Caring About Our World Reflecting About Life
retro radio
I catch up
with my teen era
:
autumn slush rain
fresh colour on the road
lemon puddles
:
defog on high
no heat on the floor
the wipers squeak
a doleful autumn preview
of winter driving
:
©️2018 Ontheland
I wrote the closing tanka in response to Carpe Diem #1543 Rainstorm which challenges us to write haiku or tanka about a rainstorm without referring to it directly.
On top of the hill
where two rivers meet
a Halloween event
lighted up by Hunter’s Moon,
warm wood smoke and History.
:
I have been hoping to witness the second full moon of autumn for the last few days. The official full moon day was Wednesday but viewing can be good a few days before and after the official date. Unfortunately my moon view was blocked by cloud cover until Thursday night when I was at Fort Henry, an historical site on the St Lawrence and Cataraqui Rivers, for an event called ‘Fort Fright’.
©️2018 Ontheland
we saw them twice
their winged magnificence and
yellow-hooked beaks
circling high in autumn sky
en route to a winter home
~
Photo credit: bones64 posted on Pixabay
Bird migration is the theme of this week’s Haikai challenge. Not being a bird expert, I can only guess that the vultures I saw lately were on their way south, but it seems to be an explanation for their recent appearance. Turkey vultures are listed as birds on the move in Ontario at this time of year.
©️2018 Ontheland
sunset glow
in the rear view mirror
jazz radio riffs
fading each kilometre
farther from my old hometown
:
©️2018 Ontheland
:
blood-orange sunsets
the last of summer brilliance
long after spring
blossoms fluttered the wind
fall flowers radiate light
:
©️2018 Ontheland
In response to Carpe Diem’s Tanka Splendor: Basho’s Blossoms, celebrating Carpe Diem’s 6th anniversary.
In wealthy nations such as Canada homelessness has been with us for quite a while. It is an invisible problem to many but not to those on 10-year waiting lists for an affordable apartment or room.
How did we get here? We still trust that a market economy will do what is right while ignoring unemployment, wages that do not cover basic food and shelter, and inadequate stocks of affordable housing. Belief in the wisdom of the marketplace has led us to blame individuals for their misfortune and to neglect community responsibility.
Another issue has reared its head: statelessness. Millions of people across the globe flee war and natural disasters. Again we are challenged to consider our responsiblity for the basic needs of human beings in our midst.
:
moving from place to place
with no fixed address
invisible souls
in this broken society
only an old myth matters
:
In the rural county where I live I have noticed an increasing attention to the plight of people without shelter. A landowner who invited a couple in need to live in a trailer on his land found himself helping out more people. He is now in trouble with the municipality as trailers he set up on his property violate zoning bylaws.
:
hidden survivors
like ants under a boulder
their lives unknown
:
©️2018 Ontheland
Reflections about a cause for Haikai Challenge #48 Causes
:
late August mornings
the weight of exhausting heat
no longer deters
sleep-ins, strolling out at nine
in soft zephyrs, dewy light
:
In late summer the pressure to get out to the garden before 8 a.m. is easing up. It is still cool enough to harvest and tidy after 9.
A tanka for Haikai Challenge #47, autumn near.
©️2018 Ontheland
