tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332495392024-03-18T02:49:15.251-07:00& HaikuReflections through haiku&Haikuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07792258293883067757noreply@blogger.comBlogger717125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33249539.post-70515626002950545602023-10-21T05:35:00.006-07:002023-10-21T05:35:00.135-07:00Haibun: Apache Trail<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The deep crevices of the Tonto Mountains rise and fall. Sometimes the mountains fall at steep slopes and sometimes they drop like canyon walls. There really is no easy pass through them, no quick way to get through them.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Once only passed by Apaches — after Geronimo was sent to Florida as a prisoner and back — many of these same Apaches set to work on building the road through these mountains. As the engineers dynamited, the Apaches of all different tribes would haul the stone away, shovel the dirt and level the road. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The Apache Trail goes from Mesa up to Lake Roosevelt. Lake Roosevelt is the first of three dams on the Salt River. The road they built was the pathway to build these dams that now control the river. All made possible by the Apache Trail and the warriors just trying to help their families survive the new reservation life. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Technology will always require the complete control of the free, the savage, and the brave; otherwise, what is technology making us safe from, better from?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">the rise and fall</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">of each inch of the Tonto</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">and what should be fall</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijZ50Ysm6cOVZcJjBc6LIMShWGkxtEVoQaKXO349HuacAki0vVj6tYVhaL1MKhekAh-yOIpxQW7iom4aImX2gR3NjF-JdjddNcLEAd76HhW1purZ4mDjSVpf05izQYfYUslrlJ45GL6v9HAfLescXRt7spd0ylQ4d-VxZ1oJhFmW45AY1l4zG-7Q/s2084/79DF348B-81D3-4F45-B370-69494A59E93E.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2084" data-original-width="1170" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijZ50Ysm6cOVZcJjBc6LIMShWGkxtEVoQaKXO349HuacAki0vVj6tYVhaL1MKhekAh-yOIpxQW7iom4aImX2gR3NjF-JdjddNcLEAd76HhW1purZ4mDjSVpf05izQYfYUslrlJ45GL6v9HAfLescXRt7spd0ylQ4d-VxZ1oJhFmW45AY1l4zG-7Q/w225-h400/79DF348B-81D3-4F45-B370-69494A59E93E.png" width="225" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div>&Haikuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07792258293883067757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33249539.post-75145904230271123142023-10-21T05:30:00.005-07:002023-10-21T05:30:00.145-07:00Tonto Mountains<div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">the rise and fall<br />of each inch of the Tonto<br />and what should be fall</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;">Marc Edwards</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrfoG9AJI5MzkFLWOCALohaPHlJyH1xiDcI8JWtF7fPzTC9YqvjHD5OcLJ0df80HtoYrB8o0YyhEVi540fGruawpcl0hFIOiM8gsWhE0iugIwe6doQ0QbFYqNkTglxHv5r9j07v1KzwCMWEFHdLyNQt9k8SF2Q9odKQW5tGNHBiCByXVlzUfAPsw/s2084/79DF348B-81D3-4F45-B370-69494A59E93E.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2084" data-original-width="1170" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrfoG9AJI5MzkFLWOCALohaPHlJyH1xiDcI8JWtF7fPzTC9YqvjHD5OcLJ0df80HtoYrB8o0YyhEVi540fGruawpcl0hFIOiM8gsWhE0iugIwe6doQ0QbFYqNkTglxHv5r9j07v1KzwCMWEFHdLyNQt9k8SF2Q9odKQW5tGNHBiCByXVlzUfAPsw/w225-h400/79DF348B-81D3-4F45-B370-69494A59E93E.png" width="225" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div></div>&Haikuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07792258293883067757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33249539.post-30932046252698853442023-10-14T05:35:00.003-07:002023-10-15T11:35:51.731-07:00Haibun: Arizona's Water<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Last week, the state of Arizona decided not to renew the lease on some farm land a Saudi Arabia company used to pump massive amounts of water from under the state to grow hay for their cattle. Last month, the Reveal podcast broke that a farm owned by the UAE, one that grew hay like the Saudis, brought in the Arizona State Pension fund to share their profits in growing hay with this water. These aquifers take at least a thousand years to replenish in a state that needs to dam up every river for its survival.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">In the desert, water takes on a different meaning. Back in Upstate New York, there were creeks everywhere. It was common for people to have lake houses. Here, the lakes are really reservoirs created by the Bureau of Reclamation a 100 years ago, all to irrigate the fields and thirsts of those who reclaimed Native lands.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">So, sitting by the Salt River, the water lapping, it is a gift. Yes, each drop has passed through countless dams and at least three reservoirs to get here, but it laps just the same. It laps the same as when the Tonto Apache used it 200 years ago, and the Hohokom 800 years ago. I appreciate it.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But the promise is that with the dams the water is consistent and there are no longer prolonged droughts as there was when Phoenix was becoming the destination for Confederate veterans. With the technology the highest bidder, and not the best interest, gets the water. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Corruption will always be the downside of controlling the water or being paid to ignore the depletion of our aquifers. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">nothing left to see<br />or hear but the lapping waves<br />as fall sneaks on in</span></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitp3_Z2vPqHYQgvnYmkuyFAfiKXxk1EAQVMnFHho67BTa4cx81pIvRBDrNnha25jxW01JKnYVy0710EQdS2VkAXRiaL7AJDcxZYypSmk0qpyysjypFC3B_uKOPlGkN07oNSMozOMrGWVODWbt5VEGyCTiQq0pD64gfVsXcTmxu3cXCgcHCdOlT5w/s2075/B039F2AA-2840-4DAE-AD89-636608D2B766.