Blog Archives
The Apartment: a Fictional Haibun
Until I rented this apartment (pink flamingos flank the door!), I had to walk up three long flights of stairs. Now I’m on the ground floor, and even have a little kitchen garden, where I grow basil, chives, and parsley. I’ve squeezed in one tomato plant and one pepper. After supper each night, I set aside my sorrows (who knew that life could be so difficult?), and pore over maps of far-off places, dreaming of cruises that last for years, not weeks. Could there be a better way to spend my twilight days?
Burn down, white candle,
veer off course, distant planets—
my wineglass is full!
More Sunday’s Whirligig #231
More Poetry Pantry #493 at Poets United
Ruby Tuesday Too: At the Garden
A sign marks the entrance to the Japanese friendship Garden, Phoenix, Arizona.
Photo © by Magical Mystical Teacher
To share your ruby shot, click on the Mister Linky icon below:
Haibun: I Am a Gardener
Several years ago excruciating back pain kept me out of my classroom for the three days. Much can happen, not all of it good, in three days.
According to the biblical story of creation, green growing things appeared on Earth on the third day: “…the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind…” (Genesis 1:12).
I thought of my students as plants that needed to be watered with praise and nourished with kindness so that they would grow and develop. But for three days they were without water and nutrients. For three days, they had to fend for themselves.
Plants that have to fend for themselves often don’t thrive. Weeds may creep in and suck away essential moisture and nutrients. Careless passersby may trample delicate plants. Thieves may jump over the garden wall and steal fruit. Untoward things are bound to happen when the gardener’s away from the garden—even for three days.
I remember thinking: I don’t want my students to wither. I don’t want the weeds of apathy to steal their joy of learning. I don’t want their knowledge to be stolen like ripe fruit. I am a gardener. I belong in my garden.
Overcast morning—
a blackbird in the orchard
stealthily pecks plums.
Blackbird, O Blackbird
~~ ~~ 1 ~~ ~~
Blackbird, O blackbird,
at midnight in the garden,
who can see your wings?
~~ ~~ 2 ~~ ~~
Blackbird, O blackbird,
even the water trembles
when you start to sing.
~~ ~~ 3 ~~ ~~
Blackbird, O blackbird,
do you prefer the cypress
over the white rose?
~~ ~~ 4 ~~ ~~
Blackbird, O blackbird,
how many songs overflow
from your handsome throat?
~~ ~~ 5 ~~ ~~
Blackbird, O blackbird,
tell me what I need to know
to make your path mine.
~~ ~~ 6 ~~ ~~
Blackbird, O blackbird,
I search the chapel rooftop—
will I find you there?
Haiku © 2018 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Sunday’s Whirligig #178
More Poetry Pantry #419 at Poets United
A Quintet of Silliness
In the tundra you’ll not find
A stand of trees of any kind.
~~ ~~ ~~
A hologram is just the thing
To make the holy angels sing.
~~ ~~ ~~
Anyone who sings at dawn
Should just shut up and be gone!
~~ ~~ ~~
No parking in the garden, no parking close to trees!
But if I cannot park there, then tell me where, O please!
~~ ~~ ~~
Touch my lips and touch my crown,
Pick me up and set me down.
Let this be your lifelong task—
Is this much too much to ask?
Poems © 2018 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Sunday’s Whirligig #170
More Poetry Pantry #411 at Poets United
Blue Monday: Garden Path
A bright spring morning at Robert J. Moody Demonstration Garden, Yuma, Arizona
A bright blue day is the best;
It far outshines all the rest.
There’s really an art
To cheering the heart,
Something that bright days do best.
Photo and limerick © 2018 by Magical Mystical Teacher
To link to Blue Monday, click on the Mister Linky icon below:
Marigolds
Robert J. Moody Demonstration Garden, Yuma, Arizona
We biked into the garden,
Where marigolds did bloom.
We thought we’d have a picnic
In this fine outdoor room.
We spread a checkered blanket,
Near where we laid our bikes;
We nibbled cheese, sipped some wine,
And listened to the shrikes.
Text and photo © 2017 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Macro Monday 2
More Midweek Motif at Poets United: “Bicycles”
Stalwart
Garden guardian, Robert J. Moody Demonstration Garden, Yuma, Arizona
stalwart garden frog
waiting for tasty morsels
to tingle his tongue
Haiku and photo © 2016 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Haiku Horizons: “Frog”
Garden
San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, México
her rooftop garden
where even shadows ripen
to a rare sweetness
~~ ~~ ~~
New shadows growing in rooftop pots…
Haiku © 2016 and photo © 2015 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Six-Word Saturday
More Shadow Shot Sunday 2
On a Crumbling Wall
Section of a mural, San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, México
~~ 1 ~~
on a crumbling wall
iridescent hummingbird
in eternal flight—
its whirring wings never stop
as it hovers for a sip
~~ 2 ~~
empty garden bench
where last night’s conversation
still lingers at dawn
patterns of loss and longing
nestling in the wooden slats
~~ 3 ~~
all things softening
as summer moves toward autumn—
even field mice seem
to dwindle into mere fluff
a child’s breath can blow away
~~ 4 ~~
a cold deep pool
where she comes to bathe at dawn
dropping her silk blouse
into the dry stems and weeds
detritus of late summer
~~ 5 ~~
offering herself
as an exile from the world—
the burdock knows why,
and so does the peony
with its extravagant bloom
Tanka and photo © 2016 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Poetry Pantry #312
More Sunday’s Whirligig #69
Magical Mystical Teacher 