Haiku My Heart - Hunger Moon

NASA image


full-bellied sister
sails the deep winter sky
hearts rising

In the wee hours, the full moon shone bright and beautiful in clear skies, beckoning us to stop for a time and honor the deeper parts of ourselves.

Reading about the current full moon on the blog Virgo Magic, written by astrologer Emily Trinkaus, I was smacked upside the head by this statement:

"Chiron in Pisces triggers the wounds of separation. [...] The wound of living in a culture that denies our interconnectedness with all life, and that denies the existence of the invisible realm of intuition, imagination, spirit and dreams."

Whoa. Even if you have never heard of Chiron or think astrology is just a bunch of hooey, does this statement resonate? I've spent a lifetime feeling a connection to, or in my earliest memories, at least an awareness of something beyond what I could see or touch... alternating with the feeling of not quite belonging here. From an early age, I knew such feelings were not the accepted norm and so I learned to keep them to myself. I also understand that I'm not alone in this lifetime of knowing. But I've never considered it in this context.

According to Ms. Trinkaus, this full moon in Leo is urging us to open our hearts to all of our painful wounds – to acknowledge and allow this pain to flow through us, thereby dissolving the wounds of (perceived) separation. Cracking our hearts wide open...

Our Native ancestors called this the Hunger Moon, because it is the full moon of deep winter, when everything is frozen and dormant. Food sources were scarce for our ancestors.

On a very basic level, separation from the source of their existence.

Hunger Moon.

Seems a fitting metaphor for this moon, as well.

Rumi said, "The wound is the place where the Light enters you".

Let it be so.

I'll leave you with this, another celebration of this particular full moon. Beautiful and flowing with peace  – and light – to fill those spaces in your heart:

Watch in full screen mode.

Haiku your heart here.

Read a little about this beautiful Lantern Festival here.

Haiku My Heart – How Many Angels?

Orion nebula, NASA Hubble image


what artist's brush
reveals the colors
of angels dancing?

Always, when I look to the heavens, I see them. From a small child, when I first noticed them swirling in ethereal raiment through cottony clouds, Angels have graced my skies. They are just there... in the clouds, in the nebulae, in the auroras. Even in the patterns on my wallpaper. :)

I saw this beautiful imagery yesterday, and my first thought was "So many Angels!".

Color me crazy. I see what I see. :) Maybe you see them, too.

Visit Rebecca and friends for Haiku My Heart Friday goodness.

Peaceful Angel-gazing...

Haiku My Heart - Soul of my Soul

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soul of my soul––
together
traversing other worlds

The above photo was taken of my grandparents along some unknown lake shore, presumably after having just gotten their feet wet, sometime in the late 1940s or early '50s. Yes, the actual photo is of all of them – head to toe – but something about this piece of the picture just simply captured my imagination. I can't explain it. They were together for a long time in life, and I feel them together now. Somehow, this image speaks of that.

In an effort to preserve old 'memories' (some of which have only been told to us but feel like ours, just the same), we've been busy scanning lots of old family photos. Rather than trying to restore them to their original lustre, I have been embracing their imperfections and letting the photos gently reveal their secrets as I attempt to bring out the story in each instead. Old snapshots are grainy by nature, and decades of either fading or darkening offer a challenge. So far, I've been surprised by the results. Some are dream-like and almost other-worldly. Some feel as if the black-and-white subjects are ready to step through the frame into a world of color. Each image is a bit of poetry.

All are single moments in history, my family's history, and they lead me on a flight of fancy as I imagine what might have transpired before each click of the shutter. I will continue to work on them and plan to create an art book for the most interesting ones. Maybe one for each of my kids, too. That should keep me busy for awhile.

My mom at 16, dancing with my grandfather.
Photo was taken in 1956.
Judging by how often my grandma said that Grandpa had "two left feet", I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Mom was teaching him a few moves. ;)

Me, Mom and my brother, about 1968.
I love the effect of the sun shining through the windows behind us.

To haiku your heart, please visit Rebecca and company here. Join us if you feel so inspired.

Peace.

Haiku My Heart - Dreaming

sun-soaked sand

tickles my toes & fancy––

through my window, snow

Ahhh.... 

Dreams of sun and sand sustain me through these times of bitter cold and endless gloom. The photo above was taken some summers ago where the Au Train river spills gently into Lake Superior, creating a warm pool perfect for swimming, in contrast to the chilly waters of the big lake. Sigh... it fills my soul. Do you hear the gulls?

