October morn
peering through my window
dawn breaks
heart warmed with grace
my cat calls me to bed
sky shades
with purple hues
a naked tree
© Tournesol ’14
dawn breaks (haiku)
Tag: poems
six day bender (haiku)
Wandering
looking for home
got lost
lost again
turning in circles
unlisted number
soul searching
chanting my mantra,
I’ve come home
© Tournesol ‘14
Most people are bi-cultural or multicultural…let’s face it. In North America we are are blended in that huge melting pot. What IS interesting is how one identifies himself. I sometimes envy French Québecois who feel so sure of their identity. My mother always presented herself as a bilingual Canadian. I guess that is the only way I can see myself too. I cherish both languages/cultures that have woven the tapestry of who I am today.
lonely soapbox,
sometimes my views get
lost in translation
*
on the fence
each side
tears me apart
© Tournesol ‘14
This last one was just having fun thinking of Kerouac’s road trip for almost a month when he wrote On the Road.
six day bender
sex, love and rock ‘n roll,
day of rest
© Tournesol ‘14
nature’s wonder (tan renga)
In my search for riverbeds, rocks and deserts for Carpe Diem Tan Renga Challenge “River Stones” by Magical Mystery Teacher ,I came upon another great find. Apparently this recording has gone viral on YouTube since March 2014, one that I had yet to see.
For centuries this dry area, a massive creek bed, has seen the disappearance and return of water in a series of flash floods. I found it fascinating that the Zin river in the Negev desert suddenly transformed due to heavy rains from the mountains. This river runs 75 miles long and drains into the Dead Sea. (read more here)
In the Old Testament it is said, that Moses sent twelve spies to cross the Promised Land and that the Zin River, in biblical times, marked the border of Israel.
Now watch this video and you will see as these bystanders also witnessed the flow of water into a once barren river. I had to watch it twice so I could immerse in my feelings of that moment of wonder. It felt like the Great Spirit was smiling down on our planet in one part of the world, in the Negev desert.
in a desert land
stones from rivers far away
muttering dark tales © MMT
youths too young to understand
they pitch for future games © Tournesol
wonder heaves
water floods murky tales
born-again river
© Tournesol ‘14
silent stories (tan renga)
Carpe Diem Tan Renga Challenge, Magical Mystical Teacher “River Stones”
I was so pleased to see this haiku offered as our prompt to complete a tan renga. When I first saw it, I could think of so many completions simmering in my mind. I sat with pen on notebook, scratched a few but was not satisfied. I decided to do some research. One thing ( of many) I like about Carpe Diem is that our host as well as many of his family members often add a tidbit, a story, a history or background about the topic accompanying their stanza. Sometimes it is written, other times it is a video but certainly it is enough to inform readers of something they may not have known. So imagine how wonderful it is to learn more how to master (I’ll settle with compose for now) a haiku but to acquire knowledge about nature and the world around us. I can name just a few of whom I have learned so much at the top of my head such as Hamish Gunn, Waka Blogitorloseit , Jules’Gems and our host and yes, I know I am missing many…but remember, I said at the “top” of my head, there are many more on the first floor!
Searching under themes like desert and river rocks, I discovered several interesting stories. A story of the Wild West was my first stop but then I wanted to learn something of which I had no clue…and I came up with two. To facilitate reading, I am writing two separate posts.
Over 9,000 years ago monsoon rains swept into the Sahara desert. This allowed regions to be transformed into habitable areas for humans and animals…beyond the Nile Valley. It was between 9,000 to 7,300 years ago that also led to the introduction of domesticated livestock like sheep and goats. I find that so fascinating! I wonder which animals were bred. I am sure it is written somewhere…
Retreating monsoons eventually stopped and the Egyptian Sahara revisited its “dry spell” and inhabitants had to leave; many returned to the Nile Valley. I wonder what life was like then, how they communicated…they did leave traces with stone etchings.
in a desert land
stones from rivers far away
muttering dark tales © MMT
echoes beyond Nile Valley
silent stories etched in stone © Tournesol
monsoon gives birth
burgeoning life
drought takes it back.
© Tournesol
Related article and photo credits: Live Science – Sahara Desert
fallen (haiga)
Fallen leaves,
needy for fertile grounds
geese honk
~
naked tree,
defensive and forlorn
squirrel on a wire
~
loneliness
besieged by barren trees,
unwelcome guest
© Tournesol ’14
Carpe Diem Special #114, Shiba Sonome’s 4th “longing for someone”
Mother Earth’s quilt (haiga)
Our host has posted music to inspire us. I don’t know about you but fairies, leprechauns and angels keep fluttering in my mind’s eye. Perhaps it is the Irish in me for I do love Celtic music and this piece brings me close to my Irish roots on Ballybunion. I am not much of a fairy tale writer as you may have noticed in my other blog I wrote for the Lavender Lady at MLMM prompt. My children told me while they were growing up all the bedtime stories, I invented when tucking them in, were not subtle enough…all had a morale to the tale and they quickly figured it out. . Well, what do you want with a mom who is a counsellor and family life educator? But I do remember one tale of the rabbit with those long droopy ears and that extra tall giraffe who were bullied but I digress.
This music brought me to a whimsical place but not quite lost. My desk faces a patio window and I see the trees shedding more each day especially with the cold rain in the past three days. So listening to this beautiful piece of music I can’t help but see fairies working tirelessly adorning warm coverlets before the white duvet that is far from warm, but cold…very cold will cover our earch.
Here is the music our host has posted to inspire us:
Adrian von Ziegler – Sacred Earth
And here is his beautiful haiku:
Mother Earth blossoms
while I dream of unknown paths –
the scent of roses
© Chèvrefeuille
My humble offering I wrote this morning but never had a chance to post because I forgot it on my laptop at home 😦
cross-stitch fondly
gold and amber threads,
Mother Earth’s quilt
~
fairies darn briskly
trimming season’s quilt,
frost’s preamble
© Tournesol ’14
serving tea (haiku)
soothing tea (haiku)
I love sipping tea in porcelain tea cups. My great aunt bequeathed her collections to my father and I now have them in the same curio my Auntie Mae O’Donnell had. Although the tradition is on my Father’s side, my aunt being Irish, my mother taught me how to brew my tea as young as five. She would let me drink it in espresso cups which was just right for my tiny fingers.
My grandson loved to drink tea as well and would choose his tea cup whenever it was tea time. One day I invited my friend and her daughter who was grandson`s playdate. Well! I set up their tea cups with the tea pot brewing their tea. Ah, the cute things they do at five. I doubt he would want to even admit doing this now that he is 10.
I had a dear friend living next door when we were raising the children. I would often tuck in the children and run off to spend the rest of the evening with her sipping tea for hours. We had an understanding…when I`d call to say I was coming over, she would put on the kettle so when I arrived the water would be ready for my tea.
I find tea to be soothing. It is a lovely social ritual and different in many parts of the world but mostly, I like the subtle comfort it brings, the aroma of herbs, fruits and flora. Some teas are quite eccentric with a flower that expands in a special transparent tea cup. Tea is often a nice desert after a meal. How do you like your tea?
served in fine china,
floral and herbal teas
soothing the soul
(c) Tournesol ’14
lost at sea (haiku)
lost at sea,
fog horns prevent collisions,
lighthouse guides ships home
(c) Tournesol ’14
season’s end (haiku)
(haiku)
fallen leaf
led by destiny’s flow
season’s end
© Tournesol ’14
visit also Tournesol dans un Jardin at Blogspot
Tournesol dans un Jardin 