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2075" data-original-width="1170" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitp3_Z2vPqHYQgvnYmkuyFAfiKXxk1EAQVMnFHho67BTa4cx81pIvRBDrNnha25jxW01JKnYVy0710EQdS2VkAXRiaL7AJDcxZYypSmk0qpyysjypFC3B_uKOPlGkN07oNSMozOMrGWVODWbt5VEGyCTiQq0pD64gfVsXcTmxu3cXCgcHCdOlT5w/w225-h400/B039F2AA-2840-4DAE-AD89-636608D2B766.png" width="225" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div>&Haikuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07792258293883067757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33249539.post-86428036421900783912023-10-14T05:30:00.003-07:002023-10-15T11:35:17.223-07:00Fall Sneaks In<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"> <br /><br /><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">nothing left to see<br />or hear but the lapping waves<br />as fall sneaks on in</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><br />Marc Edwards<br /><br /><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7J4_VnVjFP8G_BfJwNQRmbNNa13PkX2GfC92x4BHdP0d0ef6gx71QHdFUrFII7twYaw6O5Zr1qb7S7as_yYDC3kyGjnl25nTJcmOhSZh7oshFeCOwTD4yikllRJU1pIHO6JhhIH79Czjo4xeWokDcH6v11JGCB4IRBwoeE9lgpWYkwLVdv4pTlA/s2075/B039F2AA-2840-4DAE-AD89-636608D2B766.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2075" data-original-width="1170" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7J4_VnVjFP8G_BfJwNQRmbNNa13PkX2GfC92x4BHdP0d0ef6gx71QHdFUrFII7twYaw6O5Zr1qb7S7as_yYDC3kyGjnl25nTJcmOhSZh7oshFeCOwTD4yikllRJU1pIHO6JhhIH79Czjo4xeWokDcH6v11JGCB4IRBwoeE9lgpWYkwLVdv4pTlA/w225-h400/B039F2AA-2840-4DAE-AD89-636608D2B766.png" width="225" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>&Haikuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07792258293883067757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33249539.post-61062508095405192782023-10-07T05:35:00.004-07:002023-10-07T05:35:00.144-07:00Haibun: Changing Stories<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I could be having the best day, then I hit my toe, scrape my hand, and I start to notice what else could go wrong. Soon I’m focused on things that aren’t what they should be. I start to define my day as going bad.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Now take that in a different direction. There’s this way of buying new sport cards worth $500 or more, it’s called breaking. The idea behind it is that there could be 30 spots. I buy a spot and 30 other people do the same. I am then given a randomly selected team, and if a rare card is pulled from the box or case, I am mailed that card. So, if I pay $100 to get into that break and I pull a $1000 card, I might feel pretty special, like I’m having a good day or week if I hit two cards of value worth $1500 or more, well, I absolutely know I am having a great week.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The crazy thing is, we are constantly at the whim of randomness. Random things are always happening around us. I know I’m not alone in taking these random things and creating meaning from them. We are all wired to make meaning out of random events, we are wired to make stories out of them.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It’s the momentum of these stories that I use to tell myself if I’m having a good day or bad, and out of that story, I look for more evidence to support that meaning of that story. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">So, when the wind changes, I add value to what that wind means when it is just a change in pressure.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">desert winds means cold<br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">days becomes warm or fall becomes<br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">summer yet again </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkKOOyS9DdbzvHgxm_C6KBcRfiJ5YvG9bznIARG2ja65cO7hoByEgEfDnd_oI1AvjRKORp0dcfNBCyS5lCQ6pYCYyeq9VAEAiK8XRAGhbsRbIxF24XkRlfalMzzLSMlwgXZr4dxKXXV1pIwVMhyphenhyphenTOHN0v_cG8FBxB6FIxS6DFmma0szZn1sxZznw/s2080/FD5E5382-6487-44B4-884C-0835772D11E8.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2080" data-original-width="1170" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkKOOyS9DdbzvHgxm_C6KBcRfiJ5YvG9bznIARG2ja65cO7hoByEgEfDnd_oI1AvjRKORp0dcfNBCyS5lCQ6pYCYyeq9VAEAiK8XRAGhbsRbIxF24XkRlfalMzzLSMlwgXZr4dxKXXV1pIwVMhyphenhyphenTOHN0v_cG8FBxB6FIxS6DFmma0szZn1sxZznw/w225-h400/FD5E5382-6487-44B4-884C-0835772D11E8.png" width="225" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span></div>&Haikuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07792258293883067757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33249539.post-54935521959234105372023-10-07T05:30:00.004-07:002023-10-07T05:30:00.140-07:00Desert Winds<span id="docs-internal-guid-cec6bfda-7fff-c8c7-e1fd-a9c3b1436b38"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-size: large;">desert winds means cold</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-size: large;">days becomes warm or fall becomes</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-size: large;">summer yet again </span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Marc Edwards</span></p><br /><br /><br /></span></span><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXBSRB0ln46qTLkCimULwRq5uk6lDdLK8IaeRYaXZj0zlvjzGWdxUXPlNLWDVjejtQn6IclwTvBL7GGhebrGq-qp_C2LVRLoppR9fJoW3544eZXjyhAp2i009c6U5l0FgfVZR86OUBrQfNHR6LmuRAuxYpBR72ElfUO_ayPh1REdeuWShdTJudjw/s2080/FD5E5382-6487-44B4-884C-0835772D11E8.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2080" data-original-width="1170" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXBSRB0ln46qTLkCimULwRq5uk6lDdLK8IaeRYaXZj0zlvjzGWdxUXPlNLWDVjejtQn6IclwTvBL7GGhebrGq-qp_C2LVRLoppR9fJoW3544eZXjyhAp2i009c6U5l0FgfVZR86OUBrQfNHR6LmuRAuxYpBR72ElfUO_ayPh1REdeuWShdTJudjw/w225-h400/FD5E5382-6487-44B4-884C-0835772D11E8.png" width="225" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><p></p>&Haikuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07792258293883067757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33249539.post-4612001778080387692023-09-30T05:35:00.003-07:002023-09-30T05:35:00.145-07:00Haibun: Keep Working<span id="docs-internal-guid-fd8b4d2a-7fff-7c20-eaa4-4b291d995c76"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">In the midst of work, my body begins to slow. I work 6 days a week, my hands have calloused like a bitter man who is still in love with a woman who left him decades ago. My left hand has three distinct ones.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But I know that this is the time to work. My body slows, but it will get slower. I keep telling myself, this is my time to build it, tomorrow will be harder.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">To put it off is to live a life flush with hope and lacking the things I want in life. So I keep working.