thinking in haiku
everything I say spills out
5, 7, 5
Focusing on nature and the present to write haiku has really helped me appreciate spring this year. I've enjoyed every day of National Poetry Month. Hope you have, too!
Don't forget to enter to win an autographed copy of Write a Poem Step by Step--today's the last day!
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Juncos disappear
before chimney swifts return.
On your way, juncos!
Here in Wisconsin, I always see my first chimney swift of the year around April 30 or May 1. This video is from a few years ago. I'm watching the skies!
Find out from eBird when chimney swifts might arrive in your neighborhood!
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Strings of cormorants
skim Lake Michigan's surface
necks stretching northward
hyacinth fragrance
permeates the neighborhood
trespass for a sniff
Here is one good tern.
You know what they say, don't you?
Waiting. Watching. Where?
Sorry, orioles--
no grape jelly in the fridge.
Oranges okay?
I'd like to lie down
in a blue bed of scilla
forget everything
today's pond report:
goose in threat pose guarding nest
gnarled willow sprouting
raindrops on catkins
brighten this gray, dreary day
okay, back to work
at last, I've found you
woodpecker rapping up high
camouflaged on birch
pulmonaria
early blossoms on our hill
pink and blue bee treats
hush--do not disturb
mallard under bird feeders
yard cleanup can wait
haul heavy buckets
watch boiling sap steam windows
tomorrow, French toast
lake wind chills my ears
pesticide smells hurt my head
oh, but look--bloodroot
swollen buds explode
on each tree as we walk by
firecrackers of spring
Oops! I missed a day. Belated post:
yesterday's haiku
first on today's to-do list
O, slippery slope
rain gushes down streets
pools in backyards and basements
brings ducks out to play
stop to photograph
daffodils in rustic frame
lose another glove
I pause, glance outside
yellow-bellied sapsucker
turn back to work, cheered
No photo today, but you can learn about the yellow-bellied sapsucker from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Bird Guide.
Spring peepers call me
down a faint deer trail. Surprise!
Bea must hear them, too!
wrinkled foreheads touch
two rocks kissing form a bridge
river doesn't care
April must not know
I put away my mittens
wind chill: 32
tiny diving grebe
disappears in quiet pond
ripples mark the spot
skunk cabbage unfurls
under last year's leaf litter--
stinky sign of spring
flock of umbrellas
May apples wait in April
ready to unfurl
Soon to be revealed--
mystery spring flower buds.
What did I plant here?
binoculars poised
we prowl the marshy pathways
stalking whooping cranes
I've been posting a haiku each day this month on Facebook and Twitter. Now I'm catching up by gathering them all here in one spot. Enjoy!
Nighttime walk, strange town--
foundry rumble, fast food glare,
same familiar moon
I try to walk to Lake Michigan every day. Thinking about my haiku a day for National Poetry Month while I walk helps me pay attention.
today's gifts: pansies
mergansers diving through waves
children holding hands
Bea lies in sunshine
just when I need a poem
good old helpful pal
Today's Poetry Friday Roundup is at No Water River. Enjoy!
Milwaukee River
Last week on Today's Little Ditty, Michelle Heidenrich Barnes interviewed Joyce Sidman about her gorgeous new poetry collection, Winter Bees & Other Poems of the Cold. Joyce issued a challenge: a "Deeper Wisdom” poem, modeled after her thoughtful “What Do the Trees Know?”
Here's mine:
What do rivers know?
To carve our paths through rock, through snow
To carry everything in tow
When ice forms, how to slip below
What do rivers know?
Dams are temporary, so
Whatever happens, we still flow
We find—or make—a way to go
JoAnn Early Macken
Today's Poetry Friday Roundup is at Live Your Poem. . . with Irene Latham. Enjoy!
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Here in Wisconsin, we’ve got cold. It’s a good time to buckle down and write. I’m plowing ahead on the seventh book of eight in my Poet’s Workshop series, and somehow I lost a poem I wrote for a chapter on riddle poems. Here’s my thought for today.
The Perfect Poem
Once I wrote a perfect poem.
If only I could find it!
I searched inside my messy desk,
on top, beneath, behind it.
I poked through every pocket
and each notebook I could see.
I think it was a perfect poem.
This really bothers me.
Once I wrote a perfect poem.
I’m not sure what it said.
So now I have to wonder:
Was it only in my head?
JoAnn Early Macken
Today's Poetry Friday Roundup is at Tabatha Yeatts: The Opposite of Indifference. Enjoy!
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Happy New Year! I'm always looking for ways to be more efficient and productive. Today seems like a good time to start something new.
My son Jimmy sent me a link to an article about time management for creative people, "5 alternative ways to manage your time." Jimmy said he especially liked the second method, “How to Schedule Your Day for Peak Creative Performance,” and so do I. I’ve adapted it to use with the activities I want to include:
• Create: I’ve been starting my days with coffee and my own writing for a long time; this practice works well for me. My Inner Critic sleeps late, so I’m less likely to reject my own ideas first thing in the morning. The earlier I start, the more time I have in this block.
• Exercise: I want to make this more of a priority, so I’m scheduling it earlier in the day. Plus it’s a nice transition into the next time block.
• Sticking My Neck Out, or Push (as in “pushing myself outside my comfort zone,” as the author of the article labels it). I have a long list of Maybe/Someday ideas I hope to address in this time slot.
• Work for Hire (WfH): Right now, this includes two nonfiction series I’m writing for educational publishers. With deadlines approaching, this block might expand temporarily, but I don't mind being flexible. Teaching could also be an option later in the year. We'll see.
I've included a couple of breaks for showering, checking email, throwing in a load of laundry, eating lunch, etc., because I’m trying to be realistic. And the whole five-day plan is subject to change, of course. (I am not scheduling evenings or weekends!) I'll try to post updates as I figure out what works.
What do you think? Are you planning your work hours? Any recommendations? Let me know!