Random Acts of Writing - Three Shorts

Christmas Morning

Nestled in bed

drowsy and drifting,

soon will break

the shell of sleep,

crack open

a new day,

the dew of dreams

drying quickly

as I emerge

to unwrap

this day.

******

Retro Words

I swoon

about swell,

take a shine

to keen.

******

Solstice Haiku

Light and dark stand still

on this cold December day

before light takes lead.

A.H.

An Unpolished Heart (for John on our 10th Wedding Anniversary)

Wish I had

a polished heart,

all sweetness, light

and butterflies.

This is not my heart.

Ratty, scraggly,

broken, scarred,

patched –

this being Alaska,

with duct tape.

This is my heart.

Thank you

for handling

my imperfect,

unpolished heart

with care

and love.

A.H. 

Witness at Woronzof

Battered and broken,
many didn't
survive the storm.

This is depression:
stuck in the mud,
weather coming in,
I can't move.

Wind and ice
at Woronzof,
this drab day.

This is depression:
it is gray,
it always has been
and always will be.

Next summer
I will come here
on a day fat with light
grayness gone
but I will always carry
a piece of ice
that never melts.

A.H.
Note: Artist Sarah Davies. along with volunteers, did a public art installation at Point Woronzof in Anchorage. She created life-size figures representing people struggling with depression and other difficulties. The artwork is in response to her own experience with depression.
Soon after installation high tides and severe wind destroyed some of the figures. And so it is...

Raven Society

I want to be
a member of
the raven society,
perch up high
make pithy commentary.
Wish I could
swoop around,
play in garbage
and gurgle.
Besides,
who doesn't look good
in black?

A.H.

Baby Bits of Gratitude

Don't need
big, honkin gratitude,
baby bits
will suffice,
little sparkles
of thanks
strewn
thru the day,
lighting the way.

A.H.

Ten Good Things About Alaska's Dark, Cold Winters

1) Don't have to get up early to catch sunrise. (Sunrise today is 9:15 a.m.)
2) Less housecleaning is needed. Dust isn't as visible.
3) More time to read.
4) I don't feel like I should be out there doing something exciting and adventurous.
5) I can make a warm, snug nest in my bed.
6) It ends.
7) Is it over yet?
8, 9 and 10) It's hard to write when I'm in my bed nest and I'm not coming out until it's over. Can someone please send word?

A.H.

Doing a Roger

My brother-in-law Roger Watson died on November 1st at age 64 from early-onset dementia (Lewy body.) Before his illness slowed him, Roger was a very active man. He hiked and biked thousands of miles, most often in the splendid foothills of northern Colorado. His wife, my sister Danita, often joined him.
Please join me in honoring Roger's memory by "doing a Roger." This is my new term for taking a walk, a hike, a bike ride - getting out there (or inside) and moving.
When I visited Roger and Danita I enjoyed Roger's "reports from the field." These were descriptions of what he had seen, ranging from coyotes and rattlesnakes (yikes!) to numerous bird species. Particularly memorable was a sighting of mountain bluebirds caught in a late snow -broken pieces of sky.

Move, notice, report back.
Rest in peace Roger. Thank you for wonderful memories.
Special thoughts and love for Danita who now must walk on without her partner.

A.H.

Sit

Sit with it
whatever it
is for you.
Squirm if you must
but don't run away.
Watch the shadows
loom large,
welcome them.
Soon they will shrink
while you
simply sit.

A.H.

Early Morning - Poem and Haiku

Who threw
those stars
against the sky,
and what
makes them
stick?
****

A scatter of stars
thrown against the velvet sky
accidental art.

A.H.

Quirkville

I want
to live
in Quirkville
where the speed limit
is twelve miles per hour,
not eleven.
Quirkvillians
have time
to prattle
and ponder
but pass on
pontificating,
living their motto:
be kind,
be quirky.

A.H.

Emotional Ecology

Why can't
the species of shame
go extinct?
Suppose it serves
a purpose
in my ecosystem
just like mosquitos
are necessary.
Wish regret
was threatened
and endangered.
Would it help
to reduce its habitat,
drain the ponds
of guilt?

A.H.

Entering the World of Winter

When the
flaming guardians
of fall;
the burnt golds
and scarlet torches
die out
we will enter
the world of winter
where skeleton trees
haunt
the deepening dark.

A.H.

How to Carve a Poem

Chose a firm
but not hard
clump of words.
Trim off
any wilted words.
Rinse in water
but do not soak.
Check for weak spots.
Slice top
and remove pulp.
Carefully carve out
excess verbage.
Smooth and polish
as needed.
Illuminate from within.

