corona days…
waiting for the robin
to appear

corona days…
waiting for the robin
to appear
her eyes widen…
the hollow gourd’s
glow
Happy Halloween!
I am thrilled to be teaching a brand new course on haiku
for people affected by Parkinson’s, their families, and friends, for
the Parkinson’s Art Academy. Starting 18 September 2021 it runs for 8 weeks.
Parkinson’s Art is a non-profit organisation run by artists and writers living with Parkinson’s disease.
Its mission is to:
At the centre of this effort, stands the Parkinson’s Art Academy, offering a variety of free courses on literature and the fine arts. It taps into the wealth of experience existing in the community of people with Parkinson’s.
Happy to have this included in Blithe Spirit
in Tinywords, 31 May 2021. Issue 21.1
girls’ night…
refusing to pluck
the last petal
after the rains
the squishy sound
of my footsteps
soft rain
the jazzy notes
on the rock
morning star…
light-catching
light
Passion week
chicks preparing
to hatch
home alone . . . mother’s lipstick on her lips nude lipstick the teacher’s wry smile under her mask big sister’s lipstick . . . first date following his gaze to her mouth… lip reading lip liner learning to say no *** https://prunejuice.wordpress.com/2021/03/01/issue-33-senryu-kyoka/ In Prune Juice 33 (scroll down)
A woman reading a letter in the light pouring through an unseen window. Hair pulled back from the forehead, she is pictured in the style of her favorite painter against an expanse of soft yellows. Areas of blue for the shadows, the armchair and her top allude to hidden layers.
camera obscura
the temptation to see
depth
Her upper body is turned towards the light, held by it, trapped by it. Arrested in the moment, her Parkinson’s is invisible. In a minute or two, she’ll have to change position, align her spine, prevent stiffness from setting in.
Amsterdam to Delft…
in their seats now, the old couple
remove their face masks
This is a good day. In the early hours of the morning, she’d lain listening to the woodpecker hammering time. As the hours rolled in, she made fabric out of wool, squeezed poetry out of the daily grind, mailed her loved ones. Read their letters…
lapis lazuli…
shifting attention
to what matters
This haibun, a collaboration with artist and daughter Maria Pierides, appeared in the project Love in the Time of Covid
Maria Pierides’s art is for sale from Saatchi Art and from her website
Very happy to have “Portrait,” my haibun paired with art by Maria Pierides, appear in Love in the Time of Covid: A Chronicle of a Pandemic. Many thanks to editor Michelle Elvy.
To read, click here