Poetry ~ Waka
where’ve they all gone
tumbling early in the morn
hollow echoes
where’ve they all gone
absent footsteps
abandoned stairwell
tumbling early in the morn
like clockwork
with purpose
hollow echoes
not so long ago
safely indoors
keeping satellites busy
friends and family reconnect
defend one and all
Mother Nature breathing life
Isolation saves
© Tournesol ‘20/05/07
Daily Moments – May 7 2020 No Exits Troiku
During her lunch break she wanted to go out for a walk but there were too many people walking the street. Some two by two, a teen on roller blades and cyclist in shorts. Resigning to taking the garbage out, she felt she might soak up the sun for a few minutes. When she walked out her heart skipped a beat…”No, don’t close the gate yet, I need to bring mine”…standing at 5 metres from them she felt her heart swell…
finally spring
showing its warmth
sun beaming
finally spring
forced her out
a brief moment
showing its warmth
two ladies by the dumpster
excites her
sun beaming
halos circle their heads
smiling at me
She is not alone. That is what the isolation makes you feel as if you are alone feeling what feel. The women both nodded that they had good days and bad days. Yes!! It was such a relief to speak to live women close to her age …we share the love for our offspring, the worry, the longing. And even though it is a sad reality, she walked back to her unit with a lighter foot.
she’s okay
speaking to live humans in person
sighs
© Tournesol 2020/04/29
Daily moments – Day 48 Meal break (haibun)
under grey skies
in another time
silent cries echo
under grey skies
tears
from heaven
in another time
Mother
in mourning
silent cries echo
an endless loop
humming
© Touronesol ‘20/04/10
Daily Moments ~ Good Friday
A month has passed already!
Since January 1st, she had been working remotely more and more. First there was the move and later, the struggles on her body traveling and walking on icy sidewalks and flu season worried her a lot. In three months she may have gone to the office five days at best. It was already her new normal. However shopping for odds and ends she needed to fix up her new home and doing her own groceries were outtings she looked forward to until March. What she misses the most is seeing friends and family…oh my, miss those hugs!
Last night she slept thirteen hours losing part of the day. After months of sleeping four to six hours a night, she gave into her body’s screaming request. Was it the exertion from cleaning and scrubbing? Was it giving in to her chronic pain? Or was it hiding from another day? Perhaps a bit of both but her body thanks her? A much needed vacation after months of packing and unpacking. Oh! There are still many things to do but at least she had the opportunity to make her new home look decent enough and not “quite” climbing the walls (or have to wash them down too!)
What really worries her most was the unknown future. She is saddened her children and grandchildren …people who are younger than her have to be faced with a very very different world. She knew the world was changing but never thought she would be alive to see how it would impact on so many younger people…how her heart breaks thinking of this.
It’s also a time of year when she usually does a bit of cooking…home baked beans, split pea soup à la Jeanne Benoit (she’s tried a few including Ricardo’s and no one can beat Jeanne plus her added touch of course) along with ham, pâtés and tête de fromage and a variety of sweet pies. Her Grandpères are not as good as those from la Cabane à sucre but lots and lots of chocolate.
When she was younger, during la semaine sainte (holy week) her grandmaman would cook eggs in syrup for breakfast along with beans baked in molasses or maple syrup. Of course beans were a regular Sunday breakfast even outside Easter week. After Sunday mass many churchgoers would pick up home baked beans at a grocer.
She takes comfort thinking of those days, just like food giving one comfort. It is enjoyable to cook and bake for others but to do it alone is a challenge lacking so much joy, missing the smiling faces and comments of “Mmmm” and “More please”.
It’s 18:30 and as much as she has avoided hearing her prime minister or premier speak…she turns on the screen awakening her to reality.
Under grey skies
A leader talks about peace
Spring snowflakes
Under grey skies
Heavy
With new angels
A leader talks about peace
Birds chirp softly
Chasing soporifics
Spring snowflakes
Maples running gold liquid
humans may not taste
© Tournesol ’20-04-09
Daily Moments – April 9 2020 – Living Today (haibun)
waiting
under navy skies
birds still sleep
waiting
silence
comforts me
under navy skies
hint of life
my heart beats
birds still sleep
angels of the night
keep watch
© Tournesol ‘2020/04/05 Daily moments – until dawn
My talented haijin from Italy kindly responded to my troiku on facebook, feeling her compassion across the Atlantic
even in the dark
echoes of the heart
life
whispering wind
fluttering leaves
life
first rays of sun
a lark warbles
life
in this moment
a thought of you
life
© gsk ’20
Have a great Sunday my friend.
~
Grazie ma chère and you as well…it’s amazing what a few extra hours of sleep can do 😊
first glimpse of light
bowing in reverence
riding theta waves
fairies
dancing in thin air
reveries delight
awakenings
embracing life’s promise
near and far
© Tournesol ‘2020/04/05
melting snow
mother nature cleans the streets
spring rain
melting snow
stubbornly remaining
ugly chunks of ice
mother nature cleans the streets
wet and shiny
street lights shimmer
spring rain
scent of decay fills the air
never wash away
© Tournesol ‘2020/3/27
No alarms this morning…it is her day off. A sleep disturbed by dread and worry forces her to dive under her duvet giving her a sense of false security. It’s time to get up. No sounds in the stairwell like in the old “normal”. All in their own time now…a slower pace, a screaming silence in the halls.
