Sleeping Clover

 

Bee and clover by William Warby on Unsplash

clover white and pink

gone to sleep as nights grow cold

waking in the spring

notes

The Haiga was inspired by a prompt from Carpe Diem Haiku.

https://chevrefeuillescarpediem.blogspot.com/2012/10/carpe-diem-special-prompt-5.html

Text art was added to the image using Pixlr. This was one of those images where I felt it was best to keep things simple and clean. You are welcome to share the Haiga, but please credit Cara Hartley/Ornery Owl if you do. A link back to this blog would also be appreciated.

sharing with

http://myjustsostory.blogspot.com

Summer Gone Again

 

Base image by Gary Bendig on Unsplash

you are leaving now

as cold weather approaches

summer gone again

I found a butterfly wing

on the pathway walking home

notes

This Haiga was inspired by a prompt from Carpe Diem Haiku.

https://chevrefeuillescarpediem.blogspot.com/2012/10/carpe-diem-special-3.html

Text art and effects were added to the base image in Pixlr by the poet. You are welcome to share the haiga, but please credit Cara Hartley/Ornery Owl. A link back to this blog would also be appreciated. 

Tan Renga Wednesday on Friday: Last Leaf

Image Source

a last leaf

swirls on the wind towards the east -

first snow falls gently

the falling snow is pleasant

the icy roads are not so

~Chèvrefeuille & cie~

notes

The Hokku stanza was written by Chevrefeuille. The Ageku was created by me. I do like the snow, but I hate driving on icy roads. I've had a couple incidents when doing so which left me with a bit of PTSD. I tend to tense up when I have to drive on icy roads, which makes doing so a bad idea.

I will try to catch up with the poems over the next few days. I was working on a short story for blog.reedsy.com. If you are looking for a short story contest with no entry fee, they have a weekly contest here. Go to the apps section of the page and choose "story prompt."

Also, if you're looking for help with editing or publishing your book, you can look at what Reedsy has to offer here. Using that link will get you $25 credit on any of Reedsy's services.

I believe I may have had another TIA. There always tends to be a cognitive shift when one of these happens. It's hard to explain. It isn't as if I'm having short term memory issues (well, no worse than I ever did). It's simply that the WAY I think changes. At this point, I find myself needing to be a little more measured in my output. I get tired very easily. It's frustrating because although I've never been a Type A personality by any means, I've always been very productive.

I know that I'm vulnerable to vascular problems because of my diabetes. Well, I'm perfectly happy to keep my blood sugars in check, which I can do if I have, you know, ADEQUATE INSULIN! Which my health care provider and Medicaid seem to be conspiring not to provide me. Going without insulin for weeks at a time is, I don't know, a bad thing when you're diabetic. 

The elite devils in charge of things don't care about that, though. They want the poor and the handicapped dead. Of course, then they won't have anyone to do the menial jobs that they revile, but I wouldn't give them too much credit for being smart.

Yeah, I said "handicapped" instead of the more politically correct "disabled." I honestly don't see what the difference is. I can apply both to my own condition, and I don't find either one offensive. Sometimes people become so busy picking nits that they forget to work on the issues that really matter.

Carpe Diem #1787: Autumn Equinox

Image Source

autumn equinox

blowing dry leaves in the wind

cold wind snaps up warmth

~Cie~

For Jane Reichhold

(1937 - 2016)

Carpe Diem #1781: Dead Leaves

the leaves falling down

colorless on the cold wind

my heart breaks like ice

~Cie~

Notes:

I guess I came close to following the traditional Haiku rules, but if not, you can tell me that I suck and should go die in a fire like the trash poet (and excuse for a human being) that I am. For me, the expression is always more important than the rules, and it's difficult to teach a very old and stupid dog new tricks.

Heeding Haiku With Chèvrefeuille, October 23rd 2019, autumn beach

Image Source

chilly autumn wind

causes water on the lake

to shiver to shore

~Cie~

Carpe Diem Tan Renga Wednesday #2: October Beach

Image Source

October beach

in all the footprints

the tread of shoes

I say we kick off our shoes

let the cool sand soothe our feet

~Jane & Cie~

Notes:

The Hokku stanza was written by Jane Reichhold (1937 -2016). The Akegu (two-line) stanza was created by me.

Carpe Diem Weekend Meditation #103: Start of Autumn

Image Source

in autumn I find

a friend who brings new stories

as leaves change and fall

~Cie~

Carpe Diem Weekend Meditation #100: Indian Summer

I

after a warm day

a thin layer of fresh fallen snow

covers the garden

after a warm day

sweat slick on the back of neck

I dream of autumn

a thin layer of fresh fallen snow

on some faraway mountains

elsewhere but not here

covers the garden

there are not that many trees

a few fallen leaves

II

Indian Summer

inbetween seasons

roses bloom again

Indian summer

this was never his color

he was always pale

inbetween seasons

he exists between the worlds

observing sorrow

roses bloom again

another life lies ahead

the thought is tiresome

For Gem from Cie 

and 

Gerry from Pepper

Notes:

The "sleighs" of these Troiku were created by Chèvrefeuille. The horses of the apocalypse were wrangled into a story poem or collective of disjointed and depressive thoughts by me. Happy Pumpkin Spice Senryu to you.

