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Happy New Year! I made it across the finish line of this year and with a haiku each day in December in response to an invitation to write a daily #haikuforhealing with Mary Lee Hahn
The practice of focusing thought each day on this short & sweet form was good for me. It gave me a reason to make sure I was noticing life...being present in it. After December 2nd, I began looking for images to pair with haiku. These are known as haiga. On Fridays, I would submit this haiku gallery for Poetry Friday, an online community of poetry sharing. You will see breaks in the gallery as those weeks are introduced.
I hope you enjoy the gallery of December moments below as much as I did and do. Cheers!
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| WTOP News "#OTD in 1879, the wizard of Menlo Park demonstrated his bright idea. A look at things that have happened on Dec. 31 in history." 12/31/16. 5:45 am. |
Poetry Friday 12/30/16 Happy Eve to New Year's Eve! I will be spending time today thinking about the past year and choosing a new one-little-word for 2017. In 2016 I chose "listen". Isn't it amazing how often an idea pops up once you notice it? Oh, I had such a hard time listening over the past year...and I aim to do better next. For this past month, I've been adding a haiku a day to this gallery. Not only has it been a joy but it's been a tremendous centering experience. Many, many thanks to Mary Lee Hahn for the challenge. The haiku gallery is my offering for Poetry Friday with gratitude to Donna Smith at Mainly Write for hosting this week's Poetry Friday Round-Up
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| (c) Linda Mitchell |
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| Common Ravens. Photo: Colleen Gara/Audubon Photography Awards The 2016 Audubon Photography Awards Winners." Audubon. National Audubon Society, 30 Nov. 2016. Web. 28 Dec. 2016. |
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| (c) Linda Mitchell |
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| c Linda Mitchell |
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| (c) Linda Mitchell. Photo: Network, The Fabric Shop. "Free Pattern – Rhythm & Blues Quilt from Red Rooster."FabTalk - It's All About Fabric. FabTaalk, 19 June 2009. Web. 26 Dec. 2016. |
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| "Virginian Partridge." Audubon. National Audubon Society, 24 Aug. 2015. Web. 26 Dec. 2016. |
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Associated Press. "Associated Press." The National Herald. The National Herald, 23 Dec. 2016. Web. 25 Dec. 2016.
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| (c) Linda Mitchell |
Christmas Eve already? Have you baked your cookies yet? My little neighbor girls have. Christmas is really for the children. xoxo
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| photo credit: Connie Thompson |
It's Poetry Friday -- December 23, 2016. There's lots more poetry creativity and sharing at Buffy Silverman's blog. Thank you, Buffy!
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| click here to see the video |
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| It's first day of winter break -- I'm having too much fun playing on fb & twitter! |
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| Kucko, John. "Facebook." The Winter Solstice,. John Kucko Digital, 17 Dec. 2016. Web. 21 Dec. 2016. |
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| (c) Linda Mitchell |
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| Unsplash. "Free Image on Pixabay - Milky Way, Galaxy, Night, Sky." Free Photo: Milky Way, Galaxy, Night, Sky - Free Image on Pixabay - 984050. Pixabay, n.d. Web. 18 |
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| Hubbard, Ben. "Aleppo Evacuation Suspended After 8,000 People Removed." The New York Times. The New York Times, 16 Dec. 2016. Web. 17 Dec. 2016. |
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| NDSU Extension. "North Dakota State University." Assessing Tree Damage - Burleigh County Extension. NDSU EXTENSION SERVICE - BURLEIGH COUNTY, 21 Dec. 2015. Web. 13 Dec. 2016. |
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| (c) Linda Mitchell |
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| (c) Linda Mitchell |
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| (c) Linda Mitchel |
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| (c) Linda Mitchell |
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Hooray! It's POETRY FRIDAY 12/10/16. So far, I've kept up with at least one #haikuforhealing each day of the month. It's fun and keeps my writing brain in the "on" position in this busy season. Even though some of these haiku are dashed off, I appreciate slowing down to consider each word when I can. It's a stillness that's delicious.
Hop on over to Jone's blog, Check it Out for more Poetry Friday. Thanks for hosting, Jone!
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| (Linda Mitchell) |
Today's #haikuforhealing takes the last line of Margaret Simon's haiku from 12/9 as the first. Thank you, Margaret for the line, "poems stand in line". See all of Margaret's offerings at her blog: Reflections on the Teche. And Michelle at Today's Little Ditty has a list of a dozen participants.
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| Photo credit: Connie Thompson |
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| photo: "USS Arizona Memorial." USS Arizona Memorial Tour. Pearl Harbor Historic Sites, n.d. Web. 06 Dec. 2016. |
The next two haiku are inspired by Mary Hahn's comment to Margaret Simon's haiku offering for Dec 5th, "We're on the same page".