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">every river rock</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">from another disruptive age,</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">fall colors submerged </span></span></p></span><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG_sfhSi5w_sy1C9maTTvwckGytpFZBwLkq0_3vBB_vp4qXfseHn21h-SynWx3c5LyB1mLE8FmR3jTiHh_8zILNom27xKtKBbowDTOSP83UxXNM_6XsL8ElyYpHv0djJPIGaIJbAHwOumdABOYCYX7fO8eEK2f9o63EOfXd5qvuSamOULlGoDhhw/s2087/CD2255CE-4FFC-4CE4-9032-FDFF345A36E9.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2087" data-original-width="1170" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG_sfhSi5w_sy1C9maTTvwckGytpFZBwLkq0_3vBB_vp4qXfseHn21h-SynWx3c5LyB1mLE8FmR3jTiHh_8zILNom27xKtKBbowDTOSP83UxXNM_6XsL8ElyYpHv0djJPIGaIJbAHwOumdABOYCYX7fO8eEK2f9o63EOfXd5qvuSamOULlGoDhhw/w224-h400/CD2255CE-4FFC-4CE4-9032-FDFF345A36E9.png" width="224" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>&Haikuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07792258293883067757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33249539.post-28733216198455528632023-09-30T05:30:00.004-07:002023-09-30T05:30:00.144-07:00Geological Rainbow<p> </p><span id="docs-internal-guid-750a1e72-7fff-d948-0371-777e8928da5c"><br /><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">every river rock</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">from another disruptive age,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">fall colors’ submerged </span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Marc Edwards</span></p><br /><br /><br /><br /></span><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXS7jbJbPkhc7Fn0uBFZZmfpzEK3rp2qqU1MhxN7pxl94Vl6GYhd6Qe28m6_dSYfXK-Z5OEnuO8DrXQj2TAach6vn926zDuS2hVuhVzkGAFjNrXNFE5ypzIrt0vSyy3OGUh4LWMk4ZO05Un5TYXChXRyYqBXsJ3SI-pd95iijqlvuHGXWSsxzDyg/s2087/CD2255CE-4FFC-4CE4-9032-FDFF345A36E9.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2087" data-original-width="1170" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXS7jbJbPkhc7Fn0uBFZZmfpzEK3rp2qqU1MhxN7pxl94Vl6GYhd6Qe28m6_dSYfXK-Z5OEnuO8DrXQj2TAach6vn926zDuS2hVuhVzkGAFjNrXNFE5ypzIrt0vSyy3OGUh4LWMk4ZO05Un5TYXChXRyYqBXsJ3SI-pd95iijqlvuHGXWSsxzDyg/w224-h400/CD2255CE-4FFC-4CE4-9032-FDFF345A36E9.png" width="224" /></a></div><br /><span><br /></span></div>&Haikuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07792258293883067757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33249539.post-70553410864195498152023-09-23T05:35:00.003-07:002023-09-23T05:35:00.136-07:00Haibun: The Creek<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">With each river rock, as much as I could push or lift, we made dams and benches and walkways each summer. The creek behind our house was an endless playground. Each river rock different from the next, only one perfect at each moment was perfect for that year’s dam.</span></span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-200d372d-7fff-2c57-a6f7-032865c39941"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Hours and days would go by as we constructed our imaginations. Each spring as the snow melted throughout the upper mountain, each creation whipped away like an etch-a-sketch. Nothing left to show of the dam we built that raised our little swimming eddy by a foot or two. However, Spring did deliver the canvas for a better dam.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">There was no Netflix menu to choose from. No Cold Stone pre-picked flavors. No lego set with only the pieces to build what they designed. The creek behind our house was the joys of stepping past what was expected and into the world of discovering ourselves, our limits, and our creativity. Unfortunately, one day I outgrew it and the day after that it was gone. That creek was a portal to a different world I long for as I try to find something besides ennui at the end of every menu and HOA ordinance in these vast, lifeless suburbs. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /><br /><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://poemsandhaiku.blogspot.com/2023/09/mesquite-tree-corpse.html">the mesquite tree corpse</a></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://poemsandhaiku.blogspot.com/2023/09/mesquite-tree-corpse.html">crowned by fresh green leaves, endless</a></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://poemsandhaiku.blogspot.com/2023/09/mesquite-tree-corpse.html">reaching summer days</a></span></span></p><div><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSJuMs9cBBU9fsyKYzNKhTRzxp1pZRwoQmIE0LxKgsuPrpP7BAB0aQcz4UNYqa5LmLRfF92hDCK4K5WYJrwlV_1AIcvbjSJ-8-gxQghxAnMARSKoCC-Dxdq_X4FY94SIaiccL7qAClpvqWu9fXaD9p-tcbZEvDLkREWscEX9o2PJag1nxoSW6uXw/s2084/5E7D5B2A-1A76-47A0-AD1A-5DC1CE52C528.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2084" data-original-width="1170" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSJuMs9cBBU9fsyKYzNKhTRzxp1pZRwoQmIE0LxKgsuPrpP7BAB0aQcz4UNYqa5LmLRfF92hDCK4K5WYJrwlV_1AIcvbjSJ-8-gxQghxAnMARSKoCC-Dxdq_X4FY94SIaiccL7qAClpvqWu9fXaD9p-tcbZEvDLkREWscEX9o2PJag1nxoSW6uXw/w225-h400/5E7D5B2A-1A76-47A0-AD1A-5DC1CE52C528.png" width="225" /></a></div><br /><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div></span>&Haikuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07792258293883067757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33249539.post-27108278734976422492023-09-23T05:30:00.010-07:002023-09-23T05:30:00.140-07:00Mesquite Tree Corpse<div style="text-align: left;"> <span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">the mesquite tree corpse<br />crowned by fresh green leaves, endless<br />reaching summer days</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: xx-small;"><br />Marc Edwards<br /></span></div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://poemsandhaiku.blogspot.com/2023/09/haibun-creek.html">(Read this haiku as part of a haibun)</a></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh9eF8AIiF5o2bcm2j9y70TKvxapy_uAhE5Is1xGUuUfsjTKzwbrgJrvt5mX3APQfXTg4Z6ftYnBpUmGCH8taPdjn6iJ-L-SgmK24A-VV_VmLAY5ACsiYhdLnEjCZ1M4j3AJ2vV8MshVaP79ivqvXmLbFN4XWBFsI4Asrn5MmA7G8s7IBWSFbvCg/s2084/5E7D5B2A-1A76-47A0-AD1A-5DC1CE52C528.