I've been MIA for awhile, I know. The holidays were a strain, and were followed by a nice, persistent stomach virus that we just seemed to keep passing around and around. Blehh. I didn't think it would ever end, but thankfully we all seem to finally be over it. I just want to throw open the windows and breathe in fresh air, and let it flow through the house. Alas, with temps in the teens and single digits, I'll keep dreaming of warm sunshine and spring breezes for awhile, yet.

What do you think of the new blog attire? The company hosting my old background changed servers. In theory, all I had to do was grab the new code, plug it in and I'd be good to go. Nothing's ever as simple as it seems, though. I discovered that my old background was apparently 'retired', forcing me to find something new, which in turn necessitated an upgrade, and, of course, a new banner, etc., etc. So, here we are. For now, at least. I'm still considering... At least it pried me out of my winter rut and back into some semblance of creativity, and that's always a good thing. And I do love the colors. Fresh, like that spring breeze that keeps flirting at the edge of my dreams.

I apologize for my late offering to Haiku My Heart Friday, but I've spent the last two days entrenched in the blog remodel. I didn't want to post a brand new haiku on a half-dressed blog, after all. :)

Peace (and warmth!) to hearth and soul. 

Haiku My Heart - Rockin' Robin

out of place
against a winter sky
rockin' robin

He isn't rockin' around the Christmas tree, but Robin and I wish for each of you a heart filled with love this Christmas and moments to just breathe it all in. Breathe deeply...

Peace and warmth to hearth and home.

Haiku your heart here.

Silent Flowers

Click to enlarge

Somehow, in the midst of making lists and researching gifts and recipes, etc., yesterday, I completely forgot that it was Friday, and therefore completely missed Haiku My Heart Friday. Well, I knew it was Friday, but just... forgot. Holidaze.

But I remembered when the mail delivery brought a lovely and thoughtful gift from my art sister, Barbara – a little book of Japanese haiku titled 'Silent Flowers'. It's filled with wonderful translations of the works of Basho, Issa, Buson and others, as the one in the photo above.

Here is an excerpt from the introduction:

"Wordsworth defined poetry as 'emotion recollected in tranquility.' Japanese haiku fulfill that definition with significance and beauty. They represent a whole world, a manner of daily living and a religious and poetic experience. Masters at recognizing a certain 'something' in unexpected situations, haiku poets recreate small moments discovered in the real world but suggesting the world of the spirit."

I think that sums it up very nicely. The book was edited by Dorothy Price and illustrated by Nanae Ito. Copyright 1967. Just lovely. I just want to sip my hot tea on this cold, gray winter day and read the springtime poems again and again.

I'll leave you with a few selections.

Sacred music at night;
Into the bonfires
Flutter the tinted leaves.

~Issa


Treading on the tail
Of the copper pheasant,
The setting sun of spring.

~Buson


The sound of tears
Hissing, quenching
The banked charcoal.

~Basho


Peace...

Haiku My Heart - Like the Moon and the Stars and the Sun

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a peaceful heart,
life interrupted–-
still we all shine on

This week marked the 30th anniversary of the shocking and violent death of a peace-loving soul. There was so much tragic irony in that single, senseless act that it still befuddles me today. I have to wonder what earthly wisdom and visionary creativity might have been birthed in that 30 years... I think John Lennon was just reaching his stride when his life was so rudely interrupted.

We'll never know. 




Visit Rebecca and friends to haiku your heart with love. 

Peace... and shine on.... 

Haiku My Heart - Sea Treasure

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The spiral theme continues. This little shell sits on a small porcelain dish on my desk. It reminds me of the Milky Way. Interesting connection, I know. :)

I cleaned my desk this week and unburied the rather large collection of beach stones, crystals, shells and other goodies that have taken up residence there. In fact, if it's possible I think they've multiplied under the stack of papers, art supplies and assorted Luke things that also collect on my desk. Each dish, bowl and cup in the photo below holds stones and crystals. Many are beach stones gathered from the shores of the Great Lakes over the years, including several Lake Superior agates and a neat specimen of a Petoskey stone. Some of the shells have traveled here from the ocean, from places like South Carolina, Florida and California.

Lots of crystals have found their way to me over the years, as well. I love the mystical and healing properties of stones and crystals. I enjoy being able to reach out and pick up whichever one speaks to me and feel its presence, the weight of it in my hand... the way its energy and spirit pulse gently into my own being.

