rainclouds crawl nearer,
like a battle cruiser
inching towards war.
Skirmish Line [Haiku]
1
In the Shadows [Haiku]
Morning Glories sit,
coolly, in the shadow of
Mexican Sunflowers.
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DAILY PHOTO: Lalbagh Botanical Garden
“Grass of the Ancient Plains” by Bai Juyi [w/ Audio]
Lush grass covers the plains.
One year it withers; the next, it thrives.
Wildfires burn, but not to eradication.
With Spring winds, it's rejuvenated.
Its aroma floats in to subdue derelict paths.
Vivid green overtakes the ghost town.
I say farewell to departing friends
as intense feeling swells within.
In Chinese [Simplified]:
离离原上草 一岁一枯荣
野火烧不尽 春风吹又生
远芳侵古道 晴翠接荒城
又送王孙去 萋萋满别情
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PROMPT: Skills
I’ve been learning to juggle. It’s an excellent skill because you have to fail a million times before you can be successful, and you can’t partially fail or fail in a controlled fashion. It’s kind of all or nothing. So, it teaches persistence and to be less prone to becoming demoralized. It also teaches one a lot about how one’s mind works at the speed of instinct.
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Sunken Forest [Haiku]
white pillars, once trees,
stand above the water:
record of what was.
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DAILY PHOTO: Scenes from Charyn Canyon
BOOKS: “36 Ways of Writing a Vietnamese Poem” by Nam Le
36 Ways of Writing a Vietnamese Poem by Nam LeMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Amazon.in Page
Release Date: March 5, 2024
This is a clever collection of poems, lighthearted in places but raw and incensed in others. (A pacing that I appreciate in poetry collections.) The collection draws heavily on the author’s experience being of Vietnamese ethnicity while growing up in the West. It touches upon the tragedies lived by his elders, but, more so, how his life (and perception of him) has been shaped by war and the diaspora it caused. The collection playfully engages with language and cultural concepts in a way that is interesting and – at times – scintillating.
My main gripe with this collection would be its occasional swerves into the domain of huge, rare, and super-specialized terminology. I enjoy being sent to the dictionary as much as the next person, but in a poetry collection – where evoking emotion is the name of the game – I find it takes me out of the experience.
I enjoyed reading this collection and would recommend it for poetry readers.
View all my reviews
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“Trees” by Joyce Kilmer [w/ Audio]
I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose busom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.
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PROMPT: Cities
As many as I can, but I guess the top ten list (of cities I haven’t been to) would be: Kyoto, Guilin, Rio de Janeiro, Istanbul, Hong Kong, Mexico City, Zanzibar, Lhasa, Santiago, and Havana. [Not necessarily in order.]
