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| Creative Commons Photo by Jungle Joe C |
driving away
mom waves goodbye at the window
backlit with love
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2015
Thursday, December 31, 2015
Wednesday, December 30, 2015
Tuesday, December 29, 2015
Orange Fluff
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| http://shackrecipes.blogspot.com/2015/06/jello-cool-whip-salad.html |
cottage cheese, Cool Whip
mandarin oranges, jello
exotic side dish
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2015
Monday, December 28, 2015
Sunday, December 27, 2015
Saturday, December 26, 2015
Ordinary Again
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| Flickr Creative Commons photo by Bart Fields |
day after Christmas
professional Santa Man
fixes the back door
©Mary Lee Hahn
The maintenance man where mom lives is a professional Santa Man (we were taught from the very beginning that the guy in the red suit wasn't the real Santa, just someone standing in for Santa -- a Santa Man -- someone who would pass our wishes on to the real Santa at the North Pole).
Randy's been away since just after Thanksgiving, working magic. Today, the day after Christmas, it was a little disconcerting to see Santa in street clothes, wielding power tools, fixing the back door of the kitchen.
I wonder how it feels to him -- to be ordinary again.
Friday, December 25, 2015
Thursday, December 24, 2015
Driving Home
 |
| Flickr Creative Commons Photo by TumblingRun |
tawny winter fields
setting sun throws long shadows
illuminates moon
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2015
Wednesday, December 23, 2015
Traveling
above Iowa
unexpected turbulence
jolt of energy
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2015
holding pattern --
banking over crop circles --
around and a round
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2015
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
Growth Mindset
why would you assume
your first from-scratch pie crust would
turn out perfectly
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2015
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2015
Monday, December 21, 2015
Sunday, December 20, 2015
Saturday, December 19, 2015
Friday, December 18, 2015
Playing Haiku Tag With Myself
TUESDAY:
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| Flickr Creative Commons photo by Flood G. |
thick slice of dark bread
minutes like sugar in tea
pencil scratching page
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2015
pencil scratching page
fish tank burbling endlessly
clock strikes seven
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2015
 |
| Flickr Creative Commons Photo by Jo Christian Oterhals |
clock strikes seven
sleeper doesn't stir
earth keeps rotating
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2015
 |
| Wikipedia |
earth rotates daily
as it floats around the sun
my head is spinning
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2015
On Wednesday morning, I was running a lot behind. It was 7:00am and I hadn't started writing yet, hadn't showered, hadn't packed my lunch. I need to be out the door by 7:45 to be on time for work, so it's a good thing I had the first line of my haiku ready to go.
Thursday morning I was exhausted. I had rolled-cut-baked cookies the night before for hours and hours after an already long day at work. All I could think of was the first morning of break when I wouldn't have to set my alarm. Even though I was tired, I was pretty thrilled to find an image of a clock that really goes with my haiku!
Today, I was able to weave our current studies in science into a haiku that describes both what it's like to be a fifth grader learning about the movements of the earth around the sun (rotation/revolution; day, night, seasons) AND what this week's been like for me. Our heads are all spinning for some reason or another!
Diane has the Poetry Friday roundup at Random Noodling this week.
Thursday, December 17, 2015
Thursday
|
| Flickr Creative Commons Photo by Jo Christian Oterhals |
clock strikes seven
sleeper doesn't stir
earth keeps rotating
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2015
(In which I dream of sleeping in...)
Wednesday, December 16, 2015
Wednesday
pencil scratching page
fish tank burbling endlessly
clock strikes seven
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2015
Tuesday, December 15, 2015
Tuesday
|
| Flickr Creative Commons photo by Flood G. |
thick slice of dark bread
minutes like sugar in tea
pencil scratching page
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2015
Monday, December 14, 2015
What Season is It?
opportunistic
December dandelion --
the season is Now.
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2015
I keep saying I like process notes, so here are some for this haiku. I started with the photo. The middle line came to me first. Then, I thought about the strangeness of this sight in mid-December, but also about the determination and grit of a plant that will take any string of 60 degree days it's given. That gave me the first line, and in quick succession, the last. I don't think haiku are supposed to have a title, but the title of the post kind of works as one, so at first, I had the dandelion answering the question:
opportunistic
December dandelion:
"the season is Now."
Even without the title, those few bits of punctuation change the whole feel for me. Which do you like better -- the poet describing a scene, or a spunky dandelion squeaking out it's own little "Carpe Diem!"?
Sunday, December 13, 2015
Go Forth and Make the World a Better Place
rank on rank they stand
formed, but not yet hardened
battalion of love
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2015
Saturday, December 12, 2015
Deer on the Sidewalk
 |
| Flickr Creative Commons Photo by Anne Davis 773 |
we pass
I stop and look back
our eyes meet
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2015
Friday, December 11, 2015
Poetry Friday -- Rare
RARE from Joel Sartore on Vimeo.
