Garden Breakfast

Blackbirds Twitter

Echo

Enlivened

New Flowers

I recently received from one of my poet pals who lives in the US, the gift of a handmade doily; for the image in this haiga, i used a photo of that gift.

September Morning

'September Morning' a stitchaiga, one of a set of five; first published at Simply Haiku March-April 2004, Volume 2, Number 2

Unscented

Meandering Green

Haiku - Michael Baribeau; Tanka and the Title of this haiga - Cindy Tebo; Photo and haiga design - Gillena Cox

The poems are the individual property of the writers and should not be used without their permission.

Thunder Peals

Sun wind...

Bus Stop

Shutting

Ekphrastic Poetry Challenge

Picasso's Tomato Plant image is from Pablo Picasso Gallery Paintings(1941-73)
Between the third and twelfth days of August 1944 Picasso painted
nine pictures of a tomato plant perched on a window sill, all on identically sized canvases
Ekphrasis: writing that comments upon another art form, for instance a poem about a photograph or a novel about a film. Keats' "Ode on a Grecian Urn" is a prime example of this type of writing, since the entire poem concerns the appearance and meaning of an ancient piece of pottery Ekphrastic Poetry Examples
How does one approach this poetry form? Become physically comfortable and committed to a long period of time in front of the art. If possible sit in front of the work and attempt to become one with it. If you have permission, take a photograph of it and carry it with you or prop it in front of your computer, especially for the revision process. Since while writing poetry “it all depends on the questions that you ask,” ask yourself and ask the painting about the movement in the piece. What is going where? Ask about color, light, shape/form, subject/items, geometry/direction/balance, relationship/tension, taste, sound. Is anything here making noise? Is anyone/anything speaking? Can you create dialogue? Monologue? If you can’t take a photo of a museum piece, try a “naive poet’s sketch” of the piece just to remind yourself of the elements of the painting, its flow, and relationship of the subjects. Elastic Ekphrastic; Another Way Toward Poetry

Should you accept this challenge E-mail me OR add your poem at COMMENTS

If Picasso
Late summer,
Bold strokes celebrate
Pablo's harvest;
Sunny day,
The tomato plant
Looks happier;
The phone rings,
A plant paperweights
A few haiku scribbles;
This could very well
Have happened,
If Picasso was a haijin;
--gillena cox; TT

Tomato
Pablo knew that was one ugly pot.
Broken, pieced together from one, two, three
Different shards, bright shining pieces
Fashioned together with dull, with red,
With white from birth, a hand held enough
Soil to cover its bottom, to cover a seed
So tiny it was amazing the crop.
A green, then red crop, a child to mature adult.
Pasta was on his mind, pasta covered rich and thick,
Red sauce clotted with ripeness, basil and onion,
Sweet peppers, olive oil dripping rich from hot buns.
Pablo knew, it begged for wine.
--Donald Rhodes; South Carolina

The Eternal
In the tomato plant
In a broken pot
Picasso scores the
Shades of four seasons,
In a single canvas
The brushstrokes
In blue and yellow
Hides a sky and sun
Nurturing the plant for
Time eternal
--Devika Jyothi; New Delhi,IN

briefly punctuating
summer at its height
the tomato period
--Cindy Tebo; Catawissa,US

Amidst the cubes
you are the living structure.
Amongst the grey
you are my red and green.
And after all this daily dust and dumbness
you promise me a viral meal.
--Ralf Bröker, Germany


The poems in this Ekphrastic Poetry Challenge remain the property of each individual author and should not be used without permission

Even On The Moon

humanity's
dreams and steps
even on the moon

Way Into

'Way Into' a stitchaiga, one of a set of five; first published at Simply Haiku March-April 2004, Volume 2, Number 2

Liming

Trinis say 'we liming' - meaning we're just chilling, or just passing the time

Lingering Pace

Hot Days

'Hot Days' was entered in the 68th WHA Contest;
Judges comments here

Two Students

*SEA - a secondary school entrance assessment examination

Ummm Yum

Rain

Dance

'Rain Fly' - so called in T&T - a flying termite popular during the rainy season, they shed their wings soon after flight. Try catching them you are left with the tiniest of wings in your hands.
Rain Fly

