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word-smith—
on the anvil a haiku
slowly takes shape
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Prompt: haiku, writing, word. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.
Category Archives: aros
Haiku #14a July 2011
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Haiku #12 July 2011
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Cretan knife—
picking wild mushrooms she pricks
her finger
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Prompt: indigenous/groups. NaHaiWriMo extension 2011.
Haiku from Lake Ammersee
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Ammersee—
where the heavens look
in the mirror
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reflecting the skies
lake Ammersee forgets
itself
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Ammersee–
looking in the mirror
the clouds long for home
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sundown—
the clouds lose their
perspective
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sunset—
golden light anoints
the world
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I wrote this haiku responding to two prompts: the NaHaiWriMo extension prompt, “ mirror,” set by Susan Delphine Delaney; and the call for submissions by Walter Bjorkman. Susan is setting the prompts for July for the wonderful facebook community of haiku poets, NaHaiWriMo. Walter is hosting the blog carnival Language/Place, on the theme of “Poetry of Place.” Submissions of links to Walter on this theme are open till the 20th of July.
The photograph of the lake Ammersee was taken one evening this summer.
Small Stone Blogsplash
Kaspa & Fiona have taken over my blog for today, because they need our help.
They are both on a mission to help the world connect with the world through writing. They are also getting married on Saturday the 18th of June.
For their fantasy wedding present, they are asking people across the world to write them a ‘small stone’ and post it on their blogs or on Facebook or Twitter.
A small stone is a short piece of observational writing – simply pay attention to something properly and then write it down. Find out more about small stones here.
Whether or not you have a blog, write them a small stone on their wedding day whilst they are saying their vows and eating cake, post it on your blog, and send it to them.
You can find out more about their project at their website, Wedding Small Stones, and you can also read their blog at A River of Stones.
They also have a July challenge coming soon, when they’ll be challenging you to notice one thing every day during July and write it down.
They thank you for listening, and hope they’ll be returning from their honeymoon to an inbox crammed with small stones, including yours.
So do it! Please…
NaHaiWriMo February 2011
The River of Stones project, organized by Fiona Robyn and Kaspalita, has now come to an end. In January, for a whole month, people from all over the world wrote a ‘stone,’ a polished thought/moment of experience. I wrote and posted mine in this blog, on my twitter stream and on my separate tumblr blog Stella’s Stones. Now that January (2011) is over, you can find more of my very short work in Stella’s Stones: on the right hand side of the front page, just below my twitter feed. A big thank you to Fiona and Kaspalita!
February (2011) is also a special month. Michael Dylan Welch of Graceguts organizes the NaHaiWriMo challenging haiku poets and others to write a haiku a day for the month of February. Can you do it? Can I do it? I will certainly try. You can follow my haiku progress in Stella’s Stones.
For well-writen essays on Haiku and other genres click Graceguts
Shard
reaching for the sky
the Shard of Glass,
mast on a proud city
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This post can also be seen in Stella’s Stones here
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Pink-footed geese
Pink-footed geese circling the fields,
dot the golden sky
fill the air with their harsh calls
for home.
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This post can also be found in Stella’s Stones here
London needs
Sometimes, like today, with a chilly wind spraying drizzle over grey London, I feel that this city needs the Aegean to be closer.
This post is also in Stella’s Stones here
Silence
Silence has lost its shape today.
A single carnation bursts into song.
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This post is also in Stella’s Stones here
Poem
poem–
the old soup bowl
filled with cream
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The Moon
The moon is kind tonight, bathing the room in milk.
A breeze rustles the Eucalyptus and I realize I daydream.
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This post can also be found in Stella’s Stones here
Still
Picking fishnet tights, a shoe, and a pair of torn jeans, the wordsmith assembles her poem; plenty of time in her workshop.
This post can also be found in Stella’s Stones here
Night
Night
As darkness falls over the Thames,
a liquid haze swims in from the sea
and the city steels its heart for the night.
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This post can be found in Stella’s Stones here
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Flint
London
The Hermit
In sun-bleached deserts, in mountain caves, on sea-sculpted rocks
the hermit slept, forgetting that the essence of being can be found in a single drop of rain.
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This post is also in Stella’s Stones
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Crochet and Knitting Meditation
When I started learning to crochet I thought of it as a relaxing, stress-reducing act, like counting the amber beads of a komboloi.
Now, looking at my hand holding the crochet hook, the wool, at the next stitch to pick up, the stitches I travelled and the one I have to travel to next, I think it is more than that. It is a process like meditation, without however the religious connotations and significance often associated with it: like counting prayer beads, but without the religion.
I was interested to see that, according to Wikipedia, there are two ways of counting the komboloi beads: “a quiet method, for indoors, and a noisier method that is acceptable in public places.” While crochet is quiet, knitting with two needles is not! I wonder whether there is a way(s) of knitting indoors that keeps the noise down!
blackbirds
Yesterday’s photographs
Halcyon Days
Metamorphosing
Shimmering haloes
As darkness falls over London,
the thick, grey curtain of rain
that drowned the city relents,
leaving behind shimmering haloes
of street lights — the night’s rainbow.
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This post can also be found here
waking up
Mischievous
cold wind sweeps the street, deposits leaves, sweet wrappers, a juice carton, and a chocolate box on my doorstep.
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This post appears also here
dark morning
The Eucalyptus
behind the stonework
behind the stonework
a spiritual space filled with
calm and stillness
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Isn’t this exactly what we are trying to achieve with our stones?
Photo: St. Nicholas Church, Blakeney, North Norfolk.
This post can be found on Stella’s Stones
For more pictures of the area see here
New Year
Happy New Year’s Day!
Remember though …
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a river flows
into a new year
every day
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In a sense this micropoem plays on the theme of Heraclitus‘ Fragment 41: “You cannot step twice into the same river”
Δεν γίνεται να μπει κανείς στο ίδιο νερό του ποταμού που κυλάει δύο φορές.
From today on, though, I, along with others, will be entering the river of stones every single day for a month.
For Heraclitus the appearance of stability is an illusion, “for as you are stepping in [the river], other waters are ever flowing on to you.” However, consider the possibility of re-entering the river of stones: on the one hand, the river consists of the flowing moments of experience as represented by stones; on the other hand, each time we polish and share a stone, we ourselves change, grow through our attending to and encapsulating the moment of experience.
Happy New Year 2011!
This post also appears here
