It’s Poetry Friday!
Margaret at Reflections on the Teche has our poetry round up!
I’M MOST HAPPY
In the Cusp
between seasons –
cool Spring rain
before the Summer heat,
when August wears
a cardigan for Fall,
October shivering
into icy Winter,
or Winter melting into
flowering Spring
I love these changes
slowly slipping by,
when the world
feels like a tuned guitar.
©Janice Scully 2023
Synchronicity visited last week. While I was writing of “Summer’s Middle Child,” Janice Scully’s poetry gift arrived. Her seasons came alive, too — “when August wears/a cardigan for Fall” being my favorite. I continue to sit with an exquisite, 100-year-old postcard (!!), sent to Miss Marguerite Folkens, written by a mysterious “K.” Who were these two? Mother and daughter? Close confidantes? Friends sharing their summer adventures? I imagine they too, find joy “In the Cusp/between seasons.”Â
Thank you, Janice, for this dreamy glimpse into the past. Thank you, Tabatha Yeatts, for organizing our Summer Poetry Swap.
I’m having “haiku conversations” with Japanese poets whose words were gifted to me by Linda Baie, an earlier Summer Poetry Swap gift (a book titled, Japanese Haiku published in 1956).
in silent midn-night
our old scarerow
topples down…
weird hollow echo.
Boncho
Nozawa Bonchō (野沢 凡兆, 1640–1714) was a Japanese haikai poet.[1] He was born in Kanazawa, and spent most of his life in Kyoto working as a doctor.
I love that this man who lived 550+ years ago, was awakened in the middle of the night by a sound. So I shared with him my own recent experience:
I will be backpacking next week in the eastern Sierras above Mammoth Mountain. So I may be slow in responding to posts. But I will plan to share one of two poems I wrote that will be included in MINDFUL MOMENTS POETRY 2023, to be published by The Well. Have a great week!
Patricia Franz writes picture books and poetry. She believes children, dogs, and sourdough have a lot to teach us about life, joy, and wonder. She has raised two boys, four dogs, and holds a master’s degree in Theology with a focus on children’s spirituality. Patricia, her husband, her Bernese Mountain dog, Bonny, and her sourdough starter split their time between the Arizona desert and the Sierra Nevada mountains. 
Patricia, all such beautiful imagery to begin the day, perfect for finding poetry while sitting in a service bay with yesterday’s flat tire…I, too, love the “cusp between seasons”. Indeed, transitions of all ki da, often bittersweet, have fascinated me for years. They are deeply meaningful and significant.
“of all kinds”
Janice’s poem hit the heart for me, too.
I didn’t do the swap this year, so I’m especially envious of the gifts that you’ve received. Linda’s and Janice’s gifts delight. And your haiku that takes me in a direction I did not expect, insomnia. Have a wonderful trip!
Oh, I hope insomnia does not visit you, Margaret.
BTW–I received my Longest Day bracelet yesterday. 🙂
Glad it made it to you. I hope it fits and you like it.
Such wonderful gifts! “August wears a cardigan for Fall” is such a great line. The postcard fascinates me: the aging paper, the 1921 post mark, the font of the words “Post Card,” the handwriting, the mysterious connection between K in Syracuse, NY and Miss Marguerite in Cleveland, OH. August 21, 1921 was a Sunday. K was leaving Syracuse, NY for Saratoga Springs then heading to New York (presumably City) by Tuesday or Wednesday. Was K (I am presuming K is female because the handwriting reminds me of my aunt’s penmanship) traveling by car? Who was her traveling companion (we just got up), her spouse? Check out this interesting history of Hotel Onondaga https://www.cnyhistory.org/2015/08/onondaga-hotel-opens/ So many interesting avenues!
Wow! I love how you ran with it, Tracey! Truly a poet’s curiosity <3
Oh, Patricia, haiku conversations with Japanese poets of long ago. What a beautiful idea. There is a theme here with Tabatha’s gifts of deep and personal connections with the past, and you are leaving a legacy so that others someday will have conversations with you. Have a wonderful backpacking trip! Wow. I haven’t done that in decades.
Thank you, Denise. I’m taking my Japanese “friends” with me on the trip.
🙂
Thank you for sharing your poetry swap! What a cool treasure to have the postcard and Janice’s take on seasonal transitions in her poem. And your midnight scavenger…. raccoon?! Ugh! Looking forward to reading your Mindful Moments poems. Safe travels!
Bear!