The wind chill is thick ice on my legs and cheeks. I walk quickly inside the house, warm with fleece covers. The snow is a blanket over the bare landscape, with the sun barely making an appearance. With the polar vortex temperatures, the only footprints on the snow were those of the black squirrels.
Some nights, the moon hides behind the thick clouds. As if swallowed by giant black waves, rocking the night sky. The stark simplicity of the starless night is a beauty in its purest form. In the darkness, I muse about many things, including my plans for the coming days. I see that I have a lot of things to do yet, with time ticking very fast. Here are my gloves, spade and seeds. I tend to my inner garden.
wild field is notebook
blank of green, red and sunshine-
birds flutter- sketch of silver-
Posted for dVErse Poets Pub - Haibun Monday, hosted by Victoria Slotto. Last week, we had temperatures going as low as -21 to -30 with the wind chill. Here is short write up about the haibun prompt:
Here is a short quote about Fuyu No Tsuki from a Japanese perspective: Fuyu No Tsuki has a pale tint that indicates a kind of coldness deep within—solemn and clear, a frame of mind.
Today, I would like to see a brief non-fiction account of your experience (not more than three tight paragraphs) related to Fuyu No Tsuki, the winter moon, followed by a Haiku that observes the standards of the form by including reference to a season.
I love the tending of the inner gardens... the darkness can be very comforting too... just like that fleece.
ReplyDeleteYour ability to write nature leaves me awestruck, Grace. While part of me would love to live up where you are, or near family in ND, I would not survive the cold.
ReplyDeleteI like the tending of your inner garden. But even in winter gardens need to be still and wait. A lovely haibun, even with the winter chill.
ReplyDeleteI imagined the wind chill on your legs and cheeks and shivered. It is cold here but nowhere near as cold as where you are. What a landscape with the 'only footprints on the snow were those of the black squirrels'. I love the idea of the moon 'swallowed by giant black waves, rocking the night sky' and the first line of the haiku is a gem!
ReplyDeleteI like the tending to the inner garden. An overcast sky without stars I imagine to be very dark if one is away from urban lights.
ReplyDeleteLovely, the way the poem veers from the vast to the intimate, the cold to the warmth of human occupations.
ReplyDeleteso love the inner garden this time of the year... hopefully, you have a winter garden as well... pretty with a freshly fallen snow... nice write
ReplyDeleteI like that the snow is a blanket, I also like that we are seeing the preparations for the spring.
ReplyDeleteHave to tend within, especially with the crummy cold coming about.
ReplyDelete"Here are my gloves, spade and seeds."
ReplyDeleteThis is the crux of this beautiful piece, for me. The tools needed, right in hand. Let's begin. Beautiful, Grace.
Love this line: As if swallowed by giant black waves, rocking the night sky. Beautifully written. It is good you work on your inner garden; most don't.
ReplyDeleteYour prose is so imagistic and poetic--it puts me right in the scene you compose! Wonderful!
ReplyDelete..beauty in it's purest form. You said it right there. A flow-y prose. Good stuff.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of tending an inner garden. Your detailing of the cold, and the different winter nights is lovely.
ReplyDeleteWhat a calming and soothing piece, Grace. Happy new year. :)
ReplyDeleteHave so much fun on one's list is a luxury most can not lament over. ;-) Nice
ReplyDeleteI love your reflective voice here Grace, looking into yourself while the weather groans outside, a time of deep contemplation yet with a lightness of spirit.
ReplyDeleteIt seems there is always much to do....
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of tending an inner garden. Beautiful description.
ReplyDelete"Some nights, the moon hides behind the thick clouds. As if swallowed by giant black waves, rocking the night sky."
ReplyDeleteI love that imagery. There's something comforting in it, even in being swallowed.
You have created a piece of beautiful stillness on the outside with beautiful busyness on the inside.
An outstanding write, Grace. Totally enjoyed this!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful, I especially love how your 'wild field is notebook' when you tend your inner garden xxx
ReplyDeleteA wonderfully constructed and beautifully rendered haibun.
ReplyDelete