sound of cicadas
sweating on my balcony
sauna and me
sound of cicadas
screaming blue murder
resting in the shade
sweating on my balcony
even children are heavy
with sleep
sauna and me
every mid-summer
heatwave in July
(c) Tournesol '19/07/27
Daily moments - Heatwave - troiku July 27 2019
Monthly Archives: July 2019
Chambly Rapids – Monochrome Wednesday
The above photo was taken June 22nd when I spent the day at the Chambly Rapids like I do every year on my late mother’s birthday, sitting on a flat rock chanting my mantra thinking of her. This year, my usual spot was fenced in since the water is too high, so I found a log further down. It was a glorious day and I even got to see a heron by the dam. What a treat! The fence did not stop me from taking photos of that beautiful bird. He lives on the island not far from here. It looks like he likes to pose or he was just a patient fisher [chuckles]
la sage femme (haibun)
Art Image Publications PICASSO Inspired Art Projects Weeping Woman – Pablo Picasso, 1937
After a long night sponging the sweat off her patient’s face, she felt her grip her brown spotted hand. “Ne t’inquiète pas…ça ne sera plus long ma fille, pousse fort une autre fois à la prochaine contraction.” * But then her weather-beaten face frowned…a tear rolled down her chin. The silence was deafening as she placed the white sweet smelling cloth over the young mother’s mouth while the father took the lid off the shoebox.
shuffling home
weather-beaten hands
holding a shoebox
© Tournesol’15
*translation: Not to worry,my child, it won’t be long now… push hard at the next contraction.
sage femme: midwife
This is one of many sad true stories my GrandMaman shared with us growing up. I can’t imagine the sorrow she carried with her mixed with joys…
Inspired by our host’s meme today “weather-beaten” at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai
Our host, Chèvrefeuille says: “This month our central theme is “on the trail with Basho”, because Basho was a traveling haiku poet as e.g. Santoka Taneda was in his time (1882-1940). This month we will (try) to follow Basho’s journeys through Japan. And this first haiku which I will share here is from one of his earlier haibun (or travel-journals), “The Records of a Weather-Exposed Skeleton” (Nozarashi Kiko) in which he describes his journey together with his disciple Chiri along the places described by Saigyo, Basho’s great role-model;”
weather beaten
wind pierces my body
to my heart
© Basho (Tr. Jane Reichhold)
Here is our host’s offering and he asks us to write with the Haiku Writing Technique baransu (in balance):
cold spring breeze
makes the cherry blossom shiver
one heartbeat long
© Chèvrefeuille
snack time ~ tanka
melancholy time
despair mixed with brain fog
just a sugar low
orange pieces lined one by one
dripping with joy
© tournesol ‘19/07/02
Daily Moments July 2 2019
Tuesday s Tulips Daily Moments July 2 2019 Troibun
This passed winter was long and cold. Spring came along mid-May. It was such a joy to see those tulips sprout from the earth. Reds, yellows and even white petals standing tall and strong despite spring winds. Even the rain could not push them around! Hope was painted on every smile when a passerby finally realized that summer was near.
And now in the heart of summer, tulips have been replaced by peonies and daisies…but still, she remembers with fondness, her Mother’s Day present…fresh picked tulips standing tall. If you take the time to notice, you might see one left standing…stronger than its peers.
last of the tulips
stands by the building
left with abandon
last of the tulips
longing for reds and yellows
waits for its time
stands by the building
scratchy and cold
bricks give no comfort
left with abandon
could stand up no more
feeding Mother Earth
© Tournesol ‘19/07/02
Daily Moments – June 2, 2019 Moving Day (troibun)
Moving day in Québec has just passed in this part of her world like every year, July 1st when residents renew their leases. When she was a young child it was May 1st and she remembers many new classmates arriving at the end of the school year. It was not easy for the children to leave their friends and school and start anew in a strange school. That is why the provincial government, in 1973 decided it was better to end leases June 30th so children would not be penalized leaving their school before the end of their year and that is when Moving Day changed to July 1st. It is also a long weekend with Canada Day, so many renters who could not afford to take time off work had an extra day to move.
