Departed soul (haibun) In memory of Bruno

© clr A true Rock Star, he will be missed

Yesterday marked one week that a friend and colleague died, Sunday morning, July 20th. I wrote a series of haiku/senryû, last week with the vivid image of Bruno when I last saw him mid May of this year. He had been battling pancreatic cancer for well over a year at that time and still accepted that I visit him and he posed for a book that was being compiled to give to another colleague who is battling breast cancer. Bruno believed in thinking positive at ALL times. He believed in the fight and never gave up, nor did he stop encouraging our friend who is still under treatment and we KNOW she will rise above this insidious disease. She is the loving and most generous person (much like Bruno) who phoned me to give me the sad news that our friend had passed. I feel so blessed to have heard from you, Leslie, you have no idea how much it meant to me.

Here is the series I wrote the day I learned of his passing…

Care Bear Hugs

I’ll miss that smile
soothing presence like balm
Care Bear hugs.
*
those innuendos
making me feel young and sexy
twinkle in your ~~{lie}~~ eye
*
they’ll all split their wings
you’ll have them laughing so hard
angels in heaven

originally posted: Care Bear Hugs

Today it is raining. It is grey and my mood is morose. I called in sick today as my body would not respond and seemed to be listening to my soul…I feel as if I am 99 today…a time to rest. In the shower I weep tears of grief and let the water wash them away. I have written in another post how I asked, “Why not take me? I am older, my family is raised, even my grandson is older than Bruno’s son. Why not take me?” The world is a mystery and the Great Spirit acts in mysterious ways. What do I know? Who am I in this vast sea of souls? But I do know that Bruno was a mind, heart, soul and body of pure essence filled with compassion and love. Anyone who has had the chance to meet him even if briefly, is blessed having been touched by an angel.

Reading Bruno’s orbituary in the Montreal Gazette, minutes ago, here at Second Cup, I am sad and yet could not help but smile when I read that his blood type was B Positive! Of course, what else could it have been? This reading along with Chèvrefeuille’s prompt on writing with the theme “A departed Soul”, has stirred up the following lines…

Departed Soul

dawn smiled
clouds made way
an angel
*
an angel
soars over sad hearts
begging for smiles
*
begging for smiles
his loud roar thundered
B positive
*
B positive
his lifetime message
gift

–

New Year’s Fun (haibun) (CarpeDiem #526 Issa (5), “New Year’s Writing”)

Credits: Japanese Fireworks

It is a Japanese custom to write with a writing brush on the second day of the year.

New Year’s Eve was always a special time for me as an older child. I used to babysit with my best friend her little brother at her house. We were allowed to stay up until way past midnight, drink cola and eat chips! Something I was never allowed at home unless there was a party. Her parents were having a New Year’s Eve “reveillons” with my parents at my home. About 30 seconds to midnight I would dial (in those days we had rotary phones!) and wait until midnight before letting go of the last digit of my home phone number, to be the FIRST to wish my mom and dad Happy New Year’s.

Another race New Year’s for our family was to be the first to ask our father (grandfather in my mother’s case) to be blessed for the new year. I always felt extra special if I got to my dad before my sister. At my grandparents, however, all seven children knelt in the living room as my grandfather blessed them all ONCE. {My grandmother, actually took over this role when my grandfather died even if she was a woman.}

If there was not too much snow, we often went out behind my grandparents’ home to ice skate on the river. Those were wonderful times when it was safe to do this as the winters were cold for many months, not like today where we get rain at Christmas.

I was saddened reading about Issa’s childrens’ passing so early in life. But I am pleased he wrote poems of laughter and joyous times in their memory.

kodomora ga kitsune no mane mo susuki kana

the children
pretend to be foxes…
pampas grass

New Year’s Eve
children playing with the fresh fallen snow –
fireworks coloring the sky

I will be writing in that youthful joyous vein.

Guy Lombardo
ringing in the New Year
got Mom first

Santa’s new skates
on the moonlit river
Dad blessed me first.

Submitted for: Carpe Diem Haiku Kai, #526, Issa,(5) “New Year’s Writing”

Day’s end (haiku) CPHK #525

Under the cedars
gathering of the crows
before sun bows.

before the sun bows
birds’ jamboree
then take flight.

Submitted for: Carpe Diem Haiku Kai, Buson, #525 Glimpse of Dawn

Full Circle (CarpeDiemHaikuKai Special#1)

Cherry Trees/High Park © Sara Desjardins Photography — Cherry Trees/High Park
© Sara Desjardins Photography

High Park’s cherry trees
blossoming midst rustling leaves
spilling a soft breeze.

summer solstice looms
lovers kiss on moonlit beach
make love thru the night.

lovers’ departure
last rendezvous’ send-off,
magic mushrooms

pine tree icicles
blizzard warnings outside
threaten fireworks.

© Clr – Tournesol

Vancouver’s Stanley Park is well known for their Cherry trees that were given as a gift from Japan but Toronto, High Park hosts also such a gift from Japan in 1959, having received 2000 trees. Check here, for the History of Sakura; Sakura Hanami is the Japanese translation for cherry blossom viewing or flower viewing. Click here to see the Sakura Watch at High Park 2014. The photos are exquisite!

Submitted for Carpe Diem Haiku Kai Special – Full Circle #1 where you have to use each work per LINE of a series of 4 haiku.

1. cherry

2. leaves

3. breeze

4. solstice

5. beach

6. love

7. departure

8. moon

9. mushrooms

10. icicles

11. blizzard

12. fireworks

for example of the first 3 words:

cherry blossoms bloom
between the young leaves –
the warm breeze

Sunset pause (haibun)

After enjoying a nice vegan dinner with my colleague the other night, I noticed the pink sky at the end of our street on our way back to work. I checked the time, and I had 8 minutes left before I had to get back to work on the phone lines. So I rushed up the elevator to the ninth floor, wobbled up the 20 steps that lead to the rooftop and witnessed another amazing concert of pastels shimmering in the sky.