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2084" data-original-width="1170" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh9eF8AIiF5o2bcm2j9y70TKvxapy_uAhE5Is1xGUuUfsjTKzwbrgJrvt5mX3APQfXTg4Z6ftYnBpUmGCH8taPdjn6iJ-L-SgmK24A-VV_VmLAY5ACsiYhdLnEjCZ1M4j3AJ2vV8MshVaP79ivqvXmLbFN4XWBFsI4Asrn5MmA7G8s7IBWSFbvCg/w225-h400/5E7D5B2A-1A76-47A0-AD1A-5DC1CE52C528.png" width="225" /></a></div><br /><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p>&Haikuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07792258293883067757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33249539.post-49349905808921684372023-09-16T05:35:00.004-07:002023-09-16T05:35:00.174-07:00Haibun: Facebook Ads<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">As I spend more money, the more junk mail I get. Each set on explaining how my life would be so much better with this new item they have to sell. My news feed on Facebook trips over itself to make my life flawless with this digital course or that.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I don’t blame them, I want to make more money like they do. My life has problems darting in and out, and there are few problems that can’t go away with enough money. Our whole economy and social structures are tied to capitalism and a status system based on one’s wealth. So, the endless Facebook admen [and women] hold their solutions up to me and say, “With your money, you can have my outcome.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But, for them to make more money, I have to spend money on promises that I don’t want. I think my solutions work better for me than becoming them would work for me.</span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://poemsandhaiku.blogspot.com/2023/09/darting-minnows.html">minnows darting in<br />and out like the heat of these<br />pre-autumn days</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6c05IyX5KnaytIbQkcE3v_GPCInuPyxBCB5iisBL2lOW3pj1SmWrE3ScW3iKAHnoDmFiybUAfSKx8M_Ng9cxVGfJldEWAk2L5BWOAyAp1GhIqe0pQqG5Jt0ozIJAnu2Zz5WjwLyyuYlRb3ZWN16cFFzVq1JnMseoivG9otsLVT41F4FMU2PU7zw/s2081/27510F8D-C6AB-4FC7-BAE7-CDDD4E3320E8.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2081" data-original-width="1170" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6c05IyX5KnaytIbQkcE3v_GPCInuPyxBCB5iisBL2lOW3pj1SmWrE3ScW3iKAHnoDmFiybUAfSKx8M_Ng9cxVGfJldEWAk2L5BWOAyAp1GhIqe0pQqG5Jt0ozIJAnu2Zz5WjwLyyuYlRb3ZWN16cFFzVq1JnMseoivG9otsLVT41F4FMU2PU7zw/w225-h400/27510F8D-C6AB-4FC7-BAE7-CDDD4E3320E8.png" width="225" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div>&Haikuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07792258293883067757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33249539.post-67646752531461139682023-09-16T05:30:00.010-07:002023-09-16T05:30:00.140-07:00Darting Minnows<p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"> </span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-5d43ed1f-7fff-fc87-0da9-f8af594345d5"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><br /><br /><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">minnows darting in</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">and out like the heat of these</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">pre-autumn days</span></span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;">Marc Edwards</span></span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><br /><br /></span><a href="https://poemsandhaiku.blogspot.com/2023/09/haibun-facebook-ads.html"><br /></a></span><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://poemsandhaiku.blogspot.com/2023/09/haibun-facebook-ads.html">(Click to read this haiku in a haibun)</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZvQp26jPP_Q-8Qpm3mDnHqEfq2RGsn6mgurukvavLQVVtlrulLLFTMp5RPVoQvWPMn1GbsXLs4D2oZmQWkixyMSTIVB4KF25kyoFSrUGAV7Fmap5TlccJSJmu5BGrnWS3PMTl5kLGC6kpjtipAqqKjj5tnBj3987b4sOvmVOsBHzLOFcXseOYgw/s2081/27510F8D-C6AB-4FC7-BAE7-CDDD4E3320E8.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2081" data-original-width="1170" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZvQp26jPP_Q-8Qpm3mDnHqEfq2RGsn6mgurukvavLQVVtlrulLLFTMp5RPVoQvWPMn1GbsXLs4D2oZmQWkixyMSTIVB4KF25kyoFSrUGAV7Fmap5TlccJSJmu5BGrnWS3PMTl5kLGC6kpjtipAqqKjj5tnBj3987b4sOvmVOsBHzLOFcXseOYgw/w225-h400/27510F8D-C6AB-4FC7-BAE7-CDDD4E3320E8.png" width="225" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div>&Haikuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07792258293883067757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33249539.post-66697104916933183192023-09-09T05:35:00.003-07:002023-09-15T19:56:24.786-07:00Haibun: Observed<p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I’ve never seen an atom act differently when I observe it, but it does. I do know I act differently when observed. Knowing I am being judged and evaluated, I inevitably become fixated on the observation. Slowing down or just messing up because I became too intentional, too planned.</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-05de91b4-7fff-ca25-97f3-c72995f18ee3"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Growing up, I walked our country road for miles with no one around, just me for a mile or two. Or I could spend hours down by the creek that ran behind our house and beyond my ability to find its end. I was free without observation, free to engage my imaginations and thoughts.</span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">But now, there are cameras everywhere. Most of us have a few cameras on our phones, our doorbells, around our house, along our bumpers. Every traffic light I come to has a camera on top. The observation is everywhere.</span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Maybe always on display makes us less of who we are, leaving part of our best selves something in our past when cameras didn’t dominate the world. Maybe the world would be a better place if it wasn’t alway needing to be under the microscope of itself and always being observed?</span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /><br /></span><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">dried wash left naked</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">except for the driftwood and </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">remains of summer</span></p><div><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHk8rK3Sf0mxcS_sm2ZHY291qYurYV0Jj355wLdUx-7J7MT2JL060MPfQebm_vLkdNMdAgHWEdvI3DA9vwPI1NdXb7cbbPHjZWTdUebclehvRfZmfVgI2I5SRjcUu_T7D248mxF-R62dwUEPbQjZRx7Xf5nT-My75ZjDg_YrSzitoF1Xa7M4gKhg/s2078/E80BAC14-653F-4669-95FB-E778AF46F20E.