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When I Forgot My Morning Smile
When I forgot my morning smile, the fish reminded me
That every river wants to rush headlong into the sea.
When blackbirds carried messages beyond the barnyard fence,
Five famous people came to see—they paid but seven pence.
If shuffling gets me to my goal, I’ll shuffle day and night,
But barefoot I will have to go—my boots are much too tight!
Remember on the day I die: No wailing is allowed!
Now promise me that buttonholes will decorate my shroud.
Poem © 2021 by Magical Mystical Teacher
In This Sizzling Heat: A Haibun
In this sizzling heat we feel as though we’re descending into hell. The river has shrunk into a thin sliver thread. Our grapes are turning brown. They need water. I cannot tell you how eagerly we look for a cloud—one cloud!—to bear even a few drops of rain to the grapes. The neighbor boy flies his kite. It casts a shadow over the dying grapes. But I’ve had enough of watching for clouds that never come. I dig out our passports. “Come on,” I say to my beloved, “we’re going to Norway where it’s cool and it rains. Oh, wait! Americans aren’t welcome in Europe these days. What a clusterf*ck!”
I can’t remember
the last time I quenched my thirst
from a mountain stream.
Haibun © 2020 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More The Whirligig #274
More Writers’ Pantry #28 at Poets and Storytellers United
More The Whirligig #274
More Writers’ Pantry #28 at Poets and Storytellers United
In the Riverbed
In the riverbed I listened while the fishes swam and spoke;
The tales that they were weaving made me want to have a smoke
Of something much more potent than a Winston or Pall Mall,
But the room beneath the water had no butler and no bell.
Thus I could not call for hashish, so I tried to calm myself
By burning fragrant incense that I found upon a shelf.
The smoke set me to dreaming, and my arms fell limp at last,
I felt empty as a daydream from my mother’s distant past.
I fear you won’t believe me, nor the story that I tell,
So here’s the final word, my friends: I bid you all farewell.
Poem © 2019 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Sunday’s Whirligig #230
More Poetry Pantry #492 at Poets United
Raven
Cache la Poudre River, Fort Collins, Colorado
Even in autumn
raven follows the river
as far as the sea.
Haiku © 2015 and photo © 2013 by Magical Mystical Teacher
Herons
Herons at El Charco del Ingenio conservation area, San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, México
how long the white necks
of herons fishing at dawn
at the river’s edge
Text and photo © 2015 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Wednesday Waters
More Carpe Diem: “Basho’s ‘How Long'”
More Haiku My Heart at Recuerda Mi Corazon
Tanka Time
Of this week’s dozen words I have used: bones, river, teeth, reveal, emerge, reel
~~ 1 ~~
In the wilderness
the ancient tree women sing
with fire in their bones—
ravens joining the chorus
cannot quench the fierce burning.
~~ 2 ~~
resting for an hour
in the shadows of the pines—
river in her heart
flowing toward restoration
flowing away from despair
~~ 3 ~~
Hurry, they are here,
the ones you have waited for,
teeth sharp, eyes aglow,
disguised as clowns and donkeys,
but eager to devour you.
~~ 4 ~~
secrets of the moth
revealed in graphic detail—
the old druid sings
and in his singing new wings
form between his broken teeth
~~ 5 ~~
Fishing from the bridge
with a stolen rod and reel—
Egypt lies downstream
where ten thousand hapless souls
still wait for deliverance.
~~ 6 ~~
God of the kitchen,
may nothing dreadful emerge
from my pots and pans,
but only savory things,
filled with the spice of wonder.
© 2015 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More The Sunday Whirl, Wordle 210
Cottonwoods
An old cottonwood tree, framing the Animas River, Aztec, New Mexico
at the river’s edge
not the slightest breeze riffling
the cottonwood leaves
Text and photo © 2015 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More SkyWatch Friday
More Carpe Diem: “Basho’s ‘A River Breeze'”
Another Whirl with Fay
Each haiku begins with a phrase shamelessly purloined from various haiku in Fay Aoyagi’s In Borrowed Shoes. (The first whirl with Fay Aoyagi is available here.)
~~ 1 ~~
hole in my sweater—
yearning for a scrap of yarn
for mending the gap
~~ 2 ~~
shadow with no name
perched atop the robin’s head
daring it to sing
~~ 3 ~~
snip of the scissors—
desecrating the blue dress
he gave her last year
~~ 4 ~~
a custody case—
burning the uncut transcript
seven years later
~~ 5 ~~
day for flying kites—
tiny specks in the distance
fighting their restraints
~~ 6 ~~
heat of the stone wall—
even my white umbrella
is wilting today
~~ 7 ~~
first dandelions
going to seed in my lawn—
delicate subject
~~ 8 ~~
for the butterfly
a post for a resting place
till the next milkweed
~~ 9 ~~
a praying mantis—
matins under the petals
of a yellow rose
~~ 10 ~~
red quince blooming
until the drunk gardener
misses with his shears
~~ 11 ~~
morning glory seeds
their plight remaining hopeless
while they lie on stone
~~ 12 ~~
a story inside
one dark stone in the river—
druidic voices
© 2015 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Poetry Pantry #240
More The Sunday Whirl, Wordle 200
Halcyon
Yuma East Wetlands, Yuma, Arizona
halcyon river
neither ducks nor leaping fish
parting the waters
Text and photo © 2014 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More SkyWatch Friday
More Our World Tuesday
More Carpe Diem: “Movement”
More Straight Out of the Camera Sunday
Rough
Cache la Poudre River, Fort Collins, Colorado
a river flowing
endlessly to the rough sea
storm songs day and night
Text and photo © 2014 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Carpe Diem: “Rough Sea”