Such a restless night worrying about her work yesterday. No matter how much she kept repeating, “Let it go, ride the wave and let it go”, it still stuck to her. And so she decides to look over her notes from yesterday and emails. Such a relief to humbly realize she had misinterpreted one message and a smile starts forming on her face.
She begins to write a letter of thanks to her managers for the support they have given her and her colleagues in the past ten days. It has been challenging to work from home for so many especially those with children. How to keep them busy…how to keep the teens at home without going stark raving mad?!
Looking at her street, she notices the odd cyclist braving the cold at 3C but the forecast is supposed to go up to 11 mid-day. Yes, she might go out for a walk later and wear only her Sketchers rather then winter boots…such a treat to walk in lighter footwear!
A yellow van with flashing lights parks in front of her building…her heart flip flops wondering who and what is happening? Is there a person who is sick? Is it Covid19 or something else? She dares not open her door to see in the hallway but peaks through the peephole and sees masked paramedics on her floor! Later she sees them wheeling out a woman from her floor…
She just may not go out today…
a jogger
passing a cyclist
life goes on
a jogger
mentally balanced
physically fit
passing a cyclist
leaning on a walking stick
a man shuffles slowly
life goes on
a women in labour
cry of a newborn
© Tournesol ‘2020/03/26
Dally moments March 26th 2020 a yellow van troibun
Cycling in snowsuits…only in Canada!
Watching people walking to the park, she knew she must get out. Shut-in all day yesterday was just to nurse a cold and making excuses that she must not venture out into the public; but what about just going out for fresh air? But of course, that would be good for her both physically and emotionally.
She opened the windows of her condo for half an hour or so every day but that was not enough. She knew her mental state was stuck in mud that had dried up…sort of. A must to go out and see people! Tomorrow she would be hearing people and their trials and tribulations; trying to instill hope to continue on one more day or two. Indeed, she must go out.
Contemplating this, she saw two bicycles go by! One adult was dragging another bike with training wheels and another tiny bike was following behind. The children were dressed in snow pants and big bike helmets. [She wonders if a tuque fit under those big plastic headdresses.] Those big mittens must make it tricky to steer the bike too! Ah, bicycles with toddlers and children going for a Sunday ride…that surely is a sign that spring is around the corner!
sunny skies rule
just above point of freezing
luring shut-ins out!
sunny skies rule
painting curves on stiff muscles
bidding them to smile
just above point of freezing
daring to remove their tuques
wind blows in their hair
luring shut-ins out!
young and old find delight
spring is almost here
watching with renewed energy
from her living room window
slips on coat and boots
stepping into brisk cool air
twinkle in her eyes
© Tournesol ‘08/03/2020
Daily Moments 3/ 8/2020 Cycling in snowsuits~ only in Canada H aibun
Sitting in front of the t.v. screen, she flips from one video to the next and finds nothing to capture her attention. It has been a long day. Day two of busyNESS, Day two of SadNESS, Day two of various fires to try and put out and yet…the day feels unfulfilled. There is the person who hung up too soon because someone walked in on them; there’s the person whose phone died and you never had a chance to see if he’s safe and the list goes on. All in a day’s work, some say…who the hell says that anyway?
Switching to music seems more healing…starting with Satie Song by Alanna-Marie Boudreau, then Kimbra’s Cameo Lover and Sara Bareilles’s Gravity. Lastly, she listens to one of her favourites, Damien Rice’s Accidental Babies…aww, total bliss! It is amazing how music can truly transform you.
She is reminded of a youth now who is a musician playing classical and jazz. How fortunate she is to do the work she does do. How blessed she is to hear their stories and to be the ear that hears those secrets they disclose for the first time…they actually dared to say “out loud”. Such courage they have had to gather to reach out for support.
Before the end of her evening, she listens to one more song, Damien’s Rootless Tree…
sighing softly
thinking of those classical notes
cut at her heartstrings
sighing softly
recalling her soft voice
vulnerable and frayed
thinking of those classical notes
only ivory keys can articulate
such pain
cut at her heartstrings
images of doom and gloom
unearthed and naked
© Tournesol 2020/02/18
transporting notes Troibun Feb 18 2020 Daily Moments
Boudreau’s Satie Song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppOvD4Egbno
Kimbra’s Cameo Lover https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaTEySLiLmc
Bareilles’s Gravity https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEXhAMtbaec
Damien’s Accidental Babies https://youtu.be/ELTVP4aqWAI
Damien’s Rootless Tree https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1V6u3jdxwc
winter blues troiku daily moments Feb 17 2020
winter blues
stuck indoors
frostbitten toes
winter blues
days are not long enough
chasing night demons
stuck indoors
the worse of all viruses
cabin fever
frostbitten toes
remind me with the throbbing
winter’s NOT over
© tournesol ‘2020/02/17
Tournesol dans un Jardin 