bones from the sunken ship

 

lay me down

on craggy rocks, where cedar and pine trees 

veil the blue sky

let my bones be salted

by seagulls & shrunken dried by sun & clouds 

i will float

not a lost map

nor a ghost from 18th century sunken ship

but to the vibrancy 

of turquoise waves &

woodpecker's incessant tapping 

on pine tree

Big Tub Harbour, Tobermory

Posted for dVerse Poets, OpenLinkNight, hosted by Mish.   I just came back from my vacation in Tobermory, Ontario and some of the lines are taken from my time there.  Thanks for the comments and visits.

distance is relative & love is everything

I squint
but I cannot see the light 
year travelling at speed of 
186,000 miles per second or 
about 5,880,000,000,000 miles!

It boggles my mind that between falling 
cherry blossoms
a galaxy is revolving
a cluster of white stars are born
a supernova explodes
and nothing escapes the black hole

Against the heavenly sky
We are only stardust 

Yet, in our own world
we are stewards of this enormous 
blue planet

If we will do our job well as kingmaker
it is possible  
a bird nesting site is saved 
a river roaring back to life 
a forest rising from destruction


My eyes are myopic
I don't want to miss the hues of vanishing 
sunlight, the folded wings of 
butterfly, smile of innocent child

I put too much meaning 
on an empty cocoon
broken feather on ground

and the miracle - watching that dew-
drop
on a blooming tiger 
lilies 



Posted for dVerse Poets, OpenLinkNight -  This is a late post for poetics of Theory of Everything and Anything - hosted by Merril Smith.   Come and join us for OpenLinkNight, when the pub doors open for poetry reading at 3pm EST.

Symmetry in Threes

rising in early spring
i grow with milky eyes
nestling amidst a whorl of 3 leaves

sharing the forest floor with ostrich ferns,
and wild ginger, my three-pointed bloom
a trinity of beauty

under shades of blue ash trees
my scent of lemon oil, alluring 
even as i droop by summer, i'm pink, pink, pink- 

Note:  large flowered trillium is the provincial flower of Ontario, Canada.  

Posted for D'verse poets Pub - Poetics hosted by Mish.  We are writing from nature's point of view ~  Join us when the pub opens at 3pm EST.

Oil Spill in the North River

A deluge of black oil killed a sparrow.
While a canada goose and great blue heron are
being treated from chemical spill.

The snow of the mountains feed me.
Wide is my mouth, awash with fish.
A strong river, I define valleys and foothills.

Sadness is the whale's echoing grunts.
Grief is eerie silence from the dying fish.  Is this
what we wish of death, a poison poured, toxic finis? 

I run alongside the prairies, yellow under 
afternoon sun.  Forests keel under my tides.
A benevolent river, I mark journeys anew.

I dig a grave until I couldn't count anymore-

A great blue heron brought in for treatment at Maidstone, Sask., near the site of a pipeline leak that spilled more than 200,000 litres of oil into the North Saskatchewan River. (Submitted by Wendy Wandler )  Source

Posted for D'verse Poets Pub- OpenLinkNight, starts at 3 pm EST.  I am your host so please come and join us with your poem.   

I read this news over the weekend and this picture struck me.   The Muskoday First Nation has declared a state of emergency.    

Chasing a song while walking the trails

Hamilton, Canada

Let's chase the sun
Across the valleys and plains
Out to where the sky is so blue

Take leave of your stuff
We'll travel light as birds
Marveling each new season
With a lilt and swooping wings

Let's chase the sun
Across the rivers and caves
Out to where sands are so pink

See the clouds whirling fast
Over apples trees and wheat fields
Chasing dragonflies, we put   
colorful marks along the way 

Let's chase the sun
Across the valleys and plains
Out to where the sky is so blue

Only when you see 
the school of fish, tarry
the murder of crows, pause
a siege of herons, stop

Otherwise, let's chase the sun
Across the valleys and plains
Out to where the sky is so blue


Posted for D'verse Poets Pub - Poetics, The Music in You, hosted by Mish ~   Attempting a "singable" poem ~

Lost brotherhood

Migrating Siberian Cranes over Himalayas 

white against white
    sky is an open road
       above ice-capped mountains

wild is the call of wind
    that rushes in our lungs
       as we cross continents & rivers

to where the sun greens
     every blade of grass, browns earth-
        worms, yellows fish in marshlands

we fear not the crossing
     the flock is brotherhood
        marking the journey old as sea

our wingspan fight
     against eagles and vultures
         yet we fear not
              as we smell rain clouds
       above the marsh & bogs
       
as we travel  
      on and on       
           don't lead us astray
                     with your hunting games
                 for our prized plumes
         for our tender meat

leave us 
      in our untamed earth
            dense, unsettled as clouds  
               with the wind as our choir      
                       we move as kindred souls 
                                   in silent geometry
                                     
