floating and leaving no trace
this oppressive winter heat
almost eighty and cloudless
has stolen the courage
of the frogs
who croaked to mates
and marked territory
on cooler nights
without the smooth sounding board
of clouds in the evening sky
the frogs keep their peace
we strain to hear their calls
between sparse pockets of cars
could it be that we lost our compass
and wandered south of the equator
or will this false summer
stretch on into real summer
and will we lose a generation of songs
to the heat
from the north
the lights came
a sheet of
rainbow-colored sherbet
rumbling, ball lightning
we watched until our
eyes watered
you slipped your hand from mine
and smiled the sad smile
of someone worn to unraveling
and those lights danced
behind you
a halo
these steps between us
might as well be nautical miles
too many to measure
if we were to each hold an end
of a measuring tape
every wave would stretch the
tape between us to breaking
the distance explodes
they say that every piece
of the universe races away
at an increasing rate
from every other piece
just so
—-
This post is inspired by a writing prompt challenge from amandatorroni and tylerkentwhite on Instagram, in particular, this post.
Happy Leap Year!
under the tree, the shadows crawl
but not a single bird will fly
above the leaves nor near the wall.
under the tree the shadows crawl
and in the house within the hall
a cat naps, but she’d rather lie
under the tree. the shadows crawl
but not a single bird will fly.
—–
you may walk alone
still you sense you are secure
i stand here at your elbow
even distantly
across both the earth and time
my hand rests upon your hip
—–
in a field of stars
the child windmills his arms
–fireflies scatter
—–
RonovanWrites
Weekly Haiku Poetry Prompt Challenge #82 Star&Child
the ringing in my ears
isn’t like any bell
i’ve ever heard
more a constant electrical hum
like when you sit next
to a breaker box all day
because that’s where they put you
the pressure in the air
crushes my chest
and the humidity
is fucking with my vision
we have some moonlight–
the only clothes we can bear
when we tremble side to side
your heart is a bird
shuddering and flying free
you draw me soaring after
—–
Hat tip to Elusive Trope for writing in this form, a sedoka, and to Shadow Poetry for a fine definition of sedoka and katauta.
short summer night
a poetry contest
the skylark soars
cooling by the gate
polishing mirrors
he straightens in his seat
does not feel like groaning
fleas and flies
though she can watch
horses in the field
nothing is worse than
early summer rain
—–
This is a cento poem, lines taken at random from a number of anthologies of haiku edited by Stephen Addiss, including Haiku People (first lines), Haiku Humor (second lines), and A Haiku Menagerie (third lines). What’s composed here is not a haiku in any way, but it still feels–haikuish.
Words and Feathers 