Tag: haibun

silk moth – – haibun

The sliding door is open, letting in the cool breeze. I pull a cotton hoodie over my head and yawn into the silence…a time to write perhaps. The world is in an uproar about the virus, about racial oppression, violence, hate, fear, poverty, injustice … … and I am tired this morning, bruised from a fall in the garden and dulled by a list of things to do jamming inside my head.

silk moth

on the window screen

are you injured or

simply still

until you fly?

.

.

©️2020 Ontheland

P.S. I believe my visitor was a Cecropia moth, a type of giant silk moth.

reopening – – haibun

The library email announces they have reopened. I may pick up the item that was on hand just before the lockdown. An excursion! I roll into the deserted community centre parking lot and spot the curbside sign with the library phone number. I obediently dial and speak to a librarian who will bring my item out to the cart near the door—about 10 metres away from where I am parked. When she comes outside we exchange waves and smiles. She disappears into the building. This is my cue to get out of my car and walk to the cart. There waiting for me is a brown paper bag with my name on it. I notice a container of Lysol wipes and a hand sanitizer pump next to it…part of a disinfection decor? “Perhaps I should get out more often” I muse as I walk back to my car.

public places

going out for a taste of

surreal

.

.

©️2020 Ontheland

meadows – – haibun

In their later years some people look back to recall happy times … they savour the ‘meadows’ of their lives. Though I have positive memories, my recollections hold more greys and browns than the brighter yellows, pinks and blues of a meadow. And now . . . I enjoy buttercups, a wide-winged bird soaring, night calls from the trees, a crescent moon, a canine grin . . .

being alive

fresh leaves emerging

once again

.

.

©️2020 Ontheland

Haikai Challenge #140 — summer meadow

May moon – – haibun

Back in my twenties I wasn’t attuned to the moon and seasons as I am now. My observations, if any, were unconscious, while closer to the surface were my preoccupations with school, work, and relationships. I do have one memory though of considering seasonal patterns as I paced the long road leading to school, while taking long breaths to quell anxiety. It was May and it was snowing. I said to myself “remember this: it can snow in May” and sure enough, in 2020, the year of the extraordinary, we are expecting snow tonight.

flower moon

absorbing daffodil glow

before the snow

.

.

©️2020 Ontheland

hazy moon – – haibun

Another full moon is swelling in the southern sky, the second, since March 11 when the World Health Organization declared the Pandemic. They call it the ‘flower moon’. Here, on my patch of land in Eastern Ontario, daffodils and a few dandelions have complied. This year, nature’s spring has been unfolding in a gentle steady way.

Behind doors and out on the streets there have been other, human stories…. these are about to take a new turn, as we enter the gradual easing of lockdown.

hazy moon…

the corona ball still rolling

toward the pins

.

.

Photos were taken today, May 7, 2020.

Haikai Challenge 5-3-20 Flower Moon

©️2020 Ontheland

new moon earth day – – haibun

Yesterday was to be a personal ‘holiday’. . . a promise to myself.

new moon

the invitation of

darkness

What better time to tend body and soul than an auspicious conjunction of darkness and hope…

Earth Day at home

dreams of

new beginnings

And then life chose its own course. Today I splash to the surface, catch my breath.

making space

I survive

the unexpected

.

.

©️2020 Ontheland

Yesterday was April 22, 2020 Earth Day on a new moon.

Haikai Challenge #135 – – New Moon

pandemonium – – haibun

pandemonium . . .

the curve is rising

a curve is falling

lives counted as numbers

as open graves

two metres down

or between us

casting blame

before it’s over

when we need

more testing

more research

more PPE . . .

stay home

make a mask

find inner calm

.

how soon

the full moon departs

into darkness

.

©️2020 Ontheland

last quarter moon – – haibun

last quarter moon

COVID 19. Have we reached the peak or is it yet to come? Once the daily number of casualties fall, how much safer will we be to return to our former world? Who will be first to venture out…to join those who, persuaded by dedication, need, or lack of options, did not isolate.

.

half gone moon

in the morning sun

swollen ash buds

.

©️2020 Ontheland