A.H.

What I Wish the Voices in My Head Said

1) Yeah , you tried. That's great.
2) Relax, everything is already okay and always has been.
3) Hooray, you're feeling and healing.
4) There's no need to try too hard.
5) Dare to be mediocre.
6) Try easier.
7) Yippee, you're human.
8) You don't need to worry about that,
9) I know this will all work out.
10) It's always time for chocolate.
11) You're splendidly imperfect.
12) You're so much like other people.
13) Isn't it time for a giggle?

Thanks to sis Danita for inspiring this when we were discussing harsher voices in the head -the berating ones. Be gone! Make way for kinder and gentler.
Gosh darn it -we're good enough.

A.H.
Shush to the voice in my head saying this is a dumb post. Maybe it is - oh well! It's all good. I am alive and my basic needs are well met. Now I must go giggle.

What Gives Me Hope

1) Little Free Libraries
2) finding a forgotten candy in my purse
3) Water ouzels. These birds are now called  Dippers but I prefer water ouzel. They fearlessly dive into mountain streams.
4) new growth on a plant I'd given up on.
5) volunteer (and paid) firefighters.
6) long-married couples who enjoy and appreciate each other.

A.H.

Three Haiku - Looking Outside

The juncos perform
spinning and pirouetting
backyard bird ballet.

Staccato movement
a blurring in black and white
chickadee cha cha.

Light begins to thin
summer being left behind
turning toward fall.

AH. 9-6-15

Blueberry Universe

On Saturday
at Hatcher Pass
I traveled
to another galaxy,
launched myself
onto a hillside,
landed on
a plant-carpeted planet,
started looking
for constellations
of dark-blue clusters,
delighted in
my own little
blueberry universe.

A.H. 8-25-15

After

Only after
I lost control
of the day
and dropped it
did the light
reflect off
the jagged edges
of the
broken hours.

A.H. 8-16-15

Edible Geography

Each raspberry
is its own
little world
of flavor
red continents
clinging to
a core,
edible geography.

Every strawberry
has its own
landscape
of ridges
and valleys,
fruit geology.

Tiny rubies
sparkle
on the currant bushes
as I mine
their depths,
scarlet lapidary.

A.H.

Meeting My Favorite Politician

Wasn't a formal meeting
what with the mayor
sprawled on the floor,
eyes closed.
Still, I could
get behind
this politician;
Stubbs the cat,
mayor of Talkeetna.

A.H.  8-2-15

Annual Garden Performance Report - Three Haiku

Running riotous,
this year's over-achiever's,
the delphiniums.

Failure to meet goal,
hollyhocks disappointed,
wouldn't stay alive.

Steady performers,
the nasturtiums exploded,
fragments of color.

A.H.

Emotional Positioning System

"Siri, I need directions to serenity."
Go two blocks and turn right.
If you get to Bitch Road
you have gone too far.
Continue on Reflection Drive
until it turns into Gratitude Street.
Do not turn down Resentment Avenue.
Your destination is on your right.

A.H. 7-16-15

Fifty-Nine Words (Maybe) of Appreciation About Fifty-Nine Years

1) Better older than deader.

2) The boys: John, Thomas and Oscar (RIP Gracie and Baxter.)

3) Finding the Cream Cheese Musher cookie recipe years ago (the “little black dress” of   

    recipes.)

4) My seven sisters and close friends that are like sisters.

5) Travel and nature experiences.

6) Screw it - I don't care if this is fifty-nine words.

A.H.

How to Spot a Presidential Candidate

Confusing, isn't it, now that presidential candidates almost number in the triple digits? Here is a guide to help you narrow the field when you're wondering - "are they running for president?"

1) They usually have an ego big enough for its own zip code. One candidate's hair also meets this qualification.

2) They use the term "the American people" (TAP for short) more than once a day or even once a week.  For example:  "The American people want less government."
                                   "The American people want more government."
                                   "TAP want no government."

3) They stick out doing ordinary activities. In a bid to appear one of us they may: order at McDonald's, go to the grocery store, pump gas. Note: Anyone saying "aw shucks" should automatically be suspected of candidatehood.

4) They know more about Iowa and New Hampshire than any decent person should. Indeed they know more about these states than Iowans and New Hampshirites. As a former Iowan,  I have seen them lurking in obscure Iowa counties.

A.H.

Summer Haiku

Strips of shadowing
shape-shifting across mountains
clouds playing with sun.

Day after solstice
nine seconds light disappears.
When will it return?

