For Frank Tassone’s Haikai Challenge: #Haikai Challenge #15 (1/6/18): Winter Storm or Artic cold #haiku #senryu #haibun #tanka #renga #haiga. Also posted for Real Toads Tuesday Platform.
Three haiku for the challenge:
winter storm brings snow –
birds huddle on branches fluffed
against the arctic cold
arctic cold freezes
snow into sheet of ice –
prowling cat slips slides
putting seeds out –
the winter storm is so cold
birds don’t fly away
Jan 08, 2018 @ 14:58:44
I like the slipping cat!
Jan 08, 2018 @ 15:07:51
It was trying really hard to look cool too. You know how cats are!
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Jan 08, 2018 @ 15:10:11
Ahahaha! Yes!
Jan 08, 2018 @ 15:15:33
🙂
Jan 08, 2018 @ 15:16:04
I don’t know what haikai means. But I know that you are still the only person whose haiku I like! I have a feeding station in my back yard and the poor things really are so fluffed up and put-upon this time of year. I am grateful I am able to help them in some small way, and their presence buoys my spirits.
Jan 08, 2018 @ 15:26:05
Haikai often refers to comic or unusual writings. I’m not sure why that word is used but I like the prompts Frank puts forth. He is truly dedicated to these writings. Thank you for liking my haiku. I am pleased and proud that you like mine. It means a great deal.
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Jan 08, 2018 @ 15:27:18
PS I love the birds as well. I have so many feeding stations in my yard! Plus I keep out catfood for the cats and raccoons. I’m an old softie.
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Jan 08, 2018 @ 19:21:14
Reblogged this on Frank J. Tassone and commented:
#Haiku Happenings #14: Toni’s latest haiku for my current #haikai challenge!
Jan 09, 2018 @ 21:35:25
It sounds terribly cold indeed. I feel for all the birds and animals outside in such temperatures. Always lovely to read you, Toni.
Jan 10, 2018 @ 11:14:08
Thank you Sherry. I have been hard pressed putting out food for them. But we have a warm spell coming up for a few days….normal with highs in the 30’s
Jan 10, 2018 @ 08:27:44
Nature’s creatures have a lot of adjusting to do, especially when the cold spells are unusually severe.
Jan 10, 2018 @ 11:11:51
Yes and this has been a severe winter for us.
Jan 10, 2018 @ 08:56:44
Gorgeous write!❤️ The one with ‘putting seeds out’ really stood out for me.
Jan 10, 2018 @ 10:38:48
I love the playfulness of the middle haiku, cats know how to have fun. The tone of the last one is a bit ominous–it’s nice that the birds get fed, but it is natural for them to fly towards warmer weather, too… So, I’m left wondering what keeps them.
Jan 10, 2018 @ 11:10:37
There are many birds that stay year round in certain areas. Some of them migrate down from Canada to this warmer area. But birds such as blue jays, cardinals, sparroes, some finches, cickadees for example, live year around in areas. That’s why we feed the birds in times where there is no forage for them. That’s the natural order for birds. There are those who do migrate South and return in the spring.
Jan 10, 2018 @ 11:17:38
I understand that. If the second line had said something about non-migrant birds, then the tone would’ve been different. Even if there had been nothing about how the storm was so cold. But seeing the freezing weather right before learning that the birds won’t fly, left my mind thinking that the storm might’ve had something to do with it. Just an interpretation.
Jan 10, 2018 @ 13:53:15
The storm could have had something to do with it. The weather has been cruel…16F during the days. Today it is finally 33F and it feels like spring in comparison. The little birds not flying away when I approach the feeders tells me how cold it is. When I lived in Philly years ago, they had one of the most brutal winters in 90 years. You could see birds in the trees and on wires occasionally fall from freezing to death. Heartbreaking. I try to keep the feeders filled and out out food for the other creatures as well. Poor things. I am well aware if the natural order of things but, I am also aware of how hungry and cold creatures can get as well.
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Jan 10, 2018 @ 11:04:54
Seems a lot of people are writing haiku these days! I love the introduction of the cat.
Jan 10, 2018 @ 13:54:28
Yes a lot of people are writing 5-7-5, not all if them haiku. I have been writing this form for over 30 years.
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Jan 10, 2018 @ 15:55:30
I love the fluffed up birds… they are wonderful
Feb 01, 2018 @ 08:56:38
LOL. They are Cold.
Feb 01, 2018 @ 08:55:57
You capture Winter perfectly. It is in the creatures outside in the cold that make us more aware of not only the particular season, but that we are not the only ones that suffer from it. I especially like the third haiku.