Floating

single leaf, large lake,

fickle winds, dangerous waves,

floating serenely

© Mary Lee Hahn, 2016

My haiku appears to be a leaf in a lake, but the childhood memory is floating on my back in the pool, oblivious that swimming lessons had ended, deaf to shouts from poolside. Someone had to come in and rouse me from my serene floating. I wrote it for a Ditty Challenge at Today's Little Ditty -- a poem of refuge or solace.

#haikuforhealing

An unsolicited email showed up in my inbox. Rather than spam, it seemed like a message from the universe. Here are the big ideas:

5 Insights for Recording Artists, Performers, and Creatives 

1. Make Art for Social Change

2. Channel Your Pain into Art

3. If You See It, Say It, Sing It, or Sculpt It...

4. Be Visible

5. Collaborate

In a seemingly unrelated email, Carol Wilcox asked if I was planning to write a haiku a day in December again this year. 

My creative spirit, who has been sitting out on the porch with her head between her knees for the last couple of weeks, looked up and nodded. Yes, that seems right, she said. A response to the news of the day, shared in the concise metaphorical form of the haiku. 

#haikuforhealing

Perhaps a month of haiku won't heal the world, but it may begin the process of healing my spirit. Join in if you'd like, by using the hashtag on Twitter or FaceBook.

Tanita's haiku are at [fiction, instead of lies]
Michelle's haiku can be found archived in one post at Today's Little Ditty
Linda Mitchell's are at A Word Edgewise
Margaret's are at Reflections on the Teche
Heidi's are at My Juicy Little Universe
Catherine's are at Reading to the Core
Carol Wilcox's are at Carol's Corner

Buffy Silverman's are at Buffy's Blog
Jone Rush MacCulloch's are at DeoWriter
Diane Mayr's, posted on Thursdays, are at Random Noodling
Julie Johnson's are at at Raising Readers and Writers
Carol Varsalona's are at Beyond LiteracyLink
Linda Baie's are at TeacherDance

All haiku on this page are ©Mary Lee Hahn, 2016.

image via Unsplash

waning moon

darker nights ahead

light the lanterns

11/25 Black Friday

autumn leaves
windblown into the corner
some still fly free




11/26

mob of cawing crows
one hawk flying sure and low
ducks the raving flock





11/27 #BetsyOurLoss

bushels of apples
vibrant orchards with strong trees
menace of blight





11/28 #commonplacemarvels

chickadees and wrens
nuthatches, cardinals, finches
all share the feeder

11/29

after rain
puddles reflect
dark clouds

11/30

overcast skies
unexpected kindness
ray of hope

12/1

Hello, December

Orion races west

Big Dipper empties

12/2

cold wind

oak leaves rattle

long winter ahead

12/3 

(using Linda Mitchell's last line--modified--as my first)

winter tide: rest, rest 

ignore moon's pull: lull, lull 

wave goodbye: surge, surge

12/4
(a meditation on birthdays that are past the half-century mark)

another year
snowflakes gather in drifts
spring melt looms



(in response to a Turkish haiku in #haikuforhealing)

butterfly wings
small movement stirs the air
revolution



12/5

five birds
huddle on the wire
welcome one more



12/6

woodpile expands
winter heat stored in neat stacks
stoke the fires



12/7
(after reading articles about Trump's lies about jobs saved at the Carrier plant
and his designated security advisor is perpetuating fake news
and he knows squat about the Constitution)


brave little mouse
this lion can't be trusted
be vigilant



12/8

dark horizon
menacing storms build strength
children play tag



12/9
(a fun exchange)

from Van Allen (@GRProject43X), in reply to my 12/8 haiku

Your 5-7-5
is short a few beats. Why? Why?
A butterfly weeps.


my response:


my 5-7-5
is not worth tears, butterfly
who's to say what counts?



