poem: desert sky circles

desert sky circles:
sunset’s red rainbow beckons
as the moon rises

Lost in the desert, Throws-his-words and Fierce Cat heed Raven’s sign, a red rainbow surrounding the rising full moon, that leads them to water. The haiku is how I would write it; here is Throws-his-word’s song:

In the land of hard stones,
In the land of painted giants,
In the land of angry trees,
In the land of parched lips,

Raven, where is the laughing grass?
Raven, where are the sleeping trees?
Raven, where are the deer and the buffalo?
Raven, where are the singing streams?

“Wait for the sunset”, Raven whispers.
“Wait for the moonrise”, Raven whispers.
“Look me in the eye”, Raven whispers.
“See what I see and come to me.”

I linked this poem to the readwritepoem blog, where there is a weekly poetry “prompt” inviting people to submit poems on a new theme each week. This week’s theme was collaborative, to write a poem using the first line donated from another poet’s poem. I selected my line from a lovely poem by jone.

(You can read other poets’ submissions on the theme at the readwritepoem blog too. By the way, red rainbows are a real phenomenon, and the one Nancy and I saw during a neighborhood walk last weekend was the inspiration for this poem.)

As part of the prompt, I also donated the first line of one of my own poems, and I was delighted to see how other poets took it and made it their own. Check them out!

poem: face

pre-dawn dark silence,
looking at my (almost) face
in the bathroom mirror.
through the washcloth
my hands see more clearly

Is it just me, or maybe it’s because I’m so near-sighted without my glasses, but I know my own face much better by touch than sight. I’ll often get up early in the morning, especially in winter, wash and dress quietly, deliberately, without turning on any lights. It’s a very different place than the everyday world dominated by sight and sound.

I linked this poem to the readwritepoem blog, where there is a weekly poetry “prompt” inviting people to submit poems on a new theme each week. This week’s theme was to write a poem literally in your face. (You can read other poets’ submissions on the theme at the blog too.)

how to use a chair

In today’s installment of our ongoing lecture series, here are six additional uses for a chair:

The yoga “cat pose”, demonstrated by an expert:

(This last chair was previously seen in this blog almost two years ago, here.)

out and about

Typical sights out and about walking the dogs down by the river and through the neighborhood.

Hank: “I can has treats?”

Mount Saint Helens in the distance, seen over the Ross Island Bridge

Spring may not have fully spung yet, but it’s definitely springing.

The aerial tram seen above the Ross Island Grocery, a great little deli with a long history.

One of my favorite things about our early 1900’s neighborhood: the sidewalk makers’ marks.

These embedded marks are so old that they’ve nearly weathered away. But even the slightest indentation retains that little bit of extra moisture that lets the moss thrive (extreme close-up!)

Having a great time, wish you were here!

neighbor of the week

Daddy Ladder, Mommy Ladder, and all the Ladder children out for a stroll in the neighborhood on a Sunday afternoon.