End of April, End of ABCs

No, I did not finish strong. And my next post will be about all the changes in my life that have distracted me from TAKING 5 MINUTES A DAY TO WRITE, but I do not want to make excuses about not writing – that is the habit I was trying to break through participating in the A to Z Challenge.

However, I did take the haiku off the blog and into my classroom this past week, and my students wrote some really amazing and beautiful pieces. We spent a chilly but lovely morning outside, trying to leave our preoccupation with our selves back in the classroom, and going to the blade of grass to learn about the grass. Yes, I did have teenagers down on their knees in the morning dew, coming nose to nose with nature. Yes, there were also teenagers glancing at the trees and sky between texts and snapchats from their dry bench seats or from just inside the hallway doors, where the breeze couldn’t touch them. Oh well, their loss. The idea has been planted.

So, to wrap up my April month of haiku, I will share here all the true-to-haiku pieces I wrote that chilly April 28th morning with my Creative Writing class during my last week of work.


(Some have assigned categories)

About the Sky:

Blue, unwritten page

Pale edges touching trees.

Unmarred indigo

About Grass: (I gotta say, my kids did a much better job with this one than I did)

Shaken with the wind

Vibration of life, grass blade

Proud, vertical shoot

About a Living Thing (trees):

Verdant harmony

Song of hunter and chartreuse:

Spring’s voice, sung in green.

About Moisture:

Rain’s breath on the wind,

still reminder of past storms

cools this morning air

Connection of Place: Between Mountain and Sea in North Carolina

The sound of ocean

Communicated through leaves

Shaking in the wind

Free Choice:

Afternoon warmth

Announced by the morning’s rays

When the wind is still

 

Adios, April, it’s been real. I am pleased with my efforts toward self-discipline and consistency. Though I have not reached the apex quite yet, I am moving in the right direction.

A to Z Challenge: This month, I will be writing a haiku (sometimes a senryu – same syllables, not marveling at nature) each day save Sundays for the 26 letters of the alphabet as part of the blogosphere’s A to Z Challenge.

 

April 22: Sink

For my “S” day, the students in my 1st period Creative Writing class “voted” that I write a haiku – in full haiku honor: focusing on qualities of ‘nature’ or being, creating an image, an emotion, and an “aha!” moment, but to apply all of that to the humble, man-made sink.

So here goes:

S

White porcelain dish

takes in water, lets it go:

we have become clean.


A to Z Challenge: This month, I will be writing a haiku (sometimes a senryu – same syllables, not marveling at nature) each day save Sundays for the 26 letters of the alphabet as part of the blogosphere’s A to Z Challenge.

April 18: Pointed float

P

She teaches herself,

toes pointing, legs buoyant: lift!

She learns water’s grace.

A to Z Challenge: This month, I will be writing a haiku (sometimes a senryu – same syllables, not marveling at nature) each day save Sundays for the 26 letters of the alphabet as part of the blogosphere’s A to Z Challenge.

April 17: Only

O

Only eighteen days

more, ever being pregnant:

Slow down; remember.

 

A to Z Challenge: This month, I will be writing a haiku (sometimes a senryu – same syllables, not marveling at nature) each day save Sundays for the 26 letters of the alphabet as part of the blogosphere’s A to Z Challenge.

April 16: New Season

N

Breathing in and out:

chartreuse. The green, bright and new,

Speaks freshly of warmth.


Photo credit and idea comes from my cousin, Joni Bowman. Thanks for the inspiration, Joni!

 

 

 

A to Z Challenge: This month, I will be writing a haiku (sometimes a senryu – same syllables, not marveling at nature) each day save Sundays for the 26 letters of the alphabet as part of the blogosphere’s A to Z Challenge.