National Poetry Month: #haikudiary.9

 

singing in the dark

first one voice, then a chorus

early morning birds

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2021

Hmm...looks like I wrote a version of this haiku last week! These two haiku reflect not just the glory of springtime, but also my despair about (and hope for) the direction our country is poised to go. Let's be the wrens! Let's be the chorus!

Happy First Full Week of National Poetry Month! I can't wait to get caught up on all you've created! Tabatha has the Poetry Friday Roundup at The Opposite of Indifference.

National Poetry Month: #haikudiary.8

 

one slice of peach left

in a wide indigo bowl

early morning sky

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2021

National Poetry Month: #haikudiary.7

 

nervous, excited

first day at school...in April

together at last

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2021

My Remote Learning Academy students have been troopers (most of them, for the most part, most of the time). They've been learning through a screen and working in isolation for more than a year now. This month, they've been granted a small reprieve. It comes in the form of state testing, which must be done in person. But even the price of a morning spent testing is not too high for the opportunity to be inside a school again, in the physical company of classmates. We get two days this week, two days next week, and two days at the end of the month. This is what will get us through to the end of May. For once, I'm glad for the chaos known as state testing. 

For those who are following my spring bloom haikus, here's what the Virginia bluebells look like just one day later. See why they are classified a "spring ephemeral?" Now they are blue. Now they are bells.

National Poetry Month: #haikudiary.6

 

Virginia bluebells

at first neither blue nor bells

spring ephemeral

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2021

Sorry I sent you off to Google for sessile trillium yesterday!

(Here's one of ours...see the little one to the right?)

And here are my Virginia bluebells as of today.

They are getting the faintest blush of blue.

National Poetry Month: #haikudiary.5

 

sessile trillium

blooms at the base of our oak

formerly forest

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2021

National Poetry Month -- #haikudiary.4

 

impulse purchase

packets of zinnia seeds

still too early

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2021

National Poetry Month: #haikudiary.3

 

razor blade north wind

winter is not quite over

wear wool once more

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2021

National Poetry Month: #haikudiary.2

 

dark, darker, darkest

those moments just before dawn

wren sings from the fence

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2021

National Poetry Month 2021: #haikudiary

 

maple trees blushing

forsythia in full joy

forecast calls for snow

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2021

Poetry Friday: Haiku Diary

 I got way behind posting my daily haiku on Twitter with #haikudiary and #poeticdiversion, but I kept at it in my notebook. Here are the week's snippets:

Friday, 11/6

Poetry Friday

digital, virtual

still magical

Saturday, 11/7

everywhere I look

red and blue harmonize

naturally

Sunday, 11/8

unseasonable heat

restacking the woodpile

Monday, 11/9

midday walk at the farm

no blue birds, but a monarch

don't dawdle

Tuesday, 11/10

rollercoaster

almost tears at lunchtime

almost

Wednesday, 11/11

Oh, to go fishing --

rippling water, leaping trout --

instead...more work.

Thursday, 11/12

Google My Maps

Where do you want to visit?
Dreaming our futures.

Robyn Hood Black (Queen of the Haiku) has this week's Poetry Friday roundup at Life on the Deckle Edge. 

Poetry Friday -- Surprise

image via Unsplash

 

heavy humid air

a skunk was surprised nearby

exclamation scent

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2020

This will be the year that I'm almost drowning almost all the time. But I've made a couple of promises to myself. I will write a bit (even if a few words) each day. I will maintain my exercise. Earlier this week, I composed this poem in my head as I walked in the early morning darkness. A two-fer!

Heidi has the Poetry Friday roundup this week at my juicy little universe.

Poetry Friday -- Open to Interpretation

photo via Unsplash

if it's a bow
its string is pulled taut...
summer field

弓と弦なら弓を引け夏の原
yumi [to] tsuru nara yumi wo hike natsu no hara

"A haiku about hunting. Issa paints us a picture (disturbing for the animals in the field and, I think, to Issa too) of every bowstring pulled back, a notched arrow ready to fly." --David Gerard

David Gerard goes with a literal interpretation of this haiku. I see it figuratively -- that brief moment when everything is ripe and full, or any moment when you're holding your breath, waiting to see what will happen. Based on my interpretation, here are a few versions I would propose:

if it's a bow

its string is pulled taut...

return to school plan

if it's a bow

its string is pulled taut...

thunderstorm

if it's a bow

its string is pulled taut...

cat in the window

What's your take on this haiku? I hope you'll share your version in the comments.

Catherine has this week's Poetry Friday roundup at Reading to the Core.

nature carries on

nature carries on

hyacinths are gone

viburnum is swarmed by bees

daisies will bloom next 

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2020

In the Recent Past

in the recent past

"infectious" and "contagious"

referred to laughter

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2020

Dandelions, Ten Days Later

temporary sun

now a galaxy of seeds

blown dandelion

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2020

Be Prepared

no Swiss Army Knife

adequately prepares you

for a broken heart

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2020

I opened my Everyday Offerings book after I heard the announcement from Governor DeWine that our schools would be closed for the remainder of the year. It wouldn't have mattered if I had seen this before I heard the announcement. I knew it was coming. I was not prepared.

Haiku Diary for April 15

Haiku Diary for April 15

I wake up whiney

the sameness of every day

I'm on my last nerve

exercise, shower

a mug of hot tea, breakfast

sun peeks through the trees

my heart pumps, blood flows

lungs reliably inflate

some sameness is good

going to work means

down the hall into office

alone/together

Google Meet is fine

but like all the rest of life

you have to show up

food delivery

a small thing for us to do

makes a big difference

lunchtime luxury

listen to a podcast

nurture my spirit

hours and hours of screens

my brain is totally fried

the cure is ice cream

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2020

Keeping a haiku diary is one of the challenges from Jarrett Lerner.

Good News From Across the Pond

Good News From Across the Pond

in the village of

Ribbesbüttel, Germany

the storks have come back

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2020

Unbounded

unbounded by walls

my classroom fits on my lap

hello front porch

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2020

My Hands

My Hands

wrinkled cracked and dry

these clean clean clean clean clean hands

my gift to the world

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2020

This poem was inspired by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater's Sharing our Notebooks video.