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Cyclical Explosion Opulent riot of vibrant color, my garden's cyclical silent holler. Lavenders, purples, blues, yellows, and reds, kaleidoscope of hues explodes and spreads. Glowing with more passion every day, At sundown golden poppies close to pray. Long-stem roses and tall climbing crawlers reach out to each other, pressing to wed. Catch your breath, May's flowers are on display. ~~ Judi Van Gorder Verse Form: Trine

"Haiku is a way of letting God know we are paying attention." Margaret D McGee, Haiku - the sacred art I am trying to write something everyday but my varied schedule & responsibilities aren't conducive to setting aside a "writing time" ( or maybe I don't have the discpline). I do however find myself responding to moments in my day with haiku-like thoughts. So......... I decided to start a haiku journal... Haiku seems to me to be a perfect vehicle for capturing daily responses since brevitiy and clarity are at the heart of the form. My initial goal is to write & post at least one haiku a day. I probably will have many lapses but only time will tell. I thought I'd share this idea with you all and invite you to join me sharing your own haiku moments here when your heart moves you. A "haiku moment:: A moment when the mind stops and the heart moves."*Margaret D McGee This haiku thread will be a little different from the "haiku train" which builds on others' word images. Here haikus should simply be responses to a moment in time. So as a reminder with an overly simplified definition, haiku is: 17 syllables or less image driven written in the moment shared parallel images. Traditionally in 3 units, 1. an image 2. a parallel or an expansion of the image 3. the human enlightenment or Ah ha moment. often written in a 5/7/5 syllable frame but that is not a hard and fast rule. Although I have to admit I find the 5/7/5 frame seems to naturally finds its way into most of my haiku give or take a syllable. often called senryu (haiku exploiting human nature with a humorous slant) when funny and funny is always welcome here. I really hope to see you contribute your haiku in this thread along with me. ~~Tink

Hi Y'all, I have been away for over a year to care for my husband (with amazing assistance from St Joseph's Hospice) and to finish the last of my 40 year financial career. November 30, 2021 I closed my Agency two weeks after my husband of 58 years, passed. I'm still taking care of loose ends from my former life but I am tentatively picking up the pen and want to get back into writing. Reading that February is Haiku Month was the spark that I needed to ease in. So here I am on February 1, 2022, Chinese New Year - The Year of the Tiger. Maybe a haiku a day for 28 days will get me going. You are welcome to join me if you feel so inclined. I missed this community. ~~Tink 2022 #1 sleeping tiger wakes to the sounds of celebration Gong hei fat choy! jvg

Bodega Blues Approaching May there's something new, I've planted bulbs, Bodega Blues. Unique to Coastal Cali hills, love of sun and ocean chills. A pastel shade, subdued appeal a princess Iris, gentle, real. ~~Judi Van Gorder Verse Form: Dobson

Sitting Under My Flowering PearThe gilded banter quickenswith each gust of wind.Speaking all at the same time,the restless leaves’ chatter risesand falls riding the wings of the zephyr,scents of sage, apple,and honeysuckle hitch on board.The glitter of the golden sun peeksthrough the lacy canopy to eavesdrop while I let the lyrics wash over me. ~~ Judi Van Gorder

Warning A high pitched, steady, beep - beep - beep and the guttural growl of a grinding engine greeted my morning garden stroll. My view of the road blocked by flowering potato vines, I couldn't see the monster as it inched down our country road. I don't know what or why it chose to invade the post-dawn peace but gratefully, the tocsin sounds soon faded and only the welcoming tweets of small birds graced my space once more. ~~ Judi Van Gorder Notes: ▼

The Fifty Dollar Tomato My small plot of land cleared and tilled. Potting soil added and tilled again, groomed with enthusiasm and sweat then deeply watered making ready. Just fifteen dollars for plants then, twenty-four dollars for the soil, twenty for towers, plus the tax, about fifty bucks, total debt. Starters need sun, water and toil, fog from the ocean, not great help. Still I attempt to sow my own, anticipate growth and relax. My favorite food without yelp, home-grown, succulent tomato. Small green orbs promising, prolific, waiting for turn to the red zone. Growing season beats staccato nearing the end and yet I've willed the fruit to transform, change steady. Finally, one red-ripe tomato, terrific! ~~ Judi Van Gorder Verse Form: Domino Rhyme

