100 haiku challenge, 25, 26, 27

#25
Go, Diego, Go!
Vamos Diego, vamos Diego!
Immortal earworm.

#26
It's dark and quiet.
Early morning, New Year's eve.
Much to put to bed.

#27
Christmas lights come down.
Nights are just dark and cold now.
January dull.

100 haiku challenge, 23 and 24

#23
We watch the wind blow
puddles into running streams.
A northwest pastime.

#24
Perhaps not, because
of your [dog] friend, she said, but
have you seen my cat?

I like #23 a lot. It came to me one blustery, winter day when D and I headed outside despite the crappy weather and headed to the covered basketball court at the local school. We brought along a basketball and scooter, but found ourselves most entertained by the wind and the water working their way across the blacktop.

What I really enjoy about this challenge, is that it forces me to treat the poems like a photographer treats the photo. Just keep snapping frames, and eventually you'll get a winner. Don't worry about the ones where the composition's not quite right.

100 haiku challenge, 19, 20, 21, 22

Priorities
As long as the cat
is happy, he said. I laughed.
He rolled his eyes, sighed.

I'd rather bike to work
Cross the I-5 bridge.
Red tail-lights blur in an arc
past a man on bike.

Two wheels go faster than three
My little one rides
a blue bicycle, followed by
Dad, scooting fast.

Missing my family
Christmas day makes me
want to do something crazy
like move to Pittsburg.

100 haiku challenge, 16 , 17, 18

Boys dig fire
My boy pouts and says,
Daddy, can we make fire?
Drags the logs inside.

Hanging out with E.
Drinking hot tea while
talking about coffee is
a fine thing to do.

I'm talking to myself here
Dear friend, exactly
what are you waiting for if
this is all you've got?

100 haiku challenge, 13, 14, 15

What the neighborhood looks like in December
String of Christmas lights
Glows bright in the winter night.
Glitter, flash, twinkle.

What does my dream mean?
I dreamed of a horse
covered--buried in deep snow
surfacing, dancing.

Repetition
Thank you for the tips
is something my husband says
all the goddamn time.

100 haiku challenge, 11 and 12

I've enjoyed just listening and finding haikus--as I listen to NPR, to two people talking in the grocery store, or in the case of #10, to something D. was repeating one evening.

Dante's haiku
This is a red light.
This light is a yellow light.
This is a green light.

Shedding season
The dog hair drifts down
falling like an autumn leaf.
I sweep it again.

100 haiku challenge, 10

The holiday is incidental, part 2
Advent calendar.
We are not even Christian.
We eat the chocolate.

100 haiku challenge, 8 and 9

I composed these while sitting with D in our local pizza place. I had one of those little stubby pencils from IKEA in my purse, and used the back of a deposit slip to write these down. I realize I'm not being very traditional, (or sometimes, very coherent) with these.

Economy versus ecology
The smokestack spews black.
Factory on the river.
Paper, scissors, rock.

Writing haiku at the pizza shop
Number two pencil
scrawls on the back of a check.
Subtotal, nine haikus.

100 haiku challenge, 4, 5, 6, 7

The holiday is incidental
Thanksgiving dinner
is now just a precursor
to Black Friday. Thanks.

Wake up
Sunrise. Coffee cup.
Steaming. Lift the cup. Inhale.
Sip. My eyes open.

What I see from my window in fall
Figs cling to branches.
No leaves for hiding green knots.
A bird's autumn feast.

The challenge of writing 100 haiku
Five, seven, five is
both much too long and too short
to say anything.

100 haiku challenge, #2 and #3

Reading Eckhart Tolle
This moment. Right now.
It's the only thing we have.
Raindrops on rooftops.

Should we trust the results?
Tony's MRI
Showed nothing problematic.
He scratches his head.

100 haiku challenge, #1

I'm taking the 100 haiku challenge. One hundred haikius in 100 days (more or less). Here's my first.

Sleepless
Insomnia. Fuck.
Four AM and I'm awake.
A cat yeowls outside.

What now?

So Friday was cathartic. I left the leadership session feeling cleansed of all my impurities. Clear headed and strong hearted. Saturday was good. But on Sunday, the old anxieties crept back. I felt like the day was not my own. It belonged to D, the house, work that needed to get done before Monday. By 9 am I just wanted to get away. I fled to the shower. Afterward, I sat on the bathroom floor and meditated. Just for like 5 minutes. Did it help? I don't know. Maybe. Or maybe it was getting out of the house and going to the park with D that did it. Either way, I was able to chill out and just take the day as it came.

I'm supposed to do this meditating thing for 30 minutes every day. As I sit there, my mind races. I try to calm it by bringing it back to the now. Tonight, I kept asking, "what now?" and something answered, "go write in your blog." So I did.

If all of this isn't too woo-woo for you, here's something else I've been thinking lately. My house has bad feng shui. It's because of the super tall, skinny house next door. It over-shadows our house and blocks the light. And it's so close (literally about 5 feet away) that it feels oppressive. If my house were a person, it would be unable to turn its head, doomed to look forward forever. Do I need to get over myself, or move?

Perhaps another symptom that I'm on the crazy train (or having a mid-life crisis) is that I ordered two books by Eckhard Tolle.

So glad I have this blog!

I was just scrolling through old entries, laughing at myself, remembering how it felt to be a new mom, and just generally feeling so glad I took the time to write down some of my thoughts and feelings.

Why don't I write here more often? It's so good for me.

Well, so I don't just leave it at that, I'll talk about today. Or maybe I'll start with yesterday, which was like just about every other work day where I run from meeting to meeting, try to keep up with the dozens of emails I get each day in between, run home to spend a little time with D before he crashes, and then work some more. I'm seriously depleted, friends. If you haven't heard from me, this is why.

I know it's not sustainable. For the first time in my life I've found myself questioning whether I am depressed (I kind of think I am) and need drugs. I've been reading Eat, Pray, Love like it is medicine. I crave silence, stillness, peace, solitude. I've been substituting beer, wine, sugar, and coffee.

But today, I didn't go into the office. Instead I went to the first session of a year-long leadership program. My company is paying for me to go. Normally, a business-y "leadership" thing would sound bad. But this wasn't bad at all. It felt a little like therapy. We meditated. We talked about our hearts. I went in feeling all knotted up on my shoulders and left feeling fairly normal.

Tonight I was searching this blog for a poem or photo that defines the essence of me. It's homework for our second session tomorrow. Here's what I've landed on. What do you think? Is this what you think of, when you think of me?