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2078" data-original-width="1170" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHk8rK3Sf0mxcS_sm2ZHY291qYurYV0Jj355wLdUx-7J7MT2JL060MPfQebm_vLkdNMdAgHWEdvI3DA9vwPI1NdXb7cbbPHjZWTdUebclehvRfZmfVgI2I5SRjcUu_T7D248mxF-R62dwUEPbQjZRx7Xf5nT-My75ZjDg_YrSzitoF1Xa7M4gKhg/w225-h400/E80BAC14-653F-4669-95FB-E778AF46F20E.png" width="225" /></a></div><br /><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div></span>&Haikuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07792258293883067757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33249539.post-89615914730311993552023-09-09T05:30:00.005-07:002023-09-15T19:54:51.385-07:00Naked Wash<p><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-7d5e00e8-7fff-3d5e-e53d-9cf92c0fa5f9" style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: large; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">dried wash left naked</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: large; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">except for the driftwood and </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: large; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">remains of summer</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Marc Edwards</span></p><br /><br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDcgsLIfn30BCHhpmcZD2bz_szvQ2g6sdgOVrO3AImX22U9nb64aRQ3oL2HGgJtnuws_BxEqFkXJ_MUfjkEkjxRMZgwdZYq2t9Rz8IsR6Pd_0SA3gJL7GmeRMWt9kXakDFjH7U3LAgY1CaNWFd6kDBzNb5QhBFFEQfjxbqo3oewtYjAhyuLglbHw/s2078/E80BAC14-653F-4669-95FB-E778AF46F20E.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2078" data-original-width="1170" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDcgsLIfn30BCHhpmcZD2bz_szvQ2g6sdgOVrO3AImX22U9nb64aRQ3oL2HGgJtnuws_BxEqFkXJ_MUfjkEkjxRMZgwdZYq2t9Rz8IsR6Pd_0SA3gJL7GmeRMWt9kXakDFjH7U3LAgY1CaNWFd6kDBzNb5QhBFFEQfjxbqo3oewtYjAhyuLglbHw/w225-h400/E80BAC14-653F-4669-95FB-E778AF46F20E.png" width="225" /></a></div><br /><div><span><br /></span></div>&Haikuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07792258293883067757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33249539.post-62623559247713315892023-09-02T05:30:00.006-07:002023-09-02T05:30:00.136-07:00Driftwood Pilgram<p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"> </span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-293f6593-7fff-00de-cf2f-548a7b6c0bea"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: small;"><br /><br /><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">there for that moment</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">driftwood soon to pilgrim on</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">as summer floats off</span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: small;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="font-size: small; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: helvetica; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Marc Edwards</span></p><br /><br /><br /></span><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQYyAvZTKez7V6Z3LHa1tw4R7eZJebzK8okkzXA7qlSTEsUfiPIR6PWcpYn2lLB65EU_bQDRsHyvHgoe-yz-Pj6dFtkg_1InnEm_NR_vGv-zOVqLPJtNOdtVw6TD26XnM8YcIVeLWry9Nqn1ynaQ7ou4QEw_LwZY2i-RtkvtHcamJX_1xSYyYznA/s2078/4604210D-2042-4106-85C7-CF3FB5FA5FBC.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2078" data-original-width="1170" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQYyAvZTKez7V6Z3LHa1tw4R7eZJebzK8okkzXA7qlSTEsUfiPIR6PWcpYn2lLB65EU_bQDRsHyvHgoe-yz-Pj6dFtkg_1InnEm_NR_vGv-zOVqLPJtNOdtVw6TD26XnM8YcIVeLWry9Nqn1ynaQ7ou4QEw_LwZY2i-RtkvtHcamJX_1xSYyYznA/w225-h400/4604210D-2042-4106-85C7-CF3FB5FA5FBC.png" width="225" /></a></div><br /><span><br /></span></div>&Haikuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07792258293883067757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33249539.post-75749423230177955382023-09-01T05:35:00.002-07:002023-09-01T21:02:32.902-07:00Haibun: Moments<p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">So much depends on the moment. The first time my nephew called me by my name, I stopped and said, “Yes.” I remember that. I remember the moment when I knew my love would be returned if I let my heart be held by her blue eyes. I remember that moment.</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-308b1ecb-7fff-5286-25f3-d5e04a046654"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Then there are the random moments I remember, ones like my uncle reaching down and picking the little green plant outside the church, tasting it, saying it was “hmmm, rosemary,” before we walked up the small hill to bury his mother. I know why he is my favorite of my dad’s brothers. </span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Every second is another chance of a moment. But moments are the punchline or plot arch of the stories we tell ourselves. Moments are events that come together in that collision of time to make our stories work, our narratives come together, and the world make sense or not makes sense for a second until we realize we had it all wrong and we figure out how the story really is.</span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">there for that moment</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">driftwood soon to pilgrim on</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">as summer floats off</span></p><div><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxl7-OVOnlFBu-5I2KQWxrgR7bFT9tmqv5he4BiNuGmYpzg8Nd6930GtQ-VG25P3EcwF8REC0xO0tQyyU7gVGl8tsd0MBmigeebT0ZXOXlmTosHYPy9Bqa8xFj0i0PCgVxr4Rmp4tErbJ-Mq42rVUVYHW4J_8aULqjCYnYvVbbKchZkPXt_fqwPA/s2078/4604210D-2042-4106-85C7-CF3FB5FA5FBC.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2078" data-original-width="1170" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxl7-OVOnlFBu-5I2KQWxrgR7bFT9tmqv5he4BiNuGmYpzg8Nd6930GtQ-VG25P3EcwF8REC0xO0tQyyU7gVGl8tsd0MBmigeebT0ZXOXlmTosHYPy9Bqa8xFj0i0PCgVxr4Rmp4tErbJ-Mq42rVUVYHW4J_8aULqjCYnYvVbbKchZkPXt_fqwPA/w225-h400/4604210D-2042-4106-85C7-CF3FB5FA5FBC.png" width="225" /></a></div><br /><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div></span>&Haikuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07792258293883067757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33249539.post-12296504833139989992023-08-26T05:35:00.014-07:002023-08-26T05:35:00.146-07:00Haibun: No AI Needed<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">My great grandmother had a camp on the Great Sacandaga Lake in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York. Two cabins were left after she sold part of the property, and to make the cabins work, we had work we had to do. There was no plumbing on either property. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Almost every day, we would go to the lake with some buckets and jugs to fill up the wash water. Dishes and hands would be washed in this water. We would make trips down to the local spring with the hand pump to fill up the drinking water. The outhouse also needed to be shoveled out at least once a year. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Even in my childhood, there were places with more conveniences, but “Camp” was the place to be. There were endless nights filled with board games or a dice game called 5000. Constant joking and wise cracks around the screened-in porch that was also the kitchen. Days spent trying to stand the longest on an inner tube on the lake, only for the waves from a passing boat to topple the best. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">No amount of design or planning, no amount of conveniences, and no amount of technological breakthrough could create the sense of family we had at Camp. Yes we would fight, sure things could be unfair, of course words could be biting, but this was the place we came expecting to be together laughing, playing games, hauling water, and swimming the days away. We came expecting “Camp” to be this magical place.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">And as technology and conveniences advance, as artificial intelligence looks to make our lives easier and more connected, I don’t see the magic of the camp on the lake in that future because it was a place where those conveniences and technologies were never needed. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">full sonoran green</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">only around the rivers,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">summer broils on</span></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-VpLPKTmP_OLeUzRpabMRNEEkGMEJ0binD26gUDmNzCJeYW1qZztFk7dD-VwVXVaeNYExUnLdNXVdHpqlcMEGpGoVVIwWr1xZ1BwnmQz8lvSS-2a8WrumbQcQYBFs_h74X6wOb3TqVaRHdfb-05dLkiw60YzXbQ_IY1bSI4iOPBf2qpRKJY2_kw/s2080/8F3BCD69-56FF-4643-9CAD-D6F3BE965697.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2080" data-original-width="1170" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-VpLPKTmP_OLeUzRpabMRNEEkGMEJ0binD26gUDmNzCJeYW1qZztFk7dD-VwVXVaeNYExUnLdNXVdHpqlcMEGpGoVVIwWr1xZ1BwnmQz8lvSS-2a8WrumbQcQYBFs_h74X6wOb3TqVaRHdfb-05dLkiw60YzXbQ_IY1bSI4iOPBf2qpRKJY2_kw/w225-h400/8F3BCD69-56FF-4643-9CAD-D6F3BE965697.png" width="225" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div>&Haikuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07792258293883067757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33249539.post-85409586085686345832023-08-26T05:30:00.004-07:002023-08-26T05:30:00.136-07:00Sonoran Green<div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">full sonoran green</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">only around the rivers,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">summer broils on</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;">Marc Edwards</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJoh2FbglGGoj8MoWSGofW0uEv3gqh2sEX1RWrjZCbUOMAe3xd8OyVixAvjao4NtRXDCY16Iq_f8AS8iu5ymqG35idqnnhNzeEiJ-NKYgyJXpd34v-k8o6FWeIIWoFBgj6PT8qsPcvLzC0njZ559pbNaydKibGTCAhP3f9j77O78RP-KtaBUHfWg/s2080/8F3BCD69-56FF-4643-9CAD-D6F3BE965697.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2080" data-original-width="1170" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJoh2FbglGGoj8MoWSGofW0uEv3gqh2sEX1RWrjZCbUOMAe3xd8OyVixAvjao4NtRXDCY16Iq_f8AS8iu5ymqG35idqnnhNzeEiJ-NKYgyJXpd34v-k8o6FWeIIWoFBgj6PT8qsPcvLzC0njZ559pbNaydKibGTCAhP3f9j77O78RP-KtaBUHfWg/w225-h400/8F3BCD69-56FF-4643-9CAD-D6F3BE965697.png" width="225" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div>&Haikuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07792258293883067757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33249539.post-82636596245676149692023-08-19T05:35:00.012-07:002023-08-19T07:58:50.042-07:00Haibun: August Heat<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">These are the endless days of heat, the days where it feels like summer will never end. Every day is above 100 and every day seems like it will always be above 100. Yet, when I think about it, in 6 weeks, it is October. So in six weeks, fall will be here and the bend towards winter will be evident and our life will orient accordingly.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It is remarkable how in 6 weeks, a newborn will still be “a newborn” and a new car “a new car.” But for those of us pushing our bodies through our work in this forever heat, 6 weeks is a new world. In 6 weeks, we can move freely without our bodies pulling us towards the shade or air conditioning.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">So for now, it is still one foot in front of the other. It is still slowing down so I don’t get dizzy. It is still drinking over two gallons of water a day. It is still summer in the desert and we are still burning emissions, so it is still my determination that gets me through these punishing days. And it is hope that lets me know this emission fueled wrath is unfurling soon.</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-e42f41c6-7fff-550c-a604-465f0ee2a892"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></span></p><div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://poemsandhaiku.blogspot.com/2023/08/rippled-clouds.html">clouds above ride the </a></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://poemsandhaiku.blogspot.com/2023/08/rippled-clouds.html">ripples on the lake below,</a></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://poemsandhaiku.blogspot.com/2023/08/rippled-clouds.html">sleepy summer days</a></span></span></p></div><div><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbXjMp8kocs7G9Kr78itFaRJqUWEiCrl-5qAXYIgJQXImIjMYghGxw4GRgK7rW6QhyFMlswVIhZgpLBprJhssLH01yM_XTEEfacbqWKhk81lpRXqzGh59ugl9pZ3-n4M9Q5okt2RvryPmR-EAKJjhJ_mnU_RLy5ru6BvgI1WGy8D4BABMeco6PuA/s1584/66071BDA-84BB-4A23-B728-F469787090A2.