30 Days of Haiga 2022: Seeds of Me

 

Most afternoons during those bad old golden rule days, I slipped off in my mind to an enchanted world beyond the walls of the prison posing as a school. Knowing I would never be accepted by my peers and that my father and mother would always chide me to be better organized, I furrowed my brow and clutched tight to a vital metaphysical symbiosis between me and a group of people I had never met.

Their world was filled with singing. Mine was filled with the pain of knowing I would forever be the outsider. I was scolded for daydreaming when I should be listening to the lecture, but I refused to stop. Given the choice, what would you do?

When I look now, it makes me sad and angry that my dreams were considered weeds rather than seeds.

such a stupid girl

she can't do anything right

she’s just so simple

152 words

notes

Thank you to Xenia Tran of D'Verse Poets for the Haibun Monday prompt. I didn't write a Haibun about September, but I did write a Haibun for the end of my 30 Days of Haiga in Sepbember.

https://dversepoets.com/2022/09/26/haibun-monday-september-song/

Thank you to Brendan of Earthweal for the Ekphrasis prompt. Granted, the image I used isn't nature-related unless you count the unfortunate nature of human beings to ostracize those who are mostly harmless but don't quite play by the rules.

https://earthweal.com/2022/09/26/earthweal-weekly-challenge-ekphrasis-earth/

Thank you to Sue at My Just So Story for the Words for Wednesday prompt.

https://myjustsostory.blogspot.com/2022/09/words-for-wednesday-2892022.html

Thank you to Gerd Altmann from Pixabay for the image I selected to use as the Haiga background.

https://pixabay.com/illustrations/bullying-stress-head-brain-think-2778163/

I created the Haiga using Pixlr.com

You are welcome to use the Haiga, but please credit Cara Hartley/Ornery Owl and provide a link back to this blog.

With that, the 30 Days of Haiga for 2022 marches away into the sunset, but I'll be back for OctPoWriMo. I'm a masochist like that.

~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~

Image by Alexa from Pixabay

Yeah, I know, it's early. 

But when you have a face like mine, every day is Halloween.

"Did somebody say Halloween?"

(Free use image from Open Clipart Vectors)

Hangry Wyrm is only here for the candy, let's be real.

30 Days of Haiga 2022: The Truth of the Soul

 text

looking at faces

it is difficult to see

the truth of the soul

notes

This Haiga was inspired by the Poetics prompt from D'Verse poets, which asks us to contemplate good versus evil.

https://dversepoets.com/2022/09/27/poetics-the-good-and-the-evil/

I created the Haiga in Pixlr.com with a free-use image by Ulrich B on Pixabay.

https://pixabay.com/photos/composing-fantasy-mystical-3689029/

You are welcome to use the Haiga, but if you do, please credit Cara Hartley/Ornery Owl and provide a link back to this blog.

Yes, I backdated this post. I finished and submitted my story submission for consideration in the Reign of Fire anthology from Dragon Soul Press and didn't feel much like writing poetry.

30 Days of Haiga 2022: Reflection

 

text

days spent exploring

contemplating lily pads

I miss the gardens

notes

This week's Wednesday Poetry Prompt from Writers Digest requests a Reflection poem, and I delivered it.

https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/wednesday-poetry-prompts-628

I never thought until now about the fact that the word "deliver" contains Liver. I wish I could go back to the moment before I realized that, but what has been seen cannot be unseen.

I created the Haiga in Pixlr.com with a free-use image by Couleur from Pixabay.

https://pixabay.com/photos/water-lily-lily-pads-pond-1857350/

When my son and I lived in the suburbs of Denver, we had a membership to the Botanic Gardens and we went there frequently. In the center near the Japanese garden, there is a pool with water lilies. There were often ducklings swimming there. Seeing the image of the water lily made me remember those days. It's something I miss. Now making a trip to the botanic gardens takes a lot of prior planning and I have to bring my walker with me. 

I love living out here in the middle of nowhere, but I miss the gardens very much.

~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~

Image by Frank Michler from Pixabay

Listen to these beautiful chillhop beats while you read the post.