A.H. 6-27-15

A Moment

Took inordinate pleasure
in usually taciturn clerk
chuckling at greeting card,
sharing a moment
yesterday, at Freddy's.

A.H. 6-22-15

Frozen -Not the Movie

Seemed like a good idea

to treat visitors

to a meal

at Humpy’s.

Crowded as usual,

it’ll be okay

to sit outside.

Hmm, wish I had my jacket.

Where’s the waitress?

Pleasant conversation

distracts me briefly

from the cold.

Where’s the waitress?

Finally, orders in,

food on the way,

more enjoyable talk

only helps so much.

Husband dispatched to car

for extra layers,

what a godsend.

Hmm, my brother on second beer,

where’s our food?

Waitress said something

about covering eight tables,

orders being slow,

didn’t realize she meant

glacial speed.

My chattering teeth

make talk difficult.

Hmm, wonder if I have a mint

or candy in my purse

to stave off hunger pangs?

Much later,

see waitress careen

around corner with our orders.

Were those my French fries

flying off the plate?

Can still use my partially numb fingers

to eat and gain strength

so I don’t lose consciousness,

frozen at Humpy’s.

********

Karma Refreshment

Computer message reports
"karma is refreshed."
Why, thank you!
Didn't even know
it had wilted.

A.H.

Shopping in Fairbanks

"A beaver walked into an Alaska hardware store"
isn't a joke punchline.
The beast visited a Lowe's in Fairbanks.
New Lowe's advertisement?
"Our lumber is so good beavers want it."
And...
"Ducklings wander into Fairbanks hardware."
Five fluffballs waddled into Alaska Industrial Hardware.
No word on what they intended to purchase.

A.H. 6-3-15

Riffing on a Recipe

The recipe suggests
I use raspberries
but I want a different
flavor note
so decide on
a few chords
of cinnamon.
The lemon
will be off key,
must be deleted.
Do I hear
an overture
of cream cheese?
Improvisation
is my favorite spice.
This explains the
Lemon-Raspberry Coffeecake
sliding into
a Cinnamon-Cream Cheese Cake.
Call me the
jazz cook.

A.H.

Birds Only My Husband Has Seen

"Nutcatcher!"
my husband's proclamation
met with stunned silence.
What avid birder
will admit unfamiliarity
with a species?
Another time -
"It's a chad"
he told co-workers
who struggled,
in vain,
to find it listed
in the books.
Then, last week
the first ever sighting of
"a pine cruncher."
At least he isn't
boasting of spotting
passenger pigeons
or ivory-billed woodpeckers.

A.H.

Nutcatcher = gnatcatcher
Chad = chat
Pine cruncher = ???

Oh F------K!

Maybe a Facebook page
isn't a good idea.
Already have a full-blown case
of  SMCD-
Social Media Comparison Disorder.
See the pictures of svelte, stylish people
doing Really Fun Activities
while I, frumpy and gray
change the cat litter.
Left out, not invited,
never mind that I live
thousands of miles away.
The toughest blow?
Even my husband hasn't accepted
my Friend request.
Oh Facebook!

A.H.

Delete This!

Deleting work e-mails,
how rewarding to erase
notices of meetings and
conference calls
that were time-sucking.
Be gone,
agitating requests
and unnecessary reminders.
Oh, that one irritated
the snot out of me-
into the ether with you!
Deleting: fast, furious
and freeing.

A.H.

A Thousand Tiny Nows*

If a thousand tiny nows
rained down on me
I wouldn't know
what to do.
But one tiny now,
that I can do,
including this moment
when my cat Oscar
insists on communing
with the keyboard.
The next tiny now
holds the sound
of Canada geese.
Before long
a hundred tiny nows
create a day.

A.H.

*Stolen from a greeting card - "Someday is a thousand tiny nows."

Downside of Upsell

Rental car agent
suggests we consider SUV
because of chance of rain,
ignored our protest of
"We're from Alaska"
won't be intimidated by moisture.
Should have asked
what she recommends
in case of nuclear attack.
Would a Humvee
be helpful?

A.H.

Trimming the Beast

Time to give the beast
a spring haircut.
At least it stays still
when I approach
with cutting shears.
"Steady now"
I reassure
the already placid
victim.
My target,
Clematis Giantus.

A.H.

In Between

Some times are
in between times,
left the old
can't see the new,
must wait
in between.
Some places are
in between places,
have left the known
wait in the middle
for the unknown
to become the
next known.
Some spaces are
in between spaces,
full of emptiness
ready to be filled.