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| Lambert. "A Young Boy and Girl Sit in Front of a Christmas Tree, Singing Carols..." Getty Images. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Dec. 2016. |
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| photo credit: Bender, Peter. "Trees & Stars.jpg." Flickr. Yahoo!, 21 Oct. 2014. Web. 05 Dec. 2016. |
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| (c) Linda Mitchell |
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| (c) Linda Mitchell |
December 3rd makes me think of the song...and Three French Hens. There are several ideas of the symbolism of the birds. The most authoritative, I think, is Catholic News Agency.
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| (c) Linda Mitchell |
Taking the last line of Margaret Simon's December 1 #haikuforhealing as the first line of today's offering. Would anyone like to take this last line and keep it going?
12/1/16
December enters
on sweeping sweet pines, sighing
love, peace, joy to you
December enters
on sweeping sweet pines, sighing
love, peace, joy to you
More #haikuforhealing authors
Mary Lee Hahn at Poetrepository
Linda Mitchell at A Word Edgewise
Buffy Silverman at Buffy’s Blog
Jone Rush MacCulloch at DeoWriter
Diane Mayr, posted on Thursdays at Random Noodling
Julie Johnson at Raising Readers and Writers
Catherine Flynn at Reading to the Core
Carol Varsalona at Beyond LiteracyLink
Carol Wilcox at Carol’s Corner
Julianne Harmatz tweeting @jarhartz
Linda Baie at Teacher Dance
Michelle Heidenrich Barnes at Today’s Little Ditty
rest, rest winter tide
ReplyDeletereach heights like the king tide
but retreat and reflect
love king tide!
DeleteJust what I needed today. Beautiful!!
ReplyDeleteI think we are all hoping for that restful "winder tide", Linda. Beautiful, and that photo-wow!
ReplyDeleteI will!
ReplyDeleteHere's mine:
ReplyDeleterest, rest winter tide
as I scatter his ashes
the lunar pull lessens
oooooh I completely different direction....that lunar pull. lovely.
DeleteSuch a feeling of peace in your haiku--and the photo!
ReplyDeleteOh Linda, how beautiful and soothing! The follow-up haiku by Brenda and Jone are also wonderful. So glad to be writing with you this month.
ReplyDeleteThe combination of your words and the photo. Wow.
ReplyDeletewinter tide: rest, rest
ignore moon's pull: lull, lull
wave goodbye: surge, surge
Gorgeous! I've enjoyed the ones in the comments, too. Here's mine:
ReplyDeleterest, rest winter tide
with our dearest dreams abide
sustained until spring
Beautiful
Deleterest, rest winter tide...
ReplyDeletethere can be none for those
with heads in the sand
Can I say how much that postage stamp delights me? The subject, the colors, and the number 3 looks to extend the third hen's tail.
I am hoping for snow, too! I enjoyed reading the offerings in the comments. I LOVE your last line!
ReplyDeleteKeisha, I miss you this week....I hope you are well and have time for writing.
DeleteLove your winter tide haiku! Also love what you did with the 3 french hens. Such an interesting way of looking at that phrase!
ReplyDeleteWonderful haiku offerings! Thanks so much for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI love the haiku for Poetry Friday. I am stealing some lines. Thanks for stopping by.
ReplyDeleteI love that you're linking up lines from others' words, Linda. All the words and pictures are wonderful. I've been writing too, and may come back to steal a line or two.
ReplyDeleteI so agree that poetry provides healing. Thanks for all these beautiful lines and images.
ReplyDeleteLinda, you're really running with this project! Some of my favorite lines include "each one of us a child" and "as close as wishes."
ReplyDeleteThese are just wonderful, Linda. Loved scrolling through the lovely images and reading your words. :) I think my favorite is "winter branches, bare . . . "
ReplyDeleteI love how you've paired your haiku with images! My favorites are the pair that start with the same first line -- similar, but so different!
ReplyDeleteThank goodness for the 811's! Call 9-1-1 for emergencies of the body, but 8-1-1 for those of the soul and spirit!
ML, that is totally your next poem.
DeleteLinda, you are having a wonderful time illustrating your haiku! All delicious, but I especially like "winter branches" and of course, "811". I'm not seeing these images popping up on Twitter, but I'm not finding YOU on Twitter at all. You'd be able to post them, if you wanted to take a minute to make an account.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the positive feedback to mine, also. Very nice to have you in the mix!
Ah. I have had my setting set to private. I opened it up just now. Today's offering if for #Aleppo
DeleteGlad you will be posting your haiku a day on Twitter. Beautiful.
ReplyDeleteLinda, your pen has been busy this week, searching for the right word to evolve---and that it did. Thank you for your thoughtful gallery of haikus to ponder.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite is haiku with bare branches and stars! Well done you, doing such creative work marrying pictures and words!
ReplyDeleteI picke up my parents address book at times and think of those who have passed.
ReplyDeleteThat trio from Aleppo packs a punch...
ReplyDelete(I'm Mary Lee, not Mary)
ah ha! I couldn't figure out where I had gone wrong with your name....until this morning. Got it and fixed it. Thanks.
