Month: July 2017

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A Capricious Magician

Unpredictable
in ‘nature’ is she
dropping hints
with sun rays
peaking out
between
clouds

apparitions held
as fading shadows
become
cloudy
mirrors

and the next moment
a downpour of
rain filling gutters
a deluge
down
drain
spouts

a disappearing act
slight of hand
the earth drying
cracks in
hardened
clay

a capricious magician
prone to laughter
a comic relief
dancing
across a stage
of her own
making

© July 2017 Renee Espriu

This is in response to Jamie Dede’s Wednesday Prompt. Read more at https://jamiededes.com/2017/07/25/orange-fires-at-daybreak-a-poem-and-your-wednesday-writing-prompt. The photo below was taken from the Morgue File and digitally altered by myself.

Capricious

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Stone Bench

silence

pervasive stillness
expectation
fluttering leaves

This was published last year on my original site in response to Rick Daddario’s
30DOH. Thought I would publish it here as well given the photo I took, on the top of this site, is the same one that I used with this post.

© September 2016/July 2017

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An Angel Waiting

I lay restlessly, upon the sheets of my bed, now soaked with perspiration. I tried in vain to sleep but drifted in and out of what I came to believe were the realities of my night.

I could see you there as real as though you were standing by my bed. “You are my comfort”, I told you. “You are my angel”. You give me your strength night after long night and even though you fade with the morning light, I know you will come to me again.

The window though closed seemed to be open and the leaves of the tree outside drifted inside. They fell to the floor to accumulate like a soft carpet and fell atop my pillow by my head. Each night these were my realities. I called to you and you came as though no walls could hinder your presence by my bed.

Beacon of darkest night
Portent of life
Guardian of my soul

You could have been a dream but each night you returned when I called. Who is to say what is real.

© July 2017 Renee Espriu

I quickly took out my watercolors and acrylics to create something to go with this newest post. I had been thinking of this image and so rather than ponder it too much, which I have a tendancy to do, I painted what it was my mind saw.

Dream (2)

 

 

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A Favor To A Friend

He was on leave her friend said
could she double date with her

a blind date she never would

but her friend’s cousin
was being shipped out
she said

so it was decided she was dating
a handsome young fellow
& she dating the cousin

a drive-in movie they went to
her friend in the front seat
& her in the back

with the cousin

she tried to oblige remembering
he was to be shipped out

so she tried pleasantries
to no avail
none at all

he moved in closer and closer
too close for comfort really

the kissing began
going on and on
without end

what was the movie on the screen
she didn’t remember seeing

he simply kept on kissing

did he ever come up for air
but he was on leave
wasn’t he

she was glad when the evening
closed and the movie was done
so she could go home

her friend the next day called to say
her cousin wanted to know
could he see her again
upon his return

but she tactfully found a way
to decline saying
absolutely
not

not another time

she needed air

© July 2017 Renee Espriu

This is in response to Jamie Dede’s Wednesday Prompt. Do read more responses at
https://jamiededes.com/2017/07/19/because-love-poems-are-elegies-and-your-wednesday-writing-prompt. The photo below was taken from Public Domain Pictures and digitally altered by myself.

Movie Theatre

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A Siren Wailing For No Reason

The sun had risen high in the blue sky
over rolling hills of farm country
causing a dry heat much as the roiling
heat of the home of her childhood
produced in waves upon asphalt streets

she knew the howl of a siren near by in
the close distance as she sat visiting
with her son her terrier mix at her feet
and he saw her puzzled look asking why
to glean the meaning of that sound now

for she recalled a time years past
in the elementary school days now gone
the drills that came, of getting down
upon the floor to hide beneath her desk
with her hands upon her head to wait

but as the memory flashed upon her face
her son smiled to say the neighbor
who lives not far likes to hear the siren
wailing as it does for not a reason
but he hears it every afternoon of a day

so she smiles with him to recall those
drills of her youth and hoping as she did
that her desk might shield her from harm
for it might come with her eyes shut tight
the all clear was given & she breathed a sigh

© July 2017 Renee Espriu

This post is is response to Jamie Dede’s Wednesday Prompt. You can see more of other poet’s responses at https://jamiededes.com/2017/07/12/at-the-dead-of-noon-a-poem-and-your-wednesday-writing-prompt. I visited my son recently in the town of Ritzville which has a very small populace, a very large granary and railroad tracks running through town carrying all manner of things from lumber to oil to grain and much more. But the one thing that made me take note was the siren which someone sets to wailing every day. Brings back memories and for some of you it may spark your own and for others perhaps not but I hope you enjoy the read. The photo is of my son’s house which I have digitally altered for this post.

