Poets Salon: “She Makes Her Own Rose Parade”

POETS SALON

Selected floats from the 2021 YNK Rose Parade (Photo – Yvette Nicole Kolodji)

– 02/02/21

Hosted by Kath Abela Wilson

rose petals and garlic

how we scrap together
our own parade

each one of us
the colorful pageant
of our pilgrimage

~ Kath Abela

Yvette Nicole Kolodji

Rose Parade

It was a tradition in my family. Early morning rising. Rushing out the door half-groggy into dusk. Parking close enough but still too far away. Dragging chairs, blankets, and snacks block by block to find cracks in the crowd for a good view. Waiting in the cold for hours and hours. But this year was different. It was canceled.

missing
what you can’t have
rose parade

Ο

Looking back, it makes sense why it was canceled.

new year
the twinkle
in Pandora’s eyes

Ο

Last year started with a bang. But not the kind you want. Australian bushfires. The worst in history egged on by Climate Change. Then, a pandemic hit unlike anything seen in a century. It seemed like many forgot. Just a cold. Not more than a flu. No need for a mask.

painting outside
all the lines
of science

Ο

Hoarding began. Quarantine set in. Social distance became the norm for more than the lonely. The rules of daily life changed, but not for all.

civil unrest
the United States
unmasked*

*Acorn, Fall 2020

Ο

With the world still, the injustices could be seen by those who ignored it. Protests grew in the streets. But the year went on. Spring set and summer came in. The anger needed a release. A moment to pause. A moment to think. A moment to breath. A moment in nature.

alone on her path
the full moon
turns blue

Ο

As time continued to pass, it brought governmental change. Each branch shifted. The powerhouse judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg died and with it her progressive seat. But November came. We voted in a new congress and a new president. New states became battlegrounds. A victory for a vice president who will become the first woman, first African American, and first South Asian American vice president.

two sides
of a coin
sadness and joy

rose petals
fall off the float
new dreams

Ο Ο Ο

Gregory Longenecker

people on You Tube
don’t know the backstory
cancelled Rose Parade

Rose Parade lockdown
a redwood float
posted on You Tube

covid parade
from the garden
she creates floats

Ο Ο Ο

Clysta Seney

the sequined costume
of the baton twirler gleams
young dandelion

Ο Ο Ο

Patricia J Machmiller

Rose Parade
an ordinary street
turned radiant

Ο

2021 YNK Rose Parade (Full Version):

Rose Parade: Quotes and Credits

Yvette Nicole Kolodji has a BS in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, but her true passion is art and poetry. She has won an award for her photography from the PCC Student Juried Exhibition whose juror was Ike Onyewueny. Her poetry can be found in The Heron’s Nest, Mariposa, Modern Haiku, #FemkuMag, Mayfly, Acorn, Frogpong Journal, Akitsu-Quarterly, Wales Haiku Journal, Hedgerow, Kingfisher Journal, and the Southern California Haiku Anthologies.

Gregory Longenecker lives in Pasadena, California, home of the Rose Parade. He has received many awards for his haiku and senryu including the prestigious Touchstone Award from The Haiku Foundation.and first place and honorable mention in the 2020 Tokutomi Haiku Contest.

Clysta Seney came to haiku the year she became eligible for Medicare. After decades working in high tech and advocating for the environment she now enjoys exploring the poetry in the open spaces of life. Her poem included here won second place in the 2020 Tokutomi Haiku Contest.

Patricia J. Machmiller writes and paints looking out from the deck of her beach house near Moss Landing on Monterey Bay in Northern California. She gives haiku workshops here and also paints. She started writing haiku in 1975 with Kiyoshi Kiyoko and and Tokutomi, who founded the Yuki Teiki Haiku Society. She is a Past President of the Society. Giving workshops, and authoring many books of haiku she is a mentor and inspiration to all of us.

Ο

Kath Abela Wilson is coordinator of the 2020 Tokutomi Haiku Contest. See instructions for entering this year’s contest here:

• 2020 contest results.
• A PDF illustrated flyer with illustrations and the honorable mentions.

Ο

Send short poems, haiku, senryu, tanka, cherita haibun, tanka prose, short prose poems, etc., or your own unique approach, to Kath Abela by Facebook message or click here to email her directly. We can feature your work again after five months. Multiple Submissions can be saved to appear later:

1. Send a short bio, comments on the theme.
2. Send photos or artwork by you, if possible.
3. No attachments except photos.

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