Grey

Spiel

A Shimmy

Opening Windows

Depths

Dawn

Evening Sky

evening sky
a *blue jean flits between
electric wires
--gillena cox


*blue jean - Blue Grey Tanager

Plate Friday

Surfed across to Crafty Green Poet and brought the 'Plate Friday' theme to Lunch Break
This is my most recently bought plate and now my favourite; Its a scouped glass square 24cm; with an orange printed design
before supper-
a bird lingers
on the gate
--gillena cox

See also Plate Friday at
Crafty Green Poet
and at
The Weaver of Grass

Corpus Christi

Corpus Christi translates to mean body of Christ, this is a public holiday in Trinidad and Tobago, The Thursday after Trinity Sunday; the folk culture sets this day aside as the start of the rainy season and a day for planting house crops like pigeon peas, corn, and hot peppers. The catholic religious sets this day aside to process through the streets praying and singing hyms in reverence to Jesus Christ who offered himself to his disciples at The Last Supper and commemorates the institution of the Holy Eucharist
corpus christi-
a luminous moon at dawn
reshaping

Round Moon II

Round Moon

Dog Days

Bright Heat

Midday Heat

Popping Out

One Blossom

One Blossom, is the third part of a three parts, the first two parts are - One Feather and One mango; you can views these at Sketchbook Mar-Apr 09

Daisy Five

Daisy Parts 1-4 at Simply Haiku Summer 2009 in The Modern Haiga Section

A Walk

(on advise; this post has been edited, to make clearer, the text on the haiga image)

Mother's Day Musings 2009

Hi----
before i make my introductions, i'm going to spill the beans a little. I grew up in Chaguanas with both my parents, siblings, and my paternal grandmother; i have been living in St James since 1972.
About my mother, well, she was always hitting me - with a belt, a cup, a pot spoon, wet clothes while she was washing, you name it, she'd use it to hit on me.
"Mum that wasn't very nice"
Needless to say i opted not to discipline my children in that fashion.
Okay, so moving along. I'm not one of those people who idealize Mum. Growing up, what i liked about my mum was her cooking. Now don't get me wrong people, i never disrespected or ill treated my mother; thats the truth.

My favourite people are my children and my husband; now thats not to say therein only sweetness and no bitterness are, but read on people.

Let me introduce you
Meet my Mom her name is Mary; and my Children -: daughter Yanda and son Khama.


My father is deceased, 1999; his name - Job.
My husband Anthony, reneged on his responsibility to me and the children when in 1978 he left us to go to New York-USA to study, never returning to our home.

So that makes me what? a deserted woman since we were never divorced; or maybe, a woman who rose to meet her challanges with faith? -------------------

Well, i'll let you fill in the blanks.

As a child i always prayed that i would be financially independent, I sometimes use that as a yardstick when i affirm "Yes God answers prayers."

Well being a married mum, with an absentee husband was very challenging, but i love being a mom to my kids, who were the perfect kids - naughty and nice; until they left home and mutated into two people i'm striving each day to know better.

dinner plate auralia your leaves
the same and yet different



SO; HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL YOU MOMS OUT THERE

revisit Mother's Day 2008

Do leave a comment, Tell me something about you, your Mom, your kids, someone you think is an outstanding Mom;
if you e-mail me your mother's day musings, be it bitter or sweet i'll edit this post and add it. MUCH LOVE
--gillena

A tribute to my mother: She was not faultless, tended to be negative toward life on Earth, was very judgmental as to our depaortment, and complained about my father too much. BUT, that is a big word which covered whatever faults there were. She loved us, was always there for us (there was a void when she wasn't home when we got home from school), taught us right from wrong, read the Bible with us and always had her private daily devotions (I recall her praying for us--she often prayed out loud), laughed and cried with us, saw that we were regularly in church, set an example of piety before us. That is a rich heritage I shall always remember. She has been gone some twenty years but her legacy remains strong. I thank God for my godly mother.
--Quentin Clingerman; US