A Sound of Siren

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Surviving The Elements

Today will be a better day and the day after that and the day after tomorrow. She had taken her time building this home for her offspring and it would not fail. The wind had taken the previous home and shaken it so that nothing was left…or nearly nothing. Her little ones had not survived.

But her she is inspecting each piece of wood that is put into place and it is more secure. For even though there might be wind it will not be put asunder. I am young, she thinks, and her offspring will survive. In fact, she hears them now, as she is headed for home. They seem to always know when she is coming. They are so noisy and make such a raucous! But she is happy to hear it. When she gets there she counts heads and yes, there are still three and they are still just as hungry as ever. Today is a success!

Twigs woven nest
fluffy hatchlings
wide mouths open

© July 2017 Renee Espriu

I have baby robins outside my apartment that can be seen in a hedge on the other side of my deck. The first nest mother robin made was in a Mountain Ash tree and when the wind blew she lost all her eggs. That was the front side of the apartment and the tree is small and not the best place for a nest. Hopefully, this time, she will have better luck. I can see at least three heads peek up waiting to be fed and have seen mother robin be there without fail. We will see.

I created a piece of art using watercolor, acrylics and watercolor pencil for the baby robins.

Baby Robins (2)

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***Announcement of New Site***

Hello Everyone,

I have just gotten a new site up and running and put in my first post. I do hope you will come by and have a look. There is still more to come so please be patient. The Haibun I have written looked much shorter in a rough draft but when I posted it, suddenly it became longer. The art is mine and the first time I have endeavored to create a piece based solely on my writing.

You will find the new site at https://haikuhaibunandart.com. The title is not the same. Welcome in advance for those of you who stop by. I look forward to seeing you there, meeting new people and posting many more items soon.

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Radiant Sound

She always thought of time as that of a thief in the night. As she lays sleeping it will silently and quickly take minutes, hours, days, months and years from her already long life. She wakes in the morning feeling as though she has lost something, misplaced during the moments of tiredness before she lays down to sleep. It will come to her, certainly, and she will find that which is lost is still within her reach. But the worrisome object of her concern does not appear.

She goes about her day watching the telltale signs that she is late for an appointment. Perhaps the sun is too high in the sky now, there are far too many people already busy about their day. The air once coolish, settling on her skin and the tiny drops of moisture from the marine layer of air, has warmed urging her to shed her hoody to expose her arms to the sun’s rays. She parks her car as quickly as a full parking lot will allow her and approaches the seven story building. After traversing the steps she enters the door and takes the elevator up. But, no, she is on time for the ritualistic drawing of blood to tell her that her blood in neither too thick nor too thin. A small price to pay for her gift of life orchestrated by a synthetic valve within her chest.

constant ticking clock
radiant sound
within a beating heart

She walks into the afternoon sun and views her surroundings. She is always surprised and amazed she is still here to view the horizon as though she is seeing it for the first time and is only now stepping into her life.

© July 2017 Renee Espriu

heart art

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**Leafy Boughs of Finery**

When the air turns crisp and
harbors promises of cold nights
requiring the layering of clothes
to provide warmth the chill of
autumn dresses for the season
with leafy boughs that become
a finery of golds, yellows, reds
lining the street a fall runway
they bend ever so slightly to see
through the glass eyes of homes
where pumpkin pies are baking
and hot cider is brewing

© July 2017 Renee Espriu

This is response to Jamie Dede’s Wednesday Prompt. You can view more poets responses at https://jamiededes.com/2017/07/05/autumn-promises. The photo
below was taken from Morgue File and digitized by myself.

Autumn Color