My desk holds a nice representation of beautiful gifts from earth, sea and forest, millions of years in the making. Once and future treasures.

You'll find more haiku treasures here.

Peace.

Haiku My Heart – Full Circle

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new generations,

old & new traditions––

full circle

My daughter cooked her first Thanksgiving meal this year – each dish from scratch, including the pies. She prepared our favorites and added a couple of new dishes to the spread. It was delicious, every morsel. We had our first holiday dinner at my son's new home (his first house). He has now claimed Thanksgiving as 'his' holiday. Works for me. :)

It was an interesting mix of strange (what? I don't have to cook... anything?) and gratifying. That feeling of things coming full circle. It was also the first holiday without my dad. Each bite of sweet potato or pecan pie (two of his favorites and mine) carried a memory... like the year I attempted to make a sugar-free pecan pie for him. It was pretty awful, but he bravely ate it, anyway.

Oh, and the picture above is Luke's very first "hand" turkey. He asked me to help him trace his hand and knew to make each feather a different color. Why his turkey has four legs, though, I don't quite know... Lately, he's all about family relations – figuring out how each member fits: "You're my daddy's mudder and you're MY gran-mudder". We look at lots of old, childhood photos of his daddy, aunt and uncle as he processes the fact that they were once kids like him – "And I'll be BIG and STRONG like my daddy when I grow up." Yes, but I hope that day doesn't come so fast. I'm thoroughly enjoying his delightful, three-year-old self.

Life is more of a spiral than a circle, as we pass the torch from one generation to the next.

Haiku your heart here, with Rebecca and friends.

Peace to your heart & soul.

Haiku My Heart - Regrets

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regrets fall like ashes
grace leans
into the coming storm

Another dual offering for Haiku My Heart Friday and AEDM today.

I tried a new technique ('Apply Image') for blending two photos in the above image. I love the result - thanks to Deana for sharing this easy Photoshop  tutorial. Can't wait to play with the technique some more.

I have been a bit remiss in posting, but I have been working diligently on both map and doll for TAG, even taking photos along the way. I will post more very soon...

Meanwhile, visit the places above – they will haiku your heart and art your soul. Promise.

Peace.

Haiku My Heart – Bleeding Heart

confined
by rusted steel and ice
a heart still bleeds

An offering for both Haiku My Heart Friday and AEDM.

Too often, in trying to protect our fragile hearts, we lose what's most precious. Our vulnerability is a gift that allows us to know ourselves. Another's vulnerability is a treasure that allows us to know them. It is an honor to be invited into another's secret heart, whatever the circumstances... and deeply sad if that treasure has been buried.

Peace to all hearts.

PS - Yes, the image is from the "With wings..." piece from the last post, further enhanced... I'm getting a lot of mileage from that original, haphazardly arranged photo... ;)

Tricks or Treats?

All Hallow's Eve…
hungry ghosts whisper
poetic refrains

~~~

All Hallow's Eve….
jack-o-lantern
grins at the moon

~~~

All Hallow's Eve...
dead leaves and haints
waltz with the wind


I ran right out of time to participate in last Friday's Haiku My Heart, but here are a few treats to welcome Samhain. Better than candy corn, I hope. ;)

Need a (very) last minute costume idea? Check out these costumes from a century ago. (Thanks, Jeanne.)

Peace to your Hallowe'en soul.

Haiku My Heart - Last Dance

The weather has suddenly turned blustery, as October whirls and prances so swiftly toward November. Up until yesterday evening, we were without heat as we awaited parts for a furnace repair. Just in time, too, as we had our first hard frost of the season last night. How nice it was to be toasty warm whilst the banshees outside practiced their wails and moans.

We've had a gorgeous fall, beautifully sunny with bright blue skies and little rain. The leaves are starting to disappear quickly, now, and soon enough the trees will stand naked against wintry skies. Until then, though, I want to inhale every bit of autumn's sweet, crisp fragrance and feast my eyes on her rich palette.

Here are a few photos taken during a drive through the country and along Lake Huron and the St. Clair River last week-end.

For more wonderful ways to haiku your heart, please visit Recuerda Mi Corazon.

Peace to your soul.

Haiku My Heart - "Wraith"

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Must be the season... I'm feeling the call of the night, of all the hidden secrets and mysteries that take up residence in the deepest corners of my soul. As we approach the time when the veil betwixt worlds grows thinnest, the pull grows ever stronger.

