Two Pumpkins: haibun for the ages

Two Pumpkins: haibun for the ages

©2016 Susan Noyes Anderson

The pumpkins are already sitting on my porch. "Aren't you getting those a little early this year?" ask my husband, son, daughter. I answer in the negative, later realizing they are right. Circumstances have made of me a paradox this season: an aging person in a hurry for change. It's as if the wind that blows every falling leaf to its final resting place could propel and remove all the unwelcome detritus of my life, as if the browning of summer and spectacular burst of fall color might put an end to this summer of distress, replacing it with orange hues and scarlet splendor. I long for brisker days; cool, crisp air, the scents of wood and spice. And yes, two pumpkins on my porch. In September.

The silent tree waits.

Tired branches loose their burdens.

Swirling leaves flutter.

Assignment: Write a haibun with one paragraph about change, 

followed by a haiku.

(A haibun is a prosimetric literary form originating in Japan, 

combining prose and haiku.)

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Election Reflection

Election Reflection

©2016 Susan Noyes Anderson

Donald J. Trump,

too often a chump.

Both his hair and his skin

are a trifle too thin.

Hillary Clinton,

determined to win one.

Her perception of truth

is a little uncouth.

John or Jane Doe,

nominees we don't know. 

We wish they were running,

and that ain't just funning.

Assignment: Write a clerihew, a comic verse on biographical topics consisting of two couplets and a specific rhyming scheme. (I have combined three clerihews to form one poem.)

for more clerihews, click below

House Rules: Updated

House Rules: Updated

©2016 Susan Noyes Anderson

Today I am open

to new ways

better treatment

wiser thoughts

nuanced interpretations

broader understanding

measured reactions.

I embrace beauty

over belligerence,

grace over guilt,

release over

retribution.

I dismiss judgment,

impatience, intolerance,

hopelessness, helplessness...

offer negativity,

blame, and bitterness

one night's lodging 

only.

Assignment: a 44-word quadrille using the word "open."

for more quadrilles, click below

Reflections of Saint Malo

Reflections of St. Malo

©2016 Susan Noyes Anderson

Come hearken back to days of yore.

Visit Saint Malo's rocky shore.

Down sunny California way,

it's sure to steal your heart away.

Designed to look like Normandy,

a fishing village by the sea,

this paradise of peace and plenty

laid its roots in 1920.

Cottages with charm to spare,

courtyards kissed with salty air,

private beaches, shells to comb,

dolphins diving through the foam.

Generations grew up here,

reuniting every year,

handing down a legacy:

life and love and family.

Few have left here; few have sold,

honoring those bonds of old.

Community is hard to find;

St. Malo is the lasting kind.

A privilege, here, to set my sails,

to walk these sands and brick-laid trails,

replete with sacred memory,

a gift of hope and reverie.

Assignment: A take-me-along travel or vacation poem

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Sweet Reminders

Sweet Reminders

©2016 Susan Noyes Anderson

Of late, I have been much away from home,

not of my own design but others' need.

The mind finds compensation as I roam:

appreciation for the life I lead.

A place and partner of my own are mine,

grounded in years and happy memories...

A cozy nook for solitary time,

dream-space to loose creative energies...

A yard with wise old trees that I adore

and bushes that have laid their roots down deep.

They rarely ask for water any more,

yet bloom in lasting beauty, ours to keep.

Too easy are these gifts to take in stride,

counting their goodness as my daily due.

Once home, the scent of jasmine wafts inside,

and every blessing greets my heart anew.

for more poems using the  

word "bloom," click below

13 Wishes

13 Wishes

©2016 Susan Noyes Anderson

Plant me beside a mountain spring.

Don't let the stinging nettles sting.

Lift fallen birds into their trees.

Preserve the ailing honey bees.

Release the calories from food.

Grant frazzled moms a happy mood.

Lead every white cell to its germ.

Help flirty ova hook a sperm.

Send bedbugs clear to Timbuktu;

send all of Congress with them, too.

Un-spend the dollars they have spent.

Find someone sane for President.

That last wish may be too ambitious

(circumstances not propitious).

So I'll grant your wish, my friend

and cause this silly poem to end.

for more wish poems, click below