This

Blossom Fall

'Blossom Fall' a haiga done in 2004

Sunny Day

sunny day/ the furl of bougainvillea/ bracts

Stained Glass

Sculptured

Send an e-greeting

Mother's Day Renku 2008

mothers day
taste of
beauty and elegance /gc


visit to mom
she wears clothes made
from my cloths /jtc


Mother’s Day--
a bouquet of white lilies
beside your tombstone /jd


mothers day--
her favorite blue flowers
placed at the grave /jg


lovely as a rose
Mama's love will never die
fragrant years later /nf


Hail Mary
prayer of salvation
angelic salutation /gc


face of an angel
from earth to heaven she went
each day Mother's day /nf


her smile
when I thought they were sisters --
Mothers Day /tm


Mother understands
Though the knee hurts so very much
Wipes the tears away /qc


my heart was broken
Dr. Mom to the rescue
Krazy-Glue and love /rp


smile would light a room
a love that keeps on giving
Mama's precious love /nf


love caressed her cheek
sunlight danced upon her skin
berry picking time /nf


oh, Mama my dear
pink peony bloomed for you
my first blooms this year /nf


lilacs
begin in each new mother
these blooms /_m


sweet iris
a part of mother's garden
in mine /b'oki


Mother's day
listening the sound of tape
her Koto Harp /sn


everyday
someone else calls her
mum /gc


Those years
you were there, today
with you. /vs


twisted and gnarled
digits write beautifully
mother's eighty-eight /jbc


mother's day
something sexy
for his wife /bill



bill - US
b'oki - Bette Norcross Wappner - US
gc - Gillena Cox - TT
jbc - Joseph B. Connolly - US
jd - John Daleiden - US
jg - Judith Gorgone -US
jtc - John Tiong Chunghoo - MY
_m - magyar - US
nf - Nan Forehand - US
qc - Quentin Clingerman - US
rp - Ruth Poteet - US
sn - Sakuo Nakamura - JP
tm - Tyrone McDonald - US
vs - Vaughn Seward - CA

Renku Editor - Gillena Cox

Any additional haiku, sent; from Mother's Day 11th May 2008
to Sunday 18th May 2008, will be added to the Renku.

Mothers day renku 2007

Mango

may day program
pickled mango
broke the mouth

pidgen haiku - Shanna Baldwin-Moore - Hawaii
photo - Gillena Cox - Trinidad and Tobago
haiga design - Gillena Cox

haiku used with Shanna's permission

Earth Day 2008

soft summer wings
this greener cocktail flies
above the dust /_m


earth day haiku --
writer's block ...
clouds roll pass me /tm


earth day 2008
we the mouthpiece
for trees, the sea, the wind/tc

Long icicle -
a drop of water falls,
toward her centre. /vs


smell of rain
a shiver through the trees--
sound of windchimes/gc


life to love - -
arms wide
hug a tree /fb


earth day
each day I walk
over all this life /kr


walking the trail
I pause by the chaparral--
Earth Day /jd


earth day
celebration
for the earthits /sm


small hours
shuffling bedtime
and earth hour/as


as - Alan Summers
fb - Famida Basheer
gc - Gillena Cox
jd - John Daleiden
kr - Kala Ramesh
_m - magyar
sm - Shanna Baldwin-Moore
tc - Tiong Chunghoo
tm - Tyrone McDonald
vs - Vaughn Seward

Renku editor -- Gillena Cox
Photo -- Gillena Cox

From April 22nd to 25th you can email me or post as a comment your 'earth day haiku'
and i'll add it to the renku

Some environmentalists have grown critical of Earth Day, particularly those in the Bright green environmentalism camp. They charge that Earth Day has come to symbolize the marginalization of environmental sustainability, and that the celebration itself has outlived its usefulness
Earth Day

Rainy Saturday

Morning Light

Season of Easter

After Church

Of Rainbows

share as an e-greeting

St. Patrick's Day, colloquially St. Paddy's Day or Paddy's Day, is the national holiday of Ireland.
It became a feast day in the Roman Catholic Church due to the influence of the Waterford-born Franciscan scholar Luke Wadding in the early part of the 17th century, and is a holy day of obligation for Roman Catholics in Ireland.
The date of the feast can be reassigned by church authorities when March 17 falls during Holy Week; this happened in 1940 when Saint Patrick's Day was observed on 3 April, in order to avoid it coinciding with Palm Sunday. In 2008, March 17 occurs on the Monday of Holy Week.
Irish immigrants to the United States began observing the holiday publicly in Boston and held the first St. Patrick's Day Parade in New York City in 1766. Today, the tradition continues with people from all walks of life wearing green, eating Irish food, and attending parades.
St. Patrick's Day is rich in folklore; from the shamrock to the leprechaun to pinching people who are not wearing green.
St. Patrick's Day
St. Patrick's Day Jokes
St. Patrick's Day Recipes
History of Ireland

