the photograph
let’s go to Narnia
for
there’s
a lantern among trees
so
we may flee the White Queen
then safely to meet Aslan
thus
to stand
with the lion
against an evil force
and then wake up
I guess
but
my
what a thrilling day
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photo [prompt] by John Murphey on Unsplash
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
(while drafting haiku, which I’m trying as my Saturday work to do, I encountered this photograph that became its own prompt with me of something else by way of association and form
in other words, I was working on one thing then inspired toward another
so maybe a Sunday haiku, knowing the haiku discipline is only for myself without any expectation from the world
that happens, doesn’t it?)
no cavalry
(or if there is)
goes
something like to
paraphrase
the KJV
I lift up my eyes to the hills
from
whence comes my help
my help comes from
the Lord
now
it might be
a question mark
is called
for
after help
because
the hills are not the source
but the Lord who saves
and
keeps
not that
hills
are unhelpful
both to distract and thus allow
reminding of direction
so
to pray
even wish
of
desperation
if
better
that is more faithful
perhaps prophetic
in the way
that
youth may envision
while
the old
dream dreams
any setting
then
(or
whence)
for who shall aid us
but
God who has the power and love
to make it
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Psalm 121
I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.
2 My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.
3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.
4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
(KJV)
photo by José Casal on Unsplash
from time to time
and this is what I write
when it’s only me
beside
the solitary act
I mean
it’s only me in thought and typing and for
no special benefit
I think
though in it
something good or
clear
and both
perhaps
from time to time
and
sometimes
(to
confess
that)
things make sense
after
the verse
somehow
and is this why we write
and
it isn’t but what
happens
by surprise
on that occasion
and as the server says
these parts
awhile
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photo by Csabi Elter on Unsplash
a billion's one
cheering up
I’m watching Santa claim that
and then provide
for the children in a town
a neighborhood
where
it’s easy for children to go unnoticed
when grownup heads are set
too high
and there things like gentrifying that
compete with
cheer
and children
until now homegrown
and so problems
and solutions applied
locally
where all ages have lived
and want
to live
and if we say
thee is a holiday spirit
and an intention
for one day
and if
we
mimic
starting in October if
not August
might we not consider genuine
which might sound saccharine
to say
except in addition to old
neighborhoods
to
venerate
there are atrocities to consider
everywhere
have
you read about the killings in Sudan
or
do you know in the USA
how many will go
hungry
tonight
meaning to question whether
nuclears or
profiteering generally
is
all to count worth while
or is each one
viable
not as a cardboard target but
as really what
we’re made
of
we hear of hundreds
that are killed by
nature or
by us
and the tolls go into recent thousands
and by the end of term easily
a million
tracking COVID
say
unless you conveniently misbelieve
do you know how many
are in
needs
try
one
it’s one
all the billions make up one
that we can
know
and be
and help with practicality
and love
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photo by Efe Yağız Soysal on Unsplash
I look at this and see a big red hat (trimmed white) that’s shaking out snowflakes through a winter sky, while it’s more practically an overhead (drone?) image of a place along a coast in Türkiye. (Me not the photographer talking.)
southern exposure
now it’s Tuesday
out back
the red looks brown
near-
winter brown
already
though the red out front
more fiery
by sunlight pouring through
the backs and
fronts of leaves
so
maybe it’s a matter
only of shadows
only
of daytime hours
and if the light could shine out back
there would
be fire art
out there
as well
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photo by Klim Musalimov on Unsplash
so much depending
red outside
at last
plus nearer the back window
late fall
but fall
scratching
speaking to the season
as
colors from cold
should
and if
there’s no relation
then
it’s all anticipation
falling
as it were
into each one’s magic
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photo by Natalia Fogarty on Unsplash
on the way
All Souls
El Día de los Muertos
parades
so much energy
by skulls for decoration
costuming
with many made by sugar
for the rite of
having meals with the dead
that will
happen in cemeteries with warm light
by night and everything set out
with
the living family
attending
assured that those who’ve gone before
are still close by
if
also on their journey
a paradox of pleasure
more straightforward in
affection
as affection’s
due
and shall the families appreciate
the veil
of ritual and lore
and love by incarnation of
the ways we know
each other
here
and there while all of us
are on the way
and so the three days
go
while I don’t know who really counts
them all
together
preparing for each day and finding
new energy in each
that
might be by candy
all the carbohydrates
though
more so by
meaning of the ages
shared so often
simply and complexly
close
to home
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photo by Edgar Cavazos on Unsplash
Haskell Library
across fair-access borders
‘til government’s ban
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Built intentionally on the border between Derby Line, Vermont, and Stanstead, Quebec, this Victorian landmark stands as a monument to friendship between the United States and Canada. This library is a place where families, neighbors, and students have come together for generations to learn, read, and share a civic life rooted in trust, curiosity, and peace.
That legacy ended this week.
EveryLibrary
I had read a while before about this phenomenon, a community library that traversed borders between the nations. Now the Canadians have been told they may not use the library on the USA side.
And I suppose haiku aren’t for politicking.
photo by Shunya Koide on Unsplash
(and in the back, a person in attendance in the center)
prelude in orange and black
so Hallowe’en
and if you have it
I hope
this is
a pleasant Hallowe’en for you
eve of All Saints the name
even thrilling for the children
thinking of
the rush of running through the cold night
looking through
and
breathing through a mask
bearing a burden
of which I could hardly
be
aware
and that was Hallowe’en for me
as a child
with
The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
intersticed with commercials
for Dolly Madison
doughnuts
and there were other things
I guess
cider
decorations here and there
bats and cats
and such
stories in school
or on TV
oh
pumpkin-carving and then
the lights inside
that signaled to whatever spirits
we were here
but
it was the running through the night
cold
the mask
sensations that I had no other night
or day
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photo by Zach Lisko on Unsplash
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