                            Let this be not our  
                                                         last
                                                                 j o u r
                                                                             n
                                                                                 e
                                                                                      y

   

Posted for D'verse Poets Pub - We are writing about ecopoetry ~  Sadly these long-lived cranes  is on the list of endangered species as its population has greatly diminished in the last 3 decades.     Thanks for the visit ~

Moving on, In tune with nature

Photography by Joni Niemelä

A black raven nosedives from top branches 
A bird preening its red-silk feathers
A squirrel stirring tree's deep pockets
A cluster of green pine cones unveiling
A velvet ball of floating milkweed pods 
A spider climbing potted vase's neck
A pink tongue of leashed dog
A fire-ant's steady march up the boulder
A butterfly's quickening leaps above lilacs 
A flowering of late afternoon
As sun tucks in billowing skirts of clouds
Sky dusts away the jet's white smoke arc 
Unfolding the waxing gibbous moon 
Altering the worn-brown cityscape
I begin a new canvas 
As I watch the night's calm arrival 
nourished with mystery



Posted for D'verse Poets Pub - Poetics- In tune with Nature

into another world

Grace @ Everyday Amazing

Running 

into the woods - 

pine cones crunch, twigs snap, leaves- 

a soft carpet, a bird trills and -

  I'm lost-

Wordsworth Quote:

“Books! tis a dull and endless strife:
Come, hear the woodland linnet,
How sweet his music! on my life,
There's more of wisdom in it.” 
― William Wordsworth, Wordsworth: Poems

Posted for:   Imaginary Garden for Real Toads - A birthday in April - and Going Outside
and Poetry Pantry
Poetry form:   Cinquain (2-4-6-8-2 syllabic count)

Sleeping beauty

Beauty lies deathly pale in her sleep,
Forgotten by apple trees & lovers on the hill
Winter keeps a close guard over her tiny frame,
Her skin so white, with hair of darkest night-  
Her lips so red, bewitched by 
summer's end-

One April day, he walks into the forest
The sun greets him like a reluctant flame  
Melting the veil of secrets, capturing his eyes- 
He comes close and kisses Beauty's lips,   
so cold like ice- 

Beneath his fierce embrace,  
She takes her first breath, coming  
Alive with the softest shade of pink -
The wood trembles, like a tide turning
In mid-stream, her eyes awake, so blue,
the anguish of a storm- 

Then, she heaves again, failing
Like a weary bloom, deadly is the frosty 
Wind that bites on delicate skin, 
Color of an unripened apple,
too early, too soon - 

He could not awaken her -
Not with words nor songs from the robins-   
So he places white tulips & pine cones 
On her chest, and tuck back her long hair.   
Shutting down the coffin, he leaves the forest,
A lonely traveler, perplexed with 
false spring - 


Posted for D'verse Poets Pub and Imaginary Garden for Real Toads - Happy Easter ~
Shared with Poets United Picture credit:   here 

Softened earth

Sitana-fan throated lizard

you had me running  

lightning fast across fallen leaves -

weaved of copper and russet gold -

old woods heaved, washed of rain,

strains of birdsong and mating sounds - 

ground is softened earth,  

dearth of salt and sea breeze -

trees rustle as tongues meet,        

wheat-hued sky, bare throats - summer heat 

Picture credit:   here

Posted for Imaginary Garden with Real Toads - Transforming Friday ~

and Sunday's Challenge - Chained Rhyme :   Poetry form:"Linked rhyme (or chained rhyme) chimes the last syllable or syllables of a line with the first syllable or syllables of the next line…" ~  Thanks for the visit ~

Colors of autumn

pale skin under the sky 
bare limbs, empty of sheath   
color of autumn - cherry red
like your lips - parting mine 

~0~0


falling leaves on green meadow  
caressing softly  arms  and  hips 
color of autumn - golden orange
like your hands - warming fire 


~0~0

half-crescent moon in cool night 
glimmering dew on maple skin
color of autumn - plum purple 
like your eyes - raging storm


Posted for OpenLinkNight - Imaginary Garden with Real Toads (Monday)
and D'verse Poets Pub (Tuesday)

Poetry form:   Jue ju (Chinese)

Line length: 5 words per line
Lines per stanza: 4
Theme: Often suggestive of erotic love
Rhyme scheme: couplets or unrhymed

