordinary moment,
this blissful bond
©Tournesol’16/04/09
She loves the daisy, her favourite of all flowers. Each petal represents the multiplicity of her personality…ever changing and growing throughout life.
wild daisies
pure and innocent
free spirited
wild daisies
petals on the surface
loves me – loves me not
pure and innocent
searching for petals beneath
yet, undiscovered
free spirited
with or without you
still stands strong
© Tournesol ’16/04/08
Day 8 of National Poetry Writing Month – the suggested prompt was to honour a flower
F is for Fed up of the Mister Winter raining on her spring!!! Rain, snow, ice pellets, sunshine and drizzle and last night she walks home with blowing snow and snow building on the ground. She’d heard of the forecast and thought little of it since she was sure the snow would melt hitting the streets of the city. Not so! Late that night, walking home from work, she cut across her short-cut to get to the Métro, avoiding her usual longer walk on the slippery streets and sidewalks. Walk was slow but arriving home, she notices someone waits with anticipation.
emerald eyes look out
snow flurries blur her vision
a loyal friend waits
(c) Tournesol ’16-04-07
E is for Emerald and my mom’s favourite colour was green makes this post all the more meaningful. When I think of the word “emerald” however, I also think of Emerald City in the land of Oz which was the famous dream of Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. I was quite surprised when I read that this children`s book was published in 1900, written by Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. If you look at the illustrations, you can see the characters in the movie (1939) were pretty darn close.
Every October the movie played on television when I was growing up and my father would call my sister and me to come watch the movie with him and my mother. It was a tradition, sort of like The Sound of Music was with my children and other holiday classics.
Ah that Emerald City was the place where Dorothy would get all her problems resolved and get home to Kansas. How I loved her red patent leather shoes!! And the famous phrase was on the lips of many after a long trip, “There’s no place like home, There’s no place like home.”
No matter how many times I saw the movie, each time I would still fear that wicked old witch and her soldiers and those trees too!!! Oh, my goodness!!
I never realized how much that movie became a part of me until I was a young adult and read The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty and every night I was so scared of the devil (being Catholic we actually feared being possessed!) for three months after reading this book, I would cross my arms over my chest and repeat “I don’t believe in the power of the devil, I don’t, I don’t, I don’t” I became the Lion that lacked courage at 20 years old! I never could see the movie…if ever it was television and I turned the channel on that movie by mistake, just a few seconds hearing a deep voice coming out of that little girl, I would have nightmares for days! Yep, that’s how scared I was.
Emerald City was such a place to be and I loved the part where Dorothy is getting all prettied up ( my mother being a hairdresser made it even more meaningful). My mother loved Judy Garland (who played Dorothy) and even when her dementia was very advanced, I would sing Somewhere Over the Rainbow and her eyes came back to life.
Emerald City
somewhere over the rainbow
dancing with Mom
Emerald City
answer to all your wishes
come true
somewhere over the rainbow
leprechauns fight over
a pot of gold
dancing with Mom
turning back the clock
unforgettable
© Tournesol’16/04/06
Interestingly as I was looking for a word synonymous with never forgotten, I heard the voice of Nat King Cole crooning “unforgettable” in my mind, and just knew, Mom was near me at this very moment.
I realize the letter D is for Tuesday which is Day 5 of NoPoWriMo the prompt to talk about April being the cruelest month or choosing another month, seemed fitting to call April quite “DAFT” with the hot cold hot cold, like Mother Nature has hot flashes and has to stick her head in the freezer for a few minutes. So I used the Day 4 idea for Day 5…amen.
D is for DAFT
The weather this week is daft alright. Friday was a balmy 14C and sunshine. It was her first day off and she needed to rest. She looked at her grimy windows and thought, she would have time on the weekend to wash them. Now that would have been nice IF it was not windy and bloody cold at -5C. She walked to the grocery store to pick up a few things, wearing winter boots, gloves and her winter coat but refused to wear a hat. “Enough of this daft weather, she thought, I refuse to go back to winter.” Thank goodness she had a thick warm scarf to keep her neck warm but was it really enough?
5-3-5
frigid April day
braves March winds
truly a hat day
It was not unusual, however, to have snow in early April….the sky could hold clouds that may start as snow and end as rain. Ah, it was the transition from cold to mild. Perhaps even seasons go through endings and Mother Nature tries to soothe one season before letting go.
5-3-5
time to shuffle off
old father winter
let spring carpe diem
(c) Tournesol ’16/04/045
If ever there was a month to be described as cruel, November should be the one. The colours of amber, gold and red have fallen to their death. The rains are cold and the winds penetrate through overcoats. It is so difficult finding a way to stay warm.
November 1st, All Saints’ Day follows Halloween which is a colourful, albeit scary at times, day. But the eve of November is filled with sweets, dancing, parties, dressing up for all ages and feeling youthful.
She used to love to dress up walking her children to trick or treat giving the excuse she didn’t want anyone to recognize her and give more to her children…hogwash! she was just taking care of her inner child and loved the dressing up and disguising her face as much as the children did.
And then, the month of November followed…dark too early moving back to regular time…why the heck did they advance it to begin with? Saskatchewan is one province that makes sense with keeping regular time all year round; the shock would not be so bad!! It is so cruel from one day to the next the sun sets two hours earlier!! The days are shorter, and rarely snow on the ground until end of the month or December making it dark, damp and depressing…there you go, 3D’s = cruel month.
5-3-5
nature’s cruel charade
November
teatime in the dark
(c) Tournesol ’16-04-04
Looking up at the sky she smiles having a sense the moon is smiling down on her. There is this pull that gravity resists and yet, if only she could, she would fly up above the stars and seek comfort in the arms of that man on the moon.
walks in dark alleys
crescent moon
still, glows on her path
© Tournesol ’16/04/04
Sitting on the riverbank, she feels the coolness of the rapids and gently drowns in the moment…
riverbed rumbles
swallows chirp while gulls screech
one melody
Thoughts that tear her spirit, slowly slip into the water, flowing with the current, mending her soul.
exhales effortless
bittersweet sentiments
drowning one by one
drowning one by one
sinking to the bottom
change in due time
turning one by one
harmless pebbles
© Tournesol ’16/04/03
She writes a haiku listening to Carlos Nakai playing the flute…the sound of earth`s spirit is consuming, seeping into her whole being. Looking at her feline friend, she smiles calling out to her and asking her if she is, too, enjoying the sounds of nature.
The music video is playing on the screen and her feline friend looks at her questioningly, then turns towards the sound…she wonders if her furry friend can see the breathtaking images of mountains, streams, waterfalls and fauna.
high notes float
like a song bird coos
one refrain
one refrain
hypnotic and peaceful
cat in a trance
© Tournesol’16/04/03
Daily Moments ~ April 3, 2016 – at one with sound (haibun)
Haiku Horizons prompt today is “one”
Tournesol dans un Jardin 