May 31 prompt: summer vacation
Memorial Day weekend traditionally signifies the start of summer, even though here in Portland, there are still 3 more weeks of school left. Well, at least the outdoor pools are open!
***
hydrangeas —
at the time for summer clothes
pale blue
–Basho
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May 30 prompt: loss and remembrance
Today we observe Memorial Day in this country. Write a haiku about loss or remembrance.
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she tells her age
spreading five fingers…
memorial for the dead
–Issa
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May 29 prompt: a question
Many of my favorite haiku pose a question within them. Write your own haiku posing a question.
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riverbank plum-tree…
do your reflected blossoms
really flow away?
–Buson
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May 28 prompt: bridges
Although Portland has many lovely bridges, my favorite bridge will always be the Golden Gate Bridge, opened this day in 1937.
***
coolness on the bridge…
moon, you and I alone
unresigned to sleep
–Kikusha-ni
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Day 26 of the Writer Mama Every-Day-In-May-Book Giveaway.
Today’s question: What do you do for your combined physical and mental health? Is there more you’d like to do? Describe your perfect hot, sweaty, writer mama workout.
My response: My physical and mental health workouts are completely intertwined. For fitness, I try to make it to the gym five days a week, and do a combination of yoga and balanced body classes, mixed in with walking and weights. When I’m on the elliptical trainer, or recumbent bike, or just walking around the track, I turn my mind to brainstorming for my next writing piece, which occupies my mind very nicely; in balanced body class or yoga, I try to clear my thoughts, something not always easy for me. But by far the activity most conducive to clearing my thoughts is gardening. While my hands are busy, my mind is free to roam and notice the small and large details of the world around me.
It’s not too late to join in! The complete rules for this giveaway can be found here.
May 27 prompt: anything green
In honor of Rachel Carson‘s birthday, write a haiku about anything green. Rachel Carson was perhaps best known as the author of “Silent Spring” (1962), which raised awareness of the danger of pesticides and led to a ban on DDT in this country.
***
in mid-flight
the butterfly returns
to the pines of Shiogoshi
–Chiyo-ni
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May 26 prompt: spring’s end
The March/ April Sketchbook Kigo Kukai prompt was “spring’s end”, and I liked the resultant haiku so much, I thought I’d reprise it here. Write a haiku where the phrase “spring’s end” appears, or is strongly imaged.
***
The end of spring
lingers
in the cherry blossoms
–Buson
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May 25 prompt: oldies but goodies
The first haiku I remember reading, as a child, is listed below. The funny thing is, I thought I had misremembered it, until I discovered it again online, because it isn’t quite 5-7-5. Now I understand why! Share with us one of your favorite haiku that you wrote in the past, either published or unpublished, and if published, please list the publishing credits.
***
life? butterfly
on a swaying grass that’s all…
but exquisite!
–Soin
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May 24 prompt: the sky
In honor of the last quarter moon of the month, write a haiku about the sky.
***
autumn clear —
the smoke of something
goes into the sky
–Shiki
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May 23 prompt: pets
The Humane Society estimates that there are approximately 77.5 million owned dogs in the U.S., and 93.6 million owned cats. That adds up to a while lot of pets that we share our lives with, and doesn’t even include the gerbils, hamsters, rats, snakes, parakeets, fish, frogs, guinea pigs, rabbits, and others.
***
My cat,
frisking in the scale,
records its weight.
–Issa
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