sporadic visit (Troibun) Daily Moments

How I miss her nudging me...those sporadic visits.  Going for a walk, I would feel the hints of a verse, a word...a perfect moment whispering to me.  My mind always wanders...so hard to be mindful because my eyes see one thing for a moment and then she takes over with an interesting narrative. A bike missing a wheel thrown carelessly beneath a balcony.  What if it was a kidnapping and the bike was thrown here from another town?  What if it was an accident and the biker had no ID, police still looking for John Doe?  What if...indeed!!  

 I miss holding an image in my heart f then allowing it to simmer for a day or two and turning it into a watercolour  of words, three brief lines that take your imagination on to a lovely journey. Other times it can be philosophical or spiritual but definitely, with a tasteful metaphor.  
 
Since the pandemic, rather than benefit from time during those moments if isolation... inspiration changed to a very scattered mind.  Words were mixed with fear but this morning there was a slight shift ... 
Softly whispers 
Welcoming lilt 
Brief rendezvous 

 Softly whispers 
Moment in time 
wades in my soul  

Welcoming lilt 
Holding my breath
Listening to her voice 

Brief rendezvous 
Still 
breathtaking 

(c) Tournesol 2023-03-05  Daily Moments

First snowfall – (troiku) daily moments

First snowfall Nov 16 2022

snowflakes
carpets forming
spreading joy

snowflakes
adorning
bare branches

white carpets forming
like white sheets on a stick
spreading peace

spreading joy
peace
no wars!

(c) Tournesol ‘2022-11-16

No more tears (haibun)

A widow and her sons gathered with their cousins the evening before…reacquainting with each other, reminiscing their childhoods…remembering their father, their uncle, her life long partner of 68 years, who passed. They laughed, they danced, they ate a feast cousins had ordered for the family; they drank and remembered a wonderful man who touched so many friends and family of all ages. One cousin was up late downloading music her cousins had chosen to be played at the burial. Another cousin went to the florist to get roses and rose petals.

The next morning, she woke up early and went to the coffee shop to have breakfast and listened to her muse…in two hours her uncle’s ashes would be interred at the family graveside. It was cloudy but not raining and clouds were making room for the sun’s rays…

grey skies
beckoning
no more tears

grey skies
casting shadows
under their eyes

beckoning
softly whispers
please don't cry

no more tears
like dust in the wind
smiling from above

(c) Tournesol 2022-10-18

and then the sun appeared as if he was smiling ...




Songs:

Wish you were here – Pink Floyd

Father & Son – Cat Stevens

Tears in Heaven – Eric Clapton

My Way – Frank Sinatra

Hallelujah – Alexandra Burke

Dust in the Wind – Kansas

Poem read:

In Loving Memory of a Wonderful Man

Hello Autumn (haibun)

It’s been 10 to 12 C the past few days and today, she could actually feel a shift in the air. Windows were open all day and her two felines slept on their  carpets by the open patio door. By late afternoon, she could feel a chill and she closed the windows except for her bedroom where she enjoys the cool air under her warm duvet.

silky soft
stretching along her chest
scent of autumn
Inhaling freshness with a sigh
remembering their runny nose

nose peaking
above down feathers
breathing in crispness

© Tournesol ‘2022-09-23

Daily Moments Sept 23/22

embracing moments of joy (haibun)

 

(c) clr’2022

As we hope to approach the end of this pandemic, a month ago the world witnessed an explosion of chaos, of violence, of trauma, of one of the worse assaults against humanity…I’m not an expert on this.  I am but an ordinary person who is in her late autumn years…or is it winter? Well, it is not spring or summer, so you figure it out.

Watching the news is a cat and mouse affair for me.  I want to be in the “know” but most days I can no longer handle it.  I know I need to be fresh and together so my heart is open to be filled with trauma, sorrow and the multiple questions from a confused generation of youths and young adults.   And so I watch the news 3 days a week to keep some balance in my heart…my mind.

I cry for youths.  I cry for my children and their children…heck, I cry for anyone who is younger than me and so many of their dreams are in question.  I weep out of fear, worry, disappointment with the world and how we have become split in so many ways…more than I have ever seen in my lifetime.

I have lived a long full life without the chaos we are faced with now but my heart aches especially  for children, teens and young families all over the world.

I have been trying to  embrace brief moments of joy…I heard a flock (gaggle)  of geese honking over my building at sunset last week…the sound made my heart beat just a little faster. My geranium is blossoming so much as it stretches out towards the sun in my bedroom window…embracing moments of joy, my feline stretching in the sunshine and my granddaughter talking to me in “her” language that is music to Nana’s ears.

 

don’t cry little one
the sun is shining today
hear the geese honk

April rains wash pain away
the sun will dry your cheeks

chin up little one
skipping rope and chanting rhymes
oh! sweet merriment

(c)tournesol ‘2022-03-30

Friendships (haibun ~ troibun)

Valentine’s is supposed to be about love and couples but since I had my children 4 decades ago,  it was more about LOVE for anyone who is very special to you, especially my immediate family. 

I remember cutting out Valentine cards to share at school to those “special people” …if it was someone, we had a little crush on, we did not sign it. I also helped my children cut theirs out as well and in this generation, they seem to include more people.  I am hoping that is indicative of the world we now live in…to be kind to one another…to show support and caring.

The media shows us the opposite because unfortunately “tragedy sells.”  Yet, with all that has been going on in the world in the past two years, I am sick of giving attention to sadness, cruelty, and hardships. I am not saying I want to live in a bubble, but I/we DO need balance…knowing about kindness and how wonderful many people have come forward to help one another warms my heart and that too should be in the media…not just an addendum at the end of the news.