Do you feel it?

Haiku your wild, freaky heart with Rebecca and friends.

Peace to your bonfires...

Haiku My Heart - The Pleiades

Click image to enlarge

seductive night dance

beckons us home

~stardust

There are few things more captivating and mysterious to me than the night sky. This beautiful painting, entitled 'The Pleiades', was completed by American artist Elihu Vedder in 1885. The star cluster Pleiades, also known as The Seven Sisters, is estimated to be about 115 million years old. Wow. That really puts some kind of perspective on our human existence, doesn't it? Soon this cluster will be a prominent feature of the night sky here in the northern hemisphere. The myth and mystery surrounding these lovely 'sisters' is plentiful and alluring.

One of my favorite sites is APOD - Astronomy Picture of the Day. Compare this image with Vedder's painting - how perfectly he captured those cosmic sisters.

Many a night I saw the Pleiads, rising thro’ the mellow shade,
Glitter like a swarm of fireflies tangled in a silver braid.
~ Lord Tennyson

Haiku your cosmic heart at Recuerdo Mi Corazon.

Peaceful stargazing...

we are stardust
we are golden
we are billion year old carbon
and we've got to get ourselves
back to the garden...

Haiku My Heart - Hello, October

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Clear, turquoise skies and warm breezes have blessed our little corner these past few days.  Temperatures have been closer to the norm for this time of year, after erratically jumping up and down the thermometer for a couple of weeks. Summer has to have her last hurrah and I am more than happy to oblige her.

There will be frost on the pumpkins in the blink of an eye, so I'm enjoying these balmy days with windows wide open - an invitation to those gracefully twirling wind sprites.

For more Haiku My Heart Friday goodies, Rebecca has what you need right here.

Peace to your soul.

Haiku My Heart - Call of the Wild

 a glorious harvest wut?

not on my watch. . .

(wild thing)   

The pitfalls of domestication.

How about you? Does the season call to you? Does it tease and tug at something primal deep within?

Did you howl at the glorious Harvest Moon?

More haiku for your wild, secret heart at Rebecca's place.

Peace...

Haiku My Heart

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Though the calendar says we still have a few more days, Autumn has been sneaking her way in. And although I welcome the change, the wonderful sensory cornucopia, it's always sad to see another summer pass, isn't it? Soon she'll be fading fast.

Please visit Rebecca's blog for more Haiku My Heart Friday gifts. Join in, if you feel so inspired.

Peace.

Haiku My Heart - Angels We Have Heard On High :)

angelic choir––
 divine raspberry
serenade   

This image was created from a photo of my grandson, taken at his third birthday party last week-end. The pose, captured by his Uncle Philip, was so angelic and sweet that I just had to have some fun with it. When he saw the original, he giggled and said, "I was makin' silly noises on my arm!" Oh, so much for angelic. Ha.

Thank goodness for the little ones and their gusto for living in the moment. They have a magical way of instantly making us forget sadness or worry or whatever less-than-happy emotion we might be momentarily stuck within.

Today, in anticipation of getting to ride his new bike, this happy, little soul ran to the open window, pressed his face to the screen and exclaimed, "Hi World! Whaddaya doin'? I comin' outside in a minnit!"

Such delightful exuberance. Watch out, World. :)

Please visit the lovely Rebecca's blog and follow the yellow brick road to gently open, fill and haiku your heart.

Peace.

Haiku My Heart

UPDATE 8-31: My dad passed away on Monday, August 23rd. He fought with everything he had, but in the end, he was just too worn out to continue. Now healing must commence for those of us left behind. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to stop by and read my posts, and to those who have shared their hearts, too. And especially, thank you for the caring you have shown. Words will never be able to express my gratitude.

~~~

Still waters run deep.

Watching someone slowly make their way back into this world from the nebulous depths of a closed head injury reminds me of this proverb. While everything on the surface appears still, we can only guess at what is churning below, or how deeply consciousness has submerged while the body heals. The occasional ripple of response that breaks the surface gives us only a hint (and hope!), just as the calm veneer of a quiet lake or river doesn't tell of the life teeming below.

Miracles do happen. Our family has been blessed by your prayers and your healing thoughts and energies, and we are so grateful. Thank you.

Once again, the original photo was taken by my son, Philip. Thanks, Philip.

The path to haiku your heart begins on Rebecca's blog. Enjoy.

Peace to every hearth and home.

~Deb