Blog Archives
Songs
“I hear America singing,” Walt Whitman wrote, “the varied carols I hear.”
I too hear singing, but instead of songs coming from throats of carpenters, masons or boatmen, I hear the songs of sky and star and stone. The songs of weeds and wind and wild things. The songs of crow and cricket and cottonwood. All these songs come from the high desert, and like the Siren songs that seduced Odysseus and his companions, I cannot ignore them.
I hear them as I help a student proofread her essay. I hear them while I confer with a parent about his son’s behavior. I hear them while I am grading papers.
At day’s end, I slip into comfortable clothing and walk into the nearby wilderness. The stones and weeds and dust greet me with rejoicing. They knew I would come.
three stones confer with the wind—
my house is too small
Revised haibun © 2016 and photo © 2012 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Poetry Pantry #323 at Poets United
Afternoon

An abandoned amphitheatre, San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, México
summer afternoon—
looking past crumbling stone walls
to a bright blue sky
Haiku © 2016 and photo © 2012 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More SkyWatch Friday
Stone

Someone left a stone at Roxaboxen Park, Yuma, Arizona. (Read why people leave stones at Roxaboxen.)
Left for passersby to see,
This wee stone delighted me.
When I saw its shade of blue,
I thought right away of you
And the way the summer skies
Show themselves in your bright eyes.
Poem and photo © 2016 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Blue Monday
More Macro Monday 2
Face

Coyote painted on a stone by artist Pat Hansen, Robert J. Moody Demonstration Garden, Yuma, Arizona
A face peers from the stone.
Text and photo © 2016 by Magical Mystical Teacher
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More Shadow Shot Sunday 2
Gathering

Agave in bloom, April 2016, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Southern California
gathering wisdom
from sky and lizard and stone—
agave blossoms
Haiku and photo © 2016 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Blue Monday
Stone

Stone of remembrance, Yuma Pioneer Cemetery, Yuma, Arizona
Stone of remembrance
Painted in blue,
Placed near a tombstone:
“We still love you.”
Poem and photo © 2016 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Blue Monday
Marriage

Prehistoric animal chipped into stone, Painted Rock Petroglyph Site near Gila Bend, Arizona
ancient petroglyphs—
a marriage everlasting
between art and stone
Haiku © 2016 and photo © 2013 by Magical Mystical Teacher
More Midweek Motif at Poets United: “Marriage”
Face

Our Lady of Sorrows, Yuma Pioneer Cemetery, Yuma, Arizona
in autumn’s twilight
catching a glimpse of a face
on a weathered stone
~~ ~~ ~~
Not all sorrows are the same.
Text and photo © 2015 by Magical Mystical Teacher
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