Blog of the Day -- Aug. 28, 2005

old woman, old woman, what do you see
rocking there so quietly
smiling faintly as you weave
back and forth so silently

old man, old man, what do you dream
softly nodding as you swing
are you sleeping as you rock
or are you listening for the clock

do you know the time goes past
fleeing thru the new mown grass
do you see the cresting moon
peering softly through the gloom

do you remember love's sweet song
bringing dusk to waiting dawn
does regrets e're dog your path
do you remember your first laugh

old man, old woman can you tell
my softly chiming moving bells
are calling you away tonight
into a softer blooming night

old man, old woman can you see
who's waiting here so silently
the rocking slows the dance is done
old man, old woman, here's the sun.

All rights reserved
Joanne Nakaya

Invitation

I'm going to be hosting a workshop on Sunday, the 28th of August, at Barnes and Nobles in Summerlin at 2:00. The topic is "How to Write Haiku" If you live in Las Vegas, or close enough to travel, you are invited. If you don't live close enough, I'll be posting a synopsis of what I run through on haiku-jin.blogspot.com.

Hope you can make it.

Blog of the Day -- Aug. 7, 2005

I had breakfast with Lynda this morning. We don't get together often enough and it was, as usual, great. And also, as usual, I've come away with some tidbits that I want to carry with me ... and share with me, and you.

The law versus grace. Okay, I know, sounds like Christian-stuff. That's because it is, that's because I am.

I hate driving slow; I hate it! I always want to drive as fast as I can, make the trip as short as possible, and so I leave to go anywhere at the absolute lastest (it's not a word) minute. But I like to, want to, sometimes to satisfy something inside need to drive fast; and so I do. I've been fortunate. No car accidents, no tickets, and I drive, fast. So, as a result of our breakfast I decide to drive slow. It's difficult. It's difficult because I don't want to drive slow. It's difficult because I don't want to exert self-control. It's difficult because I want what I want. I decide to use my cruise control because it's hard to drive 35 mph when I want to drive 50 mph and the road is clear. That's the law.

I wait for the traffic behind me to become impatient, to roar around me and throw me a disdainful look. Something I've been guilty of, often. I wait for the car to roar around me and for the slow burn that starts at my neck to ascend to my face because he can go fast and I can't and it's not fair because I have decided to obey the law and he/she doesn't have to. It's not rational, but there it is, my self-serving needs. So, I wait, but this time it doesn't happen. And I slowly realize, as I turn into the residential area where I live, that if he did roar around me, my decision to not get mad at him, not to feel angry and self-sacrificing, not to feel justified in being angry, that's grace.

Blog of the Day -- August 3, 2005

It's still raining.

the humid air
like a woman ready to give birth.
waits,
knowing the inevitability of the coming storm.

patient,
the wind breathes in
torpid strokes
a slow cadence, measuring time.

the sky blazes with light
sparks set the clouds on fire
light
and then the dark reclaims the sky

no thunder
thunderbolts sear the sky
daring
man to ascend the throne of night

fountains
descend from the air
the waiting
is over.