DeleteThe Aleppo sequence is so powerful and poignant. Looking back over all of these, I love how you've touched on so many different subjects, getting right to the heart of the matter. The "political ones" are so true, and I was just thinking the same thing as I went through my address book writing Christmas cards, and of course I wholeheartedly agree with your philosophy about eating cookies in one gulp. :)
ReplyDeleteI LOVE your latest, Linda— "Demeter knitting". You've managed to capture so much in so few words— the cold, the fear, the comfort of presence and mindfulness, the warmth of familiarity, an end, and a beginning. Wow.
ReplyDeleteThis post is a work of art. I think my favorite is the three french hens, though. Three is a magic number, after all.
ReplyDeleteDemeter knitting is great, and I like that you wrote one for Aleppo. Will you keep going in January?
ReplyDeleteWow, so much goodness with your poems, Linda! 'Post-truth', really Oxford Dictionaries? Ugh. =)
ReplyDeleteSo much beauty in both image and verse here, thanks so much. Food for the soul, this post definitely is.
ReplyDeleteLinda, be sure to find a few of your lovely #imagepoem haikus to grace the 2017 Winter Wonders Gallery. If you have one for Autumnventure send it over to me asap, please.
ReplyDeleteHappy Solstice, Linda! I love that you are pairing each haiku with a picture. Lots of creativity here!
ReplyDeleteLeaning and longing, Linda. Winter solstice is such a hopeful day... I'm ready to turn back the dark!
ReplyDeleteSome lovely haikus with wonderful pictures, Linda! I particularly love the one about the Genesee River with its icy crown.
ReplyDeleteHi, Linda - your poems certainly capture the ranges of emotions we drift in and out of each day. Thank you for the global views and reminders; we're all connected, aren't we? The lighthearted ones bring welcome smiles. ["Crepuscular" is one of my all-time favorite words!]
ReplyDeleteAnd, yes, let's keeping leaning into the light...
I relate so well to your poems, Linda. Thanks for sharing them on Twitter. I am reading every day. How are you making the images?
ReplyDeleteI'm embarrassed to say on power point! I really do need to learn Cava or another image maker....but I tend to stick with what I know. I copied your list of poets from your blog today. I too enjoy each of your contributions and try to keep up with you -- you prolific poet, you. But my life and speed of my writing are a bit slower. This project has had the perfect touch of healing for me. Enjoy this weekend full of love and family and remembrance of what we all long for.
DeleteQuite an impressive showing, Linda. Brava! I think my favorite is the top-ten. Enjoy your holiday!
ReplyDeleteThese are fabulous, Linda! Each one is put together so perfectly. I enjoy visiting you each week. I wish you a very merry holiday!
ReplyDeleteLinda, these are wonderful--a treat for the eyes as well as the mind and spirit! The ones for Aleppo touch me after seeing the scenes on the news. (May Christmas peace come to Aleppo!) Wishing you a very happy Christmas celebration with your loved ones!
ReplyDeleteI remember baking with my mother every Christmas when I was growing up - now that we live in different cities I really miss those happy days!
ReplyDeleteSo many bright lights extinguished this year... and now add Carrie Fisher to the list. So sad. You've created quite an impressive illustrated haiku album here this month, Linda!
ReplyDeleteAnd now Debbie Reynolds, too. So sad.
Deletegirls with superpowers
ReplyDeletemake food, beds, dreams
come true
all girls have superpowers. :-)
Wow--what a creative month you've had, Linda. Your gallery of haiku is moving and impressive. Kudos to you and all other participants for finishing 2016 strong!
ReplyDeleteWow, what a beautiful month of haiku, Linda! Thank you for sharing your gallery with us. "My love, the snow" could be my favorite line here. :) Happy 2017!
ReplyDeleteWhat a collection! I have loved this month. The process of writing and connecting daily has been lovely.
ReplyDeleteI can't think of a better word for the year than "listen" - imagine how much better the world could be if we all took the time to slow down and really listen, to ourselves, to each other, and to nature.
ReplyDeleteA remarkable finish to the month, Linda! The two crows poem is my favorite! Think you'll continue with the daily practice?
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, Linda, on a beautiful and thoughtful collection! I've so enjoyed writing haiku with you this month. Thanks for the healing. xo
ReplyDeleteThese are so fabulous, Linda! I too love the crows--where the haiku plus the image plus even the font you chosen enhances the atmosphere of legend and aboriginal lore.
ReplyDeleteI see you word for 2016 was "Listen." That happens to be the word I've chosen for 2017! Already I've grown attentive to it.
Happy New Year!
Congratulations on making it across the finish line--wonderful collection! I like the idea of the light we see being a reflected gift.
ReplyDeleteQuite a collection! New year, new words, new opportunities! Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteHooray, Linda! Your collection of haiku are beautiful and inspiring. Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteThis is an impressive body of work, Linda. I'm sorry I didn't stop by more regularly to note my favorites, but there are many (to name just one, "winter's abacus") and your imagery is very often clever and beautiful too. Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteLinda, I have followed your #haikuforhealing offerings and see now that they make a stunning gallery of thoughts and images.
ReplyDelete