12/10

Trump Picks Scott Pruitt, Climate Change Denialist, to Lead E.P.A.

naked emperor

prepares to bask in the heat

of a dying Earth



12/11
Poetry to the rescue.

in emergency
dial nine-one-one for body
eight-one-one for soul




12/12
6:00 a.m., The Morning After the Neighborhood Lighting

sheltered
one luminaria
shines on



12/13

prickly day
softened by sticky snow
balm of silence




12/14
Hat-tip to Renee LaTulippe for the first line.

predator-elect
poised atop the food chain
not my keystone




12/15

fifth grade --
teaching parrots
to think




12/16

yammering cuckoo
eagle remains vigilant
beware the talons




12/17

rain stops, ice melts
temperatures keep rising
shroud of fog



12/18
For Birds...and Friends at Solstice Dinner

even a few seeds
are enough for these birds here --
feed your flock

12/19

so much can't be fixed
but when the sink starts to leak
out come the tools




12/20

one bird -- one squawk
a mighty din -- the whole flock
add your voice




12/21
Winter Solstice

our darkest day
followed one spin later
by more light




12/22
#senryu

laundromat
honest work, like-minded folk
everyone comes clean




12/23
Solstice, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa

light and levity --
we gather all the candles --
blaze away darkness




12/24

under snow
at the base of the old oak
trillium sleep





12/25
Tyrannical Regimes use Isolation as a Weapon of Oppression

harmony, beauty --
haiku sung acapella --
join the chorus




12/26

planet is heating
sixty-eight in December
slow, comfortable death




12/27

sunrise looks forward
lights all the dark corners
fades all the stars




12/28
There are no big box stores, shopping malls, freeways, or stadiums,
but Eastern Colorado has this:

bolt of night fabric
black velvet stretched tight with stars
Milky Way ribbon

or

black bowl of night sky
overturned on plate of land
Milky Way flows




12/29

homecoming
moving target
bullseye shrinks




12/30

ganderless goose
takes young chicken under wing
comfort for both


in the village
a stranger calls for help
answer comes quickly


fuchsia sunrise
be glad for another day
shadows be gone




12/31

mother bird
you raised your chicks to fly
don't be sad


this treacherous road
built by those who came before
fellow travelers


Fox News is Blaring on the Nursing Home TV

giving thanks
for print media's page turns
for website browsing


old oak stands silent
bare branches ache for spring
leaves will return


small town life
so slow, squirrels are safe
no roadkill




1/1
Happy New Year?
You've already forgotten?
Fresh hell awaits us.



I Feel Violated, Not Safe

security
groin alert requires pat down
you could smile, she says



1/2
The Return of Civil Disobedience

Hello, 2017.
Civil disobedience
knocks at your door.




1/3
rain
incapable of deceit
transparent

Unlike this one: Asked if Trump is playing the media with his comments on who was culpable, Woolsey said it was a "possibility," noting that 
Trump is an "expert in weaving around" on issues like this.




1/4
west wind
bitter cold barrels in
chimes complain




1/5
a different kind of #haikuforhealing

cold
(pass the Kleenex)
hazy fog




1/11
As I ponder whether my work with 5th graders
will survive the crazyweird to come...

Collaboration.
Will you remember this, kids?
Practice it as adults?

Accepting difference.
Will you remember this, kids?
Do it as adults?

Outrage over hate.
Will you remember this, kids?
Act on it as adults?




1/12
Rumors. Fake news. Anything that's not the real issues.

flash
heads turn
wolf advances




1/14

sunrise
please help me believe
in today



1/17

sense of urgency
every word and action must
promote harmony




1/18

today's mountain
eventually a hill
but oh the rubble

Life is Full of Pain and Glory

Life is Full of Pain and Glory

Like a single leaf
spiraling lazily down
through a china blue sky.

Like a hangnail
which, in careless irritation,
is yanked and bleeds.

Like a fragile, confused iris
blooming in October
one block from the hospital.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2016