Love has no borders (haibun)

I witnessed an act of kindness and an act of consciousness today. My heart fills with such joy and love it is bursting at the seams and the only way to establish some equilibrium to continue my shift at work, I am writing this narrative. This will be my offering to Karuna’s challenge on Love.

Today I was waiting for the bus and it was bitter cold with the winds felt like minus 20; I held my hood under my chin squinting now and then to see if the bus was turning the corner soon. A young man was walking towards me and stooped to pick a plastic bottle on the road in front of me. He went on his way with two items in his left hand. I looked at him in awe! If we all did this regularly, wouldn’t our world be cleaner? brighter? prettier? What an environmentally conscious person this was!!

Later I received a phone call from a young man who wanted advice on how to help a homeless teen he had met on the street. It certainly is NOT a day to be panhandling on the street for anyone today. He was concerned for this young person and wanted to know if there were shelters I could recommend. I suggested he try Covenant House since youths can stay up to three months and counsellors on staff might be able to help this youth settle into housing and get support. I also recommended our phone service since our phone lines were free and anonymous. Any information shared with us would never be reported since we do not have call display on our phones and we cannot trace calls either. All a youth has to do is dial from any public pay phone and it’s free and open 24/7.

I could not help but thank this caller for being so compassionate and generous he was for helping this youth and offering to bring him to get a hot meal. He said, it was just part of his training in advocating for youths. But I disagreed because this innate, it is not learned…compassion was part of who he was.

I am filled with so much love seeing people around me who are so giving and conscious on how we are all interconnected.

compassion
thrives like an epidemic
love has no borders

Written for Challenge for Growth Prompt #5: I am Love

unusual encounter (haibun)

Last year a few days before Christmas something inexplicable happened. It had been only a few weeks since her mother passed; suddenly, the coffee maker turned on by itself in the middle of the night. She sat straight on the antique wooden chair in the kitchen, and then, she felt cold air approaching her. She closed her eyes, willing herself to remain as still as possible and that is when she felt a wave of love pass through her whole being. Never had she experienced such a feeling.

mystical meeting
mother’s love touched her soul
swathed in downy peace

Carpe Diem: Seven days before Christmas #5 Peace

Yuletide blessings (troiku)

On church steps
showered with blessings
Christmas Eve snowfall

on church steps
laughing, hugging, well wishes
Yule tidings

showered with blessings
watches her loved ones savour
love spiced stuffing

Christmas Eve snowfall
florets floating softly – rest
on rosy cheeks

Prompt at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai was “Happiness” today

Family Thanksgiving (haibun)

She loves Thanksgiving. It is a time for her adult children and their partners, her grandsons and even the children’s father to come together. She prepares food for days; sets up the guest room for the boys to play and have fun while the adults eat much slower as they talk of this and that that are of no interest to young boys.

It is better than Christmas because there is no pressure of gift giving and commercialization and the roads are still clean of any snow or ice. It is simply a wonderful meal with many the season’s harvest, pumpkin, squash, yams, cabbage and apples including wine from les Vignoble du Marathonien in Havelock in the Eastern Townships. They are all thankful for this nice long weekend break in the middle of autumn, time to drive through hilly roads admiring the mountains with splashes of red, yellow and amber.

She is the cook and hostess serving one and all. Adults joking and enjoying each other`s company, but the children know who the real life of the party is…

lifting their glasses,
voices rise with laughter
winks at her grandsons

Carpe Diem Special Tom D’Evelyn’s essay BASHO

Vow of love (haiga)

Celebration
among friends and family
pledge of their love
lovers’ communion
forever blessed

Compassion is key (Troiku)

This is a Troiku which is a new form of haiku created by Chèvrefeuille…to learn more click on his website Carpe Diem Haiku Kai

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Image result for amma — © theguardian.com Amma (Mata Amritanandamayi)

Heaven beams
devotees hear her message
love is the way

heaven beams
chanting heard from the ashram
new dawn

devotees hear her message
raising their arms in praise
Amma speaks

Love is the way
we must all do our share
we are one

Amma’s Canadian Tour is July 17-20, 2015

a single rose (haiga)

a single rose
rests on her gravestone
thorn in my heart

No more roses will be bought for her birthday …It was always roses that stirred her memory…her sense of smell awakened by the fragrance every time. But in a few days Mother’s ashes will finally be laid to rest next to her husband…the true love of her life.,, looking forward to this reunion.

rose by his side
no thorns can keep them apart
together at last

Written for Haiku Horizons Thorn

sleepy seedlings (haiku)

somnolent seeds
cultivating with love
promise of growth

promise of growth
in quest of nirvana
budding flower

Love in ten lines (free verse – haiku)

This effort to be gently guided by the rules below. Jazzy at Thoughts & Entanglements thought it might be fun. Of course, there are nominees. And yes, I asking you to jump on board with this fun challenge. Of course if you do decide to participate it has to be fun, not a chore…

RULES
Write about love using only 10 lines.
Use “love” in every line.
Each line can only be 4 words long.
Nominate 10 or so others who are up for the challenge.
Let them know about the challenge.
Title the post, Love in Ten Lines
Include a quote about love (i choose to affix my own)

love can be painful
life sans love wounds
lovers love sundry ways
lustful love is hot
passionate love can grow
fire in love sizzles
love endures many hardships
challenges make love grow
long-term love is sweet
child`s love a treat

(haiku) (Quote)

compassionate love
sustains humans worldwide
feeds on kindness

Karuna at

https://livinglearningandlettinggo.wordpress.com/

Justine at

http://eclecticoddsnsods.com/

Michael at

http://summerstommy.com/

Michelle Marie at

http://tellmeaboutit.co/

Pamela at

http://butterflysand.com/

Scottishmomus at

https://scottishmomus.wordpress.com/

Dominic at

http://blackandwrite.net/

Martha at

https://martha0stout.wordpress.com/

Jenny at

https://ramblingsfromamum.wordpress.com/

Pooky at

https://pookypoetry.wordpress.com/

sweetened with love (haibun-Haiga festival)

Since I received a belated birthday bouquet of roses today, it is only common sense to write about that. After all, we are far from seeing any budding blossoms here and these are my first flowers of 2015. The fragrance of roses is that much sweeter when given with love from a child…another special day.