SCIFAIKU by Patricia Kelly

would that there were winds//to sweep it all away//this roaring of minds

The brightest light in the photo above is actually Mars. The scifaiku (a haiku-like poem with a sci-fi/fantasy theme) is an old one of mine I ran across organizing and weeding out my scifaiku files. It's pretty much how I'm feeling these days. Too much going on, too much to be done, too much coming at me, too much emotional and mental "noise," etc. It's all to the good, but stressful nevertheless. I can't wait until I at least know where I'll be moving and approximately when, for instance. I'm leaving town again on Tuesday for a trip to upstate New York -- not too far from Lake Placid -- to check out another retirement residence I'm interested in.

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Resource: Scifaiku.com.

‘til next time, keep dreaming,

Roswila
[aka: Patricia Kelly]
****If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or poems, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”)****My other blogs ROSWILA’S TAROT GALLERY & JOURNAL and ROSWILA’S TAIGA TAROT.

CALIFORNIA QUEST (A Haiku Series)

The below are only a portion of what I wrote during my recent five day trip to the Santa Barbara area of California. I was visting some dear friends and checking out a senior residence in Goleta (which it turns out I may very well move to within several months). I will also add that my prayers are with everyone effected by the fires still raging in southern California.

The haiku below are in the order in which I wrote them. All were written pretty much right after I exprienced the moments I attempt to share in them, so they do serve as a sort of journal of the trip.

CALIFORNIA QUEST

night’s silent end
a plane tail glides
next to the window

* * * *

sunrise streaks
beyond the runways
he asks for the time

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my own home somewhere
in a sea of homes below
neighborhood gameboard

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I walk the plane aisle stiffly
Harry Potter flies

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the eighteenth gate
my next flight at ninety
a wheelchair trumps pride

* * * *

she squints laughing
to read her boarding pass
her bare belly

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the plane window holds
peak after snowy peak
my heart wakes

* * * *

air turbulence
my cryptic hand notes
his laptop

* * * *

the sea appears through clouds
this mermaid is home

* * * *

sea weed, sail boats
a sun-warmed pier
this surge of sadness

* * * *

rocking the blues away eucalyptus shadows

* * * *

the gardener’s pail
overflows unnoticed
sunlit gossip

* * * *

palms at attention
gaggles of college students
bicycle by

* * * *

distant train whistle
reaching for the colorful quilt

* * * *

my friend naps
with her snoring pug
tired hosts

* * * *

tall palms stand before
dark power lines
luncheon al fresco

* * * *

her crossed leg swings
a denim covered pendulum
sunlit waiting room

* * * *

homeward bound
released by the foothills
into the sky

* * * *

straight to my heart
the bright lights of New York
in the plane window

* * * *

days of mail piled in the hall
the stairs won’t reach the sky

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Resource: How to Revise & Improve Your Haiku, good basic questions to ask ourselves about our haiku.

‘til next time, keep dreaming,

Roswila
[aka: Patricia Kelly]
****If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or poems, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”)****My other blogs ROSWILA’S TAROT GALLERY & JOURNAL and ROSWILA’S TAIGA TAROT.

HAIGA in Response to One Deep Breath Prompt of 10-21-07

The prompt this week at One Deep Breath is "closeness." I just spent several days in California checking out a retirement residence in Santa Barbara, and re-connecting with some dear friends. I could almost literally feel all the refreshed heart closeness stretching as the plane flew back across our continent to New York.

You can check out the link above to One Deep Breath to read others creative responses to this idea (be sure to check under the comments).

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‘til next time, keep dreaming,

Roswila
[aka: Patricia Kelly]
****If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or poems, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”)****My other blogs ROSWILA’S TAROT GALLERY & JOURNAL and ROSWILA’S TAIGA TAROT.

HAIKU

open curtains
the old palm bows and rises
bows and rises

I just got back from several days in California. Every time I sat by the window in my friend's room I was drawn to the rhythm of the old very tall, very bent palm right outside. Much like what happens when one's own heart becomes entrained to someone else's calmer beat, my knees or worries would no longer bother me so much.

In a future post I'll be sharing all of the haiku I wrote on the trip, along with a couple of tanka.

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‘til next time, keep dreaming,

Roswila
[aka: Patricia Kelly]
****If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or poems, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”)****My other blogs ROSWILA’S TAROT GALLERY & JOURNAL and ROSWILA’S TAIGA TAROT.