Haiku a rama.

I find myself once again behind, so I will resort to some shorter "gems," if you will. :)

Christmas cookies sit
on my plate now twice a day.
SO worth one late night.

Wrapping presents was
a chore when I started, but
now it's a pleasure.

Giving something nice
to people I love so much
is worth some effort.

Christmas cards should not
be a dying tradition,
in my opinion.

I send out a lot
and am always sad to see
so few in return.

I would understand
if there were a modernized
replacement, but no.

I guess people feel
more connected day-to-day
with social networks.

But there is nothing
like seeing handwritten notes
from people I like.

Call me old-fashioned,
but I still greatly enjoy
good old sing-alongs.

This is the season
when I really get a pang,
missing my old choirs.

Catch-up time.

More haiku will hopefully catch me up here.

Furious needles
started out haltingly but
now no yarn is safe!

A tango of knots
dance across my fingers as
yarn becomes a scarf.

First I was afraid
I would turn out one huge snarl
instead, this is fun.

Strangely calming click
of metal performing its
standard magic trick.

The best part of all?
Getting to relax with yarn
and meet some new friends.

As promised.

Autumn/ Winter Haiku series

Raking many leaves
into perfect little piles;
bagging? Nah, no time.

Next weekend: the snow
drifted over solid ice.
Shoveling was a dream.

Powdered-sugar land
after midnight flurries end,
sparkling in the sun.

Nothing can compare
to the light in a child's eyes
by a Christmas tree.

A rant, snapshots and a confession.

A few last ranty haiku:

Great job, truck driver,

stopping across the crosswalk,

for no good reason.

I really enjoyed

walking through your exhaust cloud

with my two-year-old.

I hope it was worth

endangering families

to gain two seconds.

All right, for now it may be out of my system.

I am endlessly entertained by my ever-more-verbal toddler. The other morning two of his favorite shows mentioned the word "camouflage". Since then, he has been hiding things and saying, "alaflage". I think he has a rudimentary grasp of the concept.

The other thing he is working on, bless his little heart, is "yuv you Mommy." I think I have only heard it three times, but I would probably crawl on my belly through fire to hear it again.

Confession: I am a napaholic. For the last few months, after figuring out I was not getting back my energy in the second trimester, I have resigned myself (without much prodding, admittedly) to taking a nap when my toddler does. Now, however, when he starts stirring again it is difficult to actually get out of bed again. I have found myself with my brain fully alert but not physically able to move. Sigh. Maybe I should be going to bed earlier. I guess it would be helpful if the boy would stop waking in the night...I think he is working on those blasted two year molars. YAWN...

Declaration.

This blog post is hereby declared ranty-haiku post. Observe:

Dearest chirping bird,

it is four in the morning.

Shush, if you love life.

Kid screaming in street:

you really should know better.

Let the nappers nap.

If you do not want

to share your food with toddlers,

don't let them see it.

Why, no, everyone,

I had not noticed that I

am extremely huge.

When you point it out,

I am grateful; I worried

no one could yet tell.

A word to the wise:

despite your experience,

don't guess. You'll be wrong.

By the way, it's not

"any day now" that I'm due,

I have till July.

And yes, I have checked

several times with my doctor,

and no, it's not twins.

So let's let it rest

and you can think your deep thoughts

and leave me alone!

On a roll?

Dear readers,

I am humbled by your support. On your advice, Paige (see my followed blogs), I will undertake to challenge you with a poem type per week, should you choose to accept it. Feel free to read and not take up the gauntlet as well. Hopefully those sessions will prove enlightening for all involved. I will not pick a "winner," we are writing purely for enjoyment here.

I am struggling to move past a small roadblock encountered at the end of my MA program. I received the lowest grade of the entire program on my thesis, which I feel is unfair since I did not receive any feedback from my advisor between the penultimate and final drafts. However, it will not prevent me from graduating or even lower my GPA significantly; it's just the principle of the thing. I put an email to him tonight, we shall see if he actually answers it this time. Sigh...

Anyway, on to my first Poetry Challenge!

HAIKU

Really, what else would I start with?

Haiku had its origins in Japan. It is traditionally a three-line, seventeen-syllable poem, able to be recited in one breath. It generally depicts images from nature, and because of its brevity, it emphasizes simplicity and intensity. Haiku was traditionally written in the present tense and valued the associations between images. 

Ezra Pound was famously inspired by the haiku form, writing his poem "In a Station of the Metro" in nearly-haiku form:

The apparition of these faces in the crowd;

Petals on a wet, black bough. 

You can see many example-haiku here and here. 

Here is an attempt from me.

Thunder rolling, wind

sweeps through tree branches outside.

Summer crackles, live.

What've you got? I want to read it!

Haiku News

13 years later,

Unabomber fights auction.

Victims deserve cash.

Adam Lambert's gay.

In other news, the sky is 

blue, and we breathe air.

"Futurama"'s back!

Awesome, that show makes me laugh

more than "Simpsons" does.

Fallon tries to stage

"Saved By the Bell" reunion;

Screech the holdout--why???

By popular demand...

Status report: one paper down, one to go. 

December weather:

on top of our sparkly snow,

bucketloads of rain.

Baby tricks galore--

babbling, giggling, pulling up,

playing with his face!

Quick update

So, I fear that I will not be able to write again for awhile, as I have 125 pages to read by Tuesday for one class, and a good 20 poems to read for Wednesday for my other class. I love being a student, but I don't read quickly and I don't have time to do it until my little angel goes to bed for the night, which usually isn't until 7:30 or 8:00, and I sometimes still have to eat dinner after that. This mom stuff isn't easy. As I was telling my own mom the other day, it's "tricky." To say the least.

I have been struggling with getting my little one to go down for his naps. Even though he is clearly tired at certain times of day, he is a sleep fighter. He also refuses to nap in his crib, he prefers snuggling on me while I lie on the couch. This is sweet and all, but destroys any chance of me getting much done during the day. Ah well, I realize that he will not still be doing this when he is in high school, or even when he is five. So I'll try to appreciate it for what it is. 

I had a rather ludicrous dream this morning while napping with the little one, which involved a really odd food item. Maybe I'll try a ditty about that.

Lying on the couch

dreaming of ground eagle--tastes

just like chicken? Hmm.

Yes, I have probably the most bizarre dreams ever. Once I had a dream about a beach party in which all the revelers were dressed in different colored dog costumes.

And with that, I take my leave...the little one is ready for his nap.

Prima

Well, here begins my foray. I am a busy woman just now, with classes and parenting my 8 month old child, so I am going to begin with a modest goal of a poem every few days. If I am particularly busy, a haiku will have to suffice. I find their restrictions oddly freeing anyway. This is primarily to keep my writing skills relatively sharp, but I welcome any constructive comments as well. I do hope to someday publish my work, so any opportunity for improvement is greatly appreciated.

hours fly too fast

sleep becomes a stranger, then

a small voice cries out

why is it that I

procrastinate just when I

need to get work done?