I sat in awe silently for a moment. I knew I would not capture this perfection with my camera. And then I started playing with the settings. I tried “sunset” first, then “beauty” and lastly just natural setting…zooming now and then until I saw a plan to my right flying quickly just above the sun setting. I clicked a few times to capture this because usually planes come out fuzzy but not this time. I was quite pleased.

I had three minutes left and knew I had to run down to get to work on time and missed that last dip below the skyline…where you no longer see any sign of the sun. Then for another five to ten minutes the changing of colours, shades getting darker and more stunning. Oh, well, another time…in a few weeks time, my dinner break will coincide with a complete sunset…yes, the days will be shortening more and more…do not want to think of that yet.

(c) clr - Tournesol'14 — (c) clr – Tournesol’14

day`s end

watercolours brush the sky

with bated breath

day`s end

plane crosses shimmering sky

sun bows

daylight ends

sun dips beneath the skyline

back to work.

Summer Delights (haibun)

Since I have chosen un nom de plume for my blogspot which will hold only short form poetry, I am thinking it would be a good idea to sign my short forms here as well with Tournesol. So here goes my first summer series of thoughts when I had so much time to scribble in my notebook being, still, SANS internet. It is not so bad actually. I write, sneak peek on my phone for prompts and write offline. But I do miss reading my friends who write so beautifully and inspire me.But for summer, it is not a bad idea…it gives me time to savour summer…sit in a park and just soak up the entire moment, trees, flowers, children playing, lovers sitting side by side with glazed eyes…

summer love
painfully overrated
September blues.

summer’s breeze
forsake unrequited love
nakedness sighs

I do miss walking along an ocean beach. We are only a six-hour drive from Old Orchard, Maine and lately I have been reminiscing about times I went camping there as a teenager with my parents. I also enjoyed vacations as an adult with my husband in Prince Edward Island at Twin Shores…it felt like we owned the beach it was so secluded and quiet. I enjoyed lobsters camping and come to think of it, I have never eaten lobster in a restaurant…only camping.

ocean salt air
savouring lobster tails
melted butter dips

low tide at twilight
moon beams guide the way
skinny dipping

A few nights ago, I was surprised to hear the crickets calling since I don’t live in the country and it was near the bus terminal but I suppose they had to warn us of the hot muggy night we were having. Thank you very much, crickets, my body felt it just fine!

But it did remind me of times sitting out on our porch at our first home, the children in bed surrounded by three mountains (not huge ones, mind you, but still…)

crickets’ night concert
fanning on moonlit porch
hum the blues

Last week I enjoyed my first campfire in a long time. I usually sit out at my cousin`s backyard summers when I visit his family in Oakville. So it was a lovely treat to sit outside with my son and his two dogs, Heidi is a German Shepherd and Maya is a Golden…both are adorable. I’ve posted them in the past when pet sitting.

backyard fire
bowing to a busy day
toasting marshmallows

Now a wood`s party is something I never really experienced but I know that many teenagers do…

(c) Clr - Tournesol — (c) Clr – Tournesol ’14

wood’s bonfire
strumming a guitar
smoking weed

night extends
shrill of harmonica
honky-tonk blues

croon sleepily
red embers smother
German Shepherd snores.

What a treat to be sipping my cappucinno with WiFi and blogging.

Summer jog (haibun) CPHK # 523, Basho (5) “How Rare”

I rarely have the opportunity or privilege (I should really say) of dining with a colleague from work. Since we work on a 24 hour crisis line, our breaks are never together. Yesterday by chance, it was. I introduced my friend to my favourite vegan restaurant, The Green Panther. I have written about this place before and even taken photos with my notebook next to my plate of yummy falafel.

My friend was telling me about how she had gone out for a run the other day and came back with bites on her legs and it swelled tremendously within a short time. The next day when the swelling went down, she noticed 4 little stingers all in a row by a very hungry wasp.

After reading Chevrefeuille ‘s lovely introduction to Carpe Diem’s prompt today #523 Basho (5), ”How Rare!”, I thought of my friend’s running incident.

I also enjoyed the background of Kristjaan’s blog name. Honeysuckle was his seasonword chosen in his very first verse 25 years ago. Translated into French that would be Chevrefeuille and the rest is history.

That inspired me to choose a title for my Blogspot blog. I had originally chosen le jardin de Cher and then I thought about flowers that I love. Daisies are my favourite because they are also easy to purchase any time of year. But I have always loved sunflowers. I remember the giant sunflowers that grew next to our garden shed at our family home when my children were little. Golly!! They were ginormous! And so with jardin still as the theme of my “short form poetry” blog, I chose Tournesol dans un jardin…so Tournesol will be my nom de plume on that blog. Merci, Kristjaan, for the inspiration!

{Basho was host of a renga party at the home of Nagayama Shigeyuki, a military man of the Shonai Clan. This was the greeting verse and it was used as ‘hokku’ for the renga. He had visited Mount Hagura for seven days and was glad that he could finally eat fresh vegetables. It was published in his ‘Narrow Road to the Deep North’, his most well known haibun. © Chevrefeuille}

mezurashi ya yama wo ide ha no natsu nasubi

how rare!
on leaving the mountain
the first eggplant

and Chevrefeuille’s offering:

the sweet perfume
of the Honeysuckle
makes me drowsy

Now for my humble haiku with the image of my friend in mind ~~travelling~~ running.