photo by Lerone Pieters via Unsplash
What adventures await us in our dreams?
As in nocturnal slumbers we bridge our way
From past yesterdays to the new today
Padre
Nocturnal Bridges
Life
Falls
Pixabay
Falls
They stood before the cascading waters and spray of the majestic waterfall. The world was theirs, full of beauty and promise. Hand-in-hand they gazed into their future.
Beautiful – Plunging
Uncontrolled by man’s power
Calming – Turbulence
She stood before the cascading waters and spray of the majestic waterfall. Her world like the waters themselves, careening. Widowed, she walked away alone.
Padre
This week Colleen has challenged us to write a poem in the haibun form. A haibun, she explains follows this format:
- Begin the haibun with a title. The title should hint at something barely noticeable in the beginning which comes together by the ending.
- Your haibun prose can be written in present or past tense including, first person (I), third person (he/she), or first-person plural (we).
- Subject matter: autobiographical prose, travel journal, a slice of life, memory, dream, character sketch, place, event, or object. Focus on one or two elements.
- Keep your prose simple, all excessive words should be pared down or deleted. Nothing should be overstated.
- The length can be brief with one or two sentences with a haiku, or longer prose with a haiku sandwiched between, to longer memoir works including many haiku.
- There are different Haibun styles: Idyll: (One prose paragraph and one haiku) haiku/prose, or prose/haiku; Verse Envelope: haiku/prose/haiku; Prose Envelope: prose/haiku/prose, including alternating prose and verse elements of your choice.
I have chosen to write in the prose envelope form.
In the challenge, Colleen asked that we try to incorporate Frank J. Tassone’s photo (below). I had first thought to write using it and having it as the scene of a “fall,” but that seemed too dark when I delved into it. I then took the licence of making the scene “a little bit further along the cliff at a waterfall,” and setting the narrative on two separate dates spaced years apart.
© 2020 Frank J. Tassone
Happily Ever After
Pixabay
Happily ever after,
So the story books do say
White horses, handsome princes
Fair maidens swept away
But living for the future
Is an error – many have made
Not cherishing each passing moment
And making the most of today
Padre
Looking Back
Pixabay
It is amazing how quickly we can forget from where we have come from. If we allow ourselves to be always forwards looking to greener fields, which many people teach is the right was to proceed in life, we can loose contact with how we got to this point anyway. Who were the people, and what were the circumstances that have given us our outlook on life? Do you recall that teacher who showed confidence in your abilities, and encouraged you to look beyond your self-imposed horizons? Do we remember the loves found, and loves lost that taught us how to love, or sadly how not to? Are we thankful for those rough times, when it just seemed that life was going nowhere, or worse still spiraling out of control? Yet, you are still here, how did those moments make it that you are?
We are the sum of every person we have ever met. We are the legacy of the events that framed us. Let’s take a few moments to day to reflect and recall, and then move onwards into the unknown.
From whence have you came?
And to what place do you now go?
What were those fertile fields –
That nurtured and helped you grow?
You are but one person,
But yet a multifaceted being
You have been moulded and shaped
Everyday by life’s everythings.
Padre
Portals
Pixabay
Milestones
Stepping Stones
Portal gates through which we tread
Birth to first steps
And onward we go
Life ever changing
Adolescence – the springs of youth
Families we make and break
Every portal brings situations new
Until we face that one last gate
Padre
Indiscretions: A Photo Themed Conquain
Image Credit: Balaji Malliswamy
Lurking
Lying in wait
Life’s small indiscretions
Devour you – repent before it’s
Too late
Padre
A Cinquain is a short, usually unrhymed poem consisting of twenty-two syllables distributed as 2, 4, 6, 8, 2, in five lines.
Colleen’s 2020 Weekly #Tanka Tuesday #Poetry Challenge No. 178 #PhotoPrompt
Normal
Pixabay
Normal is tied to Mum’s apron strings
Until school days beckon
Normal is graduation robes and things
Until upon pay cheques you reckon
Normal is a life of wedding rings
Until that loved one passes on
Normal is but what the moment brings
What more can we ever count on?
Padre
Tuesday Writing Prompt Challenge: What does a return to “normal” look like for you?
Nomad?
Welcoming Committee Welsh Valleys
The merchant calls me a nomad. I had to ask what the word meant. He said it means that my sheep and I have no “regular” home. That is so untrue. During the snows we were in the valley. It is spring, and we are in his fields for the lambing. We will return for shearing. The same moon, is over us each night. All is quite “regular.”
Padre
Weekend Writing Prompt #152 – Nomad in 68 words
Following Dreams, Living in the Moment
A very special friend gave me a copy of Charlie Mackesy’s The Boy, the Mole, The Fox, and the Horse for Christmas. I have, as she suggested, dipped in and out of it since, but read it in order and in full today. It followed on the heels of reading Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist. It too was a product of a kindness, as one of my readers made the very generous comment that she saw a similarity in my writing style and Coelho’s.
I was amazed at the similarities in the philosophy and sentiment of both books. “Follow you dreams,” and “Make the most of the present moment” resound through both works.
In this time of isolation, and confinement, following dreams may well seem impossible. But, not if the second principle is followed. I have works I had wanted to read, and stories I have wanted to tell. What better time than this to do so?
I have commented before, that in this time, I feel very much closer to my late wife, even as I am more cut-off from others. I am having time to “relish the moment” when I prepare recipes she enjoyed, and admire the decorations in the home we made together.
So as both Coelho and Mackesy suggest, love does fill one’s life. Let’s use this time to thank those who are dear to us, and to reiterate our love for them.
To Sophie and Christine, thank you for the love you have shown me.
Padre
Commute
Image by Bohdan Chreptak from Pixabay
Homeward bound on the evening train
Past platforms damp with evening rain
Workday over, now the commute
Soon home to comfort, shedding business suit
A bite to eat, tell the kids goodnight
Then with loving spouse by candlelight
A sip of something – stress to allay
And share some tales of our day
Padre
