"Preparations"

Preparations

Caramel drizzled apples, wood stacked.
Leaves spiral down, crimson tipped,
heralding "Soon, soon"...

I fickly proclaim Autumn "my favorite",
weary of heat-drenched days.

Beneath kitchen window
fawn's still speckled, buck's alters fuzzy.

Just a pane of glass divides
sweet green grass and pumpkin-spice pie.

by Margaret Bednar, revised September 25, 2017

This is for "dVerse Poets Pub - Quadrille #41" a poem in 44 words & this week use the word "spice". I revised an old poem, edited it and added the word spice.   I like it better this way.   The deer were under my kitchen window and I was making apple pie - but I have exercised artistic license :)

Haibun - Patchwork Poetry

Quilted reflections patch their way onto the page as if outlined with silken threads, scrolled - more often typed.  Sometimes the fabric is fragile, like a baby bird in my hand, fallen from its nest.  It doesn't survive other than in desperate words, hand-made paper splashed with tears.  Other-times harmoniously sewn thoughts nestle between the covers of my soft leather journal, pentameter becomes sashing for metaphors, photographs pattern pieces that inspire it all.

Quilts comfort
butterflies & lavender nourish
poetic germinations

by Margaret Bednar


This is for "dVerse Poets Pub - Haibun Monday - Why?"  It was a HARD challenge and I'm not sure I did it correctly - I tried.  We were to write the WHY of our style.

I think I approach my style as I do making my quilts (the quilts above are NOT mine) very visually - usually with photographs I take and then pair them with my memories (complimenting fabric :)...

“English-language haiku tend to be written in three lines, corresponding to the metrical division of Japanese haiku, but Japanese haiku are actually usually printed in a single vertical column. By way of analogy with this form, poets such as Matsuo Allard and Marlene Mountain began writing English haiku in a single horizontal line—and thanks to their efforts that form has become established in English as the major alternative to the typical three-liner”.
   
If you are interested and want to read more, click HERE.  I found the comments interesting - I like to stick as close to 17 syllables as possible but will go over or under... I like to HINT at a season but NEVER name it.  

Also... this "HERE" was a nice season words (kigo) list for Japanese poetry - from the 1997-78 Haiku Journal... my question if anyone knows - are words like germinate and any plant (like clover) kilo words as well?  

"State of Mind"

A State of Mind

I'm a midwestern girl 

raised on flat prairie land

of endless cornfields 

and deadly spring river-risings 

now call the Blue Ridge home 

whose size once rivaled the Alps.

Kick stones over the edge; 

watch them free-fall tumultuously

like the 9-11 victims "escaping" the flames...

by Margaret Bednar, September 11, 2017

Bizarre state of mind today - have watched a number of mind numbing and stomach turning videos of 9/11... can't stop thinking the 200 plus people who jumped to their deaths...  So many awful ways to die... and we've certainly been seeing many of them lately - earthquakes, fires, hurricanes, tornadoes... all within a couple of weeks.   

linked with "dVerse Poets Pub - Quadrille #40 - 44 words exactly using the word "free"

The State Fair

The State Fair

I inhale the aroma
of deep fried pastries with powdered sugar
Brahman bulls, pigmy goats, horses,
occasional whiff of weed ...

Young son's initiation:  cotton candy,
dragon tattoo, first carnival ride - arms outstretched,
swinging precariously overhead, laughing ...

make our escape - stroll amongst quilts,
painted, and woven until his new-found addiction

finds us amongst noise and confusion once again,
I with sideways glances at pimple faced youth
awkwardly flirting, holding hands, giggling
(a faint memory tickles the back of my brain...)

and my young son wired on sugar and temptation:
over-sized stuffed toys and roller-coaster rides
which I forbid.  Point him towards the bumper cars

and carousel - perhaps this will be the last year
he allows me to publicly kiss his cheek
as he climbs upon the lion's back...

by Margaret Bednar, September 11, 2017

This will be linked with "Imaginary Garden with Real Toads - Tuesday Platform"

The Wooded Trail - Haibun

The farm pond is silent this morning; the boardwalk's draped with overhanging limb, overgrown bushes, and the vocal aspirations of many a songbird grace forest's edge.  I brush aside cobwebs, try not to imagine the spider's size that wove it, hope it's not crawling up my back.  It's cooler beneath the canopy although I've traded heat for bugs.

Everything's still green but the occasional leaf ferries its way downward, twirls slowly, grudgingly announces a new season's about to begin.  Two tree trunks angle across the path; both look quite old with deep ridges and dark gray bark - even riding my horse I couldn't pass as their needled branches make an effective barrier.

I turn back towards the pasture and ponies familiarizing themselves with each other.  Soon we will be exploring this new terrain of rolling hills together.  Supposedly there is no virgin land left in North Carolina; all timber having been clear cut two or three times.  I'm impressed with the size before me, yet how magnificent to have experienced the height and breadth of their ancestors.  I look forward to the high drama when skeletal limbs expose themselves and sunlight settles upon forest's floor.


the farm pond reflects a red leaf's vulnerability

by Margaret Bednar, September 5, 2017

The above video is a bit long - but I hope you enjoy it.  Our horse is Oberon, the buckskin Quarter Horse.   We are boarding at a new barn - Oberon is making new friends and enjoying the pasture - my daughter had a hard time bringing him in the other day.  The farm was left vacant for a year before the new owners purchased it - and a lot of work needs to be done - fences, arena, stalls, trails - but they have done tremendous work in just two weeks - can't wait until the trails are cut back and ready to be ridden!

This is linked with "dVerse Haibun Monday - Komorebi"

and "Imaginary Garden with Real Toads - The Tuesday Platform"