a sense of haiku: February 2022

555. ukraine 🇺🇦- “a single leaf falls on the meadow”

a single leaf 🇺🇦 falls

done and dead to the earth

but… G-d knows better 🇺🇦🦊❤️🇺🇦

554. peace in pieces 🇺🇦

that timeless peace sign

clad in a somber black pall

peace is in pieces 🦊❤️

On yesterday’s hike the magical forces in nature provided me with insight into what I needed to be doing about important things in my life… and it provided me with this scene for this post at this time in history. God bless snd protect the People of Ukraine and the world. 🦊❤️

553. maple creemee with chocolate jimmies please

dripping day and night

my mouth waters at the sight

“maple creamee please!” 🦊❤️

Every time I see a Maple tree being tapped on a hike my mouth waters at the thought of a Vermont Maple Creemee. While in Vermont at a race with my kids, I discovered the joys of a Maple Creemee. It is like a soft ice cream cone infused with the heavenly taste of Vermont Maple Syrup. I like chocolate jimmies (sprinkles) on mine. Thanks Tom and Lori Curtis for turning me on to this awesome treat. Can’t wait to have a few at Infinitus this year. 🦊❤️

552. i see…

a print in the mud

she wonders, “is it a dog?”

lassie? rin tin tin? toto?

🦊❤️

…

a print in the mud

he wonders, “is it a bear?”

winnie? smokey? yogi? 🦊❤️

…

If all artists only see what is in front of them… art would be “accurate” but it sure would be boring. 🦊❤️

551. ukraine

just eight years ago

evil was unleashed again

and today… again 🦊❤️

Almost eight years ago today I wrote this post to mark in time

Russia’s invasion of Crimea. History and evil - when forgotten - returns… God Bless the people of Ukraine… and the civilized people of the world. 🦊❤️

550. “meow ok”

fending for himself

living off stranger’s kindness

he purrs, “we’re ok” 🦊❤️

The other day as I approached Tommy’s home base in the woods, he heard my trekking poles hitting the frozen ground and he came out of hiding to greet me. As he approached me I noticed his eternal vigilance in paying attention to and reacting to even the slightest noises around him (a squirrel, a bird and a falling walnut). Every day spent in paying attention to everything to stay safe and feel safe must be exhausting. I thought about my observations as I petted him as he sat on my lap. I felt a great deal of gratitude and honor that he would be relaxed enough with me to spend time sitting on my lap. In my eyes, Tommy is larger than life. 🦊❤️

549. your turn tuesday gallery #32

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karate is great

karate is so much fun

karate go broke!

neal steele

…

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he broke his first board

he was only a small boy

so proud of himself!

mary k fogleboch

…

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it’s all inside

learn to take a final bow

karate chop now

eileen brennan

…

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grand opening, licking our chops

teaching our students to chop

in the end, we get chopped

joseph conroy

…

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thru the front door

punchers, kickers, blockers -

flyers to the left

yulan mimmy san

…

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karate once important

now forgotten unwanted

and the store is so blue

june kushner

…

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kicking and screaming

throwing punches here - then there

now… a simple bow

daniel ravasio

…

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white robed attackers

karate at twelve oh eight

bowing gentlemen

michael brna

…

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spent years breaking boards

then karma hit very hard

we’re now boarded up

normand chabot

…

🦊❤️

548. just wait… the sun will be up soon

looking for a sign

that the sun will rise again

ah… lo and behold 🦊❤️

When I am in the dark woods in the middle of the night crewing my son and daughter as they grind their ways through a 100 mile or more race I will always tell them that, “The sun will be rising soon and you’ll feel better then.” I say that to them because by that time we are all in a debilitated state physically and mentally and sleep deprived. I say it for their benefit as well as mine. Then as they disappear back into the darkness, I keep my eyes on the trees waiting for the leaves to begin to turn from black to ever lightening shades of green. EVERYTHING is a lesson in living. 🦊❤️

547. braving the cold

temps are a plungin’

winds are wild and a whippin’

“quart of lemon please” ❤️🦊

So much in life must be mastered or at a minimum endured, by “faking it until you make it”. So if you are jonesing for long, warm summer days in the midst of the short and cold winter ones, then you should enjoy a heaping helping of deliciously refreshing water ice to help you “fake it”. 🦊❤️

(Rita’s Water Ice re-opened yesterday and I bought my first quarts of lemon and mango water ice as temperatures were dipping again into the teens. Brrrr)

546. standing in your you-ness

so sweetly grotesque

a mass of lumps and bumps

a breath of fresh air 🦊❤️

There is a single Cucumber Magnolia tree that stands beside the trail. It is so different from all the trees around it. It is ugly by most standards - even scary when the sun is low or it’s without its leaves. To me it is a hero figure - one who stands boldly in its unique you-ness. 🦊❤️

545. for scientists only!

thrown by the axon

across the synaptic gap

caught by the dendrite 🦊❤️

When I learned about neurons in college, I was totally fascinated. So simple… yet… sooooooo complex. The more I think about neurons and how they work, the more I am convinced that everything, neural or not, is a reflection of the mechanics of the firing of neurons. 🦊❤️

544. painting without numbers

still on the easel

looking for the right colors

paint by number(less) 🦊❤️

Sometimes painting a new portrait of ourselves involves scraping some of the paint off of the painting of us that we have hanging on our wall. There are no numbers on the canvas… so we are free to choose. 🦊❤️

543. shakespeare was right

like frost on a leaf

or an awesome coral reef

petroleum spill 🦊❤️

A beautiful coral reef impersonator showed up in my parking lot the other day thanks to a car that needs some maintenance. “All that glisters is not gold.” is a line penned by William Shakespeare. We know it as “glitter”. 🦊❤️

542. your turn tuesday #32

write a haiku inspired by the picture above. classic haiku form is:

5 syllables

7 syllables

5 syllables

any three line haiku regardless of syllable count.

whatever style haiku you like

just a poem!!

feel free to do as you please!

