Thursday, March 21, 2019

March 22, 2019


Welcome, dear Poetry Friday.  I've been busy this week with work and family and writing. I look forward to the reading treasures I'll find in you. Thank you, Sloth Reads for hosting today's round-up. I see you've been busy too!


Andō, Hiroshige, Artist. Zoushigaya Fujimi Chaya. Japan: Tsutaya Kichiz". Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress,



Kyoto: March

A few light flakes of snow
Fall in the feeble sun;
Birds sing in the cold,
A warbler by the wall. The plum
Buds tight and chill soon bloom.
The moon begins first
Fourth, a faint slice west
At nightfall. Jupiter half-way
High at the end of night-
Meditation. The dove cry
Twangs like a bow.
At dawn Mt. Hiei dusted white
On top; in the clear air
Folds of all the gullied green
Hills around the town are sharp,
Breath stings. Beneath the roofs
Of frosty houses
Lovers part, from tangle warm
Of gentle bodies under quilt
And crack the icy water to the face
And wake and feed the children
And grandchildren that they love.

Snyder,Gary.“Kyoto: March by Gary Snyder.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/50613/kyoto-march.

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a forsythia
dons a yellow rain slicker
rain giggles and runs


12 comments:

  1. Every part is like a sigh of peace, Linda. This, and this, I give it to you. Love that "yellow rain slicker"! Happy Friday!

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  2. your haiku made me smile, Linda. I loved the image of the yellow rain slicker.

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  3. Such a charming forsythia haiku, Linda!! Love it, and enjoyed the Gary Snyder fix today too. :)

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  4. "A few light flakes of snow
    Fall in the feeble sun;
    Birds sing in the cold"
    This is exactly what today was like here. I love your forsythia haiku. The buds of mine are still bundled up tight. Thank you for a little glimpse of spring!

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  5. I'll always have your poem in mind when I see forsythia blossoms. Double pleasure now! Thanks!

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  6. Love that giggling rain!

    (And your Poetry Month project is all KINDS of awesome! WOW!)

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  7. I just love the specific details in the Gary Snyder poem, and yours is wonderful, too - "rain slicker" is perfect.

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  8. Oh I miss Kyoto - this makes me want to go back so much! I've never visited in the spring - each of my trips has been in autumn and winter, but she's a beautiful city all the year round.

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  9. I love both of these poems, Linda! They're very different of course, but they both sing their own strains of spring joy.

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  10. Thanks for the poems! Love the art and especially the forsythia and how the "rain giggles and runs," for I so want the spring and color to come.

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  11. The illustration is such a great lead-in to the poem, Linda. agree with those who enjoyed the description, "yellow rain slicker". I also liked your use of personification.

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Friendly, positive comments and feedback are always welcome here. Please let me know I'm not just whistling in the dark!