Poets Salon: Mystery House

POETS SALON

– 10/23/19

Hosted by Kath Abela Wilson

My mind–a little house made of sky. In the quiet it seems endless and potent, a universe of possibilities. On hiatus it is most fertile and productive, as if everything is made of nothing, with ease.

entrance and exit
by osmosis
only
~ Kath Abela

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Mystery house, artwork by Toti O’Brien

Garry Wilson

favorite toy…
the tiny house that
created worlds

In the dream drifting somewhere in between. Not in the now or here or there, but somewhere in between. Somewhere in between in a place outside time and space, the tower of Inn Between. Like morning birds awakening the dawnlight, the tower’s rooks bring forth new worlds with song. Catching dreams and singing them into worlds. Worlds that will be until dreams end…or the tower’s rooks are gone.

from the tower’s roof
…the rooks sing forth
a new world

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Fabric birds by Toti O’Brien (1)

Tom Clausen

Our houses and home are as much a mystery as we are to ourselves. We live in a state of perpetual wonder and meditation of who we are. So many callings drawing us out of ourselves and yet we make our return over and over again to the place we call home. Our heart is forever a mystery house!

in turns
bird after bird lands
at our feeder

the flight
of dreams
comes true
when we awake
in our mystery house…

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Fabric birds by Toti O’Brien (3)

Olivier Schopfer

birdcage
I let my mind
escape

shortcut
through the woods
the song of an unknown bird

spring cleaning
the return
of tree swallows

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Fabric birds by Toti O’Brien (2)

Karla Decker

on this cold dark winter day a flock of hardy birds rise from a roof top and circle high in the sky circling around and around flying as one sending receiving secret signals for each turn the circle grows tighter and tighter the flock circus around a new roof and settles down like a polka dot cloud

cold sky
dark birds
turn circles

December sun pours in through the window, teasing the potted geraniums, giving the dracaena new hope, green leaves stretch toward the warm light. Outside the window a flock of winter birds circle around from roof to roof looking for one warm enough to settle on.

cold sun
life survives as best
it can

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Details of a house artwork by Toti O’Brien

Mystery House: Quotes and Credits

Our artwork inspiration for this collection “mystery house” was created by Toti O’Brien, our great friend writer, poet, artist, dancer, musician. Her amazing painting sets the stage for all of our musings. See the amazing scope and beauty of her art here, and read Kath Abela’s Interview with Toti O’Brien.

Garry Wilson‘s hometown was Sellwood, Oregon. He obtained degrees in physics, computer science, and mathematics from University of Washington and Portland State University. Now retired, he worked as a physicist in nuclear and semiconductor industries and developed software products for international cellular companies. Garry has been a student of haiku for about ten years.

Tom Clausen says: “I went to sleep with the mystery house in my thoughts and woke up trying to remember them.” Tom lives in the centrally isolated finger lakes area “where my back yard woods and fields near Cornell and Ithaca provide endless prompts for life sustaining imagery, and sustaining senses throughout four very changing seasons.”

Olivier Schopfer lives in Geneva, Switzerland. He likes to capture the moment in haiku and photography. His work has appeared in anthologies, and numerous online and print journals. He’s the author of three books, In the Mirror: Concrete Haiku (Scars Publications, 2018), So Many Miles: Fifty Senryu (Alien Buddha Press, 2019) and Half in Light, Half in the Shade: Haiku and Senryu (Cyberwit, 2019). His poem birdcage first appeared in Stardust Haiku 24, December 2018.

Karla Decker lives in Lincoln, Nebraska. She moved there in 1963 to stay one year, and was so happy she stayed. She says: “Over 25 years ago I moved into this apartment seven stories in the air while I looked for some place more permanent. I intended to stay 6 months but a wall of windows facing south has kept me glued here. Sun pours in year around. My plants love it. And there is the drama that goes on daily outside the glass. The rising and setting of the sun, flocks of birds that circle from roof top to roof top. Then there is the weather. Storms often come from the southwest and sweep over the scene. The panorama of thunder and lightening, blizzards and heavy rain that block out every thing else. Watching the trees bud out in spring, turn colors leaf by leaf in the fall. Well, you get the idea. Six month lease! Ha! And miss all this drama?”

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♣ A note from Kath Abela

> Future Themes of our Poets Salon: Happy Endings or Inner Mirrors. (You may also suggest your own theme.) Send short poems, haiku, senryu, tanka, cherita haibun, tanka prose, short prose poems, etc. Send a bio with reference to the theme, photos or artwork of your own or friend. (No attachments except photos.) Send links to book or websites etc. We can feature your work again after five months. Multiple submissions can be saved to appear later.

> Send to Kath Abela by Facebook message or poetsonsite[at]gmail.com.

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