Here is the link in case you can't see the player.

https://odysee.com/@JustRelax:1/walking-above-the-clouds-lofi-hiphop-mix:a?r=GTwnGJ4fFBQfzuJgpHVpfKBKaC9b8B16

30 Days of Haiga 2022: The Nature of Lightning

 

text

the nature of life

like the nature of lightning

unpredictable

notes

Today's Tanka Tuesday prompt was the inspiration for today's Haiga.

https://wordcraftpoetry.com/2022/09/27/tankatuesday-weekly-poetry-challenge-no-291-9-27-22-themeprompt/

I created the Haiga in Pixlr.com with a free-use image by David Mark on Pixabay.

https://pixabay.com/photos/thunderstorm-weather-storm-thunder-1768742/

30 Days of Haiga 2022: For David

 

text

ending an era

the spark has gone from his eyes

to where does it fly?

notes

With the passing of my ex-father-in-law last night, my son now only has one grandparent: my mother. 

My ex-father-in-law had developed dementia, something he always hoped wouldn't happen. My ex-husband and his live-in helper were discussing the possibility of putting "Scooby" in long-term care because his state of health had declined so sharply that they could no longer adequately provide for his needs by themselves. 

My ex-father-in-law was a retired engineer and there was nothing he loved more than doing puzzles. Sorry, but those clickbait "articles" proclaiming that one can stave off dementia give false hope and make me angry. This man was probably smarter than all of us reading this post combined. He still wound up with dementia.

If you'd like to read more of my rant about awful clickbait proclaiming magical cures that don't exist plus ways to support real research that does exist, follow the link.

http://www.naughtynetherworldpress.com/2022/09/charity-sunday-fisher-center-for.html

I didn't have an especially close relationship with my ex-father-in-law but there was no bad blood between us. There is none between my ex-husband and me either. After our divorce in 1994, we repaired our friendship, which I think helped make my son's childhood a little more stable if sometimes chaotic because of bouncing from house to house during the week courtesy of my crazy work schedule.

So, yes, it's the end of an era. The death of my ex-father-in-law wasn't unexpected, and in many ways, it was a mercy. As Glen Campbell's widow said regarding dementia, it's better to die some other way. Still, one can't help but be a little sad. At least I can't.

I used the six-sentence story prompt to inspire this Haiga and wrote a three-sentence story followed by a lot of explanation.

https://girlieontheedge1.wordpress.com/2022/09/25/sundays-six-sentence-story-word-prompt-231/

Prompt word: Spark

I created the Haiga in Pixlr.com with a free-use image by Lê Nam on Pixabay.

https://pixabay.com/photos/light-streaks-spark-smoke-trails-6899357/

I selected this image because of its simplicity and because the light creates what looks like a face on the left side of the picture.

~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~

Image by Erich Röthlisberger from Pixabay

The Reaper comes for us all at some point.

This Owl would be very honored to have such a fine memorial stone!

Hopefully, not for quite a while.

I still have poems to write, food experiments to make, and people to annoy!

Probably my favorite song ever about the Shadow who follows us through our entire lives, waiting for that certain moment that faces us all.

Also sharing with:

https://godoggocafe.com/2022/09/26/promote-yourself-monday-september-26-2022/

30 Days of Haiga 2022: Peaceful Aquarium

 

Photo taken 7 May 2017 at Denver Aquarium

Copyright Cara Hartley/Ornery Owl

text

stingray swims with fish

coexisting peacefully

we should be like them

notes

The greatest photographer the world has ever known captured the image at the top of the post, which inspired the creation of today's Haiga. 

;-) 

Tongue planted firmly in cheek. I am hardly the greatest anything the world has ever known, except for possibly the world's greatest mess. I do, however, like my own photographs.

I really made a shambles of this post. My son and I were going to visit my mother on Sunday, so I made the post halfway and then, for reasons unclear to anybody, just published it. I didn't even include the Haiga.

You're welcome to use both the original image in the Haiga, but please credit Cara Hartley/Ornery Owl and provide a link back to this blog.

The fact that I find my gaffe with this post so disconcerting tells me that something else is going on in this ridiculous squirrel blender that I call a mind. I've been presenting as "okay" on the surface, even to me, but being this unsettled over a bit of a nothingburger of a mistake says I'm really not. There's nobody I can tell I'm really not okay, and that makes it feel even worse.

