Category Archives: Poets & Storytellers United

Spring Melancholy


1.
I pluck from the shelf
yet another empty cup—
spring melancholy
 
2.
I sip bitter wine
after laying fresh flowers
on my father’s grave.
 
3.
I am too jaded
to taste how honeyed the hours
we share together.
 
4.
I swear at the thorns
that keep snagging my jacket
on the mountain path.

© 2023 by Magical Mystical Teacher
 
 
More The Whirligig #423
 
More Haiku My Heart at Recuerda Mi Corazon
 
More Friday Writings #77 at Poets and Storytellers United

 

Blue Monday & Ruby Tuesday Too: Silk Flowers

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Silk flowers brighten an old grave at Yuma Pioneer Cemetery, Yuma, Arizona.


A desert graveyard—
even the dove’s best spring song
fails to rouse the dead.

 
One photo, two memes.
 
Please visit other participants and leave a comment.
 
Why not go over and see the friendly skies at SkyWatch Friday?
 
 
Photo and haiku © by Magical Mystical Teacher
 
 
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Three Tiny Tales


1.
Picture an alley
where snow has changed the story—
waste into wonder!
 
2.
Winter lines her face
with names she can’t remember,
yet they give her grace.
 
3.
in a freezing room
a curtain for their blanket
happy to make love

© 2023 by Magical Mystical Teacher
 
 
More The Whirligig #409
 
More Haiku My Heart at Recuerda Mi Corazon
 
More Friday Writings #63 at Poets and Storytellers United

 

Delicate Letters


1.
My ribs are branches
on which invisible birds
perch on winter nights.
 
2.
Enter, acrobats!
Begin your parade through town,
though the north wind moans.
 
3.
I lower my eyes
when I see the light in yours,
Sister Winter Moon.

© 2023 by Magical Mystical Teacher
 
 
More The Whirligig #407
 
More Haiku My Heart at Recuerda Mi Corazon
 
More Friday Writings #61 at Poets and Storytellers United

 

Shadow Shot Sunday 2: Stones

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At day’s end, shadows form around a group of stones in Yuma County, Arizona.
 
 

We are not alone—
stars, ravens, and river stones
keep us company.

 
 
Photo and haiku © by Magical Mystical Teacher
 
 
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To link your shadow shot, click on the Mister Linky icon below:
 
 

Three Free-Wheeling Haiku


1.
In distress my heart
seems to turn into liquid—
bitter winter draught.
 
2.
Desperate for wings,
I’ll pay whatever they cost—
my new year’s desire.
 
3.
Cold-weather longing:
to see Paris glittering
while a freight train moans.

© 2023 by Magical Mystical Teacher
 
 
More The Whirligig #405
 
More Haiku My Heart at Recuerda Mi Corazon
 
More Friday Writings #59 at Poets and Storytellers United

 

Reclaim Life, Sip Tea!


1.
First tea of the year—
on the surface swims a swan,
singing to the moon.
 
2.
How lucky I am,
in the absence of a lake,
to have new year’s tea!
 
3.
O swan with hurt wings,
you won’t die, but be revived
by the year’s first tea.
 
4.
My mood? Indigo,
but only for a moment—
now, some new year’s tea!

© 2023 by Magical Mystical Teacher
 
 
More The Whirligig #404
 
More Haiku My Heart at Recuerda Mi Corazon
 
More Friday Writings #58 at Poets and Storytellers United

 

Shadow Shot Sunday 2: Message of Joy

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A message of joy stands out from the shadows surrounding it on an Arizona Christmas tree.
 
 

one thin note of joy—
enough to light my darkness
on a winter’s night

 
 
Photo © by Magical Mystical Teacher
 
 
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To link your shadow shot, click on the Mister Linky icon below:
 
 

Haibun: Tabanca


“Here, try this word,” my friend says, and gives me tabanca. She says it means missing something beyond words. How does she know of my longing? Even though there are parades and music and family gatherings during the holidays, I ache for something more. How can I describe it? While grocery shopping, I reflect on being a teacher. I wonder if students everywhere will be safe from gun violence. After so many school shootings, it’s hard to know. I move through the store, picking out things I need: sugar from the bottom shelf, cinnamon from the top. My indescribable longing increases. “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!” blares out from the store’s sound system, directing my thoughts back to a baby born in a barn in Bethlehem long ago. Love incarnate, the story goes. Love made manifest in human flesh. A Love that never ends. Could it be Love for which I am longing so deeply that I have no words?
 

My next-door neighbor
makes his house cozy with lights
for the Holy Child.

© 2022 by Magical Mystical Teacher
 
 
More The Whirligig #400
 
More Haiku My Heart at Recuerda Mi Corazon
 
More Friday Writings #56 at Poets and Storytellers United

Fever Dream


1.
In a fever dream
I thought I was a red fish
flirting with autumn.
 
2.
On a starlit night
a boat floats down the river
skirting chunks of ice.
 
3.
On one wing an owl
bears the waxing gibbous moon
on this icy night.
 
4.
With longing I gaze—
a ripening persimmon
tempts me with its flesh.

© 2022 by Magical Mystical Teacher
 
 
More The Whirligig #399
 
More Haiku My Heart at Recuerda Mi Corazon
 
More Friday Writings #55 at Poets and Storytellers United