Lucy’s Haiku Series

Lucy’s nails had grown long. Because her nails are black, I can’t see the quick.  I am afraid to cut them they way I confidently cut her predecessors’ nails. So, Saturday, we made a trip to the vet for a professional trim. Here is a haiku series I think she could have written.

 

We are in the car
Should I feel worry or joy
I start to tremble.

Shake shake shake shake shake
Drool drool droll drool drool drool drool
Shake shake shake shake shake

The door of doom looms
We have come to the place where
They torture me

I don’t like other dogs
But I hate this place more so
I ignore the others

The mean girl bribes me
Back, to the torture chamber
She cuts off my toes

Finally back to Mom
I will stare out the front door
Until we can leave

The drive home is short
And I am soon home, sweet home
Time for a nap.

 

The Classroom Cold…A Haiku Series

Last week…

I laughed out loud at

the face the girl made when her

neighbor sneezed on her

Monday…

The classroom, normally

so full of chatter, is now

full of coughs and sneezes

Wednesday…

Pain in my cheeks, right

above my back teeth tells me

I’m the next victim

Thursday…

Digging through the cupboard

for prescription decongestants

life is good again

Friday…

Medicine coursing

through my veins – Who put this

goldfish bowl on my head?

Return Flight

I am returning home from vacation today. There is a lot to do this morning so I thought I’d write some haiku.

Packing to go home

is easier than to come.

Everything must go.

Good-bye morning birdsong

Mellifluous voices of the forest

Harbingers of day

Wind through the trees

Whispers the stories

of the forest.

Three cats and a dog

Here, but at home awaits

One dog, my heart.

Cherry Blossoms #SOL15

My favorite part of my commute to works this little stretch where the neighborhood street is lined with flowering cherry trees. They bloomed a little early this year because of the unusually warm winter, but, two weeks before Spring break, this is s a lovely little pick me up each day. Here are a few haiku my commute has inspired.

descending the hill

the sky becomes a canopy

of cherry blossoms

---

suns rises, fogs lifts

the valley is waking up

cherry blossoms sing

---

cherry blossoms guide me

down the hill and into

the joy of my day

---

harbingers of spring

 cherry blossoms celebrate

another day unfolds

The Laryngitis Haiku series

Maybe a slice of

Lemon will help me with

My laryngitis

Pay close attention

                                                                                 Class, I cannot speak and you

                                                                                 Listen better this way

I forgot my whistle

So I’m shouting in a whisper

Calling the end of recess

                                                                              Ironically,

                                                                              Our read aloud book is

                                                                             The Worm Whisperer.

Back to School Night

Will be a whole new experience

With no voice

                                                                              It doesn’t hurt

                                                                              No really, I feel fine

                                                                              I just can’t talk

Silent warning

My hand on your shoulder

Actions, not words

 

Seasonal Poetry for Poetry Season

It is April, and it is poetry season. What better time to look at poems about seasons.

Koo the panda, along with Jon Muth, present this delightful collection of haiku.Twenty-six haiku celebrate the unique natural wonders of each of the four seasons in this charming picture book. Some of the verses will prompt smiles while others will bring readers up short and gently nudge them to look at things from a different perspective. The watercolor illustrations are as expressive as the poems.

Firefly July and Other Very Short Poems selected by Paul B. Janeczko and illustrated by Melissa Sweet, looks out over a year in very short poems.

The poets in this collection range from Emily Dickinson and William Carlos Williams  to the unfortunately named Adelaide Crapsey (creator of the cinquain) and former poet laureate Ted Kooser.

There is much to love here. The selection of poems is a place to start. Each of the 30+ little gems can be enjoyed for its own sake. Couple with Melissa Sweet’s illustrations, they are astounding. As a reader, I want to linger with each poem, think of what I would illustrate, want to memorize that poem so I can share it at just the right time.

If you are nervous about poetry, start with one of these two books. They will ease you in. If you are already a fan, just simply enjoy.