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1584" data-original-width="877" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbXjMp8kocs7G9Kr78itFaRJqUWEiCrl-5qAXYIgJQXImIjMYghGxw4GRgK7rW6QhyFMlswVIhZgpLBprJhssLH01yM_XTEEfacbqWKhk81lpRXqzGh59ugl9pZ3-n4M9Q5okt2RvryPmR-EAKJjhJ_mnU_RLy5ru6BvgI1WGy8D4BABMeco6PuA/w221-h400/66071BDA-84BB-4A23-B728-F469787090A2.png" width="221" /></a></div><br /><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><br /></span></span></div><div><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div></span>&Haikuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07792258293883067757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33249539.post-34633067247967064612023-08-19T05:30:00.005-07:002023-08-19T08:00:38.605-07:00Rippled Clouds<p><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-3bd63e34-7fff-c256-2d4c-855ad3bdadec"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /><br /><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">clouds above ride the </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">ripples on the lake below,</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">sleepy summer days</span></span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-small;">Marc Edwards</span></span></p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /><br /></span><br /></span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://poemsandhaiku.blogspot.com/2023/08/haibun-august-heat.html">(Read this haiku as part of a hiabun, or part of a prose piece)</a></span></span><div><span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDgbiVMc_JX1xEguncyV6pyLicFW5JMHCj3TCrG5RMmTNzUQVnNHipJOyvTUq0dMEwKowviIcOMYkKtnOWtkhb9rn3icIyv0V6z6uXTErx8tKA-hHEaAr9f0ITmutAOVQ7j9zl5_W07tFLDoq83mxPbF2E-L-yzAepiYZhXVXOl38mNcqPPkoT7g/s1584/66071BDA-84BB-4A23-B728-F469787090A2.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1584" data-original-width="877" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDgbiVMc_JX1xEguncyV6pyLicFW5JMHCj3TCrG5RMmTNzUQVnNHipJOyvTUq0dMEwKowviIcOMYkKtnOWtkhb9rn3icIyv0V6z6uXTErx8tKA-hHEaAr9f0ITmutAOVQ7j9zl5_W07tFLDoq83mxPbF2E-L-yzAepiYZhXVXOl38mNcqPPkoT7g/w221-h400/66071BDA-84BB-4A23-B728-F469787090A2.png" width="221" /></a></div><br /></div>&Haikuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07792258293883067757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33249539.post-82530590576059405042023-08-12T05:35:00.006-07:002023-08-12T05:35:00.135-07:00Haibun: Forgiving Myself<p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Lost in dreams, I can whittle the day away. Dreams that pull me into the possible, dreams that make the day go by with nothing immediately done.</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-a792b8c9-7fff-a485-43d7-068bbc8dd660"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I know I’m prone to this, so I set my morning routines. By about 3:30am, most mornings, I am working away with my pen in hand getting out my three pages. Nothing really special, nothing I intend to publish, just revisiting parts of my life. I write about my life as honestly as I can.</span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In my writing, I have to accept when I was wrong, wronged, and made the best decision I could with the information and worldview I had. On those pages, I have learned how to forgive myself and others. In my life, a day whittled from a whole day down to just a sliver by time I’m getting ready for bed, I am learning to forgive myself, learn myself, and try again.</span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">ponderosa pines</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">high above the hot desert </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">summer, waves lapping</span></p><div><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFM0XDE2Zcbz8v_4iqQ54IfHxluprVmPGauWNmFYGvr42XrFzq8s3CfQ70KzDE9skodlPyzEyB59uVAWrTvazECKG0FLwcScwWLO6Yi0ABYXXO9SZwOHLdDXxcWupSbfsVmuc5L0tooY9yREKFqjWjVhlQW8dlqZF1LsKEK6nO_e2H__gCYdTVQQ/s2053/7C8D3911-7ABD-4160-918C-5BD3D4FEFCE3.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2053" data-original-width="1170" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFM0XDE2Zcbz8v_4iqQ54IfHxluprVmPGauWNmFYGvr42XrFzq8s3CfQ70KzDE9skodlPyzEyB59uVAWrTvazECKG0FLwcScwWLO6Yi0ABYXXO9SZwOHLdDXxcWupSbfsVmuc5L0tooY9yREKFqjWjVhlQW8dlqZF1LsKEK6nO_e2H__gCYdTVQQ/w228-h400/7C8D3911-7ABD-4160-918C-5BD3D4FEFCE3.png" width="228" /></a></div><br /><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div></span>&Haikuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07792258293883067757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33249539.post-87402722456948950642023-08-12T05:30:00.006-07:002023-08-12T05:30:00.142-07:00Ponderosa Pines<span id="docs-internal-guid-a73a6845-7fff-726e-ce72-bc7004263c23" style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">ponderosa pines</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">high above the hot desert </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">summer, waves lapping</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Marc Edwards</span></p><br /><br /><br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf35bL0P1BmU84gDJ95YBN2lrAxPUlD4hJMh9Hfj3lQd0UEjdEps8yquuuG3Q6DONgNTwUo2YupdItw87GPsbKAUaEZ34AWkPhPX31PzXUhuFwbki7ohqEqinGee1ORM0ueJObILiuoaJCAEvN0iLtaqzOtywvyuKtOJH9HPVBa9aQxw60Hgcqkg/s2053/7C8D3911-7ABD-4160-918C-5BD3D4FEFCE3.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2053" data-original-width="1170" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf35bL0P1BmU84gDJ95YBN2lrAxPUlD4hJMh9Hfj3lQd0UEjdEps8yquuuG3Q6DONgNTwUo2YupdItw87GPsbKAUaEZ34AWkPhPX31PzXUhuFwbki7ohqEqinGee1ORM0ueJObILiuoaJCAEvN0iLtaqzOtywvyuKtOJH9HPVBa9aQxw60Hgcqkg/w228-h400/7C8D3911-7ABD-4160-918C-5BD3D4FEFCE3.png" width="228" /></a></div><br />&Haikuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07792258293883067757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33249539.post-72661847942622059422023-08-05T05:35:00.004-07:002023-08-05T05:35:00.141-07:00 Haibun: Sadness<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Sometimes sadness will sit with me for a while. Throughout most days, I can be sad for a moment and it goes away because I was misjudging the situation. Sometimes I just wake up feeling a dull sadness that persists through the day.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But sometimes, I feel a long sadness, one that lasts for days. Often times, it is at the end of a relationship or a shift in a relationship, the breaking of trust or hurtful words. At one time in my life I ran away from it, rushing to apologize when I was wronged just to feel some sort of relief. All that would happen is I found myself back in that situation, setting up a cycle of worse and worse mistreatment. Each cycle the accusations and yelling getting worse.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I’m learning to just let it be like that one stem from the flower bush that sticks out above the rest at a neighbors house: it is better left alone than to go complain to them. I can see it, I can sense it, I know it’s there, but I will let it be trimmed back in a timeframe I don’t control.