Poetry ~ Waka
As a child she used to climb the maple tree at her Grandmaman’s and take the maple seeds and see them float in the air like a helicopter. But sometimes she would just lie on her back on the grass by the river, looking up and pretend they were miniature bananas!
river breeze
bananas sway gently
takes me far away
© Tournesol ’15
Time seems to pass so quickly and yet each “firsts” paralyze her. She got through Christmas, New Years, Easter, her birthday made it six months already. After Thanksgiving, the first snow can come anytime…It was late falling last year. On that day there was barely snow on the ground. The river was not even frozen. She wondered what it would be like this year…
that first snow
falling on sacred ground
hides her name
(c) Tournesol ’15
Carpe Diem Special Autumn, First Snow
Walking through the shortcut to work on that regular footpath she noticed so many leaves had fallen with the winds of the night before. Saddened as she saw many of the wildflowers turning different shades of brown. She would miss her walk in this thicket seeing buttercups and wild daisies and that purplish blue butterfly too. A huge tree branch lay across the path and she stood there looking at how one night changed a season…just one night! As she walked further into the thicket and within a few feet she saw her blue butterfly. Surely it couldn’t be the same one she saw in June!! Elated…just filled with childish joy, she slowly approached the butterfly and it closed up its wing sitting on a daisy…her favourite kind of daisy too!! She saw it open its wings a bit gradually and then close them again. She smiled at how smart this butterfly was. It actually thought it was camouflaged enough to trick her. And that game of hide and seek continued for several minutes…Oh, another flutter of those tiny velvety wings…once, twice …such joy to see and feel the beauty of this past season lingering here in September.
September wonder
amid the thicket
a butterfly rests
gracious daisy gives
last of her sweet nectar
© Tournesol ’15
Walking along lac Boivin, she inhales the mountain breeze and exhales a sigh of gratitude for her new start in her career teaching high school girls. She worked almost a decade for this. At the autumn of her life, she was now stepping into a new beginning.
season of life
spiced with lush colours – first leaf,
floats on lac Boivin
© Tournesol ’15
Labour Day weekend and unusual heat hangs on the Northern hemisphere. She sits on the shore watching the swans, geese and ducks play hide in seek…searching for shade.
chasing the wind
in a golden haze –
rocking on the lake
© Tournesol ’15
30 Days of Haiga – September 7 – Northern Hemisphere – Smouldering heat – end of summer
The first weekend of September celebrates Labour Day; this truly marks summer’s end. Youths return to school or college and parents find this the best time to pack up the summer cottage or camper. Surely there will be many revelers around the last seasonal bonfire until the following spring.
Perhaps a few businesses may grieve the loss of revenue; small villages, on the other hand, are finally returned to their residents as peaceful movements on their roads resume.
doves mourn in the park
seagulls screeching by the lake –
all those lost treats!
City folks in the ‘60’s had to drive through her small town and often stopped at the chip wagon next to the park. Many Montréalais had heard, by word of mouth, of the delicious frites Chez Roger. Most were off to the Eastern Townships surrounded by lakes and mountains to relax at their summer cottages or camps.
on a mountain path
wildlife embrace the stillness,
alone – home, at last!
alone – home at last!
little critters celebrate –
silence of the night
© Tournesol ’15
Shivering in the cool air shortly after dawn, you can see her breath in smoke signals as she walks quickly to stay warm. Lunchtime has a change of heart…
midday radiance
greets a summer’s breeze –
season’s treat
fall’s tucked up on a shelf
dead leaves shed their tell-tale scents
© Tournesol ’15
Heeding Haiku with Chèvrefeuille at MindLoveMiserysMenagerie
How odd, she thought, to hear birds singing late at night when she walks home. Every night she hears the distinct songs from trees decorating the lit entrance of the shopping mall. Day workers hear the blended melodies of birds preparing for dusk but she often misses this. It makes her think of long ago, sitting in the kitchen with her grandmaman before retiring…a cuppa and pain grillé with pâté de foi gras or tête au fromage; they would chat a bit about this and that always ending with this loving elder’s counsel to say her prayers before going to sleep.
Working late, she rarely hears the birds gathering chirping one over the other. But every night, she hears this lovely tweeting and it comforts her. She feels blessed being remembered when she hears the birds singing at night…she has not been forgotten.
starlit sky
walks home chanting her mantra
chirping robins greet
nature in its purest form
beauty blends for all to feel
© Tournesol ’15
On her way to the store, she picked up her pace as the wind was nice and cool. A cool breeze with sudden gusts blew her hair in her face. As she gathered the strands to braid as she continued walking along the boulevard;, the sound of the leaves rustling and that cloudy sky brought her back to long ago, sailing at Lake Champlain at Venise-en-Québec.
The family had had good times there. The children were three and five and brave little sailors on the catamaran. First weekend of September, Labour Day weekend there were about a hundred catamarans lined up for the two day race…she was not quite as brave then…she preferred to watch rather than compete. A few times, she would back out at the last minute knowing she did have the endurance to stay on the waters, rain or shine 8 hours at a time with risks of cold windy days.
choppy waters
divine levetation
cat rock ‘n rolls
© Tournesol ’15
She noticed the sky changing and told her friend she must go out to take some photos. But her friend told her to wait the sky would turn a darker pink soon, “You’ll see, it was merveilleux last night!” Twenty minutes later, she notices the sky is just getting greyer..DARN!! She ran out to take a few shots, hoping to salvage a nice souvenir of this evening at her friend’s home surrounded by mountains and cornfields. Ducking a few times from soaring and gliding birds, she actually felt she had intruded on Mother Nature tucking in wildlife.
lost in the cornfield
dimness descends slowly
overwhelmed scarecrow
lost in the cornfield
scurrying with glee
field mice play
dimness descends slowly
sun dips behind Mont Bromont
pause in despair
overwhelmed scarecrow
sparrows zooming overhead
pompous feathered friends
© Tournesol ’15
Tournesol dans un Jardin 