Send your haiku’s title and haiku to me at danrav200@gmail.com . You can also use the comment box in the upper right hand corner of the web version of this post to submit your entry. Or, facebook messenger.

Next Tuesday I will post the photo and submitted haikus’s as the post of the day. The author’s name will be included unless otherwise instructed not to include. Looking forward to reading and posting your haikus!!

You can view the previous “your turn tuesday” gallery of haikus here- https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/734048753799690289/8263511463667647258

Thank you.

🦊❤️

541. ❤️monochromatic sunday❤️

white snow dots the sky

with black geese dotting the snow

under a gray sky 🦊❤️

Life can be very monochromatic at times. But I find that monochromatic Sundays are the grayest of all… But on that note… Today is St. Valentine’s Day - a day dominated by the color red. Happy Valentine’s Day to all. Most of all - love yourself today. 🦊❤️ ❤️❤️❤️❤️

540. doing wheelies

down a one way street

the wrong way and raised up high

made my spirits rise 🦊❤️

While walking along feeling particularly low, I saw a group of teenage boys riding their bikes. One of the boys was really good at doing “wheelies”. I asked him if I could take a picture of him in action. He said, “Sure!!!!!!”. I showed him and his buddies the picture and sent it to his phone. He was beside himself with happiness and pride, and for a little while I felt the same way about me. So… When you’re feeling low… be attentive for opportunities to make others feel high… 🦊❤️

539. superstition

wish upon a star

breaking a wishbone in two

my lucky horseshoe. 🦊❤️

Behind every superstitious act is the belief, or at least the hope, that a power greater than ourselves exists and is able to assist us or protect us. In a way… a form of prayer. 🦊❤️

538. muddy shoes can be washed

on this muddy trail

having no choice but to walk…

on this muddy trail 🦊❤️

Winter trails can fluctuate between frozen craters of mud - to swamps of mud - back to frozen craters of mud in a matter of minutes thanks to the sun’s direct rays. Responsible hikers walk smack dab right in the mud or icy mounds rather than evading the slippery footing. To evade the hazards by sidestepping “the slippery stuff” will damage the adjacent trail foliage and terrain and create larger areas of damaged trails that will be subject to all of the above. I guess it’s sort of like navigating the trails of life - especially the winter ones… 🦊❤️

537. where my name is known

alone in the cold

seeking refuge in a field

the sun knows my name 🦊❤️

Where the sun shines there is warmth… stop… close your eyes… feel the warmth… stand up tall… take a deep breath… open your eyes… take a step… then another… then another… 🦊❤️

536. show me a sign

a sun in a sun

another son in the rear

rising now and then 🦊❤️

Life is full of signs that are speaking to us… sometimes we hear… sometimes we put our fingers in our ears so we can’t. 🦊❤️

535. your turn tuesday gallery #31

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broken heart locked up

dimly lit, its heartbeat faint

i walk by often

michael brna

…

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i wonder sometimes

if your dreams and sorrow sleep

behind this closed door

marie pejrimovska

…

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two locks to close it

one handle to open it

this door remains closed

normand chabot

…

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his treasure is safe

locked up for another time

does he have the key?

eileen brennan

…

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what’s behind the door

a giant treasure or grim fate?

would you break the lock?

mary ellyn kunz

…

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the keyhole reveals

the state of our future days

throw away the key

daniel ravasio

…

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once easy to enter

then locked away

now forever closed out

june kushner

…

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the door looks so old

how many have passed through

where were they going?

mary k fogleboch

…

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a burning secret

double locked for safe keeping

burden?? Or power??

stephanie lynn

…

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silence

cannot hide well enough

secrets

yulan mimmy san

…

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what will be found

behind this door with locks?

maybe just pandora’s box

joseph conroy

…

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when unlocking your skeletons

it just makes sense

to choose the key that fits best

joseph conroy

…

🦊❤️

534. walk on wonder

the jury has spoken

rusty radiator wins

steamed artists clanging 🦊❤️

Never underestimate the power and beauty of being exactly what you are. 🦊❤️

533. going full circle

when i look backward

i can see very clearly

where i’d like to stand 🦊❤️

If you’re lucky… you’ll get yourself back to a time where simplicity ruled. 🦊❤️

532. grey + gray = 2

sparkling drops of rain

taking their turns shimmering

on this grey… gray… day 🦊❤️

I used to worry that I used correct words so that others didn’t think I was a dummy. Now I count the sylables I use so that I maintain the 5-7-5 format of my haiku. 🦊❤️

531. “what me worry?”

“mad magazine”… gone!

“three ring circuses”… gone too!

alfred worried?… nope! 🦊❤️

Seems like things that “poke fun” and “are fun” are increasingly being eliminated in the name of making us better people… the results are still pending… 🦊❤️