You will notice driving around urban streets in or near Montreal in mid-June to mid-July there are LOTS of junk, furniture, mattresses and many cardboard boxes on the side of the street. I suppose it is a busy and demanding time for the garbage collectors too. Notaries (in Quebec we have notaries and not lawyers to draw up house deeds) are very busy from April to July…well, more than usual. It might not be the best time to draw up a will…if you’re not in a hurry, that is.
Living close to a Salvation Army depot near the bus terminal, she notices piles and piles of clothes and furniture dumped after hours every day for the past few weeks. And, the curious and disrespectful rummage through the droppings, opening bags and pulling out garments and leaving them spread out in front of the door of the depot. She shakes her head in disgust and feels bad for the employees who have to clean up the mess every day when they come in to work. How discouraging is that? Some may argue, “Well, they are paid to do it.” Sure, they are but the time wasted on this is wasting lots of donation dollars too when they could be doing something else. Oh well, she can tsk tsk all day long and it won’t change people, now will it?
It is quite warm today at 28C and in the sun it is hot! She was planning to go the Montreal International Jazz Festival with her grandson but he thinks it is only jazz music and he is not a fan. She knows there is Blues, Reggae, Rap, Hip Hop and much more but it may be difficult to convince a teenager, so she will play it by ear. Maybe they can just walk around the Old Port after a nice dinner and see a late movie. That would be cool and since he is a night owl like she is, lateness is not an issue. Getting up the next day may be more problematic but she is off from work for two days and he is off for the summer. How she remembers those summer months. It was a perfect time to read a novel or two and work on your suntan. How times have changed with the ozone and the sun giving her rashes, she avoids it now. Well, her bikini body has gone and left her too!
It rains almost every day. The rainfall has drenched her flower pots and instead of seeing wild flowers, she picks a mushroom or two and throws it on the lawn. This is the first year she has set up so many flower boxes and pots filled with herbs. Well, Basil is looking promising…good strong plant, that one!
It is mid-day and as she sits in the warm shade, listening to birds chirping and negotiating with their moms for naptime and then the loud piercing shrill of the cicadas quiets everything! It reminds her of the noon time fire siren that would blare when she was a child in her hometown. The cicadas have a way of mesmerizing nature to a long-awaited nap and humans too seem to find their eyelids heavier after a meal…siesta time.
peonies hanging
bushes cradling each flower
grinning at the sun
peonies hanging
heavy with morning showers
raindrops on petals
bushes cradling each flower
spill over with affection
madonna and child
grinning at the sun
stretching wide
in gratitude
© Tournesol ‘19/07/02
Daily Moments – June 2, 2019 Moving Day (troibun)
times of beauty (haiku)
gushing beauty
peonies hang lavishly
that time of year
©Tournesol’16/06/15
Daily Moments – June 15 ,2016 times of beauty (haiku)
Haiku Horizons `time`
It seems to be about the same time each year those lavish peonies show off their stuff. Looking through an old poem, June 10th last year I wrote Heavy Blossoms.
Daily Moments, Jan 15 2016 – Haughty peonies (troiku)
like a starlet
peonies bow lavishly
in the limelight
like a starlet
serving admirers
with her beauty
peonies bow lavishly
soaking up praise
humility tossed aside
in the limelight
even with wilted petals
beauty in God’s eyes
© Tournesol ’16/01/15
Daily Moments , this will have to count for Jan 15
Her Lines – A Song For the Mother
The words are moving, his voice is filled with love and passion for our mother, Amma. Beautiful song and if you listen to the version on Spotify, the quality is superb!
heavy blossoms (Troiku)
white peonies
luscious blossoms spill
over balconies
white peonies
memories of her youth
when Mother was there
luscious blossoms spill
spreading their fragrance
nature’s free scents
over balconies
river breeze cools
unclad beauty
© Tournesol ’15/edited 19/17/02
