Aham (haibun)

© C.L.R. 2014

The daisy is my favourite flower. It is a simple and modest flower.  It is a mixture of contradictions as well, with strength and sturdiness, standing independent and tall.  The many petals representing so many facets of a personality and yet, hidden beneath are rows of yet to be discovered unknown faces.

I heard somewhere, years ago, that the daisy was too proud, always trying to ‘show up’ among other flora. So the Great Spirit sent the daisy out alone in meadows and obscure places to flourish. Ah, but the daisy still did. 

I think it was not that the daisy wanted to show off its beauty but rather to show off its durability, its strength and tenacity.  The determination required to flourish even out in vacant fields facing all sorts of weather…tells me that is a strong personality.

Alas, where there is strength, there is an expectation that is will last forever…it wanes with time, with age. The stems are no longer as sturdy to carry the flower and the petals start to wilt, slowly falling one by one…the daisy needs a rod or staff on which to lean. Will this proud stubborn daisy ever ask for support ?

spirited daisy

reaching for the sky

vanity wins

withering

Mother Nature’s cruel wit

reality wins

sagging stem

no staff in sight, finally

humility rules

The price of  humility is mindfulness leaning for acceptance.

marguerite animée

levée vers le ciel

vanité triomphe

flétrissement

esprit cruel, mère nature

vérité triomphe

tige accroupie

aucun soutien, enfin

humilité règne

© Tournesol '14

Aham is a Hindu word for ego or pride.

Heeding Haiku With HA: “Aham”    

MindLoveMiserys Menagerie  

guiding light (haiga)

Moon behind the clouds

clouds veil my light

alone in darkness

moon peeks through

Even in the deep darkness there is light along the path just around the corner.

© Tournesol 2014

Inspired by: Peek A Boo (haiga)

Submitted for: Carpe Diem Haiku Kai #557 Full Moon

Posted by Cheryl-Lynn Roberts 2014/09/09

raw destructions (haiku)

hostile clouds

thundering torrential rage

acquiesce in despair

 

 

fly quivers

whirlwind rips a day’s labour

a spider mourns

 

gales swept them far away as the vicious  storm quenched  insatiable greed

                                            

 

 

Posted by Cheryl-Lynn Robers, 2014/09/07

 

 

 

Written for Heeding Haiku with Ha at Mindlovemiserysmenagerie to the following music:

 

 

 

 

 

foresaken

© C.L.R. 2014

waters in danger
earth is heating, species dying,
mother nature weeps

wars camouflage the plain truth
why have you abandoned me?

alone,
survival of the fittest
mother nature weeps.

© Tournesol

Last hope for survival: work globally and not forsake our planet.

© Tournesol

Posted by Cheryl-Lynn Roberts 2014/09/01

Carpe Diem Haiku Kai #551 "Abandonned"


spices and herbs (haiga)

© C.L.R. May 2014

angels smiling
sprinkling sweet-smelling dreams
budding lilacs

Dreams are scattered spices and herbs making life palpable and fragrant.

© Tournesol

The prompt at Carpe Diem #549 is  "dreams" and our host has quoted several verses from Khalil Gibran.

[...] "How can I lose faith in the justice of life, when the dreams of those who sleep upon feathers are not more beautiful than the dreams of those who sleep upon the earth?" [...]

[...] "The flowers of spring are winter’s dreams related at the breakfast table of the angels". [...]

[...] "I would not be the least among men with dreams and the desire to fulfill them, rather than the greatest with no dreams and no desires".[...]

Our host wrote these dreamy haiku for this the second verse. The imagery is breathtaking.

[...] "The flowers of spring are winter’s dreams related at the breakfast table of the angels". [...]


breakfast with angels
as spring is starting after the cold -
flowering trees

after the dark winter
cherry trees are blooming again
Ah! what a joy!

© Chèvrefeuille

Posted by Cheryl-Lynn Roberts 2044/08/30 for Carpe Diem #549 Dreams

silence (haibun)

One thing I have grown to appreciate more and more is “silence”. I have written many poems, haiku and senryû about silence inasmuch as the rivers and rapids listen to my silent pain and suffering. Sometimes it hears my frustrations after a long day or that I  needed  to find patience to finish my day with calm.

