Starry Night

For Izy’s prompt at Real Toads for day 26 of NAPOWRIMO (ha! gotcha!): a list with a twist. List five things!

Starry Night
Starry night –
Peepers down at the creek,
The owl in its flight – silent as dust,
A fox and her kittens going single file
in my back yard,
the raccoon seeing what mischief he can get into
(not to mention our garbage bin!)
And of course,
The stars –
The stars in their infinite glory
Flowing through the sky –
Amanogawa*

*amanogawa – Japanese for river of heaven, a kigo often used to denote the Milky Way

Ode to Dying Autumn

An ode in the style of Neruda.  Posted in Real Toads Tuesday Platform and dVerse Poets Pub: Meeting the Bar.

Nocturne in Black and Gold 1875 – Whistler

ode to dying autumn
here on this final day
before the first heavy frost,
the sun blazes through the trees
like a roaring wildfire
burning away the leaves –
sky and clouds,
turning into pitch-black night
before this final night
when heavy frost falls –
the *river of heaven flows –
the tiny lights of the stars
reflect off the wings
of the ghost owl
gliding through the night.
The night is an explosion of black and gold –
a painting by Whistler.
The day dawns grey
and cold with frost covering all –
a veil of hoarfrost –
The year’s dying bride walks down the aisle
of the church of trees –
The cloud mother weeps at her child
going down that long aisle to the end –
her raintears wash away the colors
of the leaves like so much paint,
disappearing down the ditches –
the trees reflect off the street
like an Impressionist painting,
I stand and watch the leaves make their way
to the creek at the foot of the hill –
little dinghies floating on the water.
And now it is day.
the frost is gone.
the bride is gone.
Autumn has left the building –
Winter is waiting its cue to enter.
cold and rainy day –
leaves fall like rain – colors fade –
silence descends like snow

*river of heaven – amanogawa – Japanese for the Milky Way – it is a seasonal kigo for haiku

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Today at Poetic Bloomings, we have prompts of Summer Language such as chilled glass of….., dog days of summer, kissed by the sun or, we can use our own forms of language. To be honest, summer is not my favorite season and most of my language about it is unprintable. I don’t go to the beach until the winter. So below is my poem using my own language about Summer. I hope it is acceptable. Note: The Japanese call the Milky Way The River of Heaven or, amanogawa. Hatsuyuki is first snow.

Dog Nights of Summer
around the cream colored summer moon
the River of Heaven flows.
If I squint my eyes, I can see Orion and his dog
wading and splashing in the night cool water.
The sounds of insects thrum and fireflies
explode in the blackness like demented Morse code –
On off on off on on on off…
cicadas begin the buzz of the summer chorus –
deep and rhythmic and then the thin
piping of the tree frog –
high pitched and sweet – like nature’s castrato.
sweat rolls under my cotton blouse
and the cooling unit cranks up
cooling my husband’s deep sleep.
I fervently pray for hatsuyuki –
The first snow.

free public domain image

Quadrille Monday – Shimmer

Today Victoria is giving us the prompt word for Quadrille Monday.  We are to write a poem of exactly 44 words (not including the title).  Our word is “shimmer”.  Isn’t that a wonderful word?  Come visit us at dVerse Poets Pub and read the Quadrilles for “shimmer”.  Because the poems are only 44 words, it won’t take you long to read and enjoy.  I am using one of my favorite Japanese season words (kigo) – Amanogawa – the Japanese word for the Milky Way  – the River of Heaven. dVerse Link for Quadrille #6 http://dversepoets.com/2016/04/04/quadrille-6/

The Eternal River
The river of heaven shimmers in the night sky.
its shape seems to be asking eternal questions
or flowing to the answers.
when I look up at night,
seeking or finding –
I am the impermanence,
the one who changes.
The river flows – eternal.

free public domain image Milky Way

 

River of Heaven

Posted for Mid-Week Motif at Poet’s United – Midweek Motif, prompt:  River.  Excellent prompts are gifted each week here.  http://poetryblogroll.blogspot.com/2015/11/poets-united-midweek-motif-river.html  Also posted for d’Verse Poets Open Link Night.  Open Link Night is where we get to post a new poem in any style/form/subject we choose.  Always an interesting array of poems submitted.  Come and check out both websites for excellent reading and hopefully, to submit one of your own poems!  Both are friendly and supportive communities – no snobs!!!!  Huge grin.  Try it, you might like it.  I am submitting a haiku this week.  The word amanogawa is the Japanese word for the Milky Way and means:  river of heaven or, celestial river.  It is one of the  seasonal words for autumn.  Traditional Haiku reflect the changing seasons and have kigo – seasonal word in the first line reflecting the when of the haiku.  This explanation is longer than the poem!!!

amanogawa
shines in the darkness – light flows
around star islands.

free public domain image

 

100 Word Challenge 09/21/14 – Amanogawa

Slowly I walked to the river, night sounds surrounding me:  crickets, cicadas, the solemn conversation of a family of owls.

The array of stars dazzled in the black sky – a basket of glittering diamonds cast extravagantly on velvet.  I stood, entranced by the amanogawa, the Milky Way, river of the heavens, and the stars reflected on the surface of the river.

As the waves gently lapped at my feet, I looked to the river in the heavens, then to the river on the earth.  I sailed away on the river of earth to the amanogawa, without a backward glance.