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Sadness dulls the pleasures that can’t overtake it. It always flattens lesser joys out, but it doesn’t kill things, it doesn’t hurt things. It’s only when I try to force sadness away that I hurt or kill things inside of me. But what I found, in time, when sadness leaves, she leaves a sweet fragrance behind when she can walk away on her own. When sadness isn’t forced away, nothing’s harmed or broken.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">elevated pines</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">breathe life in the scorched summer</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">souls of the desert</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIaz6P8eq6lDV6NvW1u7yPDQo7d603ySf7CLkevSRO3BwIbXa1iqbH4FacAYc_oif75CUZJn92ToVnIufWxoQYB4xgsfIuZEfT4EkbOfL6ZeAnvkrn1RZeq42Ek_8eNJQjHulbyJPKOHaiCwYy5C_H3_6-BlmMqsD6gVyd2l60Qm4g02EUErKU2g/s2077/9CA4B521-A403-47A9-B118-9965F66B17F5.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2077" data-original-width="1170" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIaz6P8eq6lDV6NvW1u7yPDQo7d603ySf7CLkevSRO3BwIbXa1iqbH4FacAYc_oif75CUZJn92ToVnIufWxoQYB4xgsfIuZEfT4EkbOfL6ZeAnvkrn1RZeq42Ek_8eNJQjHulbyJPKOHaiCwYy5C_H3_6-BlmMqsD6gVyd2l60Qm4g02EUErKU2g/w225-h400/9CA4B521-A403-47A9-B118-9965F66B17F5.png" width="225" /></a></div><br /><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p>&Haikuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07792258293883067757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33249539.post-78961278504011814632023-08-05T05:30:00.010-07:002023-08-05T05:30:00.147-07:00Scorched Souls<p> </p><span id="docs-internal-guid-57d9b4c5-7fff-eb0d-3118-80a778853bbe"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /><br /><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">elevated pines</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">breathe life in the scorched summer</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">souls of the desert</span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Marc Edwards</span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /><br /></span><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjstazbpA_4MCTV_2uazga0ya27Xs03pMLd5E2Hgib8M0gzPJkJsoEQlYD5_rASMUVpXVq54boGRXssLEq5l9Ac25yQl8Q-SoqAGfYCUkL50EIFmeNaLteyqzF1kL7QkbugYK5b1JoZSekKj2JDEtCY4L8OS-dCpjNFcMQ-qMAl6vC-0g4OXNlxWQ/s2077/9CA4B521-A403-47A9-B118-9965F66B17F5.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2077" data-original-width="1170" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjstazbpA_4MCTV_2uazga0ya27Xs03pMLd5E2Hgib8M0gzPJkJsoEQlYD5_rASMUVpXVq54boGRXssLEq5l9Ac25yQl8Q-SoqAGfYCUkL50EIFmeNaLteyqzF1kL7QkbugYK5b1JoZSekKj2JDEtCY4L8OS-dCpjNFcMQ-qMAl6vC-0g4OXNlxWQ/w225-h400/9CA4B521-A403-47A9-B118-9965F66B17F5.png" width="225" /></a></div><br />&Haikuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07792258293883067757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33249539.post-65452213479849444642023-07-29T05:35:00.011-07:002023-07-29T05:35:00.139-07:00Haibun: Summer Heat<p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Moving to the Arizona Desert where it has been over 110 degrees for the past month, I feared the heat. I knew I could do the cold, I could relax into a 25 degree night for a walk in shorts and t-shirt, but to sustain the heat for a day, a week, a month, I wasn’t sure. </span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-25a0e8c6-7fff-4be7-31b3-c07e22f9204e"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">It was 28 degrees (F) out, in a t-shirt and jeans, I went out to the car to find something. I was at my parents house for Christmas. My sister and brother-in-law pulled up with their kids. We started talking, I grabbed my little niece to carry her and her bags inside. She asked where my jacket was. I realized I was outside for a while without a coat. </span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">When it would snow, I had my favorite hoodie to go shovel in. When I was about to sweat, I would take it off and had an old t-shirt on and would finish. I grew up in mountains of Upstate New York, I slept with my window open through the winter, so going outside in the cold was second nature. </span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I later heard about the “Ice Man,” Wim Hof, who taught that to take an ice bath, you need to control your breathing and relax into. I didn’t need to put ice in my bath, all I had to do is draw a cold bath in the winter and I had something similar. I could take cold showers as well.</span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">My first few summers in the desert, I avoided going outside if it was over 100. I had to move a former employer into his new shop with a coworker who fell apart in the heat, so I knew it wouldn’t happen unless I carried the load. It was only 107 at the worst and I thought I would die.</span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">But I changed my attitude. I did more than just adjust to the heat. It became a mindset. I decided to choose it and to remember I chose it. I save my truck’s air conditioning till I’m done for the day or have to go for a ride longer than 15 minutes, and I don’t even think of the heat. And if I start to think of the heat, I remember I chose it, I embrace it, and my focus returns.</span></p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">It is all in what we choose.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">sun washing over</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">rocks and dirt, a torrent of</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">intense summer heat</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM2nmxKALQYEQetu-XqFEDJuvP6O7VzldvVeoC8gKfEq2RfB_yYcuo0v7sDBvw7It3l4pPIfbLAdGSXE152quo8StaT3-3nhAYqtlyG-lK33bNt0gMWsFkZODNbY5SUZtt2aGTbsXpNk4AV4ndR1e8hFGh8N7qbn3JGE0OAUlvWI5oZCQ2MphVcg/s2081/173D6491-9D60-4450-8E74-1CE05BA9064B.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2081" data-original-width="1170" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM2nmxKALQYEQetu-XqFEDJuvP6O7VzldvVeoC8gKfEq2RfB_yYcuo0v7sDBvw7It3l4pPIfbLAdGSXE152quo8StaT3-3nhAYqtlyG-lK33bNt0gMWsFkZODNbY5SUZtt2aGTbsXpNk4AV4ndR1e8hFGh8N7qbn3JGE0OAUlvWI5oZCQ2MphVcg/w225-h400/173D6491-9D60-4450-8E74-1CE05BA9064B.png" width="225" /></a></div><br /><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><div><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div></span>&Haikuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07792258293883067757noreply@blogger.com