Moving along because who really gives a rat's.

This week's prompt from Poets and Storytellers United, the theme of which is war and peace was another source of inspiration.

https://poetsandstorytellersunited.blogspot.com/2022/09/friday-writings-45-war-and-peace.html

I am also sharing the poem with the following blog hops.

https://magicalmysticalteacher.wordpress.com/

https://earthweal.com/2022/09/23/earthweal-open-link-weekend-137/

https://viewingnaturewitheileen.blogspot.com/

https://myjustsostory.blogspot.com/2022/09/sunday-selections-600.html

30 Days of Haiga 2022: So Done with Diet Culture

 

text

this body once lean and flat

has become hilly and fat

I am tired of stale advice

anything but fresh and nice

notes

Thursday's D'Verse Poets prompt requested couplets.

https://dversepoets.com/2022/09/22/mtb-two-by-two/

The Saturday Mix gave us the word pairings flat and hilly and stale and fresh.

https://mindlovemiserysmenagerie.wordpress.com/2022/09/24/opposing-forces-saturday-mix-24-september-2022/

Now, you might be thinking to yourself "how in the world is Ornery going to make that work? There aren't any Japanese poetry forms that use couplets!"

That's what I was thinking myself, but I did a little research, and there kind of is one. It's called the Kouta.

https://poetscollective.org/poetryforms/tag/japanese/

The Kouta 小唄 (little or short song) is a popular Japanese verse form of the Muromachi Period, 14th thru 16th century.  The lyrical song was resurrected as a Geisha song in the late 1800s and is still popular today. The form has several variations, though always short in only 4 lines a 5th line is sometimes is added.  The theme reflects ordinary life and often uses colloquialisms and onomatopoeia.  The most popular are love songs.  The elements of Kouta are:

a poem in 4 lines. (an occasional 5th line may appear)

a stand alone poem but often is accompanied by other Koutas with the same theme.

syllabic, variable odd numbered syllable lengths, the most common patterns are written in lines of alternating 7-5-7-5 syllables or 7-7-7-5 syllables. 

secular, personal, themes of ordinary life

often includes onomatopoeia.

My brain is too tangled to think of even spelling onomatopoeia let alone trying to write a poem containing such. I also tweaked the rules a bit. Every line has seven syllables.

What's the poem about? In brief, about being a fat person just trying to live life and accept myself as I am in a society rampant with hateful messages about people who look like me, as well as all manner of unsolicited diet advice. I've written many posts about this subject so I will not go into it too deeply here, but diets don't work, in fact, for most people, they do more harm than good. 

There's a place where people can put any unwanted diet advice they may have for me. It's called Where The Sun Don't Shine.

I created the Haiga with Pixlr.com and a free-use image by Bianca Van Dijk on Pixabay.

https://pixabay.com/illustrations/boho-art-female-body-woman-7450246/

It's amusing in a depressing sort of way to search for images of plus-size women. Many people seem to think that plus size means anything with more girth than a twig. 

Anyway, you are welcome to use the Haiga (illustrated poem, whatever) but if you do, please credit Cara Hartley/Ornery Owl and provide a link back to this blog.

~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~

Ornery Owl, learning to respond to hunger cues after decades of Yo-Yo dieting

Free use image from Open Clipart Vectors

Hangry Wyrm's sage wisdom:

"If you're Hangry, eat!"

Do not come between Hangry and her food. She will stab you with her fork.

Free use image from Open Clipart Vectors

30 Days of Haiga 2022: Autumn Closes In

 

text

on the roadside trees

the leaves are changing colors

autumn closes in

notes

The Haiku was inspired by the Wednesday poetry prompt from Writers Digest.

https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/wednesday-poetry-prompts-627

I used Pixlr.com and a free-use image from David Mark on Pixabay to create the Haiga.

https://pixabay.com/photos/autumn-street-leaves-lane-foliage-1758194/

You are welcome to use the Haiga, but if you do, please credit Cara Hartley/Ornery Owl and provide a link back to this blog.

Yes, I created this post on Saturday and backdated it to Friday. I'm not even going to pretend anymore. 