When our children were little, I remember riding my bike rapidly to the Chambly rapids to refuel. The children would want to come along and I would tell them to stay with their father for half an hour and then we could go for a family bike ride after supper.  I would get to the rapids and sit on a rock and just the gushing of water noisily flowing down the damn into the rapids would embrace all my emotions, my silent screams would drown.  All this washing me with a bit more serenity in the space of perhaps fifteen minutes.

Static Flickr

Days of frustrations

I sit by the river screaming

in silence.

 -

In silence

purging qualms

soul soothing

Our miniature Schnauzer, Desirée died at 13 years old on the morning of 9/11.  So much to absorb that day, week and months to come.

Unlocking the door

expect tiny paws clicking

silent vacancy

-

Life is filled with necessary losses

wrapped in burlap coverlets. 

I am a sunset chaser.  When I visit a new town or a new town around dusk, I need to sit and watch the sun bow the end of the day.  My first and only condo I purchased  on my own, I fell in love with the sun setting on the patio from the 20^th floor.  I have noticed when sitting with a friend or lover during a sunset, there are brief moments that no words are necessary to tell each other to simply watch in captivated silence. That is another reason I love climbing up to the roof of our work building when I can to simply see this breathtaking show.

© C.L.R. .2014

Tinted shades perform,

behold, speechless audience,

Show Time. 

In my work, listening is essential. Silence is often necessary to give a youth time to regroup, think through his/her next disclosure. Moreover, sometimes the silence tells me more…feeling the emotions weeping sadly through the phone line; I wait with humility and embrace their trust.

Frantic ramblings

halt in screaming silence,

connected

© Tournesol ' 14

Posted by Cheryl-Lynn Roberts, 2014/08/24

Carpe Diem Haiku Kai #546, Silence

Mother Nature's loom (tanka-American sentence)

This is a prompt I missed due to lack of time but I keep rereading it and it spoke to me. Our host wrote such a beautiful piece relating to Life being a Tapestry and it is quite meaningful and insightful, so I am sharing it here:

Life is like a tapestry by Chèvrefeuille, August 18, 2014

The creation of a tapestry starts at the beginning with an empty weaving loom. The weaver sits in front of it and meditates and contemplates about what he/she would like to create. Is it just a piece of art-work or does it have meaning? It doesn’t really matter. The weaving technique is the same (I think), but the result can be so much different. After he/she has decided what to make he/she will make a sketch and decides which colours, which material and which technique will be used.

Than he/she starts to create his/her tapestry and while looking at that process one can see how the tapestry becomes as was the idea … the colours are coming together making patterns, creatures, flowers and so on are becoming real … at the end the weaver sits back looks at his/her work and will smile, maybe will applaud and yell “eureka!” Another wonderful tapestry has been created and can be sold … or just put on the wall at their home. 

Chèvrefeuille goes on to say:

I think that our lives can be compared with a tapestry. As we are born the Weaver (God or Higher Self) starts his work with us. He looks at us and sees our future already, but he doesn’t know how our path would be going … which decisions we make … say ‘karma’ … The Weaver cannot interfere in our life. We are making our own mistakes, making the wrong decisions and so on. But … the Weaver has an idea about our lives. He has a design in mind for us and that design he starts weaving on his weaving loom.  © Chèvrefeuille at Carpe Diem #542 Tapestry

I have added a photo that I took last Fall that felt like a "moment of grace" when I witnessed such beauty. I was driving East to visit my mother at the nursing home and had to stop the car off the highway and find a side street in a tiny village to catch this for I knew I would lose that sky by the time I reached my mother`s town.

© C.L.R. October Masterpiece '13

Mother Nature’s loom.

(tanka)

toiling with patience

a chef d’oeurvre was created

muse des beaux arts

etched meticulously

ages before the Big Bang

(An American sentence) 

Trees stood in reverence at a masterpiece woven with magenta threads.

© Tournesol '14

Posted by Cheryl-Lynn Roberts, 2014/08/24