Whirling with Jane Kenyon
The first line of each haiku or senryu is gleaned from poems in Collected Poems by Jane Kenyon.
This week’s whirling words are: bare, last, gear, final, evidence, refresh, gassed, smooth, number, white, shift, nine
so heavy with fruit
soon the plum will be laid bare—
lashing autumn winds
~~ ~~ ~~
Up and down the field
every last stalk of corn bows—
Master Wind whips by.
~~ ~~ ~~
A bright confusion—
gear engages gear and grinds
apples into wine.
~~ ~~ ~~
Cross the little bridge—
final stretch of your journey
into unmapped realms.
~~ ~~ ~~
Under every leaf—
evidence of visitors
skulking through the night.
~~ ~~ ~~
We each took a pear
with which to refresh ourselves
before moving on.
~~ ~~ ~~
The joy that trembles
even after being gassed—
fragile little wren.
~~ ~~ ~~
To distract myself
I smooth all the wrinkled pleats
on my fading skirt.
~~ ~~ ~~
We sit in the yard
and number the stars, one by
one hundred million.
~~ ~~ ~~
We left the suitcase,
the white one with no handle—
it was full of plums.
~~ ~~ ~~
The sound of weeping—
nervously they cough and shift,
plotting quick escapes.
~~ ~~ ~~
Around the pear tree
nine druids gather at dusk—
poteen stains their breath.
© 2012 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More The Sunday Whirl, Wordle 72
More The Poetry Pantry #113
Posted on September 2, 2012, in haiku, Jane Kenyon, senryu, The Poetry Pantry, The Sunday Whirl. Bookmark the permalink. 27 Comments.
Magical Mystical Teacher 
Magically mystical set 🙂
Lovely images. An autumnal deel to it. And the one by one hundred million stars. devine 🙂
I meant ‘feel’, of course…
Each haiku is a compact image and yet there is an enigmatic thread linking them like some magical chain! Beautiful!
Enjoyed each of these. Favorite was:
To distract myself
I smooth all the wrinkled pleats
on my fading skirt.
as this seems to express such a real situation so well!
Clever process, and brilliant results. I especially liked the first:
so heavy with fruit
soon the plum will be laid bare—
lashing autumn winds
Beautiful!
I especially like the “apples into wine” one.
I love each one…
Fantastic! You’ve captured many emotions in these gems.
You took me right there. I, too, really liked the very real feeling of smoothing the wrinkles of the skirt………
I enjoy haiku and I liked this approach to the wordle. Many gems here.
All lovely, such a challenge to write so many! One of my favorites:
“We sit in the yard
and number the stars, one by
one hundred million.”
I love your work–so layered and beautifully written!
These are all marvellous – I especially like the last one, odd for me as I really am not fond of poteen (maybe this is a different concoction from the one with which I’m familiar …) but druids … I love druids
http://thepoet-tree-house.blogspot.ca/2012/09/last-scene.html
Well, if you are even in the least bit familiar with the word “poteen,” you know exactly what it is! Thank you for your visit!
This is so good. It’s like a fantasy ride. Each step builds on the last, and I love that it all leads to druids gathered at dusk.
Love them all! Very evocative!
There’s a lovely fruity/autumnal feel to these. My favourite is the counting stars haiku.
Whoa… Autumn really bared her beauty. The visitors skulking is cute.. I can see the leaves riot …
Very interesting and different, the last one really caught my attention, great job.
I like them all. The one at the funeral where they’re plotting their escapes. And the druids. Good job!
loved the entire set….some very unexpected last lines, and such visuals…
Your technique shines through again. Another string of excellence.
String of perfect pearls!
Perfect….
To distract myself
I smooth all the wrinkled pleats
on my fading skirt.
A brilliant press of words, we reap the intoxicating vignettes…
Have a laugh:
http://julesgemsandstuff.blogspot.com/2012/09/sw-72-doughboy.html