I ran across this video on The Kid Should See This. It filled my heart with love (and concern) for this ball of rock and water upon which we float through space.
beautiful world
everything we do matters
every single thing
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2015
Tara has the Poetry Friday roundup this week at A Teaching Life.
Thursday, December 10, 2015
Number 27
Welcome, new friend!
You have come to the right place--
you are one of us.
©Mary Lee Hahn 2015
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Tuesday, December 8, 2015
Cardinals
 |
| Flickr Creative Commons Photo by Sean |
cardinals hiding
in a bare-limbed winter tree--
camouflage failure
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2015
Monday, December 7, 2015
Oak, Crow
 |
| Flickr Creative Commons Photo by Mr.TinDC |
yard full of oak leaves
crow stands up to her knees
bead-eye glitters
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2015
Sunday, December 6, 2015
Haiku Tag
 |
| Flickr creative commons photo by Nimish Gori |
faint sounds whispering
oak leaves tumble on west wind
snow is coming
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2015
It's been fun playing haiku tag with Kevin (@dogtrax) on Twitter:
I write.
I post.
I Tweet.
He reads,
then haiku-riffs off my words.
(Appropriate, since he's a musician as well as a teacher, poet, and tech guru.)
Kevin's also done some "line lifting" in the past, as a way to keep a poetic conversation going. So I decided to riff today's haiku back to Kevin by borrowing the last line of his haiku from yesterday for the first line of my haiku today.
Saturday, December 5, 2015
Friday, December 4, 2015
Birthday Wish
I'll be a ginkgo--
golden leaves circling my feet,
one ring wiser.
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2015
Thursday, December 3, 2015
Migration Rearguard
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| Flickr Creative Commons Photo by Leroy Andersen |
Migration Rearguard
a squadron of geese
invaded the soccer field
yanked grass, dropped land mines
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2015
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
Fog
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| Flickr Creative Commons Photo by Vincent van der Pas |
fog snuggles the grass
I'm wading through a ground cloud
the path obscured, blurred
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2015
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
December 1
calendar page turns
wind blows leaves against the fence
heavy clouds hang low
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2015
Inspired by Bob Raczka's SANTA CLAUSES, I'm challenging myself to write a haiku a day in December.
Sunday, November 1, 2015
Friday, September 11, 2015
Parched
 |
| Flickr Creative Commons Photo by Nic McPhee |
PARCHED
It's not that the well
of creativity has
run dry
it's that those lovely
crystal spring-fed waters have
been channelized.
Groundwater runs deep.
And aquifers can be
recharged.
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2015
Friday, July 31, 2015
Haiku-a-Day
I have spent the month of July with Mom, getting her and her home of 60 years ready for her move to assisted living. Besides taking lots of photos, I saved a bit of time each day to take a snapshot in words. Here is a haiku-mosaic of July:
The move
1
the to-do list grows
fills heaping bowls of sadness
tears overflow
11
a childhood filled
with mother's sacrifices
daughter's turn now
21
shelves and shelves of books
multi-storied richness
wealth measured in words
26
going through dresser drawers
layers of memory
the archaeology of a life
two children
visitors at the museum
of their mother
an inveterate archivist
saver of minutiae
savoring each scrap of life
one more time
30
transplanting is tricky
handle roots with loving care
mix old soil with new
Meditations on the cycle of life and my place in it right now
9
midseason lily
surrounded by bud and wilt
enjoy it now
14
leaf breaks free
flutters away from tree
wind brings it back
Being in Eastern Colorado
4
ripening wheat
indiscriminate thunderheads
farmers remain hopeful
7
unseasonably cool
north breeze, low clouds, drizzle
roofer's gun pops
8
typically blue skies
smudged with a grimy haze --
Canada burns
19
antelope grazing --
uncharacteristically
green and lush prairie
Thursday, July 16, 2015
Friday, July 10, 2015
Friday, July 3, 2015
Friday, May 22, 2015
The End
 |
| Flickr Creative Commons Photo by Sarah Browning |
THE END
Just when the story's getting good,
I must close the book and return it
to the rightful owner.
I have marked up the text a bit:
underlined key phrases,
jotted notes in the margins.
I've dogeared some pages,
left smears of optimism,
streaked whole paragraphs with my tears,
slept with the book under my pillow,
taken it with me everywhere,
thrown it at the wall in frustration (on more than one occasion).
You'd think by now I would have learned to live
with never knowing the ends of these stories.
I have not.
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2015
There are just a few more days of school left, and I am getting ready to say goodbye, in most cases forever, to the people who have been my life for the past 9 months -- this crazy, quirky bunch of students who bloomed late, but bloomed GLORIOUSLY.
Thursday, April 30, 2015
PO-EMotion -- Relief
 |
| Wikimedia |
THIS IS JUST TO SAY
I have written
the poems
that were sitting on the shelf
in plain sight
and also the ones
locked in the cupboards.
Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
but I've had enough for now.
I think I'll walk
down to the park.
I sh'an't be gone long.
You come too?
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2015
Carol, at Carol's Corner, will join me again this year as often as possible.
Kimberley, at iWrite in Maine, is joining me this month.
Kay, at A Journey Through the Pages, is joining, too!
"In an Instant"
Steve, at inside the dog, is sharing his poems
in the comments at Poetrepository.
Heidi, at my juicy little universe, will join us when she can.
Linda, at TeacherDance, will join as often as she can.
Check the comments at A Year of Reading or Poetrepository for her poems.
Kevin (Kevin's Meandering Mind) is back this year,
leaving poetry trax in the comments.
Jone, at DeoWriter, is doing a "double L" challenge.
She and I are cross-poLLinating our challenges whenever possible.
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
PO-EMotion -- Pride
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| Flickr Creative Commons photo by Todd Shoemake |
PRIDE
Is it branches full of unopened blossoms against
an impossibly blue April sky?
Or could it be rows of trees, heavy with fruit in
late summer, yellow jackets hovering?
Look down. Is it in the remains of
the bounty, rotting after October frosts?
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2015
Carol, at Carol's Corner, will join me again this year as often as possible.
Kimberley, at iWrite in Maine, is joining me this month.
"Pride"
Kay, at A Journey Through the Pages, is joining, too!
Steve, at inside the dog, is sharing his poems
in the comments at Poetrepository.
Heidi, at my juicy little universe, will join us when she can.
Linda, at TeacherDance, will join as often as she can.
Check the comments at A Year of Reading or Poetrepository for her poems.
Kevin (Kevin's Meandering Mind) is back this year,
leaving poetry trax in the comments.
Jone, at DeoWriter, is doing a "double L" challenge.
She and I are cross-poLLinating our challenges whenever possible.
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
PO-EMotion -- Optimism
PLANTING BULBS IN THE FALL
It will matter
that I gave them
time
and
choice.
It will matter
that they read
widely,
deeply,
voraciously.
It will matter
that we were family --
accepting
and
respectful.
It will matter
in a someday spring
when they
truly
bloom.
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2015
Carol, at Carol's Corner, will join me again this year as often as possible.
Kimberley, at iWrite in Maine, is joining me this month.
Kay, at A Journey Through the Pages, is joining, too!
Steve, at inside the dog, is sharing his poems
in the comments at Poetrepository.
Heidi, at my juicy little universe, will join us when she can.
Linda, at TeacherDance, will join as often as she can.
Check the comments at A Year of Reading or Poetrepository for her poems.
Kevin (Kevin's Meandering Mind) is back this year,
leaving poetry trax in the comments.
Jone, at DeoWriter, is doing a "double L" challenge.
She and I are cross-poLLinating our challenges whenever possible.
Monday, April 27, 2015
PO-EMotion -- Contentment
this parsley --
all I want from life --
until it's not
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2015
Carol, at Carol's Corner, will join me again this year as often as possible.
Kimberley, at iWrite in Maine, is joining me this month.
Kay, at A Journey Through the Pages, is joining, too!
"Just a Glimpse"
Steve, at inside the dog, is sharing his poems
in the comments at Poetrepository.
Heidi, at my juicy little universe, will join us when she can.
Linda, at TeacherDance, will join as often as she can.
Check the comments at A Year of Reading or Poetrepository for her poems.
Kevin (Kevin's Meandering Mind) is back this year,
leaving poetry trax in the comments.
Jone, at DeoWriter, is doing a "double L" challenge.
She and I are cross-poLLinating our challenges whenever possible.
Sunday, April 26, 2015
PO-EMotion -- Zest
A CLERIHEW FOR JAMA RATTIGAN
Jama shines above the rest,
cooks up blog posts filled with zest.
She's not gilding on a lily,
she's the allspice in our chili!
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2015
 |
| Flickr Creative Commons Photo by Cicely Miller |
TURN THE HEAT UP
In our haste
to pack away
sweaters and mittens
we forget
that spring is fickle.
Abandoning
the tulips
to the frigid deluge,
we stir more garlic, chiles, and cumin
into the steaming soup.
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2015
Carol, at Carol's Corner, will join me again this year as often as possible.
Kimberley, at iWrite in Maine, is joining me this month.
Kay, at A Journey Through the Pages, is joining, too!
Steve, at inside the dog, is sharing his poems
in the comments at Poetrepository.
Heidi, at my juicy little universe, will join us when she can.
Linda, at TeacherDance, will join as often as she can.
Check the comments at A Year of Reading or Poetrepository for her poems.
Kevin (Kevin's Meandering Mind) is back this year,
leaving poetry trax in the comments.
Jone, at DeoWriter, is doing a "double L" challenge.
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