milk moon

2012 November PAD Chapbook Challenge- Day 30

And I did it again! (Made it to the end of another daily PAD challenge.) Today’s prompt is by guest prompter Violet Nesdoly: write a milk poem. I decided to go with another moon haiku– why not?

milk moon
my newborn baby
stirs in my arms

“Moon” is still an autumn kigo technically, although “Milk Moon” was one of several names given to the May full moon by Native Americans, according to the Farmers’ Almanac.  More poetic responses can be read on the Poetic Asides blog.

And stay tuned tomorrow for a new idea I had for daily December blog posts that involve my blog readers!

new moon

2012 November PAD Chapbook Challenge- Day 29

Today’s prompt by guest prompter Bonita Jones Knott: write a birth poem. This is sort of a birth poem– a renewal poem anyway:

new moon
starting over again
again

“Moon”, for whatever reason, is an autumn kigo, so autumn it is.  More poetic responses can be read on the Poetic Asides blog.

in the hawk’s shadow

2012 November PAD Chapbook Challenge- Day 28

A tough prompt from guest prompter Jonathan Edward Ondrashek, coming just 2 days before the end of the challenge– “Write a poem illuminating how it feels to stand up for what is right in the face of adversity in the workplace”. Hmm. I took a few liberties with defining “workplace”, and wrote the following, based on something I observed this summer.

in the hawk’s shadow…
a mother robin
guards her nest

“Robin” is yet another spring kigo (three in a row, if I remember right!), even though I observed this in the summer. I guess that proves that kigo are more guidelines than anything else. More poetic responses can be read on the Poetic Asides blog.

spring’s end

2012 November PAD Chapbook Challenge- Day 27

Today’s Two-for-Tuesday prompt comes from Paula Wanken: write a hero or villain poem. I went with the former:

spring’s end

his folded flag

encased in glass

“spring’s end” is another spring kigo. More poetic responses can be read on the Poetic Asides blog.

low-tide beach

2012 November PAD Chapbook Challenge- Day 26

Guest prompter Shann Palmer asked us to write a poem about something we collect. I collect so many things, I hardly knew where to start, but finally settled for seashells.

 

low-tide beach
the clink of seashells
in my hand

“Low-tide beach” is a spring kigo. More poetic responses can be read on the Poetic Asides blog.

the wide sea

2012 November PAD Chapbook Challenge- Day 25

I guess I’m getting quite a late start today. Guest prompter Cameron Mathews asked us to write an “opposite poem” of one of our earlier poetic attempts in this month. I decided to revisit Day 18, where I wrote a modified glosa/ epigram poem. Of course, I had to change all the rules of the form for this attempt.

I again started with the Shiki haiku on page 24 of The Haiku Handbook, by William J. Higginson and Penny Harter. This time, I used the lines from Shiki’s haiku in opposite order, and made them the first lines of my haiku (rather than the last lines). It’s easier to write the new haiku sequence than explain it!

rowing through
out of the mist
the wide sea

— Shiki

My Day 18 poem:

only the sound
of oars in water
rowing through

so far away
mountains rise
out of the mist

alone
with my thoughts
the wide sea

And today’s “opposite” poem:

the wide sea
thinking of you
so far away

out of the mist
white sails
or maybe a seagull

rowing through…
waves lap the shore
at my feet

More poetic responses can be read on the Poetic Asides blog.

earthshine

2012 November PAD Chapbook Challenge- Day 24

My favorite kind of prompt is one which prompts me to learn something new in order to write it.Today’s prompt, by Amanda Fall was of this type. The prompt was to write a poem with the title “The Truth about [blank]”. I immediately thought of the moon, and while googling some facts about the moon to make sure what I said was correct, I discovered this fascinating NASA article about earthshine. I have witnessed this phenomena in the past, and wondered about it– now I know!

This was the evolution of my haiku, from my first pass, through a 3rd version (which lost “the truth about” phrase entirely). I’m interested to see which version others prefer.

the truth
about the moon
reflected sunlight

earthshine
the truth
about the moon

earthshine
the dark side
of the moon

“Moon”, without a preceding modifying adjective,  is an autumn kigo. More poetic responses can be read on the Poetic Asides blog.

deep cold

2012 November PAD Chapbook Challenge- Day 23

We’re coming into the home stretch on the PAD challenge, and I must say this month has flown by! Usually by this point, I’m starting to lose inspiration, but I think because I chose to write in haiku this year (which I’m starting to think in!), my task is much easier than in past years where I tried to write in a wide variety of poetic forms each day. Today’s prompt, by Amanda Fall was to write a “deep” poem.

deep cold
the last sliver
of pie unclaimed

“Deep cold” is a winter kigo. Interestingly, The Haiku Handbook lists winter as November, December, and January, so my post-Thanksgiving haiku fits right in here. More poetic responses can be read on the Poetic Asides blog.

breaking dawn

2012 November PAD Chapbook Challenge- Day 22

Today’s prompt ( by Brenda Bishop Blakely) is somewhat daunting: to write about paradise. A bit of a tall order, considering I have approximately 6 – 10 words to dedicate to the task. So I will just write about something nice I experienced this morning instead.

On this Thanksgiving, as on all other Thanksgiving, I like to pause to think about those things, both large and small, that I am grateful for. What comes into my mind immediately are family, friends, community, and the amazing world of nature in which we live. As I looked out my (second story) bedroom window this morning, I found myself almost eye-to-eye with a very large squirrel, who had climbed out to the outermost branches near the top of our Japanese maple. I’ve always marveled at the gravity-defying acrobatic feats of squirrels, but this was one of the most daring I had ever witnessed. The sight of an obviously well-fed squirrel balancing his considerable weight on pencil thin branches to eat the dried maple seeds that still clung to the branches made me smile. Perhaps I am anthropomorphizing a bit much to say the squirrel is grateful for the abundant seeds, nuts, and bulbs it readily finds in our yard, but it reminded me that in spite of obstacles, my family, along with all the fauna in our neighborhood, is pretty well provided for this Thanksgiving Day. Wishing everyone who celebrates it a very Happy Thanksgiving, and for those who don’t, a happy day of reflecting on gratitudes instead. In spite of the considerable rain, the bare tree branches, the seemingly never-ending piles of soggy leaves to rake, and the shorter days, November still has much to offer. I guess my idea of paradise, to get back to the prompt, is a world in which everyone gets what they need, including our animal friends.

 

breaking dawn
a gray squirrel balances
on bare branches

The closest I can find to “bare branches” in The Haiku Handbook is “tree leaves fall”, an autumn kigo. More poetic responses can be read on the Poetic Asides blog.

show & tell

2012 November PAD Chapbook Challenge- Day 21

There is a synchronicity in today’s Poetic Asides prompt, by Bruce Niedt, to use song titles to write a poem. I just sent off a submission to Aubrie Cox yesterday, for her upcoming post in which we were to use only song titles to write haiku, etc. Aubrie’s rules were a bit more stringent: no extra words were allowed beyond those in the actual titles. Punctuation was the only thing that could be added. I have to admit that I tweaked Bruce’s rules a bit, to make my life easier. I only used three song titles instead of five (after all, this is 3 -line haiku!), and only the first title was selected completely randomly. Once I got “show & tell” as a first line, I played around with other title possibilities from my itunes, until I found two others that would work together.

show & tell
three little birds singing
in the sunshine

Song Title Credits:

“show & tell”– Al Wilson
“three little birds”– Bob Marley
“sunshine”–Keane

“Ten thousand birds” is a spring kigo. I’ll settle for three. ;-)More poetic responses can be read on the Poetic Asides blog.