Tag: Haiku

A Book for Bear by Ellen Ramsey, and a Poetry Gift

Welcome to Poetry Friday!

What is Poetry Friday? Find out Here.

This week we are hosted by Linda Baie, book aficionado and poet. Thank you for hosting, Linda! Be sure to check out her post for today at her blog, Teacher Dance, http://teacherdance.org.

First, I want to recommend a new picture book.

I hope everyone will have a chance to read A BOOK FOR BEAR, written by Ellen Ramsey ( http://ellenramsey.com) and illustrated by MacKenzie Haley (http://mackenziehaley.com). Though Ellen is also a poet, this book is written in prose.

The book begins with the sentence, “Bear loved books.”

Bear, who has been listening to a girl named Ellen read stories out loud in the forest, has fallen in love with books. He loves books so much one day he says, “I want a book of my very own.”

For Bear to acquire a book of his own, will not be easy.

Together the bear and Ellen search and search for a book for Bear. They look in the obvious places, such as the library and in stores, where bears aren’t all that welcome. Still, they work hard at it, but he fails to find a book to call his very own.

Does Bear finally succeed?

Ellen’s storytelling and the colorful illustrations will keep you turning pages to discover what happens.

As a book lover, I could relate well to Ellen and Bear and loved these ardent characters. And I know there are many kids who will, too.

The back book cover.

This week, it just so happens to have just received a poetry swap gift from Linda Baie. Besides a lovely journal, a packet of words to prompt future poems, and a book of poems, she sent me an sweet and imaginative poem she wrote that she nestled in a scene she created with paper, cut-outs and a bit of cotton for clouds. 

FOR WEAVING TOMORROWS
by Linda Baie

Remember gentle thoughts, when rising--
     more comes with brainy exercising.
Your pen will sweep a nimbus cloud
     over the waiting Gulf Stream sky.

Clouds will become the sky mail
     sent from way up high.
Use them for your air-tales,
     words parading by. 

  Now add a solar-powered smile.

Writing takes me places. I know that a pen can “sweep nimbus clouds” and become “sky mail” even if only for myself.

I read Linda’s poem as a reminder of what I have been missing this summer, that is, time with my pen poised, head in the clouds, thinking about words.

I’ll end with a haiku inspired by weather today here in Central New York. 

Summer rain today
not too little not too much--
a fairy tale storm. 

© Janice Scully 2023

I hope everyone has a great weekend. Thank you, Linda, for hosting!

A Poetry Swap gift and August Haiku

Welcome to Poetry Friday, this week hosted by Molly at her blog: Nix the Comfort Zone.

I have been away from Poetry Friday for a while and found I missed, not surprisingly, this community and its celebration of words, writing, and all things artistic.

I want to thank Tabatha Yeatts for organizing the summer Poetry Swap. Patricia Franzen sent me an amazing poem about a sugar pine tree, which is a beloved Sierra species. The poem came just after I visited California and had seen a Redwood forest that was returning to life after a forest fire. Patricia’s gratitude for her beloved Sugar Pine tree, which she has been observing over time, resonated.

pinus lambertiana

In death as in life

you find your home in a mixed-conifer forest

a fallen sugar pine’s twisted remains

nestled between friends

generous to a fault

you sacrificed cone and seed

to feed the insatiable

pocket mouse or ground squirrel

benevolent ruler of this alpine slope

stripped bare, yet steadfast

cavity nesters find a home

in your heartwood

Patricia Franzen July 15, 2023

She also sent a card with one of her photos of Lake Tahoe and some whimsical stickers. It was wonderful to hear from her!

This week I’m sharing a series of haiku inspired by an August of summer vegetables, brought to me in abundance from a generous neighbor. These, of course, are leeks. 

FARM TO TABLE HAIKU

1)
Fresh beets in a box
wearing thick mud from the field—
tender greens wilting.

2)
Found meandering
among tasteless and tough weeds,
sweet carrots and leeks.

3)
Not too long or short—
Green and yellow beans flourish.
Hurry up! Pick them!

4)
Bite marks on veggies
But corn and okra don’t care
if raccoons eat them.

5)
By myself cooking,
I slide the window open—
let in cricket sound.

© Janice Scully 2023

What are you celebrating this August? Have a great week! Thank you, Molly, for hosting Poetry Friday.

Flowering Dogwood

Welcome to Poetry Friday! This week Poetry Friday is hosted by poet and artist Michelle Kogan HERE. Thank you for hosting.

Today, I am beginning a brief couple of week’s break from posting on Salt City Verse. It’s because I’ll be with my family celebrating our oldest son’s wedding. It seems a long while since we’ve had an important momentous event, besides holidays, to bring us together. I am excited!!

Sometimes good things happen at once. That is the case with the Flowering Dogwood blooming outside my office window. The tree is right against my window so when it blooms, it fills the window and I imagine a forest of dogwoods, though it’s only one tree.

Flowering Dogwood.

Why the name Dogwood? According to Google, one theory on the tree’s name is: “The common name dogwood comes from one colonial description of the fruit as being edible but not fit for a dog.”

I have noticed each year the small very pretty knobby red round fruit that comes after the flowers are gone. I guess I will assume that things not fit for dogs are not fit for humans, and though edible are not very tasty.

Here’s a haiku: 

Dogwood's full white blooms
catching light by my window--
time for a wedding. 




© Janice Scully 2023

Have a wonderful weekend! I hope I have some time to catch up with Poetry Friday when I’m away.

Haiku: Lilacs in Full Bloom

Happy Poetry Friday. We are hosted here by Robyn, at Life at the Deckle Edge. Thank you, Robyn for hosting.

As I write this it is beautiful in Central New York. To make things even better I received my Summer Poem Swap list from Tabatha and look forward to sending and receiving summer poems. Thanks, Tabatha!

During National Poetry Month I posted a haiku about the lilacs flowering in my yard. They were tight little purple buds on April 23, seen Here. Now they are I think at their peak and deserve a final haiku. 

Lilacs in full bloom.
I waited for two weeks-- 
you showed no hurry.

© Janice Scully 2023

Haiku, Day #30 National Poetry Month

This is my last haiku for this month. I’ve learned there are are a limitless number of ideas in the world, ideas you don’t see if you don’t really look. This lovely egret, in a photo by Kat Borland who lives in San Antonio, took my breath away, standing so proudly.

Picture by Kat Borland

Perched high on a fence,
silently scanning back yards-- 
sleek feathered hunter.

© Janice Scully 2023

Haiku, Day 27 National Poetry Month

I’m nearing the end of April and will miss writing a haiku a day. Perhaps I will continue with a poem of some form every day, try to avoid the myriad of distractions.

Here’s a haiku inspired by my favorite green that used to be enjoyed by the ancient Greeks and Romans. I like it simmered with sautéed garlic and onions in olive oil, beans and a little chicken broth. It’s one of my favorite and easy things to cook. 

Escarole lives on--
ancient salad greens survived
the collapse of Rome.

©Janice Scully 2023

Haiku: Day 25 of National Poetry Month

In Scientific American Magazine, (May 2023 issue), I read that space exploration is focusing on a few of the many moons of Jupiter, such as Europa, because water was spotted by the Hubble Space Telescope. Water, of course, may mean life.

It seems, to explore moon oceans, a moon walk might not be enough. And to get there, it will take eight years for the six-ton JUICE ( which stands for Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer) to get there. 

Water plumes spotted--
Jupiter's icy moons slosh.
Time for a moon dive.

© Janice Scully 2023