Harbingers of Change – Haibun – September 4, 2016

 

A colourful leaf fell past my window this evening, bright harbinger of change, awakening me to other signs that I should have noticed.  The silence of the empty swallow’s nest, the chicks have long gone but when did they fly away? There, listen carefully, do you hear the honking of passing geese overhead?

Autumn is boldly approaching leaving behind it the suffocating heat of summer. The seasons tumble one into another, each day passing quickly, soon the blackbird will sing in spring again!

leaf and bird
in winter and summer
harbingers of change

© Gsk ’16

Heeding Haiku With Chèvrefeuille August 31 2016 colorful leaves – Mindlovesmisery’s Menagerie

Soliloquy no Renga “Ah! Those Cherry Blossoms” – July 22, 2015

Credits: Woodblock print “Sakura” by Hiroshi Yoshida (1876-1950)

 

Hokku:

Ah! those cherry blossoms
their beauty amazes me again –
finally spring is here

© Chèvrefeuille

raining pink perfumed petals
decorates the warm tarmac

swallows from Africa
celebrate with cherry blossoms
making new nests

farmer’s barn decorated
with wicker basket homes

eggs laid
maturing in the warm spring
last cherry bloom falls

peeping young swallows cry
no cherry blossoms greet them

tiny green cherries
dangling tree decorations
young swallows first flights

swirling in the warm orchard
bees, swallows and butterflies

last swallow departs
the cherry tree stands bare
golden leaves fall

thoughts of swallows as it snows
dreaming of cherry blossoms

first cherry blossoms
greet the returning swallows
rebirth of life

 © G.s.k. ‘15

Written for: Carpe Diem Tokubetsudesu #53, Soliloquy no Renga “Ah! Those Cherry Blossoms”

Today’s episode of Tokubetsudesu is to write a soliloquy no renga … that is a renga where just one poet creates a series of haiku for the hokku presented … concluding it by connecting in a full circle to the hokku.  Here is how Chèvrefeuille explains it:

The first verse “hokku” gives the title to the renga and sets the entire image of your renga. By association on the verse before the verse you have to write you can make the renga a complete story. The Soliloquy no Renga is just for fun and I hope it will bring you the fun and inspiration as I had in mind. You can choose on your own how much links you use, but at least (as I said above) six (6) links. The last link has to make the “circle complete” and in that way has a link with the first verse. That last verse is called “ageku”.

Day Dreams – June 19, 2015

baby swallows

watching fascinated
they stretch their wings learn to fly
little swallows

off to Africa
leaping from the window sill
just a step away

§§§§

in my imagination
as I gaze out my window
summer mist rises
off from the mountain tops
a story comes to mind
of a voyage in the sky
shrouded in vapour
and a young swallow’s flight
first lone journey
far from her mighty brothers
off to Africa
she flies looking for her home
over land and seas
under sun and stars and rain
until she sees a tree
a baobab I think it is
near a crystal lake
under the warm bright sun
at last she finds her home and love

© G.s.k. ‘15

Swallows often return to where they were born, with their new spouses and make their nest.  This spring, I’d noticed a lone sparrow of what had been a group of three chicks, sitting under my loggia. Soon the swallow was joined by another and an old nest that had been abandoned for the last two years became their home.  I noticed the chicks just a few weeks ago .. an astounding 5 babies!  Day before yesterday they finally left their nest to stretch their wings for the first time.  The aerial show under my window is a sight to see as the babies, still pretty fuzzy, swirl around the street and court-yard.  They pass most of the day though sitting where their parents sat this spring … chattering like mad when their parents bring them some tidbit to eat.

For:

Carpe Diem 758 day dreaming

Swallows – June 25, 2014- Free Verse

swirling whirling through the sky
swalows play outside my window
through the houses
over the trees
joyous shrieks
on the breeze,
of a warm summer eve …
babes you were
a year ago
you left for warmth
leaving winter snow
now your return
makes my heart sing
as I watch you play and fly the evening by
swirling whirling through the sky
swalows play outside my window

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Last year I took this photograph of a family of swallows – and misnamed it sparrows.  Anyway the family returned ithis spring, mated and now a new generation sits where last years chicks sat …it’s such a joy to see the continuaton of the cycle of life and hear their joyous chatter as thye play their games outside my window