Sturdy, ancient trees,
Breathing unpolluted air,
Slow down, watch, listen.
#SilentSunday ‘Slow Down’ #Haiku
Sturdy, ancient trees,
Breathing unpolluted air,
Slow down, watch, listen.
Tag Nature
Sturdy, ancient trees,
Breathing unpolluted air,
Slow down, watch, listen.
#MondayBlogs ‘Not Child’s Play’ #Tanka
Not Child’s Play
Rascals watch her play,
She’s the queen of the castle,
She’ll reign forever
And ever, hallelujah!
Queen of queens wears fresh, green crown.
#Writephoto Autumn #Tanka
This Tanka was written in response to Sue Vincent’s weekly photo prompt.
Autumn
Trees stare at river,
Watching rippling reflections.
River stares at sky,
Admiring its vast blue hue.
Leaf falls on grass, blade quivers.
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Hope you’re having a wonderful Sunday!
#SundayWalks ‘Distractions’ #SilentSunday #PoemADay #PoetryMonth
Distractions
Yet I stoop to capture
Every single
Luscious plant, which
Lures me towards its extra
Ordinary shade of yellow. Distracting
Wildflowers enticing me along another path.
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Distractions are highly underrated.
Daily routines, work, commitments, and the demands of everyday life emphasise that I should focus on objectives and make sure I complete my ‘to do list’ without any distractions.
I disagree. I need to make time for myself and cross items off my ‘to be list’ (more on to do and to be lists here).
Walking, observing my surroundings, taking photos of anything which catches my eye, and writing poems, are some of my favourite distractions.
And now, back to my to do list. Monday is only a few hours away!
Which are your favourite distractions?
Photos wanted for #AtoZChallenge! #Haiku #Photography
As I said in my Theme Reveal post last Monday, I’ll be posting some of my photos with accompanying haikus during the April Blogging Challenge.
I have a lot of photos, but I’m no expert photographer, yet, and as I love photo prompts, I’ve been wondering if any of my blogging friends and followers would like to send me inspiring photos and I’ll do my best to write a haiku in response during the month of April.
I especially love photos related to any aspect of nature, but any picture which you like, for any reason, will be welcome.
Send me an email to luccia dot gray at gmail dot com with your name, blog link, twitter handle (if you have one), and the picture you’d like me to post. If you write ‘photo prompt’ in the subject line, that would be helpful, too. If you’d like to tell me something (a short paragraph), about the picture, that’s fine too, but not required. Finally, please send your photos asap, preferably before Saturday 31st March.
I’ll naturally credit your photo and feature your blog in the corresponding blog post.
I’m looking forward to receiving your photo prompts.
Are you taking part in the April Blogging Challenge this year?
If so, tell me about your theme.
#WordlessWednesday ‘Dry Branches and Lilac Trees’ #Haiku
Dry branches crisscross
Wild, confusing, mesh of twigs
Yet lilac tree blooms
#BlackandWhitePhoto #Photography Challenge #Day3
Black and White Photography Challenge: Seven days. Seven black and white photos of your life. No people. No explanation. Challenge someone new each day.
Once again, I would like to thank Shreya at Live Out Crazy for nominating me! Check out her great blog!
I nominate new follower, Sho who blogs about her thoughts at Love is Life and Gun Roswell who blogs about everything and nothing at Rantings of a Third Kind. Feel free to take part if and when you have time.
#AtoZChallenge ‘Y’ #NationalPoetryMonth ‘Burning Oak’ by Joyce Carol Oates #amwriting #poem #NaPoWriMo
This year to celebrate National Poetry Month and to take part in the April A-Z Blogging Challenge, I’ll be posting two poems a day, one written by me and another poem written by one of my favourite poets. The title or first word of the poem, or the author’s name will begin with the corresponding letter in the Blogging Challenge.
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Today I offer you Burning Oak by Joyce Carol Oates, which starts and finishes with the word ‘Yesterday‘ and Unhappy Trees by Luccia Gray.
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Burning Oak by Joyce Carol Oates
*
Yesterday, the sky in mute
horizontal swaths, air
almost too thick to breathe.
we found the stump of an old oak, man-
*
sized, burning without flame
at the edge of a clearning __ splintered wood
raw, bulldozed roots exposed__
even the black ants fled
*
in the stink of old grief
made pubic and final, old hopes exposed __
past tense! __ now headless leafless a stump
knocked half out of the earth
*
and the soul just blue smoke vague
and slow-spreading rising without grace
into an indifferent sky no one will paint,
or photograph, or see__
except us: yesterday.
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This poem is about disintegration and regret. The narrator describes the death of a tree, which has become a stump. The oak tree is splintered, bulldozed, roots exposed, leafless, and nobody cares, because no one will paint it, photograph it, or even see it, except the narrator and another person, ‘us’, which leads the reader to believe the real subject of the poem is the end of a relationship, viewed some time after the event. More about Joyce Carol Oates here.
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Oates’ poem reminded me of a photograph I took a few days ago of a tree, which had been run over, so I decided to write a poem about this fallen tree, or perhaps it’s about something completely different…
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Unhappy Trees
*
A drunk driver
On his way home
One dark night, hit
The gloomy tree.
It had wished for
A better place
To grow its roots.
It had longed to
Be surrounded
By earth and grass.
It’s too late now.
They’ll use what’s left
to light camp fires
And tell chilling
Stories about
why drunk drivers
Should beware of
unhappy trees,
Made to grow by
ugly roadsides,
Surrounded by
cement, on their
way home at night.
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My #Gapp_Week 25th July @Gapp_Week
- What are you GRATEFUL for? Beautiful yet simple things which make life wonderful.
I’m grateful for living in this wonderful planet with such spectacular wildlife. I’ve spent a week in the north of Spain, in a beautiful part of the country. There are beautiful beaches, wildlife parks, reservoirs, mountains…
The sound of the waves breaking at the sea-shore, water rippling in the reservoir, the colours of the plants, flowers, trees and grass, and the amazing animals I was able to see were such a beautiful sight. I feel privileged to live on this planet.
I’m grateful for meeting up with my cousins and aunt whom I hadn’t seen for a few years. I’m grateful for their friendship and affection, even if we only spent an afternoon having a long overdue chat and a coffee.
Fascinating how close we feel to people we share genes with, even though our lives are very diverse, and we only see each other very rarely, in my case because we’ve always lived in different parts of the world.
I’m also grateful for the wonderful writers who write fabulous novels which entertain me, move me, and inspire me. Thank you for making my life more enjoyable.
Claire Mackintosh for ‘I Let You Go‘ a fabulous novel I’ve just finished.
Jennifer Theriot for Out of the Box Regifted, which I’m currently reading and loving.
- What have you ACHIEVED? Things that you’ve done for yourself .
I’m not sure yet, time will tell, but I think an idea for a new novel has been sown. I’ll have to wait and see if anything comes of it, so I can’t say much now, except that it’s a contemporary suspense with some romance. Inspiration is quite an Achievement! (I hope it lasts)
- What are you PROUD of? Things you’ve done for others.
I’m Proud of helping my mother who wasn’t feeling too well. It wasn’t much in relation to what she deserves, but it was all I could do, given the circumstances, which are too complex and personal to share.
- What are your PLANS for next week? Doable and simple, realistic steps towards your goals.
I’d like to write down some scenes and character sketches for the new novel I’ve been ‘seeing’. Those who know my writing process know I ‘see’ my novel in scenes before I start writing and jotting down ideas and the novel starts taking shape.
I’d also like to keep in touch with my cousins, even if it’s only the occasional text message.
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I hope you all have a fabulous week!
