Full Moon
Frosty night
Birds peck ice
Suet feeder sways
Downy claws hang tightly
Pecking out the seeds
Cold oak leaves turn brown
Squirrels gather an acorn stash
Willow stands naked
Dried weeds sway
Seeds already scattered
Squirrel finds winter nest
Photos: Dwight L. Roth
Here in North Carolina, spring has been coming on strong. Frank, at d’Verse, shared with us that the full moon in May is called the Flower Moon, since so many of the spring flowers bloom during that time. The corn is coming up in the fields and the trees have closed in all around us like a big hug. He asked us to write a Haibun about the Flower Moon. I thought perhaps I would take an abstract view of the May Flower Moon with my Haibun.
This painting started out as a landscape with a deep blue sky. But as the painting went on I decided to turn it a quarter turn and experiment with color and the moon. The moon ended up with tears on solid blue, while the others side became a rainbow of deep color. I call it the Tears of the Moon. I darkened the azalea below to give the feel of moonlight on the blossoms.
Spring flowers blooming
Tears of the Moon Kiss petals
Wrens splash in birdbath
Painting and Photo: Dwight L. Roth
This Wednesday marks the appearance of May’s full moon—traditionally called the Flower moon:
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Dark fingers reach out
clutching winter’s full moon
Pocked silent orb slips through
Rising gloriously enthroned
Reflecting suns radiance
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Photo: Ruth Roth
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Fall brings Full Moon
Raggedy Ann keeps distance
Halloween is here
Be smart … stay safe!
Happy Halloween
Photos: Dwight L. Roth
Beware of the long-haired Old Troll who lives under the bridge, and frightens Trick or Treaters as they cross on Halloween night. Still feeling sore from Big Billy Goat’s but in the butt, he hides away picking on little children when their candy bags are full. As they trip trap across his bridge on the their way home, he rises from the shadows and snatches their candy. He does not care that they run off crying all the way home. Being an old mumble grumble troll, it will take more than candy to sweeten him up. So warn your children on Halloween night to stay away from Sleep Hollow, and the Old Trolls bridge, if they want to keep their sweets!
Hunter’s full moon shines
Ghosts and Goblins come knocking
Watch out for the Troll
Frank at d’Verse told us to write a Halloween Haibun. He said we could even write a fiction prose to go with it. So that is what I did. One for the Kiddos young and old. Enjoy!
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Photo: Dwight L. Roth
‘Twas with storm and October gale she ripped the sail
Shredded last threads flapping / faceless flag without stripes
Into the gale / fearless calm / face of moon-ash-pale
Fate assured / as many feared the Orca axed rock’s sharp scrape
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Tsumami waves… his pall bearers strong / buried him deep
neath igneous rocks, casket solid, lasting a thousand years
Pale moon shredding tears / hidden from all in view’s keep
Fate assured / guiding light / riding gears of hopeless fears
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Now each October 31st she walks / cold quartz beneath her feet
Pale Moon brightly shines / smiles / mist kissing her ashen face
This night her last walk / gang plank of sand / calls from the deep
Assured fate / drawn to his siren song / moon follows her last trace
Waves wash the chalkboard clean….
Spectors walk hand in hand in the full moon’s light….
Painting: Dwight L. Roth
Today at d’Verse, Lucy is the guest host and asked us to write a dark ballad. October has many aspects of this ending with Halloween. I am not into murder, blood, or gore, so I wrote my ballad about a salor lost in a storm and his love who cannot take the loss any longer! Hope you enjoy it along with my painting that I entitled “All is Lost”.
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There is nothing more beautiful than full moon light riding on ocean waves. As fall comes on, and tourists crawl back into their cocoons, the lunar cycle continues with two full moons in the month of October. The Harvest Moon comes on the first and the Blue Moon comes on the thirty-first.
Full Moon surfs high tide
crashing on glistening wet sand
Coconut Palms sway
Tonight at d”Verse Frank Tassone asked us to write our Monday Haibun using the moon as our prompt. Two full moons are happening this year in the month of October. I took two of my paintings and changed them into black and white for effect.
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A Dunkard Brethren church once sat at the top of the ridge overlooking Willow Run. Now in crumbles of brick and mortar, flowering honeysuckle invite bees to commune at their cups of sweetness. Blacksnakes slither through the rubble looking for a toad or rat residing there.
It was in this church where itinerant preachers on horseback brought fiery brimstone, forgiveness, and grace to the faithful who gathered. Souls were saved and dunked all the way under in Willow Run.
On the hillside the full moon reflects off of a few protruding graveyard stones. Most have long since been overgrown and broken. The names on the stones kiss the ground, above the deceased as “In their dreams they sleep with the moon.”
Tales are told by the ancients, who still live nearby, that at midnight’s full moon rise, horses pounding hooves echo through the night!
Today at d’Verse, Merril introduce a prosery prompt. This is a short story of no more than 144 words that can be flash fiction, true, or far out imaginary. It must include a random line from a poem that she shared with us. Her line was from a Mary Oliver poem, (Death at Wind River),“In their dreams they sleep with the moon.” My story is flash fiction, based on a little church from my home town. My two brothers and I visited there two years ago, and I took a bunch of photos. These are a couple of photos from there. The story is made up.
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Paintings: Dwight l. Roth
*The turtle lies at the point where the stream turns!
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Tonight we are writing Prosery at d”Verse. Bjorn asked us to write a prose piece of exactly 144 words, that includes this line from Maya Angelou’s Poem …Caged Bird Sings: …his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream…
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Photo: Dwight L. Roth
Roth Poetry 