Weeds In My Garden Sunday, the sun made a visit, the air was washed and I spent much of the day outside, pulling weeds. I sit, I don't kneel anymore, God doesn't ask my body to be humble, just my heart, besides, there's nothing more humbling than arthritic knees and a body getting old. The weeds pulled up easily, the earth was soft, it had rained the previous three days. I filled my lungs with unblemished air, the ocean breeze cooled my skin, while sweat seeped from my pores from the Spring sun's zeal. Nature renews, I keep getting older and there are always weeds to be pulled. ~~ Judi Van Gorder

Explore the Craft of Writing Arabic Verse Rubai and Omar Stanzas, Rubaiyat The Rubai stanza is best known from poems by the Persian poet, Umar at-Khayyam (1122) who created an interlocking chain of exotic quatrains. His poems were loosely translated and the form adapted by Edward Fitzgerald, English poet in 1859 and presented to the western world as the Rubaiyat of Omar Kyayyam. Just the title conjures thoughts of exotic romance in my head. About a third of the poems of Fitzgerald's Rubaiyat are from the original 7th century Persian poems. The elements of the Rubai stanza are: stanzaic, written in any number of quatrains that are interlocked by rhyme. A series of the rubai quatrains is called a Rubaiyat. accentual, folk meter, the rhythm of normal speech. The lines are of approximate equal length. When written in iambic pentameter it is known as an Omar Stanza rhymed. Interlocking rhyme scheme aaba, bbcb, ccdc, etc which is why the verse forms is sometimes referred to as the Interlocking Rubaiyat. It is interesting that the original Fitzgerald "translation" does not have an interlocking rhyme scheme but instead treats L3 as unrhymed. I can only guess that the original in Farsi has interlocking rhyme and that is why most descriptions of the form specify that feature. usually composed with enjambment in the first couplet of the stanza. First 2 stanzas of Fitzgerald's Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam Awake! for Morning in the Bowl of Night Has flung the Stone that puts the Stars to Flight: And Lo! the Hunter of the East has caught The Sultan's Turret in a Noose of Light. Dreaming when Dawn's Left Hand was in the Sky I heard a Voice within the Tavern cry, "Awake, my Little ones, and fill the Cup "Before Life's Liquor in its Cup be dry." Yesterday by Mike Montreuil I saw you there, under the sun not knowing you had just begun summer of liberty. Would I keep my never, just won. Not having the chivalry needed despite my intimacy, the hello I gave to you, your dress, quite scantily. It was the lust I had for you following the curves into the unknown of my youth that grew to a love that was new. Rubaiyat by jainrohit After Long Lasting - perennial freeze Not much is left in pallid autumn trees When No one treads the avenues of life Her coming was coming of Gentle breeze Her dress was colored with all hues of life Her words hissed all the values of life She seemed as a stranger yet sacrosanct Her actions imbibed all the clues of life Her presence was etched on every moment To escape her presence a futile attempt A soft Glance - you immerse in her faith. Her beauty will prevent any contempt She coalesced into me freezing my breath Her colour was dark and her name was death Rubaiyat Sonnet is a contemporary invented sonnet form found at Poet's Collective. It uses the interlocking rhyme scheme of the Rubai stanza otherwise it has little in common with the original form. The elements of the Rubaiyat Sonnet are: a quatorzain made up of 3 quatrains followed by a couplet. metric, either tetrameter or pentameter lines, no metric pattern specified. rhymed, rhyme scheme aaba bbcb ccac aa. pivot at discretion of poet. Middle Eastern Poetic Genres and Forms Ghazal Marisya Mukhammas Mussades Muwashsha Nazm Qasida Rubai Shair Sher & its Meters Soaz Urjuza Zajal