Sieste des papillions (haibun)

Sleeping With Butterflies by tincek-marincek — Sleeping With Butterfliesby tincek-marincek at Deviantart

Once upon a time on l’isle des Papillons, there lived a royal family and their minions. It was a small island. The king and queen had only one son and they hoped to find a suitable princess for their Fabien. But Fabien did not like the confines of the castle. It was boring, no children to play with and now that he would soon be sixteen, he had more and more thoughts of escaping this royal prison.

He was permitted to go fishing with Jean Lessard, the cooks brother. He rarely caught anything but he learned to swim, diving into the ocean and swimming with the fish made him feel a part of nature. He got to know Jean’s son Philippe. They were the same age, same height and actually looked a lot alike…it was uncanny. Lately, Jean and Philippe Lessard were taking a longer route to the beach. They found a beautiful wild garden a few kilometres into the woods. They would stop for a few hours there and eat their packed lunch Jean’s brother had prepared for the prince. Of course there was too much for one person and the three enjoyed the royal picnic.

golden lilies
tease enchanted harem,
butterflies

One day Fabien was lying down on the grass admiring the daisies and wild lilies in the garden. Butterflies were resting calmly as if on cue it was their temps de sieste. Fabien had an idea…he switched clothes with Philippe and decided they would reverse their roles for one month. Fabien was hoping it would give him the opportunity to enjoy his freedom and get to know some of the other peasants on the island. Philippe was delighted to have this chance to eat all the delicacies he had never tasted but heard of from his uncle.

And so three weeks went by and Fabien was enjoying his freedom. He had even met a beautiful girl by the name of Tanya. They would spend hours at the end of their work day in the fields, in that special garden he had introduced to his new love.

One day Fabien rose early to go for a walk in his favourite garden. He tripped along the way on a gnarled root bulging on the path and fell to the ground unconscious having hit his head on a rock. He was there all day still out cold surrounded by fluttering butterflies, hopefully a princess might wake the sleeping beauty.

budding flower
graced by butterfly kiss
beauty rests

Haibun Thinking January 20th 2015

I know I wrote too long a narrative but got carried away with the photo.

le show off (haibun)

On my way home last night I walked from work very slowly. Cutting across the bushes in back of our office was actually nice with the leaves all gone, it was just wide open snowy space. It was snowing again but it was very mild compared to the day before. So I took my time relishing the fact that I didn’t have to walk briskly to stay warm.

When I got on the street it was really nice to see the cars covered with snow, and quiet…it was late…so all I heard was the soft crunch crunch underfoot and the snow…you can hear it falling if you pay attention.

I thought the street lamps looked so pretty and took a few photos hoping to catch the falling snow…but alas, my smart phone is not a professional camera.

20150114_161645_Android-001 — This photo was taken Jan 14th with the blind closed;thought that was a pretty nice effect.

As I approached the lamp at the corner of an alley, I noticed a dark blob…not sure what kind of animal until I realized it was a cat sitting stoic; he looked like a statue and we stared at each other for a a good two minutes. I didn’t budge safe for my thumb on my smart phone. I was relieved I had turned off the clicking so that would have scared him off. Sneaky, huh? I did that last year so I could take shots of sunsets from the office window like the one above taken last week.

(troiku)

twilight walk
stops in snowy tracks
alley cat

stops in her tracks
staring down at each other
winner takes all

alley cat
show off in the night
photo shoot

Well, monsieur le chat did not stick around too long and ran by me and just took off. I realized he may have just been waiting to get around me all that time. When I didn’t budge, I suppose he thought, silly old woman has a few loose screws, I’m outta here! and off he went. Or perhaps he was late for a rendezvous…the little matou!! (matou also means a player, have called buys matou many a times as a teen)

silly old woman
few loose screws
scardey cat

félin d’ruelle
poursuit une trôlée
chattes en chaleur

le gros matou
rendez-vous de minuit
chez minette Latour

Haiku Horizons

Waste not (haibun)

Reading Karuna’s post on the use of plastic straws, at Living Learning and Letting Go made me think about how I behave in regards to recycling; if I am at home I will actually put a straw in the dishwasher even though I have tons in the pantry for company especially my grandson. And yet, old habit die hard I suppose since they are plastic and not paper, my grandmother never EVER wasted anything. So some habits from way back when have not died. Now that does not mean I am a model for recycling…oh no, I am not but I do try.

straws
adding to clutter
mindboggling

adding to clutter
plastic cups, stereo foam plates
fundraiser cocktail

mindboggling
non-profits host a show
Mother Nature weeps

We still have a long way to go. Last week we had a cocktail for a major corporate sponsor. The food was delicious but OMG, but the use of these fancy plastic miniature containers was mindboggling…at least we put them in the recycling bin…but still.

Inspired by Protecting Mother Nature from Straws

Haiku Horizons

High Tea at The Plaza (haibun)

The Palm Court — Photo Credits: Palm Court – The Plaza

I remember accompanying my friend on a business trip to New York City in 2001. I had not been to Manhattan since I was a child. I was amazed how it had changed and it was so clean. During the morning Jake was at his convention and we would meet later mid afternoon. One afternoon we went to The Plaza for high tea in the Palm Court. It was truly an experience, he said, I just had to see. The waiters were elegantly dressed and walked like they were actually floating slightly above the floor; there was a musician playing the violin in the middle of the court. It was quite impressive. It was like walking into a 1950’s movie…well, for me anyway.