Lapping

Wild Daisies 2008 Leap Year Haiga

sunny day--
facing the underbelly
of kiskadees
wild daisies

*

sunrise to sunset
more haiku time --
a leap year

*

Eclipsing Moon

A total eclipse of the moon occurs when the Earth's shadow falls across the Moon
Eclipses occur only at full moon, (but not every full moon) when the sun, Earth and moon are in a perfect line.
Next Total Lunar Eclipse Dec 21st 2010

We in Trinidad and Tobago were able to view the Total Lunar eclipse february 20th
from about 9:40PM until about midnight ; with Saturn also visible .
By 11.51 the moon was completely covered a reddish colour.

eclipsing moon--
in the stillness of tonight
as we watch

haiku © gillena cox 2008

More For About Lunar Eclipses

Lopinot

The welcoming sign at the Historical site of Lopinot is paled by the Immortelle trees blooming in the mountains.
It’s a cool Sunday afternoon, no bird whistles, no swishing breezes just that quite tone which nature uses to whisper to our hearts.
At The La Reconnaissance estate, the voice of our tour guide fills the afternoon with the tales of Charles Joseph Count de Loppinot (1738-1819) "Loppinot was a young knight who rose to the rank Lieutenant-General in the French army. He left France to serve time in the North-American French colony of Acadie (which is today combined with the Canadian territory of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island). His service and travels led him to Louisiana, the Caribbean- Jamaica, Santo Domingo (known as Dominican Republic and Haiti today), and Trinidad…”
He was soldier, voyager, slave owner, planter, landowner.
Memorabalia at the site includes the grave sites of the count and his wife. There are no photos of him but a photo of his ghost takes a place of prominence in the small museum, as well; well preserved furniture from the 19th Century, alongside parang musical instruments of present day made by residents. "Lopinot is the home of Parang" boast our tour guide"and parang is part and parcel of every day life; sung at wakes, funerals, birthdays, weddings; not only during Christmas Season ".
He leds us in a sampling of his parang expertise and we join in, singing lustly, filling the afternoon with the musical hearbeat of the people.

near the cashew tree
on a picnic bench
busy ants

Lopinot is located about five and three quarters miles north of Arouca.

Nose Pressed

Saint Valentine’s Day
There are varying opinions as to the origin of Valentine's Day.
Some experts state that it originated from St. Valentine,
a Roman who was martyred for refusing to give up Christianity.
He died on February 14, 269 A.D., the same day that had been devoted to love lotteries.
Under the rule of Emperor Claudius II Rome was involved in many bloody and unpopular campaigns.
Claudius the Cruel was having a difficult time getting soldiers to join his military leagues.
He believed that the reason was that roman men did not want to leave their loves or families.
As a result, Claudius cancelled all marriages and engagements in Rome.
The good Saint Valentine was a priest at Rome in the days of Claudius II.
He and Saint Marius aided the Christian martyrs and secretly married couples,
and for this kind deed Saint Valentine was apprehended and dragged before the Prefect of Rome,
who condemned him to be beaten to death with clubs and to have his head cut off.
He suffered martyrdom on the 14th day of February, about the year 270.
At that time it was the custom in Rome, a very ancient custom, indeed,
to celebrate in the month of February the Lupercalia, feasts in honour of a heathen god.
On these occasions, amidst a variety of pagan ceremonies,
the names of young women were placed in a box, from which they were drawn by the men as chance directed.
Other aspects of the story say that Saint Valentine served as a priest at the temple during
the reign of Emperor Claudius. Claudius then had Valentine jailed for defying him.
In 496 A.D. Pope Gelasius set aside February 14 to honour St. Valentine.
Gradually, February 14 became the date for exchanging love messages
and St. Valentine became the patron saint of lovers.
Although sending Valentine letters or poems dates to the 15th century and perhaps before,
the first mention of a decorative Valentine's Day “card” may be in the writings of Samuel Pepys,
a chronicler of domestic life in Charles II's reign.
He relates how “this morning came up to my wife's bedside…little Will Mercer to be her Valentine;
and brought her name writ upon blue paper in gold letters done by himself very pretty;
and we both were very pleased with it. But I am also this year my wife's Valentine.”
(Samuel Pepys, The Diary of Samuel Pepys, February 14, 1667)
In the United States, Miss Esther Howland is given credit for sending the first valentine cards.
Commercial valentines were introduced in the 1800's and now the date is very commercialised.
Valentine’s Day History
First Valentine Card

nose pressed against
the store window--
reading sales tags

haiku © gillena cox 2008

A Birthday Surprise

birthday surprise
the February rain
continues today

Sepia

a side of the hill
sliced
jagged edges

heads together
in consultation
the hair salon

near evening
still catching the light
daubs the artist's brush

whizzing traffic
graffiti on the wall
unreadable

the unswept path
fallen leaves
from yesterday's wind

children's carnival
a masquerader
unmasked