Picture credit:  here

Forest

tall forest treetops,

wide sky and lush maple hills-

where my eyes linger

~0~0

where wildflowers,

bathe in mountain rain -

my words breathe

~0~0

on bed of needles and
blanket of thousand moss,
the moon beguiles

~0~0

under towering pines,

beside river of hundred leaves -

my feet rest

Posted for Imaginary Garden with Real Toads - Transforming Fridays with Hannah Gosselin
Haiku My Heart and  Haiku Heights:   Home

Waning summer

                                                                             Summer Night, 1913, by Albert Bloch

its been raining for several days,
water paling streets of colors,
waning days of summer 

these nights
i pour tapioca pearls in milky drink,
stirring in brown sugar with gelatin ice

sweetly predictable
on my tongue, dulled of sun spice
on my hands, white canvas

i polish the words 
lush brown, blistering red,  vibrant green
into my pocket, lined with purple berries  


i wait for spell of autumn 


Posted for The Mag: 133 - Thanks for the visit ~

The color of our days

@Laurie

the morning crowded
with white ducks and grey feathers,
summer's last picnic    

~0~0

the lake scattered
red, orange and yellow blooms,
stripped of ink:   pale leaf

~0~0~

soft feathers, 
lining nest of twigs,
red-scarred breast


Note on last haiku:  When constructing her nest, a hen will line it with soft down feathers she plucks from her own breast. This gives the eggs the best possible cushioning and insulation.

Posted for Imaginary Garden with Real Toads
and Haiku Heights: Color

World of ice

Photography credit:   Reena of Missing Moments

Alaska Glacier

remote land,

mountain bell of snow, 
strikes awe and fear

~0~0~

small footprints 

on ancient ice rocks,  
sun-streaked monk   

~0~0~

drumming song

stirring north ghost-sky, 
native cries

Posted for:  Haiku My Heart and Haiku Heights:   Alien

Morning walk

morning sun

colors the shores gold,

pure honey

~0~0

crushed-shell sands

soft in morning walk,

 perfect gems

~0~0 

calming breeze

bed of rocks and reef,

open sea

Posted for Haiku Heights:   True

and Haiku My Heart

Picture credit:   here

Not so ordinary

stillness of water,

ordinary everyday,

leaves shine as gold gems 

~0~0

simple joys

dazzling as sunset,

weary eyes

~0~0

ordinary meal:

rice of boiled chicken and spice,

fire on my bland tongue

~0~0

special cake:

cream and ripe mango, 

sugar rush

~0~0

gentle words

ripple old river, 

healing hands

Posted for Haiku Heights:   Ordinary 
and Haiku My Heart


Picture credit:   Uwe Eischens in Moments like this

Joy

pink petals

cleaving fragrant drops,  

joys of spring 

~0~0

music sheet

full of heart shaped notes, 

song of joy 

~0~0

wrapped in pink, 

she swivels and turns, 

mother's gem 

Commentary:   I was specially touched by Tarun's haiku for me ~ Thank you

Calm like a mother

you taught me this enchanting art

my haiku mother.

(I dedicate this haiku to you Grace for you have taught me and at times corrected my haiku. I have never seen you but I know that we have a heart-to-heart bond like a mother and son.)

Posted for Haiku Heights and Haiku My Heart 


Picture credit:   Reena of Missing moments 

Creek

the creek baits this spring morning
its gentle water rippling the cracked stones,
unbroken only by gulls catching the sun rays


I sit on the large boulder, casting out my fishing tackle
for school of fish, a broken twig or maybe a maple leaf
drifting above the overgrown moss, wild and untouched 


words crawl out from under pebbles, behind the forest trees, 
squirming past the squirrels, bounding after a woodpecker,
running the wooden trail, until they sink in my lap, drowsy


life is everywhere, not just a benefit in my office file, 
health is precious, not just a number I add up in my analysis sheet,
family means bonding, not a cause for declining a small case  


I angle my face to the calm wind,  flowing water    
standing, I throw my catch back into the sleeping creek,
cutting net, I know they will find me when I need them   


Posted for D'verse Poets Pub:   Poetics:   Tools of the Trade 


I walked with my son and daughter to the creek this morning.  What a lovely spring day ~

Pine

lush forest

brimming black verses, 

pining heart

~0~0

pines in the forest

flaming red in misty wild,

ink of my black pen 

~0~0

pine for the blue sky

white geese flying to the sun,

new page in my book

Posted for Haiku Heights and Poetry Jam:   Where is your forest
And Haiku My Heart


picture credit:  here