A.H. 4-13-15

Dream Hangover

Even after
the dream evaporates
in the morning hours
I am left with
a residue of sadness
for the story told,
the version of
painful truth.
Can't shake
the shadows
of family ghosts,
no antidote for this
dream hangover.

A.H. 4-8-15

After Meditation*

When I rise
from thirty minutes
of sustained focus
I glance back
to see if there is
a  silhouette of
my sitting place.
Has the stress, strain, scurry
that I sloughed off
left a sifting
of silt scattered
from this,
the daily dusting
of my spirit?

*Meditation - "a smooth, unbroken flow of attention on a single subject" - Eknath Easwaran

A.H.

My Worn, Little Life

Letting go
of what was
never mine
I am left with
my worn, little life.

Pieces missing
parts frayed,
it is mine
and it is
enough.

And sometimes
when I hold
the worn areas
up to the light
they shine.

A.H. 3-21-15

I Can See Gratitude...

I can see
gratitude
from here
but can't
get there,
the road
closed for now,
blocked by a landslide
of worry and fear.
Perhaps it is
enough to keep
looking in the
right direction
ready to
move ahead.

A.H. 3-10-15

Felony HIPAA Conviction!

Not only do loose lips
sink ships
they might land you
in jail.
Think twice before
blabbing that PHI (protected health information.)
HIPAA -the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act-
otherwise known as: sign these papers saying we'll protect your medical information-
reared it's head in a recent Anchorage court case and...
"Attorney Russo said the felony convictions tied to HIPAA are Alaska's first."
Details? A hospital employee gave information to her bad-guy boyfriend regarding a patient he shot (and more.)
Very naughty of her and...
criminal.

A.H.

Sunset Haiku

A wash of fuchsia
smeared across the dying day
surprises the sky.

A.H.

Tired Inside?

Tired inside?
Look outside,
consider the nuthatch
upside down
at the feeder.
He is not
weighted with worry.

Tired inside?
Go outside,
observe the moose
bedded in snow.
She is not
fraught with fear.

Tired inside?
Listen outside,
hear the ravens
in a raucous caucus.
They are not
expressing regrets.

Still tired inside?
Believe in outside,
know the strength
of mountains.
They do not
speak of sadness.

A.H. 2-24-15

The Cat Store

Psst...
Don't tell John but
I have a new love.
We found each other
on Valentine's Day.
Went to the cat store
and am in receipt of:
one male cat,
code name: Oscar.
His last name -
in case a five year-old asks -
is Wild , no e please.
Welcome home Oscar Wild.

A.H.

LIght Spring

Darkest quarter done
a time for celebration
today is light spring.*

*Today marks the start of "light spring," the point halfway between winter solstice and spring equinox. It means the end of the darkest quarter of the year. Yippee!

More haiku:

The calligraphy
of bare branches written on
a fat, yellow moon.

See the raven slide
into the canyon of wind
spilling blackness now.

A.H.

Winter Haiku

Driving to work:

Starting earlier
thinning of darkness reveals
the promise of light.

Driving home from work:

Already dirty
last weekend's fresh snow suggests
the need for whitewash.

A.H.

Everyday Poetry

Continuing the alphabet, E is for Everyday Poetry and F is Fine Poetry.

Everyday poetry
sturdy enough
for daily use
while pleasing
the senses.
Solid words
with a
decorative flair.

Fine Poetry

Decided not
to save
the fancy words
for special occasions.
Will enjoy them now
and if they break
can always get more.

A.H. 1-20-15

That Gratitude Thing

Feeling cross,
guess I could try
that gratitude thing
my sister blogs about.
It couldn't hurt
could it?
Nobody has been hurt
practicing gratitude
have they?
Have never seen
gratitude overdose
listed as cause of
injury or death.

A.H. 1-14-15

Off Day plus haiku

An Off Day

Not on top
of my game
today,
didn't even make it
to locker room.
Is it too late
to just forfeit?

******
Watching daylight seep
across the dirty gray sky
the sunrise spills red.

A.H.  1-10-15

More Alphabet Stew

C is for coffee and chocolate which are life-sustaining items. Question: if chocolate seizes (when melted chocolate becomes a solid, grainy mass) what does coffee do? I'm going to say it stuns.

D is for Depression, not the economic kind. Depression has been my frenemy for many years, perhaps fifty now. Depression has visited often, sometimes for extended stays. Now, when Depression knocks on my door I answer but don't invite it in. We chat on the porch long enough for me to understand the current message Depression is delivering. I give thanks for the information and say good-bye for now, knowing we'll meet again.

A.H. 1-3-15