One thing I have loved doing in the past few years is writing my own greeting cards and sending them out to some friends far and near…mostly friends who live alone like me.

I do not know about you but when I get something in the mail, I get so excited…I run upstairs and put the envelope on the dining room table and make myself a cuppa tea and then I sit down and savour it. Sometimes it is one line and other times it is a bit longer but the fact that someone cared enough to write something on paper, put it in an envelope, sealed it with love, addressed it with care and attention, put a stamp and walked or drove to drop it off in a mailbox means so much!

I had another selfish reason to do this as well. It inspires me to write a poem and talk in writing to a friend, and forcing me to walk to the nearest mailbox which is 1 km away…so it is also beneficial to my physical and mental health to walk which is something I have not done much this winter especially since my fall early in January. It made me wary of walking on icy sidewalks.

I often try to spread out the cards so I have to go out more often. 

This is a troiku (new form of haiku created by Chevrefeuille, at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai I wrote a few days ago, that made me think of my friends this valentine week.

 

greyness lingers
lockdowns hold us prisoners
when will winter leave?

greyness lingers
looking for a bit of light
shining in my heart

lockdowns hold us prisoners
soon the days shall pass
Oh, see the light shine

when will winter leave?
thankful for a caring friend
brightens every day

© tournesol 2022-2-11

 
la grisaille s’attarde
les confinements emprisonnent
l’hiver nous quittera quand?

la grisaille s’attarde
mon cœur s’alimente à la poursuite
de la lumière

les confinements emprisonnent
bientôt le jour va paraitre
voilà, luminescence

enfin l’hiver nous quitte
enchantée d’une amie dévouée
égaiera chaque jour

© tournesol 2022-2-11

 


			

Grief etched on faces ~ daily moments

It's week two of our partial lockdown, curfews and life in this fifth wave.  My heart goes out to people living alone, especially seniors who have no family or few friends.  And then I feel for youths.  How do they see the world these days, having been robbed of so much these passed two years

underlining grief etched upon faces
woven in the fabric of their souls

upside down smiles
not knowing why, how, when
will life feel moderately
tolerable
again

trying to pull away
feeling bits of freedom
independence
rebellious 
teens being teens

but not now
stolen pockets of time 
laughing with friends
no one sees their smiles
masked with triple layers
no one sees their frowns
no one hears their truths
crying silently in their dreams

underlining grief etched upon  faces
woven in the fabric of their souls

a time to make friends
meet new people
parties here
get-together there

finally find that special
person
who gets them…

and yet, all those
experiences pre-pandemic 
wishful dreams
unrequited loves
unfulfilled aspirations

isolation
desperation
precious paltry moments
facetiming, 
echoes of a video chat

working part time
everyone under pressure
bosses seem demanding
clients irritated
parents stressed and worried

cabin fever breaks
time for a walk
bike ride is always safe
winter sucks these times
holding them hostage
reality biting with a vengence 


underlining grief etched upon  faces
woven in the fabric of their souls

© cheryl-lynn ‘2022-01-07  

Daily Moments  Jan 7 2022

14 beams if light

In memory of the 14 women who were killed Dec 6, 1989 there will be a tribute planned for the victims of Ecole Polytechnique shooting.

The women killed in 1989 were Genevieve Bergeron, Helene Colgan, Nathalie Croteau, Barbara Daigneault, Anne-Marie Edward, Maud Haviernick, Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz, Maryse Laganiere, Maryse Leclair, Anne-Marie Lemay, Sonia Pelletier, Michele Richard, Annie St-Arneault and Annie Turcotte.

Fourteen beams of light will be projected into the sky from Mount Royal where  Prime Minister Trudeau, Quebec Premier Francois Legault and Montreal Mayor, Valerie Plante are set to be present.


14 beams of light 
reaching to the sky
tears  in heaven

14 beams of light
14 innocent women 
hear their cries

reaching to the sky
pleading for answers
still …feeling their loss 

tears in heaven
forever
we remember

(c)  tournesol 2021/12/06

Tributes planned for victims of École Polytechnique shooting on 32nd anniversary - The Globe and Mail

november rain (senryu)

Waking up
To darkness
Filled the day with dread

Sombre
Contemplation
Filled her living room

Thoughts of tomorrow
Same ol’, same ol’
Hope too far to see

Thankful
For digital distractions
Turning minds to mush

Breaking the numbness,
The sun began to rise
Oh! So round and bright!

One hundred & eight
Minutes of glorious sunshine
…phonecall from a friend

rays of true friendship
always pierce november skies
set her heart aglow

© tournesol ’2021/11/13

Daily Moments – November 13 2021 November rain

untold futures ~ free verse

untold futures 

so many changes,
scent of decay
necessary losses

autumn leaves
waving like there’s
no tomorrow…

unknown destinies..
are they really?
darkness looms
ever so cunning

coloured leaves
giving notions of joy,
 and yet, 
life’s on pause…

trees shedding
life- one by one…
on a sheet of rot

children unaware
seeing only beauty
prancing, giggling
jumping into piles
staring at the sky
until they’re all packed
stuffed in paper bags
carted off -- interred

some buried 
in their gardens
rest through the winter
bringing life to earth
in the spring

how I love the different shades
this  bittersweet season
the freshness 
of the air
and yet,
the scent of death
pierces my soul
my joints scream
my heart is heavy…
wondering if spring
will ever come again… 

©cheryl-lynn  2021/09/21

Daily Moment Muse – Free Verse