As far as Mother's Day went... My focus this year was more on what kind of a mother I have been to my two grown daughters. There are lots of contentedly good memories mixed in with regret for mistakes I have made. If I could have children now at age 49 rather than at age 19 as I had done...I would do things a whole lot different! Ah! the wisdom of age. But, gratefully I have close, honest, loving relationships with each of them. When I find myself criticizing my mother and aspects of my childhood I remember her undying love and the fact that she was young once too.
sweetness
with the thorns
mother's day
--Robin Beshers; US


just my love and me
strolling down a country road
wildflowers in bloom
--Nan Forehand; US


mother's day -
some black locust petals
on her grave
--Tomislav Maretic; Croatia


My mother; she is the one with whom I open my heart fully without fear of being misunderstood...
--Devika; and others have posted their musings directly to COMMENTS

Lily Of The Valley

lily of the valley image from World Of Flowers

My grandmother was a market vendor. She sold in the Chaguanas Market - herbs and spices - chives, thyme, nutmegs, bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon; and sweet broom for clothes cupboards. She also made chocolate logs to be used for making hot chocolate drinks. She used cocoa beans, which were washed and sun dried, then crushed to remove the shells, then cloves and cinnamon sticks were added, this was then ground in a hand mill; then shaped into small chocolate logs. She also made and sold sugar cakes (not a cake but a candy made from grated coconuts).
I never called her grandmother, i called her Dee, like most other folks did; but that was not her name. A few other grownups called her Janee, but that too, was not her name.

Lily of the valley;
The memory of my grandmother Dee
Scents my mind.



in response to email questions i've edited to include -- my grandmther's name Veronica; Veronica Mitchell

A Poem In Your Pocket

ending April
one more poui blossom
falling /gc


--previously published (in Magnapoets)
flower show
a child tells me
her favorite color /wk


sunset -
she draws a red thread
through her embroidery /jm


Spring time –
in my secret pocket
a dry lime leaf /md


No money
in my pocket book...
but so many haiku! /vm


Pick my pocket now
Finding mostly lint from wash
A poem pops right out /qc


bowl of soba
on the first day of Spring
picking my teeth /jc


tobacco crumbs
in a wrapped clipping--
beware the raindrops /rb


--又ここに若葉光に揺れてをり　
--mata koko ni / wakaba hikari ni/ yurete wori
here I come again
young leaves swinging
in sun beam /sn


power failure
an employee explains
a sit-down strike /rp


ending April
so many winter haiku
not yet written /jt


gc--gillena cox; TT
jc--Joseph B. Connolly; Nevada USA
jm--John McDonald; UK
jt--Juhani Tikkanen; Turku Finland
md--Magdalena Dale; Bucharest - Romania
qc--Que Clingerman; USA
rb--Ralf Bröker; Germany
rp-- Reason A Poteet; USA
sn--Sakuon Nakamura; Tokyo Japan
vm--Vasile Moldoan; ROMANIA
wk--William Kenny; Whitestone NY USA

Renku -- 'A Poem In Your Pocket'-- editor/coordinator - gillena cox; TT

All the poems in this sequence remain the copyright of the individual writers and should not be used without their permission

April 30th - A Poem In Your Pocket Day

Earth Day 2009

Have a HAPPY EARTH DAY 2009
First launched as an environmental awareness event in the United States in 1970, Earth Day (April 22) is celebrated as the birth of the environmental movement...Earth day history

Earth Day
I circle the date
in green

Earth Day
a note in
my kiyose
--William Sorlien; Minnesota, USA


violet asterisk –
somebody wrote my name
across the Earth's day
--Ralf Bröker; Germany


earth day-
holding a bouquet of flowers
in the check out line
--John Merryfield; Mexico


earth day
fallen petals adorn
the waste bin
--Polona Oblak; Slovenia


Under our feet
thousands of cherry petals…
still Earth Day
--Magdalena Dale; Bucharest - Romania


Wake up to Daylight
Thinking about God's green Earth
Birds pecking at seed
--Que Clingerman; US


Psalmist's Earth Day
resting in greener pastures
our Shepherd at work

Been busy in the yard with treating dandelions and clover which infiltrate my grass and spraying for ants which populate our area like sand. On a serious note I usually celebrated Earth Day with my class as a teacher. Earth Day needs a long hard look at progress and priorities.

forty years old now
a grassroots holiday
in midlife crisis
-- Reason A Poteet; US


beginner
she prays the seed
into the earth
--Bill Kenney; Whitestone NY USA


Earth day...
planting trees to become
giants of hope
--Keith A. SIMMONDS; T & T


panta rhei...
point in the universe
our Earth
--Krzysztof Kokot; Poland


Solar system
celebrates: happy
Earth Day!