30 Days of Haiga 2022: Knot of Tears

 

text

knot of tears wraps tight

I wish that I had gone too

on the day you left

notes

The Senryu was inspired by this week's prompt from Six Sentence stories. Yes, I know this is only a Three Sentence story.

https://girlieontheedge1.wordpress.com/2022/09/18/sundays-six-sentence-story-word-prompt-230/

Prompt word: Knot

One of my favorite songs is Albatross by Judy Collins. It contains the line "the knot of tears around your throat is crystallizing into your design." I've always felt that line described me.

I created the Haiga with Pixlr.com and a free use image from Open Clipart Vectors.

https://pixabay.com/vectors/mermaid-boat-love-parting-sailor-156773/

You are welcome to use the Haiga, but if you do, please credit Cara Hartley/Ornery Owl and provide a link back to this blog. 

30 Days of Haiga 2022: Pumpkin Pie Season

 

text

nutmeg and cloves 

cinnamon and ginger spice

sugar and pumpkin

flour, milk, eggs, a little salt

pumpkin pie season is here

notes

Yes, I really turned a pumpkin pie recipe into a Haiga. The following prompt from D'Verse poets inspired me to do the dirty deed.

https://dversepoets.com/2022/09/20/poetics-spicing-it-up/

I created the Haiga using Pixlr.com and a free use image from Open Clipart Vectors.

https://pixabay.com/vectors/bakery-crust-dessert-food-homemade-151724/

Here is a link to the pumpkin pie recipe.

https://www.livewellbakeoften.com/pumpkin-pie/

You are welcome to use the Haiga, but please credit Cara Hartley/Ornery Owl and provide a link back to this blog.

You are welcome to make the pumpkin pie. If you do, please credit the recipe author.

No, I did not backdate this post!

This year's Haiga challenge is nearing its end. Up next is OctPoWriMo, followed by the November PAD Challenge plus NaNoHellMo. I am once again editing multiple works. There is no rest for the wicked.

~Ornery Owl Is Exhausted and Going to Bed Now~

Free use image by Lumpi on Pixabay

30 Days of Haiga 2022: Land of Enchantment

 

text

land of enchantment

rich in history and art

stained by poverty

notes

This Senryu was prompted by this week's Earthweal prompt, which asks us to:

Sketch a landscape — it can be your personal history, or a place you inhabit now or did once.

https://earthweal.com/2022/09/19/earthweal-weekly-challenge-historys-mysteries/

I utilized the software at Pixlr.com and a free-use image by Herrema51 on Pixabay to create today's Haiga.

https://pixabay.com/photos/santa-fe-new-mexico-rugs-2367043/

I lived in Albuquerque between the ages of four and ten. New Mexico is rich in history and culture. However, the artistic splendor of a city like Santa Fe on one end of the spectrum is countered by grueling poverty on the other end. 

I lived in a very poor part of Albuquerque. The house we lived in seemed a bit cobbled together and at night cockroaches the size of school buses would infest the kitchen. It still gives me the heebie jeebies thinking about it. 

We didn't have a lot of money for food. We had a flock of chickens, and sometimes one of the roosters would end up becoming dinner. We ate foods such as boiled soybeans and buckwheat groats. I liked the buckwheat groats. I put butter and honey on them. If I never see another boiled soybean, it won't be too soon. Boiled soybeans are one of the foods they serve in hell. 

I like other soy-based foods. I like tofu. It absorbs the flavors of other foods in a stir fry and it makes a decent substitute for eggs or chicken when making an egg or chicken salad. It isn't that my son and I don't eat eggs or chicken. We do, but they are more expensive than tofu, so we tend to save them for other dishes since tofu salad is tasty. 

I like roasted and salted soybeans. They have a nice nutty flavor. 

I don't loathe boiled soybeans the way I do something like liver, which makes the entire house stink and tastes like the sole of a shoe that has stomped its way through a swamp and a cow pasture. As to boiled soybeans, if you look in the Dictionary of Real Life under the word "bland," you will see a picture of a cauldron filled with boiled soybeans. Boiled soybeans are the incarnate manifestation of blandness and nothing can make them palatable. They are simply blah. 

So, this is part of my story of life in a poor part of Albuquerque, a place that both shaped me and scarred me. Perhaps there will be more another time.

