June 2024 – A(nother) Year of Reading

Poetry Friday: Wabi-Sabi

The Poetry Sisters challenge this month was Wabi-Sabi. I just re-read the prompt and realized that Wabi-Sabi was supposed to be the title of the poem. Oh, well. I’ll claim the third truth of Wabi-Sabi — nothing is perfect!

In his book Wabi-Sabi Simple, Richard Powell described wabi-sabi as a philosophy that acknowledges a lifestyle that appreciates and accepts three simple truths: “Nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect.” I embrace this philosophy whole-heartedly in my gardening.

Advertisement

Lawn
dappled
with clover.
Exuberant
mish-mash flower beds.
One raised bed all fennel —
buffet for black swallowtails.
Three kinds of milkweed for monarchs.
Landscaping by Wabi-Sabi, Inc.

Here’s how the rest of the Poetry Sisters Wabi’d their Sabi:

Liz @ Liz Garton Scanlon
Tanita @ {fiction, instead of lies}
Laura @ Laura Purdie Salas
Sara @ Read Write Believe

and Tricia has this week’s Poetry Friday roundup @ The Miss Rumphius Effect

Next month, we’re writing haiku that give away something. Haiku that could be found on your local Buy Nothing FaceBook page, or at the curb during your community’s Free-cycle event.

Poetry Friday: Snippets

I’ve been having fun pairing my (mostly) daily Stafford Challenge cheritas with photos from the garden and/or neighborhood. You can find these poems ephemerally in my Instagram stories or archived on my Instagram profile page.

Back story for the first one — our sweet peas are learning to lean INTO the garden from the fence where they climb to avoid being pruned by the deer that come through the easement and nibble.

The second is a closeup of a mimosa tree — I found one on a recent walk that had branches low enough to let me get a picture of those gorgeous blooms.

The last are balloon flowers from a plant in my garden.

Tabatha has this week’s Poetry Friday roundup at The Opposite of Indifference.

Poetry Friday: You

Molly gave the Inklings our June challenge — a quote from a talk by Pádraig Ó Tuama. Molly reported that essentially he said, “Write something narrative and by narrative I mean something that has story and observation to it…write about the first time you saw somebody who’s become a you to you…a you that you love to say…detail what else could be seen”… and let those other things convey what it all meant to you.

After listing all the YOUs in my life and writing about a bajillion drafts, I decided that my YOU for this poem would be the process of figuring out what to write about. My YOU is inspiration itself.

I’m scheduling this post on Tuesday because on Wednesday I leave for a week spent with family. I won’t be able to comment until it’s almost time for another Poetry Friday, but I still can’t wait to see what the other Inklings do with this challenge.

Linda @A Word Edgewise
Catherine @Reading to the Core
Molly @Nix the Comfort Zone
Margaret @Reflections on the Teche
Heidi @my juicy little universe

Tracey has this week’s Poetry Friday roundup at Tangles & Tales.

Image via Unsplash.