For Rommy’s prompt at Real Toads, Words to Live By. I read this in my early teens. These words have held my mind all these years.
Like the Waters
I heard the old, old, men say ‘all that’s beautiful drifts away, like the waters.’
William Butler Yeats
We cast the ashes of our regrets
into the waters.
We cast the ashes of our sorrows
into the waters.
We cast the ashes of our dreams
into the waters.
All of our beauties we cast into the waters.
They ride the currents to the ocean
and become one with it.
We watch them drift away from us,
we say goodbye and look up at the sky.
The clouds drift by in the water
of the sky and drown themselves
in the horizon.
For Mish’s prompt for Haibun Monday – morning.Also for Tuesday Platform at Toads.
Midsummer
The morning my mother died was one of the most glorious I had seen in many a year. Birds were singing loudly, dew was sparkling on the grass like diamonds, the temperature was perfect. They called me from the skilled nursing facility that morning. I hung up the phone and walked outside, looking and hearing the beauty around me. I stood in the midst of it, numbed. A small finch lit on the grass a few feet from me and chirped then flew away. I began to weep. My mother was dead.
butter yellow sun
coats the grass – birds are singing
my mother to rest
Tuesday of this coming week, I will be Pubtender for the dVerse Poets Pub Poetics. My prompt will be Stars. I will be posting this poem for that prompt as well as for Poets United Poetry Pantry on Sunday Poetry Pantry #282
Ursid meteor showers public domain photo
Beneath the Faithful Stars
During the deep night
and only the distant hoot of an owl
breaks the silence.
I lean on a tree and gaze up
at the stars.
Windows around me dark
But above me the windows
of heaven shine.
I only ask of the stars that they continue
to shine just as they have for millennia.
In this silent night
their heat cooled by unfathomable distance
and their music just the faintest whisper
of glass chimes –
I wrap myself in my grandmother’s quilt
for warmth in the December night.
The faithless world changes from day to day
but the heartbreaking beauty of the stars
ever faithful shines.
The cherry blossoms are not showing yet where I am located. Some early plum, wild pear, and peach blossoms are beginning. My flowering quince, usually the earliest to bloom, is lagging. The buds are nice and fat and look ready to pop…The Japanese plum buds are much larger and a petal here and there can be seen. This cherry blossom forecast is for Japan. I am a little late posting it due to various life events, pneumonia, etc. The slide show is from photos from the past couple of years. I used to work in an office park where there were sixty-five cherry trees – my own private festival! Also, there are some short videos of my favorite guys, World Older. JATA – Japanese Association of Travel Agents – produced these videos showing parts of Japan. The music is hypnotic and the guys are showing more of their surroundings rather than the videos being about their choreography.
While there are all kinds of festivals and fun events going on, the time of cherry blossoms is always a solemn time for me. Even though I am excited to see their beauty after a long cold snowy winter, I still feel ..mono no aware…物の哀れ – the pathos of things; impermanence – 無常, mujō. These are feelings of a gentle sadness, wistfulness. The Samurai were also associated with sakura as their lives were so transient.
I hope you enjoy this mini-trip to Japan!
Updated February 19th, 2015 as Sakura Map has updated their cherry blossom forecast for 2015 sakura season. Just a reminder that these dates are the estimated opening date for cherry blossoms and full bloom should be around a week or so after.
Fukuoka | March 22
Matsuyama | March 25
Hiroshima | March 27
Miyajima | March 27
Kyoto | March 28
Osaka | March 27
Nara | March 29
Nagoya | March 25
Tokyo | March 26
Yokohama | March 26
Kanazawa | April 4
Sendai | April 10
Today, Mary gives us the prompt of real beauty, savor it and share it. Click the link to learn more, and enjoy: http://dversepoets.com/2015/03/24/poetics-savor-the-beauty-and-share-it Many times, we tend to look at the large picture of beauty: sunrise, sunset, the ocean, a forest, Mt. Fuji. As I am only 4’10” and close to the ground I have a different perspective. These small flowers speak to me in sumire 澄玲 – sound of jewels.
澄玲 =Sound of Jewels
The small shining things
of spring sing with the voices
of jewels hidden
in the jewel box of new
grass and faded autumn leaves
![300px-Peach_Glow_water-lily_at_Brooklyn_Botanic_Garden[1]](https://kanzensakura.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/300px-peach_glow_water-lily_at_brooklyn_botanic_garden11.jpg)
kanzen sakura 