Month: May 2015

The Pitch: a haiku 

This week Ronovan brings us another fun challenge providing the words “pitch” and “time” for our prompts. 

Coming from a long background in sales, my take on this will, likely, be very different than most other folks’, which isn’t at all unusual for me! LOL

salesman throw their pitch
with hopes the timing is right 
the deal will be made

Reinvigorated: a tan renga 


On this dreary Saturday morning I opened up my email, a day late, to find the weekly Tan Renga Challenge (henceforth referred to as the TRC) from CDHK. Chèvrefeuille, our host, offered several thoughts/interpretations on the haiku that we will use this week to compose our tan renga; you can see all his thoughts and the challenge here. I went with the thought of an older woman as the inspiration for my piece.

the ancient woman
cherry tree blooms in old age
an event to remember

© Basho (at the age of 21)

The first grandchild born to her
Reinvigorates her youth
© Greg Wolford 

Alone: a haiku/haibun

Looking at the writing prompt for this piece it seems the inspiration behind it, to me and others if I read them right, is a sense of loneliness and, perhaps, regret. This thought like led me down the path which didn’t necessarily produce a “traditional” poem but one that falls, I think, solidly in English haiku style.

The more connected we are via our devices. the more disconnected we become, I believe, from “life”- those closest to us (physically), the beauty and wonder of creation and all it offers, and our inner self, the creative, imaginative part of “us”, among other things.

In a wireless world
We’re constantly connected
Yet feel so alone

Good Folks Still Exist #BeWoW 

In case you’re wondering, yes, I “fat finger” published a post Monday night of almost the same title by accident; I was trying to save a draft and … well, failed. This is was I intended to write.

See here for more on the BeWoW movement

Click the image to learn more


Looking around the world today can almost send one into a deep, dark depression. It seems like everywhere we turn, whether it be online, on the television, in the newspaper, or just about any place else one can consume any form of media, the general outlook is pretty bleak.  The country is plagued by violence, drug abuse, crime of all other sorts, scammers (the new age confidence man in my opinion) and that’s the tip of the iceberg. 

Almost daily and with little or no effort you can find out about a corrupt politician or crooked judge. Our government leaders fail us in more ways than I can write, let alone count. Role models fall to the trappings of their fame, crushing young folks looking up to them or worse yet setting them off on the wrong path by example. Even our spiritual leaders and mentors fail us, though usually for less nefarious reasons. 

But then there are the ordinary “Joes” in our lives; folks with no agenda or fame, no fortune and little to no real “power” in the world. It’s these people that come to humanity’s rescue; they revive hope in us that the world isn’t as terrible as it surely seems. 

  • The man you don’t know that gives you a jump when your cars dead … and he has the jumper cables. 
  • The cashier that chases you down to give you the bag you forgot to put in your buggy. 
  • The lady who hands you the $20 you didn’t know you dropped, even though she looks like she needs it more than you. 
  • The person you met via an online group/forum/etcetera that lifts you when your down like no one else can/does. 
  • The stranger who just smiles and greets you warmly during the course of the day. 

These are but a few examples of folks being folks and making a difference, probably not even knowing it, in the normal course of their day/life. Think about it: Hasn’t this happened to you recently – or something very close to it? I’m betting it has. These are people who are choosing to be extraordinary folks, it occurred to me after reading Ronovan’s preview for his post today. 

Dare yourself each day to be a blessing to someone.

Each one of you reading this, most likely, is and ordinary Joe/Joan. We each have the ability to rescue someone else’s day, every day. The challenge – and I extend it to you – is to slow down and just do it! It’s not the big things but the small, sincere, heartfelt acts that make the real, lasting impression on people. But we have to make the opportunity and then seize it. And all of a sudden the world isn’t such a terrible place – even if it’s only for a few moments. Will you choose to be extraordinary to someone?

Yes, despite its bleak appearance, the world does still have good folks in it; they we do still exist, are capable of of making a difference to someone each day in some way, if we just will.

Bring a little sunshine into someone’s cloudy day today, every day. And pray they will pay it forward starting today. 

To The End: a haiku/haibun

Toward the end she was sick all the time, often laying quietly, resting as well as she could considering the relentless pain she was enduring. Her husband, a huge, strong man, felt helpless; there was nothing he could do to help her, and little to even comfort her . 

As she slept on the couch, curled up under an afghan she’d crocheted before the cancer had taken over, he got up and ambled over to her, as quietly as he could. Softly he stroked her now thin hair and whispered under his breath “Poor little thing.”

Her voice, seeming somewhat less frail at the moment, startled him at first, “Poor, big thing; quit ‘yer frettin’ over me”, she replied. His big, warm smile spread across his face for the first time in a very long time. 

Lifelong lovers – now
She seemed a shell of herself
Yet was still in charge 

Inspired by my Granny and Papaw who are still dearly loved and missed. And linked to Ronovan’s weekly haiku challenge, this week being lovers and charge.