We sat on the elegant chairs and waited to be served. We had arrived a bit late however and no one was in a mad rush to serve us. I enjoyed listening to the music and observing people who seemed accustomed to this kind of attention. I wonder if my wide eyes and open mouth threw them off…the waiters, I mean. Oh well, at $25 a person for a slice of cake and a cuppa we decided since it was almost five o’clock, we would go up to The Rose Club for happy hour and I had the best Manhattan I had ever had. The patrons were certainly more sociable. And that was my experience with High Tea at The Plaza.

noble patrons
sip tea from fine china,
violin serenades

Photo credits: The Rose Club – Plaza Hotel

illuminating teardrops (haibun)

The small tree outside my front window is no longer bare this lovely winter. It has gems dangling like crystals and diamonds. I had not noticed that before…the ice storm a few weeks ago had coated it completely with crystals but many had thawed, some had fallen but some have hung on for dear life…

life of a gem
survived darkness forever
life outside the mines

survived darkness
gives sparkle and life
northern winters

life outside darkness
hanging on those twiggy arms
crystal jewels

Mister Winter (haibun)

Walking to do some errands today was challenging but with the studs under my boots, my wool socks in my lamb wool lined boots (Saute Mouton), my warm Gortex mitts, cagoule and wool hat, long wool coat I was almost perfect…my cheeks and nose were so cold…my eyes cried…the wind so cold…brrrr at -20C. Fortunately, my son tells me it will go up to -2C tomorrow…yay!! It will be a lovely day to walk to work. I think I will take the longer route if it is this mild and maybe get some shots of winter scenes.

Mister Winter
stay a spell, drink a cuppa
warm up your innards

twenty below
bitter winds burned my cheeks
drink some hot tea

exhale that warm breath of yours
make me smile up at the sky

life is messy (haiga)

At Carpe Diem Sparkling Stars, our inspirational haiku by Shiki:

wakeful moments
just mistaken reveries
rolling into days

day after day
lost in a sea of fog
life is messy

old woman
chips away at what was home
lost in whiteout

lines in the sky (Tan Renga)

fused in contemplation
probe wit in broken lines

blue skies
hold the canvas
scrutiny

Photo credits: Dark Sky Diaries

CP Tan Renga Challenge

sans titre (haibun)

Walking home last night at the Métro Bonaventure Station, it was later than usual. It was passed eleven for I usually see several homeless persons lying on the marble sidings soaking up their last minutes of warm slumber. Between eleven and one in the morning, I am not sure if the police alert them of the time or if they have internal clocks but it was after 23:40 and I only noticed one man sitting by the door where late commuters rush off to catch their busses off the island of Montreal.

People kept walking by and the man was not holding out his cap nor mumbling anything as is usually the case when we go by some homeless persons…he looked so tired. I felt bad no one was stopping…true it was late and many were coming home from work…not all late evening travelers are revelers.

I sat down for a moment putting down my backpack, rummaging through the mess looking for my change purse, searching for change to give to this man. I rarely carry money but change, mind you, here in Canada means $1 and $2 coins along with the quarters, dimes and nickles…we got rid of our pennies. Good I found enough to get a coffee and soup at Tims perhaps {I must pick up some coupons from Tim Horton to have handy}.

The man looked at me and I could not see he had a smile {without my glasses} but I did take a few photos} that I had noticed only after seeing the photo. As I walked passed him, stopped to give him my coins, he thanked me so kindly with such a nice smile…the same smile I saw later on that photo.

Such a worry for the homeless people this time of year…last night it was dipping to below 20C and it snowed all night…a nightmare for anyone stuck outside in this bitter cold for more than an hour.

Where do babies come from?(haibun)

When I was pregnant with my daughter, I had stopped working six weeks prior to giving birth. The six weeks at home with my son was a nice transition before his sister arrived. He would lean on my huge tummy and asked me earlier on in the pregnancy how the baby got there. He was only 2 and a half. I knew you could tell children the truth about many things and they would retain what they could grasp…make it simple, I was often told. And so I told him that Daddy had a seed that he gave to Mommy to make the baby grow in my womb (tummy). “How did it get there?” he asked. I explained that Mommy and Daddy kissed and hugged each other very tightly. He seemed to be satisfied with that.

Two years later my step-father had passed and my son felt sorry for my mother being alone. “Nanny,” he started, “You should have a baby so you won’t be so lonely.” She explained that she had to have a husband to have a baby. He responded, “Well, I could give you my seed from my testicle and you could swallow it and then you would have a baby.” My mother was SHOCKED but we always got a kick out of that cute story of pure kindness and innocence.

seeding
pure and natural
lovers kiss

MLMM – Heeding Haiku with HA

golden lilies tease enchanted harem, butterflies

budding flower graced by butterfly kiss beauty rests

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noble patrons sip tea from fine china, violin serenades

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seeding pure and natural lovers kiss

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golden lilies
tease enchanted harem,
butterflies

budding flower
graced by butterfly kiss
beauty rests

noble patrons
sip tea from fine china,
violin serenades

seeding
pure and natural
lovers kiss