hidden colony (haiku)

The girls were at the family cottage up North for the summer and the local girls met up with them to go on a picnic. With packed lunches in their backpacks, off they went towards the creek, skipping stones to the other side. This led them to a darker, damp terrain leading into the woods. Sounds of various birds and crickets were heard over the rushing water of the creek

© Painting by Mae Roberts Giroux, Shawbridge, Quebec – Creek by Kilarney Cottage

The youngest, chubby girl started whining she was scared. One of the locals mocked her, “Ooooo, stranger danger!! Are you afraid of the boogie man?”. She squealed and said she’d rather wait by the water and they took off into the woods. Minutes felt like hours to chubby, so she started skipping rocks by the creek until she slipped on one looking strangely different. She took a stick to poke the odd looking shape…

Moss covered stone
sleeps lazily by the creek
army of ants

army of ants
secured by rock-hard shield
camouflaged with moss

Morning Glory (haiku)

Photo credits: Totoiriyaasagao Hiroshige at Wikipedia Commons

Morning glories
dawn unfolds such beauty
the old nun prays

the old nun prays
loving memories soothe
dusk awaits

priest and morning glory
how many times reincarnated
under pine tree law

in deep silence
under the cherry tree
a young priest

filled with grace (haibun)

Late in the night, after her shift she walked through the bush, her shortcut to the Métro. As she stepped onto the deserted street she could not help but notice a huge light beam down at her. She looked up and saw it smile at her. She stood moments in awe, enthralled by the magnificence of its beauty. Surely this was a sign…a blessing for her week.

Showered with grace
moonbeams ignite lone path
echoes a mantra

Carpe Diem

Ancestral home (haibun)

She follows the inspector like a mid-day shadow. He scratches on his notepad, silently walking the perimeter of the weather-beaten house. It leans more towards the river now. She sighs with a heavy heart, not realizing how time and weather has bent the ancestral abode.

weighed memories
sagging shoulders slope
weathered house bows

by the bank
feeder swings on rusted wire
lives perch

Written for Carp Diem “Weatherbeaten” meme

dazzling sun rays (haiku)

Glorious sunshine
captivates to distraction
stumbles on sidewalk

stumbles on sidewalk
sunshine infuses content
despite bitter winds

Three Word Wednesday

unconditional (haiku)

purity of heart
comfort’s a privilege
no questions asked

heavenly gifts (haibun)

123rt.com bowling pins under cloudy sky

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!! She cowered and ran into her grandmother’s bedroom and dives under a pillow to block the rumble of the thunder. Her grandmother was counting the seconds between each lightening and each clap of thunder to gauge the distance of each lightning.

“N’aie-pas peur, ma belle poule aux oeufs d’or; les éclairs sont loins…il n’y a pas de danger. ” Her grandmother was looking out the window in the veranda and called her grand-daughter to come see. She told her a story that changed her outlook on thunder forever.

“When GrandPapa died last year, I had no money to support myself and so he found a way up in heaven to raise money for me. He joined the heavenly bowling league and plays for money. When you hear the thunder those are the bowling pins you hear and when you hear that huge thunderclap just a few minutes ago, well, that is a strike so I will be getting a nice fat pension this month! ”

Flash of lightning
rumble of the thunderbolt
blessing from heaven

Carpe Diem Special, Kala Ramesh’s fifth haiku “thunderclap”
thunderclap
the darkening sky splits
into liquid night
© Kala Ramesh

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Devotion (haibun)

Since she was a young child she would often whisper a short prayer on her way to school such as The Lord’s Prayer with the image of her grandfather in her mind’s eye and this practice continued as an adult on her way to work. In the past year she has been chanting her personal mantra with the image of Amma; sometimes her grandmother’s and mother’s images seem to slip in without her control.

Now she simply begins her mantra with the image of Amma and if her grandmother and mother want to slip in, she just goes with the flow. It is a wonderful way to start her day at work. In many ways she feels protected from some of the pain and suffering of her daily work.