Tan Renga Challenge 2019: Day 8: Autumn Begins

Image by Stefan Schweihofer from Pixabay

cricket silence

between scraping sounds

autumn begins

for me a new beginning

or perhaps the end of all

Jane & Cie

Note:

The Hokku (Haiku) portion of the poem was written by Jane Reichhold. The Ageku, or closing stanza, was written by me.

Come the fall, I should have pictures of the old hotel my son is buying to renovate. This probably sounds a lot more posh than it is. This building is in a town listed on the Colorado Ghost Towns website, and it needs a lot of work.

For me, this move is literally either a new beginning or the beginning of the end. I have run out of options.

30 Days of Haiga 2017: Day 18: Autumn Approach

Original background:

Copyright: andreka / 123RF Stock Photo
Words and text manipulation:
The Real Cie

30 Days of Haiga 2016: Day 18: Harvest

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Original Image:

Copyright: natavkusidey / 123RF Stock Photo

Words by Gunnar Raven

Photoshop manipulation by The Real Cie

 

Thirty Days of Haiga 2016: Day 7: Harvest

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Original Image:

Copyright: anjelagr / 123RF Stock Photo

Words by Sally Quendi

Photoshop Manipulation by The Real Cie

 

OctPoWriMo 2014: Day 5

Copyright: fergregory / 123RF Stock Photo

Death March

In the cool of the evening when everything is getting kinda groovy

(Who the hell am I kidding? Nothing has been groovy for a hell of a long time.)

A cool voice greets me on the telephone

(Like that's going to happen)

Asking me if I want to come out and chill with him

I say "What the hell, let me get my coat?"

(Honestly, I'd probably say "Nah, I'm going to take a nap.)

Some think of autumn as a time of death

The leaves die and turn brown

Certain plants die 

Others go dormant

Some think of this change as sad

It doesn't trouble me

I haven't entirely changed my heathen ways

I used to turn to the worship of the old deities for comfort

This isn't devil worship, as the closed-minded believe

There's no devil involved

Satan is a construct of the religion I adhered to prior to this

They can have him

I left both these religions behind because of closed minds

Because of judgment

Because of a "my way or the highway" attitude

However, I still remember learning that autumn was not in fact a time of decay

It pleases me to keep this thought

Autumn is first the time of harvest

This is followed by renewal and rebirth

This is nothing bad or sad

We in modern times have structures which keep us from freezing

(Some of us do anyway)

We have refrigerators and pantries in which to store food

We don't have to fear as people did in older times

The change of seasons is not what makes me melancholy

The voice on the other end of the phone is the Grim Reaper

Honestly, death does not bother me so very much either

I'm tired of struggling

But I'm not so very fond of aging

I wouldn't care, except our society tells us that to age is to become ugly

I've never felt pretty, so now I really don't stand a chance

I don't like the change that age has brought to me

I don't mean the gray hair or a few lines--I could care less about that

(Oh yes, fuck you L'Oreal and Juvederm, and especially you, Botox)

I mean the lessening of my abilities

Which happen in spite of yoga or cardio workouts or strength training or any of that

The eyesight dims a little

The hearing becomes less acute

The body becomes stiffer

More vulnerable to disease

I don't like that much at all

I'm not quite ready to go on the final date

When I feel I've never really lived

I'm in the autumn of my life

Winter will be here all too quickly

Or not soon enough

Time goes by, with or without my permission

Welcome to the fall

~Helena~

Helena prefers free verse. Can you tell?

          

Carpe Diem Autumn Haiku: Apples

If only the apples on my tree were this intact

Most of the apples

On the tree beside my house

Bit by birds and worms

~Cie~

30 Days of Haiga 2014: Day 17

Click to Enlarge

Original Photo:

Copyright: yarruta / 123RF Stock Photo

Tasty Verse:

Illsa Gorrey

Hunger-Inducing Photoshop Manipulation:

Cie Cheesemeister

30 Days of Haiga 2014: Day 16

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Original Photo:

Copyright: balaikin / 123RF Stock Photo

Verse:

Illsa Gorrey

Photoshop Manipulation:

Cie Cheesemeister

30 Days of Haiga 2014: Day 14

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Original Photo:

Copyright: oma / 123RF Stock Photo

Verse:

Opal Zushaquon

Photoshop Manipulation:

Cie Cheesemeister

30 Days of Haiga 2014: Day 12

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Original Image:

Copyright: juliasha / 123RF Stock Photo

Verse: 

Dolly Marionette

Photoshop Manipulation:

Cie Cheesemeister

30 Days of Haiga 2014: Day 2

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Original image:

Copyright: subbotina / 123RF Stock Photo

Words:

Quilla Qi-Lin

Photoshop Manipulation:

Cie Cheesemeister