Poetry Corner: Birthday Energy

POETRY CORNER

Monarch (Photo – Robin White).

– 9/04/18

Hosted by Kathabela Wilson

In this Corner full of the creative spirit of “birthday energy,” we find wild things flying through our poetic and natural world. There’s a feeling of travel, adventure, and great care for nature, that so inspires us. All of us are born into this natural world, and through it we are infused with inspiration. I was delighted and amazed when Robin White poet, artist, ceramicist, caregiver and creator of Wild Graces, along with her husband Marshall Hatch, invited us to participate in their Annual Haiku Gathering in Deerfield, New Hampshire on September 8, two days after my birthday. Such a special birthday trip. I’ve always admired from afar, her work and this very special world that they call The Shire …Wild Graces . Here is a taste of the beauty.

~ Kathabela​​​​

Dragonfly-(Photo—Robin-White).

Susan Diridoni

every birthday

their flights this year
much faster than usual
do they urge me forward?

dry ending summer weeds
appeal so to the dragonflies

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Dandelion (Photo – Tom Clausen).

Robin White

blowing out a bouquet
of dandelions…
one hundred and one…wishes

pondering its next move     dragonfly

chin up buttercup
not one butterfly …
but two

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Owl study by Robin White.

Christina Sng

gracefully gliding
between its flowers
monarch butterfly

a tiny bug eludes
the Venus fly trap
180 degree turn

mayfly
letting the wind
carry it

wild graces
learning to accept
that sometimes
things are just
what they seem

learning
to fly with it
night owl

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Ant and tansy (Photo – Robin White).

Stuart Bartow

owl’s skull
no wonder their calls
so strange

cabbage whites spinning
double helixes
double helixes

spider webs
at the doors and windows
who needs gargoyles

setting back down
the upside down wheelbarrow
ant colony

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Autumn dusk (Photo – Mrym Prym).

Mrym Prym

looking together
an ant and I
at the fading sun

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Swallowtail (Photo – Robin White).

Jeff Hoagland

a song
from the darkness
field cricket

cumulonimbus
a cloud of gnats
precipitates

late at night
knocking at my window
june bugs

another birthday
the swallowtail
from its chrysalis

Ο

Birthday Energy: Quotes and Credits

Susan Diridoni, a longtime very fine poet of San Francisco, is still floating on her August 28th birthday energy, carried by dragonflies who arrive each year to celebrate. This year, they are especially lively and carried her right into a cherita. Always encouraging and appreciating our Corner, she honors us with her presence. She once stayed longer while visiting our groups in Pasadena. We are always hoping a dragonfly might carry her back to celebrate.

Robin White is the wonderful poet host of Wild Graces, and creator and editor of Akitsu Quarterly. This year, Kath Abela and Rick Wilson will perform short poems with world flutes at the 5th annual Wild Graces Haiku Gathering. Her photos grace our corner today, all taken in the intimacy of the Shire, that she so generously shares with us and the many other wild creatures who flock to Deerfield, lured by the genuine strength and beauty of her poetic and artistic creativity.

Christina Sng lives in Singapore. She says: “All my life, I have been the contrarian one. I’d take the harder road; I’d walk against the wind. It was easy when I was young and my will was strong as steel, but age and life have worn me down. Some days, even walking with the wind on my back is difficult. So I’ve learned to accept, instead of resist, let go and let the wind carry me, for a change.” Her poems breathe with unique energy and wild grace.

Stuart Bartow, who teaches writing and literature at SUNY Adirandack, has his heart deep in the natural world, watching, waiting and listening. He looks underneath and within to find wonder and insight into life’s mysteries. He chairs the Battenkill Conservancy along the Vermont-New York Border. At Wild Graces, he will read from his new haiku book Quaking Marsh (Red Moon Press, 20117).

Mrym Prym, (Maryam Pourrahimi),, lives in Mashhad, Iran. It is sweet to think of her joining us, with her wild grace. She who loves all small things, and in her lyrical voice joins and shares their chorus in quiet wonderment. Her poems, images, and thoughts on life inspire and fill the hearts of many.

Jeff Hoagland, in Hopewell, NJ, tells us: “As long as I can remember, I have found myself in the company of insects. Insects – six legs, crazy compound eyes, senses we cannot even begin to describe, exquisite forms and colors – are so omnipresent and fascinating. How can we not spend this life communing with some of our smallest neighbors?” He will be sharing
this special point of view with all of us at the upcoming Haiku Gathering at Wild Graces in Deerfield, New Hampshire, on Sept 8.

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♣ You can add your contribution to our Poetry Corner in the form of a poem, in our comment box below​.