Missing Mom

my heart leans west

toward the home no longer there --

missing mom

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2017

Winter Garden

Unsplash photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters

winter garden

potential beneath oak leaves

anticipation

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2017

Outdoor Recess

Unsplash photo by Noah Silliman

teacher gladly trades

wintery temperatures 

for outdoor recess

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2017

Birding by Ear

Flickr cc photo by Randen Pederson

tracked to tree trunk

hidden woodpecker

rat-a-tat-tat

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2017

Sunrise

silence

ticking clock, humming furnace

sunrise tiptoes in

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2017

Tradition

in this moment

past holds hands with future

tradition

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2017

Winter WInd

persistent north wind

attempts to crystalize

water in my cells

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2017

Indoor Recess Season

temperatures plummet

teachers prepare for long haul 

indoor recess season 

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2017

Ornaments

box of ornaments --

felt, styrofoam, beads, ribbon --

still smells like Mom's house

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2017

Tap Dance

flickr cc photo by Gary J. Wood

north wind 

oak leaves tap dance 

down the street 

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2017

Christmas Cactus

Christmas cactus 

explosion of color 

winter fireworks 

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2017

Storms

storms rage -- 

damage, injustice -- 

seek refuge 

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2017

Stress

Unsplash photo by Michal Grosicki

stress relief: 

60% cacao 

melts slowly

 

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2017

Fall Drive

Flickr cc photo by Nicholas Tonelli

rural PA smells:

smoking meat, spicy fall weeds,

hot pine pitch

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2017

Hawk

Flickr cc photo by Shelly Prevost

above the playground

unbothered by winter wind

hawk soars

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2017

Pomegranates

mom brought the whole world

to a rural farming town --

pomegranates

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2017

Class Crud

stomach flu, pinkeye

sinus drainage, rattling cough --

hands chapped from washing

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2017

Writer

Flickr cc photo by José Miguel S

writer cups hands

captures fragile fleeting thought

momentarily

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2017

Teacher

oldest teacher

in spite of her greying hair

you'd never guess

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2017

Hopeful

sunflower

face turned toward the east

hopeful

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2017

Relax

Flickr Creative Commons Photo

boiling water

tea leaves understand

relax

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2017

Unaware

Flickr Creative Common photo by Nicholas A. Tonelli

shagbark hickory 

unaware of scrambling squirrels 

crows stand guard 

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2017

Enough

candy maker

licks spoon, fills hundredth bag

craves popcorn

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2017

Old Chocolate

old chocolate

no longer melts well

tastes just fine

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2017

First Hard Frost

Unsplash photo by Autumn Mott

early morning walk

constant chatter of leaf-fall

first hard frost

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2017

If Truth Be Told

Unsplash photo by Charles Deluvio

I'm the type

who'd rather have dumplings

than blossoms

Issa, 1814

Unsplash photo by nabil boukala


I'm the type
who'd rather have breakfast
than cocktails

Mary Lee Hahn, 2017

I'm the type
who'd rather have sunflowers
than roses

Mary Lee Hahn, 2017

I'm the type

who'd rather have bikeways

than freeways

Mary Lee Hahn, 2017

I couldn't resist using Issa's haiku as a mentor text. It's so unlike any other Issa haiku that I've received in my email inbox via Daily Issa. 

What type are you? What can you learn about yourself through your "rather haves?"

How Airplanes Fly

Unsplash photo by Ross Parmly

How Airplanes Fly

Actually,
It's the wings!
Rushing air
Pushes up,
Lifts the wing.
Amazing -- it's
Not the
Engine that makes planes fly!


©Mary Lee Hahn, 2017

Ode to Bluegills

Ode to Bluegills

Though you are small,
you are mighty,
fighting like a fish ten times your size.

You make us cheer
and call for the photographer.
And you make us cringe

when we remove the hook.
Why must you swallow the fly
so far down it takes magic to extract it?

Never mind.
All turns out well for you in the end,
and you swim away gladly.

We thank you for your spiky dorsal fin,
the distinctive black beauty spot near your gill,
your iridescent scales.

We thank you for the tug on our line,
reminding us that we are connected --
the two of us; all of us.


©Mary Lee Hahn, 2017

Bike Ride Blessing 3.0 -- A Counting Out Rhyme

Bike Ride Blessing--A Counting Out Rhyme

One for the moon

in the morning sky,

two deer watching

as I ride by.

Three steep hills

to make me work,

paired with coasting--

that's the perk!

Four herds of runners

clog the path.

Ring my bell,

pedal past.

Three ponds total--

rising mists.

Two geese honking--

they insist:

One is presence,

patience, too.

Eyes and ears,

one is you.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2017

Bike Ride Blessing 2.0

Flickr Creative Commons Photo by stevep2008

ducks on the path

feet slap, slap, slap

I glide past

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2017