PROMPT: Outgrown

Are there any activities or hobbies you’ve outgrown or lost interest in over time?

Well, having an imaginary friend is adorable at nine, but at ten they institutionalize you. So I would say, yeah.

Winter Sky Fire [Haiku]

the sky is afire,
and, yet, i can see my breath
 on chill winter air.

DAILY PHOTO: Anker Palota in the Light & Shadow of a Winter Afternoon

Image

Clockweed [Haiku]

full bloom clockweed
is on the clock as autumn
 ages to winter.

“In the Desert” by Stephen Crane [w/ Audio]

In the desert
I saw a creature, naked, bestial,
Who, squatting upon the ground,
Held his heart in his hands,
And ate of it.
I said, "Is it good, friend?"
"It is bitter -- bitter," he answered;

"But I like it
"Because it is bitter,
"And because it is my heart."

Frogs Heard, Not Seen [Haiku]

grass-rattle, plop!
grass-rattle, plop! -- repeats...
 at last, I see a frog.

Multitasking Youth [Kyōka]

a brave youth
plummets into the stepwell,
 all the while
looking like she's on a stroll,
blowing her nose and waving.

DAILY PHOTO: Scenes from Devaramane Betta

“West River Moon” by Su Shi [w/ Audio]

Wavelet on wavelet glimmers by the shore;
Cloud on cloud dimly appears in the sky.
Unsaddled is my white-jadelike horse;
Drunk, asleep in the sweet grass I'll lie.
My horse's hoofs may break, I'm afraid,
The breeze-rippled brook paved by moonlit jade.
I tether my horse to a bough of green willow.
Near the bridge where I pillow
My head on arms and sleep till the cuckoo's song awakes
  A spring daybreak.

Translation: Xu Yuanchong [translator]. 2021. Deep, Deep the Courtyard. [庭院深深.] Cite Publishing: Kuala Lumpur, p. 238