What a strange and sad week. The police shooting of Philandro Castile here (and now the shooting of police in Dallas) has cast a pall over the area, as it should. I will write about that over the weekend.
For now, though, we should haiku. It is the heart of the summer; we have crossed that bend in the road that is the 4th of July, when this season turns from luscious potential to fleeting reality (at least in Minnesota).
In the summer, I see stars. In part it is because I am outside more, and more often in places away from the city. Night comes late and deep.
Let's haiku about the stars-- your favorite, a memory, perhaps even your wish upon a star. Here, I will go first:
I pointed up high:
"See that constellation there?
It is Mister Ed."
That's a true story. I said that to Sleepy Walleye many years ago, and I think he agreed with me-- it did look like Mr. Ed.
Now it is your turn! Just use the 5/7/5 syllable plan, and have some fun!
In a long canoe
ReplyDeleteWe drift at dusk, awaiting
The sky dust above.
Look there! A shooting
ReplyDeletestar way up! Aunt Jill, it shoots
out fairy sparkles!
Sleep outside watching
ReplyDeletePerseid meteors fall
Always, with my son.
(My son and I sleep out under the stars every year in August to watch the Perseid Meteor Shower. We started when he was 5; he is now 16 and we haven’t missed a year. A tradition he may one day carry forward with his own children.)
In the twilight sky
ReplyDeleteI raise my eyes, find a star
and I make a wish
The Milky Way, bright
ReplyDeleteAdrift, my perch on the lake
Possibilities
Pardon the disregard for the rules. Just kind of going with a stream of consciousness as I ride in a car on the way to LaCrosse, reflecting on this weeks events with U2 riffing in the background
ReplyDeleteUnder These Stars
Under these stars Cain killed Able.
We evolved and learned to kill, better.
We hoarded bread and gold,
and killed for more than we could possibly eat.
With chariots and whips
Crosses and electric chairs;
under these stars
we tore and ripped and burned
the wicked and the innocent.
On every despot and on every saint
these same stars shone down.
Their light took flight before we walked.
And now cascades here on this rock.
By them we navigate
seeking better places,
safe from harm and hate.
Under these stars
these God damn voiceless balls of light
too far away to give a shit.
***
Psalm 13:1-2
How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I take counsel in my soul
and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
***
I can't believe the news today
Oh, I can't close my eyes
And make it go away
How long
How long must we sing this song
How long, how long
Cause tonight, we can be as one
Tonight
Broken bottles under children's feet
Bodies strewn across the dead end street
But I won't heed the battle call
It puts my back up
Puts my back up against the wall
Sunday, Bloody Sunday
U2
Worth meditating on
ReplyDeleteU2's All I Want Is You
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWBKBkEJQRk
Sky Ranch, Denton, TX
ReplyDeleteLying on dock under stars
God, night and wonder
it's night-time on earth,
ReplyDeleteStars twinkle in the distance,
Frost falls on my heart.
Dark clouds, bluebonnets
ReplyDeleteTexas skies so bright at night
And the stars tell all.
The same stars here as
ReplyDeletethere, always brighter when the
moon is new and dark.
Now a city girl:
ReplyDeletePitch-black night coated with stars
Makes me greedy at
Wonder all around,
Till I hear the sounds of night--
Stars bring silent shock.
These countless silver
ReplyDeletePoppies over my head in
Washington's desert
Night...I forget to
Breathe. I am miniscule.You
Are out there after all.