Saturday Haiku: Dandelions

 winter slips away

with the dandelion flight

in the chill spring air

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Photo courtesy of Pixabay

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Saturday Haiku: Early Shoots

daffodils rise up

the waters crest in the creek

springtime is calling

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Photo: "Daffodils in January" from Kitchen garden blog: simple tasks for January
at British Wildlife Artist Writer Illustrator



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Saturday Haiku: Dogwood

dogwood blooms

in the springtime mist

morning wakes

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Photo: Dogwoods in Dothan, Alabama
Credit: Trey Whatley


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Saturday Haiku: Clear Nights

a bright moon

expanding the heart

with clear nights

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Image: A Mountain Pass: Karachi (1927), from the Eight Fine Views of Japan series

Artist: Hasui Kawase (1883-1957)

Medium: Woodblock print

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Saturday Haiku: Dogwood

dogwood clouds

on small tiered branches

spring blossoms

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Photo: Flowering Dogwood (Missouri Department of Conservation photo)



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Saturday Haiku: Early Spring

crocus comes quickly

to herald spring’s bright turning

and looks to the sky

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Photo: Purple Crocus growing in the early spring through snow

Credit:Ekspansio (Getty Images)



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Saturday Haiku: Rose breasted Grosbeak

the exotic form

of the grosbeak on a limb

sudden springtime view

Hear grosbeak song at https://youtu.be/NixrHvecZ8c



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Photo: Rose breasted grosbeak
Credit: John Harrison (Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

Saturday Haiku: Spring Bunting

indigo bunting

hops quietly in springtime

morning eye's delight

Listen to the indigo bunting's song at https://youtu.be/JJTaV95E9Qg

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Photo: Indigo bunting in a meadow
(Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)



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Saturday Haiku: Days of Gold

sudden days of gold

heavy with springtime promise

hopeful abundance

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Image: Spring Morning (1900)

Artist: John Henry Twatchtman

Medium: Oil on canvas

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Saturday Haiku: First Sighting

spring sighting –

bee tending flower

heart tending soul

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Photo by Tetra Images (Getty Images)

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Saturday Haiku: Before the Blossoms

just before blossoms

in the quiet springtime air

the heart awakens 

                       ~ CK

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Photo: Springtime buds by Malcolm Marler

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Springtime Teases

Springtime Teases

Springtime teases like a cat

Stretching out a paw

To test the air.

A whirl

A dance

Then she is gone

Slipping back under the ice

Whispering, “Watch and wait.”

                                ~ CK

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Photo by Jennifer Barnard

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

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Saturday Haiku: Springtime Buds

    warmth of day

    new buds of springtime

    life dances

                           ~ CK

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Photo: Bee on Plum Flower

Credit: Angelynn Ursulo Gill

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

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Saturday Haiku: The Arrival

  

                 cool morning breeze

              warm sunlight above the crest

              robins dance

                                          ~ CK

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Photo: Morning sun, Cwm Cywarch Low morning sun highlighting features in this field in Cwm Cywarch.

Credit: Philip Halling

This image was taken from the Geograph project collection

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

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Saturday Haiku: Vernal Offering

My post about writing haiku has become one of my most visited sites, so now I am considering doing more with the genre myself. Today I decided to take an old poem and recast it as a haiku. Here is original poem followed by the haiku:

Vernal Offering

The air is damp from Spring rain

As the cat crouches low

And moves parallel to the ground

Like anxious and hesitant quicksilver.

Eyes are fixed upon a squirrel

Who ambles about

In the yard

Like a self-contained wisp of grey smoke.

Quicksilver is focused and intent,

Grey Smoke is unconsciously playful.

With no apparent knowledge of danger

Grey Smoke spirals up a telephone pole,

Across a wire and into a tree.

There will be no bloodshed today.

3/97

               *    *    *

Cloudy skies in Spring

     Hover while cat stalks squirrel.

     Freedom found in trees.

 

  

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Suddenly Robins

A beautiful and balmy sunny day today!
Walking outside
There is no need of coat or hat.
The song sparrow’s warble pierces the air.
Earth beckons us to wake from our winter slumber
As she begins to cast off the grayness of winter.
Buds appear on the spirea
And green begins to peep out in patches
Across the yard.
Suddenly robins have appeared.
Joyfully they forage through the grass and leaves
Proclaiming that newness is at hand.
They herald the shift in the world
That welcomes Persephone’s return.

Memories of Springtime Past

Here is the telling of one of my early memories of a day when the secret of life opened up to a barely conscious lad.



An Early Time

It was early morning.
There was a mist in the air
And dew on the ground.
The clover aroma of spring
Mingled with the scent of moist earth.

It was early morning
As I stepped out the back door
With sleepy eyes.
I was three years old.

At the edge of the yard
I saw a grand white mule
Standing in the springtime mist –
The largest animal I had ever seen.
Beside the mule
Was a dark-skinned man in denim overalls.
My father stood there with them
His laughter rippled the morning air.

I went running across the yard,
Shoes collecting dew,
Lungs sampling the damp air.
I had to see the great white beast.
He stood tall
Shoulders brimming with power,
Head proudly facing the day,
Subdued grunts and clouds of breath
Spewing from his large nostrils.

It was early morning
As I hastily made my way ahead.
Before I could reach the mythic beast
I heard a shout from behind.
“Stop!” cried my mother.
“That mule might kick you.”

I stopped.
Then I slowly edged forward.
How close would they let me get?
If only I could touch
That white behemoth.

It was early morning
And the rhythmic chore began.
A cadence of sound emerged
From leather straps, metal rings,
Wooden handles, steel plow,
Heavy grunts, and slow steady hoof beats.
All moved together like a ship heading out of dock.
Cutting through the ground,
They left a red clay wake
As man and beast crossed the green clover field.

It was early morning
And an early time
When a three-year-old boy
Took more into his heart
Than he could realize.
He walked into a spring day
Humid with promise –
A powerful beast shrouded in mist,
The heavy earthy aromas,
A father laughing
And a mother warning of danger ahead.



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