We don't like
your kisses asteroids,
stay on your way!

Earthy Day party --
Mars pays court
to Venus...again

Earth Day --
a bit tipsy Jupiter totters
on his path

Blue Marble -- so many lifes in your blues!
--Tomislav Maretic; Croatia


soft breezes blow south
relief from hot days in spring
marine layer cools

no electric air
needed today open windows
bring shaded sun

cats chew green leaves
ecology of felines
earth day everyday for them

recycle what
hurts earth
save planet mother

--Michelle Rose; US


Mother earth's belly
mostly protected by
salty water

Our own moon
behind the heavy clouds --
I wanted to live in Jupiter!

(Jupiter "owns" 63 moons, counted now, I think one of those is seen more frequently ?)
--Tikkis; Finland


Earth day -
amongst the stars
a garden
--John McDonald; UK


Greeting from Poland I think of the destruction caused environment by the mines

gold mine -
the rain forest
and smaller
--Andrzej Dembonczyk; Poland


I should embrace the earth
but, ah dear, only two hands
are not enough

global heating-
health before wealth
for people and earth
--Vasile Moldovan; Romania


mirthday far off
as water sighs and cries
earth day thinks fresh
--Joseph B. Connolly; Nevada US


It's Earth Day today?
Too bad my tank was empty,
so Earth un-friendly.
--HaikuKelly; US


pruning shrubs
eve of Earth Day-
cirrus overpass
--gillena cox; TT

Earth Day asterisks 2009:-*Green Generation Campaign *renewable energy *green jobs *global dimming earthdaynetwork

Days before Earth Day 2009, President Obama's Energy Secretary Steven Chu gave a press briefing at the "Summit of the Americas" in Trinidad and Tobago where he laid out the potentially disastrous consequences if the world community doesn't unite to combat climate change read more

Poems in this Earth Day sequence are the copyright of the individual writers and should not be reproduced without their permission

Earth Day Haiku coordinator - Gillena Cox; TT

revisit Earth Day 2008

April Scribbles 2009

send a Plumeria e-greeting
April Scribbles 2009 is a solo photo renhai
The RENHAI is a new form created by Vaughn Seward
Vaughn blogs at masago-no-haiku

Fish Scale

Easter 2009

At the church where i fellowship, St Mary's RC in St James, Trinidad; The easter vigil takes place on the Saturday evening, the day before Easter Sunday.
The church is thrown into darkness, then light, symbolic of The Risen Lord is brought into the church, the congregation have their candles lit, passing the light on, one to another, spreading it throught out the whole church. The vigil continues with scriptural readings and hymns; followed by the celebration of Holy Mass.
Easter vigil--
we accept again The Light
into our hearts
--gillena cox; TT

HAPPY EASTER TO ALL visitors to Lunch Break
Share an Easter tradition e-mail me

HAPPY EASTER!!!
On the Good Friday the bells are silenced and conjunct with ropes,The boys run out onto the fields and roads with their wooden clappers calling the people to mass. and it bells again at Saturday evening and Easter Sunday, of course!
silent bells –
the boy’s wooden clappers
call us to mass
-- Tomislav Maretić; Croatia


Lee dyeing his eggs
--Michael Baribeau; US

Hint of

April Showers

Happy Poetry Month

William Shakespeare said “Men are April when they woo, December when they wed. Maids are May when they are maids, but the sky changes when they are wives.”

What say you email me i'll add it to this post

--Reason A. Poteet from US says
April seventeenth
marks the first of thousands
phone call number one
My husband calls me almost daily. No phone call has been as thrilling and anticipated as that first one on April 17, 1974, nearly thirty-five years ago. He
asked me to go to a movie, first date


--Quentin Clingerman from US says
Oh April showers
Rain dandelions galore
Yellow pollen falls


--William Sorlien from US says
When I first started writing poetry, I "installed" some guerilla art at the poetry park by Lake Phalen in my hometown,using chalk on the asphalt walkways to entice passersby with haiku. That summer evening there were much needed heavy rains and I got to watch the verses melt away, one by one...
evening rain
my poems washed away
to feed the earth


--Cindy Tebo from US says
between the blooms
of red bud and forsythia
nature's perfect sense of timing