~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~

Ornery Owl

Free use image from Open Clipart Vectors

30 Days of Haiga 2022: Don't Give a Damn

 

text

I don't give a damn

what you think of who I am

mind your own business

notes

This acerbic Haiga was inspired by the Wednesday poetry prompt from Writer's Digest.

https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/wednesday-poetry-prompts-626

(Prompt: Write a "Give Blank" poem)

I created the Haiga using Pixlr.com and a free-use image from Open Clipart Vectors.

https://pixabay.com/vectors/mask-carnival-horror-costume-woman-2028211/

You are welcome to use the Haiga but please credit Cara Hartley/Ornery Owl and provide a link back to this blog.

30 Days of Haiga 2022: Remembering When

 

Original photo

Taken 7 May 2017

Denver Aquarium 

Haiga created 18 September 2022

text

remembering when

like passing through a doorway

looking back on then

such a wonderful moment

treasured point in history

notes

You are welcome to use both the photo and the Haiga, but please credit Cara Hartley/Ornery Owl and provide a link back to this blog.

The photo was taken on 7 May 2017 at the Denver Aquarium restaurant. My son and I were celebrating his 27th birthday (which actually falls on May 8) and Mother's Day. It's a wonderful day that I'll always remember.

The following prompt inspired me:

https://reinventionsreena.wordpress.com/2022/09/15/reenas-xploration-challenge-248/

Prompt phrase:

passing through a doorway in history

I will also be sharing this post with:

http://myjustsostory.blogspot.com

30 Days of Haiga 2022: Boldly Bowling Badly

 

Click to enlarge

text

when I boldly bowl

my lack of skill is canon

low score the story

like ammo from a cannon

the ball rolls down the gutter

notes

I created today's silly Haiga using the Saturday Mix prompt

https://mindlovemiserysmenagerie.wordpress.com/2022/09/17/double-take-saturday-mix-17-september-2022/

And a free-use image from Stock Snap on Pixabay.

https://pixabay.com/photos/bowling-sport-game-play-floor-2585602/

I blended everything up using Pixlr.com

Hopefully, my text art and image manipulation skills are better than my bowling abilities, which are pretty much nonexistent. 

I totally did not create this post on Sunday and then backdate it to Saturday.

You are free to use the Haiga and laugh at my bad bowling. For the Haiga, please credit Cara Hartley/Ornery Owl and provide a link back to this blog. For the bowling, please don't mention it.

~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~

Ornery Owl

Free use image from Open Clipart Vectors

30 Days of Haiga 2022: Love is Poison

 

text

is it chemicals

is there any depth to it

when you fall in love?

notes

This Haiga was inspired by the Tuesday Writing Prompt (words depth and chemicals).

https://godoggocafe.com/2022/09/13/tuesday-writing-prompt-challenge-september-13-2022/

I created the background in Pixlr.com with a free-use image by Arek Socha.

https://pixabay.com/illustrations/poison-bottle-medicine-old-symbol-1481596/

You are welcome to use the Haiga, but please credit Cara Hartley/Ornery Owl and provide a link back to this blog.

Also sharing with:

Haiku My Heart

corazon.typepad.com

30 Days of Haiga 2022: Unbedazzled

 

text

not so starry-eyed

don't try to bedazzle me

I am not impressed

notes

Today's jaded Haiga was inspired by this week's Moonwashed Musings prompt (bedazzle).

https://amanpan.blog/2022/09/13/moonwashed-weekly-prompt-bedazzle-september-13-2022/

The sparkly background was created by Gordon Johnson on Pixabay.

https://pixabay.com/vectors/rhinestones-gemstones-bedazzle-6844038/

You are welcome to use the Haiga, but please credit Cara Hartley/Ornery Owl and provide a link back to this blog.

30 Days of Haiga 2022: The House of Dark Dreams

 

Original image

Murmuration by Lee Madgwick

Used with permission of the artist

text

my favorite tales

born in the house of dark dreams

conceived in shadow

notes

I'm grateful for today's prompt from D'Verse Poets, which provided me with the amazing artwork used to create the Haiga.

https://dversepoets.com/2022/09/13/the-strange-houses-of-lee-madgwick/

I'm okay with you using the Haiga if you wish, but you will have to credit both me (Cara Hartley/Ornery Owl) for the digital manipulation, text art, and poem and the original image creator Lee Madgwick. For me, a link back to this blog is acceptable. Here is a link to Mr. Madgwick's website. https://leemadgwick.co.uk/

I used Pixlr.com to create the text art and the decaying effects used on the image.

I've got a few thoughts, but nobody is beholden to stick around for them.

This day started badly. One reason it's hard for people with psychological issues to maintain relationships is that prospective partners think they can fix us, but when depression or anxiety flares up (or never completely leaves) said partner becomes put out that they have not, in fact, fixed us. The trauma that led to my multiple nervous breakdowns occurred 25, 30, 40, or even 50 years ago. I should be over it, especially if I received the wondrous healing love that we're all taught to expect will totally happen if we're worthy of it, right?

I don't have a partner and I won't again. I no longer see this as a failing on my part or see myself as a failure because I just don't do romance right. I am just learning at nearly 60 years old to respect and care for myself. That it is necessary to be coupled to be a complete human being is an erroneous idea that does many people a great disservice. Some of us truly are better off without it.

I also found myself yet again explaining to some know-it-all who totally understands how metabolic health and issues like poverty, stress, and food insecurity work (bask in the sarcasm, I've slathered it on with a trowel) that a "war on Teh Obeesiteee" in which individuals are shamed for their physique and assumed to be constantly shoveling "bad food" into their gobs and never lifting a finger to do anything but play video games is not only ineffective but harmful.

After that, I was just tired and discouraged. Sometimes I tire of explaining reality to dimwits, especially dimwits who want to keep on feeling morally superior for their simple-minded stance on complex issues. I also caught (probably) a cold last week. So I took a nap.

I still felt bad about myself when I woke up from my nap, but as I worked on today's Haiga challenge, I started feeling better. Then I was able to remember something I already know.

Fat is not the worst thing a person can be.

However, being a sanctimonious jerk who shames other people's bodies is bone-headed and boorish.

I'd rather be fat than a boorish bonehead.

~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~

Ornery Owl

Free use image from Open Clipart Vectors

Hangin' with Hangry Wyrm

If you're Hangry--eat!

Free use image from Pixabay

30 Days of Haiga 2022: Honey and Peace

 

For greedy corporations and corrupt governments, it will be business as usual until it’s business no more because the sea has risen too high and all the bees are dead.

I would like the world to switch from fossil fuels to green energy.

Let the sun and wind heat our homes and recharge electrical batteries for our vehicles.

Let us make trains a viable means of transportation again so there is less reliance on automobiles.

Before I depart this world, I’d like to see the watermelon snow.

I’d like to insure the safety of the seed vault in Svalbard.

I’d like to save the sea ice, preserving the life of polar bears and penguins.

I’d like, too, to plant the sweet alyssum that smells like honey and peace.

we guard what we love

why do we not love the world?

it's our only home.

144 Words

notes

I created the Haiga with Pixlr.com using a free image by Peter Fischer on Pixabay. 

https://pixabay.com/photos/icebear-penguin-arctic-antarctic-3277930/

You are welcome to use the Haiga, but please credit Cara Hartley/Ornery Owl and provide a link back to this blog.

I used the following prompts in creating the Haibun.

https://dversepoets.com/2022/09/12/prosery-when-it-comes-to-katherine-riegel/

Write a piece of flash fiction or other prose of up to or exactly 144 words, including the given line from the poem.

“I’d like, too, to plant the sweet alyssum that smells like honey and peace,” from the poem What I would like to grow in my Garden.

https://earthweal.com/2022/09/12/earthweal-weekly-challenge-a-celebration-of-life-for-ice/

For this week’s challenge, contribute to a celebration of life for ice. 

https://girlieontheedge1.wordpress.com/2022/09/11/sundays-six-sentence-story-word-prompt-229/

Prompt word: Guard

I hope my Haibun measures up to the challenges presented, more or less.

~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~

Free use image from Open Clipart Vectors

30 Days of Haiga 2022: Covid Tango Tanka

 

text

is it just a cold

has covid come out to play

sniffle and wonder

a simple question no more

in a post-pandemic world

notes

My inspiration for this Haiga is the crappy cold I've come down with and an image by Prawny on Pixabay.

https://pixabay.com/illustrations/coronavirus-viruses-germs-bacterial-4981176/

I'm sure it's just a cold. It's fairly mild, and it seems to be resolving. The symptoms aren't severe enough to put myself through the hell of being tested for COVID. I can't stand having things in my nose. 

This is the first cold I've had in three years. In the past, I've always gotten at least two colds per year. So, in the future, if anyone wants to know why I'm still masking up in crowded places? Because I enjoy not feeling like I'm walking upstream underwater through mud with only one working lung, which is what it feels like when you're asthmatic and catch a cold. At least, that's how it feels for me. 

You are welcome to use the Haiga, but please credit Cara Hartley/Ornery Owl and provide a link to this blog.

No, I didn't create this Haiga on Tuesday but backdate it to Monday. How dare you suggest I would do such a thing!

~Ornery Owl Has Sniffled~

Free use image from Open Clipart Vectors

30 Days of Haiga 2022: For The Lost

 

text

though not religious

I fell to my knees that day

despairing the lost

notes

I created today's Haiga in Pixlr.com with a free-use image by David Z on Pixabay.

https://pixabay.com/photos/tribute-in-light-9-11-memorial-nyc-4470714/

You are welcome to use the Haiga but please credit Cara Hartley/Ornery Owl and provide a link back to this blog.

https://earthweal.com/2022/09/09/earthweal-open-link-weekend-135/

30 Days of Haiga 2022: Her Majesty

 

text

such a clever girl

she kept her heart to herself

as wise women do

21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022

notes

sketch of the Queen

https://pixabay.com/vectors/britain-british-elizabeth-halftone-1296168/

memorial banner

https://pixabay.com/illustrations/queen-elizabeth-queen-of-england-7441728/

I did not use any other prompts for this Haiga. I wanted to create a tribute to honor Queen Elizabeth II. I felt that the black and white illustration would work nicely with black text art, which I created using Pixlr.com. I also used decorative elements from Pixlr. 

To stave off accusations that my Senryu is flip, snarky, or a backhanded compliment, I assure you that my intent is none of the above. Because of the brevity of this poem form, I needed to distill my thoughts down to the most basic elements. As noted in Wikipedia, "Her cousin Margaret Rhodes described her as "a jolly little girl, but fundamentally sensible and well-behaved"."

I've always admired the Queen's thoughtful and level-headed approach to even the most difficult circumstances. I could never conduct myself in such a measured fashion. My blood runs much too hot. Although my public face is generally stoic and I don't tend to reveal much about myself, my stoicism has a bitter edge to it and when I do show emotion, I wear it all over the front of myself. 

Sometimes the Queen was accused of being emotionless or robotic. I never perceived her that way. In her position, it is imperative not to show weakness. She was always dignified, much more so than I ever could have been in her situation. I would not wish to be royalty.

Although I am not British, Her Majesty was a source of comfort to me. She was a benevolent constant presence in an uncertain world. I hope I have conveyed something of the respect I feel for her in my creation.

You are welcome to use the Haiga but please credit Cara Hartley/Ornery Owl and provide a link back to this blog.

~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~

Ornery Owl wears her crown of flowers to honor Queen Elizabeth II

Free use image from Open Clipart Vectors

30 Days of Haiga 2022: Art is Life

 

text

Hippocrates says

art is long and life is short

I say art is life

notes

I created this Haiga using Pixlr.com and a free-use image by Engin Akyurt on Pixabay. Mr. Akyurt is the photographer. The mural artist is unknown.

https://pixabay.com/photos/bicycle-children-graffiti-art-3045580/

The following prompt from D'Verse Poets provided inspiration for the piece.

https://dversepoets.com/2022/09/08/meet-the-bar-with-aphorisms/

The assignment involved creating a poem using an aphorism. Poets could either choose between inventing their own aphorism or using an existing aphorism and reformulating it. The result is today's Haiga (Senryu).

You are welcome to use the Haiga, but please credit Cara Hartley/Ornery Owl and provide a link back to this blog.

also sharing with

corazon.typepad.com