pine cone wedged
in a rotten sleeper,
on derelict tracks,
may become a tree
and made into sleepers.
Tree Hell [Tanka]
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Category Archives: Blogs
Dandelion [Limerick]
“Spring has lined all roads with dandelions.”
At this a young girl started cryin’
You see, to her ear,
‘Twas rational fear,
For she was afraid of Dandy Lions.
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BOOK: “Lonesome Cities” by Rod McKuen
LONESOME CITIES LTD EDIT by Rod McKuenMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Google Books Page
Rod McKuen is the posterchild for poets who were loathed and brutalized by critics, yet who had massive popular followings. He is the Minecraft Movie of poets. McKuen was also a songwriter and recording artist. Poet and lyricist seem almost identical career fields (one makes money for being a simplified version of the other [the poor] one,) but I suspect in their differences one finds a big chunk of the resolution to the aforementioned disparity. At the end of this collection is a chapter entitled “13 Songs” that contains a baker’s dozen of poems that are pop lyric-esque. Until I got to these, I thought McKuen may have been getting an unfair wrap for being schmaltzy and pedestrian, but when I got to them, I could see the truth in the criticism.
This is not to say McKuen would have been as harshly judged today as he was in 1968 when this book came out. He was a bisexual man who is most famous for writing “Seasons in the Sun” (an unambiguously schmaltzy song made popular by Terry Jacks in a much more up-tempo version,) and in an era in which academics were “total squares.”
At any rate, this collection, which is largely organized by city, is a fun read.
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Prickly Pear [Haiku]
prickly pears bloom:
yellow offering bowls —
bees give & take.
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DAILY PHOTO: Yellow River of Stone Mountain
PROMPT: Unwind
I’ve heard it said that it’s kind to rewind, but everyone who’s said that is quite old.
But I just lie on my back and contemplate the ceiling.
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Blue Sky [Haiku]
blue sky
seen through bare limbs;
when will Spring arrive?
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DAILY PHOTO: Scenes from the Sawnee Mountain Fairy Trail
Migratory Highway [Haiku]
wild geese forage
beside the highway:
fueling for journey.
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First Blossom [Haiku]
petal flutters down
from clustered Cherry Blossoms;
is it the first?
Tiger Riding for Beginners 