Five Tanka

Voices now missing,
Faces unseen, we cannot
Recover the lost
But memories linger beyond
The pain suffered every day.

New love a blessing
Washing over vacancies
Erasing injuries
Taken in other places
Times no longer tightly grasped.

There are songs able
To dump us in a swamp full
Of scalding teardrops
Which might completely drown us
Did others ignore our need.

Did you see angels
As the faces of loved ones
Appeared in your dreams?
Those given to enrich lives
Are Heaven’s agents disguised.

Why now agonize
Over tomorrow’s dark storms?
God goes before us
Smoothing the pathways we walk
So worries do not exist.

Thank you for visiting Haphazard Creative. Your comments on the site are always welcome. If you enjoyed your stay, please follow my work, or come back often.

As a prompt, try your hand at writing some tanka. The form is five lines with syllable counts: 5-7-5-7-7. I often stack them for longer poems. Tanka are a simple form, short enough to allow a quick bit of work, but long enough to convey complex meaning.

Adherence

Sometimes only silence
Can tell the stories we need
To welcome, collect,
For in the moment retained
The voice of reason appears.
Years chasing after
Things we cannot possess more
Than blinks of our eyes,
Acquisitions soon become
Clutter we must eliminate.
If we are so blessed
We awaken to realize
Love is the only
Treasure worth living, dying,
To maintain, eternal gain.

Thank you for visiting Haphazard Creative. All comments are welcome. Please follow the site or come back often.

Deep Notes

Death is a vigil
Kept leaning over every
Moment, a salient shadow
Stealing who is, who might be.
Life is the energy, activity,
Driving, growing, making,
Unfolding all treasure
Of experience and being.
Love is the music
Arising in the souls ready
To dance the hopeful steps
Of long-awaited romance.
Hands held, kisses longing,
Filling, gentle remembering,
Holding the tenderness
Of memories keenly made.
Take advantage of the times –
For they swiftly disappear,
The aching pain of absence,
What is lost and cannot
Be at any cost retrieved,
Over the passage
Evaporated years, opportunities
Missed, turned aside in life;
Finally, it sears the heart.
Grief is a cruel thief.

The way this evolved was unique. I was reading a short story in which a character was sitting at a dying relative’s bedside. The line, “Grief is a thief,” came to me. It resonated with me. So the poem began with death and worked round and about to the line with which I ended.

I did a small portion of it in my journal. I left for several hours and came home to type it in. As often happens, much of it changed in the process. I hope you enjoyed it, even with the darker notes.

Thank you for visiting Haphazard Creative; please follow the site, or return often.

At this point, I am considering whether to continue my vow to post every day into 2021. Some days I am quite mystified over what I will write. 2020 has been very productive. There was even a month I posted 75 times. This is not my first engagement of this sort. If you visit my Chronicles site, you will see what I mean.

As a prompt, I challenge you to evaluate your creative life and see if posting every day of 2021 might move you to be more productive. If not every day, more than you currently do, would be an improvement.

Posit

Gather the sunshine
Of loving relationships,
Pour inspiration
Wherever you may need it,
However, it may provide.
Involve, evolve – in
Present moments, existence,
Be now, who you are;
Let the past escape notice,
Concentrate, living fully.
Release your image
As you must transform, outgrow;
Building is today,
Being brings uncertainty,
Present, future, mindfulness.
Never give up – quit –
You are here for excellence,
Creation ponders
Your coming accomplishment,
Magnificent, majestic.
Everything each day
Is yours to taste and savor
Add chosen flavors
From all your encountered joys,
Make life a sweet happening.

Festive Preoccupation

It was a difficult time for most, worse for other ones. I struggled with pain and attitude. Rummaged, through my mind for what I might do, came up with a solution. The trick will be if I continue to completion.

I have not done a major mailing of cards since 2010. Then I did so many I have left it be until now. I went to my stash and brought out a plethora of boxes with a variety of Christmas Cards.

The reason I went so long since the last mailing is my personalizations. I use the blank inside page to write a message tailored to my recipient.

2020 is an incredible year. It has been full of fear and unease. Maybe a card will be a welcome diversion. I know writing each one will consume me for a bit.

As a prompt, I encourage you, especially if you feel awash with negativity, to extend your creativity to writing cards or letters to those for whom you care. You need not go to extreme expense; just let others know you care in your own words.

Thank you for visiting Haphazard Creative. If you would like, follow the site; or come back as time and inclination permit.