Blog Archives
Travel Tales
Each breath-of-a-poem begins with a phrase purloined from A Year in the World: Journeys of a Passionate Traveller by Frances Mayes.
~~ 1 ~~
day for gathering
praise in a sturdy backpack—
travel sustenance
~~ 2 ~~
above the doorbell
only a hint of darkness—
first day of summer
~~ 3 ~~
into his pocket
shoving the works of darkness
written on a scrap
~~ 4 ~~
a French pastry shop
on a cobbled city street—
the lure of éclairs
~~ 5 ~~
sesame cookies—
hungry children devour them
Sunday afternoons
~~ 6 ~~
a basket of bread—
giving thanks for seven loaves
baked fresh this morning
~~ 7 ~~
the map in the car
showing a tortuous way
through the wilderness
~~ 8 ~~
going the wrong way
not discerning north from south—
careless traveller
~~ 9 ~~
communion wafers—
seeking counsel on the way
from tasteless morsels
~~ 10 ~~
olives everywhere
but no wine for the thirsty—
traveller’s nightmare
~~ 11 ~~
Massive olive trees—
my enemy chops them down
with his keen-edged axe.
~~ 12 ~~
a full moon ago
traveller fainted at dusk—
on the road again
Haiku © 2016 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Poetry Pantry #292
More Sunday’s Whirligig #49
Splendor
Christmas decorations, northern New Mexico
holiday garlands—
even the errant north wind
reveals their splendor
Haiku © 2016 and photo © 2015 by Magical Mystical Teacher
Sizzling
Gnarled ironwood tree, Sonoran Desert, Southern Arizona
heat-tolerant plants—
immigrants rest till nightfall
then slip farther north
~~ ~~ ~~
another sizzling day in the Sonoran
Text and photo © 2014 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Six-Word Saturday
More Shadow Shot Sunday 2
More Carpe Diem: “Tolerance”
Grotesqueries: Take Three
Each grotesquerie begins with a phrase purloined from One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez, the Colombian novelist who died 17 April 2014.
~~ 1 ~~
dusty iguana
without a squeak advancing
on a hapless fly
~~ 2 ~~
wind from the graveyard
a treat for ghouls and goblins
how their nostrils twitch
~~ 3 ~~
Leave the whitewashed walls
to mate with floor and ceiling—
reproductive rights.
~~ 4 ~~
To play the zither
you need the skill of David,
the patience of Job.
~~ 5 ~~
With a gardenia
perfuming the kitchen’s pores,
all the saucers smile.
~~ 6 ~~
in his burning bed
a moth begins to flutter—
messenger of grace
~~ 7 ~~
the holy scriptures
where gods are meeting mortals
on unleveled fields
~~ 8 ~~
fabulous nightmare
according to the report
written in shorthand
~~ 9 ~~
jugglers with six arms
losing face when they fumble
and the balls go down
~~ 10 ~~
covered by strange maps
of fantastical places—
north wall of her room
~~ 11 ~~
at the desk scribbling
the old woman’s rueful laugh—
all her unpaid bills
~~ 12 ~~
In the sewing shop
the owner takes a survey
of the mannequins.
~~ 13 ~~
More baskets of bread
are stuck in Danish doorways
than in London lanes.
~~ 14 ~~
preaching in Latin
to pigeons in the town square—
gibbering old priest
© 2014 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Poetry Pantry #203
More The Sunday Whirl, Wordle 162
One
Beavertail Cactus (Opuntia basilaris) blossom, Yuma Conservation Garden, Yuma, Arizona
The field to the north
is filled only with cacti
and one red blossom.
Text and photo © 2014 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Macro Monday 2
More Carpe Diem #413
More Ruby Tuesday Too
More I Heart Macro at Shine the Divine
Plight
A shadow-dappled path, Sonoran Desert, Southern Arizona
The immigrants’ plight—
which pathway or road to take
north of the border.
Text and photo © 2013 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Shadow Shot Sunday 2
The Sunday